Sabres #1 in prospect pool…..

[Skooby]

1. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres use a unique blend of analytical tools and scouting to approach the draft, and very clearly, approach every pick with the "best player available" mantra. They don't shy away from the typical tropes of smaller players, evidenced by their selection of Zach Benson after he slipped out of the top 10 in 2023.
They've graduated the likes of Benson, Owen Power, JJ Peterka, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Peyton Krebsto their NHL lineup, while still having a plethora of talented players at every position.
This is a well-rounded pool that includes Devon Leviin goal, Maxim Strbak and Gavin McCarthy on defense, and a collection of high-value forwards in Jiri Kulich, Matt Savoie and Noah Ostlund. They have projectible NHL players at every position, four potential impact players, and good depth to round out the best prospect pool in the NHL.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/sto...players-future

[YardRat]

Woo-hoo.

[JATMtheJATM]

This is like the fourth time in the drought era they've had the best pool. They have to do something with it. Because the inability to develop players is an issue. And if you can't develop them, trade them for proven talent to build with

[sukie]

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

[OpIv37]

Blah blah blah.

I feel like that at least since Jack Eichel- possibly even before- we keep being told about how great the Sabres’ future is, but that future never actually arrives.

[Woodman]

1. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres use a unique blend of analytical tools and scouting to approach the draft, and very clearly, approach every pick with the "best player available" mantra. They don't shy away from the typical tropes of smaller players, evidenced by their selection of Zach Benson after he slipped out of the top 10 in 2023.
They've graduated the likes of Benson, Owen Power, JJ Peterka, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Peyton Krebsto their NHL lineup, while still having a plethora of talented players at every position.
This is a well-rounded pool that includes Devon Leviin goal, Maxim Strbak and Gavin McCarthy on defense, and a collection of high-value forwards in Jiri Kulich, Matt Savoie and Noah Ostlund. They have projectible NHL players at every position, four potential impact players, and good depth to round out the best prospect pool in the NHL.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/sto...players-future

[Woodman]

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

6.

[JATMtheJATM]

Blah blah blah.

I feel like that at least since Jack Eichel- possibly even before- we keep being told about how great the Sabres’ future is, but that future never actually arrives.

I think that's whats so maddening about the current team.. it feels like it's RIGHT THERE. just some real pieces and this is a core that isn't just designed to make the playoffs (because that's A goal. Not THE goal) but to make noise in April and May.

And that's what even more frustrating about Adams decision to sit on the summer. This team is good enough to overcome "bad" seasons by its core members of the right guys were brought in. But they never were.

[jamze132]

Fire Adams/Granato today.

[JATMtheJATM]

Fire Adams/Granato today.

One down

[JATMtheJATM]

Noah Ostlund has joined the Amerks. It's unlikely he gets playing time, but he will practice and acclimate to NA hockey.

He might play if a game is totally meaningless or there's injury, but who knows

[mightysimi]

I saw a metric that had Power as the top D man in the league on breaking out of the zone with passes on tape. Something like 78% of the time. I think he will be real good.

[sukie]

Maybe it’s the Sabres go “number 1” in the pool.

[JATMtheJATM]

Ostlund just scored for the Amerks in their playoff game.

[JATMtheJATM]

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

[ckg927]

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]

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...-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]

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]

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]

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.