dudacek

The feel-rights: There are a number of players in that large 2nd tier that maybe aren’t talented enough to invest a top 10 pick in, but still have a great deal of appeal for me. I’ve identified 3 of them that I’ve kinda locked into as “my guys” at 16. It wasn’t that long ago when the draft thread focused on our need for a defensively strong right-handed defenceman. The player who best fits this profile for me is Ryan Chesley. I don’t think he’s going to be Charlie McAvoy, but he plays a similar game and fills a gaping hole in our pipeline. I wonder if the Sabres see Liam Ohgren as an early developer and dock him accordingly. I hope not. Because the Ohgren I see is the type of all-around 2nd-line winger who wins pucks and hockey games. I see a guy who can be for the Sabres what a Palat or Killorn has been for the Lightning. His production against his peers has been outstanding. If Ohgren is Gauthier-light, then maybe Rutger McGroarty is Gauthier minus the overdrive? Smart, skilled and a character guy, he’s another pro-style winger who should settle in in the middle-six. The only thing setting him back is a lack of speed. Ohgren is my clear target at 16. If he gets picked earlier, either of the others might be a bit of a reach for some, but I think the fit is too good to ignore.

The question marks: There are 4 players in this draft you’ll see people refer to as “He’s a top 10 talent but…” I don’t see it in Brad Lambert. I see a great skater with good skill who doesn’t understand hockey. It’s a bad match when combined with a personality that seems the opposite of a culture fit here. With Conor Geekie, I get it. He’s big with great hands and he sees the ice really well. His skating is just OK, and I don’t see a guy who takes his craft seriously enough. Danila Yurov is a guy Sabrespace doesn’t talk about enough. He ticks all the size, skill, skating, and smarts boxes and seems to have a good attitude and play a complete game. The Russian factor is really the only minus for me. I don’t think Ivan Miroshnichenko is as skilled as Yurov, but he’s a skilled power forward who plays hard. I sometimes look at Gauthier and wonder where the separation is between the two. There’s a sense of uncertainty with both Russians, both from the political perspective, but also from the fact that it’s harder to get a feel for their character. Plus there is the cancer thing. I trust the Sabres to do their homework on either, so that if they picked Yurov at 9 and/or Miroshnichenko at 16 I’d be very happy because the on-ice package is worth it. I can see why some team would want Geekie at 16. Hope it’s not us. Lambert does not interest me at all.

The centres: Personally, I think the Sabres will - and probably should - hone in on one of three guys with the 9th pick: Frank Nazar, Marco Kasper or Matthew Savoie. All 3 are competitive pace-pushers who are great fits within the team identity Adams is building. All 3 are centres who can play wing. Savoie’s skill is getting overlooked a bit here I think. Late-season injuries and size concerns have calmed his hype train, but he’s certainly in the ballpark with the most-skilled players in this draft and you can’t ignore that at 9. He’s fast, he competes hard and he produces. The question is whether you can find someone at 9 who can do more for you 5-on-5. Kasper has rocketed up the charts. He’s yet to fill out but has already shown he can compete with men. I think more than anyone else under consideration he ticks all of Adams’ tendency boxes. He’s going to be bigger than the other two and probably better in his own zone. I have no doubt he will be a useful NHLer. The question with him is whether he has the offensive upside worth investing a top 10 pick in. Nazar stylistically falls in between the other two for me: he’s skilled but not as skilled as Savoie; and he’s got matchup potential, but is not as big or smart as Kasper. He pushes pace as well as anyone in the draft but I wonder a bit about his self-awareness. His speed and his courage is top-notch. He’s not a sure fire 1st-liner (none of these three are), but I think he can play anywhere in the top 9 and in all-situations. I think I’d love any of these guys at 12. At 9, I’m probably still hoping they take one of them, but I feel like I will probably be second-guessing which one for quite some time

The defencemen: Most of us are ignoring defencemen with our top 2 picks because of Power and Dahlin. Maybe we shouldn’t be. Both our picks are in the range where you typically see D taken and there are at least 3 - Denton Mateychuk, Kevin Korchinski, and Pavel Mintyukov - who could go in that range. All 3 are LD and offensively inclined, which does not make sense for us. Putting that aside, I think Mateychuk is well-rounded if smallish, and the other 2 are very talented. I particularly like Mintyukov. I’m not going to be happy if the Sabres pick one at 16 or even 9, but I’m certainly open to the possibility he might be the best player available

The talented wingers: Two players you will most frequently see rounding out the top 10 are Johnathan Lekkerimaki and Joakim Kemmel. Each are frequently mocked to Buffalo. And it fits, because late in the top 10 is the right spot for guys who project as a Willie Nylander or a Nikolaj Ehlers. These guys are skilled. I see red flags, however, on each. Kemmel plays hard, but may lack that “room to grow” gene the Sabres covet. Lekkerimaki definitely has that gene, but strikes me as more passive and perimeter than the type that typically stokes Adams’ fire. Couple that with the number of scoring wingers already in the organization, and I’d like to see the Sabres look elsewhere at 9. But there is too much talent to ignore at 16 if one of them somehow slips. I don’t expect them to.

This is how I see the Sabres choices: The dream: Most projections have coalesced into a 5-player group that will go top 10. You’ll find Cutter Gauthier further down on some lists, but you won’t come draft day. He ticks too many boxes. Maybe he’s not an elite talent, but he’s a complete talent. He fills a big Sabre need for a power forward and would perfectly complement the likes of Krebs and Cozens. I don’t hesitate if by some miracle he’s still there at 9.

The Sabres under Adams definitely have a type: self-aware, self-motivated good teammates who push the pace. And they have some tendencies: speed, smarts and lots of room to grow. I tend to value smarts and compete and devalue players who lack both, but also put a lot of emphasis on building a complete team. I’d like to see the Sabres stick with the “up-tempo” model while adding some heft to their pipeline. I don’t like drafting for position, but all things being equal we already have a lot of puck-moving D and scoring wingers in the system.

Most drafts I tend to look hard at the prospects through 3 filters: who is projected to go around where the Sabres are picking? what are the Sabres tendencies given what they’ve shown us and told us about their goals? what package of player characteristics do I like and think the Sabres need? Using this, I usually find it relatively easy to determine the ones I want them to take. Not this year, though, the needs are too precise and the projections all over board. There is an enormous 2nd tier and the Sabres are picking right at the beginning of it, then right in the heart of it, then soon enough after it closes to hope somebody falls.

I’m becoming a big fan of Ohgren at 16 and not really wanting Lekkerimaki at 9. But a player to watch is their centre, Noah Ostlund. Kid’s not big, but he’s got game. Im reminded of a few years back when the sniper Laine and the bull Puljujarvi got all the hype while no one paid too much attention to the skinny kid in the middle for Team Finland. Sebastian Aho turned out the best of the 3. Ostlund probably won’t be there at 28, but I’d grab him there if he was.

I’m seeing Weber’s contract to the Knights for Dadanov?

That is unexpected and a bit of coup for the Sabres staff, I’d say.

@LGR4GM Echoing thoughts above about your dad and your list. I've been thinking a lot about how the Sabres draft: fearless, relentless, committed to self-improvement, self-aware, on-ice intelligence, good teammate, trending upward... When I'm looking at how those qualities apply to the players that might be available where we pick, I find myself looking more and more at Kasper.

It makes so much sense it has to be the plan right? We can't have another Botterill in charge, right?

The line combos will be interesting. Assuming good health, I’m really interested in how adding inexperienced skill in Quinn and Peterka over filler like Eakin/Hayden/Bjork changes his deployment approach.

I am reminded of that old quote about “you don’t really know what an NHL player will be until he’s got at least 200 games under his belt. Our 4th most veteran forward has just over 300. Something to think about when passing judgement on guys like Mitts, Asplund, Olofsson, and even Cozens, who feel like they’ve been around forever.

I think I like Nazar; he's highly competitive and fearless and fast, and he complements that with good skill. I have a nagging question about the flexibility(not sure if that's the right term?) of his game. I wonder if he is the type of guy who would continue to throw himself against a wall again and again, even if it doesn't work, rather than find a way to go around it?

You’ve got a healthier outlook than me, looking at 9 as the pick of the litter in the 2nd tier. I see it more choosing between a dozen guys at 9 that I’m OK picking around 12 or 13 and desperately hoping the scouts get the Larkin and not the Rasmussen. 16 sits easier with me, because we’re going to be picking from a half-dozen guys there that I’d be OK picking at 12 or 13. Very much open to trading the 9th pick: up, down or for a player.

Really getting the sense that Quinn and Peterka already give us what Lekkeramaki and Kemmel would, except more. Skinner and Olofsson already on the team, Rosen and Kisakov coming...would much rather not take a specialist scoring winger with such a crucial pick as 9, especially when they don't seem special. Geekie has Dylan Strome written all over him. Not my type of player.

This is correct and I am aware of the nuance. Don’t believe it changes my point Not meant to be snark and not directed at you: Acquiring Bishop’s contract and a 7th-rounder for $700,000 cash is a smart Adminstrative move that gives the Sabres useful flexibility under the cap to make the player moves they want to make. They were always going to be going youth-heavy while trying to acquire the right upgrades on Eakin, Anderson and Pysyk, as well as a few veteran depth guys. This doesn’t change that. It might help facilitate it. The evidence is above for anyone actually wanting to understand it. Im done with this thread.

No I understood that. My point was that I wasn’t worried about the regulations, I was worried about next year’s Amerks not having many players I’d have a large vested interest in. This year was a treat in that regard.

Good Instigators OT episode with Peca where he talks Amerks. Was interesting to listen to hear the difference hearing him talk about Peterka/Krebs/Quinn (loves them and clearly expects long NHL careers) and Ruotsalainen (loves him and hopes he can adapt his game enough to be an NHL 4th liner) He’s another one who gives us reason to believe Rousek might be a dark horse to emerge next year.

But there are those of us who view the Amerks first as a factory for building Sabres and we want that factory to have plenty of raw material to work with.

I would trade up for Nemec or Gauthier, but probably not at the price that will be demanded.

It absolutely does. If you simply add 3 Folignos to get to the floor, you have 15 forwards, one of which has to go to minors because of roster limits. You can’t send down the more expensive Foligno in favour of a Quinn because you would drop below the floor again. There is a workaround though. You could acquire a dead money IR contract to get you over the floor. If that contract is big enough, you could send down or waive or trade whoever you want and not have to worry about that move dropping you under the floor. That’s the biggest irony of this frustrating thread; People are saying the Sabres got Bishop so they don’t have to pay some more veterans. Getting him actually means they can.

Did we know Andrew Copp played for Donnie on the USNDP team in 11/12 (Along with Hayden and Butcher?) No idea of the relationship, just thought it interesting given Don’s high degree of influence on last summer’s acquisitions. If we do any shopping at the big boy’s table, Copp’s physicality and 2-way play put him at the front of my list.