Sabres Prospects 2022-2023

[GASabresIUFAN]

37 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I heard Peca talking about him and thought he was noticeable at development camp. Still didn’t crack my top 20. 😄

As long as the prospect is Sabres property, I’m not going to speculate on passports, or free agent defectors and just stick to hockey. I like Poltapov’s game.

 I do as well but the organization has to consider it.  I will say this, they seem pretty confident about getting their Russian over here.  I hope for their sake that it works out for the players and the team.  Sadly, I don't share his confidence.  I'd feel better if Kisakov is in camp for the Sabres come fall.  

[LGR4GM]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

FYI: The Sabres are as high on Kozak as I am.  This is from Peca after Development Camp as quoted by Lance Lysowski

Now add that Kozak will be signed sooner or later after playing one more season in the CHL.  Poltapov may never player here.  All the talent in the world is meaningless from a Sabres point of view if the guy never comes to NA.  Lets hope that Novikov, Poltapov, Kisakov and Neuchev all come to NA after next season and infuse Rochester with even more talent.

Can you imagine an Amerks team in 2023-24 with Rosen, Kulich, Kisakov, Poltapov, Neuchev, Cederqvist, Huglen, Bloom, Nadeau and Kozak?

 

4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 I do as well but the organization has to consider it.  I will say this, they seem pretty confident about getting their Russian over here.  I hope for their sake that it works out for the players and the team.  Sadly, I don't share his confidence.  I'd feel better if Kisakov is in camp for the Sabres come fall.  

Kisakov is in North America. He's currently in Canada while the Sabres are getting his work visa processed. 

[bob_sauve28]

Where is Rosen going to play this year? 

[dudacek]

27 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Where is Rosen going to play this year? 

The expectation is Rochester, with the possibility of going back to Sweden by Christmas if things aren’t working out.

[bob_sauve28]

22 minutes ago, dudacek said:

The expectation is Rochester, with the possibility of going back to Sweden by Christmas if things aren’t working out.

Guess he's gotta get big and strong enough for that league. That would be a downer if he left half way through the season 

 

Really was impressed with that goal he scored in tournament 

[nfreeman]

I guess I’m not that concerned about the Russian prospects being permanently barred from coming here.  I can see it not happening this season, but beyond that it doesn’t seem likely.  

[sabresparaavida]

A question for those who know goalies better than I: What does Levi need to work on? Right now the only negative I have seen is that he lacks ideal NHL size, but that can be made up for if you are good enough. Is his rebound control, positioning, lateral movement, etc. all NHL level yet? Where does he need to improve most?

[Taro T]

38 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

A question for those who know goalies better than I: What does Levi need to work on? Right now the only negative I have seen is that he lacks ideal NHL size, but that can be made up for if you are good enough. Is his rebound control, positioning, lateral movement, etc. all NHL level yet? Where does he need to improve most?

'Bout the only uncertain part of his game is how does he handle being expected to always be on.  Pretty sure he'll nail that part as well.  AND can he stay sharp when he isn't getting much work in game?  (Dryden was a master at that.  Hopefully it ends up a skill Devon needs.)

Because right now, he is NHL caliber in anticipation, reaction, glove, & lateral movement.  Haven't watched him enough to speak to his rebound control, but haven't noticed any issue there either.  Guess a question is can he maintain all that while knowing good NHL shooters can go bar down at will & will attempt to exploit his stature but yet still not expose anything low prepping for that bar down shot.  Expect he'll figure that one out, if he hasn't already.

He has the physical aspects nailed.  (Except size, which his glove & reactions more than make up for.)  The mental side is where any questions would be.  How will he break out of a slump.  Hart looked great for Filly, until he didn't, and he still is what we want out of a Phlyer goalie and less.  😉

Can Levi avoid that becoming a prolonged issue?  Likely yes, but until he's gone through that sort of stuff, it's still unknown.

And how will he recover from the inevitable injuries?  If they don't mess w/ his reaction times, he should recover just fine.

He really could be the heir to Miller & Hasek and finally get Sabre goaltending back on the map.  Can't recall the last prospect in net that seemed this can't miss.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Taro T

[dudacek]

It’s the mental side that cements my excitement about Levi.

Its not often you find someone with off-the-charts self-awareness and self-confidence in the same package.

And then couple that with unrelenting love for and dedication to his craft.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

It’s the mental side that cements my excitement about Levi.

Its not often you find someone with off-the-charts self-awareness and self-confidence in the same package.

And then couple that with unrelenting love for and dedication to his craft.

He absolutely has the temperament, but he himself has said he's going back to college to learn how to be the best when everybody is expecting it & every mistake will be under the microscope.  Expect he'll pass that test w/ flying colors (did mention he seems to be a can't miss kid, right? 😉 ) but that's one of the few things that might not yet be in his toolbox.  The only way to get experience is by actually doing it.

[Johnny Utah]

Still not on the Poltopov or Kisakov trains. One kid I was very pleasantly surprised by was Lindgren. Really liked his vision, skating and confidence with the puck. I think he is one to watch 

[Crusader1969]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Utah said:

Still not on the Poltopov or Kisakov trains. One kid I was very pleasantly surprised by was Lindgren. Really liked his vision, skating and confidence with the puck. I think he is one to watch 

I love Poltopov  A bull in the china shop type   Will become a fan favorite.

[French Collection]

9 minutes ago, Johnny Utah said:

Still not on the Poltopov or Kisakov trains. One kid I was very pleasantly surprised by was Lindgren. Really liked his vision, skating and confidence with the puck. I think he is one to watch 

I think Lindgren may end up as a steal. His skills and numbers are not much below guys from the WHL who went in the first round (Korchinski, Mateychuk, Pickering).

I like the Neuchev pick, skill and size. Novikov is another that might become something like Boosh. Mule clone would be great if that is his upside.

[bob_sauve28]

Do we know which prospects will *probably* be in Rochester this year? 

[tom webster]

If all these prospects turn out to be what some people think they will be, the Stanley Cup final will be Rochester versus Buffalo in three or four years

 

[dudacek]

40 minutes ago, tom webster said:

If all these prospects turn out to be what some people think they will be, the Stanley Cup final will be Rochester versus Buffalo in three or four years

 

Never any sure things when it come to prospects and not many hit their ceilings.

I think Power and Dahlin are the only ones you can reasonably expect to be impact players even without hitting their ceilings.

But what is encouraging is the sheer number of players who seem to have legitimate shots to be top 6/4 levels players even if they don't hit their ceilings and could be more if they do.

The more lottery tickets the better.

Edited July 20, 2022 by dudacek

[tom webster]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Never any sure things when it come to prospects and not many hit their ceilings.

I think Power and Dahlin are the only ones you can reasonably expect to be impact players even without hitting their ceilings.

But what is encouraging is the sheer number of players who seem to have legitimate shots to be top 6/4 levels players even if they don't hit their ceilings and could be more if they do.

The more lottery tickets the better.

Oh I agree, and I am excited and the reality is that if the current group expected to start 2022/2023 in Buffalo is as good as advertised, they only need three or four of the twenty-two players drafted the last two years to hit.

[JohnC]

4 hours ago, nfreeman said:

I guess I’m not that concerned about the Russian prospects being permanently barred from coming here.  I can see it not happening this season, but beyond that it doesn’t seem likely.  

The problem isn't that these Russian prospects will be permanently barred so much as their development might be set back if they are not allowed to play in NA in the next couple of years. 

[Brawndo]

The earliest the Sabres Can sign Poltapov is for the 2025-26 Season. 
 

Neuchev is on record saying that He wants to come to the NHL, He would be eligible to sign next offseason. 
 

Novikov will be an interesting case. He is eligible to be signed next offseason, but he dropped on Teams Draft Boards as there was concern whether He would actually leave the KHL. Perhaps Lubushkin can help with that. 
 

The Geopolitical Realities of the world might be the biggest barrier though.

 

 

[Thorner]

16 hours ago, dudacek said:

Adjusted after the draft and development camp:

1 Power: I suspect some will be frustrated by his chill demeanour this year and I don’t know that he will dominate the way we will want him to. But he will be good and long-term he’s going to play as a top pairing defenceman for a long, long time.

2 Levi: He just has it: the talent and the focus. He will be the linchpin of a good era of Sabres teams. His size doesn’t matter. The rest of the hockey world will catch up eventually with what should be obvious. My favourite prospect.

3 Quinn: Another very likeable kid, character kid, with a centre’s hockey IQ and elite hands, who plays with pace. The rough playoff raises the question as to whether he has the ceiling his regular season suggested. I still don’t think people quite get how remarkable that regular season was. I think a lot of the Sabres future success rides on Quinn becoming more Thomas Vanek than JP Dumont.

4 Peterka: I really struggled on whether to not to elevate Peterka past Quinn, because as good as Quinn was, Peterka grew his game so much over the year and he has better speed and hockey strength to go with equivalent skill. Quinn is more rounded and smarter, but JJ closed that gap as the season went on and elevated in the playoffs. I’d never projected him as a 1st-line winger, but his trajectory is making me wonder if I underestimated him.

5 Savoie: Obviously has a longer distance to get there, but Savoie’s ability to execute plays at high speed at 18 is higher than we saw from any other player in the system. And he is always playing at high speed. He has 1st line hands, feet and vision. The only question is size, but he seems to have the type of squat hockey build that overcomes that. Very exciting prospect.

6 Östlund: I think this kid is the most natural centre we have in the system and he’s going to end up surprising a lot of people. He’s a puck funnel for exits, entries, and transitions, a great distributer, and fine backchecker. He’s got sublime hands and vision and he plays fast. He’s physically immature and it will take some time for him to arrive, but he’s exactly the type of player we need to make that fine collection of wingers better.

7 Krebs: I’m not discounting the noise about the Sabres needing to get bigger, but I think it ignores the identity Adams is building up front: his team is full of guys who play really fast. Peyton Krebs is another one. He is so hard on the forecheck, and so hard on the backcheck. He sees the ice well and he can make plays. I don’t think he will ever score goals, but I do think experience should temper his tendency to make bad passes. I foresee a Swiss Army knife 2nd-liner.

8 Kulich: It was hard to believe the player we saw at development camp fell to 28. Speed, a sniper’s release, a relentless approach and a stone-cold swagger add up to an enticing package. There just seems to be both multiple tools and the toolbox to make you wonder if there’s the potential to far outstrip his draft slot.

9 Samuelsson: Mule is built for cancelling opposition forwards. He doesn’t crush them so much as he swallows them up. Good stick, good judgement, good strength, good character. He’s going to be a shutdown dman for a long time.

10 Portillo: He’s imposing and in control. He looked great at dev camp and will be a leader next year for Michigan. He will be an NHL goalie. Hope we can sign him.

11 Poltapov: People shouldn’t sleep on this kid. He’s a buzzsaw middle-sixer who’s abrasive enough to play with the plugs and talented enough to play with the skill. It’s a package we lack.

12 Johnson: Still see his skating and the way he uses it making him a surefire NHLer, likely as a 2nd-pair guy who specializes in preventing entries, jumpstarting transitions, and moving pucks out of danger.

13 Lukkonnen: I like his skill, his play down low and his character. I don’t like his inability to stay healthy or his propensity for letting in long shots. Very important year for him.

14 Neuchev: Maybe there is some shiny new toy syndrome involved in ranking him here, but the production was remarkable, the skill level obvious, and the physique bigger than the similar Rosen and Kisakov. Long-term project with a high ceiling.

15 Novikov: I look at what we just added in Lyubushkin and find it very easy to project Novikov into that role. His elevated status with Russian officials, including playing in the KHL at such a young age speaks to his respect.

16 Rosen: I tried to watch him in Dev camp as the prospect I have the most questions about. I saw skill, but I didn’t see the dog-on-a-bone compete that seems to characterize most Adams high picks. Big year for him to open some eyes.

17 Kisakov: ranks just behind Rosen and mostly because of draft pedigree. Just as slight, similar kind of player, but seems to have more sack to his game. Another good test for Appert and his team.

18 Nadeau: I liked a lot about his game last training camp, but I worried about his foot speed. Still worry, but the kid had a heckuva season and we need a dirty areas guy like him to make it.

19 Bloom: Young kid with NHL size and speed and pretty solid production who excelled on the PK. Definite tools and definite room for growth. It’s impressive to me that guys like Bloom, Kisakov and Nadeau would be flirting with the top 10 for at least half the teams in the league.

20 Lindgren: gave him the last spot due to his mobility, his youth and his upside. Also considered Kozak and Costantini as other guys who caught my eye at dev camp, Rousek, who showed skill in Rochester, and Leinonen as a goalie they are clearly high on, as prospects worth watching.

 

Really like this list but Savoie definitely ahead of Peterka for me. Savoie’s ceiling significantly higher IMO

[dudacek]

46 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Really like this list but Savoie definitely ahead of Peterka for me. Savoie’s ceiling significantly higher IMO

A few months back, I would have definitely agreed with you.

I watched a lot of Peterka this year and what distance has started to make clear for me is the incredible amount of improvement he's made over the course of the year. He was always really toolsy and could be hard-working, but I never really saw the head for the game that separates the Sam Reinharts from the Benoit Pouliots, or the two-way commitment that makes Mike Peca better than Derek Roy.

But that has changed: what has happened is he's just gotten better at hockey, the finding and creating space for himself and others, and the refusal to be beaten.

Maybe it's recency bias, but he was the best player I saw in the AHL playoffs.

Probably wishful thinking, but I think about the path of guys like Marchand and Kucherov and I'm starting to ask myself why can't their paths be his?

[Thorner]

29 minutes ago, dudacek said:

A few months back, I would have definitely agreed with you.

I watched a lot of Peterka this year and what distance has started to make clear for me is the incredible amount of improvement he's made over the course of the year. He was always really toolsy and could be hard-working, but I never really saw the head for the game that separates the Sam Reinharts from the Benoit Pouliots, or the two-way commitment that makes Mike Peca better than Derek Roy.

But that has changed: what has happened is he's just gotten better at hockey, the finding and creating space for himself and others, and the refusal to be beaten.

Maybe it's recency bias, but he was the best player I saw in the AHL playoffs.

Probably wishful thinking, but I think about the path of guys like Marchand and Kucherov and I'm starting to ask myself why can't their paths be his?

I mean I’d be happy/prefer if you were/are right as it’s nothing against Savoie, but I feel like, the Pouliots and the Reinharts...I mean, there wasn’t really much separation between those types of guys in the lower levels, right? Ie we won’t know if he’s the Peca or the Roy until we see it at the NHL level. I suppose that is to say I expect Savoie to improve the same extent. 

In those types of leagues 

[Ctaeth]

6 hours ago, Brawndo said:

The earliest the Sabres Can sign Poltapov is for the 2025-26 Season. 
 

Neuchev is on record saying that He wants to come to the NHL, He would be eligible to sign next offseason. 
 

Novikov will be an interesting case. He is eligible to be signed next offseason, but he dropped on Teams Draft Boards as there was concern whether He would actually leave the KHL. Perhaps Lubushkin can help with that. 
 

The Geopolitical Realities of the world might be the biggest barrier though.

 

 

Been curious about this fellow since I saw that he played significant minutes in the KHL this past season.  What exactly is the reasoning that led to teams concluding this?  If you have no intention to go the NHL, why enter into the draft?  I feel like I am missing some piece of information here.

[Curt]

9 minutes ago, Ctaeth said:

Been curious about this fellow since I saw that he played significant minutes in the KHL this past season.  What exactly is the reasoning that led to teams concluding this?  If you have no intention to go the NHL, why enter into the draft?  I feel like I am missing some piece of information here.

Players don’t really enter into the NHL draft.  They just become eligible to be selected based on their age and teams pick them if they choose to.

I don’t believe that they have to actually apply/register for the draft like prospects do for the NBA/NFL drafts.

[dudacek]

49 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I mean I’d be happy/prefer if you were/are right as it’s nothing against Savoie, but I feel like, the Pouliots and the Reinharts...I mean, there wasn’t really much separation between those types of guys in the lower levels, right? Ie we won’t know if he’s the Peca or the Roy until we see it at the NHL level. I suppose that is to say I expect Savoie to improve the same extent. 

In those types of leagues 

Can't disagree with this, but it's not really what I was trying to get it.

It's more about the curve.

Peterka started the year as a well-thought-of high 2nd-round pick with a 2nd-line ceiling. No one would have been surprised had he struggled somewhat in the transition to the AHL as an underager. To maintain his status, all he really would have had to do was put up 20 goals and 20 assists.

Instead, by the end of the year, you could have made an argument he was the best player in the entire league.

He was a far better player in the 2nd best league in the world at 20 than he was in the German league at 19.

That kind of growth is pretty remarkable. It's kinda like a guy putting up 40 points as an AHL rookie one year and 75 as an NHL rookie the next.

Who does that? 

Edited July 21, 2022 by dudacek