McKenzie’s Mid Season Draft Rankings

[Crusader1969]

2 hours ago, North Buffalo said:

Except Lindstrom big bruising forward who can skate and fight and has hands to score... Im thinking... described as a unicorn... think foligno type gotta think about it..

Yep this is the guy they need. I mean I'm not passing up Celebrini if they win the lottery 

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, North Buffalo said:

Except Lindstrom big bruising forward who can skate and fight and has hands to score... Im thinking... described as a unicorn... think foligno type gotta think about it..

Okay, I looked him up. Good choice. 

[xzy89c1]

19 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

The point you make about it eventually working  is interesting. There might be parts of 'the plan' that make sense, but it just isn't structured that well.

I posted some of the below a couple weeks ago:

 

  Something to consider as far as team defense goes:

  Last year Vegas wins the cup, with a very veteran D-group on the blue line.  Seattle has surprised many with how good they have been since being in the league, and   they did it with a very veteran D-group.

  This year:

  Winnipeg 1st in the NHL, average age of their top 4 d-men:   30 years (all of them 28 or older)

  Vancouver 2nd in the league, average age of their top 4 d-men:    29 years old  (Hughes is the youngest at 24, everyone else a lot more experience)

  Boston 3rd in the league,  Average age of top 4 d-men:   28 (no one under 26)

  Florida 4th in the league:  Ave age of top 4:   27.5 (no one under 27)

  Now how about Buffalo? Ave age of top 4:   22.75. ( ALL of them 24 or under)

 

So maybe the problem isn't development of each individual player, just how they chose to put the roster together and whether there is support for the correct players at the correct time?  You can develop your forwards but you BETTER have experienced D behind them. Or if you are developing your D-men you BETTER have experienced forwards in front of them. This team?  Neither.  The very few Vets they have had are NOT guys who are going to support their teamates with great defensive play (Okposo included), that is for sure.

 

This. We gave big ice time to guys who never earned it. Now power and samuelson are struggling with basic defense. We have always needed a couple vets to play with dahlin and power. especially power. he has taken huge step back this year.

[Thorner]

17 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Yep this is the guy they need. I mean I'm not passing up Celebrini if they win the lottery 

[LGR4GM]

On 1/22/2024 at 9:58 PM, Brawndo said:

I do not see the 2024 Draft Thread right now, but here on McKenzie’s Rankings complied from 10 scouts 

Silayev at 2 is odd. I don't think he is the top defender in this draft and certainly not one of the top 3 players in this draft. 

In no particular order outside of Celebrini (who is the best in this draft by far), Levshunov, Lindstrom, Demidov, Nygard, and maybe Jiricek are the most interesting guys that Buffalo will have chances at. There is also Catton and Connelly but they feel similar to things we have. Still too early but McKenzie's rankings are always... interesting

[DarthEbriate]

On 1/23/2024 at 11:26 AM, mjd1001 said:

  Now how about Buffalo? Ave age of top 4:   22.75. ( ALL of them 24 or under)

We just have to wait until the 2028-29 playoffs (spring of '29)...  Cups galore.

 

Based on the Sabres' potential picks:   1st-Celebrini, 2nd-Lindstrom ... 7th-11th take the best d-man available or trade it for that top-4 d-man with some term.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

On 1/23/2024 at 12:00 AM, PerreaultForever said:

The D men are mostly offensive upside guys too. No big bruisers and/or shutdown guys. No real power forwards either. 

Trade the pick then. Do not need another Benson

[Buffalonill]

3 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

Trade the pick then. Do not need another Benson

I disagree team needs more People like benson

[WhenWillItEnd66]

2 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

I disagree team needs more People like benson

Only if he comes 6'2 220lbs. But do agree that we need that tenacity.

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

Trade the pick then. Do not need another Benson

 

5 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

I disagree team needs more People like benson

 

3 hours ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

Only if he comes 6'2 220lbs. But do agree that we need that tenacity.

Yes, this all sort of comes together. We need more people with Benson's aggressive drive and effort (along with his skills and hockey sense) and the speed is always good, but we do not need more little skill guys and goal scorers. No more soft Euro prospects for now. We need size, grit, 2 way ability, leadership qualities and even some more fighters and rats. AND more goalies in the system because we do not have THE goalie yet, 

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

 

 

Yes, this all sort of comes together. We need more people with Benson's aggressive drive and effort (along with his skills and hockey sense) and the speed is always good, but we do not need more little skill guys and goal scorers. No more soft Euro prospects for now. We need size, grit, 2 way ability, leadership qualities and even some more fighters and rats. AND more goalies in the system because we do not have THE goalie yet, 

The team has size.  Personally believe corrections in the coaching staff goes a long ways (if not all the way) towards fixing grit and 2 way ability.  Gracefully move on from the current leadership and let the leaders that are already here do their thing.

They probably, again w/ different coaching philosophy, already have close to, if not, enough fighters.  But Krebs and Skinner are pretty much it in the rat department and neither can get under the skin of opponents nor be nearly as effective as the B's Rat Faced Git.  Could definitely use more of that on the roster.

Would be perfectly fine with bringing in one of the true NHL studs in net, and it never hurts to have more good prospects on the way, but the goaltending combo of 2 years from now is already here.  Just too darn soon.

Fix the x's and o's of how they actually go about trying to accomplish what they're trying to accomplish and expect we'll find out there's a lot more talent on this roster already than the results indicate they have.

[SabreFinn]

Change draft tactics from drafting the best player available to drafting the one who who has the strongest will to win of the topp players! IF they are big or small or whatever should not matter, we want winners!

[Flashsabre]

On 1/25/2024 at 10:05 AM, LGR4GM said:

Silayev at 2 is odd. I don't think he is the top defender in this draft and certainly not one of the top 3 players in this draft. 

In no particular order outside of Celebrini (who is the best in this draft by far), Levshunov, Lindstrom, Demidov, Nygard, and maybe Jiricek are the most interesting guys that Buffalo will have chances at. There is also Catton and Connelly but they feel similar to things we have. Still too early but McKenzie's rankings are always... interesting

I think your obsession with Jiricek’s brother might be skewing your view of him in this draft😁

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

The team has size.  Personally believe corrections in the coaching staff goes a long ways (if not all the way) towards fixing grit and 2 way ability.  Gracefully move on from the current leadership and let the leaders that are already here do their thing.

They probably, again w/ different coaching philosophy, already have close to, if not, enough fighters.  But Krebs and Skinner are pretty much it in the rat department and neither can get under the skin of opponents nor be nearly as effective as the B's Rat Faced Git.  Could definitely use more of that on the roster.

Would be perfectly fine with bringing in one of the true NHL studs in net, and it never hurts to have more good prospects on the way, but the goaltending combo of 2 years from now is already here.  Just too darn soon.

Fix the x's and o's of how they actually go about trying to accomplish what they're trying to accomplish and expect we'll find out there's a lot more talent on this roster already than the results indicate they have.

Well I'm going to disagree. We have size in terms of body size but they don't use it. Even a giant like Thompson rarely hits anybody. You think a coach can fix this, I'm not so sure. Yes, a few of them might be fixable, but I think quite a few of them are just what you see and won't be anything else. 

The problem with guys like Krebs is there's nobody backing them up. Krebs has fought, but he's mostly bark and no bite. Skinner? Skinner is no threat to anybody. If Krebs was on a line with a DesLauriers type he'd be just fine in that role, but he's not. 

Ultimately though it's an impossible argument to prove until we get a good coach in here and then he either benches players and they get moved out or they respond to the message. Until that happens we have a divide on whether or not the "talent" actually has the character or they just don't. 

Edited January 27 by PerreaultForever

[LGR4GM]

16 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

I think your obsession with Jiricek’s brother might be skewing your view of him in this draft😁

He's dropped a bit actually. I don't see a player as good as David. He would be someone to think about in the 10-15 range. 

That's a list of players I find interesting, not a draft order or ranking. 

Edited January 27 by LGR4GM

[LGR4GM]

When draft reports and tracking data come out, this is something you should be looking at and thinking about. It is why Benson transitioned to the NHL faster and easier than Savoie imo. It is also why, with additional muscle, Östlund might be a quietly decent middle 6 player (but he still has a lot of questions). Things to think about when you look at prospects. 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

11 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

When draft reports and tracking data come out, this is something you should be looking at and thinking about. It is why Benson transitioned to the NHL faster and easier than Savoie imo. It is also why, with additional muscle, Östlund might be a quietly decent middle 6 player (but he still has a lot of questions). Things to think about when you look at prospects. 

 

One of the things Mitts excels at besides winning puck battles along the wall.  

[LGR4GM]