What were you the most wrong about regarding a Sabres draft pick?

[mjd1001]

Not sure if anyone wants to comment on this, but I was talking with my cousin and this topic was brought up.

Is there any recent (last 20 years) draft pick by the Sabres you were totally wrong about?  Someone who you thought would be great and they were a total Bust? Or a draft pick you hated that turned out a lot better?

For me it is Nick Baptiste. Yes, he was an early 3rd round pick but for some reason I was sure he was going to be a very good NHL player, maybe even a 30 goal scorer. Someone with the talent of a first round pick.  Up until the year he left the Sabres organization, I was sure he just needed to be given more of a chance and then once he was given that 'half season' with the big club he would be one of their top players. 

After he left the Sabres/Amerks he had a decent year in the AHL with Milwaukee, followed by 4 more seasons in the AHL where he totaled 18 goals in those 4 (albeit shortened) seasons.  Needless to say I was 100% wrong on that one.

[Weave]

Probably Kassian for me.  After the WJC I was dead sure he was a poor man’s Lucic.  In my head Tom Wilson was his likely developed level.

[MattPie]

Just the other day I remembered telling someone, "Risto and Zadorov look really good together and they're both like 20. I can see them skating together for a long time".

Edited July 6, 2022 by MattPie

[Flashsabre]

 Baptiste, Bailey, Fasching were the future at one point.

Kassian, Adam and Foligno were going to usher in a bigger, physical Sabres at one point.

Grigs and Girgs were going to solidify the middle for the foreseeable future.

Many Sabres prospects the past decade have not developed as advertised.

The Kassian for Hodgson trade and Hodgson fizzling out with a back injury.

Nylander being Nylander.

So many to choose from in the land of failed young Sabres

 

[Eleven]

7 minutes ago, Weave said:

Probably Kassian for me.  After the WJC I was dead sure he was a poor man’s Lucic.  In my head Tom Wilson was his likely developed level.

Yeah, I saw about the same thing in him.

[dudacek]

15 minutes ago, MattPie said:

Just the other day I remembered telling someone, "Risto and Zadorov look really good together and they're both like 20. I can see them skating together for a long time".

This was so much me. 

[mjd1001]

25 minutes ago, MattPie said:

Just the other day I remembered telling someone, "Risto and Zadorov look really good together and they're both like 20. I can see them skating together for a long time".

I was on both sides of the Risto debate. The first few years I bought into what I saw with the eye test. Hes a good skater. He hits. He has so much talent he is GOING to be good.  The first 2-3 years of his career I was sure he was going to be an all-star caliber D-man most of his career.

But then the last few years I flipped 100% on him. Even while others were defending him and the team was giving him a lot of ice time, I came to the realization that bad things happened when he was on the ice. He LOOKS like a good hockey player but he was always so far out of position, he made so many bad decisions, that his skating/skill/size could not even come close to making up for those other things, and in his case the awful +/- was truly deserved. 

[Carmel Corn]

Kind of depressing actually when you look at the long-term futility of our draft history performance (not just 1st rounder, but 2nd and 3rd round picks as well).  Looking at it from who was a pleasant surprise.....in the last 10 yrs, only Victor Olofsson stands out as a late pick who exceeded expectations.  Linus was a 6th rounder, maybe not a bad pick but he's no longer with us anyway.

[Porous Five Hole]

Paul Gaustad.  
He looked like an open-skate first timer on skates in ROC. Not literally, but you get the drift. 
Never gave him a shot to play in the NHL. 

And then he went and played eleven seasons in the show. 
 

Oops. 

[Zamboni]

[North Buffalo]

3 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Yeh I had such high expectations... nice hands but that was about it, meh skater, couldnt see the ice.

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

That's the one.

Really thought it was the mono that dropped him from top 3 and that the Sabres had a steal.

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Nylander being Nylander.

Don't feel bad, his brother William was wrong about him too.  I remember William saying Alex would be better than him.  (Tried to find the citation, unsuccessful.)

[Marvin]

20 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Don't feel bad, his brother William was wrong about him too.  I remember William saying Alex would be better than him.  (Tried to find the citation, unsuccessful.)

I remember that too.

I thought far more of Kassian than he was.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Eichel

[LGR4GM]

Grigorenko and Zemgus

[GASabresIUFAN]

18 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Grigorenko and Zemgus

Did you think they were good hockey players?

[Eleven]

16 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Grigorenko and Zemgus

Two birds with one draft, then?  

I didn't have high hopes for either one; Girgensons has actually exceeded what I thought he could be.  

How about we (all of us) go the other way, though?  I was low on Mule, and I'm liking that pick now.  Roy far exceeded my expectations, too.

[Eleven]

I should add that those of us of a certain age expected the superfecta of Cyr-Tucker-Creighton-Lacombe in two early 80s drafts to be something.  They weren't.  Indeed, that Lacombe/Creighton/Tucker draft (which included Barrasso, who met and exceeded expectations) is a cautionary tale for anyone who expected a quick rebuild in 2015 or who expects one now.  The Sabres had three firsts that year, as now, and only hit on one; the two seconds were disappointing as well.  Puppa, Ruutu, Krupp, and other people with U in their name were found later.

Edited July 6, 2022 by Eleven

[Buffalonill]

Risto , Zadorov thought we had the next weber-suter  Dynamic duo

 

 

[Weave]

7 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I should add that those of us of a certain age expected the superfecta of Cyr-Tucker-Creighton-Lacombe in two early 80s drafts to be something.  They weren't.  

This is a good bit of why I just can’t get overly excited about all the picks we acquire.

Lottery tickets and magic beans.

[Eleven]

2 minutes ago, Weave said:

This is a good bit of why I just can’t get overly excited about all the picks we acquire.

Lottery tickets and magic beans.

Yep.  The draft is fun because it's a reminder of hockey, but it's not anything like the NFL draft unless the Sabs have a top 5.  (I remember the Vanek draft, for example, and I was going crazy when this scoring monster from Minny was picked up!

[K-9]

Eichel, bar none. 

[inkman]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Eichel

 

57 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Eichel, bar none. 

It’s hard to argue against it. He was supposed to be the franchise.  Turns out he spoiled it.  There were lots in the 80s and 90s that I have fuzzy memories of.  I’ll have to dig and post some of them. 

[ubkev]

6 minutes ago, inkman said:

 

It’s hard to argue against it. He was supposed to be the franchise.  Turns out he spoiled it.  There were lots in the 80s and 90s that I have fuzzy memories of.  I’ll have to dig and post some of them. 

Turns out he was just a little better than Derek Roy. (7 more points in the same timeframe)