“The Buffalo Sabres selected Joel Armia with the 16th pick in the NHL Entry Draft on Friday at the Xcel Center in Minneapolis.
The 6-foot-3 right winger played last season for Assat in Finland, which he led with 12 goals. He also played for the Finnish team in the World Junior Championships played at HSBC Arena, notching one assist in six games.
Armia is the first European selected by Buffalo since 2006.
The draft had gone close to expectations until Colorado tabbed defenseman Duncan Siemans with the 11th selection. He had been expected to go in the lower third of the draft.
The Philadelphia Flyers, who traded two centers before the draft, may have found a replacement when they picked Sean Couturier of Drummondville with the eighth pick overall. They acquired that picked in the trade that sent Jeff Carter to Columbus.
Jamie Oleksiak, whose father is from Western New York and attended the Nichols School, was taken at No. 14 by Dallas.”