dudacek

The day has arrived. The best case realistic scenario for me is Savoie and Yurov: two competitive guys who will play top 6 and give our forward ranks the biggest injection of skill possible from where we are picking. Worst case scenario for me: Lekkerimaki/Kemmel and Geekie/Lambert: four guys who might be as gifted as the two I want. All kinds of of intriguing permutations in between. And really, what the hell do I know. I'm just some guy with an unhealthy obsession with the Buffalo Sabres. Bottom line: today we will get better. Enjoy the evening. Looking forward to reading your reviews.

So basically he’s Taylor Hall.

So much this. I mean it’s probably not going to work and the charm will inevitably disappear if the losses mount. But it’s so much easier to be invested in our guys, as opposed to a bunch of mercenaries. And I think that’s true for the players in the room as well. If Dahlin and Cozens and Levi and the rest get good together, it will mean something, especially to those of us who were part of the ride from the beginning. It’s something Adams seems to recognize and fully embrace.

I like Nazar and would be happy to pick him, but he does seem to have a bit of an obstinate streak that causes me to drop him below guys like Savoie and Kaspar.

All draft picks come with risk. Do your homework as best you can on an individual player’s skill set and situation. Then play fearless.

I think WRIGHT was tagged as a franchise centre, while Lambert, and to a lesser extent, Savoie and Miroshnichenko were guys people were really excited about and they’ve all disappointed to a certain degree.

Both Cosentino and Pronman mocked Nazar to 19th. Pronman says he knows the internet loves him, but scouts generally have him in the late teens. He's 15 on McKenzie's list too, so maybe he has something there?

I hope not, but that's who he mocks to us. Savoie (11th) seems to be a much better fit for the Sabres depth chart and for their "type". Cosentino calls a Lekkerimaki a good compliment to Quinn and Peterka. I say with Olofsson Skinner and Tuch already on the roster and Poltapov, Rosen and Kisakov coming, it's redundant. We've taken wingers with 5 of our past 6 picks in the top two rounds. He also has us taking Ostlund at 16 and Pickering at 28. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sportsnets-2022-nhl-mock-draft-predicting-how-round-1-will-unfold/

Sam Cosentino says he’s hearing Kasper might shake up the top 10 for those who haven’t been paying much attention. As high as 5, likely won’t drop past Ottawa at 7 and will not drop past Detroit at 8.

Off all the rankings I’ve read, probably the one that most closely matches my opinions. Savoie/Kasper and Yurov top 2 picks and I will be a happy man.

This was so much me.

If the Sens need to get the floor, I hear Ben Bishop might be available.

My take is that the top 5 is lacking elite talent, but the 2nd and 3rd tiers are deep. It has maybe 10 guys after the first 5 that would typically go 5-10 in a lot of drafts and maybe a dozen more after them who might go top 20.

Terry can just drill another well.

Hell yes. Murray is rightly regarded as a terrible anchor because of the cap, but the cap is irrelevant to the Sabres this year and might be next year as well. Worst case scenario, we spend $15 million of Terry's cash and banish Murray to east coast league. Now that's weaponizing cap space! Small price to pay for a top 10 pick, IMO. Best case scenario, Murray rebounds and is the bridge we need to get to Levi. I mean he's been terrible, but when the alternatives are looking like Tokarski, Subban and Dell...

That's a bit of a "Wow!" Have we ever seen such pre-draft declaration from a club team before? If true, it sounds like the Sabres have done some homework with the club and player to address the potential pitfalls of drafting a Russian and mapped out a development plan. Also, if true, love the pick.

That would be justifiable, but underwhelming. Lekkerimaki neither fills need, nor fits my concept of an Adams’ Sabre. There will likely be others there I’d prefer to Kulich, but he’d be good value and more of a Sabre. Lambert is not someone I’m high on, despite the fact his talent is hard to overlook at 28. Savoie and Kasper remain much better choices at 9. Yurov is a definite want and Ostlund is very much underrated by internet fans.

Nice Athletic piece on Kasper https://theathletic.com/3388698/2022/07/05/marco-kasper-nhl-draft/ He just sounds like the embodiment of what the Sabres look for under Adams. Descriptors include: engine smart selfless willing strong-skating trust tenacious engaged fan-favourite details initiative I only see 2 things standing between him and the Sabres: GMs in the top 8 and this: “But it is also apparent that Kasper isn’t a gifted passer or a necessarily imaginative facilitator when he has the puck.” You are definitely getting a player with Kasper. But are you getting enough from a top 10 pick?

Yes, exactly. I get the idea of planning to have UPL move into a bigger role by the end of this season and Levi challenging him 2 or 3 years down the road. But it can’t be your only plan. If you don’t sign Campbell because you don’t want to make a 5-year $30 million investment it would take to get him, I can get behind that. It’s a bad contract. If you don’t trade for Georgiev because Drury is demanding Portillo and pick 16 in return, I can get behind that too. It’s a bad trade. But if you can get a goalie at more reasonable prices, you can’t let term and the maybe of UPL or Levi get in your way.

That Lysowski/Yerdon podcast did a good job giving me reasons why I should prepare to be disappointed by what materializes on the goaltending front this summer. But I learned my lesson last year. I'm not going to judge Adams on what goalies he does or doesn't acquire this summer, I'm going to judge him on how his moves — or lack thereof — affect our results. The train has started to pick up momentum and that needs to continue. 74 points last year was good enough. This year, it is not.

Because he was drastically overpaid and injury-prone - 3 more years at 4.75 and he’s only played 125 games over the first 3 years of what was a 6-year deal. Also, since he is 25, it’s the last year that the team can buy him out for 1/3 the cost of his contract, instead of the 2/3s required for veterans. They save about $10 million in real money and only get an $875,000 cap hit.

Colin White getting bought out by the Senators. That’s a guy I would look hard at on low-term overpay to be Eakin’s replacement. When healthy, he’s a good 3C. Just 25, has a good reputation and I believe he was with Donnie at the USNDP.

Also would seem to cross PIttsburgh off as a potential destination. There was a lot of talk of a Fleury return.

For me, the argument is less about blocking and more about the fact that Campbell's track record doesn't warrant a 5-year deal.

McKenzie’s poll of scouts has him down at 27 too. Apparently, he just doesn’t skate well enough in a lot of people’s eyes to justify a top 20 pick. Read something recently that said he has a lot of similarities to Curtis Lazar and could develop in similar fashion: great intangibles, good size and hockey sense, not enough skill.