On Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman's latest 31 Thoughts podcast Marek who was in Buffalo this week to do the Flames/Sabres game said there are people inside the Sabres organization who told him they doubt Alex will play 100 games in the NHL. Bad on 2 counts. First obviously it speaks poorly about Nylander but secondly you have a Sabres employee, possibly even the GM, badmouthing his own player to high profile broadcasters, wtf is that - he's still an asset you might want to trade, why would you run the kid down, it only hurts your team's bargaining position in a trade.
As a Sabres fan I want him called up, he's one of those players who would play better in the NHL than in the helter skelter style of the AHL. He was called up at the end of the season last year and he did look better with NHL players than he had looked in the AHL. He is a very good skater, puck handler, with an elite shot. He just doesn't know how to use any of it in the AHL, it's like he's scared, the puck isn't on his stick very much. Put him on Eichel or ROR's left side, see what happens. People will say you shouldn't call a prospect up if he hasn't earned it. Dumb. He's an 8th pick overall, you don't treat every prospect the same, he has NHL skills.