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Official 2011 NHL Draft Thread

Robviously

By Robviously
in The Aud Club

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Two or less First Liner

Two or less

Posted
Posted

Nice. I've only heard good things. The guts of a burgler - as Roby would say.

 

I dont know him besides the gym but def seems like a real good kid, helps people at the gym, and always laughing. Seems like he has his head on right. Also works very hard at the gym, that i can say. Never worked out with professional players before so i cant say how he'd compare but compared to what my teams did in high school sports, he is way beyond that.

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korab rules Second Liner

korab rules

Posted
Posted

Saw this on another board, thought I'd post it here as well:

 

With 14 defenseman currently ranked in the first round for the 2012 draft and 24 slotted in the first 60 picks, NHL teams may look beyond 2011 to bolster their blueline. With just nine defenseman with first round potential in 2011, organizations outside of the range of the likes of Adam Larsson and Dougie Hamilton may wait for the opportunity to select Ryan Murray, Nick Ebert, Jacob Truba, Griffin Reinhart or about a dozen other high profile defenseman available in a year’s time.

 

“You could realistically see 20 defensemen go in the first round next year,” an Eastern Conference based NHL executive said.

 

He went on to wonder out loud if it is worth it for his club to wait until next year to use a high pick on a defenseman, where the blueline talent and depth far outweighs 2011.

 

The quality of blueliner available with the 25th pick in 2012 appears to exceed his 2011 counterpart at this point, which may have some NHL clubs looking to use their first round pick on a forward instead.

http://futureconside...s-in-minnesota/

 

Geeze - what are the chances the quoted Eastern Conference Exec was DR?

 

This is exactly why you draft for talent, and not position. And I'm sorry, but with all due respect, the zetterberg situation is a once in a lifetime occurrence. The rest of the post basically supports my claim, that the first round should be drafting for talent, and the rest should be for position.

 

I understand what you're getting at, but if you're looking to make that cup run in 3 years, you're not going to be drafting the star centerman, you're going to have to trade for him. That becomes a lot easier when you draft the best, NHL ready prospects you can as collateral for such a trade.

Good post.

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Marvelo Second Liner

Marvelo

Posted
Posted

he was being sarcastic. Not sure if you're being the same, but just thought i'd point that out. Oleksiak has been brought up at least 5 times. The kid is DEFINITELY worth a look if he's still available though.

 

what's sarcasm?

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\GoBillsInDallas/ Fourth Liner

\GoBillsInDallas/

Posted
Posted

The article was on the Buffalo News web page, but got pulled off for some reason.

 

Here is the text of the article that I managed to copy before it was pulled:

 

Sabres look to beat the odds

NHL draft to be held Friday and Saturday in Minnesota

 

By John Vogl

Buffalo News Sports Reporter

Published: June 18, 2011, 11:01 PM

 

To compare the NHL entry draft to a coin flip is unfair. It shortchanges the coin flip. At least when the currency soars in the air, there's a 50 percent chance of achieving the goal. In the draft, there's no making heads or tails of what might happen.

Take the Buffalo Sabres, for example. From 1990 to 2008, they selected 185 players from around the world. Only 80 have played even one NHL game, a success rate of 43 percent. Obviously, determining the growth potential of 18-year-olds is a tough proposition.

The Sabres hope they've found a way to work the odds in their favor.

The 2011 draft will be held Friday and Saturday in Minnesota, and the Sabres used a new tool to prepare for it. They hosted a four-day scouting combine two weeks ago, welcoming 35 prospects to Buffalo for testing and interviews. This draft, when it's the Sabres' turn to select, they'll have firsthand knowledge of potential picks.

"We got some good value out of it," said Kevin Devine, the Sabres director of amateur scouting. "Hopefully, it pays off a little bit."

The Sabres will pick 16th overall in the opening round, one of six picks in the seven-round draft. They traded their second-round selection to St. Louis for forward Brad Boyes.

Of the 35 prospects who attended the combine, seven or eight were candidates for the 16th pick. The rest were split between players with third-round potential and those who will go deep in the draft. Late-round selections have been important to the Sabres in recent years, with Ryan Miller (fifth round), Paul Gaustad (seventh), Patrick Kaleta (sixth) and Nathan Gerbe (fifth) filling significant roles.

"Most of the third-round and later-round guys were not at the NHL combine, so it gave us a little more insight there," said Devine, referring to the May event in Toronto that attracts top talent.

The Sabres' scouting department has wanted to host a combine for years, but it didn't come to fruition until a chat with Terry Pegula. The new owner also has a stake in Ayrault Sports Agency, which represents football players. He mentioned to General Manager Darcy Regier how the New England Patriots held a private combine that hosted 200 players and wondered if the Sabres should hold something similar. Regier turned to Devine, who crossed an item off his longtime to-do list.

"We really didn't have the resources to do it or the time to pull it off [previously]," Devine said. "One thing led to another, and we said let's try it and see how it goes, see if it's worth it."

The players, who went through on-ice drills, off-ice physical testing and one-on-one interviews, were impressed. One was Chris Bradley, a defenseman from Williamsville who plays for Youngstown of the United States Hockey League.

"It was a lot of fun," said Bradley, who has been ranked as high as the 152nd North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. "I was kind of nervous going in. I mean, you hear the title 'Sabres Combine.' It was just a great honor to be picked for it.

"It was a tough day mentally and physically, but I really enjoyed it."

Devine and the scouting staff are scheduled to head to Minnesota today and hold a mock draft Monday. The first round will be held Friday night, and Devine said 17 or 18 players are on their list.

"We're going to get a good player," Devine said. "There's no real need for us to try to trade up to get a guy, so we could sit at 16 and I think we'll still get a guy that we really like."

Of course, that's only if they keep their pick. Devine expects a lot of trade chatter, and that could include the Sabres.

"There's a possibility for more trades mostly because -- after the top five picks, you might get the same player at seven that you do at 17," Devine said. "There's a few teams that have come out and said they'd really be looking to trade their pick. I've heard New Jersey would listen to offers. Edmonton has come out and said they'd listen to offers for No.‚1.

"Even our pick, if we could improve our hockey team with a guy that fits in with our core of players, we'd probably look at that, too."

This draft lacks the top-end buzz that has accompanied recent drafts. Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin were obvious top-two selections last year, while John Tavares, Steven Stamkos and Patrick Kane were regarded as franchise players in previous years.

Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Western Hockey League is expected to be drafted first. Devine regards the next four players as equal and said the next 15 have comparable skills.

"No dominant guy this year," Devine said, "but I think they're all good players in their own right."

The Sabres enter this draft without any defined objectives. They wanted to get bigger in recent years, and they achieved that with selections such as Zack Kassian, Marcus Foligno and Brayden McNabb. They haven't drafted a European since defenseman Dennis Persson and goaltender Jhonas Enroth in 2006, but that trend could end.

"We've got ourselves now to where we've got some good size in the organization," Devine said. "We feel if there's a skilled European there in the later rounds now versus a North American, we wouldn't hesitate to take him."

Devine will get scouting help sometime next month. The organization is set to meet in mid-July to discuss hiring a second European scout and additional North American evaluators.

"With [Pegula] coming in, they want to make sure we have the best staff available," Devine said. "We're going to discuss our needs as a scouting staff, and there probably will be a few additions."

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frisky Fourth Liner

frisky

Posted
Posted

Not that I'm advocating it because I like free internet but with print media dying I'm surprised they don't have a subscription based service for the internet. Not like making the whole site subscription based cause that might kill it. But charge for like exclusive content at a really cheap rate.

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North Buffalo All Star

North Buffalo

Posted
Posted

Potential Draftees Heres what one of the Hockey Lies and Crap guys thinks of 3 prospects that supposedly the sabres are 0 in on. There are 3 videos included which are actually pretty cool to watch, especially Schiefele's shootout goal.

 

I saw the article and though I think McNeil might be fun to have along with Kassian and Foligno... Schiefele's and Philips scoring and play making abilities are at a higher premium for this team. What are people's take on Boone Jenner... It seems from what I have been reading that he might be a bit over rated, but who knows at this stage??

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X. Benedict All Star

X. Benedict

Posted
Posted

I saw the article and though I think McNeil might be fun to have along with Kassian and Foligno... Schiefele's and Philips scoring and play making abilities are at a higher premium for this team. What are people's take on Boone Jenner... It seems from what I have been reading that he might be a bit over rated, but who knows at this stage??

 

I don't see Jenner in the top 20.

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