dudacek

Vanek is quite good. Seems a lot more savvy than the hosts.

There seems to be a lot of options out there and you get the sense Adams is leaving no stone unturned. I think filling that number 4 spot has been a huge priority and they’ve done a done of work identifying what’s needed and the best available fits. Really curious who their top targets are and how much they are willing to pay.

He's going to really have to wash out for me to give up after 2-years. You're looking at at least 5 years with goalies. Look at the 2017 draft. Oettinger was the top goalie picked and arrived relatively quickly. The next most successful guys (UPL and Stuart Skinner) are just starting to show up this year.

Victor no longer has a spot; that’s why he didn’t play down the stretch and it’s why he’s being moved. His replacement on the roster is already here in Jordan Greenway. Adams sacrificed excess scoring in his middle six wing group for a boost in size and defensive awareness. The combination of Greenway and whatever Adams uses Victor for needs to benefit the team more than Olofsson and the 2nd he gave up for Greenway.

I’m in a comfortable place with the draft. Nobody bats 1.000, but the Sabres are on a run of either drafting players I’ve liked, or proving me wrong when I’ve questioned their choices. It’s been proven to me that Adams, Forton and Ventura are better at the draft than the internet is. If they pick a guy I’m meh on, chances are I’m probably the one who’s wrong.

Those Athletic quotes from anonymous scouts seem to indicate he is very high on some people’s lists. 6’5” and highly skilled? I’d tend to think he’s underrated on some lists due to lack of exposure. Might be a top 10 talent. I’d be fine with Adams taking a swing.

We thinking that when we do a checklist of what this D needs there aren’t many NHLers who tick more boxes than Pesce.

The offence really doesn’t matter to me. Im looking for Mattias Ekholm. Ive said it before, and it’s why I haven’t been really concerned about the lack of D in the pipeline: it’s a helluvalot easier to find a 4-6 than a 1-3. Having Power and Dahlin around for a decade is going to be a privilege this franchise has never seen the likes of.

I like the Heiskanen/Ekblad comparables Lance uses above for Power. Adjust those for today’s cap and we have a fair deal. I like even more the report that each wants to be a Sabre long-term. I was pretty sure that was the case was Dahlin, not so sure about Power.

I believe it was the Joe and Lance podcast where they pitched the idea of Olofsson to Calgary, who desperately needs a finisher. Tanev was mentioned. Vegas was another team they said might be interested (Martinez) and Winnipeg (Demelo). They were spitballing teams who might need an Olofsson and have what we need, not passing along rumours. They also said a market might be there despite the holes in his game for 3 reasons: Olofsson can kickstart a lot of power plays in a way many players can’t the list of players who score 25 goals for $2.5 million (with retention) is very short his acquisition cost and/or contract commitment is a lot easier to swallow than other scorers on the market like Debrincat and Tarasenko. I think he moves at the draft.

A pretty good argument can be made that Florida’s overly physical style ended with them being so battered by the finals they didn’t belong in the same rink as Vegas. There has to be a smart element to your physicality. Vegas seems to have that balance. Guys like Cozens Krebs Tuch and Mule seem to be in that mold. Greenway is intended to be a step in that direction. Certainly would like to see that from our new 4D.

Do you not think he was set up to fail by being forced into the lineup as Ryan O’Reilly’s replacement at age 20, then marginalized by Ralph Krueger?

I so want this kid to have a career that reflects what he did this year. He’s like Tage to me in the sense that he was horribly mishandled under Botterill and ***** on for years by the fans, and yet has just put his head down, didn’t act entitled about anything, kept plugging away, and turned himself into a hockey player. So easy to root for.

I’m going to be surprised if the Sabres don’t try for McCarthy. Think he’s there for us at our pick in the 3rd?

Isn’t his buddy Ott also an assistant there? Don’t like it, but I hope we have to get used to this. Usually means our guys are doing a good job and earning promotions.

They did try to fix their goaltending, but failed (Murray, Comrie and apparently Gibson). Trying from day 1 with a blank slate, it still took Vegas 6 years. The Sabres wiped the slate clean 2 years ago. Vegas missed the playoffs last year with roughly the same amount of points the Sabres had this year. But at least they tried.

Jack was asked about it directly

Still not sure how management turning a 37-point team into a 91-point team, armed with one of the best groups of U25 talent and cap situations in the league in 2 years is "not trying to win", but OK.

I think Jack's point is that the Sabres didn't surround him with the talent needed to win while he was here. I don't think he was giving one second of thought to what the Sabres have done since he was traded in that answer.

Simashev seems like he sits at the crossroads of ability, ranking, need and tendencies for Buffalo and IMO is the one individual I could pinpoint as "likely". But generally, I suspect the Sabres will end up with a forward they have ranked in the top 10 from a group of forwards the consensus has ranked between 8-ish and 20-ish.

I’ll ask him and let you know.

Who’s up for offer sheeting Will Borgen? 4 years, $2.1 million per, it would cost us a 3rd if the Kraken don’t match.

Because the Sabres seem more invested than most in Russia: Athletic quotes from anonymous scouts. It’s always hard to project where top Russian prospects will land in a draft, but that’s especially the case since the invasion of Ukraine. We discussed Michkov earlier, but where do the Lokomotiv duo of Daniil But (wing) and Dmitri Simashev (defenseman) go? Both are huge players with intriguing talent. Scout 1: “But should be top 15, wouldn’t surprise me at all if he went in the top 10. You compare him to some of the other big wingers like Samuel Honzek, Quentin Musty or Matthew Wood and he’s better than them for me.” Scout 2: “Simashev is just as good as David Reinbacher as a player for me, probably better, but one obviously has a lot less risk as a draft pick so Reinbacher will likely go ahead. Simashev has top-pair potential in the NHL. He’s a 6-foot-4, clear NHL caliber skating defenseman who is solid defensively and can move the puck well.” Executive 1: “Simashev is a good player. He’s big, can skate and can defend like a pro. The lack of offense does worry me a little bit. If you’re stepping up with a high pick for a player in Russia, you’d like them to be a real player, and there’s a chance you may just be drafting a defensive third-pair guy.” Executive 2: “But is top 10 all day on pure ability. He’s a rare talent, has all the offensive tools, can skate and is massive. Just a matter of when someone is willing to draft him, likely in the first.” Executive 3: “It wouldn’t surprise me if But ended up anywhere in the first round. You saw last year with Danila Yurov those guys could slide to the 20s, but he’s a top 10, if not top 5 talent in this draft, and he could end up going that high too.” Executive 4: “They’re both top 10 talents in the draft. Whether you’re willing to pull that trigger or not high in the draft is another story, but they’re high-echelon players.” Scout 3: “Everyone is going to have a top tier of players, the guys they are confident will have long NHL careers. That group could be 8, 10, 12 players deep depending on your opinion of the draft class. Once all the no-doubters are gone, we start talking about But, because on talent, he belongs in that category. Simashev is a little later for me; closer to 20-25 it starts becoming a serious conversation. Executive 5: “If But was playing in the CHL he would be a top 5 pick, Simashev close to top 10.” Scout 4: “I think both are going to go in the top half of the first round, Russian factor included. They’re just too good.”

That would be a major mistake IMO. The team needs better than Stillman or Lyubushkin to elevate when injuries inevitably strike.

I read a lot of other stuff from the site - Lebrun, Duhatschek, Wheeler and Russo in particular - but if Fairbairn is gone I might be too.