Prospect pool, summer 2023

[Night Train]

I had heard some of the young guys who were in the Rochester playoffs (Kulich and others) may be excused from this camp. 

[North Buffalo]

A sneaky late bloomer Sardarian... skinny as hell but very good skater.... nice hand just needs to gain 40lbs

[thewookie1]

1 minute ago, Night Train said:

I had heard some of the young guys who were in the Rochester playoffs (Kulich and others) may be excused from this camp. 

I could see that Kulich and any of the banged up guys probably

Savoie will show up though if only to hang out with Benson

Also by excused; I’d guess it would be more excused from on ice activities but still be in town for the bonding sessions.

[Flashsabre]

2 minutes ago, Night Train said:

I had heard some of the young guys who were in the Rochester playoffs (Kulich and others) may be excused from this camp. 

Yes and Komarov too since Quebec played in, and won, the Memorial Cup

[B-U-F-F-A-L-O]

19 hours ago, dudacek said:

Updated look at the pool after today:

 

CENTRE

Matthew Savoie

Noah Östlund

Jiri Kulich*

Anton Wahlberg*

Tyson Kozak

William Von Barnekow

Gustav Karlsson

Matteo Costantini*

Jakob Konecny*

 

WING

Zach Benson

Jiri Kulich*

Isak Rosen

Prokhor Poltapov

Anton Wahlberg*

Lukas Rousek

Viktor Neuchev

Aleksandr Kisakov

Olivier Nadeau

Ethan Miedema

Filip Cedarqvist

Jake Richard

Viljami Marjala

Aaron Huglen

Matteo Costantini*

Jakob Konecny*

Stiven Sardarian

Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson

Linus Sjodin

 

DEFENCE

Ryan Johnson

Maxim Strbak

Nikita Novikov

Vsevolod Komarov

Mats Lindgren

Gavin McCarthy

Sean Keohane

Norwin Panocha

Albert Lyckasen

 

GOALIE

Devon Levi

Topias Leinonen

Scott Ratzlaff

 

GRADUATED

Peyton Krebs

Jack Quinn

JJ Peterka

Owen Power

Ukko Pekka Luukkonen

Brett Murray

Linus Weissbach

Matej Pekar

Hope it’s a useful reference, and a good jump-off point for prospect ranking and general discussion about the state of the pipeline.

Novikov is #1….

[GoPuckYourself]

11 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

A player needs to be turning 20 before the calendar rolls over.  For example last year Nadeau vs Kozak.  Both were in the same draft class and were born about 2 weeks apart.  However, Kozak was eligible for the AHL because he was born Dec 29th 2002, while Nadeau went back to the Q because he was born Jan 15, 2003. The exception to the rule is 4 years already played in the CHL.

Lindgren has 3 seasons in the CHL and doesn't turn 20 until August 2024.  He is stuck in the CHL for another year.

Benson also has 3 years in the CHL and doesn't turn 20 until May 2005.  He is stuck in the CHL for another year unless he makes the Sabres.  His case is interesting.  If the 24 games in 2020-21 are considered a full season (COVID), Benson will become AHL eligible at 19.

Savoie is also CHL or NHL only this season by ONE DAY.  He has a Jan 1st B-day.  If he was one day older, he'd be AHL eligible this season.

 

Thanks for sharing this, I always forget what the eligibility is every season it seems. 

[dudacek]

Added four amateur free agents signed this spring to Amerk contracts:

Defenceman Nicolas Savoie and centre Riley Fiddler-Schultz out of the CHL, and Zach Metsa and Chris Jandric from the NCAA.

Although none are officially Sabre property, I think they should be considered to be as much part of the pipeline as any unsigned draft picks.

Edited July 1, 2023 by dudacek

[Brawndo]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Added four amateur free agents signed this spring to Amerk contracts:

Defenceman Nicolas Savoie and centre Riley Fidler-Schultz out of the CHL, and Zach Metsa and Chris Jandric from the NCAA.

Although none are officially Sabre property, I think they should be considered to be as much part of the pipeline as any unsigned draft picks.

And I think Metsa might be a legitimate prospect for a 6/7 role 

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

And I think Metsa might be a legitimate prospect for a 6/7 role 

Am I wrong to think he’s kinda what Connor Clifton was 4 or 5 years ago?

[LabattBlue]

5 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

And I think Metsa might be a legitimate prospect for a 6/7 role 

Let’s talk when he is signed to a Sabres contract, and not one with the farm team

[Brawndo]

51 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Am I wrong to think he’s kinda what Connor Clifton was 4 or 5 years ago?

Exactly, signed an AHL Deal after college and played a full season with Providence. 
He then signed a two way deal and split time between the Bruins and Providence for the next two years

[Thorny]

Bader’s prospect rank, Sabres in at 5th

Rankings in each category listed in chart above

 

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Bader’s prospect rank, Sabres in at 5th

Rankings in each category listed in chart above

 

Looks good.  But could you (or somebody else) explain how the evals that he's given places the Sabres at 5 in the rankings?  It seems from a cursory look that the 3 behind the Sabres should be ranked higher.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Looks good.  But could you (or somebody else) explain how the evals that he's given places the Sabres at 5 in the rankings?  It seems from a cursory look that the 3 behind the Sabres should be ranked higher.

Especially when you give the Sabres a 22 of 32 in goaltending when Levi is one of the top 5 goalie prospects in hockey.

[LGR4GM]

7 hours ago, Taro T said:

Looks good.  But could you (or somebody else) explain how the evals that he's given places the Sabres at 5 in the rankings?  It seems from a cursory look that the 3 behind the Sabres should be ranked higher.

The numbers in each category are the rank not a count (idk if you knew but for anyone glancing at it) and basically because Buffalo has so many good prospects they blow past teams with only 1 or 2 great ones. Also Power, Quinn, and JJP are still being used in our rankings because they haven't hit 100 nhl games. Short version, we have a quantity of quality that the 3 behind us don't have. 

Also Baders model is questionable. That said Columbus and Detroit fall right in line with how I think those teams are. I think Columbus is more likely to excel past Detroit then Detroit is to get good soon unless every ufa works out. Yzerman really likes his high floor mediocre ceiling guys. 

[Thorny]

15 hours ago, Taro T said:

Looks good.  But could you (or somebody else) explain how the evals that he's given places the Sabres at 5 in the rankings?  It seems from a cursory look that the 3 behind the Sabres should be ranked higher.

Looked ok to me. There could be gaps in the skater rankings* that make our placing in the goalie ranking not that relevant when determining overall rank. 

*Like, maybe even being only a few spots ahead of some teams in some of the skater ranks actually represents quite a large gap 

[nfreeman]

So, with Ryan Johnson finally signing, Novikov looking good in development camp, and the addition of Mad Max Strback, the Sabres suddenly seem to have a solid D pipeline, innit?

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

So, with Ryan Johnson finally signing, Novikov looking good in development camp, and the addition of Mad Max Strback, the Sabres suddenly seem to have a solid D pipeline, innit?

We now have a pipeline, and it might be pretty solid.  I saw all 3 today.   Johnson and Novikov were certainly noticeable and Strback looked ok. 

I think Strbeck he may need to but a vowel though.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

25 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

So, with Ryan Johnson finally signing, Novikov looking good in development camp, and the addition of Mad Max Strback, the Sabres suddenly seem to have a solid D pipeline, innit?

The Ryan Johnson and Novikov signing made all the difference.  It gave us a top layer of near ready D prospects, with a solid layer underneath them talent wise in Strbak and McCarthy, plus an additional 2 in Komarov and Lindgren who show some promise.  To add a layer between the top 2 guys and the newly drafted, Ka has added 3 college/chl UFAs in Metsa, Jandric and Savoie.  Maybe one of them will become something. Savoie is only 21.

My hope is KA continues to add at least 1 D in the top 3 rounds annually.

Edited July 6, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[FrenchConnection44]

 

[FrenchConnection44]

This is a phenomenal piece. I am pretty pumped over our prospects. Can’t wait to follow them this year. 
 

 

[Flashsabre]

Brand new highlight package of Savoie. Electric!  That number 9 guy that plays with Savoie looks alright too😛

[LGR4GM]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:31 PM, FrenchConnection44 said:

 

I mentioned after we drafted Benson that he's now the best prospect in the pool. 

[K-9]

On 7/6/2023 at 4:10 PM, Pimlach said:

We now have a pipeline, and it might be pretty solid.  I saw all 3 today.   Johnson and Novikov were certainly noticeable and Strback looked ok. 

I think Strbeck he may need to but a vowel though.  

[dudacek]

My summer ranking, post-development camp,  based on how good an NHL player they should become.

Pretty remarkable that the list remains this strong after the graduations or departures of 1 Power, 3 Quinn, 4 Peterka, 7 Krebs, 9 Samuelsson, 10 Portillo, 13 Luukkonen, and 19 Bloom.

I think last year’s pool (ranks in parentheses) could go down as the Sabres greatest of all time.

Should be NHLers, could be really good:

1 Levi (2): my feelings about Levi haven’t changed; he has first-line athleticism and a first-line mental approach to the game and his position. His size is not going to matter. Kid is going to be a star.

2 Benson (NR): I’m going to need more tape and more time, but I would not be surprised to find myself next year writing for Benson what I just wrote about Levi. So much skill, so much hockey IQ, so much compete. The caution flags of size and speed are fair, but I think he has so much small area skill and reads the game so well on both sides of the puck that he can make them irrelevant. First line upside.

3 Savoie (5): A relatively slow start gave me some concern he was one of those guys who might have peaked as a teen, but from Christmas until May he was dominant, posting Dylan Cozens-like D+1 numbers. He’s a piranha out there, a pace-pusher with NHL speed and quickness and a lot of high-end skill. Worst-case scenario I see a middle-six Conner Garland type winger, but he has more upside than that and he might be a top 6 NHL centre.

4 Kulich (8): Nobody in the entire NHL prospect world outperformed their draft position last year like Kulich. The kid has an elite shot and a swagger and a resume that screams crunch-time performer. He’s not slick, but he is strong and skilled and versatile enough to adapt to where you need him to play. I think his future is more wing than centre, but he’s got a very high floor, and he can score goals. If he adds some maturity to his defensive game, it’s not hard to envision him as a core player.

5 Östlund (6): My vote for the organization’s most underrated prospect. Like Kulich, he also played a top six role in a men’s league in his D+1 and did very well. He is very smart, very competitive and was noticeably bigger at development camp this year. He is fast, plays fast, makes good reads at both ends and has the skill to make the most of what his other attributes create. Very trustworthy player who projects as middle six centre.

 

Could be NHL regulars

6 Rosen (16): I have not yet completely bought in to the Rosen hype train that gathered speed last season, but he certainly made me take notice. I always saw the skill - he’s got excellent speed and hands - but I seriously doubted if he had the strength and the will. He’s still more of a complementary player than a driver and still needs to become more assertive, but clearly improved last year in both areas. He’s small, but more willing to go to the hard ice, and the way he bounces back up from the bullying has been impressive. Friendship and competition from Kulich has done wonders for his confidence and I am very curious to see if he can make the step to first-line AHLer next year. Doing that at 20 would bode well for an NHL career as a 2nd line offensive winger.

7 Johnson (12): I’ve never seen huge upside here, but Johnson’s feet and his ability to transition pucks and defend always made me pretty confident he was going to play. The crowd right now on the blueline means he will have to jump over a lot of bodies to be in the NHL, but I have little doubt he will and suspect it won’t take long. He could quietly become a nice Bill Hajt-like #4.

8 Wahlberg (NR): The more you read and watch, the easier it is to see why the Sabres got enamoured with this guy: 6’3” 17-year-olds with hands, speed and a mean streak are usually worth a premium, especially if they can play centre. It’s hard to say where he’s going to end up as a pro, but his tool box is the type you can project finding a role almost anywhere in the lineup. Whether or not he continues the meteoric rise of his draft year should give us a better sense of what he might become.

9 Poltapov  (11): I’ve been one of his bigger boosters around here for a while. He’s gritty enough to disturb shifts on the fourth line and skilled enough to hang with better players further up the lineup. He’s the type of player we don’t have a lot of in the system, and is built for the playoffs. He just won a ring in the KHL as a D2 player. I would not be surprised if he skips the Amerks and walks right on to the NHL roster as a role player in 25/26 after his KHL contract expires.

10 Novikov (15): He’s a massive human being who likes to defend and play physical, and seems to have more skill than his 6th-round pedigree implies. Will be one of the most interesting prospects to follow on the Amerks next year. Very easy to project as 3rd pairing defensive defenceman and makes you wonder if there could be even more there.

 

Has a shot

11 Rousek (HM): I like Rousek’s all-around game at the AHL level. He reads the play very well and can make plays at that level. I wonder if his size/speed/skill package is enough to allow that game to translate in the NHL. If it doesn’t, I’m not sure if he’s good enough at any one skill to stick as a role player. He’ll get the chance to show us this year and he’s earned it.

12 Strbak (NR): The scouting report reads like the prototype for a 2nd pairing NHL defenceman: good length, skating, puck skills, hockey sense and physicality. Plus he seems to have a good head on his shoulders and he’s been a leader for his cohort. He was a guy I’d targeted in the 2nd round, and will be very disappointed if he doesn’t elevate to the next prospect tier during his D+1 year. Reminds me of McCabe and I can see him following that path.

13 Neuchev (14): Oh those hands. Neuchev has the type of offensive skill that should put him in the NHL, so long as he has enough of a team game to support it. I’m curious to see whether one-way play and a tendency to hog the puck are obstacles for him and how Appert can correct that if they are. He comes with question marks, but he also has upside in spades. Another intriguing player to watch in Rochester.

14 Leinonen (HM): This is based almost entirely on draft pedigree. I know the pick was questioned and that he did nothing last year to answer those questions. I also know he was the highest-ranked goalie in the 2022 draft and the Sabres scouting staff isn’t stupid. I wonder why he struggled last year, and if he can rehabilitate his value the coming year the way Rosen did in the year that just finished.

 

Longshot with a shot

15 Kisakov (17): I love this kid’s skill level, and his sneaky dirty game and really admire the journey he took last year as a skinny teenager, so far from home without a support group and unable to speak the language. Don’t know if he’ll ever get thick enough to make it, but I expect a jump from a rough rookie year as an AHL teenager, and I’m definitely pulling for him.

16 Kozak (HM): Kozak was hardly an impact player as an AHL rookie, but he also started the year as an under-ager and showed he’s competitive as hell and tough as nails for his size. If he makes it, it will be as a 4th line centre, but don’t underestimate his chances. Another of several on this list who will be worth watching to see his improvement for the Amerks.

17 McCarthy (NR): Kinda like Strbak in that he ticks all the requisite boxes for a projectable middle pairing NHL defenceman. Not quite as steady perhaps, but someone who could eventually grow into a Colin Miller if the cards fall his way and he’s in a good position for a slow grow.

18 Komarov (NR): Lack of foot speed drops him below McCarthy, but he’s got some savvy and some jam and added some production this year to go with his good size. The fact the Sabres already have him under contract says they think he’s got a future.

19 Miedema (NR): More of a projection than some, but Miedema has a size/speed combination more usually associated with 2nd-rounders than 4th-rounders. He’s also got skill, some snarl, put up some good numbers and was a very highly rated OHL draft pick. Uneven play after getting traded for Shayne Wright dropped his stock. It will be interesting to see if the Sabres can help restore it because he has NHL tools.

20 Nadeau (18) I struggled with dropping Nadeau to the bottom of this tier, because I like his courage and his hands and he had an excellent final junior season coming off an injury. I just don’t know if his strengths will be enough to overcome his slow feet. Ice time will be hard to come by in Rochester and it will be interesting to see who out of Nadeau, Cedarqvist, Kozak, Kisakov and Neuchev will force themselves into key roles.

Honourable mentions are: Richard (NR) kinda like Neuchev, a slow marinate with intriguing skill; Lindgren (20) got bigger, still love his skating, still question his ability to defend; Ratzlaff (NR) a player with the skills and circumstance to take a big jump; and Cedarqvist (NR) enough size and grit to keep an eye on.