2025 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[LGR4GM]

44 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

The boys are playing great hockey.  We might have to start looking at players outside the top 10 if they keep playing this way. 

Bear, Carbonneau, O'Brien, Eklund are likely candidates at 8-10. 

[LGR4GM]

Radim Mrtka, 6'6" RHD would be an option at 10. He needs a couple years to develop though. 

[North Buffalo]

8 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Any goalie you draft is 4-6yrs away except for the very rare exceptions. 

Jackson Smith is good. He's a left handed defender with really good skating and offense. I think his defensive game is ok, but not his strength. When you have a 25yr old Dahlin, you don't need a top defender so you can address defense later unless it's a must take. Buffalo has done that in recent drafts, although I might have taken one of the two last year. Still Helenius is good. 

Yeh even young prospect goalies on other teams are tough... was think more about chasing one of them... not sure who though... Dipietro or Primeau looking at stats only... 

Edited Sunday at 09:18 PM by North Buffalo

[dudacek]

Sabres picking 9th at the moment.

Last night probably means they won't finish in the bottom five

[Thorner]

Feel like a trade would be becoming more realistic 

[LGR4GM]

36 minutes ago, Thorner said:

Feel like a trade would be becoming more realistic 

After the draft lottery, for sure. Especially if you can find a team with a legit top 4 defender who's 23-25.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

After the draft lottery, for sure. Especially if you can find a team with a legit top 4 defender who's 23-25.

Like a Logan Stanley 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Thorner said:

Like a Logan Stanley 

More like Braden Schneider or some other RHD that could pop free this summer. 

[LGR4GM]

What about trying to pry Noah Dobson out of the Islanders hands? We could try and give them a mix of Byram and our 1st for Dobson and whatever makes this work. I wonder if they would consider it with Dobson being an RFA. Just spitballing ideas. 

I would also make a play for Jordan Spence out of LA. I think these are good ideas. 

[Mr. Allen]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

What about trying to pry Noah Dobson out of the Islanders hands? We could try and give them a mix of Byram and our 1st for Dobson and whatever makes this work. I wonder if they would consider it with Dobson being an RFA. Just spitballing ideas. 

I would also make a play for Jordan Spence out of LA. I think these are good ideas. 

Is a defender like Dobson worth that much?  Especially with his contract situation?

[LGR4GM]

Just now, Mr. Allen said:

Is a defender like Dobson worth that much?  Especially with his contract situation?

No, not Byram and a 1st. But you could move that package for Dobson and something else. Unsure if the Islanders realize they have to rebuild or they still think their window is open. Maybe you can flip Byram for Dobson straight up, who knows. To be truthful I was just trying to cast around for RHDs in the ballpark that might be possibly available. Other option is seeing if you can convince the NJD to part with one of their RHDs. They have 4. 

[DarthEbriate]

The possible Pettersson conversations are gone with the acquisition of Norris, but lead to conversations of RFA Quinn & RFA Byram to VAN for Hronek + pick(s), so that Adams locks in the long-term contract before Hronek's NMC begins. No need to spend $7M bridging the two RFAs and instead have a top-4 RHD to pair with Power. Bryson, JBD, Clifton, and Novikov for spots 5-8.

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The possible Pettersson conversations are gone with the acquisition of Norris, but lead to conversations of RFA Quinn & RFA Byram to VAN for Hronek + pick(s), so that Adams locks in the long-term contract before Hronek's NMC begins. No need to spend $7M bridging the two RFAs and instead have a top-4 RHD to pair with Power. Bryson, JBD, Clifton, and Novikov for spots 5-8.

Apparently the Canucks were very much interested in Norris before we got him and probably still are.

He is a good friend of Quinn Hughes, who Canuck fans are desperately frightened may not want to re-sign if they have another year like this one.

[ska-T Palmtown]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Sabres picking 9th at the moment.

Last night probably means they won't finish in the bottom five

We've tried 8th a bunch ... how about 1-3 or 9-11? 🙂 

[Brawndo]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

Apparently the Canucks were very much interested in Norris before we got him and probably still are.

He is a good friend of Quinn Hughes, who Canuck fans are desperately frightened may not want to re-sign if they have another year like this one.

They are gonna flip their star defensemen besties for one another aren’t they? 

[dudacek]

12 hours ago, Brawndo said:

They are gonna flip their star defensemen besties for one another aren’t they? 

It's the sort of move that Jim Rutherford would have the balls to do if he decided EP40 is not the answer.

And it's the sorta move Kevyn Adams and Terry Pegula would need to do if they have any hope of igniting any off-season interest in a severely alienated fan base.

Kinda supports the idea of "that's OK, Josh, don't push that injury, we need you healthy for next year."

Kinda supports the idea of Pettersson being babied into the off-season as well.

Kinda supports the idea of the Sabres captain walking away from his pre-deadline meeting feeling good about the team having a plan.

Dammit man, no one gets my conspiracy juices flowing like you do.

Edited yesterday at 01:42 PM by dudacek

[SabreFinn]

7 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

No, not Byram and a 1st. But you could move that package for Dobson and something else. Unsure if the Islanders realize they have to rebuild or they still think their window is open. Maybe you can flip Byram for Dobson straight up, who knows. To be truthful I was just trying to cast around for RHDs in the ballpark that might be possibly available. Other option is seeing if you can convince the NJD to part with one of their RHDs. They have 4. 

Those are about the same possibilities that I found. NJD have five RHD if we count Seamus Casey in, and they need to improve on middle six, so they might be a trade partner. Rosen for Casey is not something that would have impact next season but it could still be a wise move to get more options how to reshape our D.