The Draft Position Thread

[HogtownSabresfan]

At what point would you be willing to say the heck with this season? Team is fifth from bottom and you have to believe Calgary, Anaheim and Columbus will play better.

With no real goaltending, there's almost no way to the playoffs for this Sabres team. (Maybe, Ullmark becomes a star in rookie year and it changes everything).

The problem is there's almost no way to facilitate the tank without affecting core. There's are some expiring UFA contracts but none that will make us much worse.

This team will end up out of playoffs with a 7th or 8th overall pick. I guess the season is about developing players on ice but it's still frustrating.

We are not cheering for them to lose. Yet.

Click to read more...

 

[stokes84]

Maybe with like 10 games left.

 

[Zman5778]

At what point would you be willing to say the heck with this season?

Trade deadline.

What we're seeing is more or less EXACTLY what I (and many astute fans) predicted:

This team is struggling to find chemistry and adopt DB's system. The effort is there, the talent is there....it's just not all clicking. Yet. It will. We might be a .500 team in December and/or January (not overall, just for the month(s)).

Not having our starting goalie doesn't help matters.

 

[gallagt01]

This is premature. This team is better than its record.

Ask me again in 30 games.

 

[Moncton man]

Top three picks are available as lotto picks. Dont make the playoffs and there is a reasonable shot at them. Let the new core develop. Only move on from pieces that arent part of thw future. Then again there wont be much return.

 

[Sabre Dance]

I just don't see it. These chances will start going in.

One does not simply tank whenever they want, it's hard work. This team is not tank worthy.

 

[Yatzhee]

It's the first season all of these rookies and newly traded for players are together. We must give them time to find chemistry. There will most likely be additional moves as we move beyond this season in an effort to find the right mix.

Rock bottom has passed us by, take the time to enjoy the climb out of the hole.

 

[Montag DP]

There were special circumstances last year. There is no way I am going to cheer for losses again at any point this year.

 

[TalkingProuder]

There were special circumstances last year. There is no way I am going to cheer for losses again at any point this year.

I am off the tank bandwagon. I want wins now. We'll pick where we pick.

 

[Heretic]

I think we keep the forwards together, maybe trade a defenseman if it makes sense, but I think it's going to take time for the boys to gel, and we'll be "bad enough" while doing that. I want Jeff Chychrun as much as the other guy, but giving the team time to grow will probably put us in a decent position to get him anyways, and at least it's fun this year. Dismantling like last year isn't necessary or productive.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

With a new coach/system in combination with many new players, it's no surprise that the team hasn't seen immediate success. Regardless of the record, you can see the potential they have with the good play they've shown in stretches. There are still obvious holes in the roster, but they'll improve as the season goes along. The four letter word in the thread title and OP is gone from my vocab.

 

[haseoke39]

Three things:

1) If the core of Eichel, Reinhart, O'Reilly, Kane, Girgensons, Ennis, and Ristolainen cannot separate itself from the bottom of the league, it cannot win cups.

2) This team is better than its record. It has outshot its opponents in 5 of 7, by pretty substantial margins:
36-26
35-24
32-22
33-24
27-22

The two games we were outshot, it was closer:
26-29
25-31

All things considered, team play has been better than I expected. I expected the defense to look substantially worse than this. Maybe that ebb is coming, but if they kept playing like this, I'd say we're solid goaltending and some puck luck away from being on the edge of the playoff conversation.

3) This past year we've traded prospects and teenagers for players in their mid-twenties. The time to build core pieces through the draft is done, unless you want your window to start in four years, when Chychrun is ready to play top minutes, and ROR and Kane are statistically supposed to be on the downslope. For the very BEGINNING of your window. We didn't accelerate the rebuild in order to accept any kind of setback. This year we have to improve, next year we need to fix a couple targeted weaknesses and make the playoffs. Before Jack Eichel's off his entry deal, we need to be ready to win a round or two.

And I think all that is completely possible. The holes we're trying to fix are important, but they're not "franchise player" kind of holes. We can do this.

 

[Foligno17]

I was there before the season started. Full tank mode is hopefully for over a decade with so many good players that are too young to have graduated on time with a bachelor's degree. Wins and losses don't matter so much to me as a fan. I hope they do matter to the players; especially those who were here to suffer through the last two years. They have to be utterly sick and tired of it.

I want this team to come together and play like a playoff contender by the last half of the season, or the last twenty games. That progress would mean more to me than any draft choice next year. The tank had a purpose. That purpose has been fulfilled. The next chapter has truly begun.

I will keep the hope for making the playoffs unless we are mathematically eliminated. I have faith in the management, coaching staff and players. Greatest of all, I love the Buffalo Sabres.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Everyone saying new system and new/young players is the issue. But I must be watching different games. The Sabres IMO are playing well.

Im also new to analytics, but 5 on 5 our fenwick for % is 7th and corsi for % is 6th. Last year we were last in both categories.

Our problem right now is simply luck and PK. This is a playoff team if Bogo gets healthy and we find average goal tending. Goals will come.

 

[haseoke39]

I was there before the season started. Full tank mode is hopefully for over a decade with so many good players that are too young to have graduated on time with a bachelor's degree. Wins and losses don't matter so much to me as a fan. I hope they do matter to the players; especially those who were here to suffer through the last two years. They have to be utterly sick and tired of it.

I want this team to come together and play like a playoff contender by the last half of the season, or the last twenty games. That progress would mean more to me than any draft choice next year. The tank had a purpose. That purpose has been fulfilled. The next chapter has truly begun.

I will keep the hope for making the playoffs unless we are mathematically eliminated. I have faith in the management, coaching staff and players. Greatest of all, I love the Buffalo Sabres.

"And now these three remain: hope, faith, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:13.

 

[SabresBillsBuffalo]

Just need a goalie who isn't gonna be a liability almost every night and for Weber Gionta to watch the game in press box

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Just need a goalie who isn't gonna be a liability almost every night and for Weber Gionta to watch the game in press box

The team's Captain in the press box? Will not happen.

 

[Clock]

Forget the tank. Time to get better. This start really isn't that surprising, give them time to gel. As already mentioned, we're already in good position already if you care about draft position.

There are plenty of good things happening right now to build on (particularly if you acknowledge the current goaltending situation), and we're basically guaranteed to get another quality player in the draft anyhow. We don't want to become the Oilers.

 

[SabresBillsBuffalo]

The team's Captain in the press box? Will not happen.

He is the worst captain I've watched maybe besides Rivet.

He's playing god awful hockey and seriously hampering Ennis and Eichel. He has no business on that line and probably in the NHL at this point.

He can't finish anything, he doesn't even work that hard, he constantly can't get the puck to either of them.

He's just a bum. I respected him last year because he was flying around and tried hard. I'd absolutely rather have Drew Stafford at this point.

**** id rather have Vanek. If Ullmark can stop 25-28 picks a night we will probably win a lot more games.

Johnson is brutal

 

[Punished ROR]

Besides last night, Johnson's play has surprised me -- credit goes to the team for protecting him too, of course. He's not a world beater, but IMO he's a serviceable backup. I don't know how much more you can expect from your backup filling in for an injured #1 behind a team that can't score more than 1-2 goals a night.

The goaltending isn't a strong suit right now but it's also not the glaring weakness some are making it out to be. Finish on some of those glorious open nets and you don't need Johnson to play like Hasek in order to win.

 

[Havok89]

The team's Captain in the press box? Will not happen.

Well he definitely shouldn't see another minute of PP time.

 

[OkimLom]

Everyone saying new system and new/young players is the issue. But I must be watching different games. The Sabres IMO are playing well.

Im also new to analytics, but 5 on 5 our fenwick for % is 7th and corsi for % is 6th. Last year we were last in both categories.

Our problem right now is simply luck and PK. This is a playoff team if Bogo gets healthy and we find average goal tending. Goals will come.

Both are the correct answer. There is a new system in place and new players, they are also playing well implementing the system. It's a good thing to see. The system won't click right away but it's in my opinion the correct system for this team.

Once we get rid of guys like Weber, Franson, Gorges where there will be quicker decisions/legs we'll see the full potential of this team, and once we get solid goaltending then it will come together.

I may have walked away maybe twice this year not happy with the effort they put forth, which was the Ottawa and Tampa games.

Otherwise I see q team who just needs to learn to win together consistently.

As for OP's question I'm not going to embrace tanking for this year. If they lose it will because they are having growing pains, and I will be okay with that, not by design of getting highest draft pick possible, which was the MO of their last two years.

 

[Afino]

nope, I'm rooting to win all 82 games

 

[FearTheBeard]

did Damien Cox start this thread?

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

did Damien Cox start this thread?

I'm rooting for them to win still but I don't see how they can do much with Johnson in net. I think a really good team could play about .500 hockey with him. With him in net, this team is not even close to playoff worthy. And that discounts having backups to the backup.

WILD CARD? Ullmark. Who knows how he stacks up against NHL competition? I'm praying this is like discovering Hasek.

We're never going to go into total tank mode -- it's not possible with this many young players and a competent coach. But a top 2 pick would fit in nicely, especially a blue chip D prospect.