Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

[ckg927]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Roch won 3-2 and a friend who went to the game told me Levi absolutely stole game 1

Yep. Made a couple of key saves in the last 5 seconds of the 3rd period.

Do not be surprised if Anton Wahlberg makes some noise when training camp rolls around. He's been impressing people with his play.

[DetoxTent]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Game 2 loss. Syracuse, a notably bigger team (take note Kevyn Adams), beats the Amerks and beats them up:

https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/sports/sabres/the-amerks-blow-another-two-goal-lead-losing-4-3-in-overtime

After Linus Weissbach gave Rochester a 2-0 on a breakaway at 13:00 of the second period, the Crunch decided they were going to just hit everything that moved. They went out of their way to not only hit, but clobber every Amerk they could and in my mind, it worked. Seth Appert disagreed saying that it’s a physical series throughout and his team has been up to the task.

I thought they had been up to it in the two games until they got the two goal lead Sunday. It seemed to me that Rochester wore down from the constant physicality and that meant they spent a lot of time defending and very little time creating around Brandon Halverson.

[DetoxTent]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

How many are 5’11” and 175 ? Or below?

Well they need a big RIGHT-handed defenseman. What do they have in their prospect pool? Here you go:

May 16, 2024 - 2:30 pm
Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - A pair of Buffalo Sabres prospects are set to compete for the Memorial Cup after their junior teams won championships in their respective leagues in the Canadian Hockey League.

Back on Tuesday, it was 2022 fifth-round defenseman Vsevolod Komarov and the Drummondville Voltigeurs earning a four-game series sweep of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar to win the Gilles-Courteau Trophy as champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

In his third season in the QMJHL, Komarov really came into his own as he totaled 14 goals and 55 assists for 69 points in 60 games played between the Voltigeurs and Quebec Remparts. The 20-year-old led all defensemen in scoring during the regular season, helping him earn the Emile Bouchard Trophy as the QMJHL Defenseman of the Year.

Komarov was a midseason acquisition of the Voltigeurs after spending 144 games with the Remparts between 2021 and 2023. The Russian-born defender had also won a QMJHL championship and the Memorial Cup in 2023 with Quebec.

During his 2024 playoffs, Komarov's success continued to roll into the postseason, where he scored five goals and added 10 assists for 15 points from the blue line in 19 games. That was good enough for the 6-foot-3, 187-pound defenseman to win the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the QMJHL Playoffs MVP.

In his 183 career games in the QMJHL, Komarov finished with 28 goals and 99 assists for 127 points. In the playoffs, he ended up with eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points in 49 games played.

The right-shot defenseman will next make the jump to the professional ranks with the Sabres organization to start the 2024-25 season.

Who knew this guy was out there in the pipeline blazing his path to the pros? I didn't.

[DetoxTent]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Sabres Prospect Named Defenseman of the Year

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced that Buffalo Sabres prospect Vsevolod Komarov has been named Defenseman of the Year. The Russian defenseman registered 69 points in 60 games for the Quebec Remparts and the Drummondville Voltigeurs this past season.The Sabres selected Komarov in the fifth round, 134th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft. According to Elite Prospects, he’s 6’2″ tall and weighs 187 pounds. He just turned 20 this year in January.

Despite being a late-round draft pick, Komarov is a key component of Buffalo’s organization. He’s one of only two right-handed shooting blueliners under contract next season, along with Connor Clifton. The Sabres also retain Henri Jokiharju’s rights as a restricted free agent. He has yet to agree to a new deal.

For a better idea of what Komarov brings to the table, here’s an excerpt from Elite Prospects’ 2022 NHL Draft Guide:

Took a pass in motion, skated parallel to the boards, drew defensive attention, then turned the shot into a cross-slot pass for a chance. Received on open-ice retrievals. Used a give-and-go to activate off the point. A couple of crafty plays on breakouts and he missed some opportunities when under pressure.

The QMJHL is known as a high-scoring league, but recording over a point per game as a defenseman is still an impressive feat. The next highest-scoring defenseman in the Q was Arizona-turned-Utah prospect Jeremy Langlois with 62 points in 61 games. Komarov’s 14 goals were third in the league among defensemen to Langlois’ 17 and Loic Usereau’s 15.

Based on the excerpt and his point totals, there’s a dynamic offensive element to Komarov’s game. He’ll likely head to the AHL to see if he can be impactful offensively on the Rochester Americans next season.

As for the future, there’s a definitive path to the NHL given his handedness and ability. Should Komarov avoid any major hiccups at the next level, he’s on a development path for a run at an NHL job by the end of his entry-level deal.

[sukie]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Developmental pool. Yawn.

have many made it out of this “pool” it seems this supposed talent is gonna come to fruition 3-4 years from now. We as fans are rapidly losing time.

[JATMtheJATM]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Developmental pool. Yawn.

have many made it out of this “pool” it seems this supposed talent is gonna come to fruition 3-4 years from now. We as fans are rapidly losing time.

The pool depth can also be used to trade for more NHL ready young talent.

But the Sabres usually pee in that pool, and now swim.

[DetoxTent]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Geez. This is why I hate this bulletin board. I post some good news: the Sabres actually have a guy that we don't generally know about who mans a position of great need and who's excelling at his current level, and all you do is whine about how old you are.

Don't wind me up.

[JATMtheJATM]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Geez. This is why I hate this bulletin board. I post some good news: the Sabres actually have a guy that we don't generally know about who mans a position of great need and who's excelling at his current level, and all you do is whine about how old you are.

Don't wind me up.

No hate. He's an exciting prospect that some believe has become an A level prospect. he could become a fixture in the Sabres blueline for a long time. And I wouldn't trade him unless the return was a long term guy

[DetoxTent]

Re: Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

Sabres Prospect Komarov Named QMJHL’s Best Blueliner

20-year-old Russian defenseman had 69 points this season

The Buffalo Sabres prospect pool was rated one of the best in the NHL on the strength of a group of highly-skilled forwards in Jiri Kulich, Noah Ostlund, Matthew Savoie, and Anton Wahlberg, but the club may have found another promising youngster in the lower rounds of the 2022 Draft in Vsevolod Komarov.

The 20-year-old Russian was selected in the fifth round (134th overall) at the draft in Montreal out of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. The big right-hander scored the game-winning goal for Quebec in the Memorial Cup final last May after scoring 39 points (12 goals, 27 assists) with the Remparts last season.

This year, Komarov was dealt to first-place Drummondville and finished the season leading all QMJHL blueliners with 69 points (14 goals, 55 assists) in 60 games. On Wednesday, he was named the winner of the Émile-Bouchard Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.