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or worse, such as Nads get knocked around

Wow, I’m not even that negative. While you maybe ultimately correct, it won’t be because this kid doesn’t work hard enough. It will mostly likely be because of the forward depth in the organization ahead of him on the food chain. I would count him out. He plays a tough around the net type of game, which we can use. Reminds me of the one we let get away in Hagel. I

That Russian Flu is very dangerous.

Could be. Rotenberg who runs St Petes is a big Putin Supporter and runs the Russian Hockey Federation. He may not want to let Michkov go. It would be interesting if that happened.

I agree. I think there is a significant chance that Washington or Det take him if available, but I do honestly think it's possible he slides all the way to us. If that happens, KA certainly drafts him. Also the Caps are kind of win now mode. The just extended Strome, Jensen, Milano, Alexeyev and TVR. They have almost no cap space and no draft capital. The need this year's 1st to push for a roster spot sooner than later.

Where is he going to play? Skinner, Tuch, TnT, Cozens, Mitts, Quinn, JJP and likely Greenway are pencilled in for top 9 forward slots next season. Krebs and VO are under contract. Savoie is NHL only if kept. That’s already 11 forwards with top 9 aspirations. Even if you trade VO and make Krebs the 4th line center, you are still at 9 top 9 forwards. Where do you slot Kulich? Is he better off on the 4th line in the NHL or being the top player in Rochester playing in all situations. Rousek is the same issue, except he’s older and better suited for a 4th line role. Where does Kulich fit if both KO and Z re-sign? I definitely see the argument that Kulich is ready. KA has said when prospects are ready they’ll be in the NHL. He has also said he wants KO and Z back next season and acknowledges Savoie’s issues. How he makes all those ideas work together is a mystery. The easiest solution is Kulich is sent down and is the first callup when an injury strikes.

Here is a draft day scenario that could play out. Matvei Michkov is the consensus 3rd or 4th player in the draft. Some scouts think his skill level rivals that of Bedard. However he is under contract for the next 3 years in Russia and who knows how long Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine lasts. Given that back drop there is already talk of him falling in the draft, but how far will he fall. I quess it would be based on how much the team liked his talent and how patient the GM is willing to be. Looking at the draft board, there are two teams ahead of us who are willing to gamble on Russian players. They are Det @ 9 and Wash @ 8. However given those two teams are desperate to add talent who will be in the NHL sooner than later. Wash is getting older as we speak and Det lacks scoring depth now and doesn’t have a huge pipeline to add it. On the other hand, Buffalo has plenty of current young forward talent and a very patient GM. We are the one team in the lottery that can truly afford to be patient and we also have a history of drafting Russian through the pandemic and since the war started. So how far might Michkov fall? Last season Yurov, who was under contract for last year (and has since signed an extension for next season) fell from the consensus 11th slot to 24th. Trikozov fell from consensus 34 to 60th. Miroshenko, who already had been downgraded because of cancer, was a consensus 21st, went 20th to the Russian sanctuary Caps and signed with the Caps already once his KHL season ended. Unlike Yurov or Miroshenko, who had 1 year left on their KHL deals when drafted, Michkov’s contract runs through 2025/26. That’s asking a ton a patience from an NHL team and most of the GM’s drafting in the top 16 likely won’t be the GM by the time Michkov reaches the NHL. Based on the mess in Russia and the KHL contract, I can easily seeing him falling to us at 13. I didn’t see an negative Russian bias in the covid 2021 or 2020 drafts.

The headline writes itself “Nads adds 2 in Amerks debut”

I agree that Z is the odd man out and that Krebs is pencilled in as the 4th line center. I also think KO takes the 1 year deal and comes back to finally make the playoffs as a Sabre. If this plays out and VO is traded, I think KA has only one forward roster spot to fill. The 3rd line wing spot is Savoie’s to lose and I see Jost returning in the 13th forward utility role. That leaves Z’s spot to be filled. Does Rousek get a shot at the job or does KA sign someone (or do we get a forward back in the VO trade)? While like a bigger change in the roster, it really looks like may only be 2-3 open roster spots for next season. Those spots are a 4th line forward, the 4th D and either a depth forward or D if they go with a 23 player roster. With Rousek and Kulich likely in Rochester, forward depth is less of an issue. Given the injuries last season and the forward depth, odds favor the 23rd roster spot going to an 8th D.

On paper, he looks a lot like Jokiharju, but I've not seen his advanced analytics, except what's on hockey-reference.com. I think we can do better, but he fits the age parameters that Ka seems to be looking for.

Button was a terrible GM and his draft rankings usually stink. While possible Moore drops to 13, he and Leonard are much more likely to go in the top 10.

.... and with the 13th pick in the 2023 NHL draft, the Buffalo Sabres trade the 13th overall pick (& 173) to Chicago for 18, 52 & 131. With 18th selection, the Sabres draft Hamburg native Quentin Musty. The Sabres then trade 39 & 52 to Stl for 30 & 106 With the 30th pick in the 1st rd, the Buffalo Sabres select Swedish defender Tom WIllander.

The Amerks still have my favorite hockey Uni.

Ultimately all acquisitions are going to have to fill a hole in the roster that won’t or can’t be filled by someone already here. Also don't expect long-term deals for any acquisitions unless we have a complete void in the pipeline such as top 4 D. As to Kane where does he fit? We have scoring forwards on the roster and under contract. In addition we have a pile of them in the pipeline as well. KA acquired Greenway to add a more physical player to the forward group. He added Lyubushkin and Stillman to add physical depth on the backend. What we lack is a defensive capable center but Krebs may be able to take on that role. We also lack a partner for Power on the roster or in the pipeline. We lack legit experience in net, but that doesn’t seem to phase KA. We also lack significant playoff experience across the entire roster. The hope is KA can fill the void of veteran experience with a top 4 did acquisition.

And someone here thought we had a lot of Miles Wood discussions.

But where would he play?

It depends on how he got to the CHL. Nylander drafted out of the CHL, but was eligible for the AHL the following season because he loaned to the CHL while under contract to a Swedish team. I went and looked at the Ramparts website and Komarov was taken in the 2021 import draft. This means he was drafted out of the CHL and won’t be AHL eligible next season.

Can we stop with Kane please?

Which is why DG desperately wanted him. Apparently they have a great relationship and Greenway is a unique type of forward that we didn’t have in our system. DG thinks he can be a physical presence who can score 20+ here while creating space for guys like Mitts and Savoie. Mitt’s dramatically improved as a forechecker last year. He is also a pretty big guys. Having two guys with size and skill and then add Mitt’s passing ability and Savoie might score 30 as a rookie. This is also going to be the most talented and deep forward group the Sabres have had since the 2005/6 & 2006/7 Sabres.

There is nothing in the eye test or his counting stats or his analytics to suggest Joki is improving. Nothing. That is just the facts. He is the UPL of our defense; young enough to be thought of with upside, but an older young player that hasn’t shown any real progress. I fully acknowledge that both players will likely be back next season and I fully believe bringing both players back is a mistake. The mistake with Joki isn’t that he isn’t an NHL player, he is one marginally, It’s that his skill set isn’t what the Sabres need right now. He isn’t a Jay McKee type and he doesn’t add much help creating offense. His game also doesn’t improve when he plays good players.

This article made me think about the 2019 draft. If we re-drafted today, who are 2-10 after Hughes? I'd start with Seider (2nd), Boldy (3rd), Zegras (4th), Cozens (5th), Byram (6th), Caufield (7th), Maccelli (8th), Dach (9th) and Kakko (10th). Seider is 2nd because he is showing Dahlin-type puck movement skills at 22. Why is Boldy 3rd? He is scoring at a similar pace as Caufield, but adds significantly more assists. He also has a higher pts/gp than Zegras. Why Maccelli so high? Anyone who can put up 49 pts in 64 games as a rookie in AZ and not be a +/- negative is doing something right.

The problem at this point with relying on development to solve the terrible goaltending is the downside risk of another terrible season in net. What if Levi struggles and UPL continues to be sub-par? Is KA willing to throw away another playoff opportunity? Will the fans and ownership stand for it?

It would be wonderful if he'd add 2 decent to good D. Don't count on it after he has gone out of his way to discuss Joki's "growth" this past season. I believe KA sees his team like this Dahlin, Samuelsson, Power, Joki, Lyubushkin and Stillman. That leaves one opening somewhere between Power and Lyubushkin.