Day One at Buffalo Sabres development camp is in the books and we learned a few new things about the organization’s prospect pool.
As Day Two of Buffalo Sabres development camp opens up, Day One was all about confessions to two well-known prospects and the long road one prospect in particular faces. The prospect in question? Topias Leinonen.
Anyway, there is now some clarity regarding the Ryan Johnson and Erik Portillo situations, along with Leinonen’s potential starting point. But before we tackle Leinonen’s performance, let’s start with the top burning question: What is going on with Ryan Johnson?
What we learned at Buffalo Sabres development camp: Day 1 – Ryan Johnson’s situation is cryptic
Johnson is seriously considering returning to school, but he still has some small considerations about forgoing his senior season at the University of Minnesota and starting his pro career. Right now, the unsigned defenseman stated he is evaluating the organization at this week’s camp.
He did state, however, his fondness for the Buffalo Sabres organization and indicated that if he returned to Minnesota, it didn’t mean he would not sign. Here are his exact words when asked about the possibility of not signing:
"“That’s something I usually don’t think about, others have been brought up to me. I don’t really think about that too much. My goal is to sign eventually.” – via Buffalo Hockey Beat."
As you probably deciphered, Johnson is literally all over the place here. One second, he sounds like he is bent on signing, before stating his interest in evaluating the Sabres. It’s like making a sales pitch to a potential customer who then replied they will “think about” making the purchase.
What is there to think about or to evaluate? Maybe if general manager Kevyn Adams, or someone, asked that question, it may speed up Johnson’s decision-making process. Until then, I’m going to lean on him going back to school and ultimately not signing.