2025 NHL Entry Draft Thread, Sabres Draft 9th

[steveoath]

I am onboard the Brady Martin train. But my gut tells Boston will draft him. 

[LGR4GM]

Some of should I say many of you are narrowing your gaze too much. You can't see the forest through the Martin Tree. 

[JoeSchmoe]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Some of should I say many of you are narrowing your gaze too much. You can't see the forest through the Martin Tree. 

In my case, it's because I've seen the kid play since he was younger.

In minor hockey you get a lot of silver spoon kids who get in with all the best teams and coaches, with private development sessions plus a team practice almost every night of the week. These are kids that even if they get a full scholarship, the family won't even break even for the time and money they spent... And they don't even care. There are several in this draft that I know of.

Martin was not that kid, and I think his ceiling might be a bit higher as a result. 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

In my case, it's because I've seen the kid play since he was younger.

In minor hockey you get a lot of silver spoon kids who get in with all the best teams and coaches, with private development sessions plus a team practice almost every night of the week. These are kids that even if they get a full scholarship, the family won't even break even for the time and money they spent... And they don't even care. There are several in this draft that I know of.

Martin was not that kid, and I think his ceiling might be a bit higher as a result. 

I've always wondered how much this matters: the Gordie Howe/Ted Nolan magazines for shinpads path versus the "My parents have invested everything they could since the day I was 9" path.

[JoeSchmoe]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I've always wondered how much this matters: the Gordie Howe/Ted Nolan magazines for shinpads path versus the "My parents have invested everything they could since the day I was 9" path.

These kids are well down that path before the age of 9.

I recall watching a Toronto based team starring a certain kid in this draft that was executing regroups and zone entries when they were 7 and 8 years old. These kids were probably all identified since they were 4 or 5 and pushed into the meat grinder from there.

To have the time to work on those systems, plus get them skating and playing with the skill they had was mind blowing.

Edited 5 hours ago by JoeSchmoe

[SabreFinn]

5 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

These kids are well down that path before the age of 9.

I recall watching a Toronto based team starring a certain kid in this draft that was executing regroups and zone entries when they were 7 and 8 years old. These kids were probably all identified since they were 4 or 5 and pushed into the meat grinder from there.

To have the time to work on those systems, plus get them skating and playing with the skill they had was mind blowing.

My kid is nine and playing hockey, it seems like we are far behind in development 😄