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Overall Draft thoughts


GASabresIUFAN

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Jbot’s draft style is becoming firmly established.

1) Early picks can be from any league as they are expected to make an impact within 2 years.

2) After that only players that can be allowed to develop at their own pace need apply - Euros, USHL and NCAA.  What I mean by this is that a guy who needs 4 years until they get an ELC will get it, but guys like UPL and Pekar who develop faster then expected will be signed and moved to the CHL or Rochester.  

So here we are in year 3 of the Jbot era and another smart draft IMHO.  

We got a top notch forward in Cozens who will be in our top 6 within 2 years although I suspect he’ll be playing on Mitts’ wing.

We added a talented Puck moving D in Johnson at 31 who could move rapidly up our depth chart if the game he showed in the USHL playoffs continues to develop.

After that we have added 4 guys we can let develop at their own pace.  

Huglen is a very talented forward who split time between US High School and the USHL.  He’ll stay in the USHL next season and then go to Minnesota.

We added a 6’6” goalie from Sweden in Portillo who moves to the USHL next year and then to Michigan in 2020. 

Late we added two guys who bare watching as both are a little older.  Winger Cederqvist, who will be 19 in August, made the jump mid-season to the SHL after dominating in the Swe Jr.  Will likely make Swe international teams next year.  Lastly we stole CZE forward Rousek. Rousek, 20, played on both the CZE U19 and U20 teams this past season and was rated higher by many then we drafted him at 160.

Looks like another very solid draft with lots of potential and late picks that have legit upside.  

 

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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Personally I don't know much about how to pick which 18 year olds might make good NHLer's.

It seems maybe that the Sabres development program has improved (at least I hope so).

So I'll raise my glass to the new young men and hope they succeed as best they can!

Go Sabres!

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Certainly a relatively safe draft, with the exception of the Huglen pick, which I must admit is an intriguing gamble. My overall assessment is that it seems Botterill competently filled most holes in the farm system.

I understand the Johnson pick, we do need some fresh D in the pipeline, but would have strongly preferred a more offensively aggressive maneuver.  Our core D is young enough where we could have swung for more offense this draft year.

I give it a B+.

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https://theathletic.com/1041862/2019/06/22/wheeler-ranking-every-teams-day-2-at-the-2019-nhl-draft/

This guy HATES what GMJB did on day two. He notes that multiple picks were overages (one is a double-overager)... meaning this isn't their first year entering the NHL draft.

Maybe Botts likes that these guys are further along? Maybe he's afraid he needs to get guys on the ice ASAP to show his worth?

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1 hour ago, Hoss said:

https://theathletic.com/1041862/2019/06/22/wheeler-ranking-every-teams-day-2-at-the-2019-nhl-draft/

This guy HATES what GMJB did on day two. He notes that multiple picks were overages (one is a double-overager)... meaning this isn't their first year entering the NHL draft.

Maybe Botts likes that these guys are further along? Maybe he's afraid he needs to get guys on the ice ASAP to show his worth?

 

Quote

 

Losers

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres had four picks and one of them is a double overager putting up OK numbers in a sub-par European pro league (Lukas Rousek), another (Aaron Huglen) is a high school forward who got pushed around when I watched him in the USHL, one (Erik Portillo) is a standout Swedish goalie who has yet to make the jump to pro, and the other (Filip Cederqvist) is an overager who didn’t wow me in the SHL this season.

 

 

Well Mr. Wheeler, your comments on Portillo and Huglen seem very similar to the comments written about UPL and Laaksonen and the score right now is Jbot 2, critics 0.

Speed and puck talent can’t really be taught.  You either got it or u don’t. Huglen is about 6’ tall and weighs 165 lbs.  No wonder he got pushed around some in the USHL that has players in their early 20s.  Wait until he adds 20 lbs.  

As to Portillo again you can’t teach size.  6’6” is a big goalie at 18. In 30 games in the Swedish Jr league he had a Gaa of 2.  UPL was drafted out of a similar league in Finland and with just slightly better numbers.  UPL is also our only goalie prospect.  Seems like a smart draft pick to me.

 

By the way Pronman of the Athletic likes our Draft with a B plus grade.

 

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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FYI here is how Promman’s opinion has changed on UPL over the last 12 months.

This is from just prior to last season. He has him as our 12th best prospect.

Quote

 

12. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, G, Leki-Mestis

Luukkonen had an OK season between junior and pro. He’s a physically towering netminder. He can get across the crease when he needs to, with solid power from his legs, and can make the occasional highlight-reel type of play. When he’s on and making good reads he can be a wall in net due to his size and athleticism and the aggressiveness he plays with. There are moments he has mental lapses though and can be a little all over the place.

 

By mid-season Pronman had UPL as the 6th best NHL G prospect ahead of guys like Cal Petersen who was 14th on the list.

Quote

 

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo

Age: 19 | Drafted: 54th overall in 2017

Previous ranking: NR

Luukkonnen has had a great season, at times carrying a mediocre Sudbury team, and he was the best goaltender at the world juniors. I’ve always appreciated the size and the quickness, but lately I’ve been very impressed by his great hockey sense and positioning. There’s no extra movement in his game, which I saw in previous years, and he uses his size very well to take away angles.

 

By this coming season, my guess is he’ll one of top 3 NHL goalie prospects.  

1 minute ago, Weave said:

Spelling aside, this is very premature.  Trending as hoped, but premature.

Apple auto correct.

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23 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

FYI here is how Promman’s opinion has changed on UPL over the last 12 months.

This is from just prior to last season. He has him as our 12th best prospect.

By mid-season Pronman had UPL as the 6th best NHL G prospect ahead of guys like Cal Petersen who was 14th on the list.

By this coming season, my guess is he’ll one of top 3 NHL goalie prospects.  

Apple auto correct.

Pretty sure he was named the best goalie prospect in hockey.

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https://theathletic.com/1024809/2019/06/22/grading-the-buffalo-sabres-2019-draft-class/

Pronman's Draft grades in the Athletic

He has a pick by pick analysis on every team's picks also. Whether you agree with him or not, he does give an informative job on his reviews.

Quote

 

2019 Draft Grade: B-plus

The Sabres picked a lot of players I have time for. I think Dylan Cozens will be a great player, a potential top-line center or winger who can drive play. Ryan Johnson was perceived as a safe pick, but I knew a lot of teams who were high on him. Aaron Huglen is a player I am very interested in and think he had the most upside of any player picked outside of the first round. Ultimately, I think Cozens will be great, Johnson plays but probably in a lower role, Huglen could play thanks to having boatloads of skill and I think those European players, while not top prospects yet, all at least have a chance.

 

 

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11 minutes ago, jsb said:

https://theathletic.com/1024809/2019/06/22/grading-the-buffalo-sabres-2019-draft-class/

Pronman's Draft grades in the Athletic

He has a pick by pick analysis on every team's picks also. Whether you agree with him or not, he does give an informative job on his reviews.

 

Pronman seems to have favorable reviews of a lot of what Buffalo does as far as prospects acquired in the draft and trades goes. I appreciate it considering how brutally negative it is rooting for this team.

Also, that’s HIGH praise for Huglan.

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50 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

It doesn't really bother me, but Tim Murray "blew through all of our picks/prospects with dumb trades" according to some

GMTM and GMJB each have 3 drafts and Murray made 7 more picks in that span

I'm not sure what you mean here.  TM had more picks because of the tank. 

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4 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I'm not sure what you mean here.  TM had more picks because of the tank. 

 

Hos point was, TM acquired 7 more picks to use as capital, so using picks in each trade isn't as felonious as we made it out to be.

 

It IS interesting that a guy who likes to  build through the draft is so willing to package picks and consistently have less than the full slate of picks.

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16 minutes ago, nucci said:

another draft with potential....don't we hear this every year?

The guy at #7 should be an NHL player.  The guy at #31 is a maybe at best.  The rest we will be lucky to have any of them have a decent NHL career.  So, you are right ... potential, the same as every other year, but at least the #7 pick is a very likely NHL player.

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30 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

The guy at #7 should be an NHL player.  The guy at #31 is a maybe at best.  The rest we will be lucky to have any of them have a decent NHL career.  So, you are right ... potential, the same as every other year, but at least the #7 pick is a very likely NHL player.

You guys know more than me but there are some good write ups on Cozens

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There is a difference between the quality of the picks that were traded when comparing GMTM and Botterill. 

GMTM traded 2 Firsts and 3 Seconds, compared to a Second, 3 Thirds(One which was swapped for a Fourth), a Fourth and a Fifth under Botterill. 

Granted with the exception of Skinner, the quality of players that came back in GMTMs Trades was much higher.

The questions remains were those moves made by GMTM the appropriate ones, given the lack of depth in the prospect pool. Would the better course have been to make the ROR Deal and keep the other two picks in the Top 31 in 2015? Or the trading of two seconds and McNabb for Fasching and DLo? 

Botterill’s Trading of Late Round Picks to move up for targeted players is a risky proposition. Based on Sean Tierney’s Expected Value, it’s better to use all the picks and have more chances to hit on a player. 

I guess this is where The Scouting Staff earns its money and more importantly it’s reputation. 

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12 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I think he drafts smart but I think so far his timeline is longer and much slower than most of us want. 

It's the NHL draft.  Outside of top 10 picks, almost none of the kids, in any org, will be NHLers for a minimum of 3 years. 

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4 hours ago, Weave said:

 

Hos point was, TM acquired 7 more picks to use as capital, so using picks in each trade isn't as felonious as we made it out to be.

 

It IS interesting that a guy who likes to  build through the draft is so willing to package picks and consistently have less than the full slate of picks.

I never said that. I said I like the picks we made. 

No it’s not a felony in general to trade picks for other assets, but TM use of the picks was the felony.  Who trades an NHL D and 2 second picks for a newly drafted 4th rd prospect and a 4th line no skill forward.  Only TM.

Jbot turned a 3rd rd pick (Pu) and a 2nd rd pick  into Skinner.

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