SB Nation - Kevin Sundher

Current Sabres Prospect Depth Chart

Andy Boron — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:00:47 -0000

Die By The Blade's 2012 NHL Draft coverage kicked off this morning with the reveal of our SB Nation mock draft pick, and with that we're going to kick our draft coverage into high gear as we close in on June 22.

Before we got too far into picks and projections, we thought it would be a good idea to evaluate where the Sabres stand in terms of their prospects at each position before we begin the arguments around what holes are most important to fill. So without further ado, let's start down the middle.

Center:
Daniel Catenacci
Phil Varone
Kevin Sundher
Colin Jacobs
Christian Isackson

The Sabres are clearly weak in the center position, especially when it comes to size. Catenacci has definite playmaking ability (he scored 33 goals in the OHL this year) and while both Varone and Sundher have shown potential, only Sundher cracks 6 feet, and then just barely. Colin Jacbos is bigger, but took a step backwards in the WHL this year, and Isackson just finished his freshman year at Minnesota. This position is even weaker after not re-signing Steven Shipley, so look for the Sabres to address it early and possibly often.

Left Wing:
Marcus Foligno
Jacob Legace
Riley Boychuk
Brad Navin

Aside from Marcus Foligno, who has as good a chance as anyone of starting the season up in Buffalo, this is a very weak group. Legace wasn't very impressive in his first season with the Amerks, Boychuk is big, but scored just 2 points in 26 games with Rochester. Navin is still in college. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the Sabres use one of their first four picks to help shore things up at left wing, especially when you consider the relative strength on the other side.

Right Wing:
Joel Armia
Corey Tropp
Shawn Szydlowski
Jonathan Parker

At right wing, things are finally starting to look a little better. Armia is a top offensive prospect, but keep in mind that reports have come out already that he'll be spending another year honing his game in Europe. Tropp has made an impact with the big club already, and has a chance to begin the season in Buffalo as a fourth line banger. Szydlowski played 53 games with Rochester, but scored only 8 points, all assists. Jonathan Parker has the worst plus/minus of any Amerk this season, and tallied six points in 37 games.

Defense:
Mark Pysyk - RHD
Brayden McNabb - LHD
TJ Brennan - LHD
Jerome Gauthier-Leduc - RHD
Drew Schiestel - LHD
Nick Crawford - LHD
Matt MacKenzie - RHD
Alex Biega - RHD
Alex Lepkowski - LHD
Big Joe Finley - LHD

Defense is where the meat of the Sabres prospects are located. Buffalo is stacked with defensive prospects, with a special emphasis on puck-moving offensive defensemen. Pysyk is a good all-arounder who captained his team to the Memorial Cup tournament this season. McNabb and Brennan are the hard hitter and big shooter of the group, respectively. Gauthier-Leduc set the world on fire offensively and had big playoff numbers to boot. Lepkowski and Finley have the size and potential combo going, and MacKenzie, Biega, and Crawford all show some promise at different stages of their careers. With McNabb and possibly Brennan fighting for roster spots in Buffalo, the Sabres may be looking at a LHD before RHD if they decide to go D. I wouldn't be shocked to see them take a blueliner in the first two rounds, but this is the clear area of strength in their pipeline.

Goalie:
Connor Knapp
Nathan Lieuwen

Knapp and Lieuwen are both big boys, following the recent trend of NHL netminders. Knapp was first in goals against in the CCHA, and clocks in a monstrous 6'6'', 225 pounds! Lieuwen is a mere 6'5'', 191 pounds, and had a solid year in the WHL. However, both are expected to be in Rochester next year, which would leave the minor league and college ranks dry of goaltending prospects. Expect the Sabres to address that, possibly in the later rounds.

Sabres Prospects Stock Up/Stock Down - October 19, 2011

David Oleksy — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:00:16 -0000

A couple of weeks ago Zach introduced a new feature called Stock Up/Stock Down for the Buffalo Sabres. We have now decided to extend that to the Sabres prospects that are playing at the Junior/NCAA level. Each week will look at what the prospects did the prior week and whether or not their stock is rising or falling in the Sabres system.

Please leave a comment or e-mail me directly if there are any other prospect features you would like to see at Die by the Blade.

Follow the jump to see how the prospects did this week.

Player -Team	Draft Position	Status	Description
Kevin Sundher - WHL	44		(2GP 1G-5A-6P) Sundher played a key role for the Victoria Roylas this week as they swept a pair of games from the Kelowna Rockets this week. Sundher figured in all four goals in the overtime victory on Saturday night.
Jerome Gauthier-Leduc - QMJHL	68		(2GP 2G-2A-4P) Gauthier-Leduc is on pace for one of the best seasons in QMJHL league history. He has a remarkable nine goals and 21 assists in only nine games played. His stock is clearly on the rise in the Sabres organization.
Dan Catenacci - OHL	77		(4GP 4G-2A-6P) No Sabres prospect is hotter than Dan Catenacci right now. Catenacci scored four times in four games, including a pair of goals in a 5-3 loss to the Kitchener Rangers on Saturday night.
Steven Shipley - OHL	98		(3GP 0G-2A-2P) Shipley had a pair of assists in only three games but he has struggled to feel comfortable this season. In three games he was a minus-4 to bring his season total to a minus-10 in 10 games.
Cedrick Henley - QMJHL	173		(2GP 0G-0A-0P) Henley has had a nondescriptive start to the season. He has not been able to stand out in the "Q" but he has not been a liability to his team either.
Mark Pysyk - WHL	23		(2GP 0G-1A-1P) Pysyk could probably be considered to be trending down because of his high draft position but he seems to be turning around his slow start to the season. He remains a minus-1 on the season but he was plus-1 this week for Edmonton.
Joel Armia - SM Liiga	16		(3GP 0G-1A-1P) Armia had an assist in his last game which forced me to keep his status steady. It is hard to categorize a player in an European League because we do not know very much about each league.
Gregg Sutch - OHL	143		(2GP 0G-1A-1P) A very uneventful week for Sutch. He continues to be another face in the crowd.
Justin Jokinen - WCHA	101		(2GP 1G-1A-2P) This was a big week for Jokinen with a goal and an assist. It has been interesting to see the progression of Jokinen since he was drafted by the Sabres.
Alex Lepowski - OHL	137		(Did not Play) An injury has kept Lepowski out of the lineup.
Brad Navin - WCHA	197		(2GP 0G-1A-1P) It is always a big adjustment to move to the NCAA level and an early season assist should help Navin with his confidence.
Christian Iasackson - WCHA	203		(Did not Play)Isackson did not play for Minnesota last weekend.
Drew Mackenzie - HE	209		(Did not Play) Vermont has not begun their season yet.
Colin Jacobs - WHL	107		(Did not Play)
Mark Adams - HE	134		(Did not Play)
Nathan Lieuwen - WHL	167		(3GP, 2-1-0, 1.68GAA .933 sv%) Nathan Lieuwen has continued to build on the success he had at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament. He has a remarkable 1.26 GAA and a .941 save percentage in seven games played so far this season.
Brad Eidsness - WCHA	139		(1GP, 1-0-0, 1.00GAA .967 sv%) Eidsness stock is quickly on the rise. It has been the tale of two seasons for Eidsness who was the starter two seasons ago and lost that job last season. There is hope that his performance this week means he will be back to his old form.
Connor Knapp - CCHA	164		(1GP, 0-0-1, 2.86GAA .919 sv%) It is hard to get a good feel for a goalie with only one game played but an overtime loss is the difference between a guy who remains steady and one that is trending down.

Sabres Release 11 Players And Announce An ECHL Affiliate

Zachary Zielonka — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:14:29 -0000

The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have sent 11 players back to their respective junior teams:

Forwards Steven Beyers (Barrie, OHL), Dan Catenacci (Owen Sound, OHL), Cedrick Henley (Val D'Or, QMJHL), Steven Shipley (Niagara, OHL), Kevin Sundher (Victoria, WHL) and Gregg Sutch (Barrie, OHL); defensemen Jerome Gauthier-Leduc (Rimouski, QMJHL), Alex Lepkowski (Barrie, OHL) and Mark Pysyk (Edmonton, WHL); and goaltender Nathan Lieuwen (Kootenay, WHL).

The Canadian junior season starts in a couple of days so having those players back with their teams for the start of the season if they aren't going to make the team.

The next announcement the team made is that they have signed an ECHL affiliation with the Gwinnett Gladiators. The Gladiators will be featuring players from both the Sabres and the Coyotes. The Gladiators use to be the ECHL affiliate for the Thrashers before they moved to Winnipeg. Sabres University just added a community college.

Buffalo Sabres Send Nine Players Back To Junior Teams

Zachary Zielonka — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 00:11:42 -0000

The Buffalo Sabres have made their first trim of the roster sending nine players to their respective junior teams. From the Sabres website:

Forwards Riley Boychuk (Portland, WHL), Cedrick Henley (Val d'Or, QMJHL), Steven Shipley (Niagara, OHL), Kevin Sundher (Chilliwack, WHL), Gregg Sutch (Mississauga, OHL); defensemen Corey Fienhage (Kamloops, WHL), Jerome Gauthier-Leduc (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL), Matt MacKenzie (Calgary, WHL) and Mark Pysyk (Edmonton, WHL).

None of these players are a surprise as most of them weren't going to see time in a preseason game. Along with these players being sent back, tryout player Zane Kalemba was let out of his tryout contract.

Edmonton’s Top-25 Under 25 - #21 Curtis Hamilton

Jonathan Willis — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:30:28 -0000

The Oilers' third and final second round selection at the 2010 Draft was a relatively unheralded WHL winger named Curtis Hamilton. That’s not to say Hamilton is easy to miss on the ice – at 6’3", 202lbs, he has some presence – but thanks to some injury trouble he saw his 2009-10 season all but wiped out. That made him something of a wildcard on Draft day, but the longer I think about the pick, the happier I am that the Oilers made it.

Rank	Player	DOB	Drafted	Year	Ben	Bruce	Derek	Jon	Scott
21	Curtis Hamilton	12/4/91	48	2010	26	19	21	15	18

To begin with, I think it’s appropriate to take a look at what Hamilton’s skill-set is, exactly. Since The Hockey News didn’t bother to do a write-up for Hamilton, who they ranked as the 96th-best eligible prospect, I’m going to quote a largish segment from McKeen’s write-up in their (vastly superior) draft preview:

The son of Kelowna general manager and owner, Bruce Hamilton, Curtis endured a double fractured collarbone that cost him 45 games in total. Hamilton sustained the first injury while representing Canada in the Super Series, prior to that he was a productive member of Team Canada at the U18 in North Dakota. He brings a nice mixture of size and skill and marries it with unrivaled hockey sense. He is one of the smartest players available in the draft as he does all the little things that add to team success. Whether it be advancing the puck to the right man or finishing his checks, Hamilton buys into team concepts and is a highly coachable player who is low maintenance and has a team-first mentality. His offensive game is mature and he has improved his quickness this season.

I should point out that this needs to be taken with a grain of salt; McKeen’s loves Hamilton, and while they’re not shy about being critical where they think it’s deserved, they definitely put together a glass half-full profile here. They aren’t the only ones, though: ISS and Central Scouting both liked Hamilton as well.

A dissenting voice belongs to Michael Remmerde, a scout for Red Line Report based out West. From his blog:

If they still had the opt-in rule, his agent might tell him to wait until next year. Two broken collarbones adds some uncertainty. I was hoping he'd answer the questions this year I had about his somewhat soft style of play, but that didn't really happen this year. Has good hockey sense and some hands, but I can't decide if this guy could be a steal outside of the top 100 picks or too much of a risk. I think I'd just let some team with extra 3rd/4th round picks grab him.

Melding these together, we can get a grainy picture of what Hamilton is at this point in time. Character and intelligence are two attributes I’m a sucker for (tell me even a hopeless prospect is blessed with hockey sense, and I’ll rationalize a future for him) and they’re strengths for Hamilton, who has an otherwise good, well-rounded, if not exceptional skillset. He’s a big player, but reports differ on how physical he is. The bright red flag for Hamilton is injury, which has already impacted his career and becomes the number one concern moving forward.

Let’s move on to the numbers.

Hamilton’s numbers are atrocious this season, but given his injury situation, I’m not sure how much we can read into that. So rather than focus on his 16 points in 26 games this season, I decided to compare his numbers from last season (when he was healthy) with some of the other top Major Junior prospects, and see where he fit in. I took every forward drafted in the top-100 (aside from over-ager Craig Cunningham) who played in the OHL, WHL or QMJHL last season and put them on the list:

Rank	Player	GP	G	A	PTS	PTS/GM	Rel. PTS/GM
1	Taylor Hall	63	38	52	90	1.428	1.429
2	Jordan Weal	65	16	54	70	1.076	1.136
3	Tyler Seguin	61	21	46	67	1.098	1.098
4	Brett Connolly	65	30	30	60	0.923	0.974
5	Ryan Spooner	62	30	28	58	0.935	0.935
6	John McFarland	58	21	31	52	0.896	0.897
7	Ryan Martindale	53	23	24	47	0.886	0.887
8	Curtis Hamilton	58	20	28	48	0.827	0.873
9	Tyler Toffoli	54	17	29	46	0.851	0.852
10	Andrew Yogan	51	22	20	42	0.823	0.824
11	Jeff Skinner	63	27	24	51	0.809	0.810
12	Steven Shipley	63	16	23	39	0.619	0.619
13	Kevin Sundher	67	19	20	39	0.582	0.614
14	Quinton Howden	62	13	17	30	0.483	0.510
15	Michael Bournival	46	11	11	22	0.478	0.478
16	Austin Watson	63	10	19	29	0.460	0.460
17	Max Reinhart	62	11	16	27	0.435	0.459
18	Brad Ross	61	9	17	26	0.426	0.450
19	Jared Knight	67	15	15	30	0.447	0.448
20	Devante Smith-Pelly	57	13	12	25	0.438	0.439
21	Christian Thomas	59	8	17	25	0.423	0.424
22	Dalton Smith	17	2	5	7	0.411	0.412
23	Louis-Marc Aubry	65	10	12	22	0.338	0.338
24	Greg McKegg	64	8	10	18	0.281	0.281

The players are ranked by relative points per game, which takes into account average goal scoring in each league. Because the WHL averaged fewer goals per game in 2008-09 than the OHL or QMJHL, I inflated their totals by a proportionate amount, in this case 5.5%.

There are obvious limitations to this method, chief among them that it’s even more difficult to project off a 16 year-old season than it is a 17 year-old season. Not only that, but all the evidence I’ve seen suggests the draft year as far more relevant to long-term projection than the pre-draft season. Still, with Hamilton’s 2009-10 being all but a write-off, this can give us a rough idea of what kind of player he is, offensively. I’d say it tells us that he has a chance at a career as a scorer; perhaps not a great chance, given injury, but he was certainly in the range at 16.

(First digression: I wonder how much the Oilers value scouting reports of players at 16 relative to the same reports at age 17. The selection of Hamilton and Martindale, and perhaps even Hall over Seguin, could be suggestive. Or it could just be noise.)

(Second digression: Ohhhh, Jordan Weal.)

Hamilton also performed well at the slightly younger tournament of small sample sizes, putting up five points in six games for Canada despite being younger than many of the other players at the World U-18’s.

To sum up, Hamilton’s a gamble. His scouting report points to a well-rounded player, his pre-injury numbers suggest he could be a high-end guy, and his size makes him extra attractive for the Oilers. On the other hand, his injury situation is a serious one and makes it difficult to get an accurate read on where he’s at relative to the rest of his draft class. Let’s just say he could be much higher or much lower the next time we put this list together.