dudacek

Krebs bright light getting lost in the brilliance of JJ. Just like JJs often was to Quinn in the regular season. Those Krebs passes to nowhere have all but disappeared and he’s got a few absolutely elite assists, including the one on the winner tonight. He’s leading the playoffs in assists with 8 in 5 games. He’s also been sticking his nose into every dirty area he can find. I’m loving his game. Meanwhile, Peterka (4/4/8) is lighting up the best team in the AHL with skill while the refs have put away their whistles. He can’t not be in the NHL next year. Add in Rooster’s playoff leading 6 goals (3 helpers) and Amerks are 2-3-4 atop the AHL scoring chart

I might be pushing the case a bit with Poltapov, who also has a bulldog streak, but four of of our past five 1st and 2nd rounders project as scoring wingers. So it’s with a bit of discomfit when I say the guys who will probably make me happiest at 9 or 16 are also scoring wingers. I think the reason I am gravitating to Gauthier at 9 is because he seems to be where fit and value intersect the best and he adds a grit/power element to his skill. I have come around to whatever player has the most upside, while also being a perfect fit into the Cozens/Krebs play smart, play fast, team-first mould they’ve been installing, position be damned.

Brad May is the last of the ones who make you think “Sabre” 2 left. Not Alex Mogilny, who just missed at 990.

Correct. 3 to go, 2 of them hard and none of them easy.

Last night Quinn took a regular shift with Mersch and Malone and got a lot of extra shifts with McInnis and Rousek. Two of the 3 previous games it was a regular shift with Krebs and Peterka and extra shifts with Biro and Rousek. One of the Belleville games his primary line was Jankowski and Peterka. He’s been getting lots of ice time. The Amerks have had very little PP time the entire playoffs, which may be a significant factor. Not that he needs the PP to produce, just that it might help.

AJ Greer yaps and pokes in every scrum and has directly taunted the Rochester bench every time he’s scored. He’s like a minor-league caricature out there. I think you got the wrong first impression. I’ve watched Peterka 20-30 games minimum. He’s got Max’s skating stance and speed. But his game in general is nothing like 61. He’s a pretty smart hockey player who uses his linemates. Yes. He’s being challenged like never before and he hasn’t figured out a way to fight through it yet. Don’t think he’s been “bad” but he hasn’t been good either. Stat sheet says he’s getting shots but it doesn’t feel like he’s the threat to score he’s been for most of the season.

Campbell is correct. Some Swedish dude is also correct, but not good enough. 4 names left.

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=161181

Power might have something to say about 25.

Yes and yes. Five to go

Andreychuk is number 1 with 1639, followed by Housley at 1495. Perreault, Ramsay, Ramsey and Pominville are also correct. As is one of the guys you scratched out.

52?

I’d certainly consider him at 16. If he’s a top 10 talent and the prognosis for a full recovery is good, why not? Lot of observers are focused on the teams with multiple picks. That’s CBus at 12, us at 16, Anaheim at 23 and us, Montreal and Arizona twice in what, at the moment, are the final 4 picks.

This might be a tough one. The Sabres have drafted 13 players who have gone on to play 1,000 NHL games. Name them.

4 in the first 41 picks - one of our best situated drafts ever. Best comparable was 2013 when we had 8, 16, 35 and 38 (Ristolainen, Zadorov, Compher and Hurley). For those who tend to expect too much from draft picks, 3 full-time NHLers is a pretty good haul for what those picks typically deliver. Cross your fingers for a Barzal or a Pastrnak, but you shouldn’t expect one. The Sabres have had multiple 1st rounders in 9 drafts previous to this one. If we hang on to the picks it will be the 3rd time we pick 3 times in the first round. The best situated draft ever is ever is a toss-up between 1982 (6, 9, 16, 26 and 30) and 1983 (5, 10, 11, 31 and 34). We took Housley, Cyr, Andreychuk, Mike Anderson and Jens Johanssen, then Barrasso, Lacombe, Creighton, Tucker and Hajdu. In 2015 we had 4 of the first 31 but traded 21, 25 and 31 away. In 2014 we had just one 1st rounder, but 4 picks in the top 49 Last year we had 7 of the 1st 97, which had only previously happened in ‘82 and ‘83, back when there was just 21 teams, and 1970, when there were 14.

When I take a deeper dive into the possibilities, I will be paying the most attention to the prospects who present as being focused on self-improvement and good teammates, followed quickly by fearless and plays fast. The Adams Sabres have a type and I will be shocked if they don’t stick with it, especially at the top of the draft. I will not be surprised if they bypass more hyped options in order to chase type. I can almost guarantee they will not pick Brad Lambert - at 9 or at 16.

Wow. I’ve stopped talking about this stuff because nobody ever sees these things the same way. Two guys cutting across the middle at high speeds, not even really focused on each other because of two other guys in their way, reaching for a loose puck that just changed direction collided in a dangerous fashion. McAvoy wasn’t even intending to make a hit there. Braced himself at the last second when he realized what was coming and caught Aho in the worst spot, who tried to do get out of the way and never got that chance. Id love to crap on a scumbag Bruin play, but that was nothing but unfortunate.

Nemec, Jiricek, Slavkovsky, Cooley and Wright will be gone by our turn, correct? But at least one of Gauthier, Kemmel, Lekkerimaki and (outside chance) Savoie should be there at 9? And that group may overlap with names like Nazar, Geekie, Lambert, Yurov, Miroshnichenko, Kaspar and Ohgren, some of whom may also be there at 16, especially when you factor in some defencemen also being taken? And the way the draft stacks up (meaning it lack consensus), we shouldn't be surprised if we take 2 players at 9 and 16 some are going to think we could have had at 16 and 28? Am I reading this correctly, two months out? I'm seeing a lot of mocks where we are taking Gauthier (who is starting to look like my guy, pending someone sliding) and Korchinski (who seems like decent value but terrible fit).

So what you're saying is the Dahlin selection is another knock against Botterill because he had the best chance to take the best player available and didn't?

Exactly. There will be Robert Thomases, Nick Suzukis and Josh Norrises. Maybe even a Cale Makar. We just have to find them.

Jason Botterill took over a team that had two shiny new 2nd overall picks, a future Conn Smythe winner, and had just finished with 78 points. He guided it to seasons of 62, 76 and (prorated) 80 points. He finished 25th, 27th, and 31st. Three full years just to get back to the level of bad he started with. It's hard to believe anyone defends him.

Misinformation? I said he needs to put on weight. I never said he can't or won't. There's what, 800 players in the NHL and maybe 30 of them under 180 pounds? None of them are 150.

Even if Peterka and Quinn are pencilled in, Hinostroza, Eakin, Hayden and Bjork leave two more forward spots open. And that's not counting the fill-in spots Janko, Cagiulla, R2 and Murray had this year. There's room to add a forward or two.

When the Sabres went 16/9/3 to close the season, who was the #2 centre?

The dude was (is?) 150 pounds. It might be too obvious, but it’s hardly irrelevant.