NYI keep the 5th overall pick; Sabres now have three 2015 1st-round picks – Part III

[La Cosa Nostra]

Yeah TJ Brennan BLOWS. What a bust of a pick, 1st pick in round 2 and he isn't even a bottom pairing dman, he's a #8/AHL scrub.

 

[JThorne]

I don't see Halak as having the consistency the Isles need. He hasn't held down the 1A job for three seasons now...

I'm in this camp. Halak has always seemed to be overrated, in my opinion. Even when he was neck and neck with Price in the early days of Price's career. Montreal made the right choice in shipping Halak to StL. He just never screamed stability to me. As such, I expect the Isles to be right where they always are, 5-12 range in the draft.

 

[ZeroPT*]

You leave out

Backup goalie that should be an improvement on the 2 guys we used for backup last season

Forward depth in Bridgeport incase of Injury

With Addition or Reinhart and Brennan defensive depth as well(ie Ness was our first call up last season)

decent back-up
two AHLers sabres fans know very very well...

Brennan being an upgrade means John Scott's jock strap was your first call-up.

 

[Jame]

What happens if 20th and 21st in the standings is tied in points and one if them is the Isles. WHATS TIE BREAKER.

I win the tie breaker

 

[start winnin]

Yes, yes he can. And I don't care who you have or had.

Brennan is AWFUL defensively. The worst we've seen around these parts in a long time......and we've seen plenty of bad defensemen.

Gragnani was definitely worse.

But I agree with the sentiment that if Brennan is being called up your defense is in shambles.

 

[joshjull]

@TheHockeyNews: #ICYMI @Proteautype says signing Mikhail Grabovski & Nik Kulemin makes Isles better, but their defense needs work. http://t.co/IMBkNVTMFy

 

[Driftwood]

Any thoughts on this thread?

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1703253

 

[TehDoak]

Any thoughts on this thread?

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1703253

Jesus hand me some of that glue. He's assuming a team SP% of .919 which is insanely optimistic. Their team SP% was something like .900% last year. Their backup goalie had a .903 SP over a whole season in the AHL prior to serving as the Bruins backup and getting easy starts/relief appearances in 2013. And they have made zero improvements to one of the leagues worst blue lines. He's also projecting the team to finish 4th in the east! And honestly, I think they have spent every dollar in that budget, so any deals the salary will have to even out.

I'm not arguing that the team will be improved next year, i think it will. But by that margin? a GAA improvement of .5 Goals a game would be amazing! Over 1 GAA less a game? Unless Halak is Hasek reincarnate, it's not happening.

My best guess is that Halak will be an improvement over Nabby. However, behind that blueline, I doubt either goalie goes much above .910-.912. And assuming their offense is better? Decent enough to finish near the bottom of their division. Not bottom 5 anymore, but top 10 draft pick for us still

 

[jvirk]

You never know what could happen. The Isles could surprise and really have a surge of good games to get into the post season. They could also suffer an injury to Halak and/or Tavares, and their team falls off the face of the earth. We just never know! :/

As Sabres fans with their pick, and in the midst of a painful (but still exciting kinda) rebuild, we can only hope they SUCK! lol
I think it's reasonable to speculate that they'll be a middle of the pack team at best on the bubble of the playoffs, but then again, who knows what happens.

 

[yahhockey]

Meh, doesn't mean a thing. Even the Islanders fans were split on its likelihood and meaning. They have seemingly improved themselves from last year but as we all know it doesn't mean a thing until the team performs on the ice. Best case scenario for Isles fans is battling for third or fourth in the division. Worst case they get off to a slow start, the fans turn, a GM or coach gets fired and they flounder in the bottom five all year. Realistically their season will be somewhere in the middle, we won't get McDavid out of their draft selection and life will go on.

 

[1TuchAnd1NoTuch]

If you could choose would you take MDC or the 2015 1st?

 

[Jame]

If you could choose would you take MDC or the 2015 1st?

2015 1st, every time

 

[RecycledEichel]

If you could choose would you take MDC or the 2015 1st?

2015 1st.. We could get a MDC in the 10-14 range.. It will be fun watching their games this year and hoping for a low finish with more lottery balls coming buffalos way..

 

[jvirk]

I think I'll be paying attention more to the Islanders results than the Sabres lol. At least at the beginning of the season, I'm hoping they get off to a horrible start and the team implodes. Obviously I'm hoping the Sabres don't do well either, but I do want to see the team's prospects and young players truly improve. If we get last place and still play hard, that's amazing for us. Other than that, I'm hoping more for the Isles to stink it up big time.

 

[jc17]

2015 1st.. We could get a MDC in the 10-14 range.. It will be fun watching their games this year and hoping for a low finish with more lottery balls coming buffalos way..

I feel like every time something like this is posted the draft gets deeper and deeper.

Soon we're going to be able to get Dal Colle at 22.

 

[Zip15]

If you could choose would you take MDC or the 2015 1st?

Dal Colle. Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and all that. The guy is going to be a 1st line winger. He's a pure goalscorer in every sense. Sure, we might get a player as good as him with the Islanders' pick--and, hey, we may get something better. But I prefer greater certainty, and when that involves a player I believe will be a 1st line player, give me that every time.

 

[Jacob582]

Dal Colle. Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and all that. The guy is going to be a 1st line winger. He's a pure goalscorer in every sense. Sure, we might get a player as good as him with the Islanders' pick--and, hey, we may get something better. But I prefer greater certainty, and when that involves a player I believe will be a 1st line player, give me that every time.

Yep. But it is exciting to play the lottery.

 

[ZeroPT*]

If you could choose would you take MDC or the 2015 1st?

2015 1st.

Guys like Sprong,Marner,Strome who could be available between 9-14 will put up numbers like Bennett IMO.

 

[VanekFanatic26]

Jesus hand me some of that glue. He's assuming a team SP% of .919 which is insanely optimistic. Their team SP% was something like .900% last year. Their backup goalie had a .903 SP over a whole season in the AHL prior to serving as the Bruins backup and getting easy starts/relief appearances in 2013. And they have made zero improvements to one of the leagues worst blue lines. He's also projecting the team to finish 4th in the east! And honestly, I think they have spent every dollar in that budget, so any deals the salary will have to even out.

I'm not arguing that the team will be improved next year, i think it will. But by that margin? a GAA improvement of .5 Goals a game would be amazing! Over 1 GAA less a game? Unless Halak is Hasek reincarnate, it's not happening.

My best guess is that Halak will be an improvement over Nabby. However, behind that blueline, I doubt either goalie goes much above .910-.912. And assuming their offense is better? Decent enough to finish near the bottom of their division. Not bottom 5 anymore, but top 10 draft pick for us still

I think their defense is severely underrated, and getting rid of Andy MacDonald was more or less of an addition by subtraction. Brennan isn't anything special, and it may depend on whether or not Griffin Reinhart makes the team, but I think the Isles are a team that could benefit from a weak Eastern Conference and grab one of those wild card spots.

 

[Eram]

I think their defense is severely underrated, and getting rid of Andy MacDonald was more or less of an addition by subtraction. Brennan isn't anything special, and it may depend on whether or not Griffin Reinhart makes the team, but I think the Isles are a team that could benefit from a weak Eastern Conference and grab one of those wild card spots.

I don't think AMac is addition by subtraction. He's not the best, sure, but he was playing an average of 25:25 a game with NYI. That's easily 5 minutes too much. Wouldn't be hard to say he'd be much better playing 18-20 a night and not be so overworked.

 

[David Byrne]

Brennan isn't anything special

Understatement of the century.

 

[EichHart]

Understatement of the century.

That first post though...

 

[Paxon]

That first post though...

Glad he made the most of his first post, because it only happens...

...once in a lifetime.

 

[David Byrne]

Good to be here. Thanks for the welcome.

 

[VanekFanatic26]

I don't think AMac is addition by subtraction. He's not the best, sure, but he was playing an average of 25:25 a game with NYI. That's easily 5 minutes too much. Wouldn't be hard to say he'd be much better playing 18-20 a night and not be so overworked.

Compared to the rest of the Isles' defensmen, he was a possession sieve. Playing 25 minutes a night, that's going to affect a team most of the season. Getting rid of that is huge. The Isles were 11-6-2 to close out the season. That's without John Tavares and Andrew MacDonald. Could it be coincidence? Maybe. But I think the Isles are much closer to being a .500 team or better than most people realize.