Crusader1969

I know a lot of people, like myself, follow the CHL for the draft eligibles. that being said, most kids in their D+2 seasons aren’t ready for the AHL. I’d be surprised if being allowed to play pro would effect 10 kids at most per year.

I agree dominating in your draft +1 season is important. But having to go back for your 19 year old season, seems like overkill. For teams that think the kid isn’t ready for the AHL, they would then have the option to keep on CHL. Let’s hope it happens. Though when it comes Cozens, I think he has the size and speed to play in the NHL next season.

How about in 21-22? Need to get an experienced 2C next season

Hypothetical Sabres draft 5th. Top 2 go as expected, followed by Stutzle and Rossi (top 3 centres off the board) Drysdale is sitting there ..... what do you do? Seeing how Makar and Hughes have positively impacted their teams this season Do you take him? Pair him with Dahlin and in 2 years potentially have the one of the best top pairs in league or do you take a winger? Raymond, Perfetti or Holtz Or do you maybe draft a guy like Lundell (higher than ranked but fills need) assuming no one will trade the pick with you

Would you be happy with this situation?? Krueger - team president JBot - GM Sexton - Asst Gm Kronborg - coach ——- even if RK stays behind bench for year with Kronborg is asst clash with promise of promotion for both

we can go around and blame whomever we want but I think the blame lays squarely on one players shoulders. Carter Hutton - Since Oct 24th He ranks last in NHL goalies (min 6 appearances) with a SV% of .869, 2nd last with a GAA of 4.03 and has a record of 1-4-9 Even if he is avg over that time frame and has a record of 5-4-5, you are 2 points behind the leafs with a game in hand. Maybe you can blame JB for not finding a decent back-up but at some point in time the player has to face criticism. Fix your goaltending and a lot of all the other issues go away. I know its tough to preach patience in this current environment but I honestly believe the plan was to just get through this season and take advantage of this summers cap space and start again in 2020/21. hopefully getting contributions from players like Mitts, Cozens, Asplund and maybe even UPL. Plus. further growth in Dahlin as he will no longer be a teenager. so 29 more games to go. close your eyes if you have to. on to the lottery!

what if the plan all along was just to get through this season? I'll say this about the whole debacle. if Hutton was remotely average since October, they'd be right in the thick of a play-off race. I believe the Fix isn't that far off. 1) a better goaltending Tandem. is Ullmark with Johansson enough? or do they need to get a stop gap till UPL? 2) get rid of the remainder of the Riff-raff - Bogasian, Sheery and all the other UFA's have to let go, do not resign Erod 3) get a legit center - above everything else, they have to get this done - and another RW. I think they have a good start to the bottom 6 with a player pool of Okposo, Cozens, Mitts, Thompson, Asplund, Lazar and Johansson. Find another JAG to compliment, outside the organization. Whats the Cap space ? $30Million I believe. no reason they can't over-haul the roster...just need to get through the next 30ish games.

the good old Buffalo tradition of blaming the good players

Lottery is the only thing they’ve won of consequence in last 6 years

I’ve been watching a lot of Rossi and Perfetti lately. (7-9 slots) However, with Hutton in net for the next month, its time to start paying attention to Stutzle and Raymond who are usually in the 3-6 range.

they had great goaltending and PK?

I agree. They need to find a quality stop game. A guy in his late 20s early 30s to fill the role until one of Cozens , mitts or the 2020 pick take it from him

Want to solve the 2C problem quickly. Raise your odds of getting this guy- l

I agree. So go get another top 5 pick.

I really want to go back and see who dogged Eichel in his second, third and maybe even fourth year in the league. Now who would you trade him for straight up? McDavid and Mackinnon? anyone else?

TSN releases mid term rankings - https://www.tsn.ca/alexis-lafreniere-enhances-no-1-status-in-tsn-s-mid-season-nhl-draft-ranking-1.1435201 With Hutton in net is a serious run at the top 5 is now plausible and maybe even likely? "Lafreniere is definitely a level above everyone in terms of his play this season," said one scout. "There's no disputing that. But where are these players going to be in their draft year plus one or plus two? I think there are a few guys [in this draft] who have [Elias] Pettersson-like potential." Ah, yes, the 2017 NHL draft revisited. It's worth noting that in the draft run up that year, two centres - Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick - established themselves as the top two prospects. Hischier, of course, went No. 1 overall to New Jersey and Patrick No. 2 to Philadelphia. But Dallas took defenceman Miro Heiskanen at No. 3, Colorado selected defenceman Cale Makar at No. 4 and Vancouver took forward Elias Pettersson at No. 5. If one were to re-draft the 2017 prospects now, any one of or maybe even all three (Heiskanen, Makar and Pettersson) would be taken ahead of Hischier and Patrick. More than one scout surveyed by TSN thinks a similar dynamic may be possible this year with potential challenges to TSN's Nos. 1 and 2, Lafreniere and Byfield."

THE PROBLEM is not DAHLIN, EICHEL OR REINHART. the problem is building around those 3. You honestly believe adding another player like them is going to hurt their chances to improve?

or brilliant... Tank Nation is back!!

Omg, this is completely ridiculous. He’s 19 years old!!!!! When he is 23 he will be every bit as important as Eichel is now. lets not forget how people questioned how good Jack was as recent as last season!!

Kinda sounds like Reinhart in his draft year?

Anton Lundell, C, HIFK-Liiga Oct. 3, 2001 | 6-foot-1 | 183 pounds Previous ranking: No. 13 I’ve watched Lundell closely for three years – seeing him live at least 20 times and many more on video – and I still have no idea what to make of him. When I watch him play nothing about his game stands out. I think his skating is average and his skill is just above-average. But it’s hard to deny how much he scores everywhere he goes, especially versus men in Liiga the last two seasons, and how much coaches seem to trust him. I like his hockey sense a lot and think he competes very well. The question among NHL scouts is whether he’s a second- or third-line center in the league. I lean to second right now because of the track record.

Corey Pronmans mid season rankings out today: Special NHL Prospect - Alexis Lafreniere Special/Elite Bubble - Quinton Byfield Elite/high-end bubble - Tim Stutzle, Marco Rossi & Yaroslav Askarov High-End Prospect - Alexander Holtz, Lucas Raymond, Jamie Drysdale Cole Perfetti High-End/Very Good Bubble - Connor Zary, Dawson Mercer, at this point, I have a hard time believing the Sabres are going to pick anyone ranked below these prospects.

and for those anti tankers - if you ranked the core of the team right now it would probably be Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart as the top 3....all picked in the top 2 of their respective drafts.... Lets increase the odds of landing the 2 elite talents in this years draft as high as possible.

i hope they play Hutton... if you are going to Tank, lets do it right!

You dont' need to construct a team, 1) you need a 2C (obviously not easy) 2) Improve the PK, not sure if that means new special teams coach, new Penalty Killers or new Goalies.