Buffalo Sabres Draft Steal #7

We are only one week away from the NHL draft and we are getting down to the wire.  It was really tough to pick the top seven in this category but I did my best although some of you may disagree.  In today's post we will take a look at a defenseman that really made his mark away from Buffalo.

Joe Reekie- 1985 (6th round, #119 overall)

Joe Reekie was a late round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1985 he never really materialized into an everyday player with the Sabres.  He played only 104 games over four seasons in his Sabres career.  In his best season with the Sabres he played in 56 games and scored one goal and nine assists. 

The Buffalo Sabres traded Reekie to the NY Islanders for only a sixth round draft pick and his career took off.  He played three seasons with the Islanders before being selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the expansion draft.  He eventually went on to play parts of nine seasons with the Washington Capitals and he finished his career with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Reekie never set the world on fire but he was a solid NHL defenseman in the NHL from 1985 all the way until 2002.  In all he played 902 regular season games in the NHL and he played 51 playoff games as well.  The Sabres have to regret letting Reekie get away for only a sixth round draft pick before he had time to develop.