Updated Sabres Prospect Pool 2021 and beyond

[LabattBlue]

10 minutes ago, Hoss said:

I’d imagine Quinn in a first-come first-serve basis. Really curious what Power wears. #25 is another number he’s worn which is also semi-taken. He wore #3 when he was much younger.

Maybe he wears 66…6’6”

[French Collection]

12 hours ago, Hoss said:

I’d imagine Quinn in a first-come first-serve basis. Really curious what Power wears. #25 is another number he’s worn which is also semi-taken. He wore #3 when he was much younger.

25 would look good on him, channel some Chris Pronger.

[Norcal]

 

[Flashsabre]

https://twitter.com/CZprospects/status/1466847086356447237?s=20

What a bloody goal!

[DarthEbriate]

22 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

https://twitter.com/CZprospects/status/1466847086356447237?s=20

What a bloody goal!

Shades of Geoff Sanderson right there.

[Norcal]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

https://twitter.com/CZprospects/status/1466847086356447237?s=20

What a bloody goal!

Goal of the year candidate?

 

[Norcal]

 

[Norcal]

 

[Norcal]

 

 

[LabattBlue]

1 hour ago, Norcal said:

 

 

How can you not root for this guy.  If he ever made the Sabres, he would immediately go on the all-time name list for Sabres players. 

[Norcal]

7 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

How can you not root for this guy.  If he ever made the Sabres, he would immediately go on the all-time name list for Sabres players. 

No doubt

[dudacek]

Everybody expected a number of players would be under- or over-drafted last July because of COVID.

Van Barnekow, Nadeau, Bloom and Novikov, and even Kozak certainly seem like great value for where we got them.

Marjala and Sardarian, not so much.

[nfreeman]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

How can you not root for this guy.  If he ever made the Sabres, he would immediately go on the all-time name list for Sabres players. 

Please let him be a count or some other kind of royalty with a cool title...

[Norcal]

48 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Everybody expected a number of players would be under- or over-drafted last July because of COVID.

Van Barnekow, Nadeau, Bloom and Novikov, and even Kozak certainly seem like great value for where we got them.

Marjala and Sardarian, not so much.

It would be great to have a few of these guys competing against each other for playing time in Rochester and Buffalo in the future. 

 

[Norcal]

 

[Norcal]

 

[Brawndo]

 

[Brawndo]

 

[Norcal]

 

 

[LGR4GM]

Nadeau is so intriguing

[LGR4GM]

Novikov is a July 25th bday making him super young but at just 18 he is a regular in the KHL and has 4 points in 30 games. Now it is tempting to look at 4 points in 30 and say "well that's kinda crappy even for a defender" but 18 year olds, and super young 18 year olds just don't play defense in men's leagues too often. SHL, Liiga, KHL all do have some teens for sure that play defense but Novikov is this weird anomaly because he is so young and he was a 6th round pick. He played on the same team as Kisakov last year which is probably why the Sabres found him. I will honestly say I would not have found him due to the fact I rely on the counting stats to narrow my pool (I am 1 person and can't look at everyone). 

Novikov intrigues because nothing jumps out at you from counting stats. He had 14pts in 52 games at the MHL level last year so that isn't great or bad, it is really mediocre for a defender. Things start to get interesting when you look at his WJC18 #s and he drops 5a in 7 games and is a +9. Now +/- doesn't tell us much of anything other than ES goal differential but where Pi has it right is that you can compare that number to the team to get a feel for a player and Novikov was 2nd on that roster with his +9. (Mitchkov had 16 points and 12 goals in that tournament and clocks in at +7)

Okay so why does any of this matter? Novikov is very young for his class, you can basically compare him to the Sept, Oct, Nov. guys for the 2022 class because those are his peers. Owen Power for example is 8 months older and in prospect terms that's a lot. With all that in consideration there is a very reliable and physical defender there with lots of room for growth in his offensive game. The book on him is he plays offense somewhat conservatively because he plays defense very well (he avoids mistakes and that means taking fewer chances). He is just a smart, big (6'4" 207lbs), reliable defender with a physical side who is cutting it in the KHL. He was also Captain of his u17 and u18 team so there is some leadership there. I hope he is on the WJC20 roster because I really want to get a closer look at him as I have a few clips and some reports to go off right now. He passes the eye test though and even if he is just a pk/3rd pairing shutdown behemoth he is worth a 6th round pick but if he develops some more offense, he's going to be a massive steal and because he is SUPER young for his class, that's a possibility. 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by LGR4GM

[LGR4GM]

Here is a shift by shift from last year. Novikov isn't that exciting but boy is he solid and if he ups his agility and foot speed he will be more fun. 

 

10 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Novikov is a July 25th bday making him super young but at just 18 he is a regular in the KHL and has 4 points in 30 games. Now it is tempting to look at 4 points in 30 and say "well that's kinda crappy even for a defender" but 18 year olds, and super young 18 year olds just don't play defense in men's leagues too often. SHL, Liiga, KHL all do have some teens for sure that play defense but Novikov is this weird anomaly because he is so young and he was a 6th round pick. He played on the same team as Kisakov last year which is probably why the Sabres found him. I will honestly say I would not have found him due to the fact I rely on the counting stats to narrow my pool (I am 1 person and can't look at everyone). 

Novikov intrigues because nothing jumps out at you from counting stats. He had 14pts in 52 games at the MHL level last year so that isn't great or bad, it is really mediocre for a defender. Things start to get interesting when you look at his WJC18 #s and he drops 5a in 7 games and is a +9. Now +/- doesn't tell us much of anything other than ES goal differential but where Pi has it right is that you can compare that number to the team to get a feel for a player and Novikov was 2nd on that roster with his +9. (Mitchkov had 16 points and 12 goals in that tournament and clocks in at +7)

Okay so why does any of this matter? Novikov is very young for his class, you can basically compare him to the Sept, Oct, Nov. guys for the 2022 class because those are his peers. Owen Power for example is 8 months older and in prospect terms that's a lot. With all that in consideration there is a very reliable and physical defender there with lots of room for growth in his offensive game. The book on him is he plays offense somewhat conservatively because he plays defense very well (he avoids mistakes and that means taking fewer chances). He is just a smart, big (6'4" 207lbs), reliable defender with a physical side who is cutting it in the KHL. He was also Captain of his u17 and u18 team so there is some leadership there. I hope he is on the WJC20 roster because I really want to get a closer look at him as I have a few clips and some reports to go off right now. He passes the eye test though and even if he is just a pk/3rd pairing shutdown behemoth he is worth a 6th round pick but if he develops some more offense, he's going to be a massive steal and because he is SUPER young for his class, that's a possibility. 

 

 

[Norcal]

 

[LGR4GM]

I always forget about Filip. Another year and we'll see him in Rochester I think. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

I always forget about Filip. Another year and we'll see him in Rochester I think. 

Cedarqvist and Costantini have taken a big step forward this season.  I also interested to see if Pekar can step up his game with all the new openings in Rochester.