Crusader1969

What if he was described as a better Matthew Tkachuk?

the commentators on the CHL prospects game said that Merkley's team interviews will be extremely important to his draft position. He kinda reminds me a little of Josh Ho Sang. Pure skill but teams will be questioning whats going on in his head. Hopefully Merkley owns a much better alarm clock than Ho-Sang. That being said, if Sabres get another pick in the 20's and Merkley is on the board, I have no issue taking a chance on him.

Tkachuk, no doubt about it. I think the Sabres could use someone who is a $hit disturber but can also play the game at a high level. Tkachuk will never take a night off. Could you not change Wahsltrom's name to Nylanders draft profile? they read about the same to me (ok not the big body but everything else).

Merkley is a huge gamble I think. can't deny his offensive ability but is often lost without the puck. Scouts comment on Merkley :"if you draft Merkley you are crossing your fingers and $hitting your pants. Will a scout have the conviction to put his job on the line and recommend him as a lottery pick? you better be sure"

GA had a name on his list that I first heard about this past weekend listening to a draft podcast. Jonny Tychonick 5'11 LHD from the BCHL (same league as Makar). He is committed to UND. He was viewed as easily the best player at the CJHL Prospect game last week. could go early 2nd round - though I read somewhere that some scouts think there is a possibility that he skyrockets, like Makar, and ends up a lottery pick. https://twitter.com/draftbuzzhockey/status/940350670657478657

were there any notes why he has Tkachuk at 15? seems really low. Im betting he is putting a high priority on Skating. Ill assume its Zadina at 4. So if i was ranking skating ability then I could see: 1) Dahlin 2) Svechnikov 3) Hughes 4) Zadina 5) Boqvist 6) Merkley 7) Wahlstrom Otherwise, Merkley at 6 and Tkachuk at 15 makes no sense at all.

Check out Dobson - read a lot of great stuff on him recently and watched the 3rd period of his game yesterday. i wish I could post some of his shifts on here as he was tremendous. I have Dobson over Bouchard. I want a great skater, Bouchard is not that. Dahlin, Hughes, Boqvist and Dobson are. Only complaint I've heard about Wahlstrom is his consistency, he does everything well just can be lackadaisical at times.

Odds that Borgen does not go the UFA route and signs with the Sabres? Hope I'm wrong but I'm around 17%

This is a must listen. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-tsn-hockey-bobcast/id1163208774?mt=2&i=400788702 Around the 40 min Bob talks draft and goes over the top 10 in detail.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still drafting Zadina, Svechnikov and Tkachuk at 2,3 and 4. Just saying getting a dmen who will fill out picks 5,6,7,8 isn't that bad and could actually work out better.

I do agree that Boqvist is still preferred to Dobson/Bouchard but I am a little confused by Boqvist at the moment. He was sooooooo good at the Ivan Hlinka, then started off great for the Brynas J20 team. earning a call up for the SHL. Didn't do a lot there, 1 assist in 7 or 8 games. Was then loaned to Altuna of the 2nd division and still couldn't earn ice time. Recalled back to Brynas last week but barely plays. Yesterday he played a grand total of 2 mins. He seems kinda stuck. Too good for juniors but not good enough for the men's team. Just makes me wonder about him a little. I'm hoping he plays for Sweden at the u18s.

i don't lose sleep over the Sabres winning a few games. The odds are that even if you finish last you are probably drafting 4th. Though, I will admit I cheer for teams around the Sabres to win as well and would prefer the Sabres finish as close to bottom as possible, even with them winnng a few games If you are stressing about the Sabres winning, I would suggest to do some research on the following players: Adam Boqvist, Quinn Hughes, Noah Dobson and Evan Bouchard. Boqvist is an Karlsson clone, Hughes is an elite skater and puck mover, Dobson is the prototypical shut down, 25 mins per game guy with offensive upside and Bouchard is an avg skater but has elite vision and incredible shot. Just maybe the Sabres long term will be better off with another 25 min a night dman over an 18min a night winger (zadina, svechnikov and Tkachuk)?

testing results CHL prospects game http://sherwin-williamstopprospects.ca/article/chls-top-prospects-showcase-strengths-in-sport-testing-combine Dobsons name shows up in a lot of the skating drills.

I agree that Dobson and Bouchard will be very good players but the top 4 in this draft are immediate impact players. 4 more assists for Bouchard last night after 4 'S in the prospect game the night before. I thought his production would drop after Pu, Jones and Thomas were traded away but he has actually increased his scoring. for some reason I am still not sold on him and I can't tell you why.

Exactly plus 2 of the wins came against 2 teams disinterested in playing. The Oilers had just won 3 in a row prior to playing the Sabres. So things can turn bad again really quick. Let's not forget that just one week ago today, the Sabres were spanked by the stars. Overall they are still overmatched against most teams they play. Bottom 3 is still the most likely result for them.

Evans up against Mitteltstadt and the Gophers tonight Edit - watched him fairly closely and didn't really see anything that stood out. Still having a good season it seems but no longer leads NCAA in scoring

8 games played. Team has 8 points and Samson has 7. Both goals on track!

Love anti tank snark from a guy with an Eichel avatar

Sure you can. vegas didn't need to learn to Win. Avs got 49 points last year and now look at them. leafs the year before, last and in the playoffs the following year. I feel very confident that drafting top 5 will do more for the franchise long term than an extra 5 wins to close out the season. I'm not losing sleep over a few wins though. Even if they play at .600 clip (100 point season), it would take a huge Tank by either the Canucks, Canadians or Panthers to pass them.

kyrou plus 2019 first and a conditional pick if Kane signs with St.L? I don't need to wait, deal needs to get done.

yes. they sucked for the 3 previous years prior. Whitney 2002 drafted 5th overall Fluery 2003 Drafted 1st Malkin 2004 2nd overall 2005 won a lottery. as for big name vets: Top Vets: Point leaders 2003-04 Dick Tarnstrom 52pts Alexei Morzov 50pts the goalie they put out there for 40 games had a save % of .883 Mario Lemieux did play 10 games for them though.

Did he mention Zadina? I would be surprised if he isn't in the NHL next season as well Tkachuk could be NHL, I'd like to see him dominate at the College level as I don't think he is doing so as of yet.

i always laugh when people think Tanking is a terrible idea. Do they not know who won 7 of the last 10 cups? you could even argue the Kings bottomed out too.

More from TSN Kyrou, 19, becomes the first player in recent memory to join the board as a prospect. He has been on fire for the Sarnia Sting after helping Team Canada to gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship earlier this month in Buffalo. Kyrou collected 11 points in just three contests last week for OHL Sarnia as the Sting halted Sault Ste. Marie’s points streak at 29 games. He has 23 goals and 73 points in just 35 OHL games this season. So, why would the Blues want to move a blossoming 35th overall pick? Well, the short answer is, they don’t. But in order to get, you must give. The Blues are in the market for an impact winger ahead of the Feb. 26 trade deadline. If they were to pursue a player like Buffalo’s Evander Kane, who remains No. 1 on the board and a potential strong fit, it’s possible that Kyrou could be part of some sort of package to make that happen. Plus, the Blues’ three first-round picks from 2016 and 2017 – Tage Thompson, Robert Thomas and Klim Kostin – all play centre. Thompson, 20, has five points in 19 games for the Blues this season. The arms race is on in the Central Division. Kane remains at Number 1 Samson is 25, Lehner is 28. awesome! i basically posted the same thing a couple of nights ago. kyrou should be the Sabres #1 target for Kane. The competition for him will be high though, may have to give up getting a 1st rounder plus Kyrou. Maybe Kyrou, a guy the Blues want to dump from Current roster, and a conditional pick if Kane signs with them or if the win the cup.

Yes. Just throwing out a guy who was drafted around 8th in 2015 Where the Sabres would be if they didn't TanK Lawson Crouse? Let's not forget the Sabres were one of the best teams post all star game in 2015-16. Where did that get them going into the next season? Not saying I want them to Tank. I certainly don't cheer for losses like i did in 2015. JUst win enough to finish 1 point behind the team that finishes 28th