This will sound like a broken record to some...
But as far as the defense goes, we are in the shape we are in bc Murray has ignored defense in the 3 drafts since he got here

When I put this together, I almost couldn't believe it
Sabres drafting under Murray...
3 drafts

1st round- drafted 3 forwards, ZERO defensemen, traded 2 picks
2nd round- drafted 4 forwards, ONE defenseman, traded 4 picks

So out of a possible 14 picks in the 1st and 2nd since Murray has been here...
he's only used ONE of those picks on a defenseman (Guhle)

No freaking wonder out defense is in rough shape

Hey GMTM...
STOP IGNORING DEFENSE IN THE DRAFT A$$HOLE
- jdfitz77

Do me a favor and post this several times a day.

OH, WAIT.

Charlie Mac instead of Nylander
- sbroads24

That might have been a stretch at the time
Like I said, u can make a case at any individual pick that it was an ok choice

But to only choose 1 defenseman overall is why we only have 1 legit prospect coming up...
u can't expect to have depth at a position is u are spending meaningful picks on it

Do me a favor and post this several times a day.

OH, WAIT.
- BeadyEyedDouche

U got me there
I did start off by saying something about a broken record though

He ignored the defense in the draft
Repeatedly

And why do I have to assume he'd have taken the next best defensemen available in round 2?
Dougherty & McKeown were the highest rated (both round 1)

Regardless...
Of course u could nitpick at each individual selection

I'll say it again
7 forwards chosen, 1 defenseman chosen...

Absolutely unacceptable!
If u want to BUILD the defense,
you've gotta spend high picks at that position

Not every pick...
but at least some of them
Seems pretty reasonable to me
- jdfitz77

are dougherty and mackewon in the nhl? wouldnt really change much. not like wed say either was top pairing.


Where did he ignore it? the reinhart pick? The eichel pick? even you just said charlie mac ahead of nylander on draft day was a stretch.

Michael Pachla: Amerks end tough season on a sour note, but some bright spots emerge
Lack of depth stretching down to Rochester was a big factor
- Michael Pachla

fasching played decent the last month

Charlie Mac instead of Nylander
- sbroads24

Yeah than you would have b*tched he overreached for Mac, as he was the 15th rated prospect. Sergachev is the only one you should be being bringing up as an alternative here.

Do this exercise. Watch how good william nylander is now, and take into account ALL of the analysts say Alex is as good maybe a better prospect than William. Now picture Alex, when he matures, with Captain Jack for the next 12 years. Side point: the player who played the most minutes with Jack this year was Foligno. Case closed. Any other questions?

This year sucked, I get it, but it will get better. With guhle, antipin (spelling) the d will be better. Hell assign another dman and I'm high in Fitzgerald too.

Yeah than you would have b*tched he overreached for Mac, as he was the 15th rated prospect. Sergachev is the only one you should be being bringing up as an alternative here.

Do this exercise. Watch how good william nylander is now, and take into account ALL of the analysts say Alex is as good maybe a better prospect than William. Now picture Alex, when he matures, with Captain Jack for the next 12 years. Side point: the player who played the most minutes with Jack this year was Foligno. Case closed. Any other questions?

This year sucked, I get it, but it will get better. With guhle, antipin (spelling) the d will be better. Hell assign another dman and I'm high in Fitzgerald too.
- turbo044

I listed an example of where we could have taken a D man. Never said I would have.

And for the record, William Nylander had 32 points in 37 games his first year in the AHL, and had 13 points in 22 NHL games that year too.

Better hope Alex takes a giant leap before we compare the two

That might have been a stretch at the time
Like I said, u can make a case at any individual pick that it was an ok choice

But to only choose 1 defenseman overall is why we only have 1 legit prospect coming up...
u can't expect to have depth at a position is u are spending meaningful picks on it
- jdfitz77

This is relative and mostly a matter of opinion.

I like Borgen, nyberg has promise. so does fitzgerald to an extent. I dont project any of them to be high end guys though, which is our biggest need.

I listed an example of where we could have taken a D man. Never said I would have.

And for the record, William Nylander had 32 points in 37 games his first year in the AHL, and had 13 points in 22 NHL games that year too.

Better hope Alex takes a giant leap before we compare the two
- sbroads24

I listed an example of where we could have taken a D man. Never said I would have.

And for the record, William Nylander had 32 points in 37 games his first year in the AHL, and had 13 points in 22 NHL games that year too.

Better hope Alex takes a giant leap before we compare the two
- sbroads24

I'm. It saying it, this is what the prognosticators were saying

This is relative and mostly a matter of opinion.

I like Borgen, nyberg has promise. so does fitzgerald to an extent. I dont project any of them to be high end guys though, which is our biggest need.
- Sabresfan-365

Well, then I guess we better move on from them. Casey Fitzgerald was outstanding in the World Juniors for USA, Borgen also played pretty well in The WJ's the year before.
The only issue with the 3 mentioned is they are all college players and apparently they don't have to sign with the team that drafted them anymore. Time to change that rule. Alex was 18 for most of this year, he struggled to find his way, but I bet he learned a lot about his game to know what he needs to do to get better. Cornel and Karabacek just finished their rookie seasons, Maybe we should let players develop their game before we call them flops or bad choices.

are dougherty and mackewon in the nhl? wouldnt really change much. not like wed say either was top pairing.


Where did he ignore it? the reinhart pick? The eichel pick? even you just said charlie mac ahead of nylander on draft day was a stretch.
- Sabresfan-365

No, but they're about to be
Why do they have to be in the NHL "right now"
Also, young defensemen are great trade pieces...
are they not?

And like I said repeatedly...
7 forwards drafted, ONE defenseman

How is that not ignoring it?

If u really want me to pick apart each selection...
Chychrun or Sergachev in Nylander's spot would've been reasonable

In 2014, I already posted 3 defensemen who were higher rated than the 2 forwards he picked

There's a handful of decent defensemen that got picked after Asplund too

He also traded away 6 picks,
any of which could've been used on defensemen


All of this can be explained away on a case by case basis
(Except for 2014 2nd round imo)

But the thing that's glaring is that he ONLY picked ONE defenseman in the top2 rounds in his 3 drafts

You can't do that if u wanna build depth at a position

This is relative and mostly a matter of opinion.

I like Borgen, nyberg has promise. so does fitzgerald to an extent. I dont project any of them to be high end guys though, which is our biggest need.
- Sabresfan-365

Devante Stephens improved more than any of them this past year

No, but they're about to be
Why do they have to be in the NHL "right now"
Also, young defensemen are great trade pieces...
are they not?

And like I said repeatedly...
7 forwards drafted, ONE defenseman

How is that not ignoring it?

If u really want me to pick apart each selection...
Chychrun or Sergachev in Nylander's spot would've been reasonable

In 2014, I already posted 3 defensemen who were higher rated than the 2 forwards he picked

There's a handful of decent defensemen that got picked after Asplund too

He also traded away 6 picks,
any of which could've been used on defensemen


All of this can be explained away on a case by case basis
(Except for 2014 2nd round imo)

But the thing that's glaring is that he ONLY picked ONE defenseman in the top2 rounds in his 3 drafts

You can't do that if u wanna build depth at a position
- jdfitz77

And like i said...repeatedly...i seriously doubt they went into it saying lets just draft forwrads or something.

it should be looked at in a case by case basis. otherwise you end up making general statements that dont really fit the situation, like only picking forwards in the first round or something.

The traded picks part is something i agree with, thats the area where i would direct the criticism re: depth

This is relative and mostly a matter of opinion.

I like Borgen, nyberg has promise. so does fitzgerald to an extent. I dont project any of them to be high end guys though, which is our biggest need.
- Sabresfan-365

True...
but it's tough to project them as top4 guys at this point
More a a hopeful guess

I'm just saying...
if u want to build depth at a position,
U have to spend at least SOME high picks at it

Looks like Minny will be making an early exit, that should make their 2nd rounder in the area of #55.

That gives us picks: 1st round (1-9 slot), 2nd round #37 & approx #55, 3rd round #68 & Washington's pick ( somewhere 85-93).

Not too bad, should find at least one decent player outside of the first round.

And like i said...repeatedly...i seriously doubt they went into it saying lets just draft forwrads or something.

it should be looked at in a case by case basis. otherwise you end up making general statements that dont really fit the situation, like only picking forwards in the first round or something.

The traded picks part is something i agree with, thats the area where i would direct the criticism re: depth
- Sabresfan-365

But on a case by case basis...

Is Nylander a MUCH better prospect than Sergachev or Chychrun?
Is Karabacek or Cornel better than Montour, McKeown, or Dougherty?

And I disagree with your premise
U can't only go case by case
You absolutely have to look at organizational depth & act accordingly

Should he have "reached" for defensemen?
No, that's not what I mean
But if 2 prospects are closely rated...
then yeah, sometimes u do have to pick by position
Sometimes

Looks like Minny will be making an early exit, that should make their 2nd rounder in the area of #55.

That gives us picks: 1st round (1-9 slot), 2nd round #37 & approx #55, 3rd round #68 & Washington's pick ( somewhere 85-93).

Not too bad, should find at least one decent player outside of the first round.
- sskkoo1

Hopefully
I like Murray's draft last year a lot better than his previous 2
Maybe he just needed some time to get on the same page as the scouts here

I know it sounds like I'm just ripping Murray
I actually like a lot of his picks
He just needs to add young defensemen in a major way

Fitz, we get it.
Nothing personal, but you have posted this in each of the last 5+ blogs.
We know, we see it.

Hopefully
I like Murray's draft last year a lot better than his previous 2
Maybe he just needed some time to get on the same page as the scouts here

I know it sounds like I'm just ripping Murray
I actually like a lot of his picks
He just needs to add young defensemen in a major way
- jdfitz77

I also really like last years draft. I also like Karabacek, there's something about this kid that I wouldn't write off as of yet, he may surprise people still. Cornel, meh...

But on a case by case basis...

Is Nylander a MUCH better prospect than Sergachev or Chychrun?
Is Karabacek or Cornel better than Montour, McKeown, or Dougherty?

And I disagree with your premise
U can't only go case by case
You absolutely have to look at organizational depth & act accordingly

Should he have "reached" for defensemen?
No, that's not what I mean
But if 2 prospects are closely rated...
then yeah, sometimes u do have to pick by position
Sometimes
- jdfitz77

This opportunity wasnt really there though, part of that is on murray for trading away those picks but its not like we missed on obvious first round talents. We knew our first pick in either draft was going to be a forward.

Looks like Minny will be making an early exit, that should make their 2nd rounder in the area of #55.

That gives us picks: 1st round (1-9 slot), 2nd round #37 & approx #55, 3rd round #68 & Washington's pick ( somewhere 85-93).

Not too bad, should find at least one decent player outside of the first round.
- sskkoo1

genuinely curious where the blame goes now

genuinely curious where the blame goes now
- Sabresfan-365

St.Louis is a good playoff tested team. I don't see Minny having the toughness to handle them, they're a regular season team, not a playoff heavyweight.

This opportunity wasnt really there though, part of that is on murray for trading away those picks but its not like we missed on obvious first round talents. We knew our first pick in either draft was going to be a forward.
- Sabresfan-365

I named 3 clear cases that it was
4 if u count Asplund

Not like I'm saying Fleury over Sam or anything

But even if he just did the 2 in 2014 2nd...
don't ya think we'd all feel a lot better about our defensive depth?

and they'd be nice trade pieces as well
We all know it's harder to trade for good defensemen

Hall for Larson is kind of an extreme example,
But it makes my point

The AVs are (supposedly) having trouble getting a quality defenseman for either Duchene or Landeskog
It'll be interesting to me to see how that unfolds as well

Yeah than you would have b*tched he overreached for Mac, as he was the 15th rated prospect. Sergachev is the only one you should be being bringing up as an alternative here.

Do this exercise. Watch how good william nylander is now, and take into account ALL of the analysts say Alex is as good maybe a better prospect than William. Now picture Alex, when he matures, with Captain Jack for the next 12 years. Side point: the player who played the most minutes with Jack this year was Foligno. Case closed. Any other questions?

This year sucked, I get it, but it will get better. With guhle, antipin (spelling) the d will be better. Hell assign another dman and I'm high in Fitzgerald too.
- turbo044

If Alex is better than William, you're looking at nearly a PPG player. Not bad for the 8th pick.