dudacek

Jack Roslovic is turning 24 this season. His NHL career highs are 12 goals and 29 points. Montour has averaged 30 points per 82 games as a defenceman.

It's a Q&A with Athletic readers. I took "prior projections" to mean the players he sees going earlier, which would seem to include "the big three," gone for sure, with Perfetti or Raymond going to Detroit. He said he sees scenarios where Rossi drops to 9, even though he personally loves him, has him at 3. https://theathletic.com/2082295/2020/09/21/live-qa-scott-wheeler-answers-your-nhl-draft-questions/

I read somewhere where that video is singularly responsible for Holtz's value dropping on fan boards across the league. Apparently scouts don't necessarily agree with its conclusions.

He doesn't say it directly, but reading into his answers to multiple questions about Minnesota @ #9, he doesn't seem to think the Sabres are interested in Rossi.

Form Wheeler's Q&A today: Michael M. 4h ago Who do the Sabres take at 8? Based on your prior projections 2 Scott W. 4h ago @Michael M. Alexander Holtz or one of Sanderson/Drysdale.

This is what I think too. That's why I'd rather add a Haula-type than a Fast-type — 3C is more important than M6W.

Not the "girgensons-type acquisition?" And I thought Okposo was the checking line RW? And Staal has addressed your "fix the centre-spine first" concerns?

I was counting Kahun among the kids. I know some people have anointed him for the top 6 already , but to me he's played two years pro and hasn't cemented his role or status yet.

I agree 100 percent. The roster I pitched leaves five spots open for the kids to fight over, the of them in the top nine. Signing Haula gives us the flexibility to do that.

Seems like he's a bit of a DB, but isn't Erik Haula pretty much the perfect UFA signing for the Sabres? Two-way 30-40 point centre who can shift to the wing if needed and move up and down the lineup. Skinner Eichel XXX Olofsson Staal Reinhart XXX Haula XXX XXX XXX Okposo Lazar XXX= Kahun, Cozens, Mittelstadt, Thompson, Asplund, plus a Girgensons type acquisition.

Coburn, Maatta, Stralman, John Moore, Brendan Smith and Marc Staal among the depth defencemen who could soon be on the market, according to Mirtle.

Buyout window opens Friday. Mirtle has Carter Hutton on his list of those who could get bought out. Buyout cap hit: $916,667 for the next two seasons

This. Except Perfetti lacks Nylander's entitlement.

I understand that's what you meant, I'm just saying that comparing them as an 18-year-olds, they play(ed) much different games.

Perry Como. (How did PA hack my account?)

I don't. Casey's skillset was all one-on-one and as a teen he played with great pace. Perfetti's skill set is all about two-on-ones, creating them and exploiting them. He sees the ice way better than Casey and can slow the game down. It's his greatest strength. (It's also the thing I look for first in a hockey player because I believe it's how the game is won). But you may have landed on another reason why Sabres Twitter doesn't like Cole.

Well, Reinhart didn't turn out as good as I thought he would, so maybe I'm just a sucker for smart hockey players. 😄 Perfetti did put up better numbers than Sam did in his draft year, and in a better league. And unlike Rossi, the only guy to score more, he wasn't on a loaded team.

Start with the fact he's a LW, then add how he isn't fast, he isn't big and he doesn't play with pace — the latter being the biggest sin in internet fandom these days. All of those things except position can also be said about Sam Reinhart. Perfetti has Reinhart's brain with better hands. He's way more comfortable carrying the puck and he can beat guys one-on-one. I think he might become the highest point-producer out of this draft. It's interesting you ask on the day Wheeler came out with this, because I found myself nodding my head in full agreement. 4. Cole Perfetti — LW, Saginaw Spirit, 5-foot-10.5 "There’s this thing that seems to happen with players who are labelled “smart” where, like those who are labelled “two-way,” their skill level doesn’t get the love it deserves. But it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Perfetti sees the game differently than everyone else in this class. He sees seams others don’t. He recognizes the way opposing defenders are reading the zone before the defenders even recognize what they’re seeing in that zone. And the more you watch him, the more so-called concerns of strength or speed begin to fade. He has an indescribable knack for finding pockets of space to get open into (or for giving the puck to a linemate just as he enters into one of them). He’s one or two steps ahead of everyone else. Those things shouldn’t discount the rest of his tools, though. Because he grades near the top of this draft class as a stickhandler, individual creator and shooter as well. He’s also one of the best draft-eligible prospects off the rush that I’ve seen in recent memory. And he doesn’t just make everyone else better, he can break open a game too. The reasons for ranking him a few spots lower have always been his skating or his strength. At this point, I’m going to keep standing by my evaluation."

Considering most of them will have traded Risto and Montour and wouldn't mind if Miller was gone at well, it might actually be a position of need by then. If Drysdale is available when we pick, i would be surprised if he's not the best player available.

That is a very good way looking at things at this point in the draft. It’s why I’m hoping for Rossi or Perfetti and why I’m OK with Drysdale despite the lack of position fit. Who else qualifies as a play driver for you that might be available with our pick?

Drysdale is the obvious huge question mark to me. One of the few 17-year-old defenders ever to play for Canada at the WJC, and without a man’s body yet, an elite skater who put up a PPG in the OHL, plays a premium position, ranked between 3 and 7 on the scouting service lists I’ve seen What’s not to like?

I want VO to sign a bridge, similar to what Reinhart did. Guy has scored 20 NHL goals.

I've got my favourites, but I think I've come around with just about anyone they could reasonably pick at 8. There are good cases to be made for a lot of different players. They've got a lot more info than I do, they've just got to get it right.

I'm not excited, exactly, by Holtz, but he sounds like he's a legitimate talent. I still see a good chance he's Thomas Vanek or Jeff Skinner in terms of the role he brings and the level he can play it. Wheeler's take: 6. Alexander Holtz — RW/LW, Djurgårdens IF, 5-foot-11.5 After finishing the 2019-20 season strong, Holtz picked up where he left off in August and September and then some, looking like a star in most of my recent viewings. Holtz belongs in the conversation for the top five in this draft more than debate in the public and private spheres have given him. In recent months, I have considered ranking him as high as No. 4 here. There’s a lot about Holtz’s game I believe remains a tad disrespected. Everyone agrees he has power to his game and that he’s got arguably the best wrist shot in the draft (his one-timer still needs some work). But some question his small area skill, his quickness, or his playmaking talent. And while he needs to continue to develop his touch in traffic and his first few steps, I would argue the third point is a lot better than he usually gets credit for. Does he need to tunnel vision a little less when he has the puck? Sometimes. But I’ve seen him feather backhand passes through unsuspecting seams, or feign shot before hitting the backdoor guy with a hard pass across the crease or use the attention his shot gets to hit the trailer off the rush. That will give his game more dimension than people realize, I suspect. He has already shown he can make an impact at the pro level more than most others near the top of this draft, too. I was particularly impressed with the way he handled being asked to play a new role on the power play (after spending his entire junior career on the flank, Djurgardens moved him to the slot). More than the flashy power play goals that he has scored from the left-wing faceoff circle since returning, I’ve been most impressed by his control through tight quarters at 5-on-5. When I asked Djurgardens general manager Joakim Eriksson about Holtz, he too broke down why he thinks there’s more to his top young player than just the good shot. “He has had exceptional talent to score goals among older players his whole life,” Eriksson said. “I mean, he has been doing that since he was 10. To be a good goal scorer you can be like Ovechkin and have a good shot, but you also need to be smart about where you position yourself, how you read the game, how you show up for rebounds or going to spots so playmakers can find you. He’s a smart player. He’s as ready to play the professional level as any young player.”

Saad can and has played right wing. More than just a cap dump, but he shouldn't cost much since the market for $6.5 million salary $6 million cap hit 20 goal scorers ain't big. He fits the big body veteran forward Jack and Ralph were talking about to a "T"