2023 NHL draft rankings

[Brawndo]

I do find it interesting that Corey Pronman twice mocked Danill But to the Sabres at 13 OA, especially since Pronman was the first to link Jack Quinn to Buffalo in 2020. 
 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by Brawndo

[DarthEbriate]

If Simashev or Reinbacher is at 13 and it's believed either could reach a 2D defensive stalwart level to hang with the Dahlins and Powers of the world... the Sabres ought to take him. In 2 years, Muel will have a bunch more blocked shots on his frame (from playoff games), and all these forwards will be filling out a top 9.

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I do find it interesting that Corey Pronman twice mocked Danill But to the Sabres at 13 OA, especially since Pronman was the first to link Jack Quinn to Buffalo in 2020. 
 

 

It's like drafting the Russian version of baby Tage

[French Collection]

44 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I do find it interesting that Corey Pronman twice mocked Danill But to the Sabres at 13 OA, especially since Pronman was the first to link Jack Quinn to Buffalo in 2020. 
 

 

He hasn’t been that high on the majority of mock drafts but he is a first rounder in almost all of them.

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, French Collection said:

He hasn’t been that high on the majority of mock drafts but he is a first rounder in almost all of them.

Those Athletic quotes from anonymous scouts seem to indicate he is very high on some people’s lists.

6’5” and highly skilled? I’d tend to think he’s underrated on some lists due to lack of exposure.

Might be a top 10 talent. I’d be fine with Adams taking a swing.

[LGR4GM]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Those Athletic quotes from anonymous scouts seem to indicate he is very high on some people’s lists.

6’5” and highly skilled? I’d tend to think he’s underrated on some lists due to lack of exposure.

Might be a top 10 talent. I’d be fine with Adams taking a swing.

I wouldn't put him top 10 with his skating and skill combo. 

[LGR4GM]

12 hours ago, Brawndo said:

I do find it interesting that Corey Pronman twice mocked Danill But to the Sabres at 13 OA, especially since Pronman was the first to link Jack Quinn to Buffalo in 2020. 
 

I wonder if this is more a product of Pronman ranking But high and the Sabres being known to take Russians, so it just keeps fitting his list. 

[dudacek]

I’m in a comfortable place with the draft.

Nobody bats 1.000, but the Sabres are on a run of either drafting players I’ve liked, or proving me wrong when I’ve questioned their choices.

It’s been proven to me that Adams, Forton and Ventura are better at the draft than the internet is.

If they pick a guy I’m meh on, chances are I’m probably the one who’s wrong.

[LGR4GM]

24 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m in a comfortable place with the draft.

Nobody bats 1.000, but the Sabres are on a run of either drafting players I’ve liked, or proving me wrong when I’ve questioned their choices.

It’s been proven to me that Adams, Forton and Ventura are better at the draft than the internet is.

If they pick a guy I’m meh on, chances are I’m probably the one who’s wrong.

Except for Leinonen... that's a giant red flag

[DarthEbriate]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Except for Leinonen... that's a giant red flag

It's right there in the name!

[Flashsabre]

19 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Except for Leinonen... that's a giant red flag

I’m giving him another year. Was he who I wanted them to pick? Absolutely not but he did seem to do well in tournaments against his peer group. He was the top rated goalie for the draft but really struggled against higher competition last year. Let’s see what this year brings. Another year like last year then I will say it was a huge miss but goalies development paths are always strange and unpredictable.

[dudacek]

Just now, Flashsabre said:

I’m giving him another year. Was he who I wanted them to pick? Absolutely not but he did seem to do well in tournaments against his peer group. He was the top rated goalie for the draft but really struggled against higher competition last year. Let’s see what this year brings. Another year like last year then I will say it was a huge miss but goalies development paths are always strange and unpredictable.

He's going to really have to wash out for me to give up after 2-years. You're looking at at least 5 years with goalies.

Look at the 2017 draft. Oettinger was the top goalie picked and arrived relatively quickly.

The next most successful guys (UPL and Stuart Skinner) are just starting to show up this year.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

I’m giving him another year. Was he who I wanted them to pick? Absolutely not but he did seem to do well in tournaments against his peer group. He was the top rated goalie for the draft but really struggled against higher competition last year. Let’s see what this year brings. Another year like last year then I will say it was a huge miss but goalies development paths are always strange and unpredictable.

He didn't make Finlands WJC20 team. In all other J20 international action he is... at 0.874% and ranks 4th out of 4 goalies with at least 3 games played. 

If we look at the FIN J20 league, out of all the goaltenders with at least 15+ games played he ranks... 30th with a 0.885%

He was overdrafted and the Sabres need to stop letting the old school scouting boys convince them of things simply because a player is big or they like the cut of their jib. There's no chance in hell Leinonen wasn't pushed by IMPO Forton as this big great goalie and it wasn't true. He isn't good and I don't see him becoming some starter in the NHL. Maybe I will be wrong but drafting a goalie last year in the 2nd round was a poor decision. Regardless of him being ranked as the "best goalie prospect."

Edited June 16, 2023 by LGR4GM
spelling

[Flashsabre]

10 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

He didn't make Finlands WJC20 team. In all other J20 international action he is... at 0.874% and ranks 4th out of 4 goalies with at least 3 games played. 

If we look at the FIN J20 league, out of all the goaltenders with at least 15+ games played he ranks... 30th with a 0.885%

He was overdrafted and the Sabres need to stop letting the old school scouting boys convince them of things simply because a player is big or they like the cut of their jib. There's no chance in hell Leinonen wasn't pushed by IMPO Forton as this big great goalie and it wasn't true. He isn't good and I don't see him becoming some starter in the NHL. Maybe I will be wrong but drafting a goalie last year in the 2nd round was a poor decision. Regardless of him being ranked as the "best goalie prospect."

It was ugly but I remember Bakes posting about a tournament he played in where he had stellar numbers last season. 

After the draft someone, might have been Forton or Ventura or someone else said that  scouting and Analytics worked well together but Analytics didn’t get everything they wanted. Something tells me this was the pick.😀 A scout must have really pounded the table for Leinonen.

[Flashsabre]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-final-ranking-of-the-top-80-prospects-for-the-2023-nhl-draft/

If you’ve got some time then this is a fantastic primer for the draft.

Edited June 16, 2023 by Flashsabre

[Brawndo]

Per 32 Thoughts Michkov has refused to meet with  a lot of NHL Teams Scouts in Russia. They do not know if he will agree to meet with teams in Nashville either. There is the thought he may be angling for certain teams 

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Per 32 Thoughts Michkov has refused to meet with  a lot of NHL Teams Scouts in Russia. They do not know if he will agree to meet with teams in Nashville either. There is the thought he may be angling for certain teams 

Well that's... concerning. 

[sabresparaavida]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Well that's... concerning. 

Unless he was angling our way.

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

Unless he was angling our way.

No, it's still concerning. If you're willing to play that card at 18 and not in the NHL, you're very willing to pull it out again if you dislike something once in the NHL. 

[Curt]

33 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Per 32 Thoughts Michkov has refused to meet with  a lot of NHL Teams Scouts in Russia. They do not know if he will agree to meet with teams in Nashville either. There is the thought he may be angling for certain teams 

Just to follow up on this.  I also listened to the podcast.

Friedman didn’t actually say that Michkov has REFUSED to meet with scouts.  It was more that Michkov/his people have been mostly unresponsive to requests to meet with people and teams have some uncertainty about if he will meet with them before the draft.  He said that scouts have had to catch him after games to talk for a couple minutes, as opposed to setting up meetings in advance.

I think it’s important to keep in mind that this season Michkov was a 17-18 year old who lost his father (who he was close with) under very suspicious circumstances.  I have no idea what is going on with him from a mental, emotional, legal, or political standpoint.

 

[Weave]

10 minutes ago, Curt said:

 

I think it’s important to keep in mind that this season Michkov was a 17-18 year old who lost his father (who he was close with) under very suspicious circumstances.  I have no idea what is going on with him from a mental, emotional, legal, or political standpoint.

 

Regardless, the red flags would definitely have me lowering him on my draft board.  If you can’t meet with him to see where his head is at, the risk becomes really damned high for a draft pick of that value.

[Curt]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

Regardless, the red flags would definitely have me lowering him on my draft board.  If you can’t meet with him to see where his head is at, the risk becomes really damned high for a draft pick of that value.

Fair.  Just wanted to clarify.  I see it much more as “kid who has really been through the wringer this year” as opposed to “spoiled brat who is trying to manipulate the draft process to his advantage“.

[kas23]

27 minutes ago, Curt said:

Fair.  Just wanted to clarify.  I see it much more as “kid who has really been through the wringer this year” as opposed to “spoiled brat who is trying to manipulate the draft process to his advantage“.

Totally agree. This is probably more a fear of the system than him being apathetic towards the draft. Still, this is undoubtedly going to make him fall off some team’s draft boards (unless there are some under the radar communications occurring). 

[Thorner]

Michkov definitely feels like he’ll be our guy 

- rumours he’s a big risk making falling to 13 very possible 

- our willingness, even desire to select Russian players 

- insanely talented 

- 4 years away from the NHL. Hey that’s a further 4 years we get to clear the runway of any Blocks. Being one of the only teams where timeline is seemingly not an issue gives us an advantage where Michkov is concerned  

Edited June 16, 2023 by Thorny

[LGR4GM]

I don't think Michkov will be there.