Sabres pick #141 - Goalie Scott Ratzlaff

[Thorny]

The Getzlaf of goalies 

[Brawndo]

From Pronman 

 

Background: Ratzlaff split starts this past season in Seattle with Thomas Milic who was Canada’s starting goalie at the world juniors. He was Canada’s starting U18 goalie in the summer, leading the Hlinka Gretzky with a .976 save percentage in four starts. He was the 43rd pick in his WHL Bantam Draft.

Analysis: Ratzlaff’s pure athleticism stands out when you watch him. He can explode across the crease with his quickness. He’s quick but controlled, as he doesn’t over slide plays. Ratzlaff’s size is the main knock against him, as he’s barely 6 feet 1, but he plays quite aggressive which helps. He uses his quick lower body to challenge shooters and generally makes a lot of high-difficulty saves. The size will be an issue until he shows it isn’t, but I think he has the brain, consistency and talent to play games.

[Thorny]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

From Pronman 

 

Background: Ratzlaff split starts this past season in Seattle with Thomas Milic who was Canada’s starting goalie at the world juniors. He was Canada’s starting U18 goalie in the summer, leading the Hlinka Gretzky with a .976 save percentage in four starts. He was the 43rd pick in his WHL Bantam Draft.

Analysis: Ratzlaff’s pure athleticism stands out when you watch him. He can explode across the crease with his quickness. He’s quick but controlled, as he doesn’t over slide plays. Ratzlaff’s size is the main knock against him, as he’s barely 6 feet 1, but he plays quite aggressive which helps. He uses his quick lower body to challenge shooters and generally makes a lot of high-difficulty saves. The size will be an issue until he shows it isn’t, but I think he has the brain, consistency and talent to play games.

[LGR4GM]

10 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

From Pronman 

 

Background: Ratzlaff split starts this past season in Seattle with Thomas Milic who was Canada’s starting goalie at the world juniors. He was Canada’s starting U18 goalie in the summer, leading the Hlinka Gretzky with a .976 save percentage in four starts. He was the 43rd pick in his WHL Bantam Draft.

Analysis: Ratzlaff’s pure athleticism stands out when you watch him. He can explode across the crease with his quickness. He’s quick but controlled, as he doesn’t over slide plays. Ratzlaff’s size is the main knock against him, as he’s barely 6 feet 1, but he plays quite aggressive which helps. He uses his quick lower body to challenge shooters and generally makes a lot of high-difficulty saves. The size will be an issue until he shows it isn’t, but I think he has the brain, consistency and talent to play games.

The size take here is atrocious and old. Large goalies have holes too and typically lack quickness because you're moving more human around. 6'1" is a fine size. 

[Norcal]

 

[Brawndo]

Carson Soucey’s First Cousin 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Carson Soucey’s First Cousin 

Playing the long game are we? 😁

[Sabres73]

I don't know, but 6'1" is too small? I just don't get that.

I will not be denied a potential Roger Crozier, who was 5'8" !

[Curt]

56 minutes ago, Sabres73 said:

I don't know, but 6'1" is too small? I just don't get that.

I will not be denied a potential Roger Crozier, who was 5'8" !

I think he dropped a little because teams thought he was a little bigger.  He was listed at 6’1” or 6’2” different places, but then measured 6’0.5” at the combine.  It’s not much, but I do think it dropped his stock a little.

[Zamboni]

Good pickup. No, he’s not small. At all. Good grief.

[Turbo44]

6 minutes ago, Curt said:

I think he dropped a little because teams thought he was a little bigger.  He was listed at 6’1” or 6’2” different places, but then measured 6’0.5” at the combine.  It’s not much, but I do think it dropped his stock a little.

He’ll grow another inch or two. Fortsen said his Dad is 6’3” his mom 5’10”

he very well can end up being 6’3”

[Curt]

35 minutes ago, Turbo44 said:

He’ll grow another inch or two. Fortsen said his Dad is 6’3” his mom 5’10”

he very well can end up being 6’3”

Maybe, or he could stay 6’0.5”.  Who knows.  It’s ok if he doesn’t grow taller.

[MattPie]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

Maybe, or he could stay 6’0.5”.  Who knows.  It’s ok if he doesn’t grow taller.

I hit my current height at 13-14. My partner grew 2 inches at 20 after being the same for years.  I wouldn't bet either way.

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, MattPie said:

I hit my current height at 13-14. My partner grew 2 inches at 20 after being the same for years.  I wouldn't bet either way.

Yup and I grew 4 inches after graduating HS from 5'10" to 6'2" by 19

[Captain Caveman]

21 hours ago, Thorny said:

Adams drafts a lot of Canadians 

Every team drafts a lot of Canadians

[Taro T]

33 minutes ago, Captain Caveman said:

Every team drafts a lot of Canadians

Really?  Looks back the the drafting record of the Botterill led Sabres.  Dylan Cozens, check.  Umm, ...

[dudacek]

Cozens, Quinn, Krebs, Savoie, Benson, Power, Levi - best collection of young Canadian talent on the Sabres since the French Connection days?

[GASabresIUFAN]

43 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Really?  Looks back the the drafting record of the Botterill led Sabres.  Dylan Cozens, check.  Umm, ...

Why does this matter?  We want our GMs to find NHL players and as many as possible.  Who cares anymore where they come from as long as we have a constant stream of young up-and-coming talent.  KA is doing an excellent job so far. Jbot did a fine job as well and last I looked he is Canadian.  He just didn't like the CHL/NHL agreement. 

It's also hard to really criticize his drafting.  The Sabres already have 6 players from 18 picks.  When Johnson and Rousek make the NHL that will be 8 NHLers.  If Portillo makes it, that will be nine.  Even Cederaqvist has an outside shot.  Most GMs don't bat 33% in the draft much less 50%. 

Back on topic.  I really really like the Ratzlaff pick.  

Edited June 30, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Captain Caveman]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

Really?  Looks back the the drafting record of the Botterill led Sabres.  Dylan Cozens, check.  Umm, ...

50% of the league is Canadian.  3 of our 8 picks this year are Canadian, doesn't feel like a high percentage...

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why does this matter?  We want our GMs to find NHL players and as many as possible.  Who cares anymore where they come from as long as we have a constant stream of young up-and-coming talent.  KA is doing an excellent job so far. Jbot did a fine job as well and last I looked he is Canadian.  He just didn't like the CHL/NHL agreement. 

It's also hard to really criticize his drafting.  The Sabres already have 6 players from 18 picks.  When Johnson and Rousek make the NHL that will be 8 NHLers.  If Portillo makes it, that will be nine.  Even Cederaqvist has an outside shot.  Most GMs don't bat 33% in the draft much less 50%. 

Back on topic.  I really really like the Ratzlaff pick.  

Why does it matter?  A comment was made that everybody chooses lots of Canadians in the draft.  Was simply making the point that while the point is generally true it is not universally true.  No need to immediately spring to the aid of your boy Botts; but seeing as you did ...

It does seem rather foolish to completely ignore the single largest pool of talent when drafting.

As to his incredible draft record, on the surface it looks extremely impressive.  And would say that he did a reasonable job at the draft.  But having 1/3 of the players making it to the NHL isn't quite as impressive as it might seem at 1st blush when you look at when those players were selected.  He had 3 picks in the top 10 of the draft.  There is something substantially wrong if ALL of those don't make it to the NHL barring major injury or death.  And a total of 5 of those picks would be 1st rounders in the 32 team NHL.  And another 2 were taken in the top 1/2 of the 2nd round.  You really should be able to get 6 NHLers out of all that and your 11 other picks.

Plus, Portillo flat out refused to sign with Buffalo.  Botterill gets little to no credit for that pick.  Had Botterill still been running the team when you consider how horrible he was at selecting head coaches, see absolutely no reason to expect that Johnson would've signed with the Sabres either.

And 2 of his "NHLers" include Bryson and UPL.  Now UPL will likely be at least a legit NHL backup if not better but the only reason he's an NHLer at present is because ALL Sabres GMs since Murray came on the scene have yutzed up the goaltending.  And, really, would Bryson be an NHLer were he in ANY other organization?  Not sure he'd even make Arizona's squad at present.

When you actually look at the opportunity he had regarding really high selections and also the results, it isn't quite as impressive IMHO.  Obviously, YMMV and does.  😉

Edited June 30, 2023 by Taro T

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Captain Caveman said:

50% of the league is Canadian.  3 of our 8 picks this year are Canadian, doesn't feel like a high percentage...

🤨

Pretty sure that Canadians now make up just a tad south of 50% of NHL players, but maybe it is still just a smidge over.  And if there are less than 4 out of 8 NHLers that are Canadian; unless you're drafting partial players (with the 4th selection in the 6th round the Buffalo Sabres choose the torso of Jiri Bigguns, the legs of Vladimer Racehorse, and the head and arms of Tony Toosmart) 3 out of 8 is as close as you can get to the average without going over.  😉

[GASabresIUFAN]

https://thehockeywriters.com/current-nhl-players-by-country/

Canadians are 41.4% according to this article from January of this year.

Quant Hockey has it at 42% https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/nationality-totals/active-nhl-players-2022-23-stats.html

[GASabresIUFAN]

46 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Plus, Portillo flat out refused to sign with Buffalo.  Botterill gets little to no credit for that pick.  Had Botterill still been running the team when you consider how horrible he was at selecting head coaches, see absolutely no reason to expect that Johnson would've signed with the Sabres either.

Portillo didn't sign here because KA blocked him with the acquisition of Levi. Who knows what Johnson would have or wouldn't have done.  He is here, signed, and will play for the Sabres.

46 minutes ago, Taro T said:

And, really, would Bryson be an NHLer were he in ANY other organization?  Not sure he'd even make Arizona's squad at present.

Yes, he would be.  Did you know that in his draft class Bryson is 28th in games played and 8th among D?  Only one D taken after him has played more games and that's only by 2 games and that player spent much of this season back in the AHL.  If they did a re-draft of the 2017 draft, Bryson would be a late 1st or early 2nd rd pick.  Getting him in the 4th rd was an excellent pick.

As to when he drafted players, the math says he did very well.  According to a study by TSN's Scott Cullen, Jbot's expected NHL players from his 18 picks was 4.81.  With a little luck, Jbot will have drafted 9 NHL players with his 18 picks.  

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Portillo didn't sign here because KA blocked him with the acquisition of Levi. Who knows what Johnson would have or wouldn't have done.  He is here, signed, and will play for the Sabres.

Yes, he would be.  Did you know that in his draft class Bryson is 28th in games played and 8th among D?  Only one D taken after him has played more games and that's only by 2 games and that player spent much of this season back in the AHL.  If they did a re-draft of the 2017 draft, Bryson would be a late 1st or early 2nd rd pick.  Getting him in the 4th rd was an excellent pick.

As to when he drafted players, the math says he did very well.  According to a study by TSN's Scott Cullen, Jbot's expected NHL players from his 18 picks was 4.81.  With a little luck, Jbot will have drafted 9 NHL players with his 18 picks.  

Portillo wasn't going to sign here anyhow most likely.  And, do you HONESTLY expect that Johnson was going to sign in Buffalo had Botterill still been the GM?  IMHO, not a chance that would've happened.

And do you know why Bryson has a ton of games played relative to his peers?  Pretty sure you've been screaming louder than anybody for Adams to "just do something" on the back end.  Well, Bryson being in the top 6 for far too long is a big part of why we "heard" you shouting that the past 2 years.  The Sabres defensive depth had been attrocious for at least the past 2 years.  Bryson wouldn't have nearly the NHL time he has had he been playing on a team with even just slightly subpar depth.

EDIT: And to add, Cullen's model predicted that Botterill with picks 1, 7, 8, 31, 32, 37, 54, 67, 89, 94, 99, 102, 117, 125, 143, 160, 187, and 192 should be expected to have FEWER THAN 5 PICKS HIT?!?!??!?  Does that model provide ANY WEIGHT AT ALL to what the pick is?  ALL THREE of the top 10 picks should play in the NHL.  That leaves his model expecting 1.81 NHLers out of 3 picks in the 30's and another before the end of the 2nd round another 3 picks into the 3rd (today, not when Botterill picked them, still was in the 1st 10 of the 3rd round) plus 10 more lottery tickets.  There is no ####ing way he should've gotten fewer than 2 NHLers out of all those non-top 10 picks.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Taro T

[Taro T]

@Derrico will be interested in knowing how this kid looks in the scrimmage in the AM.  If you would, let us know your thoughts after the 3v3.  Thanks.