What should the Sabres do with the 8th pick?

[Stoner]

What should the Sabres do with the 8th pick?

[Randall Flagg]

If the Sabres can adequately shore up the roster without using it, then make it. But I don't think that's particularly likely, and so I'd like to see it moved. 

[Cal Naughton Jr]

To me it’s a no brainer. The 8th overall pick does nothing to help this team for the next 2-3 years. #8 pick, player, prospect for a 2nd line center.

[freester]

I think we should keep it as we will be facing cap problems soon. I would rather move next years first and either Risto or Montour and a prospect to get a 2C

[nfreeman]

It’s kinda hard to answer the question without knowing what’s coming back in trade.  

[freester]

7 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

It’s kinda hard to answer the question without knowing what’s coming back in trade.  

I think Cirelli is the only 2C I would consider giving up #8 for and even then I’m a bit hesitant. I think Holtz will be a very good player that is cost controlled for a while. 

[dudacek]

I’m absolutely moving it for the right player.

Ranking our good assets in the order I’d move them:

1) next year’s 1st

2) this year’s

3) Montour

4) Mittelstadt

5) Olofsson

6) Ristolainen

7) Cozens

? Reinhart

Im not moving Eichel or Dahlin.Our other pieces are all available, but aren’t going to fix our 2C problem or even be the primary piece in a package. (Yes, I think Mittelstadt could attract a team dumping salary, for example the Ducks might do Casey for Henrique, even if I wouldn’t.)

EDIT: forgot Olofsson, who is genuine asset. Skinner is not until he plays to that contract.

Edited June 27, 2020 by dudacek

[freester]

2 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m absolutely moving it for the right player.

Ranking our good assets in the order I’d move them:

1) next year’s 1st

2) this year’s

3) Montour

4) Mittelstadt

5) Ristolainen

6) Cozens

7) Reinhart

Im not moving Eichel or Dahlin.Our other pieces are all available, but aren’t going to fix our 2C problem or even be the primary piece in a package. (Yes, I think Mittelstadt could attract a team dumping salary, for example the Ducks might do Casey for Henrique, even if I wouldn’t.)

I would change the order a bit:

1 Montour 

2 2021 1st 

3 Mitts 

4 Risto 

5 2020 1st

[Gatorman0519]

8th is useless to turn this thing around.  I would of needed top 5 to stay.  It’s mind-boggling to believe 7 of the last 8 years we’ve lost position.  But our management can’t draft worth a hill of beans anyways.  We need players now to change this culture ASAP.  This year is about culture change and saving Eichel. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

By the way, here is a comparison of VO to Holtz from Vogl.  https://theathletic.com/1893736/2020/06/26/nhl-mock-draft-completing-all-the-first-round-picks-after-the-first-lottery/

Quote

The immediate comparison for Holtz will be Olofsson. The snipers have put up similar numbers. At age 16 in Sweden’s J18 Elite league, Olofsson scored 15 goals in 21 games, while Holtz buried 23 in 17 games. At age 17 in the Super Elite league, Olofsson poured in 19 goals in 19 games, while Holtz buried 30 in 38. Yeah, Buffalo will be happy to have Holtz.

 

[Weave]

I’m for moving the pick for the right player coming back.  I’ll worry about depth in our development system only after we’ve got a full roster of decent NHL players on the ice.

We've seen what happens when we don’t have players to slot into key positions.  We end up playing kids that aren’t ready like Casey and Tage.  So I’m hoping the team prioritizes filling key holes like 2C and goal and then fill the developmental system.

[Curt]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

By the way, here is a comparison of VO to Holtz from Vogl.  https://theathletic.com/1893736/2020/06/26/nhl-mock-draft-completing-all-the-first-round-picks-after-the-first-lottery/

 

That’s not a great look for Holtz honestly.  So he will be NHL ready as a PP specialist in 2026?

Holtz has a great shot, but he shoots from bad places like E Kane used to and he doesn’t have any other stand out skill.  I could see him turning into PP specialist similar to Olofsson, but I want more.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Curt

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, Curt said:

That’s not a great look for Holtz honestly.  So he will be NHL ready in 2026?

Holtz has a great shot, but he shoots from bad places like E Kane used to and he doesn’t have any other stand out skill.  I could see him turning into PP specialist similar to Olofsson, but I want more.

?

From the article:

Pronman’s take: Buffalo adds the top goal-scorer of the class to its group in Holtz, giving it a very talented player who is close to NHL ready, probably needing one year and maybe two at the most before being ready to push for ice time after how good he looked versus men last season.

Edited June 27, 2020 by dudacek

[Curt]

Just now, dudacek said:

?

From the article:

Pronman’s take: Buffalo adds the top goal-scorer of the class to its group in Holtz, giving it a very talented player who is close to NHL ready, probably needing one year and maybe two at the most before being ready to push for ice time after how good he looked versus men last season.

Haha, I didn’t read the article, just the excerpt provided.  Obviously.

I just don’t like Holtz that much.  He can shoot, but doesn’t go to the dangerous areas of the ice, isn’t a playmaker, isn’t a big help defensively,  isn’t a standout skater, isn’t above average size.  I don’t think anything about him is all that good apart from his shot. 

[Huckleberry]

3 minutes ago, Curt said:

Haha, I didn’t read the article, just the excerpt provided.  Obviously.

I just don’t like Holtz that much.  He can shoot, but doesn’t go to the dangerous areas of the ice, isn’t a playmaker, isn’t a big help defensively,  isn’t a standout skater, isn’t above average size.  I don’t think anything about him is all that good apart from his shot. 

So basically he is Ovechkin at 17 ?

Edited June 27, 2020 by Huckleberry

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, Curt said:

Haha, I didn’t read the article, just the excerpt provided.  Obviously.

I just don’t like Holtz that much.  He can shoot, but doesn’t go to the dangerous areas of the ice, isn’t a playmaker, isn’t a big help defensively,  isn’t a standout skater, isn’t above average size.  I don’t think anything about him is all that good apart from his shot. 

I don’t think he plays like Skinner, but I think that’s the type of player you’re getting with him if he pans out. A goal scorer who needs to be scoring because he brings little else when he’s not.

Of course if you can get a Skinner at 8, you’re usually pretty happy with the pick.

Edited June 27, 2020 by dudacek

[Huckleberry]

Seriously though I think we need to start considering a reduced salary cap next two years.  It certainly won't go up and we'll need cheap players on their ELC.

You will see a lot of young players being pushed into the league because of it too along with there might not being an AHL season.

Our top 6 next year might very well be

Oloffson - Eichel - Reinhart

Skinner - Cozens - Holtz ???

Don't really know how close Holtz is to being NHL ready, but if its only one year and no AHL I can see him getting a shot, still wonder what mike hoffman would ask though.

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Seriously though I think we need to start considering a reduced salary cap next two years.  It certainly won't go up and we'll need cheap players on their ELC.

You will see a lot of young players being pushed into the league because of it too along with there might not being an AHL season.

Our top 6 next year might very well be

Oloffson - Eichel - Reinhart

Skinner - Cozens - Holtz ???

Don't really know how close Holtz is to being NHL ready, but if its only one year and no AHL I can see him getting a shot, still wonder what mike hoffman would ask though.

Friedman said the league is projecting a static cap for the next three years in order to cope with the COVID losses.

@Thorny, how does that affect your Reinhart scenario?

[kas23]

I’m not too concerned about a static or even decreased cap as every team will be in the same boat. Everybody is hurting. What we’ll likely see is a lot of 2-3 year deals with only tiny raises. 

[Curt]

23 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

So basically he is Ovechkin at 17 ?

Nah, Ovechkin is built like a bull, plays like a bull, goes hard to the net, in addition to his elite shot.

[kas23]

As for trading the pick, I can think of team dealing with the lower cap or bad financials by dumping their RFAs. Better to get something for them instead of some ugly holdout or going to Europe to play. Given that, unless there is a clear consensus of who we want to grab, I trade the pick, but only as part of a 2C package. Otherwise, I keep it. 

[Curt]

23 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I don’t think he plays like Skinner, but I think that’s the type of player you’re getting with him if he pans out. A goal scorer who needs to be scoring because he brings little else when he’s not.

Of course if you can get a Skinner at 8, you’re usually pretty happy with the pick.

Right, and because of his skill set and the game he plays, I’m concerned that he won’t score all that much, and also doesn’t bring much else to the table.

If he was able to get himself into high danger areas more often, I might feel differently, but he often seems content to shoot it from low danger areas.  I’m concerned that he doesn’t create, or get himself in position for, scoring chances.  Even with a great shot, I don’t think shooting it from distance as a go to move is a recipe for success in the NHL.

[nfreeman]

I wonder what KA is thinking as he peruses this thread/considers his options.

"I want the fans to feel more connected to the team, and I know they'd welcome a trade of this pick for a good forward, so I'm going to aggressively pursue such a trade."

or

"Holy mackerel I don't want to get embarrassed on my first trade as a GM, and I've got at least a couple of seasons since TP doesn't want to fire me anytime soon, so I'm going to play it safe and pick the best forward available at #8."

or

"I need to make this team better, so I'm open to discussing anything reasonable, and let the chips fall where they may."

If they do trade it, I sure hope they bring in an assistant GM before push comes to shove.  Plenty of time before then though.

[Palm Trees And Taxes]

I would keep the 8th overall pick. I truly believe an organization can never have enough top young talent.

The sins of GMTM have really hurt. It's time to restock.

The #8 overall this year is actually better then most seasons; the Top 10 of this draft is superb. I would deal Risto to get that 2nd center.

[dudacek]

Murray targeted what he wanted and paid the price. Botterill was all about low-risk conventional thinking.

Adams is preaching an unconventional approach to Scouting and rating players, which I suspect may result in unconventional conclusions and unexpected moves. Pick 8s availability will depend on its value in his system versus its value in the free market.