Mr. Allen

I love it. So many people on this board were low on him. There were prospect rankings and they would put him so low.

With Hagens and Martone fading a little I can see them in their own tier below the top 2. But I still see those guys ahead of the next group. I don’t know why, but Frondell does nothing for me. I kind of like how Desnoyers plays. Eklund could be fun. But still like the upside of McQueen. Just win the lottery.

You guys ever go to that site called Tankathon? It allows you to sim the lottery and then gives you a mock draft depending on how the sim goes. I simmed the lottery like 20 times and not once did the Sabres win. I’ve resigned to the Sabres missing out on the top 4 and getting one of the next tier. At this point I want the upside of McQueen.

I know. My point was only that he was a player that was much better than his draft position.

That’s what I’m thinking too. That’s why I’m so torn. I’m not sure how to feel when we win. But then again, maybe another Benson will fall to us (and I don’t mean a small forward, I mean a player that shouldn’t have been available)

Ah. But is there a difference between 3 and 4?

Ugh. I am torn. We’re so close to top 3, but also close to picking 9th.

The top pick is different. You take the best player in the entire draft. Not just what’s available to you at pick 5. Can you imagine if in 2018 we had good defenseman but we really needed a center? Would you have taken Jesperi Kotkaniemi first overall?

If we’re picking this early, I want someone with higher upside. A potential 1st line forward. That’s what intrigues me about McQueen.

I’m starting to think we miss that top 4. The next tier has some good players, but none like the first group. Hopefully we make the right pick whoever it is.

Oooh. I want one.

The Bleacher Report “expert” just posted his newest big board. He moved Misa up to 1. 1 - Misa 2 - Schaefer 3 - Hagens 4 - Martone 5 - Jake O’Brien

Would we take a forward over the consensus top pick in Schaefer?

Does McQueen play up to his 6’5” or is he more like Tage (a gangly wimp).

This is where I struggle though. I know getting a top 3-5 pick could help this team out big time. But could this team benefit more from playing great and winning the rest of the way? Build confidence for next year. This team has talent. Everyone can see that. They just aren’t getting something. Maybe they find that if they play great hockey the rest of the season. And that, in my opinion, is worth more than a player we could get in the top 5.

Let’s just assume we have a top 5 pick (before or after the lottery). What caliber player do you think we could get for it? Any examples in your mind?

If we do struggle the rest of the year, and get a top pick, we need that pick to be a stud top line forward. Tage is the best forward we have by quite a bit. We need someone else on his level or better.

I thought we were basically eliminated already. Do we still have like a 5 percent chance?

Maybe just learning to win together as a team.

I gotta be honest, I’m a little torn on how I want the rest of the season to play out. I swore I would never root for the Sabres to lose again after the McDavid tank year. Tanking like that set the franchise back years. But at the same time I think we are desperate for an offensive stud like the one we could possibly get in the top 3-5. Plus if we continue to play the way we are maybe we’ll finally get that upstairs reset and get that new POHO, GM and Coach. I personally think these kids learning to play together and learning to win together is more important than any rookie we could get in this draft. I just don’t want to see us play great again at the end of the year, end up with the 8th pick (a small skilled forward) and then start next year like every other year. So I’m going to stay optimistic and hope this team plays great the rest of the season and learns how to consistently win together. Draft pick be darned.

Bleacher Report just put out an updated mock draft. I don’t know how to copy and paste it but some of the picks surprised me as they aren’t like other mocks I’ve seen. 1. Sharks - Martone 2. Blackhawks - Schaefer 3. Sabres - Jackson Smith 4. Predators - Hagens 5. Kraken - Misa 6. Penguins - Frondell 7. Flyers - McQueen 8. Ducks - Ecklund 9. Islanders - Mrkta 10. Bruins - Carbonneau 11. Wings - Schmidt 12. Rangers - Hensler 13. Utah - Desnoyers. I don’t know much about Jackson Smith, but if we pass on an offensive talent like Hagens, Misa or McQueen for a defenseman not named Schaefer, I’ll be pissed.

Beane knew about Hoecht and still decided to sign him. But he apparently didn’t know about Ogunjobi. If I was Beane and Ogunjobi or his agent knowingly lied to me then I would certainly recoup some of that money.

Always take bpa. No matter what. Especially at 1.1.

And a MUCH larger revenue (compared to hockey).

Ever see basketball and baseball contracts? Those are crazy. There are backups in NBA making 30 million a year.