Sabres Prospects 2022-2023

[Taro T]

Minnesota just went up 3-2 early in the 3rd over BU on the PP.  Mittelstadt's little brother.

[Taro T]

And the other brother just made it 4-2. Guessing we don't have Johnson in the lineup against the Canes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Taro T]

Actually the 3rd and 4th goals were both by Luke Mittelstadt. Oops.

 

And Cooley just made it 5-2 with an empty netter with about 3 minutes left.

 

 

And Cooley with another empty netter. 6-2. 103 seconds away from the championship game Saturday.

 

 

 

 

[Flashsabre]

Boy Johnson would be a big signing.

The kid is so smooth and efficient. 

Elite skater and great positioning.

Think Muel but instead of the physicality he makes great plays in the zone with his feet and head.

Shoots left but might be the long term solution for Power. Seems to slide between the left side and right side seamlessly. 

He would fit in perfectly with the timeline.

Hope they win Saturday and he signs soon afterwards.

[MBD]

Didn't want to start a new thread and this is about a former prospect but...go Quinnipiac!

[Flashsabre]

Portillo and Luke Hughes absolutely defecate the bed to cost Michigan the game.

Absolutely hate to see it.😁😁

Perets is a good goalie and a ufa. I’m pretty sure him and Levi grew up playing against each other.

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Flashsabre

[Ctaeth]

13 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Portillo and Luke Hughes absolutely defecate the bed to cost Michigan the game.

Absolutely hate to see it.😁😁

Perets is a good goalie and a ufa. I’m pretty sure him and Levi grew up playing against each other.

 

[Quint]

Does anyone know if the Sabres are eliminated early, can they bring up a Savoie or a Kulich etc.

[DarthEbriate]

4 minutes ago, Quint said:

Does anyone know if the Sabres are eliminated early, can they bring up a Savoie or a Kulich etc.

The Sabres' season will be over well before any of their prospects with the exceptions of Johnson and Huglen (both unsigned) with Minnesota. The Amerks can clinch a playoff spot tonight and the Savoie's ICE just advanced to the 2nd round and await their matchup.

[Porous Five Hole]

I don’t watch much D1 hockey, so this is the first I’ve seen of Aaron Huglen (4th round, 2019). He’s having a good tourney. 
 

Since he’s 22, I assume he isn’t in the Sabres plans (even if just for ROC). 

Is that a fair assumption?
 

 

[Flashsabre]

42 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I don’t watch much D1 hockey, so this is the first I’ve seen of Aaron Huglen (4th round, 2019). He’s having a good tourney. 
 

Since he’s 22, I assume he isn’t in the Sabres plans (even if just for ROC). 

Is that a fair assumption?
 

 

Not at all. 22 isn’t a factor. He had a serious back injury which derailed him for a couple years. Sabres should be interested as a Rochester guy. 

[Flashsabre]

Kulich with the OT winner. Kid is an absolute assassin.

Amerks clinched a playoff spot tonight. 

[French Collection]

Mats Lindgren with another 4 point game for the Red Deer Rebels.

8 points in 5 playoff games for the LHD.

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Mats Lindgren with another 4 point game for the Red Deer Rebels.

8 points in 5 playoff games for the LHD.

 

[JustOneParade]

Question for those in the know. So Savoie can’t go to ROC. Say he makes the Sabres opening roster, plays in BUF until mid-Nov and the team decides he’s not ready. Or he gets injured and needs a rehab assignment. What then? Can he then be sent to Rochester? Is the only option back to the WHL? At what point does the WHL no longer determine where he can play?

[LGR4GM]

22 minutes ago, JustOneParade said:

Question for those in the know. So Savoie can’t go to ROC. Say he makes the Sabres opening roster, plays in BUF until mid-Nov and the team decides he’s not ready. Or he gets injured and needs a rehab assignment. What then? Can he then be sent to Rochester? Is the only option back to the WHL? At what point does the WHL no longer determine where he can play?

If he's not ready in mid November and hasn't played 10 games, they'll send him back to the WHL. Once he plays 10 games in the NHL he starts his elc so I don't see the whl route being something Buffalo would choose at that point. 

Yes he could go to Rochester post injury for only 2 weeks on conditioning but I'd rather not see him there. Injuries can derail careers. There's no other way to put him in Rochester. 

The WHL owns his rights until like June 2024. Savoie missed the cutoff by 1 day (you have to be 20 by Dec 31) which is the dumbest rule in the chl agreement. 

[DarthEbriate]

32 minutes ago, JustOneParade said:

Question for those in the know. So Savoie can’t go to ROC. Say he makes the Sabres opening roster, plays in BUF until mid-Nov and the team decides he’s not ready. Or he gets injured and needs a rehab assignment. What then? Can he then be sent to Rochester? Is the only option back to the WHL? At what point does the WHL no longer determine where he can play?

That's the Kraken-Shane Wright loophole. Wright was up with Seattle to start the season, never got his 9th game and then they sent him down on a "conditioning assignment". The rule as far as I know it was that he hadn't dressed in 5 consecutive games so they were allowed that AHL conditioning stint. After that, he went to the WJC and then back to the WHL.

The Sabres and other teams could do this with their top CHL picks, but I doubt they do it with Savoie next season as it'll be his Draft+2 season vs. Wright's D+1 season this year.

And now that his OHL season is over, Wright will be assigned to the AHL vs. joining the Kraken for the playoffs. At least to start.

[JustOneParade]

Thanks guys. Why did they have to make this so complicated? Regardless, here’s hoping he makes the Sabres out of camp and stays in Buffalo for the duration. Even if he is playing on the wing initially.

[Derrico]

It shouldn’t be complicated.  Matt Savoie should be a Buffalo Sabre next season. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Derrico

[Taro T]

25 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If he's not ready in mid November and hasn't played 10 games, they'll send him back to the WHL. Once he plays 10 games in the NHL he starts his elc so I don't see the whl route being something Buffalo would choose at that point. 

Yes he could go to Rochester post injury for only 2 weeks on conditioning but I'd rather not see him there. Injuries can derail careers. There's no other way to put him in Rochester. 

The WHL owns his rights until like June 2024. Savoie missed the cutoff by 1 day (you have to be 20 by Dec 31) which is the dumbest rule in the chl agreement. 

If he's obviously not ready at any point after the Sabres have played 10 games he'll eventually work his way back to Winnipeg.  Really doubt they'd keep him in the pressbox all year getting into 2-4 games per month when he can go back to the WHL and play every night with a plan to work on any aspects of his game that an offensive guru needs working on.  Losing out on a year of the ELC would have been happening at the point he's been in 10 games regardless of whether he plays in Buffalo or Winnipeg after that point and if he clearly isn't ready for the NHL there's no benefit to keeping him there not playing at all for the entire rest of the season.  (He or the Sabres can hire him a trainer in Winnipeg and he can Zoom into meetings.)

As long as he isn't on the roster for more than 40 games, he doesn't earn a year of service towards FA.  That's the truly important threshold in the grand scheme of things.

But expect that he'll either be ready enough after 9 games or obviously not ready (and expecting the former) so that the question becomes moot.

And back to the original OP's Q, yes, except for a conditioning stint or an international tournament the only 2 options for him to be playing next year are the Sabres or the Winnipeg Ice (or whomever they might trade his rights to in the CHL).

[tom webster]

43 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If he's obviously not ready at any point after the Sabres have played 10 games he'll eventually work his way back to Winnipeg.  Really doubt they'd keep him in the pressbox all year getting into 2-4 games per month when he can go back to the WHL and play every night with a plan to work on any aspects of his game that an offensive guru needs working on.  Losing out on a year of the ELC would have been happening at the point he's been in 10 games regardless of whether he plays in Buffalo or Winnipeg after that point and if he clearly isn't ready for the NHL there's no benefit to keeping him there not playing at all for the entire rest of the season.  (He or the Sabres can hire him a trainer in Winnipeg and he can Zoom into meetings.)

As long as he isn't on the roster for more than 40 games, he doesn't earn a year of service towards FA.  That's the truly important threshold in the grand scheme of things.

But expect that he'll either be ready enough after 9 games or obviously not ready (and expecting the former) so that the question becomes moot.

And back to the original OP's Q, yes, except for a conditioning stint or an international tournament the only 2 options for him to be playing next year are the Sabres or the Winnipeg Ice (or whomever they might trade his rights to in the CHL).

The Sabres have already demonstrated that they believe that once a prospect outplays their level they are better served practicing with the team than dominating at a lower level. Barring injuries, I am 100% convinced that both Savoie and Kulich are two of the 13/14 forwards next year.

[Pimlach]

24 minutes ago, tom webster said:

The Sabres have already demonstrated that they believe that once a prospect outplays their level they are better served practicing with the team than dominating at a lower level. Barring injuries, I am 100% convinced that both Savoie and Kulich are two of the 13/14 forwards next year.

For Kulich, if he does not make the top 12, why would you keep him as a 13/14 spare forward when he could be playing in Rochester and called up as needed.  

[Archie Lee]

43 minutes ago, tom webster said:

The Sabres have already demonstrated that they believe that once a prospect outplays their level they are better served practicing with the team than dominating at a lower level. Barring injuries, I am 100% convinced that both Savoie and Kulich are two of the 13/14 forwards next year.

There are a few factors that make Savoie going back to Winnipeg a far less than terrible option:

- The Ice are coached by James Patrick.  Adams had gone out of his way to express how comfortable they are with a prospect playing under Patrick.

- The Ice are likely to have Benson and Geekie back next year, along with a lot of other good players including their starting goalie.  They will be a strong team again and Savoie might be in line to be their captain. It is not unrealistic that they could be looking at a rare opportunity for a repeat championship season.

- Savoie will be a top player on Team Canada's World Junior team if he is made available.

The other factor is that there are a limited # of spaces available in Buffalo.  Let's assume that Okposo and Girgs are not re-signed and that Olofsson is traded (which is far from certain).  That still leaves Thompson, Skinner, Tuch, Cozens, Quinn, Peterka, Mittelstadt, Krebs, Greenway and Jost taking 10 spots with probably at least 8 of those players being on the top 3 lines. Factor in the possibilities that they want to make a spot or two available to the secondary Rochester prospects who have earned opportunities (Rousek and Biro as examples) and that they may want to add a veteran presence through trade or free agency and there are just not many spots available. 

I think Savoie and Kulich are either middle six regulars or they are back in Rochester and Winnipeg.  I'm ok with that. It is a sign that we are getting better that there is not an obvious spot available to a prospect.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Archie Lee

[inkman]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

The Sabres have already demonstrated that they believe that once a prospect outplays their level they are better served practicing with the team than dominating at a lower level. Barring injuries, I am 100% convinced that both Savoie and Kulich are two of the 13/14 forwards next year.

Maybe it’s just me but I think Rousek’s overall game is ahead of Kulich at this point.  Kulich has an VO level shot which has afforded him some nice goal totals.  In the long run Kulich has the pedigree to be a much better player than Rousek but he’s also 5+ years older.  

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, inkman said:

Maybe it’s just me but I think Rousek’s overall game is ahead of Kulich at this point.  Kulich has an VO level shot which has afforded him some nice goal totals.  In the long run Kulich has the pedigree to be a much better player than Rousek but he’s also 5+ years older.  

I’d feel a lot better about adding Kulich to the big club next year if we didn’t already have Tuch, Skinner, Quinn, Mitts, Peterka and Olofsson on the wings, and a team already in need of more physical strength and defensive aptitude. Especially if the player he’s replacing is Okposo.

Let’s wait until we’ve seen Jack and JJ make a jump, what Greenway can bring, and what the market is for Olofsson before we add even more offence-first and inexperienced players.