LGR4GM

Let's talk about Liam Greentree. Sorry, I meant OHL Captain at 17, Liam Greentree. The 6'2" 198lbs RW with a freaking Jan 1 bday... meaning he has at least 2 more OHL years left, had 36g, 90pts for the Spitfires in the OHL this season which ranked him first on his team and clear of #2 by 24 points. His team isn't very good and is rebuilding, so that explains some of that. Also of note is that there is only 1 player with at least 30 games played and has a better +/- on the team. Basically, his team was bad but he was good in comparison. Captain Greentree's consolidated ranking is #11 which is interesting and there is, I think, a great chance he is there at 11 for Buffalo. His u18 tourney was fine but not spectacular so it wont be like Iginla who basically played himself into a top 10 pick. Scouts and teams LOVE the u18s and thrive on recency bias. Btw, any short tournament is weird so don't freak out and it is all about opportunity. Gavin McKenna lead the team as a 16yr old with 20pts because... he's absurd. Iginla has 12pts and Greentree had 4. So it was kinda meh in comparison. BTW McKenna will be the first overall pick in 2026. Moving on. What's to like? Dirty f-ing dangles boys. Kids got great hands and will dangle, deke, and otherwise manipulate you. He can couple that with a fairly nice shot, it isn't on the level of Iginla or Catton but it is already fairly good. He will score goals at the NHL level (20+). I think his ability to dangle really will make him a threat because he can use a solid base with nice hands to drive the center and either shoot or make a great pass. My slight concern is that he isn't as smart as I would love. Certainly a smart player with great vision but there are some times where you are just like... wtf? Idk if part of that is he was on a team where it was him... and ummm... the guy 24pts below him? He tries to do too much some times. Okay, that said he has good vision. He sees players and has the hands to manipulate a defender to get that puck where he wants. I like that he plays with pace and finds spots in coverage. His skating has 2 sides, first is that he has a strong base with nice edges. You see him link his east west movement with the dekes and it looks great. The issue, he doesn't have speed or quickness yet. It takes time to get up to speed and there are short area times where that first stride is slow and the defender catches him. I don't hate his skating, it just isn't great. He looks average in the OHL and I wish his skating overall was more dynamic. He reminds me of lesser Benson in that he doesn't have the pull away speed but lesser in the sense that Benson makes up for it with this kind of slashing attacking style that mitigates it. Greentree could use his edges more in that way. Benson doesn't have great top speed but he hits his top speed fast. Greentree isn't there, he can get there, he's only 18 right now. Alright, he's 6'2" so the inevitable question is how physical is this dude? We talking Brady Tkachuk or Victor Olofsson here? Well, ummm I don't love his physicality. Sometimes, he will cut the hands of the defender, throw his butt out and use his body to get where or what he wants. Other times, he sorta stick checks or there is a well known clip in everyone's scouting report of a little fly by he does that makes me want to slap him. Now, those IMPO are more outlier-ish. I would say 3 times out of 10 he sorta mails it in physically (so 7/10 physically) versus say Yakemchuk who is like an 11 out of 10.... Dude might need to dial that physicality back. Greentree isn't a "power forward" but he could develop into one. Consistency is the key here. Overall at 11, I probably would lean Greentree over Yakemchuk (who I am using here because I just watched Yakemchuk). I think there is a bit more runway with Greentree compared to Yakemchuk. I think Greentree has a lot of good ideas and skills but he needs that refinement part just like everyone at #11 will. Overall I wish he was a bit more consistent in his compete level but I always want Zach Benson levels of compete and that's more rare. Like the player, don't love him but he is a leader on a rebuilding team who still manages to be really good even as a 17/18yr old in the OHL. At 11, this would be a solid pick. You could do a lot worse at 11 than Greentree who IMPO projects out to a 2nd pairing winger with some first pairing potential if he cleans up the skating and gets a bit more physical. Sometimes he reminds me a bit of Alex Tuch if you wanted a Sabres comp, keeping in mind these are based on style not 1to1 will be like that guy.

This was about the Leafs, but it fully applies to how Granato coached the Sabres and how Adams has spoken the past year or so. I think the bold in particular sums up how Granato had this team playing last year and I think or hope Lindy Ruff changes that. Still, they need to decide are they building a tight checking team that wins 2-1 and 3-1 or are they building a push back the defense type of team that will pummel you 6-3? Guess we will find out this offseason but the bold really spoke to how I viewed last years Sabres.

Haven't finished doing homework yet. Need all the draft guides to get the final feel. But let's do a little report on Yakemchuk. He's 6'3" 194lbs and racked up 120pm this past season. He has a VERY VERY early birthday for the draft being only 13 days removed from being 2023 draft eligible. So he is old for the draft class. He has 3 full WHL years already under his belt. He's gotten better each year but there hasn't been some massive jump, it has been steady growth. He was second on his WHL team this season in both goals (30) and points (71) which is notable for a defender. Really quick, he had the most goals for a defender in the WHL, not draft eligible, I mean alllll WHL defenders. Next closes guy is 26 and the 3rd guy is 18g. His team isn't particularly good and there is not a single player on that roster that was already drafted in the NHL. To put that in perspective, Savoie is on a roster where there are 6 other drafted prospects and the highest scoring one had 126 pts versus the 80pt leader of Yakemchuk's team. To recap, this is an older prospect for his class, steady increase in production, plays on a bad team in the WHL, would be Rochester eligible after this next season, is big and powerful. One final note from the Athletic article about him last month is this quote: He has good not great skating. I think his short area quickness and acceleration needs work. I agree with other scouts who question those aspects and you can see at times it takes 3,4,5 strides to get going and that worries me a little bit. His edges are fairly good though and he has agility so hopefully the quickness comes. Defensively, I think he is solid. He still has some work to do with managing risks and being better positionally but since everyone worries about a defender being gritty... he doesn't have 120PIM because he is a lazy stick checker. He is a little over aggressive which is great because he will physically remove you from the play... but also sometimes you can't just knock a guy over. He needs to pick his spots a bit better but he is a physical defender and his defensive highlights show that in spades. Gritty is a good word. Again, work to do defensively but he isn't Parekh where the defensive side of the game is more of a afterthought. His shot is great, there's a drag wrister I love and he has a solid slapper too. I think the shot will only get better in time. He is the type of guy on a PP2 that you could let drop bombs from the point. Dude has some moves too, dekes and the like. I think there is a fair amount of manipulation for a defender. I actually appreciate how slow it looks like he moves when he dekes but how fast the puck is actually moving. It is a because when he moves that big old frame, the end of his stick moves way more than the top of his body. Honestly his puckhandling might be one of my favorite qualities he has. Go watch highlights, there are dekes and fakes and quite honestly that ***** which you love to see in forwards... but he's a defender. Honestly if you moved him to forward, I think it would work. Still, the offense is the best part of his game and in the ozone he is really good. Bottom line is that at 11, he would be an option. Not my first option, judging by how I think of others but it wouldn't be a major reach. He would add a big strong RHD to the pool that would have another year in jr and then 1-2 years in Rochester before joining the team. Very much could be a replacement for whichever defender 3 years from now we need to move on from and fills a hole next to either Dahlin or Power, I think Power on line 2 is a better fit. I like the player but he is old for the class, has some quickness questions, and overall might not be the best player available at 11.

Here's a somewhat bizarre mock in which Catton doesn't go top 16, which seems suspect.

Got it, you favor Power.

Great movie

Which player will end their career, being talked about and ranked above the either, because most or all definitions of better apply to one more than the other.

Nope

Do you think Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power will have a better career?

Unsure currently.

Calgary is gonna take him.

Lol now we get to the heart of it.

Here's a thread dedicated to everyone who wants the pick traded. You wanna trade it and talk about trading it and tell everyone you want it traded, here's the thread for you. This thread is an attempt, which ik will fail, to keep the takes of "trade the pick" out of the 2024 draft thread which is about picks and draftable players. So, here yea go. Have at it.

Oh cool, what was the insult?

Okay, trade it. Find a gritty top 6 guy and trade the pick with a prospect.

I think maybe in 2023, 2019 Maroon would have helped.

Oh ***** well if you remember it, it must be true right? Very well could have been against Maroon in 2019. Don't think he moves the needle for that team, it has significant issues.

God, if there is a God, maybe you could help the Sabres win a little. I'd really like to see the playoffs again.

thxs ... i hate it

All the assistants who were being fired have been fired. Ellis might be reassigned but I would guess Lindy adds 1 person to that staff sometime this summer. Bales has UPL's improvement to hang his hat on right now so he's safe. Wilford being around is a little surprising but they must believe in the defense.