Crusader1969

Done with the Sabres for the month of December. Will be concentrating on draft eligibles and the WJC. Maybe, I'll pay to watch an Amerks game or two on AHL live Switched over to Knights game during 2nd period of Sabres. Pu looking very dangerous and his skating really stands out though he was held off the scoresheet Draft eligible Evan Bouchard (d London) definitely looks like a 1st rounder. Had nice goal sneaking in from the point. Sermon Noel (rw Oshawa) has pretty good wheels considering he is 6'5. He is moving up draft boards and is now rated as an A prospect by NHL scouting. He started the season as a B prospect. See you all in January!

Dec 1st mock draft -draft order predicted by Tankathon 1) Anaheim ⏫8 Rasmus Dahlin LHD Frolunda SHL. 6'2 183lbs. Ducks already have one of the best D corps in NHL, the addition of Dahlin will allow them to trade from a position of strength to add another high end goal scorer. 2) Carolina ⏫10 Andrea Svechnikov RW Barrie OHL 6'2 187Lbs Carolina adds a pure goal scorer. Svechnikov's hand injury doesn't impact his draft status as the 2nd best prospect. He returns to the colts line-up this weekend 3) Colorado ⏫12 Filip Zadina LW Halifax. QJHML 6'1 192lbs Avalanche move way up in the draft after dropping 1st to 4th last year. Zadina adds a bunch of skill to their forward ranks. Boqvist will be considered but they go Zadina because they drafted Makar last season. 4) Arizona ⬇️3 Adam Boqvist RHD Bryan's SHL 5'11 170lbs The coyotes add the smooth skating Karlsson clone. 5) Buffalo ⏬3 Quinn Hughes LHD Michigan NCAA. 5'10 174lbs Tough call between two former USNTD players (Hughes & Tkachuck) but Sabres select the puck moving demon from the wolverines. Hughes can be the qb for PP and will significantly improve the Mobilty on the back-end. Helping Housley implement his system 6) Edmonton ⏬3 Brady Tkachuk 6'3 196lbs Oilers add McDavid's LW partner that boosts their skill and grit level. oilers are then able to move Draisaitl to 2nd line centre. 7) Florida ⬇️3 Oliver Wahlstrom RW US NTD. 6'1 205lbs Offensive dynamo that is committed to Harvard next season. 8) Philadelphia ⏬3 Jesperi Kotkaniemi C Assat Liiga 6'2 190lbs Playing against men in Liiga, Kotkaniemi rockets up draft boards and is selected by flyers. 9) Ottawa ⏬3 Ty Smith LHD Spokane WHL 5'10 174lbs Senators add BPA even though they are extremely deep on defence. Smith is an excellent offensive defenceman but is also considered to be one of the best defenders in draft 10) Detroit ⏬3 Bode Wilde RHD US NTD 6'2 192lbs Has size, skill, speed and high IQ. However, can sometimes be a bit too overconfident which leads to turnovers. 2018 is a very strong draft especially if you are in the market for mobile Dmen (who isn't?). Other dmen who will hear their name called early in the draft- Ryan Merkley, Jared Mcissac, Jett Woo, Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson

Looks like Detroit, Ottawa and Philadelphia want to back into the race for last. Ottawa with 7 losses in a row and Philly with 9.

Theodore is with LV. I don't see them moving him because they have so many UFA's. Montour would be a sensational pick-up but I don't see the Ducks moving him either. Maybe you start at Montour and work your way to Carlsson if they won't budge. Wow, I just saw that Derek Grant is the #1 center right now. Sad!

Time to change this thread to "what will Sabres get in return for Kane?" Bob McKenzie speaks about Kane on "insider trading" https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2017/11/buffalo-willing-to-retain-salary-in-evander-kane-trade.html Kings, Blue Jackets, Ducks and Lightning have been rumored to be interested. Sabres eating some 2017/18 salary should open door for all teams to enter the fray. Ottawa and Nashville both gave up picks and prospect in their recent trades with Colorado (who I think did extremely well). I don't think the Sabres get that type of haul, unless the team acquiring Kane gets to negotiate with Kane prior to the trade and can get him to sign an extension. Looking at the Kings, the #1 guy on my list for the Sabres would by Kale Clague 2016 2nd Rounder. LHD Dman for Brandon - 36points in 22 games for the Wheat Kings, plus a 1st rounder. Blue Jackets - Gabriel Carlsson 29th pick of the 2015 Draft. LHD who plays for Cleveland Monsters but played in the playoffs for Columbus last season, plus #1 pick Ducks - Jacub Larrson - Ducks 1st rounder in 2015. LHD currently playing in the AHL. Plus #1 pick Lightning - Would be happy if they were able to get Foote but don't think the Lightning give him up for a potential rental player. Brett Howden, would be a nice prospect, Left handed shot who should play with Team Canada u20s at the WJC this year. One last team - Blues. Player I was extremely high on in 2016 was Jordan Kyrou, who went in the 3rd round to the Blues. He may now be untouchable but I would definitely be asking about his availability in any discussions with the Blues.

I agree with you. Overall they played ok, it was boring but really the game wasn't a disaster against the best team in the league. The big difference to me is that they (The lightning) were able to get their point shots through, while Sabres Dmen just aren't able to find a way to find the lane, especially when there is a crowd in front of the net. I actually thought the Eichel, Rienhart and Kane line was very good. Im surprised that they are being broken up once again. For all the complaints about Eichel, (as Doohickie pointed out) he is actually playing a strong 2way game. A back-check vs Stamkos comes immediately to mind. The BIG problem right now is the PP, if they can figure that out, they should win a few here and there. I can handle another bottom dwelling season with Rochester playing so well and being driven by young prospects. If I had access to Rochester games, I would actually start watching them over the Sabres.

dont root for losses, just root for teams around them in the standings to win too. Arizona in Edmonton tonight, hoping for a 3 point game. Maybe once Kane is traded, Sabres will have a late 1st rounder that the GM will hold onto this year?

Absolutely correct, very low % that Sabres get Dahlin, no matter where they end up at. However, I think there are 4 players in this draft that are top line / top pairing prospects. You come in last and you are guaranteed one of them.

the only way you get someone to take Moulson is if you take back a LTIR player. Maybe someone will think Moulson provides some help on their PP and would prefer a warm body who can play over the LTIR player? David Clarkson is the guy I keep thinking would be a good trade for both parties.

thats great to hear for all those worried about Nylander (not me), since he led the WJC in scoring last year.

where would the Sabres be if they had Sergachev and Butcher in their line-up? Though (I think) Butcher didn't sign here because he didn't see and immediate opportunity as he did with the Devils and it would be even more unlikely he signs if Sergachev was in the fold. Murray, seems to have made a big mistake in not taking Sergachev (not a knock on Nylander) but Sergachev shoulda been the pick, rumors are that he asked for Sergachev when the Canadians asked about Kane.

I'm not cheering for Sabres losses but I'm not really cheering for wins either. Just watching and hopefully entertained, win or lose. I am cheering for the teams around them though. Watched the Panthers last night dominate the Devils and will cheer for the Coyotes. Coyotes are kind of fun to watch and Im interested in seeing Strome now that he has been called back up.

Didn't Jack win everywhere until he got to Buffalo? I honestly think its talent and depth. Though, I wouldn't mind seeing a guy who was a leader on a cup winning team brought in for next season. its nice to hear Jordon Nolan step up but I think a guy like Dustin Brown would have a bigger impact.. I dont mean necessarily Dustin Brown but a guy "like" Dustin Brown without the price tag.

If they do end up trading Kane, I'd be disappointed if the trade doesnt bring back at least 1 prospect who is NHL ready. I get that cause i really want the Amerks lineup to be left alone as much as possible this season. That being said, I'm hopeful that they can win in Buffalo next season as a group.

cool, now the guys with the calculators are seeing what Sabres fans have seen for awhile! Would still like to see him with a few less minutes I don't think Mittelstadt leaves Minnesota if Rochester is a possibility. If he leaves college, he's playing with the Sabres IMO.

my head is completely wrapped and I agree with it 100% but I do think Erod gets the call up tomorrow with Josefson out long term.

Buffalo's play-off odds are now at 0 Bad news: https://twitter.com/coreypronman/status/935175754064842752 Good News: Odd of Dahlin 12.5% Top 3 pick 36.2%

Dahlin vs Boqvist https://futureconsiderations.ca/versus-adam-boqvist-rasmus-dahlin/

Or let them all keep winning in Rochester.

so you are saying, you won't be watching?

I agree, lets get him traded as soon as possible. Try to get him re-signed but if you can't, lets get a deal done and move on. Elliotte Friedman speculated that the Lightning, Kings and Blue Jackets could be interested in him.

I definitely got my time frame wrong, i shouldn't try to predict so far into the future but I still believe next year is the year we see them turn it around. What I couldn't have predicted is that Murray would trade away so many draft picks that certainly has impacted their depth. Though, I won't say the trades were bad trades. We now just need to improve the depth and add some more talent - it will come. . I also don't believe in culture of losing. The leafs have been losers forever but hire the right coach and a talented deep lineup changed that quick. I'm also hoping for a bottom of the league finish this year, since the playoffs are out of the question. If you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, why are you still here? I'm still very optimistic about the Sabres future and I'm happy to wait 1 more season. If they don't improve next year when all the guys in Rochester are ready to move up, (plus Mittelstadt) then I'll gladly say I was wrong. And yes I still believe we will see the best decade in Sabres history and Eichel (thanks to the Tank) will be the main piece that gets us there.

This is completely wrong. 2014 his first draft was a terrible draft pool, have a look at the guys drafted in the 2nd round and later and who did he miss on? Remember he wanted to trade all 3 2nd rounders to move up? He knew there weren't NHL players available past round 1. POint and Arvidsson are the only 2 guys drafted past the Rd 1 that have had any sort of impact in the NHL It's too early to grade the 2015 & 2016 drafts though it looks good with Guhle, Pu, Asplund looking like sure fire NHLers drafted after round 1. It's the 2008 to 2011 drafts that are the killers.

You can be good- even really good - but if you want to win the cup you better have at least a couple of top 3 to 5 picks. At least that's what 8 of the last 9 cup winners have shown us. Penguins - Crosby & Malkin BLackhawks - Kane & Toews KIngs - Doughty & Schenn (whom they traded along with Simmons to get Richards & Carter)

I just went to Nashville last weekend to see them play vs the Avalanche.. What a difference in atmosphere from seeing a game in Buffalo. If you can get to a game, you will not only see a much better team but its an experience you won't find anywhere else. Well worth the trip.