dudacek

Not that people invest much into such things around here any more, but McKeen’s has put out its list of the top 30 prospects outside the NHL, with Sabres putting three players on the list: 10 Savoie 14 Levi 22 Kulich. Will Smith, Matvei Michkov and Brandt Clarke were 1-3.

For better or worse he believes in what he is building. Does anyone remember what the buzz was prior to the 2005 lockout? Nearly every significant piece on the 110-point 2006 team was in the organization when the team finished with 85 points in 2004. I think the only significant adds were Numminen and Lydman. https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000332004.html All we can do is what we do every year: hope he’s right.

I get the stylistic comparison, I just think the difference in raw numbers put Eiserman on another level. It’s a significant gap.

Respectfully, I don't see him profiling with those guys. Wahlstrom is probably the closest. He had 70 goals in 88 games playing mostly with Jack Hughes, Bellows had 66 in 85. Dal Colle had 39 in 67 in the OHL. Eiserman had 92 goals in 88 games for the national program this year! And he had similar numbers against similar competition as a 16-year-old. As far as i can tell nobody has really profiled like Eiserman. Caufield is the only one close.

7. Wheeler says he sees the concerns, but also thinks the kid has been overanalyzed. Says his goal scoring ability is too rare to ignore, especially for an August birthday. He doesn’t cite him, but his take made me think of Mike Bossy.

Sorry to drop hockey in the football thread, but I’m real curious to see what the spree of contracts Adams has handed out over the past few years look like in a few years. Thompson and Cozens already rank 34 and 36 among centres with 6 years left in the deals. Always wondered how much influence the analytics department had on that thought process.

Yeah, Even in his write up, Wheeler acknowledges that he will go earlier. I think his Eiserman and Lindstrom rankings show where Wheeler falls in the size/skill debate.

”We’ve been without a 3C for more than 2 months now! What the hell is the matter with that guy!” 😄 Ive got interest in all your suggestions, but from that group I’d look hardest at Roy. Bennett and Cirelli are pipe dreams, Kerfoot is too soft, Stevenson and Karlsson too pricey. A $3 million 35-point guy who plays hard and with structure is my sweet spot.

Theodore? Aren’t you the guy who thinks we are already spending too much money on the D-core and also thought the Sabres were crazy to add another puck-moving LHD in Byram? Love the player, don’t see the fit. I think Larsson is a very good defensive RHD and would be happy to effectively flip Jokiharju+ a pick or prospect to add him as a full-season rental. Doubt that happens. I think you’re shopping in the wrong stores. The Sabres aren’t looking for big game on the back end. They already made their move for a 22-year-old Shea Theodore and are not adding another top 3 defenceman.

Don't get me wrong, I think that: A: the Sabres would have a much more balanced and complete D corps by flipping Jokiharju for a more stay-at-home, physical 4/5 RD B: Jokiharju is done as a Sabre due to the cap and contract situation. I just think he has value the others on your list do not have, particularly as an RD who can skate. Seems like teams are always looking for those..

Do people really consider Jokiharju 'fringe'? The math says there are 192 D positions available in the NHL. Last year Jokiharju was: 105 in points 125 in ice time per game 39 in plus/minus 104 in blocked shots 83 in hits 109 in giveaways per 60 Statistically he seems almost the definition of a 4/5 🤷‍♂️

Another interesting tidbit: Wheeler believes that the top five D in this draft are all better prospects than the two defencemen picked at #5 and #6 overall last year. That's 3 Levshunov, 4 Buium, 5 Parekh, 6 Dickinson and 9 Silayev. His #11 is Lindstrom, a pick that would make a lot of people around here pretty happy if it happens.

Scott Wheeler has his final list out in the Athletic and the most interesting thing to me is how he has it it tiered: #4 is on the same tier as #11, meaning we should see at least one player he’s very high on slide to our spot. The 2nd most interesting thing to me is how the top guys in his 4th tier (12 and 13 overall) are Yakemchuk and Iginla, 2 guys who are very highly touted by a lot of people. Everything I am seeing tells me there are going to be names available at 11 that some teams will be shocked are still available. Which is good news for Buffalo, whether we make the pick, or are trying to trade it.

He's only played 3 college seasons, so he's got one more year. Still a longshot prospect, but he bounced back with some nice numbers in Western Michigan after a terrible D2 season in North Dakota.

To my way of thinking there is such a wide range of potential results for so many Sabres players that they are going to be a very difficult team to predict regardless of who they add. They pretty much have to count on a lot of their roster being better. Given ages and track records that's not a huge stretch. Adding Byram to the top 4 and dumping EJ was their big move on the blueline. But they can't stop there. They have to — at minimum — upgrade the team's overall effectiveness using the slots (likely) vacated by Girgensons, Olofsson, Okposo, Mittelstadt, Jost and Comrie.

I was trying to avoid the "if everything goes right" scenario and focus on the context of what the actual roster needs. Go back to your earlier post of it being a template: most of us like the idea of adding a centre, a physically strong defensive defenceman and hard-to-play against winger. You said the upgrade offered by those three pieces won't get us into the playoffs. How good does our upgrade need to be?

OK. But what if you add Byrum replacing EJ to that context? Thompson and Cozens bouncing back? The health of Quinn and Samuelsson? How much of an upgrade of those 3 departing players do we need to win 5 more games next year?

Two years ago we got: Breakout/career years from Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens, Mittelstadt, Olofsson and Dahlin And disappointing years from nobody of consequence. Last year we got: Breakout/career years from Luukkonen and Peterka And disappointing years from Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens, Olofsson, Quinn, Samuelsson and - to a lesser extent - Power. Of course I want Adams to make adds, but in my opinion the success or failure of the coming year rests largely on what versions we get of players already on the roster. Thompson, Cozens, Quinn and Power in particular.

@Brawndo can speak for himself, but I read that exactly opposite of the way you did. I read it that it is Kevyn’s interference that holds Jerry back. If he wasn’t here, Jerry would have more power and influence than he does.

I’m fully prepared for a knee-jerk “not another small, skilled forward”. He’s a better prospect at 18 than Savoie was and goes 3-8 in most drafts. You take him at 11 without hesitation.

This becomes even more interesting if you build it out to include a few more productive Sabre centres Turgeon 40/66/106 Hawerchuk 23/75/98 Hawerchuk 16/80/96 Briere 32/53/95 Thompson 47/47/94 Hawerchuk 31/58/89 Turgeon 34/54/88 Hawerchuk 35/51/86 Eichel 28/54/82 Turgeon 32/47/79 Eichel 36/42/78 Luce 33/43/76 Ruuttu 26/45/71 Luce 21/49/70 Drury 37/32/69 Luce 23/46/69 Thompson 38/30/68 Drury 30/37/67 Ruuttu 23/42/65 Briere 28/37/65 Eichel 25/39/64 Luce 26/35/61 Luce 26/35/61 (yes, he did it twice) Ruuttu 14/46/60 Ruuttu 19/41/60 Briere 25/33/58 Eichel 24/33/57 Thompson 29/27/56 Luce 26/30/56 Eichel 24/32/56 Drury 18/35/53

Andreychuk and Ramsay is an interesting debate for #2 at left wing. One of the best net-front specialists of all time and a hall-of-famer versus one of the best defensive forwards of all-time and a Selke winner. Andreychuk is 2nd all-time in franchise points, Ramsay 4th. Ramsay is 2nd and Andreychuk 6th in franchise games played. While each was dominant on his half of special teams, I’ll take Rammer as the better ES player. That +324 over a career spent lining up against the best the NHL had to offer still blows me away. And my #4 goes to Thomas Vanek, who ranks very high in all the statistical categories, but was also probably the best weapon for a very good run of Sabre teams and showed a ton of courage for the abuse he took in front game in and game out. Without knocking Vanek - who was an excellent Sabre - there’s not many others worthy of consideration.

Seeing Eichel pop up on a few lists makes me wonder how history will compare him and Tage Thompson as Sabres. Eichel had 5 good years to Thompson’s 3 and has a significant lead in career points, but Thompson certainly has time to make up the gap and his recent years stack up pretty well Thompson 47/47/94 Eichel 28/54/82 Eichel 36/42/78 Thompson 38/30/68 Eichel 25/39/64 Eichel 24/33/57 Thompson 29/27/56 Eichel 24/32/56 I think you have to take into account how Eichel may have been robbed of a 90-point year by COVID. It all comes down to how much of an outlier 22/23 was for Thompson. If he has another point-per-game season or two in his holster, history will probably come down on his side.

Ramsay is a nice segue to a best LW post. To me there is only one choice for #1. Rick Martin is 3rd all-time in franchise points and 2nd in goals, 2nd in goals per game and 11th all-time in NHL goals per games played. He’s one of only 2 Sabres to score 50 twice, he finished top 10 in NHL goal scoring 5 times. Eight 30 goal seasons in his first nine, and he had 28 when injuries cut short the ninth. 2-time first team all-star, 2-time 2nd team all-star. Hasek is the only Sabre to dominate his position more on a league-wide basis for such an extended period of time. It’s too bad injuries cut his career short. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

In a cap system, there are only so many players you can commit to long-term. The Sabres are close to that cap already with Dahlin, Samuelsson, Power, Cozens, Thompson (and Skinner). Within the next few years, they will have to make similar calls on Peterka, Quinn, Byram, Tuch and UPL. And they have Benson, Savoie, Kulich, Östlund, Rosen and Levi coming. Your position makes a lot more sense for a team like Calgary, or a team where the Sabres were 3 years ago than it does for the Sabres now.