Kevin Freiheit: Buffalo Sabres prospects

Matt Ellis as a prospect? Huh?

Matt Ellis as a prospect? Huh?
- DXMontagnes

Matt F-ing ELLIS is the truth

really there isnt much updates on anyone regardless of who we mention . Anything new with Armia, Pysyk or any of the goalies. Id like to hear about Brian Flynn as I dont know much about him. There are plenty of websites if people ant ot knit pick on who Kevin should blog about.

Kevin, I would first like to say I am a big fan of many of your posts. I like the fact that you ask us what we want to see. That being said, not much effort put into this blog, huh? There is virtually no valuable information and seems like you just wrote something quick to publish a blog.

To read about prospects, why not just go to sabresprospects.com? You made statements, but gave none of the "why" to back them up. What's the point?

And knit picking? You might mean nitpick, unless you are talking about knitting...?

Kevin I appologize for some people. Looks like their going to complain if you write a blog or dont write a blog and some people will never be happy.

The high ankle sprain was a fluke accident. I don't consider ennis as injury prone and I don't think it will have any effect on the season, if there is one.

i want to hear about our goalie prospects sometime.

i want to hear about our goalie prospects sometime.
- LizzyJo

There's not a whole lot out there on the goalie prospects right now. They're really raw. Both coming into the A for the first time this year.

Both are big.

Knapp works with the same goalie coach in the offseason as Rinne. He has a lot of athleticism, but his technique is more raw still.

Lieuwen had a good year in the WHL. He missed quite a bit of time due to a concussion. He's viewed as a bit more of a project I believe, however he's steadily improved year after year. He's the one that intrigues me the most.

There's not a whole lot out there on the goalie prospects right now. They're really raw. Both coming into the A for the first time this year.

Both are big.

Knapp works with the same goalie coach in the offseason as Rinne. He has a lot of athleticism, but his technique is more raw still.

Lieuwen had a good year in the WHL. He missed quite a bit of time due to a concussion. He's viewed as a bit more of a project I believe, however he's steadily improved year after year. He's the one that intrigues me the most.
- HonkFortheGoose

accurate.... B Hud would be a good person to ask to shine some light on the position.

There's not a whole lot out there on the goalie prospects right now. They're really raw. Both coming into the A for the first time this year.

Both are big.

Knapp works with the same goalie coach in the offseason as Rinne. He has a lot of athleticism, but his technique is more raw still.

Lieuwen had a good year in the WHL. He missed quite a bit of time due to a concussion. He's viewed as a bit more of a project I believe, however he's steadily improved year after year. He's the one that intrigues me the most.
- HonkFortheGoose

Ullmark, although further down the road, could end up being quite a steal at the draft. He has the size that is seeming to be the flavor of the season right now and is playing well in sweden.. he has quickness but like the others is very raw.

Ullmark, although further down the road, could end up being quite a steal at the draft. He has the size that is seeming to be the flavor of the season right now and is playing well in sweden.. he has quickness but like the others is very raw.
- IndianaSabresFan

Exactly. All 3 of them have athleticism, but their technical skills are a work in progress. That's something that's odd for us to see here in Buffalo because both Miller and Enroth are more the opposite. Enroth's technical skills are just absurd.

Exactly. All 3 of them have athleticism, but their technical skills are a work in progress. That's something that's odd for us to see here in Buffalo because both Miller and Enroth are more the opposite. Enroth's technical skills are just absurd.
- HonkFortheGoose

Odd for current Buffalo... A little guy that had a brand of hot sauce named after him was quite athletic.. but yes both miller and Enroth rely much on their mental/technical skills. That is part of the reason that i don't think Enroth will ever be more than a back up, he is just too small to rely more on technical skills, but he does have some speed to him as well.

Odd for current Buffalo... A little guy that had a brand of hot sauce named after him was quite athletic.. but yes both miller and Enroth rely much on their mental/technical skills. That is part of the reason that i don't think Enroth will ever be more than a back up, he is just too small to rely more on technical skills, but he does have some speed to him as well.
- IndianaSabresFan

I like watching Enroth play because I love watching the way he moves. Every move is extremely calculated. The fact that his brain processes what's going on in front of him that quickly that his movements can be so precise is just insane. As long as he can get good defensive support in front of him, I think he could be a solid NHL goaltender. But he's never going to put up eye catching stats.

I like watching Enroth play because I love watching the way he moves. Every move is extremely calculated. The fact that his brain processes what's going on in front of him that quickly that his movements can be so precise is just insane. As long as he can get good defensive support in front of him, I think he could be a solid NHL goaltender. But he's never going to put up eye catching stats.
- HonkFortheGoose

i can agree with that.. he could be a decent goalie in a system like New Jersey or Detriot.

i can agree with that.. he could be a decent goalie in a system like New Jersey or Detriot.
- IndianaSabresFan

This was a really interesting article NHL.com had on him back in November. I would love nothing more than to see him succeed.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/ne...=601762#&navid=nhl-search

Luke Adam- I don't know what's going on with this guy. To have the start he had for it to end back in Rochester and there being talk of him playing wing is confusing to me. He didn't get much of a chance in my own humble opinion.
Brayden McNabb-Not a lock this year due to our logjam, but he's got a spot sooner or later. I could see us trading a D-man or 2 towards the trade deadline for more value than we could get now and bringing him up to fill a spot. Might be a good plan if there's a season.
Matt Ellis-Agreed, not even really a prospect. But i'm fine with him working hard on the 4th line.
Mikhail Grigorenko-I wouldn't personally put any money on this kid making the team this year. I could see him get the obligatory "10 games and we'll see what happens" opportunity like Meyers got. But unless he slays out there, he's going back to juniors to sharpen his skills.

I'm still looking for one more center to fill in in some kind of role on this team.
Blockbuster for a true first liner or...
someone to play #2 if Hodgson is #1 and Ennis is #3 or....
a defensively responsible veteran to play on a #3 shutdown line.

Luke Adam- I don't know what's going on with this guy. To have the start he had for it to end back in Rochester and there being talk of him playing wing is confusing to me. He didn't get much of a chance in my own humble opinion.
Brayden McNabb-Not a lock this year due to our logjam, but he's got a spot sooner or later. I could see us trading a D-man or 2 towards the trade deadline for more value than we could get now and bringing him up to fill a spot. Might be a good plan if there's a season.
Matt Ellis-Agreed, not even really a prospect. But i'm fine with him working hard on the 4th line.
Mikhail Grigorenko-I wouldn't personally put any money on this kid making the team this year. I could see him get the obligatory "10 games and we'll see what happens" opportunity like Meyers got. But unless he slays out there, he's going back to juniors to sharpen his skills.

I'm still looking for one more center to fill in in some kind of role on this team.
Blockbuster for a true first liner or...
someone to play #2 if Hodgson is #1 and Ennis is #3 or....
a defensively responsible veteran to play on a #3 shutdown line.
- seedy

Luke Adam went on a long pointless drought. He used to throw the puck wildly away. He did himself in, not LIndy. His confidence is shattered.

Luke Adam went on a long pointless drought. He used to throw the puck wildly away. He did himself in, not LIndy. His confidence is shattered.
- sippyd

He also went on a long, point scoring streak and he's a rookie. Cup half full or half empty? I didn't blame Lindy, but i guess it comes down to what you do with a guy like that when he has a streak of bad games. One is to try to let him ride it out, the other is to put him on the 4th line, give him 7 minutes a game and then eventually send him back down to the minors because he "isn't scoring." I'm not sure what the right call is, but he went from "a lot of potential" to "may be playing the wing some day'' in like, 50-something NHL games. I'm sure it's not the first time it's happened to a kid coming up, but man, that's got to suck. I didn't expect the guy to save the franchise, but I was hoping we had a center in the minors that was ready to play at least 2nd or 3rd line minutes consistently. Just disappointed more than anything.