Sabres, Sharks swap 2024 first-round picks
San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier (right).
The Sharks have moved up three spots in Friday’s first round of the 2024 NHL Draft, acquiring the 11th overall pick from the Sabres, per a team announcement.
They’re sending the 14th overall pick back to Buffalo, which they originally acquired from the Penguins in last year’s Erik Karlsson trade, along with the 42nd overall pick, which was previously acquired from the Devils as part of the return for Timo Meier in February 2023.
San Jose general manager Mike Grier now holds a slightly higher pick that should give him a chance to draft a slightly more impactful talent to develop alongside Boston University standout center Macklin Celebrini, who the Sharks be taking with the first overall selection in just over 24 hours.
It comes at the expense of a decently positioned second-round choice, although they do still have their second-rounder in addition to the Lightning’s (No. 53). They picked it up via the Red Wings on Wednesday, along with defenseman Jake Walman.
Sabres GM Kevyn Adams, meanwhile, had the 11th pick on the block as far back as early this month. Most assumed he’d be leveraging it for some win-now help, which Thursday’s move may benefit.
The difference in value between No. 11 and No. 14 isn’t large in this year’s deep draft class, and he now owns an additional second-round pick to toss into a trade for a top-six forward. Hurricanes pending RFA Martin Necas and the Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers remain attractive options available for acquisition.
Buffalo also still has a deep prospect pool of its own, especially at forward. That made the selection expendable in the eyes of many. Just in the past two years, it used first-round picks on left winger Zach Benson (2023, 13th overall), center Jiri Kulich (2022, 28th overall), center Noah Ostlund (2022, 16th overall) and center Matthew Savoie (2022, ninth overall).
There is such a thing as too many prospects, especially with all of them on relatively similar timelines. Roster spots won’t exist for all of them, so it was always a sensical choice for the Sabres to leverage this year’s top selection for other assets.
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