Sabres Announce Prospects Challenge September 17-19

[Digger]

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Doesn't sound like a big deal to me.  Rookie tournament, preseason games are the time to experiment with lines and positions.  From what I saw of Quinn last season he looked to be a pretty smart creative player with getting pucks into some difficult areas.  If he does well at center great.  I don't see a downside.

We might recall that we took Reinhart who was drafted as a center and then never (or rarely) played him at center.  Of course he never played in Rochester either.  

[Curt]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Yup, remember the draft comment, too. 

The bold may be supported by the fact they passed on Rossi and Lundell, natural centres, at the time as well.  

The Quinn pick hasn't gotten less puzzling overall, but why Adams "passed" on a C might be becoming more clear. 

Yeah.  I don’t think the Sabres would at all think of that pick as passing on a C to draft a W.  They drafted Jack Quinn not because he is a W or a C, but because they really liked Jack Quinn.

[Andrew Amerk]

2 hours ago, Digger said:

Doesn't sound like a big deal to me.  Rookie tournament, preseason games are the time to experiment with lines and positions.  From what I saw of Quinn last season he looked to be a pretty smart creative player with getting pucks into some difficult areas.  If he does well at center great.  I don't see a downside.

We might recall that we took Reinhart who was drafted as a center and then never (or rarely) played him at center.  Of course he never played in Rochester either.  

Except when Granato finally put Sam at C, and he did well. Then we trade his butt. Phenomenal 

[Thorner]

10 hours ago, Curt said:

Yeah.  I don’t think the Sabres would at all think of that pick as passing on a C to draft a W.  They drafted Jack Quinn not because he is a W or a C, but because they really liked Jack Quinn.

I agree, but I think the fact they felt he could play C factored into how much they like him

[Brawndo]

https://twitter.com/llysowski/status/1438516045480792071?s=21

[Thorner]

peterka - cozens - rosen

kisakov - quinn - poltapov 

olofsson - mittelstadt - thompson

skinner - asplund - ruotsalainen 

 

....simply sit back and wait for the vision to take hold. 

[Weave]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

peterka - cozens - rosen

kisakov - quinn - poltapov 

olofsson - mittelstadt - thompson

skinner - asplund - ruotsalainen 

 

....simply sit back and wait for the vision to take hold. 

This posted will be lamented about in 3-4 years.

[dudacek]

Duff said on a team practice report video that Friday’s game will be streamed on the Sabres site.

[Curt]

59 minutes ago, Thorny said:

peterka - cozens - rosen

kisakov - quinn - poltapov 

olofsson - mittelstadt - thompson

skinner - asplund - ruotsalainen 

 

....simply sit back and wait for the vision to take hold. 

This guy gets it.  I had to wear sunglasses just to read this comment.

#blindinglight

[Flashsabre]

There are some 24-25 year olds playing in this tournament.

What if walk on Jack Reichel from Boston, Mass. plays for the Sabres this weekend to show his skills and how good his neck is?😜😉

[PromoTheRobot]

15 hours ago, Andrew Amerk said:

Except when Granato finally put Sam at C, and he did well. Then we trade his butt. Phenomenal 

Which is what he wanted. He wasn't resigning.

[pi2000]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

peterka - cozens - rosen

kisakov - quinn - poltapov 

olofsson - mittelstadt - thompson

skinner - asplund - ruotsalainen 

 

....simply sit back and wait for the vision to take hold. 

I'll bet only 3 maybe 4 of those players are on the roster in 3 years.

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

I'll bet only 3 maybe 4 of those players are on the roster in 3 years.

I would bet that 7 of them on the roster this year.

[Weave]

7 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I would bet that 7 of them on the roster this year.

Which 7 has your money?

[dudacek]

22 minutes ago, Weave said:

Which 7 has your money?

Without question olofsson mittelstadt thompson skinner asplund and cozens.

I would add ruotsalainen as well.

I assume Pi means a number of them are traded or leave, because I expect all of them to be in the NHL in 3 years.

I also expect Quinn and Peterka to be in the NHL in 3 years.

The other 3 are 18, so probably not.

[bob_sauve28]

Hockey today! 

[Thorner]

Did people read the article in the Buffalo News on the front page re: Quinn?

"Amerks coach Seth Appert told reporters Wednesday this is only an audition to see how Quinn transitions to playing down the middle. It’s possible, though, that the organization’s depth chart, including few high-upside options at center, could make this a long-term change if Quinn is successful."

" “I talked to Kevyn a bit about it this summer. He gave me a call and said they’re going to try me there."

"It’s possible that a seamless move to the position could improve Quinn’s chances at making the Sabres’ roster out of camp."

It really does depressingly seem like Quinn is Kevyn Adams answer to failing to address the centre depth in any meaningful way since coming aboard. 

 

[Thorner]

This is a doozy: “Well, he’s a play-driver, and there’s not a ton of wingers that are play-drivers,” Appert said."

Bold is patently false. 

 

 

[LabattBlue]

7 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It really does depressingly seem like Quinn is Kevyn Adams answer to failing to address the centre depth in any meaningful way since coming aboard. 

 

Problem could have been addressed the last two drafts, but they chose to do otherwise.  That leads to jerking around a 19 year old prospect. 

[Thorner]

8 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

Problem could have been addressed the last two drafts, but they chose to do otherwise.  That leads to jerking around a 19 year old prospect. 

It's good thing it's nearly the Weeknd because in terms of our prospects Kevyn Adams certainly seems to be blinded by the light 

[Gabrielor]

Ruotsalainen at center is a look good.

[dudacek]

21 minutes ago, Thorny said:

This is a doozy: “Well, he’s a play-driver, and there’s not a ton of wingers that are play-drivers,” Appert said."

Bold is patently false. 

 

 

Not sure what you mean by this. it's a pretty open-ended statement.

Panarin, Marner, Marchand, Kane, Ovechkin, Kucherov, Pastrnak...

Arguably Rantanen, Stone, Huberdeau, Gaudreau, the Tkachuk brothers...

I'm sure you could find a few more, and I guess there are different ways to define "play driver" but considering there's like 250 wingers in the NHL, I don't have a real problem with that statement

Edited September 17, 2021 by dudacek

[Thorner]

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not sure what you mean by this. it's a pretty open-ended statement.

Panarin, Marner, Marchand, Kane, Ovechkin, Kucherov, Pastrnak...

Arguably Rantanen, Stone, Huberdeau, Gaudreau, the Tkachuk brothers...

I'm sure you could find a few more, and I guess there are different ways to define "play driver" but considering there's like 250 wingers in the NHL, I don't have a real problem with that statement

Wingers drive play more than any other position than C. There are a *ton* of "play driving" wingers in the NHL. If Appert wanted another qualifier, ie, you seem to be focusing on the top end of things, he should have added one. 

Reinhart drove play from the wing, just to name a Sabres example 

- - - 

Stone doesn't "arguably" drive play from the wing. He indisputably drives play from the wing, among the elite's of the league 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Thorny

[dudacek]

I think it's maybe about the interpretation of "play driving"?

"Team A lacks real goal scorers" they don't have anyone who can score 30.

"Team A is loaded with goal scorers" they have maybe 8 guys who can score 20.

[Thorner]

11 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think it's maybe about the interpretation of "play driving"?

"Team A lacks real goal scorers" they don't have anyone who can score 30.

"Team A is loaded with goal scorers" they have maybe 8 guys who can score 20.

I mean, you can parse it all you like - all I'm doing is reading his actual quote. 

If you "drive play", it simply means you are tilting the ice towards the other end while you are on, on a consistent basis. That you specifically are a key component in possession. Reinhart was *excellent* at this. There are a ton of guys like that - really good player, not exactly a unicorn.

The spirit of the quote is that not many drive play from the wing and that's why Quinn has to go to C and that's just not true, it's bogus. We know the real reason is because of the lack of C depth. 

Maybe he should have said "there aren't a ton who drive play at an elite level from the wing". 

Maybe even, "We've expected Quinn to be able to drive play at an elite level from the centre ice position since drafting him and that's why we haven't added a single centre of note in two years. 

Again."