{coyotes} Several teams head into NHL Draft with extra picks

 

The 2013 NHL Draft is seen by some as the strongest since the famed 2003 class.

If that's the case, the Buffalo Sabres could be one of the happier teams starting June 30, when the draft is held at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (3 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN, RDS).

The Sabres have two picks in the first round and 10 in the seven-round selection process, tying them with the Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets for the most.

Buffalo has the eighth pick and the 16th selection, acquired from the Minnesota Wild as part of the Jason Pominville trade. The Sabres also have two picks in the second round and one in the third, giving them five in the top 69.

"I'm excited because it adds to a group of young players we currently have: [Anton] Larsson, [Zemgus] Girgensons, [Mikhail] Grigorenko, Mark Pysyk and others," Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said. "And even the slightly older group in [Marcus] Foligno and [Tyler] Myers and [Tyler] Ennis and [Cody] Hodgson. So when you look at the bigger picture and you include two good second-round picks in what is a good draft, it provides a real solid opportunity for us to project down the road in a year or two and look at a group of very good young players."

The Predators hold the fourth pick, but the bulk of their selections come later; they have three picks in the fourth round and two each in the fifth and sixth.

The Jets' 10 picks include four in the top 61, starting with the 10th pick in the first round. They received a compensatory pick, No. 59 in the second round, for failing to sign 2008 first-round pick Daulton Leveille.

The Kings don't have a first-round pick -- their No. 27 selection belongs to the Columbus Blue Jackets from last season's Jeff Carter trade -- but have one pick in each of the second and third rounds and three in the fourth.

The Blue Jackets are one of two teams with three first-round picks: theirs at No. 14, the New York Rangers' at No. 19 (from the Rick Nash trade) and the Kings' pick. The Calgary Flames also have three first-round picks: No. 6, No. 22 (from the St. Louis Blues in the Jay Bouwmeester trade) and No. 28 (from the Pittsburgh Penguins the Jarome Iginla deal).

The Dallas Stars are the other team with multiple first-round picks: their pick at No. 10, and the Boston Bruins' No. 29 selection, via the Jaromir Jagr trade. Those are two of the nine the Stars have, including two in the second round, and five of the top 68 selections.

"We have four picks in the top 54," Stars general manager Jim Nill told NHL.com. "We have the 10th, we'll have either the 29th … and we also have the 40th and the 54th. So we have four picks in the top 54 [and] it gives you a chance to get four pretty good players and it gives you options to do things at the draft, whether it's trading up or trading down. [It] gives you a lot of flexibility."

The Montreal Canadiens also have nine picks. The Flames, Washington Capitals and Wild have eight.

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