Rd 2, Pick #41: Topias Leinonen (G)

[Crusader1969]

I find it interesting that the guys who are pretty well negative on everything are the ones moaning about this pick 

at 41 it’s a crapshoot no matter who you take. 
they took the best goalie in the draft. I’m not sure why anyone is moaning 

[Buffalonill]

2 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

Maybe not, if its really the only goalie they saw something in, I get they wanted it with the 2nd rounder to make sure.

People can disagree but you won't see this dude in the nhl for 5-6 years .

Passing on Warren and Casey

 

 brilliant!!

[Crusader1969]

1 minute ago, Buffalonill said:

People can disagree but you won't see this dude in the nhl for 5-6 years .

Passing on Warren and Casey

 

 brilliant!!

I like those 2 players a lot but they are bottom pair guys.   You can find those guys in UFA market  

 

I hope GMKA spends a bit of money and brings in Zadorov or Manson.  
 

 

 

 

[Huckleberry]

13 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

People can disagree but you won't see this dude in the nhl for 5-6 years .

Passing on Warren and Casey

 

 brilliant!!

Might not see the ones you wanted in the nhl either.

[Buffalonill]

16 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

I like those 2 players a lot but they are bottom pair guys.   You can find those guys in UFA market  

 

I hope GMKA spends a bit of money and brings in Zadorov or Manson.  
 

 

 

 

The point is you will see those guys in 3 years.

 Goaltenders take 6 years

[inkman]

1 hour ago, MBD said:

Well, goalie is the most important position in hockey, just like QB is in the NFL. 

Ask the Avalanche how they feel about that

[kas23]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

This mentality is what lead to the dearth of goalies in the first place.

How so? If anything, it’s a reminder to keep drafting them. They take forever to finally reach the NHL and if you miss on one, you’re in our current situation. 

[kas23]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

My post was not referring to the current need.

I think others have answered this, but the organization didn’t draft a goalie the past 2 drafts and just 2 in their past 7.

A smart organization needs to constantly have someone coming up behind in the pipeline so there are other options when prospects fail like Johansson or move on because of contracts like Husso.

 

All I’m saying is you suggested this was a “need” pick instead of a BPA. And I’m saying we have needs everywhere, so you can’t distinguish the two. We have no centers in our pipeline, so were all of our first rounders also need over BPA? Heck, you could also say defensemen are a need too based on who we had playing in Rochester last year. 

Edited July 9, 2022 by kas23

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, kas23 said:

All I’m saying is you suggested this was a “need” pick instead of a BPA. And I’m saying we have needs everywhere, so you can’t distinguish the two. We have no centers in our pipeline, so were all of our first rounders also need over BPA? Heck, you could also say defensemen are a need too based on who we had playing in Rochester last year. 

I’m using “need” in the context of what the GM said.

Adams said “we were going to take a goalie.”

He did not add the caveat of “if there was one with value when our turn came up.”

He did not say that about other positions. 

He did not make other picks dramatically out of whack from consensus value.

[Doohicksie]

12 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I have.  I've seen great patience work both for him (Eichel) and against him (the continued failure to secure adequate goaltending entering it's 3rd season).  I've seen him act quickly and get rewarded (Risto) and act quickly but not get a max return (Reinhart).  I've seen smart moves to get to cap floor (Boychuk and Bishop) and a dumb move to get to the cap floor (Butcher).  

Ultimately, KA has been mostly on the plus side of his deals, but I don't think he has quite learned when to be aggressive and when not to be.  Stevie Y wanted to improve his goaltending and went out and made it happen. KA is still waiting for someone to fall into his lap.

Really though, you don't know what KA has or has not offered to other teams for trade or to UFA goalies as a contract offer (even Ullmark we don't truly know what was offered).  Did he fail on the goalie front this offseason?  It remains to be seen, and saying that he's failed for three years is not accurate.

[Eleven]

45 minutes ago, kas23 said:

How so? If anything, it’s a reminder to keep drafting them. They take forever to finally reach the NHL and if you miss on one, you’re in our current situation. 

Oh,ok.  Maybe I read it wrong.

[GASabresIUFAN]

12 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Really though, you don't know what KA has or has not offered to other teams for trade or to UFA goalies as a contract offer (even Ullmark we don't truly know what was offered).  Did he fail on the goalie front this offseason?  It remains to be seen, and saying that he's failed for three years is not accurate.

I said "entering it's 3rd year" and that is absolutely accurate.  So far all we have to show for 3 KA off-seasons so far is downgrading Ullmark to Anderson and a failure to secure even decent backup goaltending. Until he gets a real starter in the net in Buffalo, he has failed to adequately man that position.

Edited July 9, 2022 by GASabresIUFAN

[Huckleberry]

The more I read about this goalie though, the more it looks like its  a typical  big body goalie.   Starting to not like this pick again, they drafted for need.

- Slow lateral movement  <-> predicts the cross ice pass and makes up for this

- covers bottom of the net well due to his size

- Bad rebound control

- Uses his size too much to make saves instead of using reflexes

[Doohicksie]

Just now, Huckleberry said:

The more I read about this goalie though, the more it looks like its  a typical  big body goalie.   Starting to not like this pick again, they drafted for need.

- Slow lateral movement  <-> predicts the cross ice pass and makes up for this

- covers bottom of the net well due to his size

- Bad rebound control

- Uses his size too much to make saves instead of using reflexes

But most of all, easier to trade as a prospect if need be than a smaller goalie would be.

[Derrico]

26 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

The more I read about this goalie though, the more it looks like its  a typical  big body goalie.   Starting to not like this pick again, they drafted for need.

- Slow lateral movement  <-> predicts the cross ice pass and makes up for this

- covers bottom of the net well due to his size

- Bad rebound control

- Uses his size too much to make saves instead of using reflexes

Listening to Forton, he raves about his athleticism and side to side movement.  
 

Again, based on early results of the last couple of drafts I’m going to trust our front office over some armchair internet analysts who have likely never seen him even play live (not referring to you but the reports you’ve likely searched).  Sabres seem genuinely excited to have him and said they had a first round grade on him.  He may not work out like any other pick at 41 but damn do we need another goalie in the system and they obviously got the one they wanted as he was first off the board.  

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, Derrico said:

Listening to Forton, he raves about his athleticism and side to side movement.  
 

Again, based on early results of the last couple of drafts I’m going to trust our front office over some armchair internet analysts who have likely never seen him even play live (not referring to you but the reports you’ve likely searched).  Sabres seem genuinely excited to have him and said they had a first round grade on him.  He may not work out like any other pick at 41 but damn do we need another goalie in the system and they obviously got the one they wanted as he was first off the board.  

Forton says that Seamus Kotyuk, the goalie development coach has a ton of connections in Finland with the teams and goalie coaches over there. Sounds like he might have had a hand in them focusing on Leinonen.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Why do fans think that they know better than the scouts and management ??

We always do.

They felt this guy was even worth a look at 28 if the  player they wanted there was off the board.

The Sabres, like every other team, need a steady supply of decent goalie prospects.  The Sabres didn't for years and now they are building some up.

It's a good pick in a good spot when you have a million draft picks this and next year.

[Zamboni]

4 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

I like those 2 players a lot but they are bottom pair guys.   You can find those guys in UFA market  

 

I hope GMKA spends a bit of money and brings in Zadorov or Manson.  
 

 

 

 

What in gods name is peoples obsession with Zadorov???? Did people not watch him in Colorado? Did people not watch him in Chicago? Did people not watch him in Calgary? He is not good. Like, at all. He takes terrible penalties. He takes them at the worst times. He gets embarrassed by anyone with speed and good hands. Regularly.
Yea, he has his good moments. But that’s what they are … moments. 
I hope KA stays far far away from such a low IQ blockhead. 
 

But hey, I hear he’s a nice guy off the ice …. 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Zamboni

[PromoTheRobot]

4 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

The more I read about this goalie though, the more it looks like its  a typical  big body goalie.   Starting to not like this pick again, they drafted for need.

- Slow lateral movement  <-> predicts the cross ice pass and makes up for this

- covers bottom of the net well due to his size

- Bad rebound control

- Uses his size too much to make saves instead of using reflexes

Right now. How about after a few years of development?

[shrader]

We have been in goalie purgatory for way too long now. We had so many years where the position was not an issue. Hopefully this current crop brings us back to what we were so used to for so many years. 

[tom webster]

I haven’t read the rest of the thread but in that video that LGRM posted, Forton said that they discussed picking the goalie with the 28th pick.

[LabattBlue]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

I haven’t read the rest of the thread but in that video that LGRM posted, Forton said that they discussed picking the goalie with the 28th pick.

That is nothing but an attempt to make it seem like getting him at 41 was a blessing.  There was ZERO chance they even remotely considered him at 28. 

Edited July 10, 2022 by LabattBlue

[tom webster]

6 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

That is nothing but an attempt to make it seem like getting him at 41 was a blessing.  There was ZERO chance they even remotely considered him at 28. 

I would tend to agree with that, but it is what he said.

[Thorner]

10 hours ago, dudacek said:

My post was not referring to the current need.

I think others have answered this, but the organization didn’t draft a goalie the past 2 drafts and just 2 in their past 7.

A smart organization needs to constantly have someone coming up behind in the pipeline so there are other options when prospects fail like Johansson or move on because of contracts like Husso.

 

We just saw this in action re: centre. And we know how high Adams is on the on-roster centres 

[IKnowPhysics]

On 7/8/2022 at 12:04 PM, Brawndo said:

The Sabres had a First Round Grade on Him and He was in consideration for the 28th Pick if Kulich was gone 😬

 

On 7/8/2022 at 12:09 PM, Eleven said:

How?  Maybe the Sabres scouts have something that the others don't.  Maybe the others know something that the Sabres scouts don't.  It's a SECOND round pick.  How scary could it be?

 

On 7/8/2022 at 2:35 PM, Derrico said:

For those doubting the pick have a listen to forton interview post draft (I’m sure wgr will have it).  Sabres scouts are very very high on this kid.  Big and athletic Finn.  
 

In summary, he said there was a huge drop off after this kid for goalies( according to their draft board).  They were debating yesterday whether to take him at 28 or ‘gamble’ and see if they could still take him where they did.  Went into the scouting and interviews they’ve had with all of his club coaches and goalie coaches and they really believe in him.  I know every team is saying that right now but it was interesting how excited he seemed.  After the Quinn / Peterka draft I said I’m going to just leave my trust in this new analytics management group.  I will be very interested watching this kids development.

I'm on board with this.

28 would be a risk.  41 is not nearly the same risk.  They gambled, won, got the best goalie in the draft, and filled an organizational need.

Like Portillo and Levi, I look forward to watching him develop.