BUFFALO, NY - The Sabres have used their 1st round 17th overall pick to select Center Yanic Talbot out of the QMJHL. Talbot was ranked right around the spot he was taken by the PSHL Media pre-draft rankings. Talbot finished 4th in the league in scoring with 127 points with 80 of those being assists. The report below from the pre-draft rankings was pretty accurate, but Sabres management disagrees slightly. Sabres scouting sees a very strong player who will be strong on pucks even though he is not physical for his size. Sabres believe he also has 2 way upside and picture him as a similar player to current 2nd line center Per Wahlen. They consider Talbot a potential 1B type of center, not a clear cut #1 but a very good #2 center, which is fine because Nikolajs Zolotarevs has the #1 center slot tied up for a while. Talbot projects to probably at least remain in the QMJHL for one more season and the Sabres brass will re-evaluate when he is 19.

 

PSHL Media Pre-Draft scouting report on Talbot.

16. C Yanic Talbot, Charlottetown Islanders

A 47 goal, 127 point campaign during his draft year in the Q has set up Talbot as a true boom-or-bust pick. On paper, with his stats and 6’2, right shot build he appears to be very similar to Walter. Underneath the hood is telling a much different story. Despite good defensive bones, Talbot doesn’t actually play like a 6’2 200+ pound man. He plays much smaller and leaves lots to be desired when battling in the corners or in front of the net. Relying on his skill has worked for him at the junior level but it may not at the next level. He certainly has the top six potential, one could even argue he has the offensive touch to be a potential #1 center, but his lack of physicality puts his floor much, much, lower than that of Walter. 

BUFFALO, NY - The Sabres came into the 2044-45 season with some expectations to compete for a playoff spot. After missing the last 61 games last season Grahe Cearrone was back from injury, rising stars like Nikolajs Zolotarevs was expected to enter his prime, young scorers like Kayden Warshaw was expected to make a big jump, and highly touted rookies like Caleb Chijindu were making their debut. 

 

Unfortunately, the Sabres started the season 0-6, Zolotarevs and 2nd line center Per Wahlin went down with injuries, the team showed inconsistency even though they eventually went over .500, Cearrone was traded and that was the season.

 

The Sabres were never able to recover and another lost season is among us. Sabres sit in 9th in the Eastern Conference as we enter the final 2 sims of the Regular Season. In one of the deeper drafts in recent years, they look to be drafting close to 20th in the 1st round which is just not good enough to get a young impact player in the organization.

 

Sabres organization is filled with good young talent, but no star power. Yevgeny Mikhaltsev is having a down season after being moved to the left side. He has 32 goals and is close to a point a game but that is far from his 50 goal form. Zolotarevs after missing 9 games is quietly having one of his best offensive season leading the team with 76 points in 69 games, but that is not close to his potential as a possible 100 point scorer.

 

Goaltending has been inconsistent again with 4.5 star 26 year old Simon Westlund posting a 3.31 GAA after signing an extension during the off-season. His .907 Save% is decent, but a drop off from his last season form of .913 with a 15.06 GSAA dropping to 1.06 this season. The Sabres are still facing too many shots and quality scoring chances. They thought they addressed the defense coming into the season with the signing of Dmitry Mikhaltsev and Igor Teslev but that did not seem to improve. The Sabres have prioritized Defense with their 1st round picks in recent drafts but none are expected to be impact top 4 defensemen.

 

Sabres are in a tough spot, they are too good for a top draft pick but not good enough to compete. Warshaw, Zolotarevs and Jiri Balcar are players to build around but are they elite? Sabres acquired a couple decent young dmen in Antero Aaltonen and Landon Hahnemann during the season but they are probably not top pair guys either. Some tough decisions need to be made this off-season and seems like a blow up is necessary to get the young top of the draft talent they need. They blew it up 5 seasons ago and held 2 top 6 picks in the draft, one netted Zolotarevs at 6 and the pick of Jeremy Audy at 4 has not panned out.

 

It will be an interesting off-season for sure.

The Sabres wanted to focus on a more defensive style this season and knew coming into the season if they were to play that style they would be sacrificing some goals. Maybe Mikhaltsev would not score 50 again and the team would not have 3 players challenging for a point per game. To open the new 2043-44 season that is exactly how it has played out. The Sabres are playing a much more defensive style of game and also not scoring goals. Mikhaltsev leads the team through 8 games with only 3 goals and several key players who were expected to have breakout seasons are off to slow starts. 

Last year, Elmeri Polvi had a great rookie season and was expected to take the next step, so far, 2 goals and 4 points. Jiri Balcar the highly touted rookie coming over from the KHL was expected to challenge for the Calder Trophy this season, he scored the first goal of the season for the Sabres (in game 2) but has since only added 1 assist. Defenseman Cohen Wylie did win the Calder Trophy last season after putting up 56 points and 16 goals, has just 1 assist this season.

The only real offensive surprise so far is Jeremy Audy, 2nd on the team in scoring despite being a 3rd line player.

All in all however, the Sabres are sitting 4-3 while the 5 teams ahead of them in the tough Atlantic Division are a combined 27-5-4. Sabres have to be OK with their start with hopes the offense will come around. For the last few seasons the team has missed the playoffs but has scored plenty, leaving then goalie Henri Alanne to fight off the scoring chances and lead to subpar numbers. This year with a new full time goalie in Simon Westlund, the Sabres vowed to give him more support and he has produced with a .923 save percentage. The Sabres have seen defensive teams like the Calgary Flames have success with playing a defensive system so the Sabres want to try to imitate that style of play with the hopes of getting back into the Shafer Cup Playoffs this season.

In the midst of a rebuild, the Sabres have continued to improve year by year but have still fallen short of a playoff spot after a 40-33-9 regular season. Sabres young players will be a key part of the upcoming season. Top Center Nikolajs Zolotarevs is currently without a contract, but the Sabres will surely lock him up long term at just 23 years old and back to back 77+ point seasons in his first 2 years. Zolotarevs along with 51 goal scorer Yevgeny Mikhaltsev and 84 point producer Rasim Nikitenko make up a formidable top line. 

The 2nd line continues to improve, with 2-way center Per Wahlin centering Kayden Warshaw on the right side who is coming off a 23 goal season in his first full season at 21 years old. Right now Elmeri Polvi factors in at 2nd line LW after being one of the top rookies in the league with 22 goals and 48 points.

The wild card in the top 6 seems to be former 8th overall pick Jiri Balcar. Coming over to Buffalo after a great season in the KHL with 35 goals. The 6'4" 230 lbs winger brings that power forward game and can play anywhere in the lineup.

All is not great for the Sabres, they will be without free agent Henri Alanne after 7 seasons in Buffalo. Alanne was always on a team friendly contract, so when it expired he expected to get paid. Sabres did not want to dish out the money, mostly for the fact that young goalie Simon Westlund looks ready for the #1 spot.

Sabres still look to improve the defense heading into this season, but their forward depth is good enough to get them to compete for a playoff spot. Could be an exciting year again in Buffalo.

We are still about 2 weeks out from the PSHL trade deadline, but Buffalo Sabres management has seen enough this season to convince them they are legit contenders in the East. Sabres did not want to sit and wait till the deadline once one of their key targets became available.

 

This week, Sabres GM Scott Shafer posted a list of playmaking LW’s they were looking at that were 25 years old or younger as wanting to acquire as a cornerstone to play with Yevgeny Mikhaltsev. One of those targets was Patrik Holada. With the Oilers announcing a sell of in preparations of a rebuild, the Sabres saw an opportunity to acquire Holada.

 

The Sabres have been in their own rebuild for the last couple seasons and have stockpiled young prospects especially at forward. It was quite obvious that not all of these players were going to be able to crack the lineup in the coming seasons so it was clear a package deal to try to upgrade was on the horizion. The Sabres shipped out the AHL leading goal scorer Viktor Schneider, Juha Huotari, Jozef Manik as well as former 1st rounder Lukasz Primeau in exchange for Holada.

 

During those discussions the Oilers were also looking at off-loading some older big contracts. The Sabres feel the off-season acquisitions of defensemen Grahe Cearrone and Brian van Houten along with the free agent signing of Aron Kiviharju have made a direct impact from the Sabres being the worst team defensively last season to a top 5 team this season. With that, the Sabres decided to keep adding to that defense core acquiring defensive defenseman Chris Rerie. It was also clear, the Sabres had no confidence in their backup goaltending. Henri Alanne is having a Vezina season at 25-5 with a 2.38 GAA and .923 Save Percentage, but whever they rest him the lose. The Sabres upgraded their 1A position with acquiring Radoslav Czilling in the deal. Czilling has struggled in his PSHL career but has the talent to succeed. Sabres shipped out Dennis Anderson and their 3rd Round Pick (later acquired back in the Holada deal) to get Rerie and Czilling.

 

With the back-end solidified the Sabres still have available cap space and assets to try to upgrade at #1 center. 2nd year Center Rasim Nikitenko has been great with 44 points in 40 games this season after a 68 point in 71 game rookie campaign, but a temporary rental to upgrade with a push towards playoff success could be a short term answer.

 

Past the midway point of the 2039-40 season the Sabres expected to be competitive but this start is way beyond everyone’s expectations and they want to make the best of this start. “The Atlantic Division is so good we just wanted to compete, now that we have been near the top of the division for the long term and do not seem to be dropping off, we are now making a push to transition from rebuild to cup contender.” GM Shafer closed with.

The Buffalo Sabres entered the 2038-39 PSHL season as a team looking to have a chance at a high lottery pick. They unloaded all their veteran talent and signed a bunch of goons in an attempt to finish near the bottom of the standings. So far, things have not worked as planned as the Sabres sit with a current record of 11-12-3. Not nearly good enough to challenge for a playoff spot, but not anywhere close to the bottom dwelling teams in the PSHL.

It continues to be the Sabres young talented top line that is keeping them from competing for 1st overall pick. Rasim Nikitenko, Yevgeny Mikhaltsev and Riley Cameron continue to put up points and their stud goalie Henri Alanne continues to keep the Sabres in games. It is becoming more clear that maybe this team is just too good to finish at the bottom of the league. The Sabres will continue to work towards the future, they have tons of young talent in the organization mostly coming from their 5 1st round picks from the 2038 draft. Sabres may not be competing for a top pick in 2039 draft but they still have high hopes to build around this youth and compete for a cup a few seasons from now.

The Sabres, a two time Shafer Cup Champion franchise, are in the midst of an identity crisis. As the Sabres enter the 2037-38 PSHL Season, they are stuck in-between being a competitive team and not being bad enough to get a top pick in the draft. There is still star power here with Matt Ruopp and Evan Arnott, but they are transitioning to youth. The 2 top wingers on the top line project to be rookies with Riley Cameron and Yevgeny Mikhaltsev along with a young starting goalie in Henri Alanne.

Mikhaltsev is coming off a season where he broke the PSHL AHL goal scoring record with 49 goals and 96 points. While Alanne looks to be a franchise goalie they have some good young pieces looking to be given a chance to break out.

On the other hand Ruopp, who is still only 24 himself, is coming off a 95 point season his first year in Buffalo, however there has been trade talks surrounding him as he enters the last year of his contract. As one of the premier two way centers in the game he will demand a high salary and high return if he were to be moved.

Arnott has put up 55+ points in all 4 seasons in Buffalo but if the team were going to go full rebuild, Arnott doesnt seem to fit into those plans.

All in all, it looks to be a long season in Buffalo as the team transitions to the younger players and there continues to be question marks around whether Arnott and Ruopp will be moved ahead of the trade deadline.