Hoss Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 If we wait until the trade deadline (March 5th) to trade him, that's PLENTY of time for him to help dig us out of the basement in the standings. The team is still incredibly awful, but right now he's good enough to cancel that out completely. The Sabres could easily be a bad team with a winning record in their last 43 games. 2014 is going to be 2011 all over again. We're going to finish strong, and we'll probably draft 6th - 10th. And then we'll probalby be terrible again to start 2014-2015, and fans will be surprised. Fun. Well we are still 11 points out of 6th. And so if Miller takes us to 3/4 by then, we'd still have ample time to fall again after the deadline. But really I don't care too much about being at the top of this draft as much as I do the next. I really like Reinhart, but it feels almost pointless without McDavid or Eichel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two or less Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 People forget that we were dead last in the NHL on January 1st, 2011 too. We drafted 16th that summer. True. And i do think they will try to re-sign Miller, as Paul Hamilton said last night. But the thing is, if Miller and the Sabres can't agree to terms by March, how can they keep him? Even Pegula will understand that. Sooner then later, the Sabres will need to move some players around and bring in Grigorenko and some of the younger players back in. That's when i really think this team will fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted December 31, 2013 Report Share Posted December 31, 2013 Reinhart was less effective today against Canada's stiffest competition yet. His (relative) lack of size, speed and one-on-one skill was more obvious. His brain and passing remain very impressive. He stands out more and is less passive, but I do see some Cody Hodgson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 FC releases January ranking for 2014 NHL Draft Team Canada defenseman Aaron Ekblad has topped Future Considerations’ January ranking for the 2014 NHL Draft. Ekblad, who is currently skating on Canada’s blue line at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship, has retained his ranking as the top prospect in 2014. He’s got close company. Canadian teammate Sam Reinhart, who plays for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League, sits a close second. Ekblad, who took the top position over Reinhart in November, and Reinhart have been ranked 1-2 all season. “The top two seem to be interchangeable at this point,” scouting director Dan Stewart said. “With their World Juniors performances, they seem to be putting a little distance between themselves and the next grouping,” too. Leon Draisaitl, who is representing Germany at the same event, remains third. Michael Dal Colle of the Oshawa Generals and Sam Bennett of the Kingston Frontenacs round out the top five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrico Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) Thanks for this info. Interesting that Ekblad is ranked #1 (top 2 in most lists) and the next highest defender is 9th. A team in the top 5 or 6 desparate for a high D prospect may be willing to trade a decent amount to move up. Also, I'm not following the D closely or picks outside of the top 5 but they have Fleury ranked 9th and McKeown 12th. I though McKeown was suppose to be the next best dman and ranked top 6 or 7. Wonder what happened to him? There was alot of love for Karlsson early in the year but he's down to 19th. Also, here's a decent write-up on Ekblad. http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/world-junior-canada-aaron-ekblad-220201290.html Edited January 2, 2014 by Derrico Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thanks for this info. Interesting that Ekblad is ranked #1 (top 2 in most lists) and the next highest defender is 9th. A team in the top 5 or 6 desparate for a high D prospect may be willing to trade a decent amount to move up. Also, I'm not following the D closely or picks outside of the top 5 but they have Fleury ranked 9th and McKeown 12th. I though McKeown was suppose to be the next best dman and ranked top 6 or 7. Wonder what happened to him? There was alot of love for Karlsson early in the year but he's down to 19th. Also, here's a decent write-up on Ekblad. http://ca.sports.yah...-220201290.html It depends on how they rank guys and what they are actually watching. For instance if they are watching more NA games as opposed to Europe it stands to reason that guys may creep up or down depending on where they are playing. As far as defense goes, ISS also has no defender other than Ekblad ranked higher than 10th. Usually these lists vary quite a bit but that similarity is something to note. http://www.isshockey.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Ekblad has grown on my as the tourney has gone on, but I still rank him clearly below Reinhart, not even counting the Sabres need for talented forwards. Ekblad seems to be good at everything, but great at nothing. I'm scared he'll be another Chris Phillips or Eric Johnson — a good player for a long time, but not a cornerstone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader1969 Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 What are your thoughts, since the Islanders pick is top 10 procted and assuming they finish bottom 5 this year, do we wan them to keep the pick and then we have 2 tickets in the Conner McDavid sweepstakes. Or do we prefer getting two picks in the top 5 this year? I'm leaning towards 2 tickets for the 2015 draft but would be interested in what others think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 What are your thoughts, since the Islanders pick is top 10 procted and assuming they finish bottom 5 this year, do we wan them to keep the pick and then we have 2 tickets in the Conner McDavid sweepstakes. Or do we prefer getting two picks in the top 5 this year? I'm leaning towards 2 tickets for the 2015 draft but would be interested in what others think. So my choice is 2 top 5 picks this year or 1 top five next year and another at least top 14 pick (lottery eligible)? If I had to make a choice as the Sabres GM, I would want the picks this year simply because we don't know what Islanders will do next year. They could sign Vanek and a defender, bring in a GT, and be a fringe playoff team. They could also lose Vanek, still have gt problems and be a bottom feeder again next season. It is a hard call without seeing the future but sitting here now, I would take the 2 top 5 picks over top 5 and ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrico Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Speaking of Isles, what the heck are they and the Sabres doing? Man, they're a combined 11-6-3 over the previous 10 games each. Didn't anyone get the memo that we're going for 2 top 5 picks?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkard Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 What are your thoughts, since the Islanders pick is top 10 procted and assuming they finish bottom 5 this year, do we wan them to keep the pick and then we have 2 tickets in the Conner McDavid sweepstakes. Or do we prefer getting two picks in the top 5 this year? I'm leaning towards 2 tickets for the 2015 draft but would be interested in what others think. It really depends at this point for me. If we can manage to hold on to finish at the bottom and are able to draft Reinhart, I'd prefer the Islanders to give us the pick in 2014 so we can draft another forward like DalColle, Draisaitl, Nylander, or Bennett just because the sooner we start selecting players the sooner they'll be able to play for us whether it's next season or a few years from now. I don't think we'll be drafting top 5 next season unless we move out all our UFA's and don't replace them or worse yet replace them with Leino type acquisitions. If we do that, I'd hope the Islanders defer to give us twice the odds. Call it the eternal pessimism of being a Buffalo fan, but I don't see us landing McDavid even it we end up with the worst record next season. The NHL doesn't even show the damn ping pong ball coming out of the machine to give the appearance of everything being on the up and up, so I imagine one of the favored teams will perform a mini-tank next season due to injuries or something along those lines, land a top 5 pick, and beat the odds to win the "lottery" so I'll take the pick as early as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrico Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 It really depends at this point for me. If we can manage to hold on to finish at the bottom and are able to draft Reinhart, I'd prefer the Islanders to give us the pick in 2014 so we can draft another forward like DalColle, Draisaitl, Nylander, or Bennett just because the sooner we start selecting players the sooner they'll be able to play for us whether it's next season or a few years from now. I don't think we'll be drafting top 5 next season unless we move out all our UFA's and don't replace them or worse yet replace them with Leino type acquisitions. If we do that, I'd hope the Islanders defer to give us twice the odds. Call it the eternal pessimism of being a Buffalo fan, but I don't see us landing McDavid even it we end up with the worst record next season. The NHL doesn't even show the damn ping pong ball coming out of the machine to give the appearance of everything being on the up and up, so I imagine one of the favored teams will perform a mini-tank next season due to injuries or something along those lines, land a top 5 pick, and beat the odds to win the "lottery" so I'll take the pick as early as possible. We trade or don't re-sign Miller for next season and all bets are off. Enroth is a decent starter but he's no Miller. We don't win or lose in OT in those games we let up 45+ shots like this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkard Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 We trade or don't re-sign Miller for next season and all bets are off. Enroth is a decent starter but he's no Miller. We don't win or lose in OT in those games we let up 45+ shots like this year. I agree. If we lose Miller we're gonna be bottom feeders for a while. Even if the Islanders deferred and tanked right along with us to a 29th and 30th finish though, we'd only have a 43.8% chance to land McDavid. Plenty of wiggle room for the league to screw us over without anyone other than Sabres fans batting an eye to it. In that case I'd take Eichel though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I agree. If we lose Miller we're gonna be bottom feeders for a while. Even if the Islanders deferred and tanked right along with us to a 29th and 30th finish though, we'd only have a 43.8% chance to land McDavid. Plenty of wiggle room for the league to screw us over without anyone other than Sabres fans batting an eye to it. In that case I'd take Eichel though. See this is the thing about next year. Even if we don't have the Islanders pick and we finish last and lose the lottery we can get Eichel. Good players will emerge, they may not be McDavid but we will still get high quality players. We can't really worry about next years draft until next year and we need to stay focused on this years. We know so little about the kids who will be draft eligible in 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm done with the tank. Get me picks this season and let's get on with trying to field a frickin winning team again next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrico Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm done with the tank. Get me picks this season and let's get on with trying to field a frickin winning team again next year. Don't give up now Weave, only 15 more months to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm done with the tank. Get me picks this season and let's get on with trying to field a frickin winning team again next year. Prospects. Players. No more picks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drunkard Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Prospects. Players. No more picks! You mean you don't get excited thinking about how awesome this team is going to be in 2019 when our bottomless pit of 2nd round players finally develop? And you call yourself a fan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader1969 Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm done with the tank. Get me picks this season and let's get on with trying to field a frickin winning team again next year. You can't be done now! the biggest prize for tanking will come next year not this. 15 more months of tanking could lead to 10 years of contending for a cup, not just making the playoffs. I've been watching this team for close to 40 years. 1 more full season of bottom feeding is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm done with the tank. Get me picks this season and let's get on with trying to field a frickin winning team again next year. I'm done w/ the Sabres' tank. The Gorton Fisherman can keep this year's pick and then tank away next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Big fan of Reinhart but he's not a franchise changer. Next year there are two such types. Tank on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlueGED Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Don't give up now Weave, only 15 more months to go! Seriously! We've come too far and endured too much to not finish the job! Strengthen your resolve people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derrico Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yep. Looks like we may need to hold a rally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Big fan of Reinhart but he's not a franchise changer. Next year there are two such types. Tank on. This, +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 Yep. Looks like we may need to hold a rally! Well if we had tanked last year instead of holding a rally we wouldn't be here right now. So no rallies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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