dudacek

To me, Komarov looks bigger than 6’2” 183. He’s like a stork or a condor out there with a huge wingspan. Wonder if those are still his measurements when drafted?

Rare admission: Forton said the top 6 went off the board exactly like he predicted it would. Mtrka was the next player on the Sabres list.

Typical Sabres pick

Right now with 18 players signed, the Sabres have nearly $21M to spend. Signing Byram (7) McLeod (5) Timmins (1.5) JBD (1.5) and Levi (1.5) would leave them about $4M shy of the cap Last year Sportrac reports they finished about $8M the cap. A perceived upgrade may have been a factor in flipping Clifton for Timmins, but the trade was pretty clearly designed with clearing $2M off the cap in mind; the price clearly demonstrates that. If that money is not used to facilitate further improvements, they’re clearly operated to internal number. You can get a Timmins-level player for less than a 2nd-rounder without approaching the real cap.

In my ideal world they kept Byram with Dahlin, found a partner for Power, and dumped Samuelson and Clifton (who was the awful no one talked about last year) for a better, cheaper 3rd pair. No faith, but - amazingly - still hope.

I got nothing

I think if Rosen is in the countdown to the end of his Sabre career. If he isn’t thrown in to a trade this summer, he will go back to Europe next summer.

Further to that, Adams claims he entered the off-season with a plan and he confirmed trading JJ Peterka was not part of that plan. So realistically one should assume the $5M saved from trading JJ should be in the budget to spend on other things. And that having a 65-point winger on the roster was part of his plan. So if it doesn’t happen, the only choices available to the observer would be that either he lied, or he failed.

As some have already pointed out, the savings in the Peterka trade will remain a Red flag until they aren’t there any more. There’s still a week to play things out; 32 teams have multiple balls in the air and they’re all intertwined. It takes time to figure out which ones get caught, and which drop to the floor. Pending the Byram and McLeod contracts, they’ll have a full roster and $5-6M to spend. You can’t convince me a 79-point team would be better off leaving that money unspent.

I’ve started to become quite interested in what broke in the JJ/Buffalo relationship. He previously always came across as boyish and kinda goofy; maybe not the brightest bulb in the room, but a good kid. The body language stuff that got talked about this year was real though and there was a shift in his demeanour, even as his stats and role got elevated. I wonder now how much of the on-ice stuff I got tired of watching was cause and how much was effect? I wonder about his relationship with his new coach and that coach’s talk about culture. I think about the stories on how hard that coach was on Thomas Vanek and how Vanek says it was good for him and how Andrew Peters scoffs. I think about my perception of how JJ has been put on a pedestal by this organization, how he started the year being celebrated and kinda giddy in the visit to Europe and how Adams seems to be caught by surprise on how this relationship went sideways. This isn’t an “I’m tired of losing” thing. And I’m pretty sure it’s not a “they won’t pay me” thing. Something changed. Gotta go back and do a rewatch of JJ’s year-ender.

Not sure if this got posted elsewhere, but Ray Ferraro had an interesting nugget in his podcast with Dreger. Said he broadcast a game in the back end of the season where Peterka would come off of his shifts and plop down with his body positioned in such a way that he was turned away from the bench like he was checked out. Not clear if it was aimed at coaches or teammates, just that something was broken. His take on the trade was that the Sabres are/were getting blown up because people just don’t know the Utah players; not big names, not a big market. He thinks Peterka is the best player in the deal but people don’t know how good Kesselring is and the Sabres did fine.

Athletic has a feature up: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6296992/2025/04/24/radim-mrtka-2025-nhl-draft-prospect/ There may be more upside than I initially thought. The physical tools are rare, the development curve early and his coaches are leaning on him. On Wednesday, when Czechia opened the U18 worlds against the host Americans at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, Mrtka was their No. 1 defenseman there, too. On his first shift of the second period, he went end-to-end to score and tie the game 1-1. Throughout, multiple scouts in attendance commented on how much bigger, faster and stronger he was than his peers. By game’s end, he’d led both teams in time on ice, logging 24:10 in a 4-2 loss where the Czechs led the Americans into the final minutes. “He’s big, he’s physical, he’s a two-way D who can handle the puck, he’s got speed and he’s very good defensively,” said Czech assistant coach Jaroslav Nedved, the team’s D coach, postgame. “He’s got a long stick, he plays between the dots, he’s good in corners and he’s our top D. (And) his skating helps him a lot because if you’re tall and you’re heavy and you’re not a good skater, you’re not going to be good in transition up and down. He is, and it’s a big advantage. For his size, he’s a great skater

He talked about always being bigger than everybody else growing up and getting penalties every time he touched someone so he had to pull back. Said he likes being physical and intends to add more of it his game

Pretty much better at everything except Kleber is nastier, Mrtka is Uwe Krupp, Kleber is Jay Wells (minus the fighting because this isn’t that NHL)

Pretty good chance he plays a dozen years on an NHL second pair. Pretty solid sensible pick for this spot in this draft.

Question for everybody, because you’re certainly not alone in doing this: Why do NHL roster projections often include Kozak? He was an injury fill-in last year with a very limited ceiling. Is simply a n7mbers thing, or do people actually want/see him as someon on the opening night roster? Fair enough. I was mostly referring to the Quinn I watched in Rochester. Dont really remember him getting significant time there in the NHL other than the start of last year when he was admitttedly terrible,

I know your views on Norris, but that was definitely made with the PP as part of the equation. Last year aside, Quinn has generally been very good on the PP too. Honestly, I think the biggest issue is the coaching.

I wanted them to move Peterka to maximize return, but i always thought the guy they were going to move was Quinn. Now that Peterka is gone, this makes more sense. Benson is a better and Kulich was more reliable last year, but jack remains the most skilled of our remaining young wingers. Still think the popular thought that Kulich is a shoe-in for a prime role is premature and frankly foolhardy when it comes to 1C

Still think there's another forward coming.

It's less about the depth chart and more about the ice time. He was 7th among forwards last year if you count Norris and Cozens as one guy. Between the PK, lead protection, and those times we need to get heavy, I expect he'll be up there again.

Quinn can play left. Honestlly it seems like that's where he usually lines up in the -zone anyway. I agree we need another winger. But even then, when I look at the resulting roster I see a crying need to move Tage into the middle again.

Meh, its what a 40-point scorer gets these days I guess. Money better spent elsewhere if he plays like last year, a bargain if he plays to what his potential. As others have said, He's got a chance to get Peterka's minutes and the skills to take advantage. I'm not sure what went wrong last year — he was awful — but I still have time for Jack.

You forgot Mittelstadt and Levi 😜

I like Helenius but no one has more mystery box appeal than a 1st-rounder a year after being picked. Truism: 29 of 32 1st-round picks would get taken higher in a redraft one year later, just ask their fans.

Mine did. Does with every player the Sabres acquire and discard. Not what I think about his game, or how much he's worth, but how much I care about him and want him to succeed? Hell yeah! Isn't that both normal, and self-evident, and an intrinsic part of what this is all about for most people? We're fans.