Sabres Have The No.1 Prospect Group - The Athletic

[Doohicksie]

2 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

I know Reinhart had zero chance of staying but man, I really liked him. Levi better prove to be a 1B starter in this league. Who did we get with that 1st round pick again?

Jiri Kulich

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Jiri Kulich

Actually not bad when you include Levi as well.....

[TheAud]

2 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

It’s not necessarily if Adams wants to part with the prospects. You have to have players/teams willing to partner with the Sabres. As we seen with Kane and now Tanev, players don’t want to come to Buffalo. I would guess that is the wall Adams keeps running into vs him not willing to part with players 

Lots of guys without NMC's. 

He may even need to overpay a bit. But the thing is with trading prospects, you don't really know if you're overpaying or underpaying. Not for a few years at least. Whereas with veterans it's much more of a sure thing relative to what you are getting. 

Again, I am not advocating trading away all the prospects or as a strategy in general. But when you have the #1 prospect pool and a ton of young talent on your NHL team, it's good to move some of those lottery tickets for proven commodities. Maybe the prospect pool moves to the 10-15 range next year. Who cares if they can add a Top 4 D and a middle 6 winger who are proven NHL players who contribute to a playoff squad. 

[inkman]

2 minutes ago, TheAud said:

Lots of guys without NMC's. 

He may even need to overpay a bit. But the thing is with trading prospects, you don't really know if you're overpaying or underpaying. Not for a few years at least. Whereas with veterans it's much more of a sure thing relative to what you are getting. 

Again, I am not advocating trading away all the prospects or as a strategy in general. But when you have the #1 prospect pool and a ton of young talent on your NHL team, it's good to move some of those lottery tickets for proven commodities. Maybe the prospect pool moves to the 10-15 range next year. Who cares if they can add a Top 4 D and a middle 6 winger who are proven NHL players who contribute to a playoff squad. 

If that’s all they do in the offseason, I’m jumping off a bridge. 

[bob_sauve28]

1 minute ago, inkman said:

If that’s all they do in the offseason, I’m jumping off a bridge. 

Like this? 

[spndnchz]

1 minute ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Like this? 

Was that you taking pictures in my backyard?

[bob_sauve28]

4 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

Was that you taking pictures in my backyard?

No, just grabed it online 

[inkman]

47 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Like this? 

I’d twist an ankle for sure.  

41 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

No, just grabed it online 

You can make money doing that 

[phil_soisson]

On 2/29/2024 at 10:16 AM, matter2003 said:

Enough with the "too small" comparisons...

STOP THE FALSE NARRATIVE THIS TEAM IS SMALL!!

Sabres are tied for 5th in the NHL in average height and 9th in average weight. They are one of the biggest teams in the NHL now.  A few small skilled players won't hurt them.

 

Even so, they play small.

[inkman]

20 minutes ago, phil_soisson said:

Even so, they play small.

Exactly.  They need to play hard!! 
 

/might get a few more spearing penalties though.  
 

[Sidc3000]

55 minutes ago, phil_soisson said:

Even so, they play small.

Thats on coaching and management. They are sticking with the previous “new” NHL with all skilled fast players and no really strong hard to play against players. It looks like teams realized that isn’t the best direction and have started to get strong players that make you earn everything.

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, phil_soisson said:

Even so, they play small.

So do Carolina and Colorado.  Next argument?

[mjd1001]

2 hours ago, TheAud said:

Lots of guys without NMC's. 

He may even need to overpay a bit. But the thing is with trading prospects, you don't really know if you're overpaying or underpaying. Not for a few years at least. Whereas with veterans it's much more of a sure thing relative to what you are getting. 

Again, I am not advocating trading away all the prospects or as a strategy in general. But when you have the #1 prospect pool and a ton of young talent on your NHL team, it's good to move some of those lottery tickets for proven commodities. Maybe the prospect pool moves to the 10-15 range next year. Who cares if they can add a Top 4 D and a middle 6 winger who are proven NHL players who contribute to a playoff squad. 

Agree 100%. If that top 4 guy is really good, (as I have said before, a legit top 4 guy, not a 5/6 guy you can convice yourself is a top 4 guy) and if they also add a middle 6 guy like you said, I'm pefectly happy going forward.

[SabreFinn]

9 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

Thats on coaching and management. They are sticking with the previous “new” NHL with all skilled fast players and no really strong hard to play against players. It looks like teams realized that isn’t the best direction and have started to get strong players that make you earn everything.

I agree with this. I think they made a misjudgement. It is not a big misstake in my opinion, they just need to do the lottery at GMs office and trade some of them for a good RHD with a couple of years left on the contract.

[Night Train]

The bottom line is all these high ratings without results reflects badly on the coaching staff... as it should. 

[inkman]

2 hours ago, matter2003 said:

So do Carolina and Colorado.  Next argument?

Colorado has players like Manson, Wood, and Colton.  The Sabres do not. 

[Rasmus_]

I'd give away half of that war chest for Brady Tkachuk today.

[Pimlach]

9 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Kane, Tanev, even second-rate veteran goalies like Matt Murray last season.

It's just the cycle of lack of accountability within the franchise's ownership and front office. GM Sheevyn can cry about players wanting to be here. But this is a franchise that willingly tanked (and rushed prospects/gutted their farm system, too, to make that happen). First, they fired a GM for being there too long and being reasonable with the directive to tank, then they fired a GM for being daft, then fired a GM for not being willing to fire his AHL staff to save money, then hired a GM who'd been... a guy they liked.) And each GM says: "Give me my rebuild timeline to get the players I want." Through all that they've tanked again and hired "hockey university" coaches and cheap re-treads, and Krueger who defies all categories but talks a good sales pitch. They've done it to themselves. Darth Pegulas (the Wise) is paying the price for his lack of vision.

What self-respecting player who wants to win wouldn't have Buffalo on their no-trade list?

(And all that can change in a season if they stop churning GMs and make 2 or 3 intelligent moves in the staff and roster and make the playoffs.)

Can the GM make 2 or 3 intelligent moves that are impactful enough?  

[DarthEbriate]

14 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Can the GM make 2 or 3 intelligent moves that are impactful enough?  

On the one hand... if we think it's intelligent to sit around waiting for Levi, Power, and Benson to reach 25 years old before there are any sustained playoffs, then we're in luck.

On the other hand...

[Buffalonill]

20 hours ago, Rasmus_ said:

I'd give away half of that war chest for Brady Tkachuk today.

Agreed but adams will likely keep his prospects and get more this draft etc etc Rinse and repeat = no playoffs 

 

[inkman]

18 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Can the GM make 2 or 3 intelligent moves that are impactful enough?  

This team is 10 players away from being a contender.  Quite frankly, I’m not sure anyone on the current roster is capable of winning anything other than a few meaningless (games like tonight and Thursday) in a season. 

[sabremike]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

This team is 10 players away from being a contender.  Quite frankly, I’m not sure anyone on the current roster is capable of winning anything other than a few meaningless (games like tonight and Thursday) in a season. 

This team is hiring an actual NHL quality coaching staff away from becoming a contender.

[mjd1001]

59 minutes ago, sabremike said:

This team is hiring an actual NHL quality coaching staff away from becoming a contender.

The team is injury luck, a better powerplay coach, and Tage getting half-way back to where he was the last 2 years away from being a contender.

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, sabremike said:

This team is hiring an actual NHL quality coaching staff away from becoming a contender.

A playoff contender, yes 

But we are a “playoff contender”’ more less, right now.

But that’s not the point anymore. The idea isn’t to contend for the playoffs, the idea is to make the playoffs. The idea is to measure based on results, actually having expectations. We don’t want to minimize everything we need and squint really hard to the point we dial it back to the bare minimum theoretical supplement possible, to where the playoffs stay in range next year, should everything go to plan 

that’s bad strategy, and that’s how you miss the playoffs. People crunching the data and shaving off the most neutral and negative possible outcomes in favour of a hope for the most positive outcome are missing the forest for the trees

The roster needs to be in a place where, if we are pessimistic about whether it achieves its full potential, said result for team is still comfortably in the 8th spot 

Edited March 2 by Thorny

[GASabresIUFAN]

https://theathletic.com/5303482/2024/03/04/top-nhl-prospects-2024-matvei-michkov/

No. 6 - Zach Benson

Quote

Benson’s a driver in every sense. He’s a multi-dimensional forward who has quick acceleration, can handle the puck at speed and change tempos in control, can shape play by opening up his hips to go heel to heel, thrives in traffic, is a triple shot-deke-pass threat, plays one step ahead of the game in possession, supports the play effectively, problem-solves incredibly well, works hard off the puck to keep his energy up (he plays heavier and scrappier than he looks, too), and sets the pace (whether by picking it up or slowing it down to use his creativity) and effort level for his line.

No. 20 - Matt Savoie

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He’s always engaged, he keeps his feet moving, he plays with a ton of energy, and he finishes his checks and knocks his fair share of players over despite being on the smaller side. He’s also sturdier on his feet than his listed height (5-foot-9) might suggest, which helps him play between checks. He creates a ton of breakaways for himself. It’s so hard for defencemen to track him when he gets into twists and turns. He’s impressive in the shootout with a variety of moves he can go to. He routinely has a half step on the opposition, both in jump and in raw speed whenever he turned on the jets. He plays the game with such drive that his size usually doesn’t feel like a factor. He seems to pounce on so many pucks when they squirt into holes in coverage.

No. 21 - Jiri Kulich

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Kulich is a sturdy, driven, hard-shooting player who can morph his game to his role. He can function as the detail-oriented, above-puck defender who makes quick plays/decisions with the puck. He can play off of talented linemates to free his extremely dangerous shooting arsenal up. Or he can carry the puck and function as the primary handler on a line. I like his positioning off the puck. I like the strength, balance and control of his skating stride. I like how quickly and hard shots come off of his stick (not just with his world-class one-timer but through a deceptive early release point in stride too). I’ve seen him come up big in big moments.

No. 51 - Noah Östlund

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Östlund’s calling card is his airy, agile skating stride, excellent hands, cleverness, and committed two-way game. The skating and defensive aptitude (including on faceoffs) make him an able penalty killer and the rest give him clear tools of creation at five-on-five and on the power play. He wins a ton of short races, creates quickly as soon as he’s in possession, and darts around the ice in control to get into scoring areas or facilitate from the perimeter. His lack of size and strength (he’s a lean 5-foot-11 and 160-something pounds) are likely going to be impediments as he tries to progress into the NHL but I thought they’d make his jump to the SHL this year a little more challenging than it has been too and he has basically looked exactly like himself. 

HM - Isak Rosen

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He’s going to have to learn to play a little differently to build towards a scoring role at the next level but with patience and proper development, he’s going to inject skill into an NHL top nine and threaten on the power play in the long term. He’s got the threatening transition game, nifty release, perimeter speed and control, and shot shaping to become a 20-plus-goal scorer. He can run a little hot and cold (he was hot to start this season but has cooled of late in Rochester), but consistency will come with reps and maturity and you have to remind yourself of his age when considering that he has already played two years in the AHL.