The Sabres Prospect Pool 2024 Edition

[bob_sauve28]

 

[PickaPecaPickles]

Wahlberg with 2G and 2A in Sweden's 8-1 win over Kazakhstan.

[Pimlach]

On 12/27/2024 at 9:42 AM, bob_sauve28 said:

 

Good to see.  I just hope the Sabres don't rush him.   

[Ctaeth]

no sabres prospects in the game that I'm aware of... but Canada lost to Latvia in a shootout.  maybe they should have taken our boy scott ratzlaff

 

edit:  martone no points and only ~7 minutes TOI

Edited December 28, 2024 by Ctaeth

[Flashsabre]

Kleber is playing for U.S. today. He is a big boy. I do like Zeimer’s game quite a bit.

[DarthEbriate]

Slovakia had a 5-minute power play and a 2-goal lead against Kazakhstan with less than 4 minutes to play. Kazakhstan gets two shorties to tie it, with the tying goal coming off Strbak being unable to keep the puck in at the blue line. (He wasn't on the ice for the first shorty against.)

But, Strbak gets the redemption OT winner. 3-on-3, helps win a puck battle in his own corner, then sprints up ice and gets a breakaway feed as he's left unmarked.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

Slovakia had a 5-minute power play and a 2-goal lead against Kazakhstan with less than 4 minutes to play. Kazakhstan gets two shorties to tie it, with the tying goal coming off Strbak being unable to keep the puck in at the blue line. (He wasn't on the ice for the first shorty against.)

But, Strbak gets the redemption OT winner. 3-on-3, helps win a puck battle in his own corner, then sprints up ice and gets a breakaway feed as he's left unmarked.

How are you watching this?

[LTS]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

How are you watching this?

NHL network?  At least in the US all the games are on there.

[SwampD]

3 minutes ago, LTS said:

NHL network?  At least in the US all the games are on there.

Darn. The one that I don't have.

[LTS]

3 hours ago, SwampD said:

Darn. The one that I don't have.

Bummer. I think one year I did a 7 day trial of Sling just so I could get it and watch the WJC.

[DarthEbriate]

5 hours ago, SwampD said:

How are you watching this?

For the Strbak info it was just watching the game highlights. He's playing 23+ minutes/game and 25+ when the games are close. (And it's deflated in WJC since they get to dress a 7th d-man.)

[shrader]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

For the Strbak info it was just watching the game highlights. He's playing 23+ minutes/game and 25+ when the games are close. (And it's deflated in WJC since they get to dress a 7th d-man.)

I wonder if the top guy actually loses any ice time in that scenario. I’m not taking away any shifts from my top guy if I’m coaching. 

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

For the Strbak info it was just watching the game highlights. He's playing 23+ minutes/game and 25+ when the games are close. (And it's deflated in WJC since they get to dress a 7th d-man.)

 

1 hour ago, shrader said:

I wonder if the top guy actually loses any ice time in that scenario. I’m not taking away any shifts from my top guy if I’m coaching. 

His WJC toi for the 4 games thus far are:

23:36 was a 5-2 loss to Sweden,  -1 with 2a

25:10 was a 2-1 win over the Swiss and +1

20:45 was a 4-2 loss to Slovakia and a -2 with 1a

24:52 was a 5-4 win over Kazakhstan with 1g 1a and +1

[Flashsabre]

Helenuis with an assist on all 4 Finnish goals today. 7 points in 6 games so far. Let him cook in Rochester for a couple years and you have a good middle 6 C.

Edited January 5 by Flashsabre

[DarthEbriate]

Scott Wheeler's WJC mini-summaries of Sabres prospects - The Athletic

"Brodie Ziemer (F, Buffalo Sabres): Plays hard. Plays honest. Plays the right way. All of the cliches. Great instincts on the penalty kill. Found ways to contribute at five-on-five. Ziemer is one of the most consistently effective forwards in this American cycle and that was true again. I’m not sure what he is in the NHL but wouldn’t bet against him having a nice career. He gets the most out of his game.

Adam Kleber (D, Buffalo Sabres): Scratched to start but finished on the second pair as Cole Hutson’s partner. He was fine but they tried to protect him and the rest of the non-Buium/Hutson/Fortescue D.

Konsta Helenius (F, Buffalo Sabres): Passing on the power play was really the only time he was consistently noticeable. Entries on the power play helped that unit have success as well. Some crafty moments with the puck in traffic. But outside of a four-point game in the semifinal, I thought he was pretty quiet throughout, particularly at five-on-five. I had higher expectations.

Anton Wahlberg (F, Buffalo Sabres): Good tournament overall without being a standout. Big boy with some presence on the puck. Shoots it hard. Comfortable one-timer. Moves well when he gets going but can look clunky from a standstill.

Maxim Strbak (D, Buffalo Sabres): Horse at this level. He was last year, even. Played big minutes (23:31 per game) and contributed in all areas of the game/zones of the ice. Has developed his confidence with the puck and activating into the rush over the last couple of years. Not just a sturdy, plays-hard type against his peers. Very involved. Step-up physicality. Kills plays. Not perfectly polished and can misread coverage or timing the odd time but offers a lot and can be relied upon in tough matchups. Still contributed six points in five games despite difficult assignments. Potential third-pairing/No. 7 D someday."

[LGR4GM]

44 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Scott Wheeler's WJC mini-summaries of Sabres prospects - The Athletic

"Brodie Ziemer (F, Buffalo Sabres): Plays hard. Plays honest. Plays the right way. All of the cliches. Great instincts on the penalty kill. Found ways to contribute at five-on-five. Ziemer is one of the most consistently effective forwards in this American cycle and that was true again. I’m not sure what he is in the NHL but wouldn’t bet against him having a nice career. He gets the most out of his game.

Adam Kleber (D, Buffalo Sabres): Scratched to start but finished on the second pair as Cole Hutson’s partner. He was fine but they tried to protect him and the rest of the non-Buium/Hutson/Fortescue D.

Konsta Helenius (F, Buffalo Sabres): Passing on the power play was really the only time he was consistently noticeable. Entries on the power play helped that unit have success as well. Some crafty moments with the puck in traffic. But outside of a four-point game in the semifinal, I thought he was pretty quiet throughout, particularly at five-on-five. I had higher expectations.

Anton Wahlberg (F, Buffalo Sabres): Good tournament overall without being a standout. Big boy with some presence on the puck. Shoots it hard. Comfortable one-timer. Moves well when he gets going but can look clunky from a standstill.

Maxim Strbak (D, Buffalo Sabres): Horse at this level. He was last year, even. Played big minutes (23:31 per game) and contributed in all areas of the game/zones of the ice. Has developed his confidence with the puck and activating into the rush over the last couple of years. Not just a sturdy, plays-hard type against his peers. Very involved. Step-up physicality. Kills plays. Not perfectly polished and can misread coverage or timing the odd time but offers a lot and can be relied upon in tough matchups. Still contributed six points in five games despite difficult assignments. Potential third-pairing/No. 7 D someday."

I think Harrison Brunicke would have been a better pick than Kleber but we shall see. 

[Flashsabre]

Marjala and Sardarian are two under the radar prospects having very nice years. Marshals in Liiga in Finland and Sardarian at Michigan Tech in college. Both shifty skill players

[LGR4GM]

Luca Del Bel Belluz, the player Buffalo should have drafted instead of Leinonen, played only his 2nd NHL game last night and first this season. he had 1g and 1a. He has 17g, 37pts in 34 AHL games so far this season. Anyways... Jerry Forton is a moron. 

[Flashsabre]

43 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Luca Del Bel Belluz, the player Buffalo should have drafted instead of Leinonen, played only his 2nd NHL game last night and first this season. he had 1g and 1a. He has 17g, 37pts in 34 AHL games so far this season. Anyways... Jerry Forton is a moron. 

I wouldn’t write Leinonen off yet at all.

[DarthEbriate]

10 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

I wouldn’t write Leinonen off yet at all.

No, not yet.

But! Rosen should have been Wallstedt (or Cossa, but I'd have taken Wallstedt); Östlund should've been Kulich (according to my silly rankings), which would've allowed Kulich to be anyone, and Leinonen to be Del Bel Belluz.

[GASabresIUFAN]

12 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Luca Del Bel Belluz, the player Buffalo should have drafted instead of Leinonen, played only his 2nd NHL game last night and first this season. he had 1g and 1a. He has 17g, 37pts in 34 AHL games so far this season. Anyways... Jerry Forton is a moron. 

Yes.  We thought for a while that Adams and his crew were doing a better job of drafting than the previous administrations.  I'm not sure that's true any longer.  

TM produced 6 NHL players in his 3 drafts (Reinhart, VO, Eichel, Borgen, Hagel & nominally Lemieux).  3 others reached the 100 game threshold (50 for goalies) but never have been full time NHLers (Nylander, Asplund & Johansson).  This is poor drafting by most standards especially with 25 picks in 3 years.

Jbot has also produced 6 NHL in 18 picks (Mitts, UPL, Bryson, Samuelsson, Dahlin and Cozens).  I suspect Portillo will be the 7th.  Johnson may only be a AAAA player.

Then there is Adams.  He has 5 drafts so far.  He had 27 picks in his 1st 3 drafts (including 6 1st rd picks and 4 2nd rd picks).  So far we have just 3 NHLers (Quinn, JJP and Power).  Kulich also looks like an NHLer, but not quite there yet.  There are other possibilities like Novikov (6th rd in 2021), Rosen (1st rd in 2021), and maybe Kozak (7th round in 2021).  But there are major disappointments like Östlund (1st rd in 2022) and Savoie (1st rd 9th overall in 2022 - traded for McLeod) and the 3 2rd picks from 2021 & 22 (Leinonen, Poltapov, and Kisakov).  This doesn't mean others won't emerge from these 3 classes, but I'm not expecting anyone to make a major impact.  

The most recent two drafts look similar to the 1st 3 but I'm very hopeful on Strbak, Kieber and Helenius as players who can make a significant impact.  Obviously Benson is in the NHL with a bright future.

I've argued for a long-time that we need 3 full time NHL players a draft to become good.  For the 9 years from 2014 to 2022 we have averaged 2 with some, like Borgen & Hagel, developing for other teams.

Edited January 11 by GASabresIUFAN

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Yes.  We thought for a while that Adams and his crew were doing a better job of drafting than the previous administrations.  I'm not sure that's true any longer.  

TM produced 6 NHL players in his 3 drafts (Reinhart, VO, Eichel, Borgen, Hagel & nominally Lemieux).  3 others reached the 100 game threshold (50 for goalies) but never have been full time NHLers (Nylander, Asplund & Johansson).  This is poor drafting by most standards especially with 25 picks in 3 years.

Jbot has also produced 6 NHL in 18 picks (Mitts, UPL, Bryson, Samuelsson, Dahlin and Cozens).  I suspect Portillo will be the 7th.  Johnson may only be a AAAA player.

Then there is Adams.  He has 5 drafts so far.  He had 27 picks in his 1st 3 drafts (including 6 1st rd picks and 4 2nd rd picks).  So far we have just 3 NHLers (Quinn, JJP and Power).  Kulich also looks like an NHLer, but not quite there yet.  There are other possibilities like Novikov (6th rd in 2021), Rosen (1st rd in 2021), and maybe Kozak (7th round in 2021).  But there are major disappointments like Östlund (1st rd in 2022) and Savoie (1st rd 9th overall in 2022 - traded for McLeod) and the 3 2rd picks from 2021 & 22 (Leinonen, Poltapov, and Kisakov).  This doesn't mean others won't emerge from these 3 classes, but I'm not expecting anyone to make a major impact.  

The most recent two drafts look similar to the 1st 3 but I'm very hopeful on Strbak, Kieber and Helenius as players who can make a significant impact.  Obviously Benson is in the NHL with a bright future.

I've argued for a long-time that we need 3 full time NHL players a draft to become good.  For the 9 years from 2014 to 2022 we have averaged 2 with some, like Borgen & Hagel, developing for other teams.

Why in the world would you think Poltapov is a disappointment?  he's playing a prominent role on one of the biggest clubs in the KHL.  He's the 3rd leading scorer among their forwards. Which is pretty good since he doesn't get PP time to boost his stats. 
 Not to mention his game really shouldn't be graded by the amount of goals and assists he gets, he brings so much more than that  

might want to give Östlund some time in the AHL while healthy before you write him off as well 

It's also a bit unfair to compare drafts success of Adams vs Murray and JBot at this time   The kids drafted in Adams first year are all just turning 22   Looking at the 2021 I see 5 guys with an NHL career (Power, Rosen, Poltapov, Novikov and Kodak) that's a pretty successful draft in my opinion 

 

 

Edited January 11 by Crusader1969

[Brawndo]

22 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Luca Del Bel Belluz, the player Buffalo should have drafted instead of Leinonen, played only his 2nd NHL game last night and first this season. he had 1g and 1a. He has 17g, 37pts in 34 AHL games so far this season. Anyways... Jerry Forton is a moron. 

He was the next player on the draft board and the consensus next selection. A few eyebrows were raised at the draft table when Leinonen was picked. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Why in the world would you think Poltapov is a disappointment?  he's playing a prominent role on one of the biggest clubs in the KHL.  He's the 3rd leading scorer among their forwards. Which is pretty good since he doesn't get PP time to boost his stats. 
 Not to mention his game really shouldn't be graded by the amount of goals and assists he gets, he brings so much more than that  

might want to give Östlund some time in the AHL while healthy before you write him off as well 

It's also a bit unfair to compare drafts success of Adams vs Murray and JBot at this time   The kids drafted in Adams first year are all just turning 22   Looking at the 2021 I see 5 guys with an NHL career (Power, Rosen, Poltapov, Novikov and Kodak) that's a pretty successful draft in my opinion 

 

 

What good is any of that doing the Sabres?  

[Archie Lee]

11 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Yes.  We thought for a while that Adams and his crew were doing a better job of drafting than the previous administrations.  I'm not sure that's true any longer.  

TM produced 6 NHL players in his 3 drafts (Reinhart, VO, Eichel, Borgen, Hagel & nominally Lemieux).  3 others reached the 100 game threshold (50 for goalies) but never have been full time NHLers (Nylander, Asplund & Johansson).  This is poor drafting by most standards especially with 25 picks in 3 years.

Jbot has also produced 6 NHL in 18 picks (Mitts, UPL, Bryson, Samuelsson, Dahlin and Cozens).  I suspect Portillo will be the 7th.  Johnson may only be a AAAA player.

Then there is Adams.  He has 5 drafts so far.  He had 27 picks in his 1st 3 drafts (including 6 1st rd picks and 4 2nd rd picks).  So far we have just 3 NHLers (Quinn, JJP and Power).  Kulich also looks like an NHLer, but not quite there yet.  There are other possibilities like Novikov (6th rd in 2021), Rosen (1st rd in 2021), and maybe Kozak (7th round in 2021).  But there are major disappointments like Östlund (1st rd in 2022) and Savoie (1st rd 9th overall in 2022 - traded for McLeod) and the 3 2rd picks from 2021 & 22 (Leinonen, Poltapov, and Kisakov).  This doesn't mean others won't emerge from these 3 classes, but I'm not expecting anyone to make a major impact.  

The most recent two drafts look similar to the 1st 3 but I'm very hopeful on Strbak, Kieber and Helenius as players who can make a significant impact.  Obviously Benson is in the NHL with a bright future.

I've argued for a long-time that we need 3 full time NHL players a draft to become good.  For the 9 years from 2014 to 2022 we have averaged 2 with some, like Borgen & Hagel, developing for other teams.

I think this shows that it takes a long time to find out how well a team drafted.  Olofsson, Borgen, Hagel and UPL did not become full-time NHL players until D+5 or D+6.  The oldest players you note on the Adams list are in D+4.  I think that our current batch of prospects, in general, suffer more from our pool being over-crowded,  than from individual lack of progress. Going back to 2020, I see 10-14 of our current prospects (not yet NHL players) who still have a legit chance to make it. And that doesn't count for an Olofsson-like prospect emerging as they really can't be predicted. Also, you missed Benson.