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It seems to me the real benefit of all that work is later in the draft. While they seem to adhere to the general adage that they must do at least one thing at an NHL level such at score, skate or defend, they really seem to be finding guys that one can project as really having a chance to be an NHLer. Here are some standouts that KA drafted after the 2nd rd in the last couple of drafts that really illustrate how their system is finding possible gems. In 2021 they grabbed Bloom, Nadeau, Kozak and Novikov. The first 3 rewarded the Sabres with excellent CHL seasons with 30 goals plus each. All are now signed. Novikov was able to hang defensively in the KHL at 18. Bloom even missed his draft year season because of COVID lockdowns. In 2022 they found 3 potential scorers late in Neuchev, Richard and Karlsson and then added a high skill excellent skating D in Lindgren and another solid defensive Russian in Komarov. Richard and Karlsson standout to me because their scouting uncovered Richard’s huge in-season progress in the USHL and found in Karlsson the 2nd best goal scorer for his age group in Swedish juniors. The only player who scored more than Karlsson at his age and league was a 1st rd pick.

Sure Smith stunk. However assistants coach what their superiors tell them to coach. Remember DG was RK’s forward coach. How did that work out? Certainly DG wasn’t coaching his current system. RK’s team RK is responsible for the results regardless of who the day to day position coach is.

Other lists https://www.nhl.com/news/buffalo-sabres-top-five-prospects/c-335214354 https://theathletic.com/3509824/2022/08/25/buffalo-sabres-nhl-pipeline-rankings-prospects/

All that said, NHL.com writers think Power could be in the conversation as best D in the NHL in a couple of years. https://www.nhl.com/news/top-defenseman-in-nhl-in-three-seasons-debated/c-335390352

He is going to stink. By mid-season his PT will be reduced to about 12 minutes a night and will be a frequent healthy scratch and he is outplayed by Bryson and Pilot. If we get 15 points we’ll be lucky. Just kidding. I do think we need to temper our expectations a little. He is a rookie and probably won’t see major PP time with Dahlin here. He is also probably going to be asked to be more defensively aware than he needed to be with Michigan and there will be bad stretches like with nearly all rookies. If he gives us what Herman did as a rookie and shows improvement through the season be happy.

Currently at the Goo Goo Dolls. The warm up band Blue October was pretty good.

3rd line center with 40-45 pts.

A Hedman like rookie season.

Good Skating is one of those things I like our prospects to have but isn’t a make or break issue for many players unless their role depends on it. The lack of top end speed certainly hasn’t hampered Reinhart for example. Mattias doesn’t need it great speed to play the defensive specialist who allows Dahlin to do what he does best. I do understand why he has Samuelsson relatively low. Matt is a high floor low ceiling prospect. He is what he is like Novikov further down the list. He likely won’t ever be a player coaches use on the PP or when the team is down a goal with a minute to play. So what. This kid will probably play 1000 games NHL, much of it in the top 4, shutting down opponents top forwards. His physical style is something this team needs more of. A player like Nadeau doesn’t need it as long as he has enough speed to get to the front of the net on time when the puck is launched toward the net. Dave Andreychuk made the Hall of Fame playing that way. Also speed without hockey sense is useless. Laaksonen can’t play defense, so what good is his speed? I worry Lindgren is much the same. I agree with @LGR4GM that Dahlin’s compete level has increased dramatically under DG and is no longer an issue. I also think his in zone play has also improved. G-d what RK nearly did to this kid is unforgivable. Is anyone else worried about the lack of size among our forward prospects. The 3 1st rd pick this year are all under 6 feet. Also we could use more physical players like Samuelsson and Novikov, especially up front. Nadeau’s willingness to play in the dirty areas may become a necessity for this team.

These articles aren't really prospect summaries. The authors list is the top 25 under 25. That includes more than just prospects. That would include Thompson, Mitts, Cozens, Dahlin etc and non-prospects like Kale Clague. Hard to trust a list that has Neuchev and Kozak at 37 and 36 respectively and Pekar at 26. When I wrote up my prospect list I had Pekar 39th. Now if you add established young pros like TnT, Mitts and Dahlin, that puts Pekar somewhere around 50th.

But it also means we don’t have a forward on the level of say Dahlin or Power, although I kind of think Quinn is the most likely player we have drafted recently who might achieve that level.

I think that is generally true which is both good and bad. The bad part is that it is an admission that there really isn’t a proven core piece up front that isn’t replaceable. No Kane or Stamkos, but also no Drury or Briere. The good news is that one gets the feeling that a couple of the young guys, like TnT, Cozens or Quinn, have a real shot at becoming indispensable in the near future.

This will all shake out over time and is a great problem to have. If all these guys reach their potential this will almost guarantee the Sabres are competitive for the next decade. We can’t forget that even though the 3 guys were drafted in the same class they are somewhat staggered in when they’ll reach the Sabres. Odds are that Savoie jumps to the NHL after next season, Kulich the following season and Östlund still has 2 more years on his deal in Sweden, so it’s probably 3 years until he joins the team. As these guys come up, management will have a much better idea on the highest and best use of Cozens, Krebs and Mitts. I’m worried less about playing center as DG seems to like position less hockey. Having multiple guys on a line who are comfortable in the middle seems like something DG would encourage. The bigger issue is where are we going to put everyone if they develop as hoped? Our current longer term top 9 type players (based on skill, age and contract) are Skinner, Tuch, TNT, Cozens, Mitts and Krebs. This year we are adding JJP and Quinn. Then comes the next wave of Rosen, Savoie, Kulich and Östlund. If others blossom like Bloom, Nadeau, Kisakov or Poltapov, then the log jam gets even “worse.” Tough decisions will have to be made as kids force their up from below. I don’t envy KA those decisions.

The answer is going to be simply yes. This coming roster is certainly better then last year’s opening night and in general. Sub replacement hockey players, like Caggiula, Hagg, Butcher, Eakin, Hayden, Pysyk, Tokarski and Miller, are gone. They have been replaced by younger and more talented players. Tuch, Power, Comrie, Samuelsson, Krebs, Lyubushkin, Quinn, JJP and even Bryson are superior to the guys who they replaced regardless of experience. The next question is will this translate in the standings given the strength of the Atlantic division and the aggressive off-seasons of teams like Ott, Det and Mon? I think it will, but as others have said, goaltending will be the key. If Comrie can give us Ullmark level goaltending then the team is destined to show significant improvement. also @LGR4GM in the original post, I’d have listed Comrie as Anderson’s replacement as the No 1 goalie and Anderson as Tokarski’s replacement as the backup.

From a prospect standpoint, Rochester is thin on defense. Outside of Laaksonen, there won’t be any Sabres draftees on the blueline for the Amerks next season. One caveat is the possibility that Fitz gets sent down. As of right now there could be 8 or more Sabres drafted forwards playing for the Amerks next season including Rousek, Malone, Murray, Pekar, Weissbach, Cedarqvist, Kisakov, and Rosen, with Kozak, Kulich and even possibly JJP or Quinn joining the squad.

Starring Darren McGavin Kojak starred Telly Savalas Kozak is the 30 goal scoring 7th rd pick who is eligible for the AHL by about a week. Are we clear?

Yep, my quote was long before we knew how ill CoHo really was.

While I agree 60 pts would be a fantastic result. I went and looked at how other guys who were approximately as effective as Quinn in the AHL at 20 years did the following season in the NHL when I made may 50 point projection. Most of the guys, like Briere, Couture, Satan, Savard and Strome, were quite good the following year in the NHL. Briere was on the low end with only 22 pts, but Satan hit 35 pts, Couture had 56, Marc Savard 45, and Ryan Strome had 50. I think Quinn is at least as talented as the guys on my list.

Is he? Making phone calls to the other GM's is his a large part of his job and it's a results business and he hasn't completed any of those deals. Since he moved on from TM's core, his acquisitions have been bargain basement. No serious move to upgrade the goaltending. Maybe the Comrie will work out, but that is far from a sure thing. The defense, like the goaltending, needed to be upgraded and the best he brought in was a Toronto cast off, who would be a 5/6 on a good team. That is the definition of not being aggressive. Don't get me wrong, I like the direction the team is heading. I agree with the general movement to the kids, but he hasn't really given the kids the proper support in goal or on defense to aid in their development.

No but it will be close

What aggressive move has he made to build this team since the tear down?

I almost posted that myself after reading @Doohickie post.

Quinn contends for rookie of the year with 22g 28a 50 pts. He'll be playing in our top 6 by mid season and blossom from there.

15 goals 25 assists with a diminishing role as the season progresses.

Since he got burned by Hall, KA has shown zero interest in being this aggressive.