With the 12th pick in SB Nation's 2012 NHL Mock Draft, our Buffalo Sabres delegation at Die By The Blade selects Cody Ceci, a defenseman from the Ottawa 67's of the Ontario Hockey League.

Cody Ceci, D, Ottawa 67's (OHL)

Credit: Flickr user Tabercil

Die By The Blade justifies the pick:

At 19, Ceci blossomed on a good final season with 67's. The 17 goals and 60 points were both career highs in his three years in Ottawa. The next best season that Ceci had was last year with 9 goals and 34 points. His point total might be slightly inflated with Tyler Toffoli scoring 100 points and Shane Prince scoring 90 points as well.

Having the Sabres select a defenseman at 12 seems somewhat ridiculous considering the depth that the team has at the current position. The major problem though was that all of the good centers that could be considered Top 10 were already taken off the board by the time we were ready to pick at 12. It also didn't make much sense to reach for a player that could be available again with the 21st overall pick.

Next on the clock are the Dallas Stars via our delegation at Defending Big D.

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