yes, and its not just that its a bad take, its that its used to justify why teams should absolutely be able to cherry pick our futures at rock bottom prices. I dont want lundell and i dont want sanderson. Give me the forward with the highest offensive ceiling at pick 8. Our drafting has been poor and our player development has been nonexistent- (we get zero credit for olofsson, he had been playing in sweden until he was 22, so our development staff didnt get their hands on him until he was pretty well developed), but playoff drought or not, dont trade high value futures for meh roster players. Maybe its just me, but when i hear lundell, i thing girgensons. Remember the hype- gritty 2 way center, tough as nails, offense should come around?- thats not a guy i wanna take at 14, draft high ceiling players early, go find your 2 way players later.

Thanks. I pulled the stats manually using https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2001e.html etc.

Unfortunately the Sabres lost 4 years of the "rebuild" performed by Tim Murray. Let me review:
He took Reinhart in 2014 while Draisaitl was the next player.
2015 who else was he to take, other than Eichel.
He took Nylander in 2016 when Sergachev was the next player.
While O'Reilly did well in St. Louis, the Sabres finished last OA in 2018 with him, Kane and Lehner all players Murray gave away too much to get.
While it was unpopular, Botterill traded away assets from the last place team.
Now I have no idea what Kevyn Adams will do.
No scouts to help with the draft.
No experience with signing free agents.
No experience nor scouts to help him with the trades.
I see more years of treading water.

Good points. Are those bad draft picks or just BUF failure to develop their prospects in a winning environment though... .

IMO the only solution is to change the loosing culture by getting players that HATE loosing , even if it means they are less talented. O reilly and Kane, that you mentionned, were known to be that kind of players. Instead of trading them because you failed to convince them with your plan, get a gritty bunch of Mofo's and hope for a Vegas kind of miracle. Even if the results are not so good, it is always more entertaining to see a bad struggling team that never gives up. And then add talented youth that could florish in a positive environment.

I think Domi (the MTL one, not the ARZs) fits that profile.

Your profile indicates that you are a Canadians' fan?
You are correct, I would like to get Domi.
Many MTL fans post Mete and Domi for 8th OA,
There was even a post of Ristolainen for Domi that most thought was close to fair.
In that post two people reminded everyone that Chiarelli wanted Ristolainen for Hall.
That sort of was an indication of Ristolainen's perceived value.
I think Domi and Mete for the eighth over all would be fair.
What is your opinion?

As @CD282 explained so brilliantly up here, 8OA is in no way a sure bet to obtain a dominant nhl player, if any at all.

Domi on the other hand is a proven middle 6 offensive foward, with center capabilities and first line potential. A 6-8 years contract would raise his value even more.

So if Domi>8OA, I would surely not add Mete on top

Risto's value is a doozy. Hard to pass over his - 145 record but at the same time, it's easy to believe he would do better on a second pairing of a good team. Personnaly I think he would thrive with a good defenceminded teammate (Chariot) and a good goalie (Price). I'm not a fan of him hitting the UFA market in 2 years though. I see him as a 2 year rental at this point.

Mete's value is not clear neither.his offensive numbers are bad, but beeing playing in the NHL for 3 years, it is easy to forget he is still just a 22yo RFA.
For my part, I dont believe in his offence potential anymore but I could be wrong. I am 100% sure he would be picked up by Seattle if MTL dont protect him though...

This was my proposition : ( It was not welcomed well lol)
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1803876

Would you make that deal? Or switch the 2x2nd for Mete and a 3rd?

@gretzkyghosts @CD282

A good read about the relative value of draft picks:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/analyzing-value-nhl-draft-picks/

Hint: It goes down very quickly!

I wish Byron was a bit younger.
So 8th OA for Domi
2 seconds and Byron for Ristolainen
While the value is reasonable.
Buffalo has a glut of LW, Skinner, Olofsson, Kahun, Johansson, Mittelstadt and prospects.
I think I would have to say no to your deal, only because Byron does not fill a need.
Let's agree to disagree on the value of 8th OA and Domi.
I can see merit with both points of view. IMO it is sort of a win win, get an established #2 center or get a really good prospect.
IMO with the path the owners have followed, it may be better to trade the pick as there will not be any scouts to advise Kevyn Adams.

BTW, I wish Murray had taken the same approach to building a team as Bergevin did, load up on draft picks and be patient.
The difference is Marc has a huge collection of 3rd, 4th and 5th picks, Murray either traded away or over played and got less and could have had at least 2 more first and 3 more seconds if he had traded better.

I 100% agree on Lundell (im not really that high on the wingers there either). Id rather draft Sanderson knowing that Sanderson is the best available talent there.

I think its just the thought of drafting another d that i dont like. Even if botterill was terrible, he drafted 20 d in his 3 years here, a couple should make it, even a blind squirrel finds a nut and all. But i do agree, take bpa and dont look back, but if its close on your board, draft a forward that can score for the love of god.

Byron can also play RW (as the four LW you named), Up and down the lineup and is dangerously fast, especially for breakaways while on the PK. I would like to keep him because of his speed and swissknife role, but he is prety much the only caphit we can shed. If I have to choose between him and resigning Tatar, the choice is obvious.

As for the GMs difference, one example that hurts Buffalo is last year Scandella trades. Bergy paid a 4th for him, before flipping him to St-Louis at TDL for a 2nd and a 4th. Talk about bad asset management!

And D dont really hold value. Though I think Sanderson can step in to the NHL immediately, extend McCabe for 2 years to let Samuelsson and Johnson develop, and see what they got, Samuelsson is also right handed despite playing the left as well so maybe they even can keep the 3, Dahlin and Jokiharju, both Johnson and Sameulsson on elcs, and have a stacked d. the late round picks I have pretty much no faith in, looks like he missed on Davidsson too.

OMW, I was so upset when Botterill only got a 4th for Scandella.
Long before the trade, I felt Scandella would bring back a 2nd at the TDL.
Then he compounded the terrible move by getting Frolik.
I think he lost his mind at that point. He tried to fix the PK as Buffalo was still close to the playoffs.
But it was the wrong solution at the wrong time.
I understand that Kim did not want to retain as Bergevin did.
That is not the first time Kim buggered a Botterill trade.

I wish you had not reminded me of his worse trade.
Let me remember him for getting Skinner for a 2nd, 3rd and 6th,
Miller for a late 2nd.
Montour for a late 1st
Jokiharju for Nylander.
Kahun for Sheary and Rodrigues
Anything for Kane.

@gretzkyghosts

What do you think about Rodrigues? I remember him as getting under players skin when BUF was playing MTL. Now that he is in PIT, we are going to see him soon..

I loved Rodrigues.
He was fast..
He worked hard.
I do not think he was overly physical.
I felt given a different role he could have been really good.
Let me add, Buffalo got Kahun for him and Sheary. Kahun appears to be a top 6 player.
Unfortunately Krueger had a different point of view and thought Sobotka was better?
I have stopped discussing the problems Krueger created here with Buffalo fans.
Five players had career worse years here under Krueger.
The team had a terrible PP and PK this year, the last time checked that is mainly due to coaching.
Those were my reasons for being critical of Krueger.
But Buffalo fans look at the O'Reilly and Scandella trade for reasons to be critical of Botterill and think Krueger is a savior.
NHL players need a coach, not a cheer leader.

Krueger needs to be the GM or President he’s not a good coach.

OMW, I thought only I, my son and my brother thought this.
They both thought this back in January, it took me another six months to put all of the pieced together to come to the conclusion that they did.

Sometimes a massive shakeup is good. I think Buffalo could use a new key player.

Domi isn't that guy though.

Sabres tried that though and it back fired hard