Everything about the 2020-2021 Sabres. Will they finally be good by then?

[sabresparaavida]

I believe that the 2019-2020 season will be more about growth and seeing what the Sabres have more than anything. I do not see Jbots making any major trades to improve our current team. There may be a couple minor free agent signings. I think that 2020-2021 will be the year that we finally get somewhere. Young guys will have finally made the jump. Mitts will be ready to take up the 2C mantle. Cozens will be starting out. What are some projections for our lineup then?

Heres mine:

 

FA/trade- Eichel- Oloffson

Skinner-Mitts-Reinhart 

Sheary-Cozens-Erod

 Larsson-Asplund-Okposo

 

Dahlin-Montour

Mccabe-Risto

Fa/trade/prospect-Borgen

UPL

Ullmark

There will certainly different players brought in, this is a VERY early projection. I have Skinner on line 2 because I think olofson will produce similar to Skinner with Eichel, but will not if he is not with Eichel. I expect Nylander to have been traded by then. Thoughts?

Edited June 27, 2019 by sabresparaavida

[Crusader1969]

My first thought is that there is still a lot of work to do. 

I don’t mind botts staying away from the high end UFA market but he definitely needs to add some more pieces.  Let a few more teams enter cap jail and make a run at Hall next year.   

I’m hopeful that by 2020 Borgen is ready to be paired with Dahlin, opening the door for a Risto trade at some point

i don’t think we can understate how important Mitts turning into a #2 center is for this team  

hopefully, Nylander can surprise us all and be that top 6 RW that they desperately need   

Thompson, will be a part of the starting line up in 2020 as well 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jad1]

If this is the plan, Botterill won't be the GM by the time the team is "ready" to win.

The team has cap space and assets to trade, but Botterill is going to put everything on hold until (if) Mittelstadt and Cozens develop?

Doesn't seem like the best way foward.

[Trettioåtta]

Kind of depressing we have already accepted next year to be another write off.

Ultimately we need our young guys to step up. We have drafted like crap for most of a decade and so have empty cupboards despite drafting highly.

[Marvin]

On 6/22/2019 at 7:04 PM, Trettioåtta said:

Kind of depressing we have already accepted next year to be another write off.

Ultimately we need our young guys to step up. We have drafted like crap for most of a decade and so have empty cupboards despite drafting highly.

Not me.  I expect the playoffs this year.  Nothing less will satisfy me unless we get to 100 points and somehow still miss the playoffs.  At least in that case, we will have won a majority of our games and the year would have been entertaining.

[Curt]

On 6/22/2019 at 7:04 PM, Trettioåtta said:

Kind of depressing we have already accepted next year to be another write off.

Ultimately we need our young guys to step up. We have drafted like crap for most of a decade and so have empty cupboards despite drafting highly.

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

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, Curtisp5286 said:

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

People do three things that make this irrelevant to them: they act as if our 1st rounders somehow shouldn’t count, they don’t account for the young players already on our roster and they don’t have a clue at what the vast majority of teams list of young players look like.

Cozens, Johnson, Dahlin, Samuelsson,  Mittelstadt, Davidsson, Lukkonnen, Laaksonen, Nylander, Asplund, Eichel, Guhle, Borgen: good luck finding five teams with a better haul out of the last five drafts.

[dudacek]

NHL games played by draft picks since 2014:

Boston 1154

Buffalo 909

Florida 891

Toronto 820

Tampa 602

Ottawa 529

Montreal 460

Detroit 572* edit, missed Larkin

Edited June 25, 2019 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

NHL games played by draft picks since 2014:

Boston 1154

Buffalo 909 (Reinhart - 331, Eichel - 286, Mittelstadt - 83, Dahlin - 82 = 782)

Florida 891

Toronto 820

Tampa 602

Ottawa 529

Montreal 460

Detroit 254

 

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

Borgen - 4

Olofsson - 6

Guhle - 23 + 6 non-Sabres

Nylander - 19

Lemieux - 0 + 72 non-Sabres

Which should account for the rest of the 909.

[matter2003]

Cozens is NOT going to be here this year. JBots believes in letting guys develop in junior / the minors

[Huckleberry]

On 6/22/2019 at 11:44 PM, jad1 said:

If this is the plan, Botterill won't be the GM by the time the team is "ready" to win.

The team has cap space and assets to trade, but Botterill is going to put everything on hold until (if) Mittelstadt and Cozens develop?

Doesn't seem like the best way foward.

When it comes to centers that is the only way forward, unless you can get Maklkin at a reasonable price.

But that still won't help us much and we would still be a lottery team.   We need one more year sadly.

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

When it comes to centers that is the only way forward, unless you can get Maklkin at a reasonable price.

But that still won't help us much and we would still be a lottery team.   We need one more year sadly.

 That isn't the only way forward.  There supposedly are guys like Statsny on the market.  His 2 remaining years would fill the Sabres need for a 2C until Mittelstadt is ready for that role.  That would also allow Cozens to start on wing next season if they wanted to ease him into the NHL. 

[Huckleberry]

6 minutes ago, Taro T said:

 That isn't the only way forward.  There supposedly are guys like Statsny on the market.  His 2 remaining years would fill the Sabres need for a 2C until Mittelstadt is ready for that role.  That would also allow Cozens to start on wing next season if they wanted to ease him into the NHL. 

Great as long as it doesn't involve our 1st rounder next year, I expect us to be a bottom 10 team again and I want a shot at lafreniere.

[Thorner]

29 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Great as long as it doesn't involve our 1st rounder next year, I expect us to be a bottom 10 team again and I want a shot at lafreniere.

Lottery protected first. I'd give it up. I wouldn't expect them to be bottom 10 if Botterill performs the "roster surgery" he said he had to. Say, adding Stastny and a UFA winger to the mix. 

If it does get deferred and we aren't out of the lottery that season, when Jack and Sam are FIRMLY in their prime, and we also have Skinner, a third year Dahlin and Mittelstadt, potentially a rookie Cozens and say Stastny and whoever the UFA is, we are in trouble anyways. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by Thorny

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

Not sure what your point was in singling out the top 4 Sabres, but it is interesting how the games break down.

Mathews, Nylander and Marner have 692 of the Leafs 820 games.

Ekblad has nearly half of Florida’s games on his own, Larkin has well over half of Detroit’s.

Ottawa’s total comes from 12 different players. Only Chabot has played 100 games.

Edited June 25, 2019 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

17 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not sure what your point was in singling out the top 4 Sabres, but it is interesting how the games break down.

Mathews, Nylander and Marner have 692 of the Leafs 820 games.

Ekblad has nearly half of Florida’s games on his own, Larkin has well over half of Detroit’s.

Ottawa’s total comes from 12 different players. Only Chabot has played 100 games.

Part of it was to show how few games we have received from players outside our top picks.

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Part of it was to show how few games we have received from players outside our top picks.

Carlo, Heinen, Mete, Malgin, Dermott, Cirelli and Point are the magic beans in that mix - players who have played 100 games who weren’t picked in the first round.

[GASabresIUFAN]

39 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Carlo, Heinen, Mete, Malgin, Dermott, Cirelli and Point are the magic beans in that mix - players who have played 100 games who weren’t picked in the first round.

So two Bruins (Eastern Conference Champs) and two TB players (President's Cup)  Interesting.

[nucci]

On 6/22/2019 at 4:16 PM, sabresparaavida said:

I believe that the 2019-2020 season will be more about growth and seeing what the Sabres have more than anything. I do not see Jbots making any major trades to improve our current team. There may be a couple minor free agent signings. I think that 2020-2021 will be the year that we finally get somewhere. Young guys will have finally made the jump. Mitts will be ready to take up the 2C mantle. Cozens will be starting out. What are some projections for our lineup then?

Heres mine:

 

FA/trade- Eichel- Oloffson

Skinner-Mitts-Reinhart 

Sheary-Cozens-Erod

 Larsson-Asplund-Okposo

 

Dahlin-Montour

Mccabe-Risto

Fa/trade/prospect-Borgen

UPL

Ullmark

There will certainly different players brought in, this is a VERY early projection. I have Skinner on line 2 because I think olofson will produce similar to Skinner with Eichel, but will not if he is not with Eichel. I expect Nylander to have been traded by then. Thoughts?

I love this...it's always next year around here

[jad1]

13 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

So two Bruins (Eastern Conference Champs) and two TB players (President's Cup)  Interesting.

Meh, Sabres have three players on the roster who they they drafted (or signed) after the 1st round who have played 100 games for them.

Does that make the Sabres an EC finalist or President's Cup candidate?

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, jad1 said:

Meh, Sabres have three players on the roster who they they drafted (or signed) after the 1st round who have played 100 games for them.

Does that make the Sabres an EC finalist or President's Cup candidate?

You are incorrect. There are zero players drafted after the 1st rd from 2014 to now with 100 games played for the Sabres and only one since 2012 - McCabe.

Since 2006 we have only had 3 players drafted after the 1st rd play 100 games or more for the Sabres.  Weber (2nd 2006), McCabe (2nd 2012) and Foligno (4th 2009).

Current Sabres who are also Sabres draftees with over 100 games are

1st rd players - Eichel (2015), Reinhart (2014), Risto (2013), Girgensons (2012)

2nd rd player - McCabe (2012), I guess you could include Pommers (2001) as he is still w the Sabres until 7/1.

Erod and Nelson have both played 100+ games for us but were college UFAs.  Larsson was a Minn 2nd rd pick and played 1 NHL game for the wild before being traded to us.

In the good years we hit on tons of 2nd + rd picks who played 100+ for us

97- Tallinder, Max and Campbell

98- Kotalik and Peters

99- Miller

2000 - Gaustad

2001 - Roy and Pommers

2003 - Paetsch and MacArthur 

2004- Sekera and Kaleta

2005 - Butler and Gerbe

(we also drafted Hejda, Wideman after the 1st but they were never signed.)  Now you know why it’s so important to get 1-2 players a year after the 1st rd, because they will become the depth of your team some like a Pommers, Miller and Campbell could become stars.

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by GASabresIUFAN

[jad1]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

You are incorrect. There are zero players drafted after the 1st rd from 2014 to now with 100 games played for the Sabres and only one since 2012 - McCabe.

Since 2006 we have only had 3 players drafted after the 1st rd play 100 games or more for the Sabres.  Weber (2nd 2006), McCabe (2nd 2012) and Foligno (4th 2009).

Current Sabres who are also Sabres draftees with over 100 games are

1st rd players - Eichel (2015), Reinhart (2014), Risto (2013), Girgensons (2012)

2nd rd player - McCabe (2012), I guess you could include Pommers (2002) as he is still w the Sabres until 7/1.

Erod and Nelson have both played 100+ games for us but were college UFAs.  Larsson was a Minn 2nd rd pick and played 1 NHL game for the wild before being traded to us.

So you just added the 2014 parameter (don't know why), but Pominville was the 3rd Sabre drafted by the team after the 1st round to play 100 games for the Sabres.

McCabe and ERod were the other two, I don't know why you wouldn't include college FAs.

Nelson, according to NHLPA.com has played 93 games for the Sabres. So he doesn't meet the 100 game criteria.

[GASabresIUFAN]

10 minutes ago, jad1 said:

So you just added the 2014 parameter (don't know why), but Pominville was the 3rd Sabre drafted by the team after the 1st round to play 100 games for the Sabres.

McCabe and ERod were the other two, I don't know why you wouldn't include college FAs.

Nelson, according to NHLPA.com has played 93 games for the Sabres. So he doesn't meet the 100 game criteria.

Duda’s post started this thread and had the 2014 limit. The reason college UFAs aren’t included because again it’s a discussion of draftees not prospects.

[jad1]

14 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Duda’s post started this thread and had the 2014 limit. The reason college UFAs aren’t included because again it’s a discussion of draftees not prospects.

Okay, I see the 2014 post, which states the overall games played by draft picks where Buffalo ranks 2nd, but that's not good enough because there are not enough games played by players picked in rounds 2 - 7 after 2014?

And the definition of prospect does not include draftees?

And Boston and Tampa are successful because they have a few players who meet this criteria?