Curt

With regards to UPL, I think you need to take a long look at what ages goalies generally become good NHL players. In no way is it now or never for a 23 year old.

I was just listening to this audio only and had to come here to see if anyone else had commented on it. I found this very noteworthy. I know that sometimes we dismiss words as just words, but I think this kind of shows that Adams’ words about culture and growing an organization are more than just words. That makes me feel good. KA seems like a really good leader and manager of people.

Nikita Novikov is a LHD. Laaksonen is basically the only RHD prospect in the organization.

Are her rankings based purely on a model? She probably disagrees with you. It’s fine to disagree, but when you start declaring people WRONG on draft night, you set yourself up to look pretty foolish down the road.

That’s the difference between a ranking and a mock draft. Her best available is a ranking, not a prediction of who will be drafted next. If you disagree with her ranking that’s fine, but to say that she is wrong because the players weren’t drafted in the order she thought they should be doesn’t check out logically.

For me here in round 2: RD - Chesley, Luneau, Warren, Havelid Other - Trikozov, Nyman, Lutz, Beck

If that was the Sabres list, they wouldn’t have taken Ostlund at 16.

Big fan of this pick. Man oh man the Sabres are just chasing skill. Three C’s (potentially) with their three 1st round picks.

I like Jiri Kulich or Ryan Chesley for Buffalo at 28.

Don’t love this pick, but don’t hate it either. I think there is a real chance Ostlund can develop into a dynamic offensive player. Reminds me of Sebastian Aho in a way. Needs physical development. Feels like Adams is really swinging for offensive upside with these first 2 picks.

Was traveling earlier, so I missed this, sadly. Love the pick. I think he has a chance to add a dynamic offensive element that the organization currently lacks. Don’t know if he will stay at center or not.

Exactly.

JFC, I would hope they were going to receive an asset.

Mediocre (weak, really) top-5/10 but deep in the mid 1st through the 2nd. In the years leading up to it, the 2022 draft was considered pretty strong, but no players really separated themselves as impressive top 1, 2, 3 overall picks, so now it’s kind of getting tagged as a weak draft. I think that in reality it’s still a pretty deep draft.

Was it ever in doubt?

Lol, set the draft rankings to Bob McKenzie’s 2022 list and you will get more realistic results.

Here is another similar mock draft simulator if anyone is interested. https://draftprospectshockey.com/draftsim/#/

Certainly possible, he kind of gets a label of a Jack of all trades with no elite skills. Low ceiling. For me, Trikozov at 28 or 41 seems like a nice high upside pick. I don’t really know though. I haven’t had time to spend lots of time watching these guys myself.

Yeah, they are certainly going to fall and it’s certainly going to add some intrigue to the draft. Id imagine that it will be player specific in large part. A lot will depend on the players’ KHL organization, contract status, and perceived desire to come over to NA. Personally, no way I take anyone at 9. At 16, maybe I’d take Yurov, maybe Miroshnichenko if your doctors are super optimistic about his health recovery. At 28 and 41, there are a couple other forwards who become a possibility Trikozov and Perevalov. In the 3rd/4th there are a couple additional forwards and several defenseman who become reasonable possibilities. In the first and second round combined, I doubt more than 4 Russians total are drafted. I think the top guys will slide by half a round or more, and guys who would normally go in the 3rd/4th will slide by a full round or two. I could see something of a run on those guys who would normally be 2nd/3rd round prospects in the 4th/5th/6th rounds. If I’m Buffalo, I’m looking to grab guys who may be top-5 or top-10 level prospects at 16 or even at 28, and in the 3rd/4th/5th I’m considering loading up on guys who may normally have gone in the 2nd or 3rd. With where Buffalo is in their development cycle and how many extra picks they have, it seems like a good opportunity to be opportunistic.

It depends on who else is available at 16, but Yurov would be acceptable there. Especially if they grab Kasper, who feels like a safe pick, at 9.

I got a lot of push back a few weeks ago when I wrote that his market value was somewhere in that range.

The thing is that these 18 year old hockey players are not the Kremlin, they just happen to have been born in Russia. In fact, not drafting them and not bringing them over to the NA is exactly what the Kremlin wants. I understand where you are coming from, but I don’t think it’s a productive avenue. The Fedotov case is a little bit different than most in that he was the starting goalie for the CSKA team and trying to leave for the NHL without fulfilling his KHL contract.

I don’t think they seem overly focused on a particular Russian player, though they may be. I’m sure they have a good general idea of whether they are particularly high on a player and can consider possibilities with that in mind. For example, if they have Gleb Trikozov (57 on McKenzie’s list) rated as their 10th best prospect in the whole draft (not completely ridiculous considering his skill level, age, and recent development), in a tier that goes from 7 to 12, they probably already know there’s an extremely high chance that he will be the highest guy remaining on their board, in a tier above every other available prospect when their pick comes up at 28. Its really hard to say what their strategy is regarding the Russian prospects. It could secretly be that ownership has said “no Russians allowed”, though I kind of doubt that. It could be that they will draft a Russian prospect if he is in a tier above every other remaining prospect. It could be that they won’t draft a Russian unless he is available a full round or more past where they have him rated. I think this draft is going to be pretty wild regarding Russians because they will probably also be baking into these decisions things like contract status, what KHL organization they are with, the prospects perceived desire to come to to NA, etc. I won’t be surprised to see the Russians drafted in a seeming random sort of order, with some going roughly where they are publicly rated and others dropping a couple rounds or more past what might be expected.

Brittney Griner is in prison in Russia on drug charges. I honestly would not be surprised at all if she did in fact have some sort of marijuana on her, but quantity and seriousness of the situation is being grossly exaggerated in order to use the case for international political leverage and domestic PR.

I like the sound of that approach to the Russians. Where can I find Forton’s comments?