The Sabres should trade the 11th overall pick in the 2024 draft

[JoeSchmoe]

NFL or NHL-

Draft talk is dumb.

[Archie Lee]

12 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

The pick is just one more asset in a big pile of assets, but all that will matter is what's on the roster so trade this pick or a 2025 pick or a prospect in Rochester, whatever and whoever. 

I think this is a succinct way of putting it. We have picks, prospects, some young roster players and cap space. I’m not too hung up on what pieces we move or don’t move. Just take advantage of the assets we have to make the team better. 

[That Aud Smell]

Sure the Sabres have plenty of well-regarded prospects in their pipeline. 

But does that prospect pool suffer from the same issue that the club's active roster does? (Too many chill bros.)

[mjd1001]

Here is a thought for why you DON'T trade the pick.  You trade one or two of your other former first round picks and keep this one...why? The age of the pipeline.

The guy you draft this year is going to what, 17 or 18?  You have Östlund, Kulich, Rosen, and Savoie that are all 20-21 years old...why trade the pick for a guy of that 'talent level' who is 17 but keep all your 20-21 year olds?  If it is a choice between the 2, I'd rather move one of the 20-21 year olds...and keep 1 or 2....and also keep the 17 year old...rather than move the 17-18 year old and keep all the 21 year olds.  Space things out.  You have an excess of prospects that are 20-21...I'd rather move one (or two) of them and keep the 17 year old so if or whenever this team gets good, I have him just about ready to move up to the roster when the core of my team is starting to age.

Again, I know you can trade this pick AND a prospect...but I'm saying if you are moving 1 or 2 pieces and that is it, I'd rather move the 20-21 year olds (because you have 3-4 of them)

[bob_sauve28]

33 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

Here is a thought for why you DON'T trade the pick.  You trade one or two of your other former first round picks and keep this one...why? The age of the pipeline.

The guy you draft this year is going to what, 17 or 18?  You have Östlund, Kulich, Rosen, and Savoie that are all 20-21 years old...why trade the pick for a guy of that 'talent level' who is 17 but keep all your 20-21 year olds?  If it is a choice between the 2, I'd rather move one of the 20-21 year olds...and keep 1 or 2....and also keep the 17 year old...rather than move the 17-18 year old and keep all the 21 year olds.  Space things out.  You have an excess of prospects that are 20-21...I'd rather move one (or two) of them and keep the 17 year old so if or whenever this team gets good, I have him just about ready to move up to the roster when the core of my team is starting to age.

Again, I know you can trade this pick AND a prospect...but I'm saying if you are moving 1 or 2 pieces and that is it, I'd rather move the 20-21 year olds (because you have 3-4 of them)

I find it hard to believe Ostalnd, Rosen and Kulich will all play for the Sabres.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, RochesterExpat said:

If this isn’t everyone’s opinion, they’re wrong. Harrington and Lysowski can tweet all they want, but guessing which team(s) even want the pick enough to trade for it is just one part of the problem. Those teams need to have the right assets to send back and assets that don’t have trade protections against Buffalo. I like the Tampa idea. Partly because I wanted Buffalo to offer sheet Cirelli way back in late 2020. But we don’t know if Tampa is interested in the pick or interested in moving Cirelli.

I saw someone on Reddit suggest we flip it to Chicago for Philipp Kurashev… as if Chicago would make that trade. I think we also overvalue what the 11th would get us or we live in a make believe land where every player is always available for trade.

Hence why the only correct attitude to have is the attitude we should move it for the right piece. Maybe instead of saying “GMKA should trade the pick” we should be rephrasing it to “GMKA should be shopping this pick to 31 teams.” The latter I’m 100% in support of. It just depends on the return.

Stop making sense.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, bob_sauve28 said:

I find it hard to believe Ostalnd, Rosen and Kulich will all play for the Sabres.

Why is it so hard? With Ruff coming in everyone is playing for their job. 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

Sure the Sabres have plenty of well-regarded prospects in their pipeline. 

But does that prospect pool suffer from the same issue that the club's active roster does? (Too many chill bros.)

Do the holiday pictures on the feeds of the kids in your personal circle contain shots of them enjoying good times in the sun?

Are they all (presumably entitled and non-committed) chill bros?

Will the existence and sharing of this picture have more or less impact on the hockey success of Tage Thompson than pictures of Rasmus Ristolainen flipping tires?

Edited May 8 by dudacek

[bob_sauve28]

50 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Why is it so hard? With Ruff coming in everyone is playing for their job. 

Because Benson and Savoie will probably make the team, and the law of averages says all three of the rest (Rosen, Ostland and Kulich)probably won't, and they are all competing for the same job, pretty much.

[PerreaultForever]

24 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Because Benson and Savoie will probably make the team, and the law of averages says all three of the rest (Rosen, Ostland and Kulich)probably won't, and they are all competing for the same job, pretty much.

What makes you think Savoie is NHL ready? 

I agree about too many prospects that are similar though. 

[Pimlach]

38 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I really liked the suggestion by another poster of trading 1 or 2 of Rosen, Kulich, Savoie or Östlund. Most of these guys are similar play styles with Kulich and Östlund being more 2 way type of players but I’d prefer to keep Savoie and Östlund.

The thing is has Rosen and Kulich done enough to garner a top line LW (which I think is a must)? I feel like it would also take our 1st round pick as well. 

I have seen nothing that indicates Kulich is more of a 2-way player than anyone else in this group.  He may be, but I hear that is the part of his game that still needs development. 

However,  Kulich's potential cannot be denied.  At 20 he has already played 119 AHL games with 51 goals, plus 16 playoff games and 7 goals.   He is  6'1" and 186 pounds - that is good size for 20 years old.   His play and leadership in Worlds was also notable.   I suspect he is going to be ready by 22.  Trade him and we just might regret it.  

We really don't know much at all about how Östlund's game translates to North American hockey.   Like Kulich he is 20 years old, but at 5'11" he still weighs only 165'ish and has a slighter build.  He has 5 AHL games under his belt, way to soon to make any solid judgements.   Supposedly has good hands and skills.  Nothing so far that wants me to keep him over Kulich, or Savoie for that matter.  

 

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Here is a thought for why you DON'T trade the pick.  You trade one or two of your other former first round picks and keep this one...why? The age of the pipeline.

The guy you draft this year is going to what, 17 or 18?  You have Östlund, Kulich, Rosen, and Savoie that are all 20-21 years old...why trade the pick for a guy of that 'talent level' who is 17 but keep all your 20-21 year olds?  If it is a choice between the 2, I'd rather move one of the 20-21 year olds...and keep 1 or 2....and also keep the 17 year old...rather than move the 17-18 year old and keep all the 21 year olds.  Space things out.  You have an excess of prospects that are 20-21...I'd rather move one (or two) of them and keep the 17 year old so if or whenever this team gets good, I have him just about ready to move up to the roster when the core of my team is starting to age.

Again, I know you can trade this pick AND a prospect...but I'm saying if you are moving 1 or 2 pieces and that is it, I'd rather move the 20-21 year olds (because you have 3-4 of them)

This makes sense. 

Both our coaches and other teams scouts have now had a few more years to look at Rosen, Kulich, Östlund and Savoie.  Maybe the shine has come off of a few of them, or maybe a few look better? 

Either way, I would be inclined to move on one or two of the four 20-21 year olds, and then add an 18 year old from this draft.   

This gives the pipeline more legs. 

[RochesterExpat]

13 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I have seen nothing that indicates Kulich is more of a 2-way player than anyone else in this group.  He may be, but I hear that is the part of his game that still needs development. 

For what it’s worth, I think there is some truth to Kulich’s 2-way improvement. From watching the Amerks, it was noticeable Kulich was getting defensive zone faceoffs this season as well as PK time. I will asterisk my own statement by adding that Kulich was not reliably on the ice for the sort of “critical” defensive zone faceoffs late in a close game.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

For what it’s worth, I think there is some truth to Kulich’s 2-way improvement. From watching the Amerks, it was noticeable Kulich was getting defensive zone faceoffs this season as well as PK time. I will asterisk my own statement by adding that Kulich was not reliably on the ice for the sort of “critical” defensive zone faceoffs late in a close game.

Thanks.  Hoping to see this aspect of his game continue to improve in his 3rd year.  He could be ready the year after. 

Of course if Adams does not add a few helpful vets he could be playing in the NHL sooner, rather than later.  

[That Aud Smell]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Do the holiday pictures on the feeds of the kids in your personal circle contain shots of them enjoying good times in the sun?

Are they all (presumably entitled and non-committed) chill bros?

Will the existence and sharing of this picture have more or less impact on the hockey success of Tage Thompson than pictures of Rasmus Ristolainen flipping tires?

I have a theory that the Sabres have too many of the same kinds of guy — that they’re too comfortable and too cozy with each other. That photo is, to me, emblematic of that theory.

A theory.

I also don’t think what my kids or kids I know are putting on IG has any relevance to the issue.

[JustOneParade]

If the Sabres can't get a suitable vet for #11, does it make sense to move it plus a good prospect in order to move up to get Lindstrom - who is very different than all of our current top prospects?

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Because Benson and Savoie will probably make the team, and the law of averages says all three of the rest (Rosen, Ostland and Kulich)probably won't, and they are all competing for the same job, pretty much.

What about Girgensons, Jost, Robinson, maybe even Peyton Krebs? Olafsson is already done.

Edited May 8 by PromoTheRobot

[bob_sauve28]

7 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

What about Girgensons, Jost, Robinson, maybe even Peyton Krebs? Olafsson is already done.

Those are more like "4th line" players, grinders, whereas the Kulich, Ostland and Rosen seem like skill guys, imo. And again, chances are at least one of the three won't measure up. Hope they turn into great players, but I wouldn't be on all three making it 

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

What makes you think Savoie is NHL ready? 

I agree about too many prospects that are similar though. 

I just think he is better than the three in Rochester now. But what do I know? Just my perception, and I don't know or think he is NHL ready now 

[Thorner]

17 hours ago, inkman said:

It’s really quite weird how Buffalo media have been pushing narratives (i.e. the WR Train) now this.  It only creates a fervor in the fanbase followed by disappointment and anger.  Stop pushing your agenda and let these men do their jobs.  How many teams want to trade for the 11th pick in any draft?  Teams are lucky to find a top 6 forward or top 4 D there. Even then they are 3-4 years away from contributing.  

I’d rather they have an opinion than toe the company line - particularly when their opinion is correct 

Teams absolutely value the 11th pick 

Edited May 8 by Thorny

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

I’d rather they have an opinion than toe the company line - particularly when their opinion is correct 

Teams absolutely value the 11th pick 

Thinking more about it.  I would prefer to keep this pick and move the prospect(s) the FO thinks think less of.  

I know very little about the players in the draft, but if we make a pick at 11 then I hope Iginla is there.  

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Here is a thought for why you DON'T trade the pick.  You trade one or two of your other former first round picks and keep this one...why? The age of the pipeline.

The guy you draft this year is going to what, 17 or 18?  You have Östlund, Kulich, Rosen, and Savoie that are all 20-21 years old...why trade the pick for a guy of that 'talent level' who is 17 but keep all your 20-21 year olds?  If it is a choice between the 2, I'd rather move one of the 20-21 year olds...and keep 1 or 2....and also keep the 17 year old...rather than move the 17-18 year old and keep all the 21 year olds.  Space things out.  You have an excess of prospects that are 20-21...I'd rather move one (or two) of them and keep the 17 year old so if or whenever this team gets good, I have him just about ready to move up to the roster when the core of my team is starting to age.

Again, I know you can trade this pick AND a prospect...but I'm saying if you are moving 1 or 2 pieces and that is it, I'd rather move the 20-21 year olds (because you have 3-4 of them)

There’s a draft literally every year. This is absolutely a (far) secondary concern to maximizing whatever trade you make, should you make one 

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Stop making sense.

Im just trying to keep up. So “don’t expect trades”, but also, “BPA, sort it out through the trade market”

Ah

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

What makes you think Savoie is NHL ready? 

I agree about too many prospects that are similar though. 

More less one of the steps you need to get to in joining the ranks of the good teams. “We have too many prospects for nhl spaces” isn’t a unique problem to Buffalo it’s the commonplace result of icing a competent roster. We are just HYPER unfamiliar. Those players don’t need to be in the NHL. If they need to be, they’d force their way 

block or not 

It’s the difference between the teams that say “ahhh injuries, what could we have even done?” And those that finish top 16

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

This makes sense. 

Both our coaches and other teams scouts have now had a few more years to look at Rosen, Kulich, Östlund and Savoie.  Maybe the shine has come off of a few of them, or maybe a few look better? 

Either way, I would be inclined to move on one or two of the four 20-21 year olds, and then add an 18 year old from this draft.   

This gives the pipeline more legs. 

The idea is that other teams will also value those assets less, though. It’s hard to say which it will be but trade the asset that grants the most valuable return 

11 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Thinking more about it.  I would prefer to keep this pick and move the prospect(s) the FO thinks think less of.  

I know very little about the players in the draft, but if we make a pick at 11 then I hope Iginla is there.  

I would also prefer to trade the things I care less about 

novel idea 

[Brawndo]

5 hours ago, dudacek said:

Do the holiday pictures on the feeds of the kids in your personal circle contain shots of them enjoying good times in the sun?

Are they all (presumably entitled and non-committed) chill bros?

Will the existence and sharing of this picture have more or less impact on the hockey success of Tage Thompson than pictures of Rasmus Ristolainen flipping tires?

If you scroll through Instagram during the All Star Break you will find pictures of players from all over the league enjoying the sun with teammates. 
 

The NHL even highlights some of pictures on their account 

[inkman]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

I’d rather they have an opinion than toe the company line - particularly when their opinion is correct 

Teams absolutely value the 11th pick 

I just don’t think it’s as easy as “trade pick 11, win now.”