2024 Prospect Poll #4

[KiwiGriff]

Johnson. Add von Barnekow-Lofberg

 

[Der Jaeger]

Ostlund, Ratzliff

 

[K8fool]

Ostlund, add Kozak

Ostland novikov wahlberg maybe konsta all be called up and never leave , Levi isnt a prospect , neither is johnson , komarov looked interesting , rosen sees the game and kulich may yet find his game and make me look stupid if he was injured. I'm an idiot as I only saw amerks playoffs
There are three very knowledgeable guys on this board , kind and free w information that can disagree w my quick assessment that really was tuned by them anyway

 

[SabreHawk]

Ostlund. Add Viljami Marjala

 

[debaser66]

Anyone else feel like Konsta makes Ostlund expendable for an upgrade

Unless its in a package for a better Center, no

 

[Matt Ress]

Until Thompson and Cousins show they can be relied upon to be top 6 centers on a contending team I don't believe trading away center depth is a good idea.

But they're not really NHL center depth are they. Maybe one of those guys gets a look when there's an injury but most likely neither sniff Buffalo for at least a year or two so you would prefer to wait 3 to 5 years with redundant assets? Interesting take

 

[Der Jaeger]

Anyone else feel like Konsta makes Ostlund expendable for an upgrade

No. Helenius is a 200 foot center in the Lundell mold. Super valuable, which is why I really wanted Lundell the year the Sabres drafted Quinn. Ideal 3C type who could be a strong 2C on a team which is committed to a defense-first style of game.

Ostlund is a playmaking center kind of similar to Lindholm when he was drafted in 2013. He’s a 2C to potentially 1C center who makes his winger better. He’s also pretty responsible defensively.

Buffalo should not get rid of either. Boston fills their center position with players like both Ostlund and Helenius. Florida has done so recently as well.

No reason to move either. It’d be a foolish move.

 

[Matt Ress]

No. Helenius is a 200 foot center in the Lundell mold. Super valuable, which is why I really wanted Lundell the year the Sabres drafted Quinn. Ideal 3C type who could be a strong 2C on a team which is committed to a defense-first style of game.

Ostlund is a playmaking center kind of similar to Lindholm when he was drafted in 2013. He’s a 2C to potentially 1C center who makes his winger better. He’s also pretty responsible defensively.

Buffalo should not get rid of either. Boston fills their center position with players like both Ostlund and Helenius. Florida has done so recently as well.

No reason to move either. It’d be a foolish move.

Nothing against their abilities and I know they're not the exact same player.

Currently we have 2 NHL centers locked up long term and 1 young and inexpensive that fits a role and is a good candidate to be reupped. It's great to have guys in the system but it's not really a priority over the NHL roster.

And welp, if you're looking for an upgrade, Krebs and joker isn't going to get it done. I'd like an actual big fish if we're moving another top prospect.

 

[Jim Bob]

Ostlund + Poltapov

 

[Der Jaeger]

Nothing against their abilities and I know they're not the exact same player.

Currently we have 2 NHL centers locked up long term and 1 young and inexpensive that fits a role and is a good candidate to be reupped. It's great to have guys in the system but it's not really a priority over the NHL roster.

And welp, if you're looking for an upgrade, Krebs and joker isn't going to get it done. I'd like an actual big fish if we're moving another top prospect.

More of a roster discussion post, but here it goes.

Teams must have centers in the pipeline to keep the NHL roster healthy. True centers are hard to come by and expensive to trade for. I did a small study a few years ago which showed that teams spent around a third of lottery picks on centers despite center making up 1/5 of an NHL roster on a nightly basis.

Ruff almost always wanted or had 6 centers on the roster back when he coached. When you look at the pre-lockout teams, his teams had 4 centers and two players on the wing who could log heavy minutes at wing. Rasmussen was a winger, Barnes played wing a lot until Peca left, Juneau was a winger for the Cup run, Brown spent some time at wing, etc. During the conference finals runs, the team was structured with Briere, Drury, Connolly, Roy, and Gaustad, with Hecht also playing center when needed.

Having Thompson, Cozens, McLeod, and Lafferty is great, but none or the wingers can really log minutes at center. In 2-3 years, I could see a team with a center spine of Thompson - Ostlund - Helenius - McLeod with Cozens at wing, and players like Kulich and Wahlberg on the team able to jump in at center if needed.

That's really what a team should be striving for. You saw Boston and Carolina in the playoffs: tremendous overall team but eventually went down, in part because they didn't have the center depth they needed. Boston spent a boatload on Lindholm for that reason.

tl;dr: there's no such situation as having too many centers in the organization.

 

[Matt Ress]

More of a roster discussion post, but here it goes.

Teams must have centers in the pipeline to keep the NHL roster healthy. True centers are hard to come by and expensive to trade for. I did a small study a few years ago which showed that teams spent around a third of lottery picks on centers despite center making up 1/5 of an NHL roster on a nightly basis.

Ruff almost always wanted or had 6 centers on the roster back when he coached. When you look at the pre-lockout teams, his teams had 4 centers and two players on the wing who could log heavy minutes at wing. Rasmussen was a winger, Barnes played wing a lot until Peca left, Juneau was a winger for the Cup run, Brown spent some time at wing, etc. During the conference finals runs, the team was structured with Briere, Drury, Connolly, Roy, and Gaustad, with Hecht also playing center when needed.

Having Thompson, Cozens, McLeod, and Lafferty is great, but none or the wingers can really log minutes at center. In 2-3 years, I could see a team with a center spine of Thompson - Ostlund - Helenius - McLeod with Cozens at wing, and players like Kulich and Wahlberg on the team able to jump in at center if needed.

That's really what a team should be striving for. You saw Boston and Carolina in the playoffs: tremendous overall team but eventually went down, in part because they didn't have the center depth they needed. Boston spent a boatload on Lindholm for that reason.

tl;dr: there's no such situation as having too many centers in the organization.

I completely agree with all of that.

My issue is not the need for center depth (we have a striking amount of wingers that aren't proven to be equipped to step in). I understand that.

It's more about the timeline. Let me put it a different way...

If you can trade for a top 6 wing today (perhaps one that could step in to C in a pinch), a legit proven one, would you A. Pull the trigger sacrificing Ostlund + whatever?
Or
B. Hold off 2 to 5 years hoping he becomes that top 6 C so you can move Cozens to the wing?

Of course you pick A because you're trying to build a window now.

I'm suggesting a smart move to improve the team now and moving forward, not a 34 year old 1yr rental or whatever but an upgrade with tread as my OP suggested. Maybe I'm mistaken here.