Digger

Agree on Comrie. It's getting pretty thin. Any chance on getting a younger goalie like Carter Hart who's coming off a couple of poor seasons? Dan Vladar in Calgary? Overall the league really needs some of these goalie prospects to break in and establish themselves. https://thehockeywriters.com/who-is-the-nhls-top-goaltending-prospect/

Like many, I've been preparing for the NHL draft year after year, researching prospects and trying to project where they might help the Sabres down the road. It's fun and is one of the highlights of the year especially when your team misses the playoffs. There's a couple of players that were on my wish list for this year that did not fall exactly into the spot where we were picking (happens every year) but I can't complain about any of the picks. But what I would like to say is that I believe the Sabres have taken a nice step in drafting players past the first round that have great value and potential for the past 2 years. Time will tell but they really look like they know what they are doing now in the draft. Great job by Jerry Forton and the scouting and analytics staff. It should be a good development camp and fun to watch these players develop.

Seattle has had some pretty good results fall their way in the last two drafts considering they did not have 1OA pick either year. Matty Beniers and Shane Wright are a couple of nice players for them to build with. They should be pretty happy with the way the picks went first round.

WRONG!

Great pick at 28. No complaints.

I always liked Kirby Dach but he's not a number 1 center but maybe complementary to Suzuki. Lots of pressure in Montreal. Tough place to rebound.

I'm happy that they are still talking. I think signing with the Sabres would be a smart move for Ryan Johnson. Hopefully Adams can convince him that the Sabres organization is a great fit for him.

I agree that Kasper will be a nice pick for the Sabres if we can get him. I'm not sure about Detroit. I have a gut feel that they might take Lambert. They usually surprise everyone when they draft. We will see.

Why do we keep talking about Malcolm Subban? He's not still under contract is he? Why would we sign him again (other than a nice guy that can sing the anthem if needed). Move on.

Here's what I got (not sure how to copy over the results but pasted the text below). DRAFT RESULTS, 1 TEAM RND 1 MY PICKS 9 - FC RANK 5 - JIRICEK DAVID D HC PLZEN CZECHIA 6'3” 176 lbs 16 - FC RANK 16 - KASPER MARCO C RöGLE BK SHL 6'0” 176 lbs 28 - FC RANK 38 - SNUGGERUD JIMMY RW USNTDP JUNIORS USHL 6'1” 179 lbs

But this isn't anything new is it (the requirement for military service)? Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but I thought there are a number of countries that have a military requirement. I though Ristolainen had to complete his before coming to the Sabres (maybe only 6 months). I'm pretty sure countries like Finland and Sweden have a military commitment (or assessment) when they turn 18.

Okay but it would still be a great result and big step forward to have those 3 reach 50 NHL goals as a trio considering their total last year was 51 goals (NHL + AHL regular season stats). Cozens had 13 last season (NHL), Krebs had 11 (combined NHL & AHL), Quinn had 27 (combined NHL & AHL) I agree 60 would be an even better, bolder wish.

The line of Krebs, Cozens, Quinn show great chemistry playing together and combine for 50 goals.

Yes, kind of a strange statement, He’s still got a bit of a pitchfork in his skating.........

I can't wait until we are set in goal with a reliable pair. Every season it's a game of musical chairs with all the GM's looking.

I like Malone and was happy when he came back to the team last season. Good signing.

I'll take Hugo Hävelid with a 3rd or 4th if available. I agree that we need to add another GT in this draft.

Thanks but why is Kane pushing for this off season? He can still get a chance to play for a contender if he waits it out to the trade deadline and then come to the Sabres as a UFA. The Sabres may make the playoffs if everything comes together (as we all hope) but still won't be a contender next season. If I were Kane I would want to wait it out. I know the salary will still be a trade challenge at the deadline (with money retained and money back to the Hawks) and injury is a risk for both Kane and Chicago. This will be a fun story to follow and see how it develops if there's truth to it.

I try to put myself into the players shoes (or skates as the case may be). Patrick Kane is now entering the final year of his contract. That contract (amount and term) has prevented him from being traded in the past because of the value and really Chicago did not really suck until the past two seasons. He's at a point right now where he can wait it out until the trade deadline and play for a contender and another chance at winning the Cup. As for his dream of playing for the Sabres, he can do that too by signing with us as an UFA next year. I'm sure Chicago would love to trade him right away but I am doubtful that the trade ask is as low as what some of the proposals are in the thread. Don't get me wrong, I think many of the proposals are fair from the Sabres perspective but like we did with Eichel they are looking for a reset and this is an important trade. Kane had 92 pts last season, he won't come cheap even as a 1 year rental or a deadline deal. If he does want to come here and I were Adams I would stick to fair value and not budge. Wait them out.

I guess I missed the goalie trade since we've moved onto acquiring Patrick Kane? I'm pretty sure goal is still the number one priority for the Sabres. In terms of a trade I speculated they could have worked out an Eichel trade last season if they had wanted to (I liked Kirby Dach (who had a poor season this year) and Lucas Reichel (who played with Peterka in the WJC). I agree with many of the others to wait until he's a UFA. I imagine that he'll want to try to play for a contending Cup team when the trade deadline comes around and that will be the best value that the Hawks will get assuming they eat as much of his salary as they can (and most likely take back some salary too in the trade).

Thanks for posting. I love the Sabre UFA's are all in the last group called "The Spackle".

I didn't see this posted anywhere. It's a good listen, Hockey Guy's review of Hutton's career. Hutton did not work out for the Sabres but seemed to be a good character guy from the interviews I listened to. I wish him well in his retirement.

Thanks @DarthEbriate, I enjoyed the post. I'm looking forward to the draft. I'm sure that you agree the one that got away from the 2015 draft was Dan Vladar. I wasn't sure if he'd make the NHL at the time but loved the name. Not bad backup numbers.

Perhaps I'm wrong but here's my thoughts on this. Both Teppo Numminen (2005 - 2009) and James Patrick (1999 - 2004) played out the end of their careers for the Sabres playing for Lindy Ruff. I think that both were like having an extra coach on the bench during the game. They both really helped stabilize and improve the defense during their time here. I don't think that we are seeing that with PK Subban with New Jersey playing for Lindy Ruff (which is a perfect comparison since Ruff coach all 3 when they were past their best offensive years). I did not hear Lindy say anything about PK in his end of year press conference. I also don't see anyone else in New Jersey saying that he's a key player to resign at a lower contract number that he's expected to get. He is well like by his team mates and I'm sure he could play on the Sabres in a 5/6 role but I don't see the comparison.

Malcolm sang the anthem, maybe PK can sing too. Seriously I don't understand the interest in signing him. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see PK Subban being anything like the roles that Teppo Numminen or James Patrick provided for the Sabres.