Scott Wheeler Explains The NHL Prospects The Buffalo Sabres Need To Go Get!|Schopp and Bulldog

Scott Wheeler Explains The NHL Prospects The Buffalo Sabres Need To Go Get!|Schopp and Bulldog

scott Wheeler of The Athletic with us so the draft is in 10 days june 27th the Sabres pick 9th i think this is the first year is it not where teams will not be present and and I think the only year because I think Scott they’re going to swing back to a a central draft location this seemed maybe like a good idea in theory but it seems like there’s been a lot of push back wishing they hadn’t done it yeah there has this is I think going to be a one-in-one decentralized draft uh that for those who who are unfamiliar the NHL voted a couple of summers ago now to move towards a decentralized draft a lot of it came out of Nashville and uh travel nightmares getting out of the draft in Nashville a couple of years ago and just how close the NHL draft is in the calendar to free agency and the consequences of having general managers and assistant general managers stuck in airports while they should be preparing for free agency so uh part of the what what I think the next CBA will try to address is that gap uh sort of moving uh the the the draft and free agency maybe a couple of days further apart to account for that but I think part of what’s going to happen after this year’s unique draft and it’ll be in a theater in Los Angeles instead of an arena it’ll be just the top 50 players and their families uh the actual staff from all of the NHL organizations that are typically on the draft floor will not be in attendance uh and it’s mostly going to be players and agents and their families rather than NHL team staff who will have remote setups in order to send their picks in a lot like we see in the NSL and in the NBA so uh they’re trying it out i don’t think it’s going to be a major success and frankly though they haven’t said so publicly I think they’ve already made the decision that they’re going to go back to a centralized draft for next year all right so the Sabres have the ninth pick in general Scott I I’ll speak for myself and maybe many of our listeners it’s just like maybe about now starting to get acclimated who’s who and what uh might be best here in terms of strategy what kind of draft is it is it above average below average for like overall talent or even just maybe top 10 with the Sabres sitting at nine uh it’s a below average draft i’ve been on record throughout this season saying that this draft doesn’t really get me excited now in saying that I think when people talk about that the draft that way it typically takes on a life of its own and I actually find when people talk over and over whether it’s scouts or media about a draft being a below average draft I actually find that the pendulum typically swings in terms of the group think about the draft the pendulum typically swings too far and as a result poor drafts actually become undervalued um uh people are too eager to get rid of picks in bad drafts and too eager to uh sort of trade out of bad drafts or trade back in bad drafts where the where the Sabres are picking specifically there are still going to be future stars either at their pick or in the pick shortly after theirs who go on to be top six forwards in the NHL top four defenseman in the NHL there’s going to be Stanley Cup winners from this draft that’s just the way that the draft is it plays out that way even in a weaker draft class and uh draft it’s I don’t talk about it the way that I talked about 2012 for example which will go down as one of the worst drafts in NHL history uh but it it’s we’ve been spoiled the last couple of years and this isn’t 2024 or 2023 which I would qualify as excellent drafts so uh at nine there will be good players there it’s a very centerheavy draft uh typically you talk to NHL scouts seven or eight of their top 10 prospects in this draft are listed as centers now some of those centers could end up on the wing in the NHL but a centerheavy draft a year after a draft that was stocked uh sort of full at the top with defenseman this draft class is much lighter on defenseman at the draft after presumptive number one pick Matthew Schaefer who is the premium prospect in this draft and one of the premium D prospects that we’ve seen in recent years uh but certainly where where the uh where the Sabres are drafting there will be one or two defenseman in that range rather than the typical three or four defensemen in that range that teams consider and there will be multiple centers in particular that are available to them there that they will will have to mow over do you have thoughts on guys that could be good fits considering what they’ve already got in the pipeline or is that a flawed way to approach deciding who to pick i I think in in an ideal world the one thing that the Sabres would really like to add and inject into their pool is a sort of ultra competitive type uh a sort of physical hard to play against not necessarily it doesn’t have to be a throwback if you will mhm uh but you look at their pool right now they’ve got a lot up front they’ve got a lot of sort of 510 5’11 6 foot forwards who are sort of skilled finesse players can make plays read the game at a high level some good skaters in that mix uh but a lot of players who kind of look the same whether it’s Constahellaneous Isac Rosanne Noah um it’s it’s just a collection of forward prospects in particular that kind of have started to feel really similar i think that’s a big reason why they traded Matt Seavoi uh who also had a little bit of that sort of look to him in terms of an undersized undersized skilled forward uh ironically Matt Seavoy was actually I would argue the most competitive the hardest working of those players although Noah Osland gets very very high grades for that as well um but they could they could use a little bit of jam in their pool and there are two players in this draft who sort of fit that mold with with emphasis uh one of them is a center of the Sue Greyhounds by the name of Brady Martin brady is a farm boy off the ice and a farm boy on the ice in terms of just that hardworking get after it physical uh bold guys over hardest hitting player in the draft ultra competitive center i’ve kind of compared him throughout the course of this season to guys like Mike Richards who’ve been sort of really the heart and soul centers of their organization sam Bennett and we’re seeing the impact that Sam Bennett is having on the Stanley Cup playoffs right now i think those are two players that kind of feel a little bit like Brady Martin uh now Brady is not likely to be there at nine he was viewed as sort of a mid-first round pick coming into this year but was a real riser over the course of of the season because of his unique sort of DNA and his his intensity his motor uh and I now expect that he’ll go in the sort of four to seven range directly in front of them but there is another player who fits that mold who could be who could and will likely be available to them there and that’s Kahan Hes i’m not convinced they’ll take Kahan Hen but he would certainly check that box kahan is a defenseman rather than a center like Brady Martin uh but plays the game with with intensity physical sort of imposition uh knocks guys around really strong and also scored 30 plus goals as a defenseman in the OHL this year which is very rare has a big point shot likes to attack both offensively and defensively and sort of take shift take charge of shifts uh he comes with some mistakes plays on instinct and can make some mistakes out there but sort of would add something to their pool that they maybe don’t have um there are other players in that range that I think would be potential fits for them they’ve got a very big blue line that they’ve built obviously uh in terms of length in Buffalo and there’s another of that variety and redeem MKA of the Seattle Thunderbirds 6’5 6’6 defenseman who can really skate um would fit in nicely on a blue line that already has Owen Power and Rasmus Delene and Matias Samson uh and then there are a couple of other really interesting forwards roger McQueen of the Brandon Wheat Kings was marred by back injuries over the course of the last two seasons but was viewed as a potential top five pick in this draft before the injury troubles he’s now going to go I think in that 9 10 11 range in this draft and could be a a consideration for them big big center with lots of skill would also add something to their pool that they’re maybe missing in terms of the size element he’s not the ultra competitor that a Brady Martin is uh but a 6’5 center who’s got legit skill and does not look like the 510 5’11 types that they have in their forward group so uh there’s there’s a good mix there that could be available to them and a lot of players uh with some some sort of really legit potential if you will we already touched on it Scott uh the the the some similarities in some of their higherend uh prospects that are already playing already have played in Rochester uh how do you feel about their pool overall it feels like the maybe the shine is starting to come off a little bit like they were very highly rated for a few years running and now I’m I’m I’m getting the feel that maybe they’re they’re getting a little thin yeah it’s started to thin out a little bit some of that is just graduating Zack Benson and Yuri Kulich maybe a little bit earlier than people expected that those guys would graduate some of it is trading uh Matt Seavoy for Ryan Mloud which I think of it has been parlayed into NHL players already some of it has been used to to go and acquire a legit sort of top nine NHL player in Mloud and I still think there’s more coming uh Isac Rosane is the one who’s tricky because he’s starting to feel maybe like a bit of a quadruple A guy and by quadruple AA guy I mean that sort of in between the AHL and the NHL he’s a high-end high-end top six forward at the at the AHL level who can score on the power play and has speed and can really shoot the puck but he doesn’t likely fit in as a top six NHL player and might not fit in as a bottom six NHL player so you start to wonder about where Rosanne sort of fits into to the future of the Sabres as they’re also trying to get better and not have to rely so much on young players austin is a player who I know they’re very high on and they fully expect is going to be a part of their future moving forward here as a top nine center he’s a natural center uh could become a winger but plays with a defensive conscience despite not being the biggest or strongest kid uh so there there are some pieces there on even on the blue line vessel Karov Nikita Novakov two legit Russian defenseman who could be dep for them moving forward here uh they took Adam Cleber in the second round a year ago maxim Stirbach is a legit college player at at Michigan State who are one of the favorites uh sort of heading into the this college hockey season so there is still some depth coming but they don’t have the true top prospect they don’t have a Tae Thompson or Arasmus Gallen or an Owen Power coming scott in just uh 2 minutes or less here as we’ve kept you a while already can you believe the Sabres i mean this is 14 years without a playoff appearance that’s insane stuff is there There probably isn’t a short answer uh you that you might have for or explanation for it but I don’t know it It doesn’t necessarily feel like things are about to get better to me we lost Scott he almost dropped off a couple of times right then that was it well that’ll have to go unanswered that’s fine that’s just how that goes sometimes yeah all right is there a bulldog though should I ask you is there a short Is there a good explanation for the Sabres i mean commitment yeah right i mean there’s that that’s it that’s That’s the That’s the word commitment for whether it’s you know starting right at the top and just rolling right through i I mean I I just I think that’s that’s what it is

Mike Schopp and The Bulldog talk to National NHL Draft reporter for The Athletic Scott Wheeler On NHL Prospects Sabres Fans Need To Know About

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