dudacek

Right after confirming Johnson is planning to come, Adams said “everybody” is expected to come. He then immediately followed that up by specifying Power, Samuelsson, Peterka, Quinn, Krebs and “everyone who is eligible.” So even though Portillo had specifically been mentioned by Hamilton just moments earlier, it was not clear if “everybody” included Portillo or was just meant to be a catch all for “even players who have already made the Sabres.” Adams did not address the subject of Portillo directly at all. He addressed a question about goaltending by repeating how much he believes in UPL and talking about how Levi is special. Read into that what you will. I am. *** Further to Johnson, Adams gave the impression that none of his 3 options - signing now, going back to college and signing later, or opting for free agency - has been definitively ruled out and that’s testing his patience a bit, because it affects other potential moves. I wonder if Johnson is looking at development camp as a way to test his fit and help him make up his mind. It’s literally been 3 years and a lot of changes since he was last here, has it not? *** Related, the idea of Samuelson and Power and the rest taking part is exciting. Adams talked about the bonding being important to the growth of the team and central to his plan. The bridge that guys like Krebs can help map from prospect to player for guys like Rosen and Kisakov (who will be there if his visa comes together) and the class of 22 is invaluable. As is the introduction to Appert and Donnie and the vibes being created by and around them.

Underrated tidbit from Adams on WGR today: They are working hard right now on an Olofsson contract and he hopes to have something done soon. He says Victor did a lot to round out his game this year beyond being a PP specialist. What would you like to see happen in terms of Olofsson’s contract?

Adams said they are heavy in talks to help out a cap-strapped team. Not sure if I heard this part correctly, but I thought he said for assets, plural.

Yeah, I think those concerned Adams isn’t going to actively try to address the goaltending need to give that one a listen. He politely hinted they don’t think they can can depend on Anderson or UPL to carry load next year, and flat out said they are in conversations about all the goalies on the market.

Adams made a great observation on WGR about how the Sabres at 9, 16, 28 and 41 have a toe in just about every tier of the draft. He said this allows them a ton of flexibility in terms of moving up or down. The conversations have already been had to set up the parameters for multiple potential moves, depending on how the draft unfolds. He also said his team regards this draft as deep, in that he thinks it stretches far enough that they will get good players with all 4 of their early picks.

Looks like Chesley, Bichsel and even McGroarty could slip into our range for 28. And Mesar, Rinzel, Luneau, Beck and Firkus are all there.

And for the 2nd pick: 11 Korchinski 12 Mintyukov 13 Geekie 14 Yurov 15 Nazar 16 Lambert 17 Snuggerud 18 Kulich 19 Miroshnichenko 20 Howard Hope Nazar or Yurov slip. No for Lambert. Have not really considered Kulich

Bobby Mack's list is is out: 01 - Juraj Slafkovsky 02 - Shane Wright 03 - Logan Cooley 04 - Simon Nemec 05 - Cutter Gauthier 06 - David Jiricek 07 - Joakim Kemell 08 - Jonathan Lekkerimaki 09 - Matthew Savoie 10 - Marco Kasper Savoie or Kasper in that order is fine by me

I think this is the core of concerns about Donnie's shelf life: I think his approach is the right way to develop talent and confidence. When it comes time to transition from "good" to "contender" will something different be required? I think Okposo has more of stern streak in him than you guys are giving him credit for.

Pretty sure @JohnC started posting regularly not long after Kevyn Adams showed up. Pretty sure the most famous John C out there was an Adams. 👀

Not agreeing or disagreeing. But would you rather have a few years of a still pretty damn good Patty Kane? Or a 20 per cent chance of Anthony Beauvillier and an 80 per cent chance of any of Noah Juulsen, Jacob Larsson, Gabriel Carlsson or Nick Merkley? Those were the 5 players taken around pick 28 in the best draft of the past 20 years. How about Josh Ho-Sang, Morgan Kilmchuk, Brady Skjei, ZachPhillips, or Charlie Coyle? Those were pick 28 from 2010 to 2014.

I was looking for potential illustrations. Don’t know if any of them were real scenarios.

I would say the only time a team doesn’t take “best player available” by its own criteria high in the draft is because of market or ownership pressure. Louis Leblanc may have been picked because the Habs were under pressure to add French kids, or Zach Kassian because the Sabres were under pressure to add toughness or Alex Nylander because “Terry hates Russians.” Right now, the centre-poor Habs are probably under immense market pressure to take Shayne WRIGHT. I can’t see a GM ever picking a clearly inferior player in his own mind for any other reason. It’s not like that 14th overall 17-year-old defenceman is going to make or break your roster this year. Later on, sure. GMs will look for things like size, or speed or positions deeper in the draft when the odds are slim and the choices many.

The Sabres have not. Thompson has. At least as much as any 3rd year player has. Tage earned everything he got last year - persevering through Botterill’s stupidity, Krueger’s idiocy, a serious injury, the ROR backlash, the minors, and his fiancé’s cancer scare - with class and effort. He just fell victim to a mistaken narrative that was tacked to him early on. It’s weird how much people’s opinions are shaped by first impressions as opposed to what they actually see. In his third season Jack Eichel had 25 goals and 65 points and was given $10 million, handed the captain’s C. In his third season Tage Thompson had 38 goals and 68 points. I’m just saying.

Maybe that’s what you’ll end up with, but you still get 12 chances in the range that matters. Over the next 3 years, Florida gets 1.

There’s more than one way to win a cup. Why can’t Dahlin/Power be Neidermeyer/Pronger and Cozens/Quinn Kesler/Perry? Maybe Tage can’t be a Getzlaf, maybe he can. Maybe Devon Levi can be an elite goalie, unlike Giguere. Who was the Ducks Samuelsson, their Tuch, their Peterka? Their William van Barnekow-Lofgren? People know how these guys are going to turn out about as well as they knew a team could never win with Nazem Kadri as their 2C.

WGR morning guys talking about how the Sabres need top talent to emerge to be a contender. Saying maybe it will Dahlin, maybe it will be Power, but they’re really going to have to have someone else come out of nowhere to be really good. Paraphrasing: Eichel was expected and it didn’t work out. Vanek was sort of expected, he was a top 10 pick. Myers teased as a rookie then disappointed. But the last time they really had someone come out of nowhere to be really good was probably Briere, maybe Pominville? Tage Thompson was not mentioned. Like we’ve seen from a lot of people in this thread, what he did last year and the player he has turned into is not getting the respect he deserves. He finally got mentioned as an afterthought and then with skepticism.

The demand is not where the rubber hits the road though. They can demand all they want, but ultimately Kane controls the situation the same way Taylor Hall did. If Kane only wants to go to Boston, then it’s Bjork and a second, or nothing. If Kane will accept multiple destinations, that $10 million cap hit is also going to inhibit the market.

It really has the power to set us up for a 10-year run if properly used. It's an injection of 12 players with a good chance of contributing, during a period when most will be adding half that, or less.

Not sure if management has come out and said it, but they are allegedly shopping everyone of value. They fired their coach and their GM and finished the season playing under .400 hockey. Hawks have traded 8 of their past 10 first-rounders and don’t have one this year either. Alex Debrincat is the only non-1st of note to come out of their system in that period and their prospect list is among the worst in the league. I think their entire list of good players in their prime is Debrincat and Seth Jones, and their interesting pieces might start and end with McCabe, Murphy and the disappointing Kirby Dach. They do have some money under the cap, but even the very best free agents on sweet deals arent going to turn this around. And that’s ignoring the stinking dung heap that the franchise is off-ice between the Beach disgrace and the owner’s embarrassing reaction. I think the Hawks are the league’s biggest mess and are in desperate need of a saviour in the best season to be bad since 2015. Going for it one more time would be the epitome of foolishness.

Beck’s a guy I like a lot at 28 if there’s no high-ceiling guys available. Seems like a true centre pretty safe to be a useful NHLer. He’s also someone who might be there at 41.

No NTC, according to capfriendly. https://www.capfriendly.com/players/jonathan-quick

So in his reader mailbag, veteran Athletic columnist Eric Duhatschek responded to a reader who wanted to know who was furthest ahead in their rebuild: Ottawa, Detroit or Buffalo. He said its tight and he would bet on the team that best addressed its goaltending. If you ask me to rank them in terms of the order that I’d choose their rosters (and based on the contracts that have been signed), I would go Buffalo, Ottawa, then Detroit. And then he dropped this little nugget: And I’m waiting anxiously to see who lands between the pipes in Buffalo because they are actively looking for help. If they could ever pry loose a veteran such as a Jonathan Quick to stabilize the back end, they’ll be getting closer. That seems to be oddly specific and makes me wonder if he’s heard something. The Kings just re-signed Petersen to a $5x3 year deal and he is the #1 moving forward. Quick is in the last year of a contract the Kings might like to move and the Sabres can easily absorb. He has no trade protection. LA also seems like a team that could be interested in Ryan Johnson and/or Erik Portillo. Duhatschek has buckets of credibility and connections, particularly out west, and doesn’t make his living with a constant stream of insider babble. To me, this bears watching.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I can see the Sabres taking Korchinski. Go back to Adams marching orders to the scouting staff: don’t look for where a player has come from, look to where he is going look for self-motivated guys wired for self-improvement We want fearless players who play fast Read Wheeler’s fresh profile in the Athletic: Korchinski really ticks all those boxes, and possibly better than anyone in the draft who reasonably projects to 9 or 16. He’s had a very Jack Quinn-like trajectory and draft year. If they really don’t care about position, this pick wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Not pretending to be any kind of draft expert and this isn't a ranking of who’s best. But after informing myself as best as I can, this is my list of the players I’d be most excited for at 9 and 16 - players I like and think would be good fits, in rough order of preference: Nemec Jiricek Gauthier Yurov Savoie Kasper Nazar Miroshnechenko Ohgren Kemmel McGroarty Mintyukov Chesley I would think we would have to trade up for the first 3 and I’m OK with doing that at the right price. I’m assuming Cooley, Slavkovsky and Wright are out of reach. Mintyukov and Kemmel aren’t about the fit - they are the opposite of filling a need. With them it’s more about there comes a point where the talent is too much to ignore. Edit: upon further review, Kulich and Snuggerud somewhere in the final 3. There are definitely scenarios in this draft where I’d be happy to. I’ve down.