LGR4GM

I'm with you in that I won't believe Adams has changed until he does.

Nygard btw was in the top 4 for well rounded, most physical, highest motor.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5554222/2024/06/15/2024-nhl-draft-class-superlatives?source=user-shared-article 2024 class superlatives, Helenius and Nygard on a few of these. Both might be there at 11.

pronman is high in catton?!?

If that were to happen than KA did real good and deserves lots of praise for his patience and development plan.

What if Benson comes to training camp and can skate like McDavid and grew 2"? I understand your point. I'm trying to be realistic.

Okay. Joel Ek and Sam Bennett.

I agree. I would have added him but decided only signed players and RFAs for this.

That just isn't going to happen. He'd never get enough pp time even if they put him on the roster. You add Kulich next year, you're looking at 12-15g if you give him pp time and maybe 12 assists. The Sabres should be able to sign a better middle 6 player. Perhaps I'm realistic about what a 20yr old late 1st round pick producing .7ppg in the AHL with no chance in hell at a top 6 role is capable of as a rookie in the NHL. Savoie, he could surprise but that's if he beats out Krebs for a 3rd line spot. Still, we're talking 30ish points.

Then he failed. He didn't bring in good enough talent.

Jack Quinn isn't a little guy.

I just don't think Solberg is any better than a guy like Badkina.

This kinda proves my point. You can take Badinka at 45 or Solberg at 15, might as well do Badinka.

I disagree, I think if all he was is a 6'2" physical defender he would be a top 25 consensus pick because we see that archetype in most drafts. Our pipeline has plenty of physical defenders, many of whom were found outside the first round. Novikov, Kovarov, Strbak, McCarthy. Personally I don't see anything in his profile that separates him from strbak. You can find similar players to Stolberg in round 2 at 43.

That's my point. If Adams fails to bring in enough talent and Savoie and Kulich make the team, then Adams failed.

Lol, no they don't.

Grit or that dog mentality here refers to a players willingness and desire to engage in physical play, that could be hits, reverse hits, using their body to gain or fight for positioning, and overall just a really gritty game of battling for and winning pucks. Note that it isn't simply, do they hit stuff but do they consistently engage physically in those 1v1 battles all over the ice and do they win? Now, I doubt this will work because... well don't worry for now. So the task is to rank the current roster in terms of what I describe above. Only players currently on the roster count, so don't go saying Tkachuk or Sam Bennett or whatever, we want the Sabres. Also I am adding a poll with the ability to pick your top 3. I used Capfriendly to get the roster list because their stuff is always the most up-to-date an accurate and in a month it will all be gone because Gary Buttman is a turd. I will split this into forwards and defense because I think most view that play differently in forwards and defenders. The Forwards: Jeff Skinner Tage Thompson Dylan Cozens Alex Tuch Jordan Greenway Zach Benson Jack Quinn JJ Peterka Peyton Krebs The Defense: Rasmus Dahlin Owen Power Bowen Byram Connor Clifton Henri Jokiharju Mattias Samuelsson How do you rank them from grittiest/physical/checking to least of that?

This list departs from what I would call the norm. That isn't a comment on its quality though.

I will disagree with Quinn being included here as I think he very much engages physically.

Kulich made the AHL all prospects team:

Anton Wahlberg is 6'3" and plays a power game. The other issue is that since Buffalo is so young, there isn't any room for prospects and shouldn't be in the top 9 for a hot bit. Tage, Cozens, Quinn, Tuch, and JJP all are either physically big or play with a physical edge. Benson is in this mix too but not quite yet. Greenway for now is also there and big with some snarl. I guess my point is I don't really care about the prospect pool as much because there are so many guys in Buffalo who are 23 or younger and have elements of what you want in their games. Tage might be the most finesse one out of the guys I listed. Do they need to up their grit/physicality/motor, in general yes. But I don't really spare any thoughts about Savoie, Rosen, Östlund in terms of if they can bring that since at this stage, we could trade all 3 and it wouldn't do much to our prospect pool other than thin it out a bit. None of those 3 necessarily have to hit or play prominent roles for Buffalo is my end point. I will say that Helenius, Iginla, and Stiga all intrigue me in the draft because they have some of that battle I think you want and each could be available at 11 or 43 (Stiga)

What giant hole is that? I think I may be one of the few who expect a healthy Tage and a year older Cozens to produce better this year with Ruff.