PROSPECTS NOTEBOOK | SAVOIE IMPRESSES IN FIRST PRACTICE WITH SABRES
Sep 14, 2022By Jourdon LaBarber for Sabres.com
Seth Appert delivered a message to Matt Savoie during practice at LECOM Haborcenter on Wednesday, Savoie's first in a Buffalo Sabres uniform.
"I was incredibly impressed with him and told him I was excited to have him on the ice because I missed him in the summer," Appert said.
Savoie is healthy and ready to participate in the annual Prospects Challenge, which begins Thursday night with a matchup between the Sabres and a Montreal Canadiens roster that includes this summer's No. 1 draft selection in forward Juraj Slafkovsky.
Tickets for Thursday vs. Montreal
Savoie, who was drafted by the Sabres eight picks after Slafkovsky in July, was still rehabbing a shoulder injury when Buffalo held its summer development camp later that month. He attended the off-ice portions of that camp while his fellow prospects participated in practices run by Appert, the Rochester Americans coach who will run the Buffalo bench this weekend.
Appert finally got to see Savoie up close during the session on Wednesday. Savoie's package of skill and compete was apparent beginning with the first drill, a 3-on-3 game of keep away.
"Just electric," Appert said. "His pace of play is so high with and without the puck. A lot of times guys of his age and his caliber offensively might not have the work level and the hunt of the puck he does. I just was incredibly impressed with how competitive he is on the puck, how smart he is."
Seth Appert (9/14/22)
Savoie arrived in Buffalo on Monday after beginning camp with his junior team, the WHL's Winnipeg ICE. He will spend this season in Winnipeg in the event he is returned from Sabres camp at any point - the usual path for a player his age, including previous top-10 selection Dylan Cozens.
But Savoie - like any player - will also make it his mission to stick around the NHL club as long as possible. He and his fellow prospects will have the opportunity to use three games at the Prospects Challenge to serve as a springboard before joining the veterans next week.
Matt Savoie (9/14/22)
"This will be my first chance to really step on the ice and show the fans and management what I can do," he said. "I'm just excited for that opportunity. … I came in really excited and I'm just going to continue with that excitement. I'll put my best foot forward and try to stay as long as I can this year."
Here are more notes and observations from the first practice of the Prospects Challenge.
LINEUP NOTES
Savoie centered a line with 2021 second-round pick Aleksandr Kisakov and Linus Weissbach. It was also the first official practice in a Sabres uniform for Kisakov, who missed development camp while he awaited a visa after immigrating from Russia.
Appert, who previously coached against Kisakov in international play, described the forward's skill set.
"He's a little bit of a magician with the puck, he really is, his creativity," Appert said. "His edge control is really special. Savoie has that explosiveness in his skating, but Kisakov's edge control and cutbacks and his ability to find secondary plays is really unique."
MEDICAL REPORT
Forwards Jiri Kulich and Filip Cederqvist did not practice and are considered day to day, Appert said.
Kulich signed his entry-level contract after being drafted in the first round (28th overall) this summer and is eligible to play in Rochester. Cederqvist, a fifth-round pick in 2019, also signed his entry-level deal during the offseason and is preparing for his first campaign in North America.
"At the end of the day, we're keeping our eyes on bigger things," Appert said. "This is a prospects camp, and you want them to play and hopefully they will be able to, but we do have main camp coming up. More precautionary and let our medical (staff) make sure that everything is in check."
MAKING A STATEMENT
Brett Murray arrived at the Prospects Challenge last September with a year of pro hockey already under his belt, having spent the season prior with Rochester. He made it a point to be among the best players on the ice given his veteran status.
Murray carried his statement performance at the Prospects Challenge into a strong training camp and regular season. He eclipsed his offensive career highs in Rochester and played 19 games with Buffalo.
No longer a prospect, Murray signed a new one-year contract in July.
"For our returning players, they want to make that same kind of statement with their performance here this week," Appert said.
One candidate is Weissbach, a seventh-round pick in 2017 who progressed incrementally during four years at the University of Wisconsin and tied for seventh on the Amerks with 37 points (16+21) in 67 games as a rookie last season.
"Yeah, for sure," Weissbach said. "I think this year the focus for me this week is to kind of show that I'm no longer a prospect, that I'm more so ready to play and contribute at the highest level. I thought I got a taste of it last year at camp and then during the season as well. But that's definitely the goal."
TOPFLIGHT TALENT
The Prospects Challenge consists of six teams for the first time since the event was founded in 2015, with Montreal and Ottawa joining preexisting participants Buffalo, Boston, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh.
The rosters for the event include 17 first-round picks, including three top-10 selections from this summer's NHL Draft in Slafkovsky (No. 1), Devils defenseman Simon Nemec (No. 2), and Savoie.
Find a breakdown of the Buffalo roster here.
UP NEXT
The Sabres open the Prospects Challenge against No. 1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky and the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets are available for $10.
Fans can stream all three Sabres games during the Prospects Challenge here on Sabres.com.