Sabres Officially Select #9, #16, and #28

[dudacek]

27 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

That puts Lekkerimaki squarely in the Sabres Sights. 

I hope not, but that's who he mocks to us.

Savoie (11th) seems to be a much better fit for the Sabres depth chart and for their "type".

Cosentino calls a Lekkerimaki a good compliment to Quinn and Peterka. I say with Olofsson Skinner and Tuch already on the roster and Poltapov, Rosen and Kisakov coming, it's redundant.

We've taken wingers with 5 of our past 6 picks in the top two rounds.

He also has us taking Ostlund at 16 and Pickering at 28.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sportsnets-2022-nhl-mock-draft-predicting-how-round-1-will-unfold/

[Brawndo]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I hope not, but that's who he mocks to us.

Savoie (11th) seems to be a much better fit for the Sabres depth chart and for their "type".

Cosentino calls a Lekkerimaki a good compliment to Quinn and Peterka. I say with Olofsson Skinner and Tuch already on the roster and Poltapov, Rosen and Kisakov coming, it's redundant.

We've taken wingers with 5 of our past 6 picks in the top two rounds.

He also has us taking Ostlund at 16 and Pickering at 28.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sportsnets-2022-nhl-mock-draft-predicting-how-round-1-will-unfold/

I can’t see them passing on Nazar twice 

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I can’t see them passing on Nazar twice 

Both Cosentino and Pronman mocked Nazar to 19th.

Pronman says he knows the internet loves him, but scouts generally have him in the late teens.

He's 15 on McKenzie's list too, so maybe he has something there?

[Curt]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

Is it deep, or is it mediocre?  I’m sensing more the latter.

Mediocre (weak, really) top-5/10 but deep in the mid 1st through the 2nd.

In the years leading up to it, the 2022 draft was considered pretty strong, but no players really separated themselves as impressive top 1, 2, 3 overall picks, so now it’s kind of getting tagged as a weak draft.

I think that in reality it’s still a pretty deep draft.

[dudacek]

18 minutes ago, Curt said:

Mediocre (weak, really) top-5/10 but deep in the mid 1st through the 2nd.

In the years leading up to it, the 2022 draft was considered pretty strong, but no players really separated themselves as impressive top 1, 2, 3 overall picks, so now it’s kind of getting tagged as a weak draft.

I think that in reality it’s still a pretty deep draft.

I think WRIGHT was tagged as a franchise centre, while Lambert, and to a lesser extent, Savoie and Miroshnichenko were guys people were really excited about and they’ve all disappointed to a certain degree.

[Eleven]

I just posted in the offseason catchall thread...the USSR is apparently after Kaprizov now in addition to Fedotov.  I would not draft a Russian in the early rounds this year.

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I just posted in the offseason catchall thread...the USSR is apparently after Kaprizov now in addition to Fedotov.  I would not draft a Russian in the early rounds this year.

Makes you wonder who's next.

[Flashsabre]

48 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Both Cosentino and Pronman mocked Nazar to 19th.

Pronman says he knows the internet loves him, but scouts generally have him in the late teens.

He's 15 on McKenzie's list too, so maybe he has something there?

Nazar is not that good. His strength is his skating and some people translate fast skating into being a top pick. I was disappointed watching him at the U18s this year. I thought he just played the perimeter made bad decisions and his body language was bad after taking some stupid penalties. Granted it was one tournament but he didn’t impress me.

[LGR4GM]

40 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I just posted in the offseason catchall thread...the USSR is apparently after Kaprizov now in addition to Fedotov.  I would not draft a Russian in the early rounds this year.

Im not worried about it

5 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Speaking of Russia...

 

 

4 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

[Eleven]

3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Im not worried about it

Obviously, I am.  If the Premier decides not to let USSR players leave, it's a total loss.  There's a reason Mogilny lasted until the fifth round.  

[LGR4GM]

59 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Nazar is not that good. His strength is his skating and some people translate fast skating into being a top pick. I was disappointed watching him at the U18s this year. I thought he just played the perimeter made bad decisions and his body language was bad after taking some stupid penalties. Granted it was one tournament but he didn’t impress me.

 

[Eleven]

I want to note that my opinion on not drafting USSR players isn't political, even though I am (correctly) using "USSR" in terminology.  It's simply based upon whether the draftees will be able to play here.  I don't think they will.

[LGR4GM]

29 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Obviously, I am.  If the Premier decides not to let USSR players leave, it's a total loss.  There's a reason Mogilny lasted until the fifth round.  

 

1 minute ago, Eleven said:

I want to note that my opinion on not drafting USSR players isn't political, even though I am (correctly) using "USSR" in terminology.  It's simply based upon whether the draftees will be able to play here.  I don't think they will.

I think they'll be able to get out.

[Brawndo]

26 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Obviously, I am.  If the Premier decides not to let USSR players leave, it's a total loss.  There's a reason Mogilny lasted until the fifth round.  

The common denominator with Fedotov and Kaprizov is both played for CSKA which has direction connection to the Red Army. So those players may have “forced military service” as a result. 
 

Yurov and Trikozov do not have any ties to CSKA and those players will not be in North America for 2-3 years, a lot can change during that timeframe. 
 

Adams just mentioned in a presser that they evaluate Hockey Players First, then You need to take a look what’s happening in the world, but if the value of the player is there when the Sabres Pick, they will have a conversation about taking them. 

[Ruff Around The Edges]

This is a MASSIVE year for the Adams regime. To me its everything.

If I am in the Sabres organization and when consdering the situation in Russia right now in terms of availability being a question mark, and in many ways, hard to handicap how it will unfold, I am passing on the Russian players for now.

Adams needs to hit home runs in this draft, KA does not need to ground out into DP's. If KA drafts Russians and the worst happens, he will be unemployed sooner then later.

[SDS]

5 minutes ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:

This is a MASSIVE year for the Adams regime. To me its everything.

If I am in the Sabres organization and when consdering the situation in Russia right now in terms of availability being a question mark, and in many ways, hard to handicap how it will unfold, I am passing on the Russian players for now.

Adams needs to hit home runs in this draft, KA does not need to ground out into DP's. If KA drafts Russians and the worst happens, he will be unemployed sooner then later.

The problem is that he will be held responsible for not knowing the unknowable.

[Ruff Around The Edges]

Just now, SDS said:

The problem is that he will be held responsible for not knowing the unknowable.

Very true, its a dicey situation.

Whatever the call is, just hope the Sabres really do their due diligence on the Russian players now

[Flashsabre]

32 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

Not a big fan of those elite prospects guys either. I know we won’t see eye to eye on this and that is fine.

[dudacek]

50 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

The common denominator with Fedotov and Kaprizov is both played for CSKA which has direction connection to the Red Army. So those players may have “forced military service” as a result. 
 

Yurov and Trikozov do not have any ties to CSKA and those players will not be in North America for 2-3 years, a lot can change during that timeframe. 
 

Adams just mentioned in a presser that they evaluate Hockey Players First, then You need to take a look what’s happening in the world, but if the value of the player is there when the Sabres Pick, they will have a conversation about taking them. 

 

40 minutes ago, Ruff Around The Edges said:

This is a MASSIVE year for the Adams regime. To me its everything.

If I am in the Sabres organization and when consdering the situation in Russia right now in terms of availability being a question mark, and in many ways, hard to handicap how it will unfold, I am passing on the Russian players for now.

Adams needs to hit home runs in this draft, KA does not need to ground out into DP's. If KA drafts Russians and the worst happens, he will be unemployed sooner then later.

All draft picks come with risk.

Do your homework as best you can on an individual player’s skill set and situation.

Then play fearless.

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by dudacek

[Brawndo]

 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

 

pr

This issue was talked about on WGR with a hockey reporter. The issue really isn't will the Russian prospects eventually be able to come to North America because they likely will. The issue is will these prospects have to stay in Russia longer and have their development curtailed compared to coming to NA sooner and using the lower hockey leagues and training facilities to prepare to become NHL players. Will their development be slowed and stifled? Maybe? 

There are plenty of young Russian players playing in the Russian leagues now who are not getting much playing time because older players are getting the ice time. That certainly has to be a consideration when deciding whether to take a Russian prospect over another prospect. Maybe these issues aren't disqualifying but they certainly are being considered by most teams. 

The flip side to this issue is that because Buffalo has a bevy of picks they are in a better position to select a Russian player who has fallen in the draft below their ranking. This is a case where being bold and judicious are two sides of the same coin.  

[GrassValleyGreg]

2 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Nazar is not that good. His strength is his skating and some people translate fast skating into being a top pick. I was disappointed watching him at the U18s this year. I thought he just played the perimeter made bad decisions and his body language was bad after taking some stupid penalties. Granted it was one tournament but he didn’t impress me.

Appreciate your opinion, Flash. It is pretty interesting where EP / Youtubers have Nazar compared to where some of the insiders have him. I'll guess we'll find out what the league thinks tomorrow. 

[dudacek]

10 minutes ago, GrassValleyGreg said:

Appreciate your opinion, Flash. It is pretty interesting where EP / Youtubers have Nazar compared to where some of the insiders have him. I'll guess we'll find out what the league thinks tomorrow. 

I like Nazar and would be happy to pick him, but he does seem to have a bit of an obstinate streak that causes me to drop him below guys like Savoie and Kaspar.

[Digger]

19 hours ago, Cozenscousin said:

Kasper is the prospect I would love at #9 but I would bet $100 that Detroit takes him at #8. Yzerman has excellent scouts in the Swedish league, probably the same guy that found Seider, as he played for the same team as Kasper. Kasper and Seider have a lot in common. Kasper is mature, smart (fluent in 3 languages) good size, good skater and I think he has a lot of offensive upside. I think he would be an instant top player for Rochester and would be a Sabre after 1 year. His background would be a great fit with JJP. 

I agree that Kasper will be a nice pick for the Sabres if we can get him.

I'm not sure about Detroit.  I have a gut feel that they might take Lambert.  They usually surprise everyone when they draft.  We will see.

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, GrassValleyGreg said:

Appreciate your opinion, Flash. It is pretty interesting where EP / Youtubers have Nazar compared to where some of the insiders have him. I'll guess we'll find out what the league thinks tomorrow. 

My bad in an earlier quote where I said I didn’t care for the EP guys. I meant to say “I didn’t care for the EP guys review of Nazar” I don’t mind those guys on the whole.

I’m not a fan of what I say from him but again it was only one tournament. The scouts seem to have him in the middle teens to 20s so we will see where he goes. I don’t think he is a bad player on the whole I just don’t agree with those that have him in the top 4-10 of the draft. I think there are better players there.