Published by hockeybuzz.com 7-13-2016
Sabres LW, William Carrier came to Buffalo in the Ryan Miller trade with the St. Louis Blues on February 28, 2014. It was Tim Murray's first trade as the Sabres new GM and his focus seemed to be on "bigger, faster, stronger" players with skill and the pugnacity to go to the dirty areas of the ice to score. Carrier was originally touted as a late first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft because of his size, skating and hands as well as an all-in mentality. An injury caused him to miss half the season his draft year and he dropped to the second round where the Blues took him with the 57th selection.
Carrier's first two seasons as a pro began with struggles and an injury. Mid-way through last season, however, he was ready to break out. In a stretch beginning in January, Carrier posted a line of nine goals and 11 assists in 24 games before an injury sidelined him for the final 12 games of the season. Not only did the injury derail a strong finish to his second Amerks season, it also kept him off the First Niagara Center ice as he surely was ticketed to make his NHL debut for the Sabres last season.
With that done, Carrier came into Sabres Development Camp this season and was by and large considered the best player on the ice. Although he didn't register a point during the Blue and Gold Scrimmage on Saturday, he was noticeable for his physicality and his edge while being strong on the puck. He continued with that theme during the annual French Connection 3-on-3 Tournament, which closes out D-Camp, as his team took home the trophy.
As he enters the final year of his entry-level contract, Carrier moved himself up the prospect depth-chart to a spot where he could get the call to Buffalo sometime in the first half of the year. But, like Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com/sabres.com stated after the scrimmage, "if he can stay healthy."
**********
LW, Brandon Hagel was a 6th round pick of the Sabres in the draft this year. He came into camp as an unknown and left a huge impression. Not bad for a 17 yr. old who was the youngest player on the ice.
As noted after the Blue and Gold Scrimmage, the 6'0" 160 lb. Hagel played big in that came as a tenacious contributor to the best line on the ice. He's a long shot to make it to the NHL, but you know what they say about first impression. WGR 550's Paul Hamilton quoted Murray as saying about 159th pick in the draft, "he was almost transparent, he’s competitive, he’s got better instincts than I was led to believe, so he’s got skill, he’s got good instincts for the game, he’s highly competitive, I liked his game.”
The development curve for Hagel will be a long one, which is fine for both player and team but being an intense puck-hound with skill and "good instincts for the game" should keep him on the Sabres radar for the next few years.
**********
Buffalo had a number of lower-round picks like Hagel at D-Camp who looked like they could be quality contributors in the future. Having assets like that will allow the team to move towards the Chicago Blackhawks model for sustainable contention. The Hawks have an extremely talented core locked up for big dollars long-term but are able to maintain a championship-caliber team through a farm system that keeps them stocked with quality.
With their core of Jonathan Towes, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith and Keith Seabrook taking up a huge chunk of their cap-space (a total cap-hit of $36.65M or just over 50% of the salary cap this year,) it's inevitable that quality players will be squeezed out in a cap-crunch. Yet they manage to fill those roles with players in the system, Calder Trophy winner Artemi Panarin being the exception.
Obviously the Sabres aren't anywhere near the Hawks, but as they build for the future with 38 players drafted over the course of the last five years who are still with the club, picks outside the first round become extremely important not only to nearer-term success, but sustainable success down the road.
Players to keep an eye on:
D, Jake McCabe (2012, 44th-overall)--solid NHL'er with No. 2/3 upside
G, Linus Ullmark (2012, 163rd)--has the size and showed well as a rookie last year No. 1 potential
C, Judd Peterson (2012, 204th)--in a quality NCAA program on a long curve, got noticed at camp
C, Connor Hurley (2013, 38th)--highly-skilled play-maker, top-nine potential, gaining confidence
RW, Justin Bailey (2013, 52nd)--powerforward w/speed ready to make the jump to the NHL
RW, Nicolas Baptiste (2013, 69th)--looks to be a solid bottom-six NHL'er with more seasoning
G, Cal Petersen (2013, 159th)--tops Sabres goalie prospects
D, Anthony Florentino (2013, 143rd)--could make for a very solid depth defenseman with bite
F, Eric Cornel (2014, 44th)--two-way acumen places him in bottom-six/top-nine role
RW, Victor Oloffson (2014, 181st)--just gets better every year, top-six skills and potential
D, Brendan Guhle (2015, 51st)--top-four NHL d-man, question is, when?
D, William Borgen, (2015, 92nd)--quietly learning his trade, lower-pairing NHL'er might be his floor
C, Giorgo Estephan (2015, 152nd)--his NHL-caliber skills are starting to shine through
C, Rasmus Asplund (2016, 33rd)--Johan Larsson with much more to offer on offense
There are a few others (like Hudson Fasching who was traded for and has top-nine potential) and undoubtedly there will be surprises along the way but this is a group that the Sabres will be tapping into over the course of the next three or four years for sustainable contention. Whether it's contending for a playoff spot, conference supremacy or a Stanley Cup is to be determined, but this is what the scouting staff brought in and what the coaches will develop for the Blue and Gold.
**********
Murray addressed the Jimmy Vesey question at the end of camp this week and seems to be tired of talking about it. "I’ve talked about this literally less than anybody else in Buffalo," Murray told the gathered media. "I hear the guys on the radio and people are mad and this is like top end news and I’m like, it is what it is."
It's not only the guys on the radio, but in print as well and us bloggers too.
Murray has always understood the media and it's role and has always been accommodating. Oft-times he'll qualify a statement by saying something like "I know you guys have a job to do," before offering what information he can and setting the record as straight as he can set it. It should be a very endearing quality to not only those whose livelihood is directly tied to the team he runs, but to us fans who are left with a sense of sincerity coming from his matter-of-fact approach.
The whole Vesey saga makes for a lot of hypotheses and plenty of speculation, but the simple fact of the matter is, said Murray, "we traded one of our four 3rd round picks to be able to talk to him. If he doesn't [sign with Buffalo], it's going to be obviously not the decision we want and you guys will call me a dummy for trading away a third-round pick. I've got all the scenarios and I'm ready for it all but it's up to him. It's his time."
Vesey's time indeed. He finished his four years of college and opted to become a free agent on August 15th as per NHL rules. The Sabres feel as if they have a very compelling situation for Vesey to fit into and presented it as such when they met with him last week. It's assumed that they did so in a very matter-of-fact way as well, leaving the bells and whistles to another organization in the hope of landing Vesey.
"We went down there. We spoke to him," said Murray. "I told him he doesn't owe anybody anything. He went to school for four years and he became a free agent so now he's got to make the right decision for him. There's no timetable.
"If he wants to come in here or he wants to reach out to us and have another meeting then we're there. But for me, this is in his court."
I'm still of the opinion that it's 65/35 he lands in Buffalo. Although I highly doubt they offered him an iron-clad guarantee he'd be in the top-six for the Sabres, I'm pretty sure offered him the opportunity to play on Ryan O'Reilly's or Jack Eichel's wing and what he does with that opportunity is up to him. He'll be surrounded by a core group of players very close to his own age on an up-and-coming team with at least one superstar (Eichel) in the mix.
"I don't sit at home and speculate about this," Murray said. "He's either going to sign here or he's not.
End of story...for now.
Showing posts with label 2016 Sabres Development Camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2016 Sabres Development Camp. Show all posts
Friday, July 15, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
Blue and Gold Scrimmage Notebook
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-10-2016
The annual Blue and Gold Development Camp Scrimmage took place at HARBORCENTER yesterday afternoon before an estimated crowd of about 1,600 hockey fans. It's a far cry from the 17,000+ that watched Jack Eichel last season at First Niagara Center but, then again, none of the youngins on the ice had Eichel's stature so it was to be expected.
After spending years in a rather secluded area of Niagara County at Dwyer Arena on the campus of Niagara University, Sabres Development Camp was moved downtown and has become an event beginning in 2014 just after the Sabres drafted Sam Reinhart with the second-overall pick in the draft. From the sleepy twin rinks at Dwyer to NHL ice of F'N Center the scrimmage that year boasted 8,725 fans in attendance on a hot day in July. And with last year as it's apex, the event now gets back to it's roots in an intimate setting at HARBORCENTER.
Logistics prevented me from going to the scrimmage but the Sabres streamed the game live at sabres.com. We were greeted with the legendary voice of Rick Jeanneret, who was in mid-season form, nailing names and numbers as if he'd been watching these newbies for years, on play-by-play and Sabreland's most trusted man in Brian Duff who's smooth delivery and quick anecdotes kept things rolling throughout the commercial-free game.
The annual Blue and Gold Development Camp Scrimmage took place at HARBORCENTER yesterday afternoon before an estimated crowd of about 1,600 hockey fans. It's a far cry from the 17,000+ that watched Jack Eichel last season at First Niagara Center but, then again, none of the youngins on the ice had Eichel's stature so it was to be expected.
After spending years in a rather secluded area of Niagara County at Dwyer Arena on the campus of Niagara University, Sabres Development Camp was moved downtown and has become an event beginning in 2014 just after the Sabres drafted Sam Reinhart with the second-overall pick in the draft. From the sleepy twin rinks at Dwyer to NHL ice of F'N Center the scrimmage that year boasted 8,725 fans in attendance on a hot day in July. And with last year as it's apex, the event now gets back to it's roots in an intimate setting at HARBORCENTER.
Logistics prevented me from going to the scrimmage but the Sabres streamed the game live at sabres.com. We were greeted with the legendary voice of Rick Jeanneret, who was in mid-season form, nailing names and numbers as if he'd been watching these newbies for years, on play-by-play and Sabreland's most trusted man in Brian Duff who's smooth delivery and quick anecdotes kept things rolling throughout the commercial-free game.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Jeanneret on the call and a live stream for today's B&G scrimmage
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-9-2016
Broadcast legend Rick Jeanneret will call today's Blue and Gold Scrimmage at HARBORCENTER. The youngins are in Day-4 of the one-week camp and after three days of going through drills they'll finally be able to have some fun in a live-action setting. Jeanneret will be joined by Brian Duff in the booth for the 1p.m. start.
Names of note for Team Blue include Williamsville native Justin Bailey (2013, 52nd-overall) who finished strong in Rochester last season while also getting an eight-game taste of the NHL with the Sabres in his first professional season. Joining him is fellow 2013 draft pick in RW, Nicolas Baptiste (69th) and 2016 second-rounder center Rasmus Asplund (33rd) whom the Sabres traded up for at this year's draft.
Player to keep an eye on--G, Cal Petersen.
The Notre Dame junior carried a huge work-load for the Fighting Irish as a sophomore last season and made huge developmental strides in the process. Petersen is positionally sound and tracks the puck extremely well and he hates to get scored on. It's what he does after a goal against that he's been working on and from all reports that aspect is coming along swimmingly.
Team Blue Roster:
Number/Name (Draft)/Age/Notes
Forwards:
13--C, Christopher Brown (2014, 151st,) 20. Will be a sophomore at Boston College
17--F, Judd Peterson (2012, 204th,) 22. Was one of the youngest players in his draft class
34--RW, Daniel Muzito-Bagenda (FA,) 20. Amerks signee played for MODO
36--LW, Brandon Hagel (2016, 159th,) 17. Youngest of the youngins. Had 47 pts for Red Deer
41--Vasily Glotov (2016, 190th,) 18. Last pick for Buffalo this year. Good camp thus far
56--Justin Bailey (2013, 52nd) 21.
61--Cliff Pu (2016, 69th) 18. Played understated role for London, one to keep an eye on
65--Rasmus Asplund (2016, 33rd) 18.
71--Evan Rodrigues (FA,) 22. Former Eichel linemate ready to make some noise this year
73--Nicolas Baptiste (2013, 69th,) 20.
86--Eric Cornel (2014, 44th,) 20. Ready for full-time duty with Rochester this year
Defensemen:
5---Jalen Chatfield (invitee,) 20. Had 37 points (10+27) for Windsor (OHL)
6---Nolan Gluchowski (invitee,) 20. Had 16 points (6+10) in the ECAC
8---Daniel Brinkley (invitee,) 21. Utah native played with Casey Nelson at Minn. St.
10--Paul Geiger (invitee,) 24. The elder statesman just graduated from Clarkson.
27--Frank Hora (invitee,) 20 Amherst native played for Kitchner of the OHL
33--Philip Nyberg (2016, 129th,) 19. Played for Linkoping (Sweden-Jr.)
49--Austin Omanski (2016, 189th,) 18. East Aurora native has raised eye-brows thusfar
54--Brycen Martin (2014, 74th,) 20. Will be making the pro jump next season in Roch.
78--Mike Campoli (invitee,) 18. The youngest invitee is a USNTDP (USHL) product
Goalies:
30--Cal Petersen (2013, 129th,) 21.
31--Antoine Samuel (invitee,) 18. Young pup got his feet wet in QMJHL playing 43 games
Team Gold boasts highly skilled left-winger Alexander Nylander up-front as well as 2015 second round pick Brendan Guhle, who was the surprise of training camp last year until he was felled by a rollicking check from Dion Phaneuf, on defense. Also in the mix are stand-up d-man Anthony Florentino, who will be a senior at Providence this year and Hudson Fasching, who scored his first NHL goal on his first-ever shift and is ready for full-time duty with Rochester this season.
Player to keep an eye on--C, Giorgio Estephan. The Sabres plucked Estephan with a 6th-round pick last year as turmoil within his Lethbridge Hurricanes team sent his stock plummeting. After things stablilized he responded with 74 points (30+44) in 59 games, most of it coming in the latter half of the season. Although he got a taste of Rochester last season, he'll be back in Lethbridge next season, hopefully terrorizing the league.
Team Gold Roster
Forwards:
37--C, Connor Hurley (2013, 38th,) 20. Youngest player in 2013 draft looking to build confidence
48--LW, William Carrier (2013, 57th, STL,) 21. Had a strong season with Amerks. Watch injuries
52--RW, Hudson Fasching (2013, 118th, LAK) 20.
58--C, Giorgio Estephan (2015, 152nd,) 19.
67--F, Max Willman (2014, 121st,) 21. Bang, Bang Maxwell needs to bring a bigger hammer
72--C, Jean Dupuy (FA,) 21. Tough and gritty. Played well for Rochester as a rookie last year
74--RW, Vaclav Karabacek (2014, 49th,) 20. Stocky winger had six goals in the QMJHL playoffs
75--LW, Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th,) 18.
84--LW, Victor Olofsson (2014, 181st,) 20. MODO product seems to surprise every year
85--LW, Brett Murray (2016, 99th,) 18. Penn St. recruit has the eye of alum Terry Pegula
Defensemen:
3---Will Borgen (2015, 92nd,) 19. St. Cloud State raised some eyebrows as a freshman last year
38--Casey Fitzgerald (2016, 86th,) 19. Had 27 points (4+23) for Hockey East powerhouse BC
42--Ivan Chukarov (2015, 182nd,) 21. Will continue developing at UMASS (NCAC)
45--Brendan Guhle (2015, 51st,) 18.
46--Anthony Florentino (2013, 143rd,) 21.
51--Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th,) 18. Czech plied his trade with 16 points for Prince Albert (WHL)
53--Devante Stephens (2015, 122nd,) 19. Shutdown d-man for Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
81--Ryan Mantha (invitee,) 20. Big d-man (6'5" 225 lbs.) had solid numbers for Niagara (OHL)
Goalies:
35--Steve Racine (invitee,) 24. Williamsville native gets the call for a sick Linus Ullmark
50--Jonas Johansson (2015, 61st,) 20. The big Swede put up good numbers for Almtuna (Sweden)
The Outlook:
This looks to be a mismatch as the Sabres brass pooled a bunch of invitees on defense to take on a pretty stacked Gold lineup. Team Blue will be besieged by Gold and they'll be counting on Petersen and Samuel to hold the fort in net. Unfortunately the Blue net will resemble Fort Knox as Team Gold makes fills it in a 7-4 win. Olofsson with a pair and Murray with three assists.
The game will be streamed live at sabres.com beginning at 1pm.
Broadcast legend Rick Jeanneret will call today's Blue and Gold Scrimmage at HARBORCENTER. The youngins are in Day-4 of the one-week camp and after three days of going through drills they'll finally be able to have some fun in a live-action setting. Jeanneret will be joined by Brian Duff in the booth for the 1p.m. start.
Names of note for Team Blue include Williamsville native Justin Bailey (2013, 52nd-overall) who finished strong in Rochester last season while also getting an eight-game taste of the NHL with the Sabres in his first professional season. Joining him is fellow 2013 draft pick in RW, Nicolas Baptiste (69th) and 2016 second-rounder center Rasmus Asplund (33rd) whom the Sabres traded up for at this year's draft.
Player to keep an eye on--G, Cal Petersen.
The Notre Dame junior carried a huge work-load for the Fighting Irish as a sophomore last season and made huge developmental strides in the process. Petersen is positionally sound and tracks the puck extremely well and he hates to get scored on. It's what he does after a goal against that he's been working on and from all reports that aspect is coming along swimmingly.
Team Blue Roster:
Number/Name (Draft)/Age/Notes
Forwards:
13--C, Christopher Brown (2014, 151st,) 20. Will be a sophomore at Boston College
17--F, Judd Peterson (2012, 204th,) 22. Was one of the youngest players in his draft class
34--RW, Daniel Muzito-Bagenda (FA,) 20. Amerks signee played for MODO
36--LW, Brandon Hagel (2016, 159th,) 17. Youngest of the youngins. Had 47 pts for Red Deer
41--Vasily Glotov (2016, 190th,) 18. Last pick for Buffalo this year. Good camp thus far
56--Justin Bailey (2013, 52nd) 21.
61--Cliff Pu (2016, 69th) 18. Played understated role for London, one to keep an eye on
65--Rasmus Asplund (2016, 33rd) 18.
71--Evan Rodrigues (FA,) 22. Former Eichel linemate ready to make some noise this year
73--Nicolas Baptiste (2013, 69th,) 20.
86--Eric Cornel (2014, 44th,) 20. Ready for full-time duty with Rochester this year
Defensemen:
5---Jalen Chatfield (invitee,) 20. Had 37 points (10+27) for Windsor (OHL)
6---Nolan Gluchowski (invitee,) 20. Had 16 points (6+10) in the ECAC
8---Daniel Brinkley (invitee,) 21. Utah native played with Casey Nelson at Minn. St.
10--Paul Geiger (invitee,) 24. The elder statesman just graduated from Clarkson.
27--Frank Hora (invitee,) 20 Amherst native played for Kitchner of the OHL
33--Philip Nyberg (2016, 129th,) 19. Played for Linkoping (Sweden-Jr.)
49--Austin Omanski (2016, 189th,) 18. East Aurora native has raised eye-brows thusfar
54--Brycen Martin (2014, 74th,) 20. Will be making the pro jump next season in Roch.
78--Mike Campoli (invitee,) 18. The youngest invitee is a USNTDP (USHL) product
Goalies:
30--Cal Petersen (2013, 129th,) 21.
31--Antoine Samuel (invitee,) 18. Young pup got his feet wet in QMJHL playing 43 games
Team Gold boasts highly skilled left-winger Alexander Nylander up-front as well as 2015 second round pick Brendan Guhle, who was the surprise of training camp last year until he was felled by a rollicking check from Dion Phaneuf, on defense. Also in the mix are stand-up d-man Anthony Florentino, who will be a senior at Providence this year and Hudson Fasching, who scored his first NHL goal on his first-ever shift and is ready for full-time duty with Rochester this season.
Player to keep an eye on--C, Giorgio Estephan. The Sabres plucked Estephan with a 6th-round pick last year as turmoil within his Lethbridge Hurricanes team sent his stock plummeting. After things stablilized he responded with 74 points (30+44) in 59 games, most of it coming in the latter half of the season. Although he got a taste of Rochester last season, he'll be back in Lethbridge next season, hopefully terrorizing the league.
Team Gold Roster
Forwards:
37--C, Connor Hurley (2013, 38th,) 20. Youngest player in 2013 draft looking to build confidence
48--LW, William Carrier (2013, 57th, STL,) 21. Had a strong season with Amerks. Watch injuries
52--RW, Hudson Fasching (2013, 118th, LAK) 20.
58--C, Giorgio Estephan (2015, 152nd,) 19.
67--F, Max Willman (2014, 121st,) 21. Bang, Bang Maxwell needs to bring a bigger hammer
72--C, Jean Dupuy (FA,) 21. Tough and gritty. Played well for Rochester as a rookie last year
74--RW, Vaclav Karabacek (2014, 49th,) 20. Stocky winger had six goals in the QMJHL playoffs
75--LW, Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th,) 18.
84--LW, Victor Olofsson (2014, 181st,) 20. MODO product seems to surprise every year
85--LW, Brett Murray (2016, 99th,) 18. Penn St. recruit has the eye of alum Terry Pegula
Defensemen:
3---Will Borgen (2015, 92nd,) 19. St. Cloud State raised some eyebrows as a freshman last year
38--Casey Fitzgerald (2016, 86th,) 19. Had 27 points (4+23) for Hockey East powerhouse BC
42--Ivan Chukarov (2015, 182nd,) 21. Will continue developing at UMASS (NCAC)
45--Brendan Guhle (2015, 51st,) 18.
46--Anthony Florentino (2013, 143rd,) 21.
51--Vojtech Budik (2016, 130th,) 18. Czech plied his trade with 16 points for Prince Albert (WHL)
53--Devante Stephens (2015, 122nd,) 19. Shutdown d-man for Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
81--Ryan Mantha (invitee,) 20. Big d-man (6'5" 225 lbs.) had solid numbers for Niagara (OHL)
Goalies:
35--Steve Racine (invitee,) 24. Williamsville native gets the call for a sick Linus Ullmark
50--Jonas Johansson (2015, 61st,) 20. The big Swede put up good numbers for Almtuna (Sweden)
The Outlook:
This looks to be a mismatch as the Sabres brass pooled a bunch of invitees on defense to take on a pretty stacked Gold lineup. Team Blue will be besieged by Gold and they'll be counting on Petersen and Samuel to hold the fort in net. Unfortunately the Blue net will resemble Fort Knox as Team Gold makes fills it in a 7-4 win. Olofsson with a pair and Murray with three assists.
The game will be streamed live at sabres.com beginning at 1pm.
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