Who's Next?

[GASabresIUFAN]

The Frozen Four starts pretty soon and our discussion of next year's D made me wonder which prospects will be entering the pro ranks soon.

 

We all know about Guhle and he is already under contract, but we have a pretty big group of college kids and older juniors that I expect GMTM to sign asap. We have 43 of our 50 allowed contracts.

 

So who should be signed? D Will Borgen (SCSU) and G Cal Petersen (ND) are on NCAA bubble teams that will likely miss the tournament. If so, despite both having eligibility left, I expect Murray to sign them and get them both here asap. Petersen is a key piece of the future, especially if we lose Ullmark to expansion. Borgen is one of the smart stay at home D we need long-term and I think it is important for us to get him here due to our lack of D depth throughout the organization.

 

Who else could be signed. Sean Malone, a Nichols kid plays F for Harvard, is a senior and having his best season. Harvard is a top seed in the NCAA so we probably wont see him until next year, but I think he has earned a contract. Also Anthony Florentino has been a solid physical D for 4 years at Providence. He has also earned a pro contract imho given our lack of D.

 

I'm not sure if SCSU's Judd Peterson is in the Sabres plans.

 

I expect GMTM to sign late round gem Estephan. The 6'0 center has improved each jr season and just turned 20. Given our lack of AHL centers, i expect him in Roch next season.

 

I also expect Devante Stephens, LD, to sign. He has been one of the big surprises this season with production that jumped from 11 pts last year to 33 so far this season. The more D the better.

 

ND's Connor Hurley, a former misplaced 2012 2nd rd pick or Regier's, has left the ND team for personal reasons. I wonder what his future holds now?

 

Anyone else?

Edited March 4, 2017 by GASabresIUFAN

[dudacek]

Malone has always intrigued me in a Torrey Mitchell kind of way.

 

Stephens is another one - a guy like Guhle (or Bailey, if you want a forward example) who was drafted more for his athletic ability than his hockey ability. The team figured he had raw material that could be developed. We need some sleepers. It would be nice if he was one.

 

I wonder what the deal is with Hurley. He was another one of these "athlete" picks.

Hated the pick at the time, hated it when I've seen him in action. Hate it now.

 

You can bash Murray for not taking defencemen in th 2014 second round, but looking where we picked there weren't any good ones.

In 2013, Hagg, Santini, Olofsson and Bowey all went in the next 15 picks after Hurley.

Edited March 4, 2017 by dudacek

[Two or less]

Besides our own guys, team to watch is Minnesota State and dmen prospect Daniel Brickley. He was with the Sabres at development camp and is very close with Casey Nelson (were a pairing in college) and during development camp Nelson said he was going to do his best to recruit him to Buffalo.

 

I don't think Minnesota State will be making the tournament so he'll be a free agent pretty soon.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Malone has always intrigued me in a Torrey Mitchell kind of way.

 

Stephens is another one - a guy like Guhle (or Bailey, if you want a forward example) who was drafted more for his athletic ability than his hockey ability. The team figured he had raw material that could be developed. We need some sleepers. It would be nice if he was one.

 

I wonder what the deal is with Hurley. He was another one of these "athlete" picks.

Hated the pick at the time, hated it when I've seen him in action. Hate it now.

 

You can bash Murray for not taking defencemen in th 2014 second round, but looking where we picked there weren't any good ones.

In 2013, Hagg, Santini, Olofsson and Bowey all went in the next 15 picks after Hurley.

GMTM didn't conduct the 2013 draft. Regier did. He also took Zadorov and Risto at the top of that draft and had taken McCabe in the 2nd in 2012 and Pysyk 1st in 2010. Where would we be now if he hadn't? I can understand why he went for 3 forwards in the second.

 

After GMTM took Karabacek 49th, Montour was taken 6 picks later. Wouldn't it have been nice to have him in the organization this year? In addition, Karabacek was the 4th straight forward selected by GMTM in that draft, after the 3 forwards taken in 2013, plus the acquisitions of Carrier and Fasching and the emergence of Baptiste. Was it really such a priority to take another forward in Karabacek?

Edited March 4, 2017 by GASabresIUFAN

[inkman]

GMTM didn't conduct the 2013 draft. Regier did. He also took Zadorov and Risto at the top of that draft and had taken McCabe in the 2nd in 2012 and Pysyk 1st in 2010. Where would we be now if he hadn't? I can understand why he went for 3 forwards in the second.

 

After GMTM took Karabacek 49th, Montour was taken 6 picks later. Wouldn't it have been nice to have him in the organization this year? In addition, Karabacek was the 4th straight forward selected by GMTM in that draft, after the 3 forwards taken in 2013, plus the acquisitions of Carrier and Fasching and the emergence of Baptiste. Was it really such a priority to take another forward in Karabacek?

I don't understand the mentality of wringing hands over who was drafted. Great you think Murray sucks.

[GASabresIUFAN]

I don't understand the mentality of wringing hands over who was drafted. Great you think Murray sucks.

I don't think GMTM sucks. I have been very impressed with the 2015 &16 drafts. I was simply responding to Duda's comment. Nor was bashing Murray the purpose of this thread. The purpose of this thread in fact is be forward looking and discuss who is coming into our pro ranks.

 

I was hoping other posters would bring forth any knowledge they had about college or Jr FA's thst Buffalo is rumored to have an interest in or players on our prospect list they believe will be signed (or not signed).

[GASabresIUFAN]

Besides our own guys, team to watch is Minnesota State and dmen prospect Daniel Brickley. He was with the Sabres at development camp and is very close with Casey Nelson (were a pairing in college) and during development camp Nelson said he was going to do his best to recruit him to Buffalo.

 

I don't think Minnesota State will be making the tournament so he'll be a free agent pretty soon.

I had forgotten about him. Any update on whether we are still interested? Edited March 4, 2017 by GASabresIUFAN

[Two or less]

I don't understand the mentality of wringing hands over who was drafted. Great you think Murray sucks.

 

Right. And the Ducks actually took Marcus Petterson 17 picks prior to selecting Montour. Not even the Ducks were ultra-high on Montour.

 

The Sabres had weak forwards and Murray needed to fix that. Obviously the picks, besides Lemieux have yet to work out, but like inkman said, i don't get going over past drafts, essp 2nd round and further down and being too critical.

I had forgotten about him. Any update on whether we are still interested?

 

I have not seen anything about him recently with being linked to the Sabres. I know recently, there was 30 NHL teams represented at one of his games (i believe the Wings were the only ones not there, but i could be wrong) so Sabres still keeping their eye out for him. Hopefully Nelson has done a good job recruiting him.

[dudacek]

GMTM didn't conduct the 2013 draft. Regier did. He also took Zadorov and Risto at the top of that draft and had taken McCabe in the 2nd in 2012 and Pysyk 1st in 2010. Where would we be now if he hadn't? I can understand why he went for 3 forwards in the second.

After GMTM took Karabacek 49th, Montour was taken 6 picks later. Wouldn't it have been nice to have him in the organization this year? In addition, Karabacek was the 4th straight forward selected by GMTM in that draft, after the 3 forwards taken in 2013, plus the acquisitions of Carrier and Fasching and the emergence of Baptiste. Was it really such a priority to take another forward in Karabacek?

When GMTM made those 2014 picks he already had Risto, McCabe, Zadorov, Pysyk in the pipeline too.

You can't forgive Regier for going forwards and berate Murray for it when essentially they had the same group of D, particularly when there were for better defencemen available in the second round of 2013.

Murray had a wealth of players at all positions. Clearly he took the ones he thought were the best available.

Nearly every other GM passed on Montour, who was apparently the only D worth taking in the second round.

 

It really seems like you have a double standard here.

Edited March 5, 2017 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

first of all my complaints about GMTM are accurate and justified. We have seen the results of his failure to build and maintain a good D pipeline first hand this season and relying on players from other organizations with the implosion of the Amerks and the horrible D group he built in Buffalo. I have not only complained about not taking a D in 2014, but also taking Nylander over Sergachev and Chychrun.

 

I have for years made similar observations about Regier and his failure to draft and develop centers. In all Regiers years in Buffalo he only drafted and developed 1 center you could consider a top 2 line center and that was Derek Roy. This failure ultimately destroyed the Sabres once Drury and Briere left town and all we had left was Roy, an injured Connolly and no one in the pipeline.

 

So far, GMTM has been going down the same path with D. I hope I'm proved wrong over time, starting with Guhle and Borgen. Remember the best way to manage the cap over time is have a deep pipeline of prospects in all positions ready to jump into the NHL as vets outside the core are lost to free agency. Having a pipeline right now of 10 good wingers, 1c, 1g and 2d isn't going to cut it.

 

The bottomline is that drafting only "best available" is a failed strategy. It failed us with Regier and will fail us again with GMTM. Edm made a similar mistake, of only drafting forwards, during their rebuild and it add years to rebuild that they are only now recovering from.

 

Again however this thread is about the future and understanding which prospects are likely to be playing in Buffalo and Rochester next season and how that effects the depth chart.

Edited March 5, 2017 by GASabresIUFAN

[Randall Flagg]

My opinions are also completely accurate and correct

[GoPre]

first of all my complaints about GMTM are accurate and justified. We have seen the results of his failure to build and maintain a good D pipeline first hand this season and relying on players from other organizations with the implosion of the Amerks and the horrible D group he built in Buffalo. I have not only complained about not taking a D in 2014, but also taking Nylander over Sergachev and Chychrun.

 

I have for years made similar observations about Regier and his failure to draft and develop centers. In all Regiers years in Buffalo he only drafted and developed 1 center you could consider a top 2 line center and that was Derek Roy. This failure ultimately destroyed the Sabres once Drury and Briere left town and all we had left was Roy, an injured Connolly and no one in the pipeline.

 

So far, GMTM has been going down the same path with D. I hope I'm proved wrong over time, starting with Guhle and Borgen. Remember the best way to manage the cap over time is have a deep pipeline of prospects in all positions ready to jump into the NHL as vets outside the core are lost to free agency. Having a pipeline right now of 10 good wingers, 1c, 1g and 2d isn't going to cut it.

 

The bottomline is that drafting only "best available" is a failed strategy. It failed us with Regier and will fail us again with GMTM. Edm made a similar mistake, of only drafting forwards, during their rebuild and it add years to rebuild that they are only now recovering from.

 

Again however this thread is about the future and understanding which prospects are likely to be playing in Buffalo and Rochester next season and how that effects the depth chart.

 

The Sabres needed a winger.  Nylander wasn't expected to fall to Buffalo.  Any GM in Murray's position would've drafted him. 

[bunomatic]

Great album

[Robviously]

The Sabres needed a winger.  Nylander wasn't expected to fall to Buffalo.  Any GM in Murray's position would've drafted him. 

Think they just had him pegged as BPA.  He might still be.  We'll know a lot more in 3 years and maybe he's the winger we need to skate with Eichel.

[Brawndo]

Joe Yerdon reported after the draft the Sabres felt there would be two of three players they targeted available at 8.  They had them ranked in this order Juoveli, Nylander and Sergchev .

[MattPie]

Great album

 

No kidding.

[ubkev]

Great album

Better than Tommy. By a lot.

[Doohickie]

Better than Tommy. By a lot.

 

Yeah, still not as good as Quadrophenia, which I consider their masterwork.

[nfreeman]

Yeah, still not as good as Quadrophenia, which I consider their masterwork.

 

That one had plenty of great moments, but IMHO Who's Next was their peak.

 

 

As for D prospects:  he's most likely not a this-year signing, but 2016 3rd-round pick Casey Fitzgerald is a sophomore at BC who played pretty well for team USA in the World Juniors this year.  He has 20 pts and 42 PIM in 33 games.  He is on the small side at 5'11", 185 lbs, so another year in college is probably the right move for him at this point.

[dudacek]

It will depend on who Murray signs and acquires elsewhere in the organization, but Fitzergerald is only two months younger than Borgen and older than Guhle. Given the need for young D, we might see him signed.

 

Guhle, Borgen, Fitzgerald, Florentino and Stephens could all be added to a system that, at the moment, has only has the very disappointing Casey Nelson and Brycen Martin as young minor leaguers. Brady Austin will be a free agent.

Edited March 7, 2017 by dudacek

[nfreeman]

It will depend on who Murray signs and acquires elsewhere in the organization, but Fitzergerald is only two months younger than Borgen and older than Guhle. Given the need for young D, we might see him signed.

 

Guhle, Borgen, Fitzgerald, Florentino and Stephens could all be added to a system that, at the moment, has only has the very disappointing Casey Nelson and Brycen Martin as young minor leaguers. Brady Austin will be a free agent.

 

I am not ready to throw in the towel yet on Nelson.  I think he has good hands and good feet.  It's not impossible that with time he can get his split-second decision-making to an NHL level.  Some defensemen take longer than others.  

[Doohickie]

I am not ready to throw in the towel yet on Nelson.  I think he has good hands and good feet.  It's not impossible that with time he can get his split-second decision-making to an NHL level.  Some defensemen take longer than others.  

 

Look at Falk and Fedun; they bounced around as journeymen for quite a while; they're both 28.  Not to say they're superstars, but they certainly aren't out of place, nor are they our worst Dmen this year.