2022 NHL Draft Day 1

[Peter]

Just now, Flashsabre said:

Baker was on Sabres Live all night with Duffer and Marty.

I guess he was busy. Thanks for letting me know. I figured that he lives for a day like today.

What were his takes on the guys that we drafted?

[Flashsabre]

Not that it means a ton but on Sportsnet they really liked all 3 picks. They especially like Östlund who they said just flat out makes everyone around him better. And they didn’t pull punches on a few picks saying that they were major projects or reaches.

[Flashsabre]

1 minute ago, Peter said:

I guess he was busy. Thanks for letting me know. I figured that he lives for a day like today.

What were his takes on the guys that we drafted?

I only saw the Savoie one and he really liked it. I know he loves Kulich and Östlund seems like the kind of player he would be high on but I only saw the Savoie reaction.

[Buffalonill]

All i ask is we don't draft the midget on defense in the 2nd

 

Please, Adams 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Buffalonill

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Who are the top 3 RHD?

Tomorrow.

[Huckleberry]

1 hour ago, IKnowPhysics said:

John Chayka is Meghan Chayka's brother.

If anyone wonders about him, he is now part of an sports investment group that just bought a struggling belgian football team.   They bought standard de liege.

[Huckleberry]

1 hour ago, Buffalonill said:

All i ask is we don't draft the midget on defense in the 2nd

 

Please, Adams 

If you mean lane hutson? We actually should, to much talent and might still get a growth spurt.

[dudacek]

The Sabres now have 7 players under the age of 25 who project as centres on the 3rd line or higher.

I see Ostlund as the only one who you couldn’t easily shift to the wing.

 

Organized by where they were drafted, all picked in the top 34:

• Cozens Mittelstadt Quinn
• Savoie Ostlund Rosen
• Krebs Thompson Kulich
• Poltapov Asplund Peterka 

That’s a lot of skill, a lot of speed and a lot of compete. It will be interesting to see how they develop.

 

[PerreaultForever]

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

The Sabres now have 7 players under the age of 25 who project as centres on the 3rd line or higher.

I see Ostlund as the only one who you couldn’t easily shift to the wing.

 

Organized by where they were drafted, all picked in the top 34:

• Cozens Mittelstadt Quinn
• Savoie Ostlund Rosen
• Krebs Thompson Kulich
• Poltapov Asplund Peterka 

That’s a lot of skill, a lot of speed and a lot of compete. It will be interesting to see how they develop.

 

I think it's always possible that Thompson goes back to being a winger. I know we all saw the leap forward at center, and I personally would leave him there, but maybe Granato et al always saw this move as temporary?

There are a lot of possibilities, depending on how development goes. We should have depth though, that's almost certain. 

[PerreaultForever]

I wish we'd done a Dach trade more than a DeBrincat trade, but I'd have liked either. Ottawa is trying to take the leap forward that I felt we were ready for. Will be interesting to see what happens, but the immediate playoff competition got stronger even if our long term potential might be greater. 

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

I wish we'd done a Dach trade more than a DeBrincat trade, but I'd have liked either. Ottawa is trying to take the leap forward that I felt we were ready for. Will be interesting to see what happens, but the immediate playoff competition got stronger even if our long term potential might be greater. 

The insiders on TSN said that the Hawks veterans didn’t like Dach’s attitude. That’s a big red flag to go along with his lack of production.

[ndirish1978]

https://theathletic.com/3401481/2022/07/08/nhl-draft-first-round-winners-losers/

[steveoath]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brawndo]

 

[Taro T]

Liking the draft so far..  All 3 guys in the 1st seem to have high ceilings.

Can any of you draftniks speak to what their floors are?

[LGR4GM]

yes these things are premature and don't mean anything but they are fun to read...

Round 1 winners and loser by Scott Wheeler. I will post a part of the article.

https://theathletic.com/3401481/2022/07/08/nhl-draft-first-round-winners-losers/

Quote

Winners

1. Buffalo Sabres

Pick: 9. C/RW Matt Savoie 
My ranking: No. 4 (change: -5)

Pick: 16. C Noah Ostlund 
My ranking: No. 23 (change: +7)

Pick: 28. C/LW/RW Jiri Kulich
My ranking: No. 22 (change: -6)

If the goal was to draft slick, skilled players, the Sabres sure did with their first two picks. If the goal was to draft centres, they took three kids capable of playing down the middle.

 

[Buffalonill]

5 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

The insiders on TSN said that the Hawks veterans didn’t like Dach’s attitude. That’s a big red flag to go along with his lack of production.

Really?  Maybe he didn't agree with  The dirty little secret that they hid

[LGR4GM]

Not that what I say today matters as prospects are weird but here are my thoughts...

Matthew Savoie at 9 was a good pick. He has a great shot and he is very quick. He has a relentless motor and loves to attack up and down the ice. I worry about his overall brain and how he sees the ice but maybe that will work itself out in time. He needs to slow down a little here and there to let things develop and I have seen him panic at times and make hope plays. Still the overall skillset is really great and even if he becomes a winger for someone like Cozens, you are getting a gritty player with great dangles and a good shot.

Noah Ostlund at 16 was a bit of a surprise and a little early for my tastes. Ostlund has silky smooth hands and where I sometimes question Savoie's decisions, Ostlund is super creative and smart. His skating is very very good and with more strength he will get faster. His shot is meh and needs work. He tries to engage in the physical side of things and can be successful but you can really see the lack of strength when he plays above the j20 level. The skating, puck skills, and ability to dissect the game at pace make him a truly fascinating player to watch. If he ends up 5'11" 190lbs in 4 years... oh my lord.

Jiri Kulich at 28 is a steal. I would have taken Kulich at 16 because he's basically Marco Kasper minus about an inch of height. He handles physical play well for still being a kid, his shot is maybe the best of the 3 although Savoie also has a great shot, his skating is really good. The only hole I guess is that he could work on some of his dangles and passing but I am nitpicking. He is the most complete player of the 3 in the first even if he potentially might have the lowest ceiling of them. I say potentially because Ostlund and Savoie didn't play against men the way Kulich did all year. At the U18 tourney... Kulich scored all the goals and that is something to consider. Really the thing with Kulich is adding more deception in his rush patterns and developing his hands more.

[JohnC]

When you have three first round picks you should come away with a good assessment by most analysts. What sticks out is that I haven't heard anyone say that any of the picks were reaches or surprises. So far, every pick made sense and was easy to justify. The franchise is functioning in a smart and effective manner.  From an overview standpoint you can see the direction this franchise is moving toward. There is a recognizable plan that is being implemented. Reason to be optimistic. Last night was a good evening!

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nhl/news/nhl-draft-winners-losers-2022-round-1/gbybxcgmzptpbyro5wjkf2dd

[sabresparaavida]

What I really like about this draft, is by the time these guys are ready for the league, Quinn and JJP should have already established themselves as quality wingers. That gives us Tuch, Skinner, Quinn, JJP, Oloffson, and whichever of the centers that may eventually end up at W for Savoie/Ostlund to set up. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Not that what I say today matters as prospects are weird but here are my thoughts...

Matthew Savoie at 9 was a good pick. He has a great shot and he is very quick. He has a relentless motor and loves to attack up and down the ice. I worry about his overall brain and how he sees the ice but maybe that will work itself out in time. He needs to slow down a little here and there to let things develop and I have seen him panic at times and make hope plays. Still the overall skillset is really great and even if he becomes a winger for someone like Cozens, you are getting a gritty player with great dangles and a good shot.

Noah Östlund at 16 was a bit of a surprise and a little early for my tastes. Östlund has silky smooth hands and where I sometimes question Savoie's decisions, Östlund is super creative and smart. His skating is very very good and with more strength he will get faster. His shot is meh and needs work. He tries to engage in the physical side of things and can be successful but you can really see the lack of strength when he plays above the j20 level. The skating, puck skills, and ability to dissect the game at pace make him a truly fascinating player to watch. If he ends up 5'11" 190lbs in 4 years... oh my lord.

Jiri Kulich at 28 is a steal. I would have taken Kulich at 16 because he's basically Marco Kasper minus about an inch of height. He handles physical play well for still being a kid, his shot is maybe the best of the 3 although Savoie also has a great shot, his skating is really good. The only hole I guess is that he could work on some of his dangles and passing but I am nitpicking. He is the most complete player of the 3 in the first even if he potentially might have the lowest ceiling of them. I say potentially because Östlund and Savoie didn't play against men the way Kulich did all year. At the U18 tourney... Kulich scored all the goals and that is something to consider. Really the thing with Kulich is adding more deception in his rush patterns and developing his hands more.

I think this is a great assessment of the excellent job KA and his crew did last night.  Kulich is my favorite of the 3, but the more I read on Savoie the more excited I am at seeing him next season.   

[shrader]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

yes these things are premature and don't mean anything but they are fun to read...

Round 1 winners and loser by Scott Wheeler. I will post a part of the article.

https://theathletic.com/3401481/2022/07/08/nhl-draft-first-round-winners-losers/

 

How did the other multiple pick teams do?  That's a big part of why I hate most winner/loser draft analyses beyond the obvious prematurity of the whole thing, the multi-pick teams almost always default to winners.

11 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Can't believe Shane Wright fell all the way to #4. Seattle got really lucky.

Part of me likes to think that Arizona was so focused in on Cooley that they never even noticed that Wright hadn't been picked yet.

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, shrader said:

How did the other multiple pick teams do?  That's a big part of why I hate most winner/loser draft analyses beyond the obvious prematurity of the whole thing, the multi-pick teams almost always default to winners.

Part of me likes to think that Arizona was so focused in on Cooley that they never even noticed that Wright hadn't been picked yet.

Arizona was called a loser. Seattle was called a winner. Multiple picks was not a factor according to Wheeler.

Quote

teams with more picks (or higher picks on average) are not guaranteed high grades, just as teams with few picks (or lower picks on average) are not guaranteed poor ones.

 

[dudacek]

Watched the draft with some Habs fans friends who (obviously) had been doing a ton of research on Wright.

They said they’ve noticed that Wright comes across poorly in interviews: he says the right things he has been programmed to say, but leaves the impression that it’s posturing, he doesn’t really believe it.

Rather than “alpha dog” his body language says self-doubt and insecurity. That was even before the “death stare” thing.

Take that for what it’s worth, but if GMs were getting the same impression you can see why he dropped.

10 minutes ago, shrader said:

How did the other multiple pick teams do?  That's a big part of why I hate most winner/loser draft analyses beyond the obvious prematurity of the whole thing, the multi-pick teams almost always default to winners.

Part of me likes to think that Arizona was so focused in on Cooley that they never even noticed that Wright hadn't been picked yet.

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

A couple of general thoughts on the first day.

1. Size matters - nearly all the skilled small forwards fell on draft day from their consensus draft status.  Savoie, Nazar, Kemell, Lekkerimaki, and even Kulich all fell.  Offensive D and Big D went earlier.  Skilled D like Korchinski, Mintyukov and Mateychuk all went higher than the consensus; teams searching for the next Makar. Tall D like Pickering, Bichsel, Rinzel and Lamoureau all went substantially higher than expected.  

2. Leadership and all around play matters - McGroarty and Geekie both went higher despite skating issues.  

3. The Russian Factor - I’m not sure if it ultimately mattered.  Yurov was the only one of the 3 major Russians to fall in the draft.  Mintyukov, who already plays here, was drafted early on his offensive skill set.  Miro was drafted around expectations despite his illness and nationality.  I do think it was interesting that Miro (wash) and Yurov (Minn) went to teams very familiar with Russian players and the current political climate there.