LGR4GM

So... Appert's part of the problem.

Hope you don't need a car or work in the industry

He's a guy with tiny ideas for big problems

I'll predict his defensive game continues to be a major issue.

Eklund and probably Bear will go later than they should. Always hard to tell in a draft like this.

It's getting worse

I'll be curious to see were Cozens is in November, when that new team surge is long gone.

The reason Benson was available was because he was small.

Henry Brzustewicz, 6'1" RHD would be my target for their 2nd round pick. He plays on a London team that has: Sam Dickinson (11th), Cam Allen (136th), and Oliver Bonk (22nd) so he has been surrounded by good defense partners and still managed to come in 2nd in pts for them. Also, I have a bit of faith in London developing defenders so I think once Dickinson leaves for SJ that Brzustewicz might see a big jump.

Frondell plays with Eklund and my understanding is that Eklund drives that line.

Here's the video: If they can do this to her, they can do it to you. t

I think you are confused. I don't think fan apathy will force Pegula to do anything.

oh, I don't think there is hope. I just think a legit fan revolt has begun where plunging attendance and general apathy are the order of the day. Terry could swing that all with a new gm and some new coaches, but I don't hope for that. As you say, he will do what he wants for as long as he wants. There is no hope.

but we didn't simply remove cozens, we brought in his replacement. Gripes about his health aside.

It is a lot easier to do these days. There's lots of shift by shift videos, highlights, scouting reports, and rankings that get put out. Plus we have access to decent data, although Pick224 going away sucks. I really loved being able to look at primary points per game and primary points per 60. Also had some xgf stuff there before the end. Sigh. In the end NHL teams have access to rinknet (I think that's it) where they can queue up a players shifts in a game for all their games. They even get statistical analysis stuff from it. I think in some cases, NHL teams have too much info and too many cooks trying to piece it all together in the end.

He's also not paid to know that.

Depends on if 3 is Hagens or Martone. But yes. There's also a difference between 4 and 5 if we think that Schaefer, Misa, Hagens, and Martone are a true top 4 with a tier after pick 4. That said... we hit 5 and those 4 are gone, it is a bit of a "pick your poison" sort of thing where there's probably 6 guys you can convince me should go next. Personally I like Carter Bear a lot but no one ranks him that high.

Unless the Democrats stop being the party of the Status Quo, these gains will be lost within an election cycle.

I think Byram and Samuelsson should be moved in the offseason. One should go for a RHD and the other can get us forward depth.

Feel like I am the only one not concerned with drafting 4,5,6. It is almost the same in this draft.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6216350/2025/03/26/buffalo-sabres-attendance-season-tickets/?source=emp_shared_article The breaking point has been reached. I know ppl with seasons who have stopped going and won't be renewing. I also know of several ppl who got/kept seasons when Ruff was hired and most fully admitted it was partially nostalgia but also hope that Buffalo could turn it around with a "real" coach. I'd be shocked if the Sabres end up with 9k season ticket holders next season, especially if Adams and 95% of the team is back, which it looks like will be the case. There's no hope left and Pegula is an absentee owner in the fans eyes regardless of his shenanigans and bs behind the scenes. Congratulations Terry Pegula. You brought one of the best hockey markets to the brink of destruction and it only took you 14 years and countless stupid and inept decisions to do it. I am firmly convinced this board could have run the team better over the last decade. What a dumpster fire.

To clarify do you mean 2 years from now, so 2027 or are we counting this year as year 1, so 2026? I will assume 2027 for the sake of the discussion. The answer is a resounding yes. I am unsure how good they would be as rookies but I think there are several players that could contribute in 2027 to NHL teams. Misa and Schaefer are almost guaranteed to be on that list. I personally would send Schaefer back for 1 more year of jr but I could see an NHL team pulling Misa immediately. Either way both will be NHL players by 2027 barring injury. That's your first tier of guys who I feel really confident about being in the NHL sooner rather than later. The next tier is the most likely guys. This is where Buffalo will draft. Martone is probably spending another year in jr and I think I would prefer it. He needs to up his pace and really take charge of games, he's just not quite there yet. By 2027 though, I would expect him in the NHL and ready to go. Martone is also older for the class (October) so he only has 1 year left in jrs before he's AHL eligible. 1yr in jr, 1yr in the AHL is a pretty good dev plan to get him into the NHL in 2027. Next is Hagens who is at college and that means a few things. First is that you could draft and assign him to the AHL immediately. Second is you could let him play in college another year which IMPO wouldn't be bad at all. He also gets that 1yr college, 1yr AHL thing so 2027 makes sense for him to see the NHL. I worry a bit more about him because he needs to find a bit more Benson to get inside but the rest of his game is really good. Then we have the next tier which theoretically could run from about 5-12ish or so. Now for the sake of this, let's limit it to players that Buffalo could select at 4,5,6 if they draft there. You have McQueen as the big wildcard and he certainly needs another year and jr, and to say healthy. Stress fractures in your spine seem kinda bad IMPO. He's only got 1 more yr in jr before he's AHL eligible so with his size, AHL year, and overall skill, IF HEALTHY, yes he would be in the NHL in 2027. Then you have Desnoyers who has 2 more jr years ahead of himself, which isn't a bad thing, he can improve his skating and shot there just fine. 2027 seems like a logical year for him to hit the NHL but I think now we're getting into maybe territory with players. Let's call this one 70/30 NHL/AHL. Now you have Frondell and Eklund (who play together too) and they are in the Allsvenskan which is the 2nd tier of Swedish hockey. It is a step below the AHL but looks like both are signed through next year so they probably wouldn't come over immediately. Frondell is bigger and maybe in 2027 you could see him holding down a wing spot in the NHL. I don't love that idea because I think the jump from Allsv to AHL is big and from that to NHL is huge but he's got a lot of the same things that Kulich has so maybe. Eklund I oddly feel slightly more comfortable because from everything I have read and the bit I have seen, he drives play and is Benson-like. He's also only 165lbs so he needs some meat on them bones. His brother plays for SJ and it took him 2 years to get here so I feel that is a reasonable thing for Eklund the younger. Both guys, I would put at a 50/50 chance for 2027 but closer to a 85/15 chance for 2028. The last guy to think about is Jackson Smith. He's got the size at 6'3" to be ready physically in 2 years and that would also coincide with his jr eligibility running out. His issue now is refinement in the defensive zone as I think his offensive skillset is really good. 2027 makes logical sense to see him in the NHL and I would again put him at 50/50 with a jump up to 85/15 in 2028 with 1 AHL year under his belt. Outside of that, I think the rest of the pack needs more time in the lower leagues. Carter Bear is a darkhorse and some guy I haven't mentioned will somehow make the NHL at 20 and be good but Buffalo is most likely picking one of the players mentioned above.