Curt

Hmm, if true, I'm not a fan of that. Guy has not established himself as an NHL player, he probably shouldn't be turning down any opportunities to impress. I agree that he very well could be moved. I'm half expecting it.

I don't think Nylander declined to attend. I've heard that once you have 3 years North America pro experience, Sabres don't have you attend development camp.

I think expecting Dahlin to be a 60 point #1 D in his 3rd season is very realistic. Mittlestadt, I'm not sure about 60 points, but I think he will be a competent #2 or #3 C putting up 40+ points and holding his own defensively. Olofsson I have high hopes for. I feel very confident that he can be a 20+ goal scorer for Buffalo. Asplund, Cozens, and Borgen will be establishing themselves as NHL players around that time, who knows if they find success or struggle the first year or so. Thompson, Nylander, and Ruotosolainen are wildcards, but its a decent bet that at least one of them is a real contributor. Pilut I feel will be a good established contributor. I thinks that's most of the youngsters who are near NHL ready. Let me know if I forgot anyone, lol.

It appears that it is possible to max offer sheet even if you do not have one of your next 4 1st round picks. I was replying to someone who said that we should offer sheet and defer the compensation until the 2021 pick, keeping the 2020 1st. I don’t think you can voluntarily defer the compensation. I don’t think that’s what Dreger is saying. I think you can only do that if you don’t possess the 2020 pick.

I’m an amateur scout only in the sense that no one would ever pay me to do it professionally!

He is going to be 22 next season and performed well in Liiga last season, so he should be near NHL ready. Not that I’m advocating for him to be 2C. That would probably be a stretch.

I don’t think you can choose to delay whenever you want, but if a team had already traded there 2021 1st, for example, they would still be able to offer sheet and it compensation would get shifted back a year. I believe it can only be done in the case necessity, not purely by choice.

Oh I don’t think that is realistic as a floor. His floor was would be if his hockey IQ, playmaking and puck handling don’t really improve, making it hard for him to deal with NHL speed. That would probably limit him to being a 2-way 3rd line C without much PP time, putting up 15-20-35 per season, or something like that. That’s if he doesn’t improve much at all. I think a realistic, probable range of outcomes is a 20-30 goal, 45-65 point, 2-way C. If it’s less that that, we should be pretty disappointed. If it’s more, we should be jumping for joy. I’m thinking a Ryan Kesler type of career.

I think Stastny or Haula would be a great get from Vegas. I want Buffalo to be all over the Vegas cap situation.

I'm a little bummed that Pekar won't be on the ice. Love that guy.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/physicality

You are looking at it from a National coverage level. I think the players in Edmonton face immense scrutiny from the local press and fans.

Nice summary of every player at Sabres' Development Camp by The Charging Buffalo. 2019 Sabres Development Camp Preview

The PP points don't really bother me. Only 37% of his career points have come on the PP, not 50%. He has produced pretty decently at ES the past couple years. The fact that he probably wouldn't get a lot of PP time in Buffalo is fine because he isn't getting paid like a guy who you are counting on for 40+ points. I also would be looking at him mostly in the case event that Risto is traded. I think he could fill a 2nd/3rd pair role well. If Risto stays, I don't think Buffalo needs to be adding a RD with Montour, Risto, Bogo, Nelson and Borgen already here. It wouldn't be a priority.

After researching a bit, scouting reports do hint that his defensive play is not great, but nothing approaching train wreck level. However, I think he could still have an overall positive impact of on team defense because he actually keeps the puck from going into the defensive zone in the first place. That's one of the things that a player can do to help the team defense.

Who thinks he is a D zone disaster? You just pulling that out of thin air? It’s not as if he is barely keeping his head above water despite favorable zone starts. He is excelling. You are taking one piece of information, elevating it above all others, and passing it off as proof of something that it isn’t actually proof of.

It’s true that Olofsson may be the only one who starts the season with Buffalo, but I think you may be underrating the system overall. In addition to Olofsson who looked great in both Rochester and Buffalo, there is............ Nylander, although generally disappointing, has improved his production each year in the AHL. Still has top 6 potential. Rasmus Asplund did not have a disappointing season. He had a pretty good first season in North America. In the second half he really came on and his offensive production shot way up. Look for him to take on a bigger offensive roll and get a call up at some point. Middle 6 potential. Cozens obviously has so much potential and will be in the NHL soon enough. Top-6 potential. Thompson is still an unknown, and I would like to see him spend most of the season in Rochester, but the potential is there for a useful goal scorer. Middle 6 potential. Matej Pekar has outperformed his 4th round pedigree since being drafted and will be in Rochester this season. He is probably my absolute favorite Sabres prospect. Just a scrappy, pesky guy with a nonstop motor, amazingly positive energetic demeanor and a good amount of offensive skill too. Middle 6 potential.

You really think that the pipeline is that weak? I really think it’s mostly just the NHL 2nd/3rd lines that are completely lacking in good enough talent.

No. The difference between an average NHL player and a good one is not just desire and passion, at least not usually. There is usually a difference in actual talent and skills. Doesn’t apply to Sobotka anyway, because he is nowhere near an average player.

I’m not so sure that his drafts are going to look particularly good. In three drafts, he selected 25 players. I’ll list those who look to possibly have any kind of NHL futures: Reinhart, Brendan Lemieux, Jonas Johansson, Olofsson, Eichel, Guhle, Borgen, Nylander, Asplund, Casey Fitzgerald. the 1st round picks are expected to hit, and one of those isn’t looking great. If we are thanking Murray in the future it will be for getting us Olofsson, Borgen, and Asplund.

I would like to see the Sabres go after trades with Winnipeg and Vegas to try to take advantage of their cap problems. Possible targets from Winnipeg: Either Kyle Connor or Nikolaj Ehlers, Mathieu Perrault, Adam Lowry, Dimitri Kulikov(possible buyout) Possible targets from Vegas: Colin Miller, Paul Stastny, Cody Eakin, Ryan Reeves(possible buyout) Possible Buffalo players going the other way: Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Casey Nelson, Alex Nylander, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson

I spent the whole streak thinking "they can not keep this up, this is crazy!" I loved every second of it, but how many OT/shootout wins can one team have in a row? Its not like they were blowing out teams left and right. The complete collapse left a very sour taste in my mouth too though. I never thought they would turn so bad.

Based upon what trades?

My 2019 Off-season Top-22 Sabres Prospects - Early Edition 1)Dylan Cozen 2)Victor Olofsson 3)Lawrence Pilut 4)Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 5)Will Borgen 6)Tage Thompson 7)Alex Nylander 8)Rasmus Asplund 9)Oskari Laaksonen 10)Matej Pekar 11)Ryan Johnson 12)Mattias Samuelsson 13)CJ Smith 14)Marcus Davidsson 15)Jacob Bryson 16)Jonas Johansson 17)Casey Fitzgerald 18)Aaron Huglen 19)Miska Kukkonen 20)Erik Portillo 21)Andrew Ogelvie 22)Linus Weissbach

I don’t think people should view it like this. They can still make the playoffs without making moves that will hamstring the future. I don’t understand how you can say that the cupboards are empty right now. Over the past 6 drafts, they’ve averaged about 3 players who project out to be not insignificant NHL players. (Traded players in brackets) Plus they’ve added Rodrigues and Pilot as undrafted FA’s. 14: Reinhart, Olofsson (Lemieux) 15: Eichel, Borgen (Guhle) 16: Nylander, Asplund 17: Mittelstadt, Luukkonen, Davidsson, Laaksonen 18: Dahlin, Samuelsson, Pekar 19: Cozens, Johnson