Updated Sabres Prospect Pool 2021 and beyond

[Brawndo]

 

[Thorner]

Isak Rosen RN - 

[dudacek]

The Athletic has Kris Baker’s ranking of Sabres prospects just out and it is interesting that Rosen is there at #4.

https://theathletic.com/2980977/2021/11/27/ranking-the-sabres-top-10-prospects-from-ukko-pekka-luukkonen-and-erik-portillo-to-owen-power/
 

“I put Rosen higher than Peterka based purely on goal-scoring ability,” Baker said. “I could see Rosen, when he’s physically developed into a man in five years, being a top-line player. His acceleration is A-plus. He’s got a quick shot, can just wire shots. He’s got a very good wrist shot.

“But he just needs to physically develop.”

Rosen is listed at 5-foot-10 and 148 pounds by Leksands of the Swedish league, which uses him just 8:38 per night.

“He’s just kind of finding his way in his first professional year,” Baker said, “but I think he has very high-end acceleration and goal-scoring ability.”

Overall:

• 10) Portillo/Lukkonnen (tie)
• 9) Levi
• 8 Samuelsson
• 7) Poltapov
• 6) Johnson
• 5) Peterka
• 4) Rosen
• 3) Krebs
• 2) Quinn
• 1) Power

He says Samuelsson is closest to the NHL, followed by Power, then the Amerk forward trio.

[Thorner]

Ya, it was just a joke lol 

[Taro T]

48 minutes ago, dudacek said:

The Athletic has Kris Baker’s ranking of Sabres prospects just out and it is interesting that Rosen is there at #4.

https://theathletic.com/2980977/2021/11/27/ranking-the-sabres-top-10-prospects-from-ukko-pekka-luukkonen-and-erik-portillo-to-owen-power/
 

“I put Rosen higher than Peterka based purely on goal-scoring ability,” Baker said. “I could see Rosen, when he’s physically developed into a man in five years, being a top-line player. His acceleration is A-plus. He’s got a quick shot, can just wire shots. He’s got a very good wrist shot.

“But he just needs to physically develop.”

Rosen is listed at 5-foot-10 and 148 pounds by Leksands of the Swedish league, which uses him just 8:38 per night.

“He’s just kind of finding his way in his first professional year,” Baker said, “but I think he has very high-end acceleration and goal-scoring ability.”

Overall:

• 10) Portillo/Lukkonnen (tie)
• 9) Levi
• 8 Samuelsson
• 7) Poltapov
• 6) Johnson
• 5) Peterka
• 4) Rosen
• 3) Krebs
• 2) Quinn
• 1) Power

He says Samuelsson is closest to the NHL, followed by Power, then the Amerk forward trio.

Interesting that Johnson is still rated higher than Samuelsson.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Interesting that Johnson is still rated higher than Samuelsson.

Interesting that the goalies are all so low despite (especially Levi's) absurdly good numbers. Not that those above haven't looked very promising, but to me there's just a natural reluctance to rank goalies higher. 

In that sense I'm actually surprised he has Samuelsson so low, too. 

[dudacek]

32 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Interesting that the goalies are all so low despite (especially Levi's) absurdly good numbers. Not that those above haven't looked very promising, but to me there's just a natural reluctance to rank goalies higher. 

In that sense I'm actually surprised he has Samuelsson so low, too. 

One gets the sense with the defencemen it’s an upside thing. Anyone can see that Samuelsson is ready, but I think Baker thinks that he’s close to his ceiling already, whereas Johnson’s is still to be defined. He absolutely loves his skating.

As far as the goalies go, I think it’s sample size; he’s looked at Levi this year like a lot of us are looking at Thompson: this guy can’t really be as good as he’s playing, can he? 

The other thing that was interesting is he sees both Poltapov and Peterka as versatile high-energy guys that will make the middle of the lineup dangerous.

Edited November 28, 2021 by dudacek

[Flashsabre]

Bloom with 2 goals and an assist so far tonight including his 6th shorty.

up to 25 points in 18 games.

[Flashsabre]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

The Athletic has Kris Baker’s ranking of Sabres prospects just out and it is interesting that Rosen is there at #4.

https://theathletic.com/2980977/2021/11/27/ranking-the-sabres-top-10-prospects-from-ukko-pekka-luukkonen-and-erik-portillo-to-owen-power/
 

“I put Rosen higher than Peterka based purely on goal-scoring ability,” Baker said. “I could see Rosen, when he’s physically developed into a man in five years, being a top-line player. His acceleration is A-plus. He’s got a quick shot, can just wire shots. He’s got a very good wrist shot.

“But he just needs to physically develop.”

Rosen is listed at 5-foot-10 and 148 pounds by Leksands of the Swedish league, which uses him just 8:38 per night.

“He’s just kind of finding his way in his first professional year,” Baker said, “but I think he has very high-end acceleration and goal-scoring ability.”

Overall:

• 10) Portillo/Lukkonnen (tie)
• 9) Levi
• 8 Samuelsson
• 7) Poltapov
• 6) Johnson
• 5) Peterka
• 4) Rosen
• 3) Krebs
• 2) Quinn
• 1) Power

He says Samuelsson is closest to the NHL, followed by Power, then the Amerk forward trio.

You can argue the ranking but overall that is a very balanced and skilled  top 11 and then to have the likes of Laaksonen, Bloom, Kisakov, Nadeau, Novikov after that group is really nice.

[Hank]

Has Levi ever not played at his current level?  I don’t know anything about him prior to last year's WJC, but he's been a wall for the last year. 

[Flashsabre]

58 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Bloom with 2 goals and an assist so far tonight including his 6th shorty.

up to 25 points in 18 games.

Bloom with an assist on the OT winner.

4 point night and 26 points in 18 games.

[Gatorman0519]

40 minutes ago, Hank said:

Has Levi ever not played at his current level?  I don’t know anything about him prior to last year's WJC, but he's been a wall for the last year. 

What’s his NHL trajectory? 2-3 more years?

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

Has Levi ever not played at his current level?  I don’t know anything about him prior to last year's WJC, but he's been a wall for the last year. 

His stats are similar to his only junior season. 34 W 2 L 1 T. 1.47 GAA and .941 Sv%. It was a tier 2 Junior league but he was MVP as a 17 year old rookie.

[Norcal]

 

[Norcal]

 

Poltapov has slowed down 

[Norcal]

 

 

[Hoss]

13 hours ago, Thorny said:

Interesting that the goalies are all so low despite (especially Levi's) absurdly good numbers. Not that those above haven't looked very promising, but to me there's just a natural reluctance to rank goalies higher. 

In that sense I'm actually surprised he has Samuelsson so low, too. 

It’s a reasonable approach to goaltending projections. Portillo and Levi are years and years away from consistently getting time on NHL ice. There is so much that can happen between now and then in their development that’s it’s impossible to project them higher than players that are not only closer to NHL ice but showcasing high-end skill sets at this time. UPL being “tied” at 10th is a cop out and a lie, though. He’s nowhere near the top ten for this team because he’s at a time where he should be ready for NHL ice but has yet to prove he’s ready for AHl ice.

Edited November 28, 2021 by Hoss

[Brawndo]

 

[dudacek]

12 hours ago, Norcal said:

 

Poltapov has slowed down 

Not really, he just went Rosen. Got called up to the KHL to be filler. As @Brawndo’s latest post shows, he gets sent back to junior and starts scoring again.

2 hours ago, Hoss said:

It’s a reasonable approach to goaltending projections. Portillo and Levi are years and years away from consistently getting time on NHL ice. There is so much that can happen between now and then in their development that’s it’s impossible to project them higher than players that are not only closer to NHL ice but showcasing high-end skill sets at this time. UPL being “tied” at 10th is a cop out and a lie, though. He’s nowhere near the top ten for this team because he’s at a time where he should be ready for NHL ice but has yet to prove he’s ready for AHl ice.

Baker addressed your UPL point by calling his problems not unexpected inconsistency:

“He’s facing adversity, and this is part of the process,” Baker said. “I think deep down Luukkonen is still the same prospect that was the best player in the OHL a couple years ago and led Finland to a World Junior gold medal. I think he’s still the same prospect that came up and performed pretty well in his first dose of NHL action last spring.”

Gotta say that in the AHL games I’ve seen UPL play recently, he’s been pretty good.

After allowing 20 goals in his first four games, he’s allowed 19 in his past 8 - stopping more than 40 shots in 3 of them.

 

 

 

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, Hoss said:

It’s a reasonable approach to goaltending projections. Portillo and Levi are years and years away from consistently getting time on NHL ice. There is so much that can happen between now and then in their development that’s it’s impossible to project them higher than players that are not only closer to NHL ice but showcasing high-end skill sets at this time. UPL being “tied” at 10th is a cop out and a lie, though. He’s nowhere near the top ten for this team because he’s at a time where he should be ready for NHL ice but has yet to prove he’s ready for AHl ice.

agree

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Not really, he just went Rosen. Got called up to the KHL to be filler. As @Brawndo’s latest post shows, he gets sent back to junior and starts scoring again.

Baker addressed your UPL point by calling his problems not unexpected inconsistency:

“He’s facing adversity, and this is part of the process,” Baker said. “I think deep down Luukkonen is still the same prospect that was the best player in the OHL a couple years ago and led Finland to a World Junior gold medal. I think he’s still the same prospect that came up and performed pretty well in his first dose of NHL action last spring.”

Gotta say that in the AHL games I’ve seen UPL play recently, he’s been pretty good.

After allowing 20 goals in his first four games, he’s allowed 19 in his past 8 - stopping more than 40 shots in 3 of them.

I don’t think we can call what UPL has been going through “inconsistency.” He’s been consistently bad in the ECHL, AHL and NHL for a few years now. Whether this recent trend is a sign of a “new” UPL remains to be seen. I’m not burying him but I also don’t think he factors much into plans right now.

[dudacek]

22 minutes ago, Hoss said:

I don’t think we can call what UPL has been going through “inconsistency.” He’s been consistently bad in the ECHL, AHL and NHL for a few years now. Whether this recent trend is a sign of a “new” UPL remains to be seen. I’m not burying him but I also don’t think he factors much into plans right now.

His “badness” has largely consisted of his first 30 AHL games.

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, Hoss said:

I don’t think we can call what UPL has been going through “inconsistency.” He’s been consistently bad in the ECHL, AHL and NHL for a few years now. Whether this recent trend is a sign of a “new” UPL remains to be seen. I’m not burying him but I also don’t think he factors much into plans right now.

I have to challenge you about the “bad in the ECHL”

he was 3rd best in the entire league in both GAA and Sv% during thr 19/20 season

 

[Curt]

1 hour ago, Hoss said:

I don’t think we can call what UPL has been going through “inconsistency.” He’s been consistently bad in the ECHL, AHL and NHL for a few years now. Whether this recent trend is a sign of a “new” UPL remains to be seen. I’m not burying him but I also don’t think he factors much into plans right now.

UPL was not bad in the ECHL.  He has played a total of 37 AHL games.  Goalies take time.

[Hoss]

1 minute ago, Crusader1969 said:

I have to challenge you about the “bad in the ECHL”

he was 3rd best in the entire league in both GAA and Sv% during thr 19/20 season

 

Didn’t realize goalie numbers are that bad in the ECHL so duly noted. He was also bad in Liiga when on loan there last season.