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2023 Prospect Poll #5

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Who is the Sabres' #5 prospect?

  • Total voters
    152
  • Poll closed .
NotABadPeriod said:
I think Johnson firmly belongs in this tier with Rosen and Ostlund. Because so much of the conversation around him centered on the "will he sign" question, his actual talent and ability as a prospect has probably been overlooked quite a bit.

Voted for Rosen. Doing what he did at the AHL level was really impressive.

Add Komarov.
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Yea agreed. We definitely have our blue-chip tier in Levi, Benson, Savoie, Kulich that you hope can develop into elite talent. And then our next tier of ostlund, Rosen, and Johnson for me who have the potential to develop in good core players. Pretty clear top 7 to me, with a a clear line between 4 and 5
 
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Dirty Dog said:
Yea agreed. We definitely have our blue-chip tier in Levi, Benson, Savoie, Kulich that you hope can develop into elite talent. And then our next tier of ostlund, Rosen, and Johnson for me who have the potential to develop in good core players. Pretty clear top 7 to me, with a a clear line between 4 and 5
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I think it's a pretty clear top 8 to me. Johnson as my legit, no-question 7 and then Wahlberg as my legit, no-question 8.

Gets REAL fuzzy REAL quickly after that.
 
Zman5778 said:
I think it's a pretty clear top 8 to me. Johnson as my legit, no-question 7 and then Wahlberg as my legit, no-question 8.

Gets REAL fuzzy REAL quickly after that.
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Well, on account I want to sneak Wahlberg into this current tier…you may be right.

BUT I kinda want to see a little out of his d+1 year first. I mean, I had Poltapov high up immediately like Wahlberg, and while Poltapov is still a good prospect, I dont have him as high as I did
 
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Zman5778 said:
I think it's a pretty clear top 8 to me. Johnson as my legit, no-question 7 and then Wahlberg as my legit, no-question 8.

Gets REAL fuzzy REAL quickly after that.
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Dirty Dog said:
Yea agreed. We definitely have our blue-chip tier in Levi, Benson, Savoie, Kulich that you hope can develop into elite talent. And then our next tier of ostlund, Rosen, and Johnson for me who have the potential to develop in good core players. Pretty clear top 7 to me, with a a clear line between 4 and 5
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Novikov has pushed Johnson down for me and should have some serious consideration of being in the top 8
 
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Zman5778 said:
Personally I have Johnson just a tick below Rosen and Ostlund, but firmly above everyone else in the system. The "will he sign" thing didn't influence me at all....I just don't see the ceiling I once did from him. His floor is super high though.
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It’s crazy that we’re so deep that we have 6 1st round picks in the top 7, and then there’s a bunch of guys who are either from the 2nd round or are already in the AHL. And that’s all before we even get to the NCAA and CHL guys.
 
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Sabre the Win said:
Novikov has pushed Johnson down for me and should have some serious consideration of being in the top 8
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Novikov's progress has been fantastic.....but there's a real chance that he doesn't really crack an NHL roster. They both have similar ceilings for me (legit 2nd pair guys) but Johnson's floor is what does it for me. At worst, he's another Mark Pysyk -- a 6/7 guy for a long time.
 
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Just for fun. Here’s my Top 25:

  1. Devon Levi, G
  2. Jiri Kulich, W
  3. Zach Benson, W
  4. Noah Ostlund, C
  5. Matthew Savoie, W/C
  6. Isak Rosen, W
  7. Nikita Novikov, D
  8. Ryan Johnson, D
  9. Anton Wahlberg, C/W
  10. Lukas Rousek, W
  11. Olivier Nadeau, W
  12. Viljami Marjala
  13. Jake Richard, W
  14. Vsemolod Komarov, D
  15. Maxim Strbak, D
  16. Viktor Neuchev, W
  17. Tyson Kozak, C
  18. Brandon Biro, C
  19. Prokhor Poltapov, W
  20. Joel Berndtsson
  21. Gavin McCarthy, D
  22. Filip Cederqvist, W
  23. Linus Weissbach, W
  24. Alexander Kisakov, W
  25. Gustav Karlsson


 
Zman5778 said:
Novikov's progress has been fantastic.....but there's a real chance that he doesn't really crack an NHL roster. They both have similar ceilings for me (legit 2nd pair guys) but Johnson's floor is what does it for me. At worst, he's another Mark Pysyk -- a 6/7 guy for a long time.
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I wonder about this. To me Novikov's 62 GP as a 19yo in the KHL hints at an NHL floor about as much as an unremarkable four-year run at an elite NCAA program. Pretty sure the list of guys who have done what Novikov has done have all turned into solid pros.

And re: the ceiling, who is Johnson's comparable as a top 4 guy? Undersized guys without any standout tools who didn't produce points in college are tough to project as more than a Pysyk type to me.
 
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SabreHawk said:
Just for fun. Here’s my Top 25:

  1. Devon Levi, G
  2. Jiri Kulich, W
  3. Zach Benson, W
  4. Noah Ostlund, C
  5. Matthew Savoie, W/C
  6. Isak Rosen, W
  7. Nikita Novikov, D
  8. Ryan Johnson, D
  9. Anton Wahlberg, C/W
  10. Lukas Rousek, W
  11. Olivier Nadeau, W
  12. Viljami Marjala
  13. Jake Richard, W
  14. Vsemolod Komarov, D
  15. Maxim Strbak, D
  16. Viktor Neuchev, W
  17. Tyson Kozak, C
  18. Brandon Biro, C
  19. Prokhor Poltapov, W
  20. Joel Berndtsson
  21. Gavin McCarthy, D
  22. Filip Cederqvist, W
  23. Linus Weissbach, W
  24. Alexander Kisakov, W
  25. Gustav Karlsson
Click to expand...
Seeing it out like this and jesus we are stacked. Even if only 1/4 of these guys hit that is still a haul.
 
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HOOats said:
And re: the ceiling, who is Johnson's comparable as a top 4 guy? Undersized guys without any standout tools who didn't produce points in college are tough to project as more than a Pysyk type to me.
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Bigger, better Matt Grezlcyk -- though the collegiate points don't match up well.

But a bigger, better Matt Grezlyck is what I see his ceiling to be.
 
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Novikov add Kozak.
HOOats said:
I wonder about this. To me Novikov's 62 GP as a 19yo in the KHL hints at an NHL floor about as much as an unremarkable four-year run at an elite NCAA program. Pretty sure the list of guys who have done what Novikov has done have all turned into solid pros.

And re: the ceiling, who is Johnson's comparable as a top 4 guy? Undersized guys without any standout tools who didn't produce points in college are tough to project as more than a Pysyk type to me.
Click to expand...
This is right about where I am with Novikov and Johnson. Watching Johnson play a few times was uninspiring to me. With 4 years under his belt and a year in the AHL he might make it as an unremarkable bottom 7 guy, but I don't see top 4 in Johnsons future. Novikov on the other hand has the size and skating to become a top 4 defensemen as a ceiling. Holding his own as a 19 year old in the KHL is a big deal IMO, much like how Kulich excelling in the AHL pushed his value.

The potential Novikov has I see as more valuable than what Rosen or Ostland are likely to provide, so I actually went with Novikov as my #5 pick here.
 
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HOOats said:
I wonder about this. To me Novikov's 62 GP as a 19yo in the KHL hints at an NHL floor about as much as an unremarkable four-year run at an elite NCAA program. Pretty sure the list of guys who have done what Novikov has done have all turned into solid pros.

And re: the ceiling, who is Johnson's comparable as a top 4 guy? Undersized guys without any standout tools who didn't produce points in college are tough to project as more than a Pysyk type to me.
Click to expand...

If we use the GP as a teen as an indicator, he's likely to be at an NHL defenseman. Yes, the offensive part of the game hasn't manifested at that level, but he's got some chops as he's shown in U18 and MHL action. And of course, in 3-on-3 pond hockey. :D
 
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Ostlund add Komarov. Really close to Johnson here for me; I don't think he has the same level of potential, but he's almost certainly an NHL player.
 
SabreHawk said:
Just for fun. Here’s my Top 25:

  1. Devon Levi, G
  2. Jiri Kulich, W
  3. Zach Benson, W
  4. Noah Ostlund, C
  5. Matthew Savoie, W/C
  6. Isak Rosen, W
  7. Nikita Novikov, D
  8. Ryan Johnson, D
  9. Anton Wahlberg, C/W
  10. Lukas Rousek, W
  11. Olivier Nadeau, W
  12. Viljami Marjala
  13. Jake Richard, W
  14. Vsemolod Komarov, D
  15. Maxim Strbak, D
  16. Viktor Neuchev, W
  17. Tyson Kozak, C
  18. Brandon Biro, C
  19. Prokhor Poltapov, W
  20. Joel Berndtsson
  21. Gavin McCarthy, D
  22. Filip Cederqvist, W
  23. Linus Weissbach, W
  24. Alexander Kisakov, W
  25. Gustav Karlsson

Click to expand...

I appreciate the breakdown but I do have problems with this.

1. Levi
2. Savoie
3. Kulich
4. Benson
5. Rosen
6. Ostlund
7. Johnson (has done nothing to drop)
8. Kisakov
9. Rousek
10. Murray
11. Biro
12. Weissbach
13. Novikov
14. Poltapov
15. Cederqvist
16. Strbak
17. Wahlberg
18. Kozak
19. Komarov
20. Leinonen
21. Nadeau
22. Huglen
23. Lindgren
24. Konecny
25. McCarthy
 
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