https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/opinion/sabres-still-paying-sins-tim-murray
Joel Armia (Dealt to Winnipeg in the Kane trade)
25-years-old; Sabres' first round pick (16th overall) in the 2011 NHL Draft; 72 points in 218 games with Winnipeg and Montreal
Brendan Lemieux (Dealt to Winnipeg in the Kane trade)
22-years-old; Sabres' second round pick (31st overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft; 12 points in 53 games with Winnipeg
Tyler Myers (Dealt to Winnipeg in the Kane trade)
28-years-old; Sabres' first round pick (12th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft; 105 points in 251 games with Winnipeg
Nikita Zadorov (Dealt to Colorado in the O'Reilly trade)
23-years-old; Sabres' first round pick (16th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft; 42 points in 207 games with Colorado
Zadorov has developed into a tough bottom-four defenseman.
J.T. Compher (Dealt to Colorado in the O'Reilly trade)
23-years-old; Sabres' second round pick (35th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft; 56 points in 137 games with Colorado
Mark Pysyk (Dealt to Florida in the Kulikov trade)
27-years-old; Sabres' first round pick (23rd overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft; 40 points in 215 games with Florida.
Brayden McNabb (Dealt to Los Angeles in the Hudson Fasching trade)
28-years-old; Sabres' third round pick (66th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft; 71 points in 341 games with Los Angeles, Vegas.
McNabb is nothing special, but has been a top pair or second pair defenseman on really good teams, especially in Vegas last season. After averaging 17 minutes a night in L.A., McNabb saw an increased role, averaging 20 minutes a night for the Golden Knights. At the very least, he's a guy you want on your third pair, and he's proven that he can handle top minutes if needed.
The Sabres would have had to nail the picks, but there was opportunity to get star players with lots of draft picks that were also traded away.
60th pick in 2014 (Dealt to Los Angeles in the Fasching trade)
Brayden Point- LW - Tampa Bay Lightning
Selected 19 picks later; 185 points in 211 games.
21st pick in 2015 (Dealt to Ottawa in the Lehner trade)
Colin White - C - Ottawa Senators
Selected with the 21st pick; 38 points in 80 games.
Ilya Samsonov - G - Washington Capitals
Selected one pick later; One of the top goalie prospects in the world.
Brock Boeser - RW - Vancouver Canucks
Selected two picks later; 102 points in 121 games.
Travis Konecny - C - Philadelphia Flyers
Selected three picks later; 113 points in 224 games.
25th pick in 2015 (Dealt to Winnipeg in the Kane trade)
Jack Roslovic - C - Winnipeg Jets
Selected with the 25th pick; 31 points in 94 career games.
Noah Juulsen - D - Montreal Canadiens
Selected one pick later; Top defensive prospect in Montreal.
Anthony Beauvillier - C - New York Islanders
Selected three picks later; 81 points in 198 games.
31st pick in 2015 (Dealt to Colorado in the O'Reilly trade)
Sebastian Aho - C - Carolina Hurricanes
Selected four picks later; 184 points in 223 games.
Brandon Carlo - D - Boston Bruins
Selected six picks later; 28 points in 212 games.
43rd pick in 2015 (Dealt to Los Angeles in the Fasching trade)
Erik Cernak - D - Los Angeles Kings
Selected with 43rd pick; 9 points in 39 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning
Daniel Sprong - RW - Pittsburgh Penguins
Selected three picks later; 13 goals in 71 games with Pittsburgh and Anaheim
Jordan Greenway - LW - Minnesota Wild
Selected seven picks later; 11 goals in 69 games
38th pick in 2016 (Dealt to Florida in the Kulikov trade)
Alex DeBrincat - RW - Chicago Blackhawks
Selected one pick later; 114 points in 145 games.
45th pick in 2016 (Dealt to Montreal for Josh Gorges)
Samuel Girard - D - Nashville Predators
Selected two picks later; 42 points in 136 games with Nashville and Colorado
Carter Hart - G - Philadelphia Flyers
Selected three picks later; 13-8-1 with .917 save percentage in his rookie season.
Even if Murray kept all those picks, he wasn't going to hit on all of them, obviously. Would he have hit on two or three? The thing about stockpiling picks is, you're bound to nail a few, if you have enough. Murray would have had the opportunity to draft Aho, DeBrincat, Hart, or Point, who are all thought of as great young players in the league. Just a few of any of these guys would have provided the Sabres with the roster depth they are sorely missing.
The last thing to look at is who the Sabres would be without if Murray didn't trade all these assets. They wouldn't have Tage Thompson. They wouldn't have had the Blues' first round pick, which may be the pick used to land Brandon Montour. Other than that, what would we be truly missing? They wouldn't have Vladimir Sobotka, and I know fans love the sound of that right about now.
The "what if" game is a dangerous one, but it's one that has to be played to learn from mistakes of the past. I think most would agree that trading over a dozen young/future assets for a few very good veteran players was a mistake.