Post Draft thoughts

[GASabresIUFAN]

14 - Helenius - Nice player, could be here sooner that later.  I had him 11th on my board.  Given our volume of "similar" prospects, pick makes more sense if some of the prospects forward depth is traded for NHL pieces.  I would have preferred Eiserman or Brandsegg-Nygard, as they had skill sets needed in our organization, but Helenius is a very talented player and there is always room for very talented players.

42 - Kleber - Was 48th on my board, but some published rankings had him with an early second grade.  Love the size and most reports say he is a very athletic for his size.  Seems to fit a pattern of KA adding physical D like Strbak and McCarthy. Heading to Minn Duluth in the fall

71 - Ziemer - Had some high 2nd rd grades.  Was 68th on my board.  Captain of the USNTP and put up 12 pts in 7 WJr games.  Skilled passer, and although under 6', he likes to forecheck and has decent wheels.  Heading to Minn in the fall.

108 - Osburn - Had him 100th on my list.  Reportedly a high IQ good skating D who is good at breaking up the play defensively but isn't overly physical.  A classic wait and see what happen development wise.  Heading to Wisconsin in the fall. 

Picks - 123 - Brunet; 172 - Geary; and 204 - Zelenov are three guys I had never heard of entering the draft.  My list had 180 guys on it and these 3 weren't on it.  It would be miracle if any become NHL players.  Apparently Brunet was a teammate of Komarov, so at least our scouts know him well.

219 - Leenders - This is my favorite pick in this draft.  I had him 74th on my list and one of the top goalies.  He played for Canada at he U18s and was good in his second OHL season.  Only reason he last so long is he's only 6'1".  

Overall, I think Adams and his scouts a solid if unspectacular job this draft.  I really like the top 3 picks and Leenders, but Brunet, Geary and Zelenov look like wasted picks.  I hate to say it, but this draft has a very Jbot feel to it with drafting Euros and American collegiates early to get the longer development time.  Overall a B-.  

Edited June 30 by GASabresIUFAN

[B-U-F-F-A-L-O]

33 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

14 - Helenius - Nice player, could be here sooner that later.  I had him 11th on my board.  Given our volume of "similar" prospects, pick makes more sense if some of the prospects forward depth is traded for NHL pieces.  I would have preferred Eiserman or Brandsegg-Nygard, as they had skill sets needed in our organization, but Helenius is a very talented player and there is always room for very talented players.

42 - Kleber - Was 48th on my board, but some published rankings had him with an early second grade.  Love the size and most reports say he is a very athletic for his size.  Seems to fit a pattern of KA adding physical D like Strbak and McCarthy. Heading to Minn Duluth in the fall

71 - Ziemer - Had some high 2nd rd grades.  Was 68th on my board.  Captain of the USNTP and put up 12 pts in 7 WJr games.  Skilled passer, and although under 6', he likes to forecheck and has decent wheels.  Heading to Minn in the fall.

108 - Osburn - Had him 100th on my list.  Reportedly a high IQ good skating D who is good at breaking up the play defensively but isn't overly physical.  A classic wait and see what happen development wise.  Heading to Wisconsin in the fall. 

Picks - 123 - Brunet; 172 - Geary; and 204 - Zelenov are three guys I had never heard of entering the draft.  My list had 180 guys on it and these 3 weren't on it.  It would be miracle if any become NHL players.  Apparently Brunet was a teammate of Komarov, so at least our scouts know him well.

219 - Leenders - This is my favorite pick in this draft.  I had him 74th on my list and one of the top goalies.  He played for Canada at he U18s and was good in his second OHL season.  Only reason he last so long is he's only 6'1".  

Overall, I think Adams and his scouts a solid if unspectacular job this draft.  I really like the top 3 picks and Leenders, but Brunet, Geary and Zelenov look like wasted picks.  I hate to say it, but this draft has a very Jbot feel to it with drafting Euros and American collegiates early to get the longer development time.  Overall a B-.  

Are you actually saying that if you never heard of them they can’t possibly be good?

Because that’s what it sounds like.

[GASabresIUFAN]

11 minutes ago, B-U-F-F-A-L-O said:

Are you actually saying that if you never heard of them they can’t possibly be good?

Because that’s what it sounds like.

No not at all, but as I do a consensus board every year, this year with 15 different rankings, the odds of a good player not showing up on on at least one of those rankings is pretty slim.  it's certainly possible these three guys reach the NHL, but unlikely.  Remember the odds someone plays 100 games in the NHL after the 3rd rounds drops to 18% or less and by the 7th round about 11%.  

One good thing about Brunet and Geary is that Buffalo should have good scouting on them.  Brunet was teammates with Komarov in the Q and Geary is a Buffalo kid who plays at MSU with Strbak.  

Zelenov doesn't even have a page on Eliteprospects.com

Edited June 30 by GASabresIUFAN

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

No not at all, but as I do a consensus board every year, this year with 15 different rankings, the odds of a good player not showing up on on at least one of those rankings is pretty slim.  it's certainly possible these three guys reach the NHL, but unlikely.  Remember the odds someone plays 100 games in the NHL after the 3rd rounds drops to 18% or less and by the 7th round about 11%.  

One good thing about Brunet and Geary is that Buffalo should have good scouting on them.  Brunet was teammates with Komarov in the Q and Geary is a Buffalo kid who plays at MSU with Strbak.  

Zelenov doesn't even have a page on Eliteprospects.com

Yes he does. You're all just spelling his name wrong. 

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/619102/vasili-zelenov

 

[msw2112]

Outside of a few of the big names, I don't know ANY of the prospects in the draft, so I appreciate the information from fellow Sabrespace members.  I know a lot of NFL and some NBA prospects from watching NCAA football and basketball.  I do watch the Frozen Four so some NHL prospects are there, but not Canadian Juniors, Russians, and other Euros.  So thanks to anyone with information on the Sabres' draft picks.  Even if they're infused with the poster's opinion, I don't mind.  I don't have my own opinion on these kids, so any input is welcomed.

[stinky finger]

Time will tell on the draft. Add these kids to the growing pile of prospects.

My thoughts post draft regarding the current NHL roster are rather uninspired. Much work needs to be done. I was hoping for improvement at this juncture. Very disappointed thus far.

 

[etiennep99]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

14 - Helenius - Nice player, could be here sooner that later.  I had him 11th on my board.  Given our volume of "similar" prospects, pick makes more sense if some of the prospects forward depth is traded for NHL pieces.  I would have preferred Eiserman or Brandsegg-Nygard, as they had skill sets needed in our organization, but Helenius is a very talented player and there is always room for very talented players.

 

This really confused me with everyone wanting Eiserman.  Didn't we just spend $15M to buy-out Skinner because he can score but can't defend? Isn't that exactly what the knock on Eiserman was, that he can't play defense?

Edited June 30 by etiennep99
Grammar check.

[GASabresIUFAN]

26 minutes ago, etiennep99 said:

This really confused me with everyone wanting Eiserman.  Didn't we just spend $15M to buy-out Skinner because he can score but can't defend? Isn't that exactly what the knock on Eiserman was, that he can't play defense?

Fair point, but that’s the point of development.  He is a sniper, but if he rounds out his game at BU, then he’ll be the biggest bargain in this draft.  If not, he’ll have a long career scoring 30 goals a year. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Also, Adams on why he failed to improve the roster during the draft 

“He responded that the Sabres were aggressive but there weren’t trades that they could get other teams to agree to. He said, “…we’re going to do everything we can to make our roster better.”

 

Let the excuses for failure begin.

[Sabre The Cup]

8 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Also, Adams on why he failed to improve the roster during the draft 

“He responded that the Sabres were aggressive but there weren’t trades that they could get other teams to agree to. He said, “…we’re going to do everything we can to make our roster better.”

 

Let the excuses for failure begin.

It means they were aggressive for the wrong players. 

We need to find unheralded guys on other teams and 2nd tier prospects we believe in. Those players you don’t need to try so hard to acquire. 

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Also, Adams on why he failed to improve the roster during the draft 

“He responded that the Sabres were aggressive but there weren’t trades that they could get other teams to agree to. He said, “…we’re going to do everything we can to make our roster better.”

 

Let the excuses for failure begin.

What did you want him to say?  "No comment?"

[GASabresIUFAN]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

What did you want him to say?  "No comment?"

That would have been preferable to saying I was really aggressive but failed. It’s not like we haven’t heard that before.  At some point you’d think he complete a deal to improve the team, but continually fails.  Other GM’s seem to get key deals done, why can’t ours?

Edited June 30 by GASabresIUFAN

[thewookie1]

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

That would have been preferable to saying I was really aggressive but failed. It’s not like we haven’t heard that before.  At some point he has to complete a deal to improve the team, but continually fails.  Other GM’s seem to get key deals done, why can’t ours?

It could be him, it could be other GMs; hell it could just be a flukey market for all we know. We have no idea who he’s making offers for and whether or not they are legitimately bad offers or other teams aren’t interested in trading with us in good faith. Disappointing yes, but I can’t without further knowledge proclaim he’s an utter failure when we have no clue whatsoever about the actuality behind the scenes. 
 

If he offered 14, a 3rd and Kulich for Ehlers (w/ extension) and Iafallo and WPG agreed but Ehlers wouldn’t sign how is that on Adams? If he offered Ehlers 8x7.5mil and Ehlers said no; well there’s no point in dealing for him if the assurance of 60mil over 8 years wasn’t apparently enough for guy who should get around 6/6.5mil based on production. That would tell me that barring a miracle he has no intentions to sign here and thus isn’t worth a top prospect and a 1st. 
 

Perhaps Ehlers said yes but WPG wanted more, and not in the 3rd to 2nd category but we want 14, Savoie, Rosen and a 2nd. Again that isn’t a tenable option as your trading what equates to 3 1sts and a 2nd for a 60 pt winger who’ll be overpaid long term and a local 3W also being overpaid this year but is then a UFA. Not exactly a good faith trade when you ask for the moon  but only offer a return of a Mazda. 
 

He could be inept in making player purchasing trades, that isn’t out of the question either. But he did well with selling player trades which would hint at least some degree of competence. In both Greenway and Malenstyne’s acquisitions you get the sense he offered a 3rd and gave a 2nd in order to seal the deal. We know that specifically in the Greenway trade. 

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Also, Adams on why he failed to improve the roster during the draft 

“He responded that the Sabres were aggressive but there weren’t trades that they could get other teams to agree to. He said, “…we’re going to do everything we can to make our roster better.”

 

Let the excuses for failure begin.

 

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

That would have been preferable to saying I was really aggressive but failed. It’s not like we haven’t heard that before.  At some point you’d think he complete a deal to improve the team, but continually fails.  Other GM’s seem to get key deals done, why can’t ours?

With respect, I sincerely doubt there is anything Adams could say that could, or should, change your mind. 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

11 hours ago, dudacek said:

 

With respect, I sincerely doubt there is anything Adams could say that could, or should, change your mind. 

 

Your right, I’d prefer the Sabres GM to succeed vs constantly making excuses for failure.

Like them or not, at least TM and Jbot managed to get deals done that brought good talent into our organization such as ROR, Kane, Skinner and Montour.  

One of the reasons I'm so frustrated with Adams is that I've agreed with the general plan of draft and develop.  However now it's time to go for it and I don't see any real urgency.  I hear lip service given to urgency but the actions haven't followed the words. 

This latest draft was again about building for the future.  We added multiple draft picks at the deadline.  He then traded down to add another pick.  

All he ended up doing with all the draft capital is adding another 8 kids to the pipeline and a wasting a 2nd on a new version of Eric Robinson.  

Edited July 1 by GASabresIUFAN

[JP51]

I think it is less about who we drafted and more about what we did do with our draft capital and current roster capital to improve this team. On paper after the draft we are at best a wash and more than likely reasonably worse/ and or have lost ground with those we are competing with. I would say this draft week was a failure overall with regards to immediate improvement on the team essentially (Malestyn plus/Skinner Minus). We shall see what free agency brings, but I expect there is just going to be more of the same old same old we have seen for over a decade... hope I am wrong. 

Edited July 1 by JP51