Sabres Officially Select #9, #16, and #28

[Brawndo]

Pronman’s Final Mock

 

9. Buffalo Sabres: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Djurgarden (SHL)

I expect Buffalo to use the first of its three first-round picks primarily to add offense and skill to the organization. I’ve heard Savoie and Kemell speculated here but the best guess from my information is they will pick either Lekkerimaki or Kasper.

 

16. Buffalo Sabres: Jiri Kulich, LW/C, Karlovy Vary (Czechia)

Kulich’s name continues to rise, and I think he has a strong chance to be a top-20 pick on draft day. I’ve mocked Danila Yurov here consistently and I do think he could be in play, but Kulich offers far less risk and is still quite a talent. I’ve also heard Ostlund speculated here if he’s still available.
 

28. Buffalo Sabres: Brad Lambert, RW, Pelicans (Finland)

I’ve heard a little more Lambert love from NHL sources in the last few days than I did in June. I think it’s still possible he’s picked in the teens, but my current bet is he goes somewhere in the 20s.  Lambert for Buffalo at 28 would be a big swing on the dynamic speed/skill combination with a hope he becomes more consistent.
 

 

[bob_sauve28]

 

[Archie Lee]

There are a lot of “you tube” scouts who love Lambert. Generally, those who love him seem to think that people who don’t are overthinking things. The more I watch on Lambert the more I think he is going to dominate the WJC this August and then the WHL with Seattle. By New Year’s there could be a bunch of teams wondering how they missed the signal for the noise.

[Brawndo]

Yurov and Misoshnichenko are both in Montreal for the draft 

Also Pavel Mintyukov stayed in the US for offseason training 

 

[ddaryl]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Yurov and Misoshnichenko are both in Montreal for the draft 

Also Pavel Mintyukov stayed in the US for offseason training 

 

But will they return to mother Russia

If they stay in NA then that would eliminate most all concerns outside of health issues for Miso

[Brawndo]

1 minute ago, ddaryl said:

But will they return to mother Russia

If they stay in NA then that would eliminate most all concerns outside of health issues for Miso

They both have KHL Contracts so of course they will return 

[ddaryl]

1 minute ago, Brawndo said:

They both have KHL Contracts so of course they will return 

Then I would stay away from them in 1st few rounds and treat them as a lottery card.

But do they really have to go back?  They could "defect" and stay here... 

Edited July 6, 2022 by ddaryl

[Brawndo]

2 minutes ago, ddaryl said:

Then I would stay away from them in 1st few rounds and treat them as a lottery card

I would agree about 9 and possibly 16, but their value at 28 or 41 is too much to pass up on. 

[ddaryl]

Just now, Brawndo said:

I would agree about 9 and possibly 16, but their value at 28 or 41 is too much to pass up on. 

I don't trust Russia or players from Russia who would go back to Russia given the situation. I'm a hard pass till round 3. 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

They both have KHL Contracts so of course they will return 

 

11 minutes ago, ddaryl said:

But will they return to mother Russia

If they stay in NA then that would eliminate most all concerns outside of health issues for Miso

I think I’m passing on all Russians in the 1st round.  These are important picks for the franchise longterm and they aren’t worth the risk.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Pronman’s Final Mock

 

9. Buffalo Sabres: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Djurgarden (SHL)

I expect Buffalo to use the first of its three first-round picks primarily to add offense and skill to the organization. I’ve heard Savoie and Kemell speculated here but the best guess from my information is they will pick either Lekkerimaki or Kasper.

 

16. Buffalo Sabres: Jiri Kulich, LW/C, Karlovy Vary (Czechia)

Kulich’s name continues to rise, and I think he has a strong chance to be a top-20 pick on draft day. I’ve mocked Danila Yurov here consistently and I do think he could be in play, but Kulich offers far less risk and is still quite a talent. I’ve also heard Ostlund speculated here if he’s still available.
 

28. Buffalo Sabres: Brad Lambert, RW, Pelicans (Finland)

I’ve heard a little more Lambert love from NHL sources in the last few days than I did in June. I think it’s still possible he’s picked in the teens, but my current bet is he goes somewhere in the 20s.  Lambert for Buffalo at 28 would be a big swing on the dynamic speed/skill combination with a hope he becomes more consistent.
 

 

That would be justifiable, but underwhelming.

Lekkerimaki neither fills need, nor fits my concept of an Adams’ Sabre.

There will likely be others there I’d prefer to Kulich, but he’d be good value and more of a Sabre.

Lambert is not someone I’m high on, despite the fact his talent is hard to overlook at 28.

Savoie and Kasper remain much better choices at 9. Yurov is a definite want and Ostlund is very much underrated by internet fans.

[7+6=13]

One more sleep and it's draft night.

[Brawndo]

54 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

I think I’m passing on all Russians in the 1st round.  These are important picks for the franchise longterm and they aren’t worth the risk.

With 4 picks in the first 41, they can afford to take a chance. Yurov has Top Ten Talent and doesn’t play for CSKA and Gleb Trikozov would be worth drafting at 28 or 41.  Taking Yurov at 9 would be cringeworthy, but at  28 or 41 I would be Ok with that 

48 minutes ago, dudacek said:

That would be justifiable, but underwhelming.

Lekkerimaki neither fills need, nor fits my concept of an Adams’ Sabre.

There will likely be others there I’d prefer to Kulich, but he’d be good value and more of a Sabre.

Lambert is not someone I’m high on, despite the fact his talent is hard to overlook at 28.

Savoie and Kasper remain much better choices at 9. Yurov is a definite want and Ostlund is very much underrated by internet fans.

They would have passed on Nazar twice in this draft. 
 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Brawndo

[Flashsabre]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Pronman’s Final Mock

 

9. Buffalo Sabres: Jonathan Lekkerimaki, RW, Djurgarden (SHL)

I expect Buffalo to use the first of its three first-round picks primarily to add offense and skill to the organization. I’ve heard Savoie and Kemell speculated here but the best guess from my information is they will pick either Lekkerimaki or Kasper.

 

16. Buffalo Sabres: Jiri Kulich, LW/C, Karlovy Vary (Czechia)

Kulich’s name continues to rise, and I think he has a strong chance to be a top-20 pick on draft day. I’ve mocked Danila Yurov here consistently and I do think he could be in play, but Kulich offers far less risk and is still quite a talent. I’ve also heard Ostlund speculated here if he’s still available.
 

28. Buffalo Sabres: Brad Lambert, RW, Pelicans (Finland)

I’ve heard a little more Lambert love from NHL sources in the last few days than I did in June. I think it’s still possible he’s picked in the teens, but my current bet is he goes somewhere in the 20s.  Lambert for Buffalo at 28 would be a big swing on the dynamic speed/skill combination with a hope he becomes more consistent.
 

 

Pronman is saying his info is Sabres looking at Lekkerimaki at#9. He was the guy who said Sabres were leaning to Quinn two years ago so that is interesting.

[Brawndo]

He seems pretty confident 🤪

[dudacek]

22 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

He seems pretty confident 🤪

That's a bit of a "Wow!"

Have we ever seen such pre-draft declaration from a club team before?

If true, it sounds like the Sabres have done some homework with the club and player to address the potential pitfalls of drafting a Russian and mapped out a development plan.

Also, if true, love the pick.

[GASabresIUFAN]

22 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

He seems pretty confident 🤪

Sure he is confident.  Putin says Russian players stay home or else.
 
I repeat, I’m not drafting any Russian players in the 1st round.  It’s just not worth the risk. Yurov may have top 10 talent, but the difference in talent at 16 between him and say Ohgren, Kulich, Snuggerud or Nazar is enough to justify the risk.  I may regret this stance in 5 years, but KA has repeated on numerous occasions how important this draft is to the franchise’s future, I don’t see him taking the additional risk.

So how does that gel with taking 4 Russians last year?  Simple, last year he had good scouting on the Russian kids and Putin hadn’t invaded the Ukraine.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

7 minutes ago, dudacek said:

That's a bit of a "Wow!"

Have we ever seen such pre-draft declaration from a club team before?

If true, it sounds like the Sabres have done some homework with the club and player to address the potential pitfalls of drafting a Russian and mapped out a development plan.

Also, if true, love the pick.

I hope you are right in taking a positive approach to those comments. 

[Brawndo]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Sure he is confident.  Putin says Russian players stay home or else.
 
I repeat, I’m not drafting any Russian players in the 1st round.  It’s just not worth the risk. Yurov may have top 10 talent, but the difference in talent at 16 between him and say Ohgren, Kulich, Snuggerud or Nazar is enough to justify the risk.  I may regret this stance in 5 years, but KA has repeated on numerous occasions how important this draft is to the franchise’s future, I don’t see him taking the additional risk.

So how does that gel with taking 4 Russians last year?  Simple, last year he had good scouting on the Russian kids and Putin hadn’t invaded the Ukraine.  

I meant confident that the Sabres are going to draft Him 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

Pronman is saying his info is Sabres looking at Lekkerimaki at#9. He was the guy who said Sabres were leaning to Quinn two years ago so that is interesting.

I’ve seen people here say he is a perimeter player.  I’m not sure that is completely accurate. I just re-read a couple of scouting reports that talk about him finding open slots in the defense, a strong willingness to forecheck and an improving willingness to back check.  The biggest issue in the reports was average speed and choppy skating.  That sounds fixable.  

The rave about his blistering shot.  Honestly he sounds like Quinn in a lot of ways.  We could do worse.  I wrote up thread almost as a joke for KA to get the complete Swedish line of Lekkerimaki, Ohgren and Ostlund.  Maybe it’s not that bad an idea.

[Wyldnwoody44]

Fedotov was sent to NW Russia in the arctic circle to a Naval training center. Guess he's not playing for Philly 

[LGR4GM]

38 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Sure he is confident.  Putin says Russian players stay home or else.
 
I repeat, I’m not drafting any Russian players in the 1st round.  It’s just not worth the risk. Yurov may have top 10 talent, but the difference in talent at 16 between him and say Ohgren, Kulich, Snuggerud or Nazar is enough to justify the risk.  I may regret this stance in 5 years, but KA has repeated on numerous occasions how important this draft is to the franchise’s future, I don’t see him taking the additional risk.

So how does that gel with taking 4 Russians last year?  Simple, last year he had good scouting on the Russian kids and Putin hadn’t invaded the Ukraine.  

Yurov at 16 doesn't really bother me much. You pick the Russian you want and take them and then can be safer after that, now if Trikozov falls into the 3rd... well that complicates things. Actually at 41 I could be convinced to take another Russian like Trikozov but again it is all about risk/reward.

[That Aud Smell]

Drafting a Russian at #9 would sure be something.

But hey - this franchise has an excellent track record with acquiring the rights to highly talented Russians who are presumably unable to play in North America.

[LGR4GM]

Speaking of Russia...

 

[Brawndo]

10 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Yurov at 16 doesn't really bother me much. You pick the Russian you want and take them and then can be safer after that, now if Trikozov falls into the 3rd... well that complicates things. Actually at 41 I could be convinced to take another Russian like Trikozov but again it is all about risk/reward.

Yurov has one more year left on His Present Deal, and Trikozov doesn’t have a signed contract next year.