Brawndo Posted April 12, 2018 Report Share Posted April 12, 2018 Some thoughts from Corey Pronman’s Mailbag with The Athletic. Is Wahlstrom a pure goal-scoring winger or does he have a chance to play center in the NHL? Don’t think he’s a center, but he can make plays, he’s not just a shooter. Shane K: What does everyone see in Tkachuk that I am missing? Not that I am a great scout, but I see an average skater with some skill who is using his size/strength advantage to muscle his way to the net at this level — not sure that will work in the pros. To me, he seems like the classic infatuated with size prospect who will be solid but not spectacular at the next level. Is that a top 5 pick? I’d say more than just some skill. It’s above-average. Good to very good IQ. Elite physical game. That’s a very good player. The debate is just where does that skill set slot. I’m wary that it’s top 5. Daniel S: Can you compare Wahlstrom and Tkachuk to explain the measurable skills vs. intangibles (such as attitude or compete-level) debate? Why is Tkachuk so highly-touted in comparison to other players with more skill? Wahlstrom is a better skater, has better hands and has a much better shot. Tkachuk is smarter; has a much, much better physical game/work ethic; and is better at defense. Etienne L: How big is the gap between Svechnikov, Zadina and Wahlstrom? There’s a gap, but it’s not significant. I can buy a statistical argument Wahlstrom is right there, but my eyes have a hard time getting there. Matt R: How big a gap is there between the three high-profile wingers (Andrei Svechnikov, Brady Tkachuk and Filip Zadina) and defensemen not named Rasmus Dahlin? I think Quinn Hughes is right there. I’m deliberating Adam Boqvist right now in that area, his U18 tournament will be important starting next week. Sam Cosentino from Sportsnet was on the Howard Simon Show He mentioned the Defenseman he has after Dahlin: Boqvist, Dobson and Bouchard Forwards:Zadina, Svechnikov And Tkatchuk. Because of their skating ability I would go Boqvist, Hughes and Dobson the first two interchangeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brawndo Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Some Draft Stuff from Friedman 29. One scout said there was quite a turnout last weekend to watch the 2018 U.S. Youth Tier I national championships in Philadelphia. Among the crowd: Scott Bradley (Boston); Tod Button (Calgary); Ron Hextall and Chris Prior (Philadelphia); Mark Hunter (Toronto); Randy Sexton (Buffalo). It is believed they were watching draft-eligible Jay O’Brien, who plays for former NHL-er Tony Amonte at Thayer Academy, and Andrew Orpik (brother of Brooks) with the Cape Cod Whalers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GASabresIUFAN Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) Andrew Orpik? The guy is 32 years old. Why would they be scouting him? I went and looked at the Whalers website and Orpik is the U18 coach. Edited April 13, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Thought we fired Sexton, along with the rest of our scouts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brawndo Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) Thought we fired Sexton, along with the rest of our scouts?No he was one of Botterill’s First Hires. He is the AGM of the Sabres and the GM of the Amerks He was Director of Amateur Scouting for the Pens and ran their draft last season Edited April 13, 2018 by Brawndo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsb Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 If we don't win the #1 pick and get Dahlin, unless one of those forwards are Laine like, I'm taking Boqvist or Bouchard with our pick. We need a top line dman so bad, I don't know how you pass them up. As bad as we need wingers our backend is awful. I like Hughes but he's so small I'm not sure he can fit as a #1 or #2 defensemen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Andrew Orpik? The guy is 32 years old. Why would they be scouting him? I went and looked at the Whalers website and Orpik is the U18 coach. Weird. Who scouts coaches? Yet Friedman did write that... https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-might-difficult-nhl-awards-race-ever/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3putt Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Permit me the pleasure of name dropping: Mikhail Grigorenko Nikita Zadorov Alexander Radulov Valeri Nichushkin Niki Zherdev Alexandr Svitov Nikita Filatov Filatov added he was once offered a deal by Hitchcock: if the winger played strong defense, Hitchcock would let him roam around the ice on offense. “It fell on deaf ears,” Filatov told Shevchenko. “(I’m a) forward who can score, do not touch me...." Russian facts factor not in their favor. So, no Andrei Svechnikov Большое спасибо. I"ll Raise. Kucherov Panarin Tarasenko Kuznetsov and Ovechkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Buffalo Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Panarin doesnt play D and refuses to play on penalty kill. Ovi shows up when he wants, Putin stooge. Kuznetsov not sure, the only ones really are Kucherov and Tarasenko... both anomolies to the Russian heredity... more Afinaganovesque for the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3putt Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Panarin doesnt play D and refuses to play on penalty kill. Ovi shows up when he wants, Putin stooge. Kuznetsov not sure, the only ones really are Kucherov and Tarasenko... both anomolies to the Russian heredity... more Afinaganovesque for the rest. And scored the game winning goal in OT last night. Kuznetsov, Kucherov, and Tarasenko all play well rounded games. The Russian myth is way overplayed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 No he was one of Botterill’s First Hires. He is the AGM of the Sabres and the GM of the Amerks He was Director of Amateur Scouting for the Pens and ran their draft last season Ah gotcha, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) Weird. Who scouts coaches? Yet Friedman did write that... https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/31-thoughts-might-difficult-nhl-awards-race-ever/ Misplaced comma. I'd imagine the quote is trying to claim that O'Brien plays for both Amonte and Orpik. Edit: Looked it up, that exactly what it is. Edited April 13, 2018 by shrader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader1969 Posted April 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 If we don't win the #1 pick and get Dahlin, unless one of those forwards are Laine like, I'm taking Boqvist or Bouchard with our pick. We need a top line dman so bad, I don't know how you pass them up. As bad as we need wingers our backend is awful. I like Hughes but he's so small I'm not sure he can fit as a #1 or #2 defensemen. shouldn't be worrying about his size, its the new NHL. Lots of high end Dmen 5'10 to 6'0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) If we don't win the #1 pick and get Dahlin, unless one of those forwards are Laine like, I'm taking Boqvist or Bouchard with our pick. We need a top line dman so bad, I don't know how you pass them up. As bad as we need wingers our backend is awful. I like Hughes but he's so small I'm not sure he can fit as a #1 or #2 defensemen. Svechnikov is in the same tier of goal scoring as Laine. Svechnikov uses his body really well to shield the puck and get his shot off. Bouchard is no longer a top 4 pick in my book. There isn't enough there. If we are really worried about size, Noah Dobson at 6'3" skates better and I think is more creative with the puck. Edited April 13, 2018 by Skurk Liger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader1969 Posted April 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Svechnikov is in the same tier of goal scoring as Laine. Svechnikov uses his body really well to shield the puck and get his shot off. I don't think he has Laine's shot, but he is probably a better skater and is a bull driving the net. Not sure he is a 40 goal guy but put him with Eichel and its a possibility Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsb Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 shouldn't be worrying about his size, its the new NHL. Lots of high end Dmen 5'10 to 6'0. More worried about the 170lbs than the height. At that weight who's he going to move out of the slot??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 More worried about the 170lbs than the height. At that weight who's he going to move out of the slot??? He's 17. Lots of time to gain strength and weight. I would expect his playing weight to be closer to 190 when NHL ready. I am only defending Boqvist because after doing a lot of digging I like his game more than I once did. There is a lot of talent there and he seems to work hard. The biggest knock on Boqvist is that he isn't physically strong enough for a men's league yet. If he trains hard this offseason, gaining 10lbs of muscle is possible. We also don't have his combine weight yet so we don't know how much he has grown in the last 8 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader1969 Posted April 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 More worried about the 170lbs than the height. At that weight who's he going to move out of the slot??? who is Karlsson moving out from the slot? one of the keys to Avalanche's turnaround this season is Samuel Girard. 5'10 160lbs. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/11/sam-girard-colorado-avalanche-rookie-vs-nashville-predators/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) If we don't win the #1 pick and get Dahlin, unless one of those forwards are Laine like, I'm taking Boqvist or Bouchard with our pick. We need a top line dman so bad, I don't know how you pass them up. As bad as we need wingers our backend is awful. I like Hughes but he's so small I'm not sure he can fit as a #1 or #2 defensemen. Yes, we need a high-end defenceman, but people seem to forget our weakest position organizationally is easily left wing. I don’t know the top players well enough yet to have a strong opinion, but we can’t afford to pass on a Tarasenko for a Tyson Barrie or a Darnell Nurse or worse. 25-or-younger D: Risto, McCabe, Nelson, Beaulieu, Guhle, Borgen, Antipin Edited April 13, 2018 by dudacek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
French Collection Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 who is Karlsson moving out from the slot? one of the keys to Avalanche's turnaround this season is Samuel Girard. 5'10 160lbs. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/11/sam-girard-colorado-avalanche-rookie-vs-nashville-predators/ He can push Marner or Gaudreau around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGR4GM Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Fun fact, Blade Jenkins currently sits at 48 on my list. Not only does Blade have a cool name, but he is young. I mean real young. Brady Takchuk is almost 1 year older. Blade won't be 18 until mid August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_sauve28 Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 On this team a #3 is gold, sadly. The Sabres have never had a true #1 and only a handful of true #2's too - Schoenfeld, Zhitnik, and Tallinder fit that bill. Due to extreme ability in his own end, would put Ramsey in there as well. Campbell grew into it, but it was a long slow process getti g him there. (Myers was there at times, as was McKee, but not sure they belong w/ that label in the commonly accepted narrower definition than 31st - 62nd best D-man in the league.) We hope that Ristolainen will deserve that label, but due to misusage wouldn't absolutely include him yet. Which is why landing Dahlin would be so cool. The Sabres might for the 1st time in nearly 50 years have a #1 if he plays as projected. Wasn't Bill Hajt that kind of #2 guy? I remember from like 1981 where he was hurt and they couldn't win until he came back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabres Fan in NS Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Wasn't Bill Hajt that kind of #2 guy? I remember from like 1981 where he was hurt and they couldn't win until he came back Hajt was one of the best shut down defenders ever to play the game, but his game was not well rounded (not much offence) to be a #2. I would have him a solid #3 / #4, but with all the PK time and he was on the ice pretty much the last 5 to 10 minutes of a close game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 Wasn't Bill Hajt that kind of #2 guy? I remember from like 1981 where he was hurt and they couldn't win until he came back Hajt was one of the best shut down defenders ever to play the game, but his game was not well rounded (not much offence) to be a #2. I would have him a solid #3 / #4, but with all the PK time and he was on the ice pretty much the last 5 to 10 minutes of a close game. Pretty much this. Hajt was a poor man's Ramsey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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