Sabres Prospect Updates 23-24

[tom webster]

25 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Ehh, Craig "Newknee" Muni and Donald Audette ended up teammates for a while courtesy of Muckler's "All your Eulers are belong to us" spree before the Knox Bros directed him to become financially responsible.  First day of training camp must've been pretty awkward as Donal' was one of the guys that needed a new knee after getting cheap shotted by Craig.

Surprised no reference to Robitaille taking out Perreault.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, tom webster said:

Surprised no reference to Robitaille taking out Perreault.

Was just a youngun then.  😉 

Nuni blowing out Audette's knee seems like just yesterday.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Wasn't it two knees? Two separate incidents?  I thought he did it twice to him, if I remember right 

Don't believe that the 2nd knee injury was from Muni.  But, yeah, he had 2 bad knee injuries.

[LGR4GM]

 

[dudacek]

I'm curious as to what the board thinks about the centre ice depth of our pipeline.

I'm of the belief that it's strong after taking 3 centre in the first round 2 years ago and another in the 2nd last year.

But I get a sense that a lot of fans don't perceive Savoie, Wahlberg or Kulich as NHLs centres.

I get why these guys could become wingers, especially as rookies, but not why they won't be centres. Kulich spent the year as a first-line AHL centre at just 19. Savoie is a lifelong centre with high-end speed and awareness, defensive diligence and he wins faceoffs; those are the things small centres use to overcome lack of size. You've got 3 more years of development to see if Wahlberg has the acumen for the position.

I mean I'm always up for adding more centres, but i don't look at it as a priority area of concern.

To be honest, I don't look at any aspect of the pipeline as an area of real concern.

It's the NHL roster that needs attention.

 

Prospects under contract and pencilled in for Rochester next year:

Rosen, Kulich, Östlund, Savoie, Neuchev, Kisakov, Kozak, Nadeau, Wahlberg, Johnson, Komarov, Novikov, Metsa.

That's 13 guys fighting for regular ice time. It would have to be be a pretty extreme scenario if only 5 or 6 are playing regularly in Roch.

The teams seem to have done a good job creating a scenario where competition allows the cream to rise to the top, but there's not a ton of room to load up with AHL vets.

The new coach will have an interesting group to work with and I wouldn't be surprised to see the team to take a step back to allow the young players to develop.

You hope the Johnsons and Kulichs step up enough so that is doesn't matter.

It all becomes moot though if Levi returns the Rochester. He's so good at that level that the lack of experience in front of him shouldn't really matter.

But I don't expect that to happen.

(EDIT: Not sure if Metsa is under contract. Believe he was on an AHL deal and I'm not certain of the term. I consider him a prospect since he was a rookie, but his age may make him an AHL vet for others).)

[Taro T]

9 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I'm curious as to what the board thinks about the centre ice depth of our pipeline.

I'm of the belief that it's strong after taking 3 centre in the first round 2 years ago and another in the 2nd last year.

But I get a sense that a lot of fans don't perceive Savoie, Wahlberg or Kulich as NHLs centres.

I get why these guys could become wingers, especially as rookies, but not why they won't be centres. Kulich spent the year as a first-line AHL centre at just 19. Savoie is a lifelong centre with high-end speed and awareness, defensive diligence and he wins faceoffs; those are the things small centres use to overcome lack of size. You've got 3 more years of development to see if Wahlberg has the acumen for the position.

I mean I'm always up for adding more centres, but i don't look at it as a priority area of concern.

To be honest, I don't look at any aspect of the pipeline as an area of real concern.

It's the NHL roster that needs attention.

The pipeline seems to be in good shape.  But it'll be interesting to see how the perception of it changes if there's a lot of turnover in Ra-cha-cha.  Nearly 3/4ths of that team will be UFAs this off-season.  Nearly none of those guys that are turning UFA are prospects, but if Ra-cha-cha falls back some as the support for guys like Kulich, Rosen, and Johnson changes and the prospects that are there move up mid-year as injury callups and at least 2 of them don't come back to the Amerks, will that change the perception of the pipeline?  It shouldn't; but perception isn't necessarily reflective of reality.

Or if the Amerks are really good again because they bring the band back together and add guys like Savoie, will the perception be skewed too far the other way as only 5 or 6 of the true prospects will be starting the year across the street and across the river from the Dinosaur?

And at least 1 of those 3 you mentioned, and possibly all 3 will be NHL C's at some point.

[Flashsabre]

20 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Prospects under contract and pencilled in for Rochester next year:

Rosen, Kulich, Östlund, Savoie, Neuchev, Kisakov, Kozak, Nadeau, Wahlberg, Johnson, Komarov, Novikov, Metsa.

That's 13 guys fighting for regular ice time. It would have to be be a pretty extreme scenario if only 5 or 6 are playing regularly in Roch.

The teams seem to have done a good job creating a scenario where competition allows the cream to rise to the top, but there's not a ton of room to load up with AHL vets.

The new coach will have an interesting group to work with and I wouldn't be surprised to see the team to take a step back to allow the young players to develop.

You hope the Johnsons and Kulichs step up enough so that is doesn't matter.

It all becomes moot though if Levi returns the Rochester. He's so good at that level that the lack of experience in front of him shouldn't really matter.

But I don't expect that to happen.

(EDIT: Not sure if Metsa is under contract. Believe he was on an AHL deal and I'm not certain of the term. I consider him a prospect since he was a rookie, but his age may make him an AHL vet for others).)

I believe Metsa’s AHL deal is for next year too. He will be 26 but I see him  as a guy that will get NHL time eventually. So smart. Could be a Chad Ruhwedl type that can play useful minutes in a bottom pair role at a cheap price.

Edited May 30 by Flashsabre

[Thorner]

Matteo Costantini - 4 years since being drafted. Do his rights expire this June 1 or does he have another college season ahead of him? 

[Flashsabre]

https://www.tsn.ca/chl/matthew-savoie-enjoying-final-ride-at-memorial-cup-after-nomadic-final-junior-season-with-moose-jaw-1.2128236

Nice write up on Savoie

[Flashsabre]

The fact that the Sabres had Suchanek in camp and didn’t sign him but drafted Leinonen is very frustrating

[French Collection]

19 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

The fact that the Sabres had Suchanek in camp and didn’t sign him but drafted Leinonen is very frustrating

I know. I said more than once that Suchanek was a good prospect but it seems like I have no pull.LOL.

[dudacek]

I’m not familiar with Nick the Habs Fan but for now will give his post more credence than his name suggests I should.

But he can’t really be saying Marjala is better prospect than Kulich and others? There’s more names hidden?

[Taro T]

15 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m not familiar with Nick the Habs Fan but for now will give his post more credence than his name suggests I should.

But he can’t really be saying Marjala is better prospect than Kulich and others? There’s more names hidden?

It would seem there are more hidden as only 2 names show up in each bracket, yet the Sabres are listed as having 3 core F's and 4 impact F's.  (Whatever tf he's considering core and impact.)

[Sabres73]

Just settling in to watch the Memorial Cup Semi-Final between Moose Jaw and Saginaw. Let's go Warriors, and let's go Savoie!

 

1-0 Saginaw three minutes in

And Moose Jaw ties it up shortly after

Scratch that - goaltender interference.

Edited May 31 by Sabres73

[WhenWillItEnd66]

3-1 Sag. MJ getting outshot like crazy

[Flashsabre]

21 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

3-1 Sag. MJ getting outshot like crazy

6-1 now. It’s over 

[French Collection]

51 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

6-1 now. It’s over 

Savoie’s run is done.

It will be an all OHL final.

[dudacek]

On 5/30/2024 at 12:41 PM, Thorny said:

Matteo Costantini - 4 years since being drafted. Do his rights expire this June 1 or does he have another college season ahead of him? 

He's only played 3 college seasons, so he's got one more year.

Still a longshot prospect, but he bounced back with some nice numbers in Western Michigan after a terrible D2 season in North Dakota.

Edited June 3 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

Former Sabre prospect Josh Bloom score the Memorial Cup winning goal for Saginaw.  

One of things I've noticed while watching the Memorial Cup is how many of their forwards crash the net.  Why do they forget this skill set when playing for the Sabres?

Edited June 3 by GASabresIUFAN

[Thorner]

4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Former Sabre prospect Josh Bloom score the Memorial Cup winning goal for Saginaw.  

One of things I've noticed while watching the Memorial Cup is how many of their forwards crash the net.  Why do they forget this skill set when playing for the Sabres?

They don’t forget, they are just up against competition in the nhl that not only also remembers, but has the ability to do something about it 

[French Collection]

33 minutes ago, Thorny said:

They don’t forget, they are just up against competition in the nhl that not only also remembers, but has the ability to do something about it 

20 year old Josh Bloom crashing the net vs 16-19 year old Dmen is different than coming up against Trouba or Gudas.

[Thorner]

6 minutes ago, French Collection said:

20 year old Josh Bloom crashing the net vs 16-19 year old Dmen is different than coming up against Trouba or Gudas.

Not only in terms of feasibility, but willingness to absorb pain 

[dudacek]

Not that people invest much into such things around here any more, but McKeen’s has put out its list of the top 30 prospects outside the NHL, with Sabres putting three players on the list:

10 Savoie

14 Levi

22 Kulich.

Will Smith, Matvei Michkov and Brandt Clarke were 1-3.

[JohnC]

13 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not that people invest much into such things around here any more, but McKeen’s has put out its list of the top 30 prospects outside the NHL, with Sabres putting three players on the list:

10 Savoie

14 Levi

22 Kulich.

Will Smith, Matvei Michkov and Brandt Clarke were 1-3.

Is it an unrealistic expectation to believe that Savoie can follow the Benson example and make this roster out of camp? 

[dudacek]

42 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Is it an unrealistic expectation to believe that Savoie can follow the Benson example and make this roster out of camp? 

Right now he’s one of the best 14 forwards in the organization and probably top 12.

It will depend largely on how they go about filling the holes created by the departures and expected departures of Mittelstadt, Girgensons, Okposo, Robinson, Jost and Olofsson first.

In terms of what’s realistic, there is nothing unusual about a top 10 forward pick making the NHL in his D3 season, it happens frequently. And there is nothing in Savoie’s body of work that would suggest he is behind the curve.

The overall youth and needs of the Sabres suggests to me the team would be better off plugging the available holes with bigger, more experienced players than Savoie.

If it’s up to me, they acquire three or four vets, leaving one spot as a spare forward for Rousek to lose if one of Savoie, Rosen and Kulich absolutely pushes a veteran to the press box.

Edited June 4 by dudacek