Rd 1, #28 Jiri Kulich (C)

[Flashsabre]

There is a chance all three 1sts end up hitting for this team in a few years which would be massive. Anytime a team has three first or even two firsts it usually turns out that one doesn’t hit. There is a real chance here though that all three could but we obviously don’t know the future.

Too bad Savoie couldn’t show the fans his stuff this week but both Östlund and Kulich were tremendous.  Östlund has everything you want from a top centre but the size. They need to figure how to get more weight on him. Kulich has that JJ warrior spirit to his game and his shot is already NHL level.  He just needs reps hopefully in the Q this season.

[thewookie1]

I could imagine a future 3rd line with Kulich, Peterka and Tuch just utterly driving teams crazy.

[bob_sauve28]

6 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

There is a chance all three 1sts end up hitting for this team in a few years which would be massive. Anytime a team has three first or even two firsts it usually turns out that one doesn’t hit. There is a real chance here though that all three could but we obviously don’t know the future.

Too bad Savoie couldn’t show the fans his stuff this week but both Östlund and Kulich were tremendous.  Östlund has everything you want from a top centre but the size. They need to figure how to get more weight on him. Kulich has that JJ warrior spirit to his game and his shot is already NHL level.  He just needs reps hopefully in the Q this season.

Don't forget Rosen! 

[LGR4GM]

7 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

There is a chance all three 1sts end up hitting for this team in a few years which would be massive. Anytime a team has three first or even two firsts it usually turns out that one doesn’t hit. There is a real chance here though that all three could but we obviously don’t know the future.

Too bad Savoie couldn’t show the fans his stuff this week but both Östlund and Kulich were tremendous.  Östlund has everything you want from a top centre but the size. They need to figure how to get more weight on him. Kulich has that JJ warrior spirit to his game and his shot is already NHL level.  He just needs reps hopefully in the Q this season.

I can't think of a reason to put a guy who has played against men for the last 2 years in the worst of the major junior leagues in NA. I would send Kulich to the AHL if it were me, he will just destroy the Q after a short adjustment period.

[French Collection]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I can't think of a reason to put a guy who has played against men for the last 2 years in the worst of the major junior leagues in NA. I would send Kulich to the AHL if it were me, he will just destroy the Q after a short adjustment period.

I thought he might go to the Q but after hearing and seeing where his game is at I think the AHL is probably the best place for him. If he plays well there he may even get a call up.

Hard to think he was barely picked in the first round. In a five year redraft he could be near the top.

[Amerks8796]

11 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I thought he might go to the Q but after hearing and seeing where his game is at I think the AHL is probably the best place for him. If he plays well there he may even get a call up.

Hard to think he was barely picked in the first round. In a five year redraft he could be near the top.

Similar to Peterka last year. There was some debate on if he was ready to play in the AHL. I think it would be a mistake for him to play in the QMJHL. The Amerks have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, and a very good environment. That’s where he should be. Kozak, too. 

[French Collection]

1 minute ago, Amerks8796 said:

Similar to Peterka last year. There was some debate on if he was ready to play in the AHL. I think it would be a mistake for him to play in the QMJHL. The Amerks have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, and a very good environment. That’s where he should be. Kozak, too. 

If Johnson would sign and join the Amerks there would be some nice prospects to watch there again.

[Doohicksie]

10 hours ago, Andrew Amerk said:

Reino was never a “Buffalo” type of player that fans would ever love, from the day he was drafted (I was hoping for Draisatl).

I’m surprised he was your favorite. 

Everyone jumped on the Eich bandwagon but me.

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Everyone jumped on the Eich bandwagon but me.

You were not the only Reinhart fan boi around here.  And @Weave at a minimum also was never particularly sold on Eichel, too.  Probably a couple of others.

Personally, really enjoyed watching Eichel play when he was healthy.  But am glad the drama is past.  This is the first, LITERALLY, off-season we've had without drama since before the Knoxes started selling a minority stake to the criminal.  (And even with that we still had the hopefully successful drama of Mrs. Pegula's hospitalization.  In some ways our franchise seems cursed.  And such a bizarre curse - you will never be able to simply have an off-season where there aren't concerns about which key players they'll lose or whether the team will still have owners.  What drunk Loaf fan stumbling out of the Aud on a night where the Loafs got embarrassed again managed to slur that one out?  Can we ritually sacrifice a case of Labatts and be done with it?)

(Sorry, rambling.)

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, Amerks8796 said:

Similar to Peterka last year. There was some debate on if he was ready to play in the AHL. I think it would be a mistake for him to play in the QMJHL. The Amerks have a lot of talent, a good coaching staff, and a very good environment. That’s where he should be. Kozak, too. 

I thought Kozak looked good in the scrimmage and Peca was certainly pumping his tires.

Im a little surprised he hasn’t signed.

[Brawndo]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I thought Kozak looked good in the scrimmage and Peca was certainly pumping his tires.

Im a little surprised he hasn’t signed.

Adams mentioned about trying to get Him signed In One of His Media Availabilities pre draft. He will be in town for the prospects tournament in September, so it could happen then 

[Mr. Allen]

10 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

There is a chance all three 1sts end up hitting for this team in a few years which would be massive. Anytime a team has three first or even two firsts it usually turns out that one doesn’t hit. There is a real chance here though that all three could but we obviously don’t know the future.

Too bad Savoie couldn’t show the fans his stuff this week but both Östlund and Kulich were tremendous.  Östlund has everything you want from a top centre but the size. They need to figure how to get more weight on him. Kulich has that JJ warrior spirit to his game and his shot is already NHL level.  He just needs reps hopefully in the Q this season.

Let’s not forget how excited we were after the 2012 draft.  A lot of people thought we hit on both Grigs and Girgs.  At one point I think Girgs was considered “untouchable”.  
I’ll be happy if one of the three hit. 

[Weave]

Just now, Mr. Allen said:

Let’s not forget how excited we were after the 2012 draft.  A lot of people thought we hit on both Grigs and Girgs.  At one point I think Girgs was considered “untouchable”.  
I’ll be happy if one of the three hit. 

Yeah lots of too early excitement.  The great Scotty Bowman had a similar looking draft.  He had several players hit, but we know that never quite ended the way we all dreamed.

Still hovering around cautious optimism.

[Taro T]

25 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

Let’s not forget how excited we were after the 2012 draft.  A lot of people thought we hit on both Grigs and Girgs.  At one point I think Girgs was considered “untouchable”.  
I’ll be happy if one of the three hit. 

If 2 of the 3 hit, will be happy.  If only 1 of the 3 hit, well, they're below the median for 1st rounders.

If all 3 hit, will be surprised and ecstatic.

And was fine with the strategy behind the Girgensons draft & the Ristolainen draft.  1/2 the 1st round picks hit.  You need C's & D respectively.  You've now got a 75% chance at least 1 C sticks and at least 1 D sticks.  Still had a 25% chance of neither C having been any good & neither D being any good.  (Neglecting the effects of having competence or lacking it in scouting at the time.)

[Norcal]

2 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Everyone jumped on the Eich bandwagon but me.

I managed to stay off

[Huckleberry]

I was on the bandwagon first 2 years, but started to appreciate Samson more than him.

Most of all his interviews annoyed me the most.

[Curt]

45 minutes ago, Weave said:

Yeah lots of too early excitement.  The great Scotty Bowman had a similar looking draft.  He had several players hit, but we know that never quite ended the way we all dreamed.

Still hovering around cautious optimism.

I couldn’t care less what Bowman did 40 years ago.  It’s Kevyn Adams’ era now!

But seriously, I just went back and looked.  The 82 and 83 drafts, which I’m assuming that Bowman would have overseen, look something like what I imagine Adams’ past couple drafts will turn out to be.  Lots of picks, lots of early picks.

 

Im not super familiar with all the players from the 80s, but it looks like those two drafts yielded a pretty good haul.  However, looking at the few drafts before and after, the results of those look very barren.  Good, but not good enough Mr. Bowman.

I would contrast that with the 2018-2019-2020 drafts which look like the will yield several good players.  I’m sticking with the idea that the current Sabres are reaching a critical mass of good young players those players will push each other to great heights and the Buffalo Sabres will be a contender for several years.

[Flashsabre]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I can't think of a reason to put a guy who has played against men for the last 2 years in the worst of the major junior leagues in NA. I would send Kulich to the AHL if it were me, he will just destroy the Q after a short adjustment period

The Czechia Men’s League isn’t very strong. It’s not like playing in the KHL or SHL or Liiga. The AHL is very tough on 18 year olds. Girgs development was derailed by playing in the AHL as an 18 year old. 

They might decide that the AHL is the best option for him but the Q would be an easier transition and there is no problem dominating for development. Build up his confidence.

He is an interesting case. Every case is different and maybe he is ready for the AHL.

[Brawndo]

Can they give Him some games in the A and then send He to the Q if He looks out of place? 

[Taro T]

4 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Can they give Him some games in the A and then send He to the Q if He looks out of place? 

Great question.  Expect that they could if the Q team that holds his rights would agree to that as part of him getting "loaned" there.  But have never seen the actual transfer agreement between the NHL & CHL, so don't know for sure.

[dudacek]

22 minutes ago, Curt said:

I couldn’t care less what Bowman did 40 years ago.  It’s Kevyn Adams’ era now!

But seriously, I just went back and looked.  The 82 and 83 drafts, which I’m assuming that Bowman would have overseen, look something like what I imagine Adams’ past couple drafts will turn out to be.  Lots of picks, lots of early picks.

 

Im not super familiar with all the players from the 80s, but it looks like those two drafts yielded a pretty good haul.  However, looking at the few drafts before and after, the results of those look very barren.  Good, but not good enough Mr. Bowman.

I would contrast that with the 2018-2019-2020 drafts which look like the will yield several good players.  I’m sticking with the idea that the current Sabres are reaching a critical mass of good young players those players will push each other to great heights and the Buffalo Sabres will be a contender for several years.

Those years are a great cautionary tale to what is happening now.

Five years later we were dead last and hitting the reset button.

And it wasn’t because those drafts failed. Andreychuk and Housley were Hall-of-famers. Barrasso won the cup. Cyr, Lacombe, Creighton and Tucker had decent NHL careers. Puppa, Ruuttu and Krupp were late round steals.

We hope the current draft period gets close to that kind of success. But it takes a lot more than good drafting to win in the NHL.

Edited July 17, 2022 by dudacek

[Curt]

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Those years are a great cautionary tale to what is happening now.

Five years later we were dead last and hitting the reset button.

And it wasn’t because those drafts failed. Andreychuk and Housley were Hall-of-famers. Barrasso won the cup. Cyr, Lacombe, Creighton and Tucker had decent NHL careers. Puppa, Ruuttu and Krupp were late round steals.

We hope the current draft period gets close to that kind of success. But it takes a lot more than good drafting.

What did happen during those years?

Whats the cautionary take away?

To me it looks like there was a lot of crappy drafting surrounding the 83 and 83 drafts.  Is there a lot more to it than that?

Edited July 17, 2022 by Curt

[LabattBlue]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Those years are a great cautionary tale to what is happening now.

Five years later we were dead last and hitting the reset button.

And it wasn’t because those drafts failed. Andreychuk and Housley were Hall-of-famers. Barrasso won the cup. Cyr, Lacombe, Creighton and Tucker had decent NHL careers. Puppa, Ruuttu and Krupp were late round steals.

We hope the current draft period gets close to that kind of success. But it takes a lot more than good drafting to win in the NHL.

The bolded is so true.  A bunch of good to very good prospects doesn’t necessarily equal success. 

[Weave]

Just now, Curt said:

What did happen during those years?

To me it looks like there was a lot of crappy drafting surrounding the 83 and 83 drafts.  Is there a lot more to it than that?

I’m not trying to compare now to then. Every era has its challenges.  All I am saying is, this isn’t a new road.  There is a fair amount of irrational exuberance on display.  Let’s see how this season progresses and how the newest kids continue to develop.

[Curt]

2 minutes ago, Weave said:

I’m not trying to compare now to then. Every era has its challenges.  All I am saying is, this isn’t a new road.  There is a fair amount of irrational exuberance on display.  Let’s see how this season progresses and how the newest kids continue to develop.

I see a wide path towards success for the Sabres.  I’m optimistic yet I also realize there are ways for it to go wrong.

What went wrong for that group in the mid-late 80s?