GASabresIUFAN

Let the auction begin. Beniers getting drafted No. 1 now appears more likely and that is fine by me. Now management needs to convince Sam to stay.

Eichel for ROR straight up.

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Then his model is crap. You also can easily manipulate a model by choosing your definition of a prospect. Has he played in the NHL, is he over or under a certain age, was he drafted by the team? Mitts and Thompson are the classic examples. Most writers and modelers eliminated them as prospects because of NHL games played. My guess is the organization didn’t. As to Jbot. Last season he had 7 of his draftees/prospects playing in the NHL all with bright futures with more coming. Mitts and Cozens are future core players at center. R2 looks like a top 6 forward. Bryson and Samuelsson look like middle D. That Dahlin guy finally looks like the star he was drafted to be. UPL needs work but is clearly on the road to being a starter in the NHL. Laaksonen was an AHL all-star and even you admit Portillo’s and Johnson’s potential. That’s already 10 guys, including 2 stud centers, a Norris contender on D, 2 potential starting goalies, another top 6 forward and four other NHL caliber D. That doesn’t include guys like Rousek, Huglen and Weissbach that have NHL potential as well I know you hate Jbot and that he took Johnson over a forward, but enough. The argument that Jbot didn’t draft well doesn’t stand up to the evidence.

I'm sorry but if his rankings don't sense I'm going to call him on it. There is no way the pair of UPL and Portillo are the 30th best group of goalie prospects in the NHL as his chart shows. That simply isn't accurate. UPL is consistently ranked as one of the top 5-10 prospect goalies. His rankings also seem to align with what guys like Wheeler and Pronman and other right about pipelines in the NHL. You know I generally agree that we drafted like bat guano for years, but that changed under Jbot but it seems that guys like your friend Bader don't want to admit it.

He must really know hockey.

I don't know who Byron Bader is but if he is ranking prospect pools and calls our goalies (UPL and Portillo) the 30th best group of prospect goalies then he knows nothing about hockey. PS love JJP and was thrilled when he drafted him. I believe he was the top player left on my consolidated list, had a mid 1st rd grade on my list and I read one scouting report at the time that said he was one of the most underrated players in the draft.

Mitts 😎

Martino is the OHL guy from the bottom of my list that stood out. Morrow's vote was from the April rankings of SI's Kennedy.

One player that interests me is Redmond Savage. He is Brian's younger son and will play for Miami (OH) next season, but there is a tenacity about his game I really like and he is already an ice Pker. My guess is he goes mid 2nd rd but I would like to see KA move up to grab him from Bos's pick.

I've completed my first consolidated 1st rd draft list. 10 sources from April (5) and May (5) and I'll update as they do. Sources NHL.com, Future Considerations, Sportsnet, SI/THN, TSN Button and McKenzie, the Draft Analyst, McKeens, Elite Prospects and Forbes at THW. 29 players appeared on 8 or more of the 10 rankings which is a surprisingly high number given the circumstances. 14 appeared on all 10. Another 4 appeared on 5 or 6 ballots and there were 53 players who appeared at least once. 3 players received 1st place votes: Powers (6), Beniers (3), Hughes (1). Powers and Beniers are 1 and 2 respectively Eklund, Clarke, Hughes, Guenther and Edvinsson are the next group 3-7 with nearly identical rankings. 8-9 belong to Johnson and Wallstadt, followed by McTavish, Lucius, Sillinger and Lysell 10-13. Raty (14) is the last unanimous pick, but guys like Lambos, Svechkov, Ceulemans and Chibrikov (15-18) have similar ratings but aren't unanimous. Svechkov maybe the most loved or unloved prospect on the board. I can see a team loving him and drafting him early or see him falling like Kaliyev into the second. Coronato, Bolduc, Bourgault, Olausson, Pinelli and Cossa are 19-24. L'Heureaux, Robertsson, Othmann, Rosen and Dean are 25-29 and round out the likely 1st rd picks. The final group are Toumaala, Chayka, Stankoven and Samoskevich (30-33), although Samoskervich rankings are mostly from April and he could slip when the rankings are updated.

What do you think Borgen is worth? A 4th? He is a 24 D with 14 games of experience and he couldn’t beat out guys on our terrible team in prior years. Who is he beating out longterm here? 3 young D are already here in Joki, Dahlin and Bryson. Samuelsson also looks nearly ready. If Risto is traded this off-season then Borgen will likely be protected.

No, not ever. Borgen has 14 games of NHL experience at 24. Risto has significant trade value and we have a pile of other young D.

I meant Borgen

Bryson is not exempt and as of right now is not likely to be protected either, of course he is eligible.. Jokiharju, Dahlin and Risto will all be protected first. My list was of the Sabres player available to be drafted.

What do most people on this site want? That is the return of ROR. Here is a legit chance to replace him and now they want an Aaron Ekblad clone instead. Frankly it makes no sense. Odds right now are against one or both Jack and ROR returning and Beniers also can play on the wing if they do.

How about don’t draft Powers because he’s Aaron Ekblad 2.

Bergeron had 73 pts in 70 games in the Q his draft year. ROR had 66 pts in 68 games in the OHL his draft year. Beniers had 24 pts in 24 games in the Big10. Using the Dobber NHLe Bergeron’s was 24, ROR 26, and Beniers 27. Bergeron and ROR despite being 2nd rd picks jumped immediately to the NHL. Like those 2, Beniers is already a complete player playing a 200 ft game. Just like those 2 I expect him to join the Sabres next fall.

Bryson is over 75% likely to start next season in Buffalo. His metrics and play earned that slot. These are much the same things they said about Ekblad. High floor unknown ceiling.

I’d much rather have an ROR or Bergeron vs an Ekblad. Nothing I’ve read says Power is a future Hedman. Nice player who will play in the NHL 10-15 years, but I don’t see him changing the future of this franchise especially with our depth at young D. Berniers is more likely to be a difference maker for us and we lack any center prospects of note.

Owen Power = Aaron Ekblad

Yes, I do one every year. Will post it again if you would like. I usually take 10-12 of the reliable rankings and do a 1st rd. Most years about 25 of the guys on the list go in the first and there are 50 or so guys that get a least one vote as a first rd pick. The first out of left field pick usually happens around 18-20.

Broken ankle or no, this is the only pick for the Sabres IMHO, especially with Jack and Reinhart on the trading block. This kid reminds me of Patrice Bergeron.

They are not. Only full NMC’s must be protected; thus only Skinner.

Actually he wouldn’t since he is available in the expansion draft that is where Sea would acquire him