Taro T

That isn't the only way forward. There supposedly are guys like Statsny on the market. His 2 remaining years would fill the Sabres need for a 2C until Mittelstadt is ready for that role. That would also allow Cozens to start on wing next season if they wanted to ease him into the NHL.

And you're never going to come up with a definition that fully catches them all. Pretty sure even the Bruins didn't consider Thomas a prospect before the lockout when they gave him his 1st shot when he was 28. Finally got his 1st extended NHL action at 32.

Borgen - 4 Olofsson - 6 Guhle - 23 + 6 non-Sabres Nylander - 19 Lemieux - 0 + 72 non-Sabres Which should account for the rest of the 909.

Pretty sure that's intentional. They have a 1C and they should have a 1D soon. They have a 1LW & a 1RW. If Luukkonnen turns into a 1G, they'll be good enough on the top end pieces. Montour or maybe one of the prospects can be a 2D. So, while would rather see them draft (especially in the top 10) for guys with serious top line potential; Botterill seems content with drafting around the existing pieces unless something falls into his lap (Dahlin). Which is part of the source for my "troublesome" comment (here or in the 31st pick thread). This lin eup, on paper, looks good 2-3 years out & moving forward from there. If Botterill is on a 5 year plan from his hiring, we're likely looking 1 more top 10 pick. (And there is no evidence he's on a 5 year plan, so that comment is likely premature. But there really isn't evidence against a 5 year plan either. Really hoping this July shows playoffs was the 3 year plan & true contention in 5 goes with that.)

The team absolutely has had a long term plan throughout this entire teardown/rebuild. The problem is, the plans of each GM were radically different which makes the whole thing seem muddled when looking in at it. Regier's plan was to tear everything down to the studs (while actually burning about 1/2 of it down entirely). He was leaving NOTHING to chance in trying to finish dead last for 2-3 years, going so far as to hire a coach that was good working with kids but was absolutely out of his league in the NHL icing a completely unwatchable product before he got canned. No doubt he'd've had a team better than the one we've watched the past 2 seasons as there would be at least 2-3 more top 6 forwards and maybe another top 4 D - man on the squad now with almost all of them early 20's. The problem is, the product would have continued to be unwatchable at least Eichel's rookie year and likely the one after that as well and there's no knowing how badly that would have messed with the players and fans psyches. Murray tried to speed the rebuild & brought in some really good players on paper but seemed to view athletes like horses and apparently had the communication & people skills of a dish rag. On paper his last team should have been a playoff contender, but he neglected to consider chemistry in any of his equations. He also, probably because he had so many prospects and picks, was willing to overpay to make sure he came away with the guy he wanted so the cupboards were barer than they needed to be. He also swung for the fences when drafting figuring that he'd strike out a lot but the homers he'd hit would more than make up for it. He also figured that he'd know before outsiders would which each of the picks would turn into so he'd be able to use the guys that wouldn't turn out to sweeten deals to make sure he got guys that would turn out. This likely also left the cupboards barer than they needed to be. Now Botterill seems to be more like Regier as he is far more conservative than Murray, but unlike Regier is willing to risk losing a trade in his quest to make the team better LT. Unfortunately part of that is selling assets that Murray prized for pennies on the $ as those moves didn't pan out. Troubling probably wasn't the right word, but frustrating isn't either. And the problem with Botterill looking 2-3 years down the road means we won't know if he's wrong for that long. So if he's wrong, we'll be looking to change direction again 11 years into our stay in this purgatory. Not his fault the 1st 6 years were really bad, but if he does remain patient (say he only brings in 1 FA and doesn't address 2C) we're likely looking at another lousy year. Hopefully this all ends up moot and he brings in Statsny & Donskoi or Dzingel which would be a good compromise between waiting another 3 years to get good and mortgaging the future. And either way, we SEEM to be at worse 1 season away from watchable hockey. Unfortunately, we've been there for about 4 years and except for 30 games to start this year and a handful here and there in prior seasons, they haven't been good nor entertaining. Only giving us 1 of those is acceptable, though not ideal. Giving us neither is, once again, troubling for lack of a better word.

You mean who would do that besides the Otters?

I'd expect him in Buffalo that season as well. And, unless the Sabres bring in a 2C this year expect the C spine to still be underwhelming that year as well. The FOLLOWING year however, the C spine should be one of the best as Eichel will be in his prime, Mittelstadt should look like a true 2C ( he'll likely be a 2C that 1st season Cozens is up but not necessarily a good one by then), & Cozens should be decent to good as a 3C by then. (Basically, by '21-'22 we should see close to the C spine that should've been in Buffalo this coming season.) Larsson will likely have been upgraded to Asplund or Davidsson by '21-'22 as well. (Though if he is, he'll be out the door as he wouldn't be a candidate to slide to the wing to keep him as a PK specialist. Can't think of another C who's play drops as badly as Larry's when they slide him to wing.)

Which is troubling. Hopefully we see something good happen the next 2 weeks, but based on his unwillingness to make moves last year when the team was a 2C away from hanging onto a playoff spot and no major movement this past week; am really starting to get concerned that he doesn't expect to compete for a playoff spot until after the new CBA goes into effect.& doesn't plan on contending until Seattle is playing. That slow but steady progression might be the right way to go, but after about 1 season's worth of good hockey out of the last 8; it will do nothing to quell the masses. Really want to see minimum 2 2nd liners brought in & if Ristolainen or McCabe is a part of making that happen, would want a 2nd pairing D brought in as well.

I'd expect to get him to move to Buffalo it would take a 4 year deal. & at his age, they'd be on the hook for the full hit. So that'd be a 'no' here. Unless they expect (with reasonable certainty) to be allowed 2 compliance buyouts (or they knew Okposo is expecting to have headache issues forcing him to LTIR after this season) and wouldn't have to use them immediately upon a new CBA being finalized.

Use whatever criteria you want, but maybe the easiest way to determine them is use whatever Chris Baker uses to define a "prospect" as he seems to be the expert on those that are Sabres property. And it might be interesting to see how this board's ranking compares to Baker's.

Not sure if wanting Zegras is why this pick is disappointing or if it's that ridiculous meme dying. Probably a little of both. Hopefully this kid is what Botterill thinks he is.

Waiting until you can get out of your own end before changing in the 2nd period would literally have guys standing in place hoping the puck would bounce off them & land close enough to their stick to be able to launch it mostly down the ice & get at least a couple of fresh bodies on the ice. It would look like a badly matched beer league game.

Well, that would increase scoring chances. It also would probably result in increased injuries as guys trapped in their own end would be on the ice literally for minutes on end.

Really see this as more of another attempt by the league to reencourage the home run pass to a skater hanging high in the neutral zone. (They tried to forgive icing on passes that just missed the mark, but rarely had linesmen actually waive off icing.) If that pass misses but ends up on the goalie, he can't just cover it unless he wants to treat it like his team just iced it.

While an excellent sentiment highly deserving our support, I fear many in the crowd (& most of the Sabres themselves) would regard that as a request for Eichel to revert to his old #.