Pick #31 Ryan Johnson Defenseman

[Curt]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

That seems a bit extreme thought. It’s not that they don’t think he can be a good nhl player. They just think that some number of others stand a better chance. The kid will go in the second round and that’s still a very significant accomplishment. 

Maybe extreme.  The thing is that his offensive skills are so good, like top-5 or 10 in the draft, that for him to fall so far, there have to be some other things that are so incredibly bad that it leads teams to believe that the likelyhood of him coming around is very small.  Because if a few parts of his game that I mentioned come around a little bit, like just putting a bare minimum effort into defense, the payoff for the team could be massive.  So they must almost universally really hate some stuff about him.

[TrueBlueGED]

Just now, LTS said:

Well, the question, as always, is... what, if anything, was offered for it and was that worth it?  The "chatter" was that the Sabres were fine with trading it.  But it doesn't mean they would give it away, right?  We just don't know.

And unfortunately, I don't have faith in the GM to evaluate whether any offers were good. Fortunately for all involved, I'm not going to pull a Liger about it ?

[shrader]

1 minute ago, TrueBlueGED said:

And unfortunately, I don't have faith in the GM to evaluate whether any offers were good. Fortunately for all involved, I'm not going to pull a Liger about it ?

There was what, one deal the whole night? It kind of makes you wonder how much if any interest there was league-wide to move around. 

[#freejame]

1 minute ago, ... said:

I'm happy to cut him some slack since draft night is a big deal to him.  I don't know LGR from Adam, but I do know invests a lot of time in the draft.  Of course he's going to get jumpy over the picks.  

I don't find calling it "lazy" obnoxious, especially when he did give his reasons for not liking the pick.

Storming off is what was obnoxious. People wanted him to elaborate on the vague lazy comment and when he did and was challenged on it, he left saying he wouldn’t contribute to the draft anymore. I think he just takes himself too seriously in this respect. 

[Brawndo]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

There was what, one deal the whole night? It kind of makes you wonder how much if any interest there was league-wide to move around. 

Botterill mentioned there maybe more trade activity next week 

[Curt]

So, Ryan Johnson!  He is a really good skater, he is good at defending zone entries and he is good at skating the puck out of the defensive zone.  If you want to learn more about Ryan Johnson, watch this in depth breakdown of him via YouTube Scouching Report.

https://youtu.be/vEl38L9gVfQ

[GASabresIUFAN]

Folks if people are expecting a 31st overall pick to turn this franchise around, think again.  31st picks rarely are elite players.  Most grade out at mid roster forwards or 2nd and 3rd pairing Ds.  That said, give him 2 more years and he'll likely be knocking at the door.

[Brawndo]

I was hoping for Bobby Brink, but the Sabres Staff knows more than I do obviously 

[...]

2 minutes ago, shrader said:

“We liked player X more, but we instead decided to take player Y.” Call me crazy, but I don’t expect anyone to operate that way. 

No no. For all of the "I don't trust Botterill" and the like as recent as earlier today, are we expected to throw away that distrust as merely a conversation we had?  Do we trust that they had a solid bearing on guys who were expected to go, say 12-25?  Because if we distrust Botterill's abilities, then we can reasonably argue he had his team scout guys 25-35 thoroughly but not the 12-25 guys.  They had players W,X, Y,Z penciled in, we didn't give the other guys as much thought because we didn't expect them to be there.   

[Kruppstahl]

58 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Dumb pick. 

Wouldn't call it "dumb" per se.  Johnson is a solid prospect who might end up a strong #4 D Man or something like that; defensive defenseman, good player.

But was this the best selection at that slot on this night? Is this really what the team needs most right now?  

There were several more splashy forwards still available and God knows we need help putting pucks in the net.

Not really happy with the pick.

[...]

3 minutes ago, #freejame said:

Storming off is what was obnoxious. People wanted him to elaborate on the vague lazy comment and when he did and was challenged on it, he left saying he wouldn’t contribute to the draft anymore. I think he just takes himself too seriously in this respect. 

Because everyone laid into him for not liking the pick!  After all that he invested into the draft!  Of course he's going to be pissed that he's not given the same courtesy as those whose reactions are different.

[LTS]

The last pick the Sabres had at #31 is sitting on the Rangers now right? 

I'm not getting too upset about things here.  I just would have thought forward.  Again.. I'm not sure it matters.

 

[TrueBlueGED]

2 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Folks if people are expecting a 31st overall pick to turn this franchise around, think again.  31st picks rarely are elite players.  Most grade out at mid roster forwards or 2nd and 3rd pairing Ds.  That said, give him 2 more years and he'll likely be knocking at the door.

Actually, most grade out as not even being NHL players. 

[shrader]

I can’t wait until this one gets cleaned up. This board goes to **** when the topic becomes the poster instead of the game. 

Meanwhile the Sabres drafted some guy by the name of Ryan Johnson. 

[#freejame]

2 minutes ago, ... said:

Because everyone laid into him for not liking the pick!  After all that he invested into the draft!  Of course he's going to be pissed that he's not given the same courtesy as those whose reactions are different.

Nobody criticized his dumb pick comments. It wasn’t until he said it was a lazy pick where he was questioned. I agree it was a dumb pick. Plenty do. But there is zero justification to call it a lazy pick. He seemingly didn’t like that others saw it that way and left. 

[jad1]

Just now, Brawndo said:

Botterill mentioned there maybe more trade activity next week 

There doesn't seem to be the desire to stockpile draftpicks anymore.  Why trade an NHLer for a prospect who won't crack the league for 3 years from now.  Two-thirds of the GMs could be out of their current jobs by then.

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

Folks if people are expecting a 31st overall pick to turn this franchise around, think again.  31st picks rarely are elite players.  Most grade out at mid roster forwards or 2nd and 3rd pairing Ds.  That said, give him 2 more years and he'll likely be knocking at the door.

I don't think that's the expectation.  The majority understands that these picks are being made are at least a couple of years away from making the roster.  Most also understand that after Nylander and Olofsson, the Sabres winger pipeline is near empty and would like to see it re-stocked with some highly-ranked prospects. 

I wonder if the NHL has considered increasing the draft age to 20.  It would make the draft more exciting.

[Derrico]

12 minutes ago, shrader said:

I can’t wait until this one gets cleaned up. This board goes to **** when the topic becomes the poster instead of the game. 

Meanwhile the Sabres drafted some guy by the name of Ryan Johnson. 

I feel like that's a pretty solid hockey name.

[Zamboni]

I’m not upset over the pick. He’ll develop over the next 2-3 years and hopefully make the Sabres and be a solid contributor. Even if he tops out as a #4/5 Dman.

No matter who was picked at 31, he’s not making an NHL roster for years.

Looking at all the kids picked in the 1st round in 2015, 2016, 2017, the majority of them aren’t on NHL rosters full time yet. Let alone being very good players at the NHL level.

[PerreaultForever]

40 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Folks if people are expecting a 31st overall pick to turn this franchise around, think again.  31st picks rarely are elite players.  Most grade out at mid roster forwards or 2nd and 3rd pairing Ds.  That said, give him 2 more years and he'll likely be knocking at the door.

Exactly. This is similar to the Samuelson pick. Different style but picking D men in the second round is not a bad strategy. You can never have too many in the system and many of them have unknown upside as D men take longer to develop. 

Grab a goalie or two in later rounds and I'm good with this draft.

[pi2000]

I know his dad Craig from the Jr Ducks.   Good family, Ryan was always super skilled just was small, a late bloomer physically.   Craig coached a lot here with the Jr Ducks and now is director of coaching.  He was always big on skill development, didn't spend much time on team drills at practice.   

Ryan has great puck skills and great edge work.   He's a kid that could really blossom once he learns how to play within a system... and if he continues to grow, his Dad is tall.

[jad1]

12 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I’m not upset over the pick. He’ll develop over the next 2-3 years and hopefully make the Sabres and be a solid contributor. Even if he tops out as a #4/5 Dman.

No matter who was picked at 31, he’s not making an NHL roster for years.

Looking at all the kids picked in the 1st round in 2015, 2016, 2017, the majority of them aren’t on NHL rosters full time yet. Let alone being very good players at the NHL level.

By the time that these guys crack NHL rosters, there's a good chance that GM who drafted them is gone.

Using the draft is now the preferred way to build a team in the NHL, but due to the age of the players, it's also incredibly risky.

[GASabresIUFAN]

It’s not like our forward pipeline is bare. The solid group Is now headlined by Cozens and includes Nylander, Olofsson, Thompson, Davidsson, Asplund, Pekar and now Routsalainen. 

Edited June 22, 2019 by GASabresIUFAN

[gilbert11]

Especially when you have no 2nd round pick.  

[jad1]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Our forward pipeline has a solid group now as well headlined by Cozens including Nylander, Olofsson, Thompson, Davidsson, Asplund, Pekar and now Routsalainen. 

Olofsson will be on the Sabres roster this season.  Nylander will either be gone next week or will also be on the Sabres roster. So they're leaving the pipeline.

Davidsson, Asplund, Pekar, Routsalainen, and Thompson don't project to top six forwards.

Cozens does project to a top six forward,  but he's at least two years away.

Only Asplund, Pekar, Routsalainen and Thompson will be in Rochester next season.

If Botterill can acquire a center and winger through free agency or by trade, they should be all right, but it's going to be expensive.

 

 

 

[Pimlach]

I like the pick ok.  If anything it’s surprising he was still on the board.