Is it too soon to start thinking about who our next top 5 draft pick will be??

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

But back then Perreault was a big man for the league.  Pete Mahovlich was an anomaly.  There weren't even all that many guys that were even 6'3" much less the "Little M's" 6'5".

Not disputing anything you said about Bedard, but all of those guys you described were strong and a couple (Trottier & Gil) were never considered small.  (Perreault was the biggest Sabres regular F in '76, Trottier the Aisles 4th biggest regular F, & though Clarke was average height, he was still strong enough to slash the #### out of an opponent for the Phlyers.  LaFleur was 6' and Dionne was short but a fireplug.)

My point is Bedard is similar size or bigger than a lot of centers who played in the days when hitting, slashing, holding, and fighting were a big part of the game.   None that I named were fighters or even bigtime checkers except for Clarke, who was the overall smallest of that group, and he was instigator that rarely ever finished what he started.  

If Bedard is really 185 lbs at 17 years old (I got that number from HockeyDB) then he has potential to be physically strong and play in the 190's.   Even at 175 he should be fine.  

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

It's shorter to write, " I don't watch Bedard play hockey"

What's your point though? What did I say that was incorrect? Try actually responding to something instead of just taking snipes for no reason. 

I don't believe ANYBODY here doesn't think Bedard is an exceptional talent and the lottery winner this year will be a very happy team. Nobody has said otherwise, yet you seem to feel a need to defend Bedard against...................what?   It's ridiculous.

[Believer]

At 23, five years in, think Mittelstadt still has ceiling… but he has not played enough games like a 1st Rd 8th Overall  draft pick… This needs to be a breakout year… or he’ll be in a trade package, my bet

[Buffalonill]

8 hours ago, inkman said:

He’s playing the long con on the Charity bet with a distant Gofundme set up for liver replacement. 

Its too late for that ..

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

What's your point though? What did I say that was incorrect? Try actually responding to something instead of just taking snipes for no reason. 

I don't believe ANYBODY here doesn't think Bedard is an exceptional talent and the lottery winner this year will be a very happy team. Nobody has said otherwise, yet you seem to feel a need to defend Bedard against...................what?   It's ridiculous.

My point is you dismissed Bedard as a small puck mover. It's a very narrow view to take on Bedard and highly inaccurate. 

"I was done with 5'10" puckmovers when the first one arrived." 

Edited November 19, 2022 by LGR4GM

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

My point is you dismissed Bedard as a small puck mover. It's a very narrow view to take on Bedard and highly inaccurate. 

"I was done with 5'10" puckmovers when the first one arrived." 

I did no such thing. My words were:

"So let's say we win the lottery and draft Bedard. I mean of course we would. Anything else would be stupid."

So get yer head out of the snow, and pay attention. 

[Thorner]

On 11/18/2022 at 12:47 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

I know this is a deep draft, but honestly if this team is drafting in the top 5 KA has failed.
 

I wouldn't be so definitive as to say he has "failed". 

But I would think it's fair to say, definitively, that the results of the rebuild, for this season in particular, failed to live up to what should be expected of the GM and team. 

Drafting top 5 would be an extremely disappointing season for the rebuild

Edited November 19, 2022 by Thorny

[Gatorman0519]

Definitely time to watch the draft rankings very closely. This season is down the toilet…. Already. 

[French Collection]

2 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Definitely time to watch the draft rankings very closely. This season is down the toilet…. Already. 

I love the draft and all of the lists and projections around it. 
I just can’t bring myself to look at that stuff yet. This is as negative as I have felt about this team in almost 50 years of fandom but I still have some hope of a .500 season.