GASabresIUFAN

This was probably the best player available on the Sabres board. He is going to be a solid NHL player and probably will be VO's replacement in a couple of years.

I had Kulich at 14 on my board and thought he be out best C option at 16 with Ostlund 2nd. Somehow we drafted both. We are going to love this player. NHL radio described him as a Swiss Army Knife. He can play up or down a lineup, score, play both special teams, and is already a 200 foot player. What's not to like?

I like this pick much better than Rosen year. I think Krebs is a very good comparison and give this kid a little time, we'll have another very good playmaking center on our hands. What a nice problem to have. Remember folks this is the guy who was feeding Lekkerimaki and Ohgren. He and Kulich I thought would be our 2 top C options at 16. I'm absolutely thrilled we somehow ended up with both players.

Love love love this pick.

That’s good news.

Again, there is no question we need to invest in more high quality centers for our pipeline. When your 3 best non-NHL centers in your pipeline are 5th pick Matteo Costantini, 7th round pick Tyson Kozak and 6th rd pick William Bon Barnekow, you need some upgrades.

One of the reasons the franchise failed was DR failure to draft and develop centers. After Novotny (a bust) and Derek Roy in 2001, the only centers DR drafted in the first 2 rounds from 2002 to 2012 were Luke Adam (2008 2nd rd) and the immortal Marek Zagrapan (13th overall in 2005). That's it. No wonder the team floundered.

I agree with needed to draft a couple of C early this draft. However it's not like the Sabres hadn't been trying to build out from Center through trades and draft picks since 2014. Reinhart 2nd overall in 2014, Eichel 2nd overall in 2015, Asplund 37th overall in 2016, Mitts 8th overall in 2017, Dozens 7th overall in 2019. Then adds Thompson of 26th overall in 2016 (He actually played center at UConn), and Krebs 17th overall in 2019, and you have added a ton of centers to the organization. My biggest complaint about last year's draft was two many wingers, especially LW, at the expense of D, goaltenders and C. It was to much of a one note draft after Power.

If we can get quality goaltending.

Be nice. They are extremely talented and put on a great show.

Two down (Haim, Tears for Fears) and 4 to go (Goo Goo Dolls, the Killers, Elton John and Robert Plant/Alison Krauss (rescheduled from a rain out)).

I don't want Murray, but someone on the Sens refusing a trade to Buffalo is kind of funny. The Sens haven't made the playoffs in the last 5 years finishing 7th, 8th, 7th, 6th (in the Canadian North Div of 7 teams) and 7th. This is the same level of bad as the Sabres the last 5 years, except the Sabres seem to be making forward progress finishing 5th in the Atlantic last season, while the Sens still stink despite receiving decent goaltending with Forsberg. So Murray is no longer the starter in Ottawa and won't come to a better team where he has a chance to earn a starting job. Makes total sense. If he is holding out for a better opportunity, he had best look in the mirror because it ain't coming. After all Ott is having to trade their 7th overall pick to get rid of you Matt. Get a clue.

What will you say if the Sabres add Hutson, Savoie, Nazar or Kemelll?

NYR trade Georgiev to the Avs for a 5th in 2022 and a 3rd in 2023. Letang re-signs with the Pens; 6 years $36.6. https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/penguins-agree-to-terms-kris-letang-six-year-contract-extension/c-334842348 I guess Kuemper is going to test the FA waters.

So Anderson type numbers.

I haven't seen much news yet, but thought we should have a thread for it. I did notice that the Sabres are the only team with huge early draft capital. Arizona has 3, 27, 32, 34, 36, 43, and 45. Columbus has 6, 12 and 44 Minn has 19, 24, 47, and 56 Ana has 10, 22, 42, and 53 Sea has 4, 35, 49 and 61 Mon has 1, 26, 33, and 62

I'm now a huge Matt Murray fan. He knows he stinks and that getting him would hurt Buffalo's rebuilding efforts. Thanks Matt for looking out for us.

Why?

Korchinski's range in 16 draft rankings that I have on my spreadsheet is actually pretty tight. His high is 8th and low 19th with an average of 14.38. Mintyukov and Mateychuk are next with averages of 15.56 each, but their ranges are much larger with Pavel 10 to 26 and Denton 8 to 24.

That very well could happen. I can also see AZ trading down a couple of slots, picking up more assets and then taking Cutter a 5 or 6. Maybe Columbus will want to move up and take Cooley.

I think everyone is in that boat. The range on some of these guys is incredibly wide. Bichsel's range with 16 rankings is 17 to 55, Pickering 16 to 53, Snuggerud 8 to 42. Lambert is 5 to 42. The Russian factor alone could make or break all the rankings and also blow up the actual teams' drafting. I've done more reading on this draft then ever before and honestly I think there are guys into the 30s who I really like and think will be good NHLers like Luneau and Havelid, but the top guys remind me of 2017 when we really had no idea who the best player was going to be and low and behold the guys taken 4 (Makar) and 5 are arguably the two best players with the 20th draft Robert Thomas moving quickly up the board.

I think it couldn't hurt to read up more on Lekkerimaki. He isn't a perimeter player. He is a guy who looks for creases in the defense to get his amazing shot off. However the reports I read said he is a fierce forechecker and an improving two way player. He sounds like a better version of Victor Olofsson. Odds are we'll be moving on from VO in the next 3-4 years if he is re-signed. Lekkerimaki sounds like an upgrade replacement. Pronman compares him to Jordan Eberle, who has nearly 600 points in 850 games. Savoie would also be fine if he falls to us, but if Kasper is still on the board, I'm taking him over Savoie, Nazar or Lekkerimaki. I also want no part of Yurov or any other Russian player in the first 2 rounds unless they are committed to staying in NA now and forever. Yurov is returning to Russia so he is currently off my board. My ideal is Kasper at 9, Ostlund, Kulich or Snuggerud at 16 and Chesley at 28.

That would be correct.

So it's in KA's interest to either sign him now or trade him for a pick better than the 62nd or 63rd.