GDT: Sabres Prospect Camp: 3v3 Tournament, Sabres.com, July 6, 2023

[Derrico]

This was fun!  Well worth the price of admission 😉

[Zamboni]

Oh wow I thought they were going to do a shoot out. Prior years they did shoot outs just for the hell of it. 

[irregularly irregular]

1 hour ago, Derrico said:

So is sabretooth haha

So the rumors are not true? Can we now definitively say that Terry and Sabretooth are not one in the same? 

[Derrico]

Shawn McDermott in the house

[Doohicksie]

14 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I don’t know because I am down at the tournament.

But could it be Baker? I saw him with a headset on.

Not sure.  I thought Marty at first but he was way too easy to understand  😉

[Ctaeth]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Not sure.  I thought Marty at first but he was way too easy to understand  😉

it was kris baker

[Zamboni]

[K-9]

16 minutes ago, Derrico said:

Agreed.  His edges, vision and just a hound on the puck with ability to steal it back is phenomenal.  My only wish is that his straight line speed was a touch faster but give him time with our development staff and we shall see.  He’s gonna be a player.  
 

I feel the need to mention again how impressed I am with Novikov. 
 

 

Same here. Really looking forward to seeing him with the Amerks. 

[Zamboni]

Besides Benson and Novikov, Who else stood out in this tournament to you?

[Cheektorado]

That was fun to watch.  Constantini played much better than when I watched him against the CC Tigers last year.

Hope to see him again when North Dakota comes to town.

[Ctaeth]

standouts for me:

Benson:  active stick, persistent on defense forcing turnovers, electric with puck.  not fast, but definitely quick

Ratzlaff:  kept Martin in games, despite them getting outplayed elsewhere

Novikov:  size jumps out at you.  you wouldnt expect him to be super effective in 3v3, but he played surprisingly well.  even scored a few pinching in

Kisakov/richard:  kisa  seemed to be in the right place at the time on offense a bunch of times.  richard had a bunch of chances and buried a few

neuchev, marjala, and jrb:  along with benson, team robert kept possession a large part of the time.  they were all very effective passers/puck carriers

couple other players that i thought played well:  mccarthy had his moments, other savoie looked good, ryan johnson seemed to get into the flow in the final, constantini had a couple nice rips

Edited July 6, 2023 by Ctaeth

[Cheektorado]

2 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Besides Benson and Novikov, Who else stood out in this tournament to you?

Ratlaff looked pretty good.

[RochesterExpat]

Not a lot of takeaways since it's 3 on 3 and a fun tourney for prospects. Probably the biggest one is that Novikov strikes me as a professional hockey player. It's the little things on the ice (like the previously linked stick lift play) coupled with the relatively big things often overlooked in something like this. First and foremost, if you watched him closely, he was actively directing his teammates in the defensive zone. Considering last year at the draft he spoke zero English (no idea on his current language skills), I'm impressed that he has the confidence to even try. He's known these guys for a week and he was already comfortable managing them on the ice--and the players respected him enough to respond. That's a really good sign for things to come.

[CTJoe]

Richard was very good.  Novikov will play games for the Sabres. will prob add 30 pounds and with his skating and hitting (not shown in prospect camp) = great 6th round pick

[RochesterExpat]

4 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Besides Benson and Novikov, Who else stood out in this tournament to you?

Neuchev's stickhandling reminded me at times of Afinogenov and I don't say that lightly. He was doing some pretty wild stuff--and not always successfully. The kid has some serious hands.

[dudacek]

Benson is a dog on a bone. Had more steals this morning than the other 30 players combined. Always thinking, always moving.

Neuchev has some sick hands. Marjala scored a bunch just going to to the net and finishing what those two created.

Kisakov and Richard were a deadly combo offensively, Kisakov passing, Richard finishing.

And Novikov looked like a man.

Edited July 6, 2023 by dudacek

[MattPie]

31 minutes ago, Eleven said:

So Savoie pronounces his name differently than Savoie does.

[Rob Ray throws down his headset] Mutters, "Now I seen everything".

[Derrico]

19 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Besides Benson and Novikov, Who else stood out in this tournament to you?

McCarthy, Kisakov and Neuchev were my other standouts 

[Two or less]

My takeaway from today: Benson is fantastic. Really solid playmaker who threads difficult passes. Also super focused on his defensive game. Was always back in the d-zone…often back before the dman. Almost always broke up the play.

Standouts to me: Novikov (just a bully on the puck with offensive instinct), Neuchev (skill for days), Kisakov (really good movement and finishing) Richard (big boy who can skate and shoot), Berndtsson (scored a few). 

[Bangarang]

Novikov seemed to have a bit more offense to his game than I gave him credit for. He’s a big dude who has a lot to offer physically. Watching his game in a Rochester should be fun. 

[Eleven]

13 minutes ago, Derrico said:

McCarthy, Kisakov and Neuchev were my other standouts 

McCarthy was considerably better than I had expected.

[Cage]

1 hour ago, CTJoe said:

Richard was very good.  Novikov will play games for the Sabres. will prob add 30 pounds and with his skating and hitting (not shown in prospect camp) = great 6th round pick

Will add 30 lbs??  I thought he was already pretty big.  Is he a rail?

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, K-9 said:

Benson is a playmaker, pure and simple. Great vision and a dog on the puck. Methinks we are gonna love him.

Agree, it’s why the Skinner comps for me end rather shallowly after some similar skating elements 

They hound the puck similarly when Skinner is on his game but they are completely different offensive players 

[Flashsabre]

People sleeping on Wahlberg today. Big boy with skating and skills

My God Benson is special. The player he reminds me most of: Prime Leafs Doug Gilmour. Just an absolute hound all over the ice. High end brain and skill but the dogged and endless work ethic sets him above other highly skilled players. Impacts the play all over the ice and you want him in the ice in every situation.

My biggest takeaway is the amount of skill in the organization. There was a lot of talent on the ice there and that is without Levi, Matthew Savoie, Kulich, Rosen, Östlund, Poltapov, Leinonen, Kozak, Komarov, Cederqvist. That’s 10 high end guys not at the camp.

Nicest surprises today were Marajala and Bengtsson.

The 3 Russians look like once they adapt they can be guys that can really grow in Rochester.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Flashsabre

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Cage said:

Will add 30 lbs??  I thought he was already pretty big.  Is he a rail?

He's almost 200lbs so no. Novikov is Russian dump truck.