qwksndmonster Posted March 18, 2014 Report Share Posted March 18, 2014 Our 2nd and 3rd line prospects are awesome. Baptiste, Compher, Fasching, Larsson, Carrier, Bailey, Hurley, and Deslauriers. Tim Murray brought in a healthy balance of power forward prospects and didn't wait to do it. I also think Baptiste, Compher, and Hurley all have shots at developing into 1st liners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 3/18: Jonathan Willis on WGR with Schopp and the BullDog <19:57> Writer for the Edmonton Journal and Bleacher Report on the Sabres' prospects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 3/19: Sabres Prospect JT Compher on Hockey Hotline <11:16> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhl2012 Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 Outside of Grigs and Armia, the best prospects are: JT Compher is the real deal. If he was taller, he would have been a 1st rounder. He will be a sure thing PKer and roll player in the 3rd line for 10 years. I like that he was the captain of the -18 USA team. Fashing is a project but could do some damage on the 3rd line as well. He might end up being a better (not as mean) Mike Rupp/ Sergo Momesso/ Dustin Penner. Nick Baptiste has good speed and scores a lot of goal near the net. He is physical -- fought Danny Nurse last year. Scoring 40 goals in the OHL isn't too impressive (Norm Miley scored 50, I think twice). If Nick can stay physical and go to the net, he could end up like a Tyler Kennedy type. Zadorov -- commanding presence on the ice. London leader. Can play PK and PP -- good skater. Will play physical. Happy to apply a cross-check. Austin -- +51 plus /minus See Zadorov. This is the Jay McKee of the group. RIsto -- a taller and better Kimmo TImonen. Hurley -- either the second coming f Tim Kennedy or another Brendan Morrison type. Lanky guy. Played at the three best Minnesota prep schools. McCabe --21 US captain. Has all the tools. Plays at a higher level than the other players. Has the potential to be like Duncan Keith but could end up like Chris Butler (decent). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 That was the most depressing prospect review I've ever read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabre snipe Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 That was the most depressing prospect review I've ever read Lol, I second that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3putt Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 Outside of Grigs and Armia, the best prospects are: JT Compher is the real deal. If he was taller, he would have been a 1st rounder. He will be a sure thing PKer and roll player in the 3rd line for 10 years. I like that he was the captain of the -18 USA team. Fashing is a project but could do some damage on the 3rd line as well. He might end up being a better (not as mean) Mike Rupp/ Sergo Momesso/ Dustin Penner. Nick Baptiste has good speed and scores a lot of goal near the net. He is physical -- fought Danny Nurse last year. Scoring 40 goals in the OHL isn't too impressive (Norm Miley scored 50, I think twice). If Nick can stay physical and go to the net, he could end up like a Tyler Kennedy type. Zadorov -- commanding presence on the ice. London leader. Can play PK and PP -- good skater. Will play physical. Happy to apply a cross-check. Austin -- +51 plus /minus See Zadorov. This is the Jay McKee of the group. RIsto -- a taller and better Kimmo TImonen. Hurley -- either the second coming f Tim Kennedy or another Brendan Morrison type. Lanky guy. Played at the three best Minnesota prep schools. McCabe --21 US captain. Has all the tools. Plays at a higher level than the other players. Has the potential to be like Duncan Keith but could end up like Chris Butler (decent). Have you actually seen any of these kids play? Compher is potential second line stalwart. Very similar to Benn. Austin is a sleeper. Very solid defensively, big body good on his skates in front of the net. Risto is going to be a star in my opinion. Good hockey sense and simply needs to fill out. Baptiste plays like baby Iginla. Probably not that high of a ceiling but earns tough goals. Fasching has great hands for a big guy and drives the net constantly, lives in front of the goalie on the pp. McCabe I am not sold on. Disappears for long stretches, needs to improve his conditioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
respk Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 So the Sabres best prospects at this point in time are mostly 3rd and 4th liners with a couple having the possibility to over achieve and be 2nd liners. Doesn't sound too promising. Hopefully Grigs and Armia pan out and we can draft high in this year and next years draft to fill out the 1st and 2nd lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny DangerFace Posted March 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 So the Sabres best prospects at this point in time are mostly 3rd and 4th liners with a couple having the possibility to over achieve and be 2nd liners. Doesn't sound too promising. Hopefully Grigs and Armia pan out and we can draft high in this year and next years draft to fill out the 1st and 2nd lines. And how did you reach that conclusion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 And how did you reach that conclusion? Read the post 4 posts earlier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 If these assessments of the Sabres' pool are accurate, then they are definitely not going to rely on the draft to rebuild the forward lines. In fact, I would go as far as to say that Tank Nation is fooling themselves...period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Such doom and gloom. This is not an unreasonable way to project our asset list into future NHL roles: Buffalo 1st 2014 Buffalo 1st 2015 NYI 1st Ristolainen Zadorov Joel Armia Mikhail Grigorenko JT Compher Pysyk McCabe Hudson Fasching Zemgus Girgensons Nick Baptiste Ruhwedel Nicolas Deslauriers Johan Larsson Daniel Catenacci Some of those guys won't reach their projections. A few might exceed them. But we can afford a few busts, because we have no less than 10 other assets that also have a reasonable chance of becoming NHLers — not long shots, but an actual chance: St. Louis 1st 2015, Buffalo 2nd 2014, Buffalo 2nd 2015, Winnipeg 2nd 2014, Minnesota 2nd 2014, NYI 2nd 2015, Connor Hurley, Justin Bailey, William Carrier, Gustav Possler And we have Myers, Hodgson, Ennis and Foligno all proven NHLers and young enough to be part of the core. We're certainly rolling the dice on these kids. But I like our odds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloSoldier2010 Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Such doom and gloom. This is not an unreasonable way to project our asset list into future NHL roles: Buffalo 1st 2014 Buffalo 1st 2015 NYI 1st Ristolainen Zadorov Joel Armia Mikhail Grigorenko JT Compher Pysyk McCabe Hudson Fasching Zemgus Girgensons Nick Baptiste Ruhwedel Nicolas Deslauriers Johan Larsson Daniel Catenacci Some of those guys won't reach their projections. A few might exceed them. But we can afford a few busts, because we have no less than 10 other assets that also have a reasonable chance of becoming NHLers — not long shots, but an actual chance: St. Louis 1st 2015, Buffalo 2nd 2014, Buffalo 2nd 2015, Winnipeg 2nd 2014, Minnesota 2nd 2014, NYI 2nd 2015, Connor Hurley, Justin Bailey, William Carrier, Gustav Possler And we have Myers, Hodgson, Ennis and Foligno all proven NHLers and young enough to be part of the core. We're certainly rolling the dice on these kids. But I like our odds. I came here to say something to this effect. Well stated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Where is the first and second line talent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Where is the first and second line talent? Risto, Zadorov, our first this year and next and the Islanders' first should reach that level Armia, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Pysyk, McCabe, Fasching and Compher could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 First and second line offense. The Sabres are strong on D and, I think, in net. Neither of those get you a Cup without scoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trettioåtta Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Risto, Zadorov, our first this year and next and the Islanders' first should reach that level Armia, Grigorenko, Girgensons, Pysyk, McCabe, Fasching and Compher could. I would say Pysyk is already top 4. Bizarrely, his development is somehow very minorly effected by this team sucking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) First and second line offense. The Sabres are strong on D and, I think, in net. Neither of those get you a Cup without scoring. I would think we take talented forwards with our three high first rounders. Hopefully, we get Toews, Backstrom and Kessel (3,4,5 in 2006), not Ryan, Pouliot and Brule (2,4,6 in 2005) History shows most top five forwards are very good and the hit rate for top two or three is excellent. And the Sabres already have a long list of forwards with top-six upside, it's just that none of them are sure things as first-liners. Edited March 20, 2014 by dudacek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 You're still looking at 4-5 years for a team that can maybe survive the first round if this is what you expect them to rely on. It's not sensible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny DangerFace Posted March 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 First and second line offense. The Sabres are strong on D and, I think, in net. Neither of those get you a Cup without scoring. Ennis, Hodgson, compher, grigorenko, Armia are all top six talent. And we have a lot of potential top six talent as well within 2-3 years. Not to mention up to 4 1st round picks in the next 2 years that should produce a couple of elite forward prospects 1-3 years away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Also realize that elite level talent, especially centers, make their wingers much better. Teams like Pittsburgh can use third-line wingers who are good finishers in their top six and have success. Guys like McDavid, and maybe Reinhart, will give us that ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 Also realize that elite level talent, especially centers, make their wingers much better. Teams like Pittsburgh can use third-line wingers who are good finishers in their top six and have success. Guys like McDavid, and maybe Reinhart, will give us that ability. If the Sabres get Reinhart AND McDavid I will buy you a Happy Meal. Boy or girl version...your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 If the Sabres get Reinhart AND McDavid I will buy you a Happy Meal. Boy or girl version...your choice. Girl. Sex is only a label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 You're still looking at 4-5 years for a team that can maybe survive the first round if this is what you expect them to rely on. It's not sensible. I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. None of the kids are going to reach their ceilings (let alone surpass expectations), so what's the point of even trying? We don't know how good any of these kids will be. Did the Bruins know what Lucic, Marchand, Berergon and Kecji were going to be when they picked them? Why can't Fasching, Baptiste, Compher and Grigorenko turn into similar players? Why can't we pick Bennett and Eichel this year and next and have them be Toews and Kane? Why can't Justin Bailey come out of nowhere like Brad Richards did? I certainly doubt Murray's plan is to just sit on these kids and wait. Maybe he flips some and picks up a young guy who turns into our Jarome Iginla? We've torn it down. It sucks but it was necessary. Let's face it, there is a certain element of crapshoot in developing a team. What we have done is put more balls in the lottery. Now it's up to Murray to use those assets to build it back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted March 20, 2014 Report Share Posted March 20, 2014 (edited) I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. None of the kids are going to reach their ceilings (let alone surpass expectations), so what's the point of even trying? We don't know how good any of these kids will be. Did the Bruins know what Lucic, Marchand, Berergon and Kecji were going to be when they picked them? Why can't Fasching, Baptiste, Compher and Grigorenko turn into similar players? Why can't we pick Bennett and Eichel this year and next and have them be Toews and Kane? Why can't Justin Bailey come out of nowhere like Brad Richards did? I certainly doubt Murray's plan is to just sit on these kids and wait. Maybe he flips some and picks up a young guy who turns into our Jarome Iginla? We've torn it down. It sucks but it was necessary. Let's face it, there is a certain element of crapshoot in developing a team. What we have done is put more balls in the lottery. Now it's up to Murray to use those assets to build it back up. See the other thread for some thoughts on this. I guess I have the same conversation going on in two places. Didn't really mean it that way. But I will say here that maybe I expect them to have a better handle on the projected ceiling of these players - are you suggesting the projections aren't that accurate? I guess then what's the deal with the McDavid hype if his projection could be that wrong? Also: "I certainly doubt Murray's plan is to just sit on these kids and wait." This is exactly what I am saying. There seems to be a dissonance here...on the one hand folks seem to be looking forward to the 2015 draft, but on the other hand folks seem to agree GMTM is going to have to make moves relatively soon. I don't know if these plans work together, I really don't. It seems either he goes into this draft and then starts to build up the team...2015 be damned...or they tank yet another season. I just do not see tanking for 2015 working out. That's not fatalism or some freaky prediction, it just doesn't line up. I don't think the league is going to let the Sabres tank another season and get away with it. I don't think Pegula is on board for another season of this. I don't think Nolan is on board with it. And I would be a little surprised if GMTM is on board (although the thought has occurred to me that maybe the PLF departure had to do exactly with tanking as internal policy). Obviously, the players will not be on board. So...again, I don't see everything lining up quite as clean cut and story book as it reads on the board. Edited March 20, 2014 by sizzlemeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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