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Prospect Info: C/RW Matthew Savoie, 9th Overall, 2022 NHL Draft - Traded to Moose Jaw 1/4/24

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allsilverdreams said:
What number was he wearing?
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#93.

A little history, it was last worn by Victor Antipin and was the exact point of contact by a Scott Harnell shoulder if I remember correctly. Previously it was worn by Doug Killer Gilmour. Only other was Semenov in 1997.

Being that Gilmour was a journeyman by the time he got here, I think it's a good number. He can make it his own.
 
theathletic.com

'He's a hunter of the puck': Inside Matt Savoie's first game in a Sabres jersey

The No. 9 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft had been kept off the ice since May because of a shoulder injury.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
Thursday night was his first opportunity to impress. With general manager Kevyn Adams, coach Don Granato and owner Terry Pegula among those watching, Savoie took on a major role in his first competitive game in fourth months. On his third shift, he exemplified everything the Sabres have raved about. He carried the puck into the offensive zone and charged toward the net. He lost possession but quickly scrambled to the corner and out-battled the defender to keep the play alive.

“I really like that his game – as talented as he is, as smart as he is, his game is a working game,” said Amerks coach Seth Appert, who is coaching the Sabres’ prospects in this tournament. “He’s a hunter of the puck. He’s a dog on a bone. Those guys, as they translate to pro, he has a so-called ‘B’ game already instilled. He’s not a player that just relies on his mind and his skill and being more skilled than players in junior hockey. He is, but he relies on his work to be a special, special player as well.”

Savoie needed to rely on his work Thursday night. The Sabres had him playing both the power play and the penalty kill. He was matched up against Montreal’s top line. Every step of the way he was impacting the play in all three zones. Routinely, he was the first player in on the forecheck, yet he also ended up back in his own zone without fail.
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Appert said he doesn’t come across as an 18-year-old kid. Despite the long layoff because of the injury, he wasn’t like a kid in a candy store during his first practice session. He carried that approach into the game on Thursday night as the atmosphere intensified in front of a few thousand fans. It was Savoie who routinely found the goalies first after a goal against. He was the one directing teammates before faceoffs and clearing out scrums when emotions ran high. Maybe he didn’t end up with any points or have his usual juice by the end of the night, but he still found a way to impact the game and his teammates.

“Calm,” Appert said of what he noticed about Savoie on the bench. “It looked like it wasn’t that big of a deal. I know it was and it is a big deal, but he doesn’t show it. He’s not emotional. He doesn’t come off a bad shift and slam his stick. He doesn’t come off a great shift too high. He has a real calm presence about him, which I think is extremely important in becoming a good player.”
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I'm so jealous of the Sabres future.

I think Savoie is absolutely the real deal. Gonna be an exciting time for sabres fans very soon.

I think one more year of bottom 10 finish(Just because this year the East is loaded and the sabres even with the additions of quinn, power and peterka are still just SOO young and i think they'll be exciting but may not win much.)
 
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DatDude44 said:
I'm so jealous of the Sabres future.

I think Savoie is absolutely the real deal. Gonna be an exciting time for sabres fans very soon.

I think one more year of bottom 10 finish(Just because this year the East is loaded and the sabres even with the additions of quinn, power and peterka are still just SOO young and i think they'll be exciting but may not win much.)
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We won't be a chore to watch but I am expecting growing pains as well which is to be expected with such a young team but will still be competitive, yoffs in two years
 
DatDude44 said:
I'm so jealous of the Sabres future.

I think Savoie is absolutely the real deal. Gonna be an exciting time for sabres fans very soon.

I think one more year of bottom 10 finish(Just because this year the East is loaded and the sabres even with the additions of quinn, power and peterka are still just SOO young and i think they'll be exciting but may not win much.)
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FYI…once the team regained a healthy lineup they finished march- April had a 100 pt pace at 16-9-3. they played 20 of 21 games in a row from beginning of March against play off contending teams. 17 were playoff teams 3 were teams finished out but were battling when faced ( vegas, winnipeg, Vancouver).

They had one of the highest lost game count In the league. In March they were just about everyone back.

this team does not have much roster turnover. Power finished the season with thrm. Peterka and Quinn were called up for some games earlier in the season but they arent new faces. Lybushkin and Comrie pretty much the new roster players.

don’t assume they re out of the playoffs to start the season.

just in their division… Detroit had a large roster turn over and finished the season poorly. Ottawa traded their top 10 for an impact player but peop,e seem to forget buffalo will have three likely joining their team in Powe, Wuinn, and Peterka.

i think the team will be in WC/3rd place contention for much of the season if thry don’t run into the same level of injuries thry had last season

as for Savoie….

I haven’t been able to find an answer on this……

his birthday is on Jan 1 which means he would be WJC eligible the next 2 years. what is the rule on the CHL for that second year. Had CHL played in the Covid year , he would be able to go to the AHL in 23/24 season because he would have played 4 CHL seasons. With no CHL, after 22/23 he woukd have 3 CHL season+ Covid no playing year. It’s possible he gets a spot on buffalo just because he have to go back to CHL For 23/24 season. He couldearn it on his own.
 
He has to go back two more years by the letter of the law. I suspect he makes the team next year and it won’t matter anyway. But if he doesn’t I think they’ll petition the WHL who didn’t grant him exceptional status but did make an exception and let him play an extended part of a season in 2019.

He‘s in a bad spot if he’s not quite ready for the best league on the planet but is coming off a year where he dominates the WHL and puts up like 120. Which is a very reasonably and expected outcome. Forcing him to go back another year after that is bad for development. So is rushing him to the NHL.
 
Hanging around, hanging around, hanging around. And not looking out of place.

Odds of him sticking with the Sabres have to be pretty close to zero, but I could see him getting a 9 (or fewer) game look, especially if Krebs and/or Peterka starts in Rochester.
 
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TheMistyStranger said:
Go the Samson route and tell him to not focus on points as much as detail work.
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IIRC, the reason Reinhart's production suffered in his D+1 year was because the biggest thing he needed to improve to play in the NHL was his strength, which meant he was doing extra lifting days throughout the season and getting sub-normal rest. If he'd been an NCAA prosect rather than a CHL one, the schedule probably would've allowed him to both get stronger and be adequately rested for game days.
 
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