![]() ![]() He plans to attend Michigan State next season. “I think I’m more of a shutdown defenseman right now. ![]() “I try to be a two-way defenseman, all around,” he said. Strbak, 18, compiled five goals and 18 points in 46 games last seasons with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. – The Sabres drafted Slovakian defenseman Max Strbak in the second round, 45th overall.Ĭentral Scouting ranked the 6-foot-1, 198-pound Strbak 48th among North American prospects. Wahlberg said he has one year left on his Swedish contract. He scored two goals and four points in 17 contests for Malmo’s Swedish Hockey League team, his first extended taste of pro hockey. ![]() He compiled 14 goals and 27 points in 32 games for Malmo’s junior team last year. Wahlberg, who turns 18 on Wednesday, said he has often skated as a winger on the smaller North American ice surface. “We were desperately trying to move up last night to get him in the first round.” “This was a guy that we had way up on our list,” he said. ![]() I can carry the puck with speed and be crafty on the ice.”Īdams said the Sabres tried to move up during Wednesday’s first round and again in the second round to take Wahlberg. “I’m a two-way forward and center,” Wahlberg said. – The Sabres selected Swedish forward Anton Wahlberg in the second round, 39th overall.Ĭentral Scouting ranked the 6-foot-3, 192-pound Wahlberg 30th among European prospects. More on Buffalo’s last seven picks Thursday: I mean, his nature is to be hard to play against and mean, but I actually think he’s got some sneaky puck-moving abilities.” He added: “He’s an athletic kid and I think he’s got a really versatile game. Thank goodness they had to kind of hold him off … If he didn’t lose those six to eight weeks this year, there’s zero chance he would have been available in the third round.” “He was begging USA Hockey to let him continue to play and practice in the tournament. “I was there in Cornwall (Ontario) when he had the knee injury,” he said. Jerry Forton, Buffalo’s director of amateur scouting, said McCarthy would’ve been a higher pick if he had remained healthy. “It’s a tough injury that he had and he went through, but to come back and then be able to get back and perform the way he did toward the end, it speaks to who he is as a person,” Adams said. McCarthy endured a frustrating yet productive season in 2022-23, injuring his knee in the World Junior A Challenge when he was away from the United States Hockey League’ Muskegon Lumberjacks. Been down there a million times and this one’s definitely going to be the most fun.” “It’s a 30-minute ride from my house, so I think it’ll be really cool kind of going down there for a different reason this time. “It’ll be really cool just kind of being there, being in a Sabres jersey,” said McCarthy, a prospect NHL Central Scouting ranked 52nd among North Americans. On Sunday, he’ll likely participate in his first session of Buffalo’s development camp at Harborcenter, where he has logged countless hours on the ice. “I grew up, obviously, a young Sabres fan,” a smiling McCarthy, sporting a No. McCarthy, who plans to attend Boston University in the fall and play with his brother, Case, already feels comfortable in his new organization. His selection marks the first time the Sabres have drafted a local prospect since they grabbed defenseman Austin Osmanski, an East Aurora native, in the seventh round in 2016. “We added a 6-foot-2, right-shot defenseman that we think there’s a lot of upside there,” Adams said after the draft ended in Bridgestone Arena. They did not choose him because he’s a local kid. To see McCarthy’s smile, Adams said, was “special.” The Sabres added a player they’re thrilled about. Sabres and developed at the Academy of Hockey when Adams ran both organizations at LECOM Harborcenter. They live in the same Clarence neighborhood. McCarthy’s excitement made Adams’ mind flash back to all the work the youngster has put into his career. Still, moments like the one he experienced Thursday at the NHL Draft table can make all the stress worth it.Īfter the Buffalo Sabres drafted defenseman Gavin McCarthy in the third round, 86th overall, he walked down to meet Adams and other members of the team. NASHVILLE – The daily challenges an NHL general manager faces can keep you awake at night, Kevyn Adams said. ![]()
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