GASabresIUFAN

A couple of general thoughts on the first day. 1. Size matters - nearly all the skilled small forwards fell on draft day from their consensus draft status. Savoie, Nazar, Kemell, Lekkerimaki, and even Kulich all fell. Offensive D and Big D went earlier. Skilled D like Korchinski, Mintyukov and Mateychuk all went higher than the consensus; teams searching for the next Makar. Tall D like Pickering, Bichsel, Rinzel and Lamoureau all went substantially higher than expected. 2. Leadership and all around play matters - McGroarty and Geekie both went higher despite skating issues. 3. The Russian Factor - I’m not sure if it ultimately mattered. Yurov was the only one of the 3 major Russians to fall in the draft. Mintyukov, who already plays here, was drafted early on his offensive skill set. Miro was drafted around expectations despite his illness and nationality. I do think it was interesting that Miro (wash) and Yurov (Minn) went to teams very familiar with Russian players and the current political climate there.

I have been creating a consensus list every year for the last decade to see what experts from ex-GM Button to people like Mehgan Chayka say every year about the draft prospects to educate myself about the prospects. For the last couple of years I have published this list on the board. Over this decade I have found that some of these experts are better than others. This was my first time seeing Mehgan’s work product and I was honestly disappointed. The consensus board did a pretty solid job. Of the players list 1-27, only Firkus (24th) wasn’t drafted in the first round. Of the guys listed 28-32, 3 weren’t drafted in the first, and interestingly all 3 were arguably more defensive D in Chesley, Luneau and Odelius.

I think this is a great assessment of the excellent job KA and his crew did last night. Kulich is my favorite of the 3, but the more I read on Savoie the more excited I am at seeing him next season.

Yes and no. If you are in the business of scouting draft eligible players, your job is to try to figure out who should be draft early and who should not. She had a large number of players who her model said should be in the first round that clearly weren’t 1st rd talents.

The comparison to Aho is a good one. His Swedish linemates were Ohgren and Lekkerimaki. He was the straw that stirred the drink for that great line.

ESPN kept showing her "best available" players, based on her rankings of the players in the draft. She wasn't even close. LGR, Rakish, myself and others did a better job at ranking the players from simply reading scouting reports and watching video on the internet.

At the U-18's last season he lead the tournament in goals with 9 and a very mediocre Czech team.

I like this plan. Take the Havelid twins and get Luke Mittelstadt.

After seeing her rankings last night, no.

Sabres pick 41. There are 4 RHD that I really like still on the board. They are Ryan Chelsey (23rd on my board), Tristan Luneau (30), Seamus Casey (38) and Mattias Havelid (40). Hopefully at least one of these 4 will still be on the board when we draft.

So where do today's picks slot on the above list. All 3 are immediately in our top 10. I'd also slot all 3 ahead of last year's 14th overall pick Rosen. I honestly think all 3 are or will be better players. I my personal baord for this year I had Savoie 6th, Kulich 14th and Ostlund 18th. I had Rosen 21st on my board last season. I'd slot Savoie at 6th on our prospect list after Levi, but before Samuelsson. Samuelsson would fall to 7th. Kulich would then be 8th and Ostlund 9th, followed by Johnson at 10, Portillo 11 and Rosen 12.

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?