Speculation: Who might be the Sabres 2nd round targets

[krt88]

The Sabres own 3 2nd round picks this year (#31, #39 and #49 overall). Whom are some of the players you'd like to see the Sabres target?

Here are mine:

#31 -
A. Jack Dougherty - D
B. Thatcher Demko - G
C. Brendan Lemieux - LW

I could see all three of these guys going later first round, but any one of them could slide

#39 -
A. Brett Pollock - C/LW
B. Kaapo Kahkoen - G
C. Jack Glover - D

I would be surprised if 2 out of these 3 are on the board at pick #39

#49 -
A. Ryan Collins - D
B. Hunter Smith - RW
C. Ryan Macinnis - C

At this stage 3 of these guys could be gone or all 3 might be on the board. Hard to teach size. Skating can be improved but big bodies really help.

I think if possible, with 4/5 2nd round ranked goalies, grabbing one with a 2nd round pick makes sense.

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[Dunkster19]

I think at least two of these and possibly all 3 are used in trades

 

[Jame]

Assuming the following are off the board:
Sam, Sam, Ek, Leon, MDC, Ehlers, Ritchie, Fleury, Nylander, Kapanen, Fabbri, Virtanen, Perlini....

I hope they take #31 and #39 and package to move up into the 14-24 range for...

1st choice targets to trade up for
Goldobin - Poor man's Seguin
Kempe - Beast puck possession player... LA mold.
McCann - Most underrated player in the draft

2nd choices...
Barbashev
Bleackley
Tuch

im not interested in making 3 2nd round picks in this draft.
Trade up or trade for a player.

 

[stokes84]

I think at least two of these and possibly all 3 are used in trades

The way people have described this draft makes me think those picks aren't going to be in high demand. This is where Tim Murray is going to have to earn his money.

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

There is no way MacInnis is available at 49. He's going to go in the 33-36 range.

#31.
A. Eric Cornel, C
B. John Quenneville, C
C. Anton Karlsson, RW

#39.
A. Marcus Pettersson, D
B. Brett Pollock, C
C. Brycen Martin, D

#49.
A. Ryan Donato, C
B. Ryan Collins, D
C. Justin Kirkland, LW

 

[DazedandConfused]

Were picking atleast 1 Swede in the first two rounds folks. Karlsson if we stay put at 31 and Kempe if we move up, unless we move up higher than I think.

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Personally prefer Perlini or Barbashev in a trade up scenario. But, also somewhat interested in Kempe, Kuch, and McCann (who I agree is underrated).

 

[My Cozen Dylan]

Were picking atleast 1 Swede in the first two rounds folks. Karlsson if we stay put at 31 and Kempe if we move up, unless we move up higher than I think.

I see where you draw that conclusion from, but I wouldn't say it's a guarantee. In the later rounds, more likely. Swedes just aren't ranked anywhere near where we are picking early.

 

[Zip15]

I've said before that I think we're trading 31 and (probably) 49 to get back into the 1st round. But, assuming the 1st round to be based on Hockey Prospect's top-30, here are my guesses:

#31

Anton Karlsson
Eric Cornel
Roland McKeown

#39

John Quenneville
Ryan MacInnis
Brayden Point

#49

Jayce Hawryluk
Chase DeLeo

 

[TehDoak]

Tim Murray said something along the lines of you go 2nd overall you go BPA, then you focus on 'needs' with the rest of your picks.

I'm with the consensus that we are probably going to try to move back into the 1st with 2 of our 2nds. I am looking at Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Montreal as teams with no 2nd rounder who own mid to late 1st round picks.

As far as targets go, I think Size, Hockey sense, and skating are the biggest priorities across the board for TM. As far as organizational needs, probably the C position is still the weakest overall. Assuming we take one of Bennett/Reinhart 2nd overall, its a step in the right direction. We actually have decent 'depth' on the wing (Armia, Compher, Bailey, Baptiste, Fasching) and while we have good quality D, there is a pretty big drop off after the big 3 (Risto, Zads, and McCabe).

My 'Guestimate' would be a D-man or Center that slides into the 20s that TM sees good 'value' in moving up to get.

 

[Jame]

Tim Murray said something along the lines of you go 2nd overall you go BPA, then you focus on 'needs' with the rest of your picks.

I'm with the consensus that we are probably going to try to move back into the 1st with 2 of our 2nds. I am looking at Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Montreal as teams with no 2nd rounder who own mid to late 1st round picks.

As far as targets go, I think Size, Hockey sense, and skating are the biggest priorities across the board for TM. As far as organizational needs, probably the C position is still the weakest overall. Assuming we take one of Bennett/Reinhart 2nd overall, its a step in the right direction. We actually have decent 'depth' on the wing (Armia, Compher, Bailey, Baptiste, Fasching) and while we have good quality D, there is a pretty big drop off after the big 3 (Risto, Zads, and McCabe).

My 'Guestimate' would be a D-man or Center that slides into the 20s that TM sees good 'value' in moving up to get.

Jack Daugherty - A more physical and well rounded Mark Pysyk

 

[26CornerBlitz]

I hope they use some combination of picks to move up for Barbashev.

 

[SabresFan26]

Assuming the following are off the board:
Sam, Sam, Ek, Leon, MDC, Ehlers, Ritchie, Fleury, Nylander, Kapanen, Fabbri, Virtanen, Perlini....

I hope they take #31 and #39 and package to move up into the 14-24 range for...

1st choice targets to trade up for
Goldobin - Poor man's Seguin
Kempe - Beast puck possession player... LA mold.
McCann - Most underrated player in the draft

2nd choices...
Barbashev
Bleackley
Tuch

im not interested in making 3 2nd round picks in this draft.
Trade up or trade for a player.

Agreed,
He has fallen in some polls but he is a great 2 way guy who can do it all

 

[SuperNintendoChalmrs]

Bleackley somehow finds his way to 31. also Brendan The Rat Lemieux and Karlsson.


39 - Glover, Cornel, Quenneville.

49 - Point, Josh Jacobs, Hawryluk


61 - Vanier, Hunter Smith, Mistele

 

[jc17]

I agree with Jame. I think the best move would be to move up for Barbashev/Goldobin/Kempe/McCann and I'll add Scherbak.

If we keep our seconds, I like Point and Cornel.

 

[jc17]

.

I'm with the consensus that we are probably going to try to move back into the 1st with 2 of our 2nds. I am looking at Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Montreal as teams with no 2nd rounder who own mid to late 1st round picks.

Also, I've heard this statement quite a bit lately and honestly I think its overstated and flawed.

People keep mentioning these "teams without a 2nd" but that doesn't automatically mean they would want one or two at the cost of a 1st. Then they would be "teams without a 1st" which is not really any better.
Clearly the fact that many of us want to trade up indicates that there is talent in the late first that can't be had in the 2nd round. What makes you think that these teams will give that up just for the sake of another pick?

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I'd like Demko at #31, but fear a team will pick him 25-30.

 

[Heraldic]

31. pick. Anton Karlsson

(Kempe if somehow available)

39. pick. Travis Sanheim.

I think we should grab one left handed potential top-4 d-man. After Zadorov and McCabe hit the pro team we practically have none left handed d-men in our pool (Brady Austin is the only one). I think we should have at least one in the pipeline in order to have more flexibility in the trade market (some teams might seek for left handed top-4- d-men) - especially if we're to trade Ehrhoff at some point.

He might be available because a lot of the d-men are righties, and they tend to be more attractive.

49. pick. Brendan Lemieux.

Not likely to be available at this point, but would be extremely happy to pick him with this pick.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

Also, I've heard this statement quite a bit lately and honestly I think its overstated and flawed.

People keep mentioning these "teams without a 2nd" but that doesn't automatically mean they would want one or two at the cost of a 1st. Then they would be "teams without a 1st" which is not really any better.
Clearly the fact that many of us want to trade up indicates that there is talent in the late first that can't be had in the 2nd round. What makes you think that these teams will give that up just for the sake of another pick?

Nobody looking at teams without a second thinks it automatically means they want a second, it means they'd have an opportunity to add 2 decent prospects instead of 1 good prospect. Additionally these mid round teams who are willing to trade picks have shallower prospect pools (because they trade the picks) and so are more likely to be interested in adding quantity than only slightly better quality.

If you have a shallow prospect pool and a contending roster would you rather add 1 1c player or 2 2a players? Its a lot more interesting of a discussion then with the teams already making multiple picks in the top 60. If you don't have a specific 'need' then often times its worth considering grabbing lesser prospects in bulk, gambling that more prospects are more likely to graduate a top player.

Additionally, part of the reason we are willing to move picks to move up isn't necessarily because the talent is so much better, but because we don't really have room to add 7-9 more prospects. So you deal out 2 for 1s because those 2 aren't as valuable in our pool when it means you have to cut a prospect from a previous draft to fit the new players. You end up releasing young players to the numbers game.

If we don't move 1G 2F... then D the rest of the draft

 

[jvirk]

Demko at 31...if he's there I sincerely hope TM pulls the trigger

 

[WpgBuffan]

I am hoping that we trade up to grab Kempe or Tuch using our #31 and #39. If that does not happen I hope Sanhiem is there at #31.

 

[Paxon]

The way people have described this draft makes me think those picks aren't going to be in high demand. This is where Tim Murray is going to have to earn his money.

While as a rule of thumb I'd think that's true, there's always going to be someone willing to trade out of the bottom half of the 1st, especially teams which are lacking a 2nd or 3rd.

Also, I've heard this statement quite a bit lately and honestly I think its overstated and flawed.

People keep mentioning these "teams without a 2nd" but that doesn't automatically mean they would want one or two at the cost of a 1st. Then they would be "teams without a 1st" which is not really any better.
Clearly the fact that many of us want to trade up indicates that there is talent in the late first that can't be had in the 2nd round. What makes you think that these teams will give that up just for the sake of another pick?

There just always are teams willing to trade down. Maybe they really like a guy targeted in the 2nd, maybe they're not too high on the remaining 1st round-graded guys, maybe they feel their pool needs more depth, etc. You can't count on there always being a team in the top 5 or 10 being willing to trade down, but out of the 15 teams in the lesser-valued second half of the 1st, odds are good.

 

[flashsabre]

I really hope Murray views this as a quality over quantity draft. We have enough prospects better than the likely 2nd round choices in this year's draft.

Ideally I would love to see them use a combination of roster players, prospects and the 3 2nd round picks and come away with 3 top 20 picks that Murray really believes in to help build his vision of a Cup winning team here. A highly skilled centre and two wingers with size,grit, offensive upside would be perfect.

Reinhart/Bennett/Draisaitl and any 2 of Dal Colle, Ritchie, Tuch, Barbashev, Virtanen, Perlini or Kempe would fit into his L.A. Model.

Between the likes of Hodgson, Ennis, Stafford, Stewart, Ehrhoff, Grigs, the 3 2nd round picks you can most likely craft deals to target NYI #5 pick and another between 12-18.

 

[Dunkster19]

I really hope Murray views this as a quality over quantity draft. We have enough prospects better than the likely 2nd round choices in this year's draft.

Ideally I would love to see them use a combination of roster players, prospects and the 3 2nd round picks and come away with 3 top 20 picks that Murray really believes in to help build his vision of a Cup winning team here. A highly skilled centre and two wingers with size,grit, offensive upside would be perfect.

Reinhart/Bennett/Draisaitl and any 2 of Dal Colle, Ritchie, Tuch, Barbashev, Virtanen, Perlini or Kempe would fit into his L.A. Model.

Between the likes of Hodgson, Ennis, Stafford, Stewart, Ehrhoff, Grigs, the 3 2nd round picks you can most likely craft deals to target NYI #5 pick and another between 12-18.

Something along these lines are probably in the game plan

 

[Chainshot]

Some very good names mentioned already including Cornel, Lemieux, Sanheim, Daugherty, Kirkland, Schmaltz if he lasts. They are in a good position to wait on fallers since they have multiple picks in the round.

It's also possible that rather than trade up, they use a pick or picks in roster shaping. Stranger things have happened than a 2nd round pick or two gets used to bring in some reinforcements either straight up or in part of a larger package.