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Ramp-up to the 2015 NHL Draft Pt. 1--Goaltending Prospects in the system |
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Over the course of three drafts a franchise is given a total of 21 draft picks in seven rounds by the NHL and dependent upon where said franchise is on the food chain they will either have more or less picks. Those atop the chain gunning for the Stanley Cup will have fewer picks as they bolster their roster with specific players via trade-deadline rental players. In-turn the rental players will come from those teams at the bottom of the food chain in need of future building blocks.
The Buffalo Sabres have been in rebuild-mode since 2012 and have made 36 selections over the course of the last three drafts. In 2012 they picked eight players, in 2013 they picked 11 and last season they left the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA with nine. In essence Buffalo was able to pack five years worth of picks into three drafts.
More impressive than that, and the main reason that many media outlets have Buffalo with the No. 1 pool of prospects, is that they had five first-round picks from 2012-14. To augment that, the team was able to add seven second-rounders to the pool. All totaled, from the first-overall pick in those drafts until the Sabres last pick in the second rounds, Buffalo brought in 12 of the top 145 prospects in those drafts or about 8% of the prospect pool.
This year Sabres GM Tim Murray will be headed to Sunrise, FL with "only" eight picks as the purge of veterans has been completed and a sense of normalcy returns to the draft floor. That being said, they still have two first-rounders and two second-rounders that stretch from the second-overall pick down to No. 51.
Last year Murray was stressing quality over quantity at the 2014 draft. He walked into Philly with the second-overall pick and was looking to use a combination of his three second-rounders (Nos. 31, 39 and 49) to move back into the first round. He was said to be interested moving up into the middle of the first round, but it never came to pass. This year he's looking to do the same thing as the prospect pool is overflowing.
Overflowing with what, exactly, is our theme over the course of the next week or so.
Hockey'sFuture is one outlet that has the Buffalo Sabres at the top of their prospect rankings as a team and they recently placed C, Sam Reinhart atop their individual rankings as well.
Here's what they said about the Sabres prospect pool:
"The Buffalo Sabres are going through a painful rebuild right now but the long-term future looks very bright for the organization. There is high-end talent at every position, but the Sabres are particularly flush at forward. The organization does not have the same level of depth on defense as they do at forward, but they are still very deep on the blue line and have several very promising defensive prospects. Picking early and often in the last three NHL Drafts has left the Sabres with few major weaknesses in their prospect pool [but] the team could probably stand to upgrade their goaltending."
Which is where we begin.
Once again, the consensus amongst the scouting community is that there is a goalie worthy of a first round pick at the 2015 NHL Draft. Kris Baker of Sabrerprospects.com and Sabres.com placed Russian Ilya Samsonov at No.24 in his 2015 list of top-30 draft prospects. Samsonov's name has started entering the conversation for Buffalo as they're sitting with the 21st-overall pick. Will the Sabres go after him if they stay in that spot? It's something to delve into a little closer to the draft and is something that's dependent upon whether one thinks the Sabres goalie pipeline needs first-round talent to bolster it.
Beginning with the big club, as of right now Buffalo has only one NHL'er signed this season in Chad Johnson. Johnson came over in the Michal Neuvirth trade at the 2015 trade deadline, but was felled by injury. After him there's an array of goalies in varying shapes and sizes from all over the world. Some are signed, others unsigned like 27 yr. old Anders Lindback and 25 yr. old Matt Hackett both of whom came to Buffalo via trade and are unrestricted free agents.
Also unsigned is restricted free agent Nathan Lieuwen, a big 6'5" 192 lb. goalie selected in the 6th round (167th) of the 2011 entry draft is also in the mix with the big club yet is at the crossroads of a career that has been marked by injury, most notably concussions. He never fully recovered from one he suffered on April 8, 2014 while playing for Buffalo. After a prolonged slump in Rochester, his woes were traced to that with a neurologist saying, "Your brain is not working with your eyes the right way." He shut it down on January 8, 2015 and there was no timetable for his return. Nor do we know where he is in the recovery process.
Those are the veterans of the group.
Leading the prospects on the depth chart, at least from a pro-experience perspective, is Andrey Makarov. The 2012 free agent signee born in Kazan, Russia made a big splash in 2013 when he was called up from Elmira to Rochester due to organizational injuries at the goalie position. After losing his first three games that season, he proceeded to almost single-handedly carry the Amerks to the post-season with a seven-game winning streak to finish the regular season. Inconsistencies have kept him from being looked upon as a top goalie prospect in the system but at 22 yrs. old he should not be dismissed either. Makarov is coming off a 2014-15 season where he took over the reigns as the Amerks starter. He posted a 16-18-3 record with a 2.91 gaa and a .905 sv.%. He's in the last year of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent in 2016.
Linus Ullmark was a 6th-round draft pick (163rd-overall) in 2012. The 21 yr.old native of Sweden spent the last two seasons playing for MODO of the Swedish Elite League. Ullmark is a positional, butterfly goalie with a quick glove who tracks the puck well and is always square to the shooter. In 2014 he won Honken Trophy as SHL Goalie of the Year sporting a strong 2.08 gaa and a stout .931 sv%. Last year he didn't fare as well while playing on a MODO squad that finished in last place but won the relegation playoff to help the team remain in the SHL. Ullmark was stellar in helping Ornskoldsvik to avoid that dubious distinction by posting a 0.50 gaa and a .980 sv% in four games played. He is headed to North America this season, but his debut may be delayed after undergoing a double-hip surgery that will keep him on the sidelines presumably until October.
Rising fast up the Sabres depth-chart in net is Notre Dame sophomore, Cal Peterson (2013, 129th.) The Waterloo, IA native just completed his freshman season for the Fighting Irish posting a 13-16-3 record with a 2.51 gaa and .919 sv% in a Hockey East division that featured powerhouses like Jack Eichel's Boston University, Boston College and 2015 NCAA Champion, Providence. Baker has always liked Peterson, especially his aggressiveness and scrappy play which was on display when the southpaw really caught the country's attention after making an NCAA record 87 saves in the longest game in NCAA history. With the 20 yr. old Petersen in the college ranks, the Sabres have themselves a couple of years to continue sorting through their goalies before he even turns pro.
Buffalo also bought some time when drafting Swedish goalie Jonas Johansson (2014, 61st.) At 6'4", 198 lbs. Johansson has the size that Murray covets and with Markov, Ullmark and Petersen above him on the depth-chart, the 19 yr. old will be afforded plenty of time to develop over in Europe before he makes his way to North America. Johansson's a lefty that likes to play a little deeper in the crease, similar to that of Henrik Lundqvist. As a backup for Almtuna he appeared in nine games posting a 6-3-0 record with a 2.58 gaa and a .898 sv%. Of note, the Sabres hadn't picked a goalie that high in the draft since they selected Jhonas Enroth with the 46th-overall pick in 2006.
Finally there's Jason Kasdorf, a 2011 6th-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets who came over as a part of the Tyler Myers/Evander Kane trade. Very little is known about Kasdorf, a 6'3" 178 lb. Winnipeg native who was considered a throw-in player in the trade. According to Hockey'sFuture he was a "sentimental pick" for the Jets, who "does have some talent and ideal size for a young goalie prospect." Kasdorf had a brilliant freshman season with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of the ECAC going 14-5-2 with a 1.62 gaa and a .935 sv.%. Since then his numbers have dropped. Although the 23 yr. old Kasdorf his listed as a part of last year's roster, his status with the club is uncertain.
Beginning with Matt Hackett, the Sabres have a succession of goalies a year apart age-wise all the way down to the 19 yr. old Johansson that is keeping the pipeline filled. Three of them, Hackett, Lieuwen and Kasdorf are question marks moving forward, as is Johnson, which is why rumors have Murray looking for a young goalie to place atop the youngins.
Ullmark, Petersen and Johansson represent three really strong prospects all of whom have some size, which Murray likes. As mentioned before, Makarov, despite his inconsistencies and despite his being the smallest of the prospects at 6'1" 178 lbs., has forced himself into the equation. At least at the AHL or backup-level.
The Sabres have taken a goalie in four consecutive drafts and there's no reason to believe that they won't take one this year to keep the pipeline filled. Where, is the question.
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