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The 2022 Sabres Dream Draft: 11 Players I’m Rooting for the Sabres to Draft

by Austin - 1

Excuse the interruption! My name’s Austin Garret and I write for Smaht Scouting as a North American Crossover Scout. Also, I write about the NHL Draft for Die By The Blade and have been doing so since 2018.

Let’s get the awkwardness out of the way to begin: you are not going to like what I’m going to propose in this article. It’s okay! I understand! You have read or heard a lot of opinions by the time you’re reading this if you’re invested in the draft by people you trust in the public scouting sphere. Given my putrid Twitter following compared to the mainstream scouts: I doubt I’m one of them. But before you scroll through the eleven picks I made for the Sabres in the 2022 draft please give me one, only one, chance to explain myself.

First, here are my draft picks since 2019:

I have some hits. I have some misses. I should probably start investing in some defensemen. You get the picture.

Let’s look at the 2022 draft for the Sabres: I’d like to start with the premise that it’s going to be hard to crack the Sabres lineup for the next few years. I’d argue that the core of the forward group (the top 9) is locked in (minus trades) for the next three years given all of their contract statuses. That being said we’re also not a playoff team at the moment. To me when I look at the 2022 draft I see the perfect storm happening for the Sabres:

  • A lot of players in the 2022 draft with high ceilings, but also more risk than usual
  • Four picks in the top 45 to assume some risk at the top of the draft
  • The only need in the prospect depth pool (RHD) won’t require an over-valuation and reach to address

Theoretically, the third bullet point could be argued against if you want to trade up for David Jiříček or Šimon Nemec. However, I do think that leads me to my biggest point: I’m swinging for the fences in 2022. I get that not all these prospective players I hypothetically am going to draft are all not going to hit big or even make the NHL, but given the current state of the Sabres roster, I think injecting a couple of high-end players onto the roster 1-3 years from now will help drive the bus with the Sabres turnaround. For that purpose, I’m willing to say that getting 2-4 high-end players out of this draft should be the aim of the Sabres.

Let’s get it started.

Pick #9: Brad Lambert, C, Liiga (12/19/03, 6’0, 183 lbs)

I love Brad Lambert and I understand I’m in the minority at this point of the 2022 draft process. While I plan to write just a couple paragraphs for the next 10 picks; this one I could write a dissertation on. There has been plenty said about Brad Lambert and his play in the Liiga. From Josh Tessler’s report in the link to Lambert’s name to Will Scouch’s recent video, and many others as well (Sam McGilligan’s report on McKeen’s was one of my favorites). Some of them have a positive light like the ones I mentioned, and others see Lambert in a free fall in the NHL draft. My general take on watching Lambert in the Liiga is that I have no idea what the Pelicans were trying to do with Lambert after they acquired him halfway through the year. They didn’t play to his strengths, and Lambert didn’t fit within the structure they were trying to create. However, I’m going to take a different lens with Lambert and only look at what he did in the u20 games this season.

Everyone talks about his size, speed, and skill combination. People harp on his intelligence, motor (no idea why), and lack of production. To drop Lambert outside of the top 5 in this draft I question if people aren’t seeing the forest through the trees because his u20 tape is absurd. It’s almost at the point where I’d be comfortable saying that had Lambert gone to Saskatoon and played in the WHL this year he’d have been the top point producer of all draft-eligible forwards in the CHL.

Lambert just always looks like the best player on the ice when he played in his age group. He can split defenders and then take a dangerous shot attempt while looking like it’s the easiest thing in the world.

His speed can make it look like everyone else’s skates have frozen to the ice and they’re unable to move.

Or he can just stickhandle wherever he wants to get off dangerous shot attempts.

There were four players this year that utterly dominated via the eye test the leagues they were playing in: Logan Cooley in the USHL, Yurov/Trikozov in the MHL, and Brad Lambert in the u20s. You don’t let someone this talented fall just because you don’t know why he couldn’t put up points. Develop and build him up and reap the reward.

Pick #16: Liam Öhgren, LW, J20 Nationell (1/28/04, 6’1, 201 lbs)

When I think of players that would blend in well with the current Sabres persona and structure: I can’t help but think that Liam Öhgren is nothing short of a perfect fit. He’s a very good north-south skater who has a tremendous motor and very underrated skill compared to the rest of his Djurgårdens linemates he gets compared with.

He possesses everything I look for in a forward when scouting. He’s hard on pucks and suffocates space defensively, he looks to try to make plays and doesn’t panic dump/shoot pucks, and above all, he is quick and decisive in making the correct reads on what to do with the puck when receives it or where to go off the puck. If he were just a little more agile laterally and had more puck skill to get around players at will he’d be a sure-fire top 10 pick.

I think this clip below (#20 in blue) summarizes Öhgren’s game very well.

Pick #28: Gleb Trikozov, W, MHL (8/12/04, 6’1, 185 lbs)

Who knows when the Russian prospects who are committed to playing in Russia post-draft are going to go in the NHL draft, but I will say one thing: from strictly an on-ice evaluation I’d be running to the podium at 28th overall to pick Trikozov if he’s still available. He is a transition monster, with insane puck skill, great speed, and one of the best wrist shots I’ve seen in this class.

It’s the MHL though. While Trikozov possesses great offensive skill and I’ve seen him be engaged in puck battles and puck pursuits; as a winger in the defensive zone, he doesn’t do anything within the structure of his team’s defense. However, I could him take the puck up the ice in transition all day.

Pick #41: Seamus Casey, RHD, USNTDP (1/8/04, 5’10, 172 lbs)

I think Casey has all the tools to be one of the best defensemen to come out of this draft. He has deception, lateral mobility, elite pivots, and the ability to read plays way before they happen and make the right play more often than not. When he gets aggressive in the offensive zone I don’t think there’s a defender I’d take over him as someone I’d want running my PP1 or being the offensive-leaning defensemen on my first pairing.

If you’re looking for an additional read on Casey: I talked with Greg Revak and he posted an amazing article about Casey’s point play here. It’s a great in-depth look at what makes Casey truly special in this 2022 draft class.

https://twitter.com/DL_Scouting/status/1458565651019223050?s=20&t=0XbJBuQ3wDFH85u6JRcozg

Pick #74: Devin Kaplan, RW, USNTDP (1/10/04, 6’3, 198 lbs)

Welcome to my favorite sleeper in the 2022 NHL draft. The 6’3 forward is criminally underrated as a playmaker and power forward coming out of the USNTDP. He played a lot in my viewings during the year with Charlie Stramel and Rutger McGroarty where he was the engine of the offensive transitions for that line.

I think he falls in the draft because of “PoInTz” and because he was sitting behind some other players in the NTDP program. If he were to have played in the CHL I think we’d be talking about a first-round pick. Outside of working on his three-step agility and getting a bit more power and accuracy with his shot: he’s poised to break out when he goes to Boston University next year.

Pick #106: Vladimir Grudinin, LHD, MHL (12/9/03, 5’10, 159 lbs)

In the abbreviated World Juniors this past year I would argue that Grudinin was the best defenseman representing the Russian team there. He possesses a strong offensive activation strategy where he’s able to move up into the offensive zone given his skill and skating ability and can identify forwards in odd-man situations to create offensive opportunities in scoring situations.

As an undersized defenseman, there are certainly opportunities for him to gain strength and leverage for him to counter forwards who are more physically mature than him in the defensive zone. However, his skating ability and offensive ability make him an attractive option to NHL teams looking to find potential steals in the mid-rounds of the 2022 NHL draft.

Pick #134: Cole Knuble, C/RW, USHL (7/1/04, 5’10, 174 lbs)

Knuble had a great Hlinka that was followed up with him being one of the top point producers on an underwhelming Fargo team in the USHL. While the point production didn’t represent a player who may be in the top half of the draft; it’s hard to argue that Knuble wasn’t the player who made everything happen for the top line of the Fargo Force.

While his skating has a ways to go to be NHL effective; I would argue that Knuble’s ability to make things happen in the small area game is what his USHL team so effective. With a development plan that includes another year in the USHL and his late birthday, I think that Knuble gives Sabres fans plenty to be hopeful for that he could end up making a bottom-six impact at the wing or center position.

Pick #170: Mikey Milne*, LW, WHL (9/21/02, 5’11, 185 lbs)

We’re getting to the point of the draft where I’m going to advocate we swing big on players that could one day end up making an impact on an NHL roster. No overage player made a bigger impact on me than Mikey Milne on the Winnipeg Ice this past year. He played predominantly on the left-wing alongside Geekie and Benson this season and he was a significant force as an F1 forechecker and transition player on that line. Similar to Öhgren: Milne made his impact as a very effective passenger on a top line in the WHL. However, while this is just Milne’s first overage year he was born just a week after the draft cutoff which makes him an older player in this year’s draft.

I would argue that Milne is a player whose versatility makes him an attractive player to draft in the mid-late rounds of the 2022 draft. He also is a player that wouldn’t shock me to earn middle-six minutes as a passenger in transition on a good scoring line. Take the plunge that he’ll have an opportunity to get a cup of tea at the NHL, and hope that he continues the trajectory to perhaps playing a significant role on an NHL team.

Pick #187: Zach Bookman**, RHD, AJHL (3/29/02, 5’10, 176 lbs)

My Trey Fix-Wolansky award winner for the 2022 draft; Bookman won the AJHL and CJHL Defenseman of the Year award in 2022 as he helped lead the Brooks Bandits to the AJHL and CJHL championship. Bookman is one of the few prospects that I will as an early adopter to his ability as he was playing behind Corson Ceulemans in the 2021 draft before Ceulemans going to the u18s.

All Bookman did from this clip was put up 11 points in the last 5 games of the AJHL season last year and then put up 102 points in 55 games this past year. He is a dynamic offensive defenseman whose skill, passing ability, and skating ability make me super excited to see what he can do in the NCAA. In the late rounds, I can’t think of a better player to take a chance on as a potential bottom four and PP2 quarterback than Bookman.

Pick #202: Joel Jonsson, RW, J20 Nationell (3/9/04, 5’9, 152 lbs)

Jonsson is a project. He has deceptive speed, hands, and playmaking ability but is an undersized winger from Europe. He’s a player that is questionable whether or not he is drafted in the NHL draft, but has the characteristics with a lengthy development process that might be able to project to the NHL at a skilled position 3-4 years down the road.

Pick #211: Marcus Nguyen, RW, WHL (8/2/04, 5’10, 172 lbs)

Certain players are driven down in the lineup due to the talent surrounding them that are poised for breakout seasons. Marcus Nguyen defines that type of player in the 2022 draft.

Nguyen played primarily in the bottom six all season for Portland playing less than 12 minutes a night and not receiving any power-play time. However, even in that minimal role, he was still able to obtain over 20 goals and 40 points on the season. Nguyen is exceptional at turning defense into offense and generating opportunities out of thin air. When he was allowed to play up in the lineup he shined and showed how he could be a top offensive option as well (72 red).

If Nguyen is given the opportunity next year I don’t see a scenario where he isn’t a point-per-game producer and 25-goal scorer in the WHL at a minimum. If he were to surpass that to a point where he became one of the biggest point producers in the WHL I wouldn’t be shocked either.

Matt Somma and I talked to Nguyen and Bookman on the Smaht Talk podcast recently. I encourage you to get to know these two young men here.

Photo Credit: Codie McLachlan/Getty Images

One thought on “The 2022 Sabres Dream Draft: 11 Players I’m Rooting for the Sabres to Draft”

  1. I am 100% on board for Pushing all the chips in on the Vibes(tm) and swinging for the fences.
    Love the Lambert and Casey picks. Seamus in particular, 10/10 name, and if you can get a Police-Cops’d Power-Samuelsson guy at the top end of the 2nd round, you simply must. I have to assume a steady diet of Donny Meatballs sees Lambert grow up in to a big and strong, scary Centerman.

    My one piece of input, it would be handy to have a jersey number to watch for in attached clips, sometimes it’s not clear who I, an old man, am supposed to be watching.

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