Game Discussion Thread: Prospects Challenge vs Devils, 9/14/24

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Personally see 4 "kids" with a VERY outside shot (well 3 with a very outside shot and 1 with an outside shot) of making the Sabres out of camp: Kulich, Johnson, Rousek, and Levi.

Expect before the season is out Kulich and Levi will be full time Sabres with Johnson having a little less than a 50-50 shot of being full time on the big club by then and Rousek needed a few injuries in the bottom 6 to even get to that level of chances he's a full time Sabre by the end of the year.

There's a few others that will likely get looks when injuries hit (Tullio, Rosen, maybe Östlund, Helenius, or even very outside chance of Wahlberg) but doubt any of them stick when the guy they're in for gets healthy.

The franchise is starting to accumulate a reservoir of young talent in the system that are close to being ready. It's taken time for this group within the farm system to develop enough so when the inevitable injuries happen, the replacements will be ready to fill in. Right now, I believe that Kulich and Levi are ready to be roster players with at least a few more, including Ryan Johnson, not far away. That's quite a change from a few years ago when the system was depleted. Replenishing the system has been a priority for the GM since he took over the operation. It's now to a great extent come to fruition. It's certainly been an excruciating process to go through. It takes a lot of fortitude to stay the course in this excruciating process. 

[dudacek]

12 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

. 

I was actually underwhelmed by him. He's good at that level, but he should be dominant if he was in any way ready to bump any of the starting 6 we currently have. He's not. Not even close. 

Do you mean offensively? That’s not the kid’s game.

He did look pretty dominant to me in terms of what is his game: snuffing out rushes and breaking the forecheck. The number of chances surrendered against him over 2 games was pretty negligible and he got a ton of ice time.

Im not saying “he’s ready” exactly, but I’m not seeing a huge gap in his game that needs to be addressed first like with the other top prospects (save Kulich). He’s physically mature, and his feet almost guarantee he’ll at least have a Bryson/Clague-level NHL career. His head and hands will determine whether it’s more than a cup of coffee.

He’s not bumping any of the 6 we have right now though, I’ll agree with that.

 

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Tyler Tullio was ranked 38th by EP in his draft year and was 5'9". Now at 5'11" and with more muscle, I wonder if he's a dark horse to be in the bottom of the Sabres lineup later in the year. He's played very well in the tournament. 

I liked the kid’s spark and he has some skill - not enough to put him in the NHL, but enough that it won’t stop him from getting there if he develops as a checker and a pest.

Edited September 15 by dudacek

[dudacek]

Not seeing much on Östlund here, so I need to mention I was quite impressed.

Kulich has been the best player, but Noah is right there with him in terms of skill: best skater and best passer among the forwards.

With Savoie gone and Helenius’ size issues a myth, the “too many small forward prospects” thing essentially comes down to Rosen and Östlund.

What Östlund has that Rosen doesn’t is an attack mentality. While Isak tends to let the game come to him, Noah is always around the puck. His tracking skills are amazing, he always seems to arrive where the puck is going, and he gets a ton of puck touches and does smart things with them.

He obviously needs strength but he is not afraid to engage and was fairly effective along the wall overall at this level.

Looking forward to seeing what he does in Rochester this year.

Edited September 15 by dudacek

[Taro T]

18 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Not seeing much on Östlund here, so I need to mention I was quite impressed.

Kulich has been the best player, but Noah is right there with him in terms of skill: best skater and best passer among the forwards.

With Savoie gone and Helenius’ size issues a myth, the “too many small forward prospects” thing essentially comes down to Rosen and Östlund.

What Östlund has that Rosen doesn’t is an attack mentality. While Isak tends to let the game come to him, Noah is always around the puck. His tracking skills are amazing, he always seems to arrive where the puck is going, and he gets a ton of puck touches and does smart things with them.

He obviously needs strength but he is not afraid to engage and was fairly effective along the wall overall at this level.

Looking forward to seeing what he does in Rochester this year.

Yeah, he does look like he'll be a good one when he gets adjusted to the NA game.

Because of all the time in Sweden, see him being about 1 year behind where Kulich is right now.  Meaning, expecting Kulich to be a full time NHLer by the end of the season and expect Östlund will be there 1 year later.

[Derrico]

Rosen was a big disappointment last night.  Made a nice play on his first shift to turn the puck over and quick pass to create a counter attack but then disappeared the rest of the evening. 

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, JohnC said:

I'm not saying you are wrong in your assessment of Ryan Johnson, but I have a different view on him. His even-keel style of play will never fall in the eye-popping category where you will ever consider him to be a dominant (your adjective) player. But he is the type of player who could be the B partner in any of the pairings. He's simply a smooth and efficient defenseman whose contributions are not always appreciated because of the understated way he plays. Needless to say, I think a lot more highly of him than you do. 

Every level is relative to that level. If you don't dominate at a lower level you don't make it to a higher level. By dominant I didn't mean he'd look like Dahlin scoring goals or something. I'm only talking about being a D man. But we shall see. These prospect challenges often don't really tell you much. 

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, Taro T said:

Personally see 4 "kids" with a VERY outside shot (well 3 with a very outside shot and 1 with an outside shot) of making the Sabres out of camp: Kulich, Johnson, Rousek, and Levi.

Expect before the season is out Kulich and Levi will be full time Sabres with Johnson having a little less than a 50-50 shot of being full time on the big club by then and Rousek needed a few injuries in the bottom 6 to even get to that level of chances he's a full time Sabre by the end of the year.

There's a few others that will likely get looks when injuries hit (Tullio, Rosen, maybe Östlund, Helenius, or even very outside chance of Wahlberg) but doubt any of them stick when the guy they're in for gets healthy.

Well I don't see that but we will get a better idea when they play actual NHL preseason games with NHLers on the ice. 

Levi is in a separate category. I personally think he should start the season in Rochester with Reimer backing up UPL but if he shines in preseason maybe they make the move now and he is the back up. I think it's better he plays a lot first and then comes up later but Sabres often rush these things. He's in a separate category anyway. 

[PerreaultForever]

8 hours ago, dudacek said:

I liked the kid’s spark and he has some skill - not enough to put him in the NHL, but enough that it won’t stop him from getting there if he develops as a checker and a pest.

He has to shave that moustache off first 🙂

 

[nfreeman]

8 hours ago, Derrico said:

Rosen was a big disappointment last night.  Made a nice play on his first shift to turn the puck over and quick pass to create a counter attack but then disappeared the rest of the evening. 

I too was disappointed in Rosen.  I thought he was in the right place with the puck multiple times and gave it away needlessly.  Much too cute and overall not effective.

[shrader]

Who was behind the bench for these games, the new AHL guy?