2022 NHL Entry Draft

[elchud]

I love Chesley and think he's the best all around defenseman in the draft but doubt he slides out of top 15.

Yep. It would be nice if he would be there at 20-ish with a Vegas pick but he won't be.

The thing with Nemec/Chelsey is they are bothphysically ready for the NHL and could be on the roster in 24/25. Which is why I'd move both of our lower 1sts to get in the 11-15 range, as to me that's a sure-fire roster player.

 

[elchud]

If somehow we are in a position to get Slaf (as in 3rd or 4th overall), I'd be really happy with Slaf/Chesley and then Bystedt or Poitras with our 2nd.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

If somehow we are in a position to get Slaf (as in 3rd or 4th overall), I'd be really happy with Slaf/Chesley and then Bystedt or Poitras with our 2nd.

I'd prefer Reiger Lorenz, Jack Hughes or picking and assigning a personal skating coach for LDBB

 

[elchud]

I'd prefer Reiger Lorenz, Jack Hughes or picking and assigning a personal skating coach for LDBB

I like Lorenz a lot, AJHL guy and he's a big boy playing in that league. If we can get another 2nd for Colin Miller, absolutely, good get mid-2nd round. If a 3rd for Colin Miller we could trade up.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

Those can and are built from high scoring players all the time. As a focus, that is the issue Luce had for years that never pans out.

Maybe i wasn't clear - I'm not talking about targeting guys with bad offensive numbers per se - just focusing on their defensive abilities as opposed to the offensive abilities / numbers.

You occasionally get a Couturier - but mostly these guys are not high first round picks or talked about as such.

 

[Jim Bob]

UFA return rates on the run up to the trade deadline have very little connection to roster trade values in the summer or draft tendencies. But okay.

I think the Risto & Reinhart trades fed into that tweet, as well.

We have seen RHD getting overvalued league-wide for a while. So many of the pre-TDL talks have mentioned it and that is one reason why Miller's injury could be doubly troublesome for the Sabres.

So, I would be wary of over drafting a RHD. But, I do see the point of RHD over F as a tiebreaker making sense for the Sabres right now. And I could see this league-wide trend of RHD overvaluation leading to Nemec being off the board when the Sabres getting to pick.

 

[Jim Bob]

Pronman: Standout NHL prospects and takeaways from the Olympic men's hockey tournament

Juraj Slafkovsky, LW, Slovakia (2022 draft eligible)

Slafkovsky was the talk of the tournament, as he began on Slovakia’s fourth line and off the power play and by the end of the event was clearly their most important player. The 17-year-old was named MVP of the tournament. He led the tournament in goals and provided an NHL storyline to an event lacking in NHL talent. Slafkovsky hasn’t had much success versus men this season in Liiga, but versus some of the top Europeans he showed he could help a team. He’s a 6-foot-4 forward who can skate well, is very skilled, can make plays and is a shot threat from range. He looks like a clear top five pick for the 2022 NHL Draft right now. Talking to scouts over the past week I think you will start to hear his name mentioned more often in the top three range, and I would not rule out the possibility of him challenging Shane Wright for the No. 1 spot.

 

[Old Navy Goat]

Maybe i wasn't clear - I'm not talking about targeting guys with bad offensive numbers per se - just focusing on their defensive abilities as opposed to the offensive abilities / numbers.

You occasionally get a Couturier - but mostly these guys are not high first round picks or talked about as such.

If you want a defensive center with offensive chops look at Jack Hughes from Northeastern. He scored at a higher rate than most at the NTDP and is doing good at NU as an 18yo taking their defensive draws, assignments

 

[truthbluth]

Pronman: Standout NHL prospects and takeaways from the Olympic men's hockey tournament

Imagine Slaf in place of Skinner. Slaf-TT-Tuch would be a lot to deal with. That said, unless we lotto into 1, I prefer a RHD. Nemec and Jiricek are both fine. Cooley is good but I’m not excited about him. Gotta stock those Righties when you can.

 

[elchud]

Not that he would play in the league next year, but Slaf looks like the most NHL ready player in the draft

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

If you want a defensive center with offensive chops look at Jack Hughes from Northeastern. He scored at a higher rate than most at the NTDP and is doing good at NU as an 18yo taking their defensive draws, assignments

Its weird that most lists have him going in the 20s. Last I checked, at least. Easy choice for buffalo’s second pick if he’s still there, although I’m not familiar with a lot of the guys pegged to go near the end of the round.
Based on what I’ve seen, he’s a great consolation prize if we don’t take a center with the first pick.

 

[elchud]

It with be great to get Hughes or Snuggerud with our 2nd. But they are risers since the September prognoses and Bob has them both in the 1st round so...

But big yes to Hughes/Snuggerud with our 2nd if still on board.

With our lower/lowest 1st I'm not sure. It would depend if we had selected RHD yet.

 

[Chainshot]

Its weird that most lists have him going in the 20s. Last I checked, at least. Easy choice for buffalo’s second pick if he’s still there, although I’m not familiar with a lot of the guys pegged to go near the end of the round.
Based on what I’ve seen, he’s a great consolation prize if we don’t take a center with the first pick.

It also would amp up the Habs rivalry having their GM's son in the Sabres organization.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

It also would amp up the Habs rivalry having their GM's son in the Sabres organization.

I didn’t put that together! Wow, would that be a first, for a GM to go up against his own son?

And in the same division??

 

[Chainshot]

I didn’t put that together! Wow, would that be a first, for a GM to go up against his own son?

And in the same division??

Fitzgerald's dad is the GM of the Devils too.

 

[Chainshot]

 

[Dingo44]

I didn’t put that together! Wow, would that be a first, for a GM to go up against his own son?

And in the same division??

I seem to remember issues when Eric Lacroix played for the Avs when his dad Pierre was the GM.

 

[Fjordy]

Our 3rd probably make sense

 

[Old Navy Goat]

I didn’t put that together! Wow, would that be a first, for a GM to go up against his own son?

And in the same division??

He already announced that he wouldn't draft his son as he didn't want Jack to have any extra pressure

 

[Old Navy Goat]

I'm a Warren fan. He should be available around our 3d but big RHD that can skate tend to go higher. I was hoping Sam Rinzel would be available around but looks to be shooting up into mid 2nd range. Leddy from NTDP is mean and projects bottom 6 RHD that would be stashed at university to fill out for 3yrs

 

[Faceboner]

Imagine Slaf in place of Skinner. Slaf-TT-Tuch would be a lot to deal with. That said, unless we lotto into 1, I prefer a RHD. Nemec and Jiricek are both fine. Cooley is good but I’m not excited about him. Gotta stock those Righties when you can.

Me personally not a fan of jiricek for us and i agree on cooley reminds me of beniers and turcotte i didn't really see the hype behind them that other people saw

 

[Faceboner]

I'm a Warren fan. He should be available around our 3d but big RHD that can skate tend to go higher. I was hoping Sam Rinzel would be available around but looks to be shooting up into mid 2nd range. Leddy from NTDP is mean and projects bottom 6 RHD that would be stashed at university to fill out for 3yrs

I am a big fan of warren seems to be a perfect fit for us

 

[Zman5778]

Imagine Slaf in place of Skinner. Slaf-TT-Tuch would be a lot to deal with. That said, unless we lotto into 1, I prefer a RHD. Nemec and Jiricek are both fine. Cooley is good but I’m not excited about him. Gotta stock those Righties when you can.

If we lotto into 2nd........I'd absolutely let whoever take Wright 1st and then happily scoop up Slaf 2nd. (or let someone take Slaf 1st and then happily scoop up Wright 2nd)

 

[Lloydchristmas138]

I almost don’t want to win the lottery and be strapped to Shane Wright, as crazy as it sounds. Slafkovsky, Lambert, Cooley, Nemec, Gauthier, Savoie seem like fun prospects to add and follow. Especially Slaf and Lambert

 

[Faceboner]

I almost don’t want to win the lottery and be strapped to Shane Wright, as crazy as it sounds. Slafkovsky, Lambert, Cooley, Nemec, Gauthier, Savoie seem like fun prospects to add and follow. Especially Slaf and Lambert

My sentiments as well wright will be an effective nhler but doesn't seem interesting and is kind of bland in the way he plays but at the same time that's how you win in a lot of cases wouldn't be mad with him but other players seem to have more potential to be game breakers in this draft