C Matthew Savoie - Moose Jaw Warriors, WHL (2022, 9th, BUF, traded to EDM) - PART 2

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Meh. I don't see much in this class.

Bedard is a franchise center. Nobody is adding the word potential to that sentence. That's the difference.

I’ll add that word. He’s not a sure fire center.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don’t understand why he’s dropped on lists, but I’m not going to subscribe to these narratives. I don’t see how people watch Savoie compared to Gauthier and see Gauthier as the better prospect. Players with size and speed should not be moving up lists so much at the draft. If it wasn’t that way on your list before May, it shouldn’t be changing in a large way after May. The same should apply in the opposite direction. Smaller players shouldn’t drop simply because they are small and the NHL has a fetish for big players every June.

 

[lafellaesobar]

I don’t understand why he’s dropped on lists, but I’m not going to subscribe to these narratives. I don’t see how people watch Savoie compared to Gauthier and see Gauthier as the better prospect. Players with size and speed should not be moving up lists so much at the draft. If it wasn’t that way on your list before May, it shouldn’t be changing in a large way after May. The same should apply in the opposite direction. Smaller players shouldn’t drop simply because they are small and the NHL has a fetish for big players every June.

Tiny players do not thrive in the playoffs

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Tiny players do not thrive in the playoffs

That Brayden Point guy does tend to struggle in the playoffs.

 

[lafellaesobar]

That Brayden Point guy does tend to struggle in the playoffs.

Point is a very big exception to the rule, no pun intended. Savoie better be like Point or else he ends up being slotted lower and lower on draft boards, and I know how good Point is.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Point is a very big exception to the rule, no pun intended. Savoie better be like Point or else he ends up being slotted lower and lower on draft boards, and I know how good Point is.

Not exactly. You need both, highly skilled smaller players who can skate and big players who add a physical element. You’d prefer they all be Hedman or Lemieux types who are giant and also very talented offensively, but there are only so many of those players. Players like Makar and Fox have thrived in the playoffs. It’s a little more physical in the playoffs, but it doesn’t matter that often for the best players. It might for the guys that weren’t that good to begin with.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Not exactly. You need both, highly skilled smaller players who can skate and big players who add a physical element. You’d prefer they all be Hedman or Lemieux types who are giant and also very talented offensively, but there are only so many of those players. Players like Makar and Fox have thrived in the playoffs. It’s a little more physical in the playoffs, but it doesn’t matter that often for the best players. It might for the guys that weren’t that good to begin with.

Brad Marchand as well…noted invisible playoff performer… I’d be concerned about Savoie in the playoffs if he was shy to contact, but he’s got more bull than ballerina to his game.

 

[lafellaesobar]

Brad Marchand as well…noted invisible playoff performer… I’d be concerned about Savoie in the playoffs if he was shy to contact, but he’s got more bull than ballerina to his game.

does savoie want to get gritty, or will savoie falter and add nothing to his repitoire?

 

[Hen Kolland]

does savoie want to get gritty, or will savoie falter and add nothing to his repitoire?

I’m not sure what your goal is with this question. He’s not a soft player as it stands today, so he wouldn’t be adding something new to his repertoire.

 

[lafellaesobar]

I’m not sure what your goal is with this question. He’s not a soft player as it stands today, so he wouldn’t be adding something new to his repertoire.

Is he more than just speed and skill? can he deal with pressure when push comes to shove? can we see Savoie elevate his game? thats what I wanna see.

 

[99ovr]

Tiny players do not thrive in the playoffs

Is he more than just speed and skill? can he deal with pressure when push comes to shove? can we see Savoie elevate his game? thats what I wanna see.

He's not tiny, 5'9 is definitely undersized but not tiny. If you want tiny look at Debrinat 5'7.

Savoie is feisty and does not mind going into the corners at all, doesn't shy away from contact. Can't guarantee he'll be a playoff warrior but he's not shy.

 

[dellzor]

Tiny players do not thrive in the playoffs

Brayden Point

Patrick Kane

Brad Marchand

Martin St Louis

 

[lafellaesobar]

Brayden Point

Patrick Kane

Brad Marchand

Martin St Louis

fair, but i know there are some small players who can just go silent. Savoie gotta be good imo. the hype he had before the season was huge, and i wouldn't be shocked if he's still a top 10 pick. Just prove me wrong. I like being wrong.

 

[Ace]

fair, but i know there are some small players who can just go silent. Savoie gotta be good imo. the hype he had before the season was huge, and i wouldn't be shocked if he's still a top 10 pick. Just prove me wrong. I like being wrong.

Does this post posit that there aren’t big player who can just go silent?

 

[Jukurit]

I'm not really fully buying that he's falling only because of small size. Just looking at Bob McKenzie's draft rankings, Savoie was ranked 7th on pre-season ranking, 4th on mid-season and 9th on final rankings. And as far as I know, he didn't get smaller on second half of the season.

Logan Cooley is bigger than Savoie, but I'd still say he's a guy who's on the "smaller side" and he's ranked 3rd on Bob's Final Rankings (1 vote for #1 overall), so if size was such an issue, shouldn't he be ranked lower?

Savoie's teammate Conor Geekie is a big dude and he was ranked 5th on Bob's pre-season rankings and 13th on final rankings, so if NHL scouts and GMs were obsessing over size, shouldn't he be ranked higher?

 

[hockey20000]

i want him at 7th for ottawa.. kids gonna be steal of draft if he goes 6th-9th future 70-90 point player i think.

 

[bert]

i want him at 7th for ottawa.. kids gonna be steal of draft if he goes 6th-9th future 70-90 point player i think.

Its time Ottawa goes pure skill with a pick. They have alot of hard players on the team currently and in the pipe line. They have their centers, they just need a guy that can create and score. Hoping for Savoie/Lekkerimaki type pick at 7 once the big 5 are already gone.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

i admittedly haven't watched a ton of him but it seems like his game is built around his skating ability. and while he's a very good skater i don't think he will dominate with it in the NHL against NHL players, esp with him likely going to the wing.

he has good IQ and skill but it's nothing off the charts like a Kane, Marner, or Kucherov etc.

i think he's rated fine, he can and prob will be a good NHL player but I don't see crazy potential in him personally (nor do i with anyone from 2022 class).

 

[Bounces R Way]

Could be a bit of a sleeper if he slips past #10. Seems to be a victim of being overscouted.

Having said that you need ++ skating to be a smaller C in the NHL. In my viewings of him I don't see the separation capabilities of Barzal or Point. I do like that he's not afraid to get his nose dirty as a smaller guy but that becomes significantly more difficult once you're in the pro leagues. Sometimes with these types of players it's harder to judge their floor and they get an unfair amount of bust talk. I do think he'll play in the NHL but to me he seems closer to a Trocheck or maybe a Dube W/C than a Barzal or Suzuki.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Could be a bit of a sleeper if he slips past #10. Seems to be a victim of being overscouted.

Having said that you need ++ skating to be a smaller C in the NHL. In my viewings of him I don't see the separation capabilities of Barzal or Point. I do like that he's not afraid to get his nose dirty as a smaller guy but that becomes significantly more difficult once you're in the pro leagues. Sometimes with these types of players it's harder to judge their floor and they get an unfair amount of bust talk. I do think he'll play in the NHL but to me he seems closer to a Trocheck or maybe a Dube W/C than a Barzal or Suzuki.

There’s always a chance that he ends up on the wing and puts up big numbers from that spot as well. I think it’s foolish to think that he’s a guarantee to slot in as a center. It will depend on the team and how they develop him, but it’s funny how people’s tune will change based on position.

His abilities are very appealing. You would be hard pressed to find me a player who is available when Savoie gets picked that does all things as well as Savoie does them. He’s one of the most well rounded prospects in the class, in my opinion, and I’m drafting him for the sum of his parts, not just based on the position he plays.

So people don’t like the Point or Barzal thing, but would they be upset if he was more of a Marty St. Louis style winger? There’s a lot of ways that Savoie could pan out. He could just as well be another name on the list of completely irrelevant short players that never make it, but he’s a player that I have a lot of time for despite all the different ways it could play out

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Brayden Point

Patrick Kane

Brad Marchand

Martin St Louis

Briere was another short fella who really showed up in the playoffs.

 

[EichHart]

This is the guy I want Sabres to draft

 

[CanuckistanFlyerfan]

fair, but i know there are some small players who can just go silent. Savoie gotta be good imo. the hype he had before the season was huge, and i wouldn't be shocked if he's still a top 10 pick. Just prove me wrong. I like being wrong.

There are big players who also go silent.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I understand what people say that he's not like a Kane, Panarin, Marner with his puck skills, but I think that his scoring ability is high-end, so even if he doesn't dangle and hold onto the puck as well as those guys, he has the potential to score 1PPG+, in my opinion. I'm not saying this is the comparison, but Nikita Kucherov doesn't dangle like those guys either, but his scoring instincts, shot, passing are all as good or better than those danglers. It's not all about how fancy you handle the puck, although that is important.

Savoie also skates well, and plays a two way game. I think he's the most similar to Brayden Point of all the small players in this draft.

 

[bsu]

I think he will be an Ehlers like impact player.