Advertisement 1

Buffalo boo birds likely to come out at NHL draft for Leafs' top pick

Article content

BUFFALO — Auston Matthews has yet to pull on a Maple Leafs sweater, but there’s already a target on it.

The first arrows will be coming from Western New York, starting June 24, the opening round of the NHL draft.

One can sense the honour of hosting the draft is starting to give way to some resentment that Hogtown will hog the First Niagara Center stage with its near certain selection of Matthews and its three picks in the first 31 selections.

The league controls ticket distribution of the two-day event, so the Sabres won’t quite be able to have home draft advantage. Much like a regular-season game, there’ll be a chunk of Leafs Nation that ends up sitting next to the 6,000 Buffalo fans who had to enter a lottery, though fans of all stripes are grumbling about $20 to $30 US tickets for the first round. The next day’s rounds, two to seven, are free.

Matthews will hear some boos when he’s selected, just as Nazem Kadri did when picked in the first round at the Bell Centre in Montreal in 2007.

A revival of the dormant Leafs-Sabres feud is a good thing of course. It has been almost 20 years since their one and only playoff meeting and both have been mediocre for years.

Leafs coach Mike Babcock’s decision to sign in Toronto rather than cross the Peace Bridge had a predictable backlash here and Kadri’s critique of Jack Eichel’s shortcomings were not received well.

Matthews was asked about the comparisons between himself and Eichel, a fellow American who plays the same position and was last year’s second overall pick. Had Matthews been born two days earlier he would have been in the same draft class as Eichel and would have been in competition with him behind Connor McDavid.

A Canadian NHL team scout told Postmedia’s Michael Traikos during the world championships in Russia “no disrespect to Eichel, but he couldn’t carry Matthews’ skates to the rink. His impact in the NHL is going to be special.”

Matthews was asked at the combine a couple of times about going head to head with Eichel the next few years,

“I guess we will see what happens,” Matthews said. “That wouldn’t be too bad of a thing.”

No matter what, events in Buffalo are going to remain prominent in Matthews’ life, starting with that first photo of him in a Leaf colours.

“It will definitely stick with you a while, something you’ll remember” Matthews said.

LAINE, EH?

The other battle in Buffalo centres around second-ranked Patrik Laine’s vow not to stay runner-up without a fight.

While the winger has a bit of a language barrier, he kept insisting through the combine that he will make it as hard as possible for Toronto to lock itself into picking Matthews.

Laine’s taller, heavier and certainly not shy.

“I said at this point that in some stuff (Matthews) is better than me and some I’m better than him,” Laine commented, “(such as) a better shot and able to score goals and more physical than him. We’re quite even and Toronto will have a tough, decision to make.

“Maybe all those other top guys (in the first round) are good at everything and don’t have that one thing they’re very good at. I think I have that.”

Yet Matthews is willing to talk himself up, too.

“I compete hard, I elevate guys around me. I have an inner drive that really separates me from the rest.”

Laine was clearly frustrated he couldn’t use the physical testing at the combine to further that argument. Late season nagging injuries made him unable to risk anything requiring lower-body stress, but he gamely came out for the upper-body stations rather than skip the whole thing as some might have.

“I wasn’t in the best shape of my life. I was quite exhausted after the season. I almost played a full (calendar) year. I didn’t have time to prepare for these tests. But I wanted to show I’m good,” he said.

LUCE ENDS TIED UP

The Buffalo media descended on Griffin Luce at the draft combine, anxious to explore the connection to his famous grandfather Don Luce, a celebrated Sabre.

But Luce also had a Leafs link, a half season in 1981-82. That came in handy to boost Griffin’s status when he played midget for Elgin Middlesex near his birthplace of St. Thomas, Ont.

“I’d always tell the guys my grandfather played for the Leafs and they loved that,” Griffin said. “I know he has kept some Leaf pucks and some (figurines) in Leaf sweaters and Leafs hockey cards.”

The defenceman’s father, Scott, is director of player personnel for the Florida Panthers, while 67-year-old Don is back with the Leafs as a pro scout. Griffin is projected to be chosen in the third round.

“The more I developed as a player the past three years, more people asked about my grandfather and how he got into the Sabres Hall of Fame,” Griffin said. “I’ve seen (tape) of him score a backhander (in Buffalo’s historic game against Red Army) and his fight against (Montreal’s) Mario Tremblay. I used to love watching Grandpa beat up the other guys.”

THANKS, MOM

Centre Tyson Jost will be a good story line at the draft and not just because he’s from Mark Messier’s hometown of St. Albert, Alta.

He’ll be a top-20 pick out of the unheralded B.C. Jr. A League and has come this far with a strong push from his mother, Laura. After his father left the family when Jost was a toddler, Laura raised Travis and his sister, a rising volleyball player.

“I have so much respect for how much she sacrificed and worked so hard so we could reach our goals and dreams in life,” said Jost. “My Mom would rush my sister to volleyball and try and catch the last part of my game. Those things stand out. Every day I go about my life, I try and represent what she taught me.”

Jost, a 100-point producer who is going to the University of North Dakota next season, would join players such as Kyle Turris and Tyler Bozak who came to prominence in the BCJHL, breaking out as MVP of the World Jr. A Challenge. All but the Rangers and Kings interviewed him at the combine.

COMBINED CHATTER

Not that it was unexpected, but the Leafs interviewed the top rated goalie in the draft, Carter Hart of the WHL Everett Silvertips. General manager Lou Lamoriello and player personnel director Mark Hunter were there, but Hart said he got along really well with Garth Malarchuk, the Leafs’ long time Western scout and a former minor-league goalie. “I grew up a Montreal fan of Patrick Roy and Carey Price,” Hart said in full disclosure. “But I don’t care where it is, I just want to go to the NHL.” ... If Laine could somehow convince the Leafs to take him ahead of Matthews, he would be reunited with Team Finland mainstay Leo Komarov. Both were at the world championships. “He was a very funny guy and an amazing team player,” Laine said. “He will play physical and get those other tough guys off their game. I had a blast with him.” ... William Nylander inherited speed and a great shot from his father Michael, but younger brother Alexander says he will carry some traits, too, once the likely top-10 pick makes the NHL. “Maybe his vision and his passing abilities,” said Alexander, a winger who was born in Calgary and has played junior in Sweden and the OHL. “He’s been teaching me, but I have a lot of that (vision) inside me. It’s one of my strongest assets.” ... After offensive centre Mark Arcobello signed with Matthews’ old team, the Zurich Lions, the Toronto Marlies might be losing defenceman T.J. Brennan. He’s received a lucrative offer from a KHL team.

Article content
Advertisement 2
Advertisement
Article content
Article content
Latest National Stories
    News Near Pembroke
      This Week in Flyers