GASabresIUFAN

and now you know why I said draft Beniers No. 1. We need centers and we need high end centers.

Latest update. Updated McKeens and added Wheeler from the Athletic. Now have 15 rankings to work with. Waiting on McKenzie, FC Hockey, Morreale (NHL.com) and Draft prospects to update their April rankings and Dobber to update from March. I've run the spreadsheet using the April through June rankings and these are the results. 14 unanimous skaters plus Wallstadt the goalie (ISS doesn't rank goalies with skaters). Tiers 1-6 all unanimous selections Tier 1 - Power Tier 2 - Berniers , Eklund, Clarke, Hughes, and Guenther Tier 3 - Edvinsson, Johnson and Wallstadt Gap Tier 4 - McTavish, Lucius Gap Tier 5 - Lysell and Sillinger Gap Tier 6 - Lambos, and Raty (13-14 ballots) Tier 7 - Svechkov, Coronato, Chibrikov, Olausson and Robertsson (11-12 ballots) Tier 8 - Ceulemans, Bolduc, Cossa, Bourgault and Othmann Tier 9 - Pinelli, Rosen, and L'Heureux (9-10 ballots) Tier 10 - Stankoven and Toumaala Tier 11 - Chayka, Samoskevich, Dean Others - Pastujov (7 ballots), Svozil (4), Behrens (4) and Martino (4)

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/former-phillies-outfielder-dylan-cozens-leaving-baseball-to-pursue-nfl-career/

PS for those that don't think Weissbach is a legit prospect here is some food for thought Weissbach's 22 year old season 41 pts in 31 Big 10 games - NHLe 36 pts. 5'9" 176 lbs Routsalainen's 22 year old season 43 pts in 44 SM-Liiga games - NHLe 36 pts. 5'8" 180 lbs Olofsson's 22 year old season he had 43 pts in 50 SHL games - NHLe 42 pts. 5'11" 182 lbs

Current Sabres prospect pipeline. My prospect definition is 24 and under, waiver exempt and played in the minors (or lower tiers) of hockey part of last season or are no longer in the NHL. By that definition, Cozens, Tage, Borgen, Asplund and Mitts all graduated, while R2, Samuelsson, and Bryson all remain prospects. So given the roster upheaval from last season who are our top prospects prior to this year's draft. Forwards: Quinn, JJP, R2, Huglen, Murray, Weissbach, Rousek and Pekar. IMHO, the first 3 have significant NHL futures, while there is significant question marks about the rest. I'll be interested to see how Weissbach does in his first pro season and whether Huglen builds on his game now that he is finally healthy. Defense: Bryson, Samuelsson, Laaksonen, Johnson, Kukkonen and Fitzgerald. Obviously the first 4 are future Sabres. I think the upside for all 4 is 2nd pairing guys with Johnson possibly being a 1st pairing shutdown player. Bryson and Samuelsson looked they belong in the NHL sooner then later. I think Bryson is a fulltime Sabres next year. I also think we shouldn't sleep on Kukkonen. He was the 2nd youngest fulltime player on his Liiga team and is a solid defensive D. Goaltending: UPL and Portillo. Rank: 1 - Quinn - We needed scoring wingers and he can play that role and is already a 200 ft player. 2 - Routsalainen - I was impressed with his 1st NA season. Looks like a better all around version of VO 3 - JJP - Arguably might actually be the best prospect we have, but need to see him here first. 4 - UPL - following the Ullmark development path (including the injuries) but with more upside 5 - Johnson - see above 6 - Samuelsson - see above 7 - Laaksonen - see above, and was AHL all-star in first NA season 8. - Bryson - proved he is an NHLer last season, just not sure given his size of the upside. Will the offense come? 9. - Portillo - Michigan starter next season, but was excellent in a backup role last season GAP 10 - Weissbach - 41 pts in 31 NCAA games last season. Lets see how he adjusts to the pro game 11 - Huglen -35 pts in 39 USHL game and 8 pts in 9 playoff games after returning from a 1.5 years off do to injury. This kid has a ton of upside but we'll see if he can achieve it. 12 - Kukkonen - see above 13 - Rousek - bringing his decent hands and physical game to the AHL next season 14 - Murray - Strange trip to becoming a legit prospect, but made NHL debut this year. Projects as a depth player with occasional scoring, but has size and is willing to use it GAP 15 - Biro - college FA was ok in his first AHL season. Needs to find his NCAA scoring touch. 16 - Pekar - disappointing first pro season. Thought he would transition easier. 17 - Costantini - had a solid 1st USHL season with 22 pts in 37 games. 18 - Fitzgerald - Unlikely to make the jump to the NHL. 19 - Worge-Kreu - graduated to the SHL at 21 and has size, but it's likely be a few more years to see if he has a NHL future. I doubt it 20 - Cronholm - see Kreu but without the size.

They'll probably have govt dispensaries right next to the hot dog stands

Not what I was thinking, but ok.

Interesting career. Hobey Baker winner for Min Duluth. Cup winner w the Canadians. Traded to the Sabres after one game that season and then the Sabres traded him to NJ the following off-season. A talented offensive D who had his best seasons for the NJD (hi of 66 points) and the NYI. Leaves behind a wife and 4 kids. Very sad.

It is Seattle after all.

Rest In Pieces?

NCAA RIP

I have zero issue with Granato's back ground other then he worked for Rasputin. Honestly that it a huge negative for me. That said, I liked how the kids played for him. I also realize we need someone willing to play kids and teach them. Excluding guys like Skinner and KO, there are 11 guys I'm almost positive will Sabres in the fall and another 2 who could also make the squad. Of these 13 guys most have limited NHL experience or are still very young. They are VO (26 age - 116 NHL games), Bjork (25-153), Tage (24-145), Cozens (20-41), Asplund (23-57), Mitts (22-155), R2 (24-17), Quinn (20-0), Bryson (23-38), Dahlin (21-197), Jokiharju (22-153), Borgen (24-14) and Samuelsson (21-12). Only 21 year old Dahlin has more then 2 full seasons of NHL experience. Add that Risto, Jack and Sam will likely be traded for futures or young players, having a coach with development experience is probably a good thing.

His name isn’t John Bon Jovi by any chance.

If Jack and Reino are dealt, will we feel the same way about this off-season as we did the day Drury and Briere left town?

Nooooo Get well soon.

but likely less trade value.

I agree. IMHO Sam emerged as a real on ice leader for this team last season. With a jack departure, that would make him the No. 1 center and possibly team captain if he stays. He'd also get a lucrative long-term deal to stay.

...and he'll become the Matt Ellis of NHL assistant coaches.

We all knew it when the season ended. I may be in the minority on this one, but I'm ok with the choice. We are going to be a very young team and we need a teacher and someone with patience. That is Granato. Is it the choice with max PR value? No. Is it the best choice for this group? Possibly. I thought he did well in his tryout, I just don't like that he worked for Rasputin. I hope Girardi stays coaching the D. Assuming Granato is the guy, does this help or hurt keeping Jack or Sam or does it matter at this point?

Because it's our shitshow.

If this draft was up to me and I had two early picks, I'm taking Eklund and Beniers. We have a pick at 33 which seems like a perfect place to add another D.

We do a family vacation every year and frankly we all look forward to it. The key is planning time together and apart. In our group of 13 we have beach goers, golfers, readers, pool goers, etc. Everyone tends to do the activities they want and we all get together as a group for dinner. We rent 3 condos, one per family, and always have a great time. It’s usually a pretty good balance of group fun vs individual fun.

I'll respectively disagree. The tank ended the day TM acquired ROR, Kane, Bogosian and Lehner spending a huge amount of the assets acquired during the tank. After that the rebuild (or failed rebuild) had begun in earnest. All future assets acquired during the mismanagement of the rebuild are distinct events.

@Randall Flagg Why have R2 on the bench. He is a dynamic young player who drives offense?

Honestly the day we fired Rasputin was the day this franchise actually turned the corner. It was the day we officially started the full youth movement and no longer relied on vets from other organizations. During the tank-a-thon we brought in ROR, Lehner, KO, Kane, Skinner, Scandella, Franson, Bogosian, Gorges, Gionta, Pominville, Eakin, Miller, McBain, among others. Many at the cost of young players, prospects and picks or basically our future depth. Now it looks like the "successful" tank fruit are about to be sent packing to clean the slate completely. Honestly, I'd like to keep Jack and Sam because they finally have depth players to work with, but their departures look inevitable at this point. I hope I'm wrong. Regardless, their departure will bring in another wave of young assets to pair with Mitts, Cozens, Dahlin, VO, Jokiharju, R2, Bryson, Quinn, JJP and UPL. Not all these guys will work out or become part of the core, but the talent level on this team top to bottom is clearly on the rise. Now if we can just get a coach, goaltending and competent management we may just have a chance.