dudacek

I don't see how this can be considered anything other than good news. I'm not sure we could ask for a better scenario than Anderson and UPL in the 2 and 3 positions. Anderson is perfect for the room, good in low-use situations, capable of carrying the load if the starter falls and won't go all Al Smith if UPL passes him. UPL gets to play a ton in Rochester and hopefully forces his way into the NHL before the season is over. Not a single prospective new starter has been scared away and not a single asset has been squandered. Good to see Adams making a move early, getting some insurance in place, and setting himself up to be a player for multiple possibilities over the next 2 weeks. Much better than being caught with his pants down and looking for scraps after the frenzy like last year.

Good. Now go get a starter.

Probably doesn’t mean anything, but the Sabres own website profiled: Savoie, Kasper, Kemmel, Lekkerimaki and Gauthier as possibilities at 9 Kulich Yurov, Snuggerud, Geekie and Korchinski at 16 and Miroshnichenko, Lambert, McGroarty, Firkus and Hutson at 28

I think a team targeting a D might want to be giving Adams a call to vault up to 9. I think it’s likely there’s a run shortly after Buffalo’s pick. Wonder what teams picking between 11 and 15 might give up to move up. We could move down and still pick up a good forward.

I think I'd be happiest with Yurov at 9, but I don't think the Sabres will go there. I think they will pick either Kasper or Savoie. I like both. Given the choice (which you nailed), I'm going with Savoie for the ceiling. But I'm not sure which one will end up the better player. I've taken a closer look at Lambert and do see a few elements that might attract the Sabres to him: he plays fast, he's got a competitive streak and he might be the best skater in the draft. But he just doesn't strike me as a guy who understands the game well enough or makes his teammates better. There are too many other interesting players at 9 or 16 to make him a consideration.

It’s going to take a few years to play itself out, but I am really interested to see how the Sabres analytics department impacts this draft. Forton had a interesting quote about how Ventura’s team was statistically “watching” every player everywhere and every time a player popped, Forton’s team would hone in for a closer first-hand look.

I don't see any world where Savoie busts. Can't think of a top 10 pick with with his profile who has He's probably going to be a Nik Ehlers level, but he's also got a chance to be Danny Briere. He's fearless and hyper-competitive. Of the players who look like they could be there, he's the one I seem to be gravitating to.

I think the Sabres have a greater chance of being a cap facilitating 3rd party in a Fiala trade than an actual fit for Fiala. I think the presence of Jeff Skinner probably precludes the acquisition of an expensive scoring winger.

High-character core Amerk with the skill set I can still see filling an NHL 4C role. Good signing.

I’ve always thought the opposite: It was McCrimmon trying to piss off Calgary to get them off the chase and get Adams to cave on his 4th piece and take a 2nd for a 3rd instead. I wonder how many of the people who don’t want to invest in Mittelstadt, Olofsson or Thompson have paid attention to Fiala’s first 5 post-draft years. Sweden, minors, 16 points, 48 points, 39 points.

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.