Sabres' GM Tim Murray impressed with Reinhart at World Juniors
The Buffalo Sabres have the 29th best record in hockey, and are poised to make their selection at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft very early on in the day.
In terms of sizing up the Connor McDavid versus Jack Eichel debate, Sabres general manager Tim Murray plead agnostic in an interview with Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, in which Murray discussed his impression of the 2015 World Junior Tournament at length.
"People have to understand they really had different roles, but I thought they were both very good," Murray said of Eichel and McDavid's relative effectiveness at the tournament.
"McDavid got better and stronger coming off his injury layoff. Exciting, dynamic. All the adjectives were there for a young dynamic guy and he was in a second-line role," Murray continued. "So you had a high-end guy be an important part of the team from that spot but he didn’t have to be the team.
"I thought Eichel was in a little different situation. He felt and maybe they felt he had to carry that team so there was more pressure on him. It's much easier to fail and it's easy to point fingers at Eichel, but I certainly won't do that. In his situation for his age, I thought he played excellent."
While both of the top draft eligible players left a positive impression on Murray, he was salivating as a result of the performance put in by Sabres prospect Sam Reinhart - who Murray selected with the second overall pick at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
"I loved it," Murray said of Reinhart's performance. "Overall, the whole experience should be a great stepping stone for Sam to pro hockey.
"He went from playing his nine NHL games here and not playing a very big role, which happens to kids, to going to a World Junior tournament which is really important," Murray continued. "Whatever disappointment he had in going back, he quickly gets into World Junior mode, gets excited again and he's a big, big part of that team. He's taking important faceoffs, making plays defensively. He's more than chipping in to every aspect."
While the present is grim for the Sabres - anomalous streaks of respectability aside - if the club can add one of McDavid or Eichel to a prospect group that already includes 20-year-old All-Star pivot Zemgus Girgensons and Reinhart, the future could be brighter.
Murray's counting on it.