2023 NHL draft rankings

[LGR4GM]

On 8/9/2022 at 12:16 PM, Brawndo said:

Are they acquiring another First in a trade? 

 

On 8/10/2022 at 5:21 PM, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

If Wheeler is right, we might need to move up in the draft...

I love the optimism but Brawndo is right. We aren't drafting in that 26-32 range and the best bet is somewhere in the 12-16/18 range. This team could surprise us but it is still the hardest division in hockey and we still have questions throughout the lineup for guys. 

This draft is going to be very deep at the top but right now, these preliminary rankings should be viewed as nothing more than "hey here are some guys to watch". Don't take too much notice of where players are ranked until January/February lists come out. Sure some of the top guys won't move but I think everything from 6 down could move around as much as 10 more slots. There is a lot of talent and will be a lot of movement in this draft before the end. 4-10, 11-22, and 23-32 are the tiers that Wheeler currently has so maybe that helps some but still, gotta wait until after the WJC before we get a real feeling for these players. 

My feeling is we finished in a 14th place tie but drop to 13th because of the tiebreaker. Win the lottery and draft Fantilli at 3. 

[sabresparaavida]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

I love the optimism but Brawndo is right. We aren't drafting in that 26-32 range and the best bet is somewhere in the 12-16/18 range. This team could surprise us but it is still the hardest division in hockey and we still have questions throughout the lineup for guys. 

This draft is going to be very deep at the top but right now, these preliminary rankings should be viewed as nothing more than "hey here are some guys to watch". Don't take too much notice of where players are ranked until January/February lists come out. Sure some of the top guys won't move but I think everything from 6 down could move around as much as 10 more slots. There is a lot of talent and will be a lot of movement in this draft before the end. 4-10, 11-22, and 23-32 are the tiers that Wheeler currently has so maybe that helps some but still, gotta wait until after the WJC before we get a real feeling for these players. 

My feeling is we finished in a 14th place tie but drop to 13th because of the tiebreaker. Win the lottery and draft Fantilli at 3. 

Even the players at the top aren’t locks to go there. Bedard is pretty much a lock, and Michkov is close, but remember last year, the top 3 were Wright, savoie and Lambert, with some having miro in the that tier as well.  Wright ended up 4th, Savoie 9th, Lambert 30th and Miro 20th.

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

Even the players at the top aren’t locks to go there. Bedard is pretty much a lock, and Michkov is close, but remember last year, the top 3 were Wright, savoie and Lambert, with some having miro in the that tier as well.  Wright ended up 4th, Savoie 9th, Lambert 30th and Miro 20th.

Normally I would say you are right but Bedard, Michkov, are guaranteed to be in the top 3. I could see Michkov sliding a hair because he was injured and the Russian contract issue but that's about it. Michkov is otherwordly with the puck. That said, outside of Bedard, you could 100% be right haha, that's why early draft stuff is less about ranks and more just about guys to watch. 

I will say that 2022 had some anomalies that are unlikely to repeat. Lambert had questions about his ability to translate scoring already at the start of the 2022 draft season. Savoie sliding still doesn't make a ton of sense to me but recency bias stuff. Wright going 4th is just bizarre (are there personality issues?) but that was really precipitated by the teams in the 1,2,3 slot. Devils have centers, Arizona going for the USA product. Miro had cancer so that really impacts that along with the war in Ukraine. 

Bedard is going first unless he just suddenly turns into crap. Michkov, I have a really hard time getting him past 3rd overall, he is that good. Fantilli has the size and premium position. Those 3 are really hard to move out of the top 3 but as I have worked through this, you are correct that 1 of them could slip. We shall see. 

This is a long way of saying, ignore the rankings for the most part and just focus on the names. 

[sabresparaavida]

12 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Normally I would say you are right but Bedard, Michkov, are guaranteed to be in the top 3. I could see Michkov sliding a hair because he was injured and the Russian contract issue but that's about it. Michkov is otherwordly with the puck. That said, outside of Bedard, you could 100% be right haha, that's why early draft stuff is less about ranks and more just about guys to watch. 

I will say that 2022 had some anomalies that are unlikely to repeat. Lambert had questions about his ability to translate scoring already at the start of the 2022 draft season. Savoie sliding still doesn't make a ton of sense to me but recency bias stuff. Wright going 4th is just bizarre (are there personality issues?) but that was really precipitated by the teams in the 1,2,3 slot. Devils have centers, Arizona going for the USA product. Miro had cancer so that really impacts that along with the war in Ukraine. 

Bedard is going first unless he just suddenly turns into crap. Michkov, I have a really hard time getting him past 3rd overall, he is that good. Fantilli has the size and premium position. Those 3 are really hard to move out of the top 3 but as I have worked through this, you are correct that 1 of them could slip. We shall see. 

This is a long way of saying, ignore the rankings for the most part and just focus on the names. 

Yup, I’d agree with all of this. Bedard and Michkov are definitely ahead of where Wright/Savoie/Lambert were a year out of the draft. The only reason I said near-lock for Michkov was the Russia situation, if he was from anywhere else he’d be a top 2 lock assuming he doesn’t turn into a pumpkin. 

[LGR4GM]

It's too early. 

I say we draft Will Smith, cuz his name and nothing else. 

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

It's too early. 

I say we draft Will Smith, cuz his name and nothing else. 

 

 

I hear he's got a helluva slap shot

[Flashsabre]

I’ll be interested to see how Buffalo boy Quentin Musty progresses this year.

[Flashsabre]

As we get closer to next year’s draft I’m sure Sabres fans will love the lack of dmen ranked in the first round.😛😀

Edited September 20, 2022 by Flashsabre

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

As we get closer to next year’s draft I’m sure Sabres fans will love the lack of dmen ranked in the first round.😛😀

As long as there's one that looks right getting taken around 15 and will last until then, they'll be good.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

As long as there's one that looks right getting taken around 15 and will last until then, they'll be good.

Cam Allen and Hunter Brzustewicz are the first round guys from the article. 

[Brawndo]

 

[Curt]

6 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

As we get closer to next year’s draft I’m sure Sabres fans will love the lack of dmen ranked in the first round.😛😀

I hope they don’t draft a D in the 1st, but draft 2-3 in the 2nd.

[Thorner]

Looking at the pool..I don’t know that I’m not just fully comfortable, for the first time in who knows how long, in just repeating the old “bE pEa eH” over-simplification when it comes to this draft. 

After finally locking in on some Cs the past draft, the balance of the unit overall, especially when looked at in combo with the young on roster makeup, seems to be about where we’d reasonably want it to be. 

If the talent analysis bears out, any needs would be so comparatively minor that any pursuit to address that balance I’d file under Base Level Competence.

Not much room in those cupboards to hide cookies.

[Two or less]

On 7/11/2022 at 10:06 AM, Crusader1969 said:

Corey Pronman released his way too early draft rankings today

1. Connor Bedard, C, Regina (WHL) 

2. Matvei Michkov, RW, SKA (KHL)

 3. Adam Fantilli, C, Chicago (USHL)

4. Zach Benson, LW, Winnipeg(WHL)

5. Dalibor Dvorsky, C, AIK (Sweden Jr.)

6. Kasper Halttunen, RW, Jokerit (Finland Jr

7. Nate Danielson, C, Brandon (WHL)

8. Charlie Stramel, C, USNTDP (USHL)

9. Cam Allen, RHD, Guelph (OHL)

10. Matthew Wood, RW, Victoria (BCHL)

early word is that this is to be an excellent draft that will run much deeper than the top 10

 

 

With his long term contract in Russia and with everything thats going on over there right now, i wonder how far Michkov will drop in this draft. Unless something drastic changes over there i can't imagine a team taking a chance on him too high. His deal with St Petersburg runs for 4 more seasons (3 after the draft).

I'm a nhl draft junkie, but i haven't dug in too much yet besides the obvious guys at the top, but two of my favorite players so far going into this season for the draft is Leo Carlsson from Swedish club Orebro, he also scored in last weekends season opener, and Cal Ritchie from Oshawa.

 

[Brawndo]

 

[Flashsabre]

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl-draft-eduard-sale-connor-bedard-1.1855421

Button has Sale 2nd behind Bedard.

Edited September 29, 2022 by Flashsabre

[LGR4GM]

 

[Curt]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Is that guy popular on Twitter.  I’ve seen his YouTube channel, and I find him incredibly annoying.  I can not sit through a video listening to him.

[GASabresIUFAN]

On 9/20/2022 at 9:22 AM, LGR4GM said:

It's too early. 

I say we draft Will Smith, cuz his name and nothing else. 

I want Cam Allen.  We need depth at RHD and it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have a star “Allen” on both the Sabres and the Bills.

[shrader]

15 hours ago, Curt said:

Is that guy popular on Twitter.  I’ve seen his YouTube channel, and I find him incredibly annoying.  I can not sit through a video listening to him.

It does feel like a bit of a "hey, look at me".  I'm not really sure if someone can dominate the NCAA 2 games into the year, both against a school that just jumped up from the club level.  It's the same reason I can't read too much into Levi beating LIU.

[Flashsabre]

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/556635/rainers-rullers

Sabres need to draft this kid for the name alone.

2 Latvian Locomotives is better then 1.😀

[Flashsabre]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sportsnets-2023-nhl-draft-prospect-rankings-october-edition/

[Curt]

18 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sportsnets-2023-nhl-draft-prospect-rankings-october-edition/

I love this draft.

[LGR4GM]

 

[French Collection]

Michkov has been able to score in the KHL as a 16 year old. He may be better than Bedard, injuries, contract and Russia factor may cause him to drop.

He’ll show up ready to make an impact, in his early 20’s, like Kaprizov.