2016 NHL Entry Draft Discussion

[BigWilly]

Leafs Lunch brought up the worst case scenario for this year: Making the playoffs in 8th and simultaneously knocking Pittsburgh out of the playoffs

Oh man, that'd be a sight

 

[Stand Witness]

Anyone seen any games of Cliff Pu? Always seem to notice him when I watch the Knights and he seems to impress me. First eligible year and he hasnt got a ton of OHL games in because of an injury.

Having a good season so far and could see himself getting a way bigger role next year.

 

[Bullseye]

Anyone seen any games of Cliff Pu? Always seem to notice him when I watch the Knights and he seems to impress me. First eligible year and he hasnt got a ton of OHL games in because of an injury.

Having a good season so far and could see himself getting a way bigger role next year.

I've got tickets for the Knights game in Niagara in February - can't wait. Seems like London is always stocked with so many good prospects. Tkchuck, Pu, Juolevi...

 

[Stand Witness]

I think this draft is going to have a big group that doesnt have much difference between them. I could almost see like 3-12 being like this at this point.

At this point I wouldnt be surprised if we end up trading down if we either just miss the 3-12 group or if we end up having a 5/6/7 pick.

 

[MJ65]

We should target Tkachuk if some how we miss out on Matthews, Chychrun, and Puljujarvi

 

[gabeliscious]

We should target Tkachuk if some how we miss out on Matthews, Chychrun, and Puljujarvi

i think thats hunters guy. he fits everything we need in the top 6. i think if we pick 3+ thats our guy assuming he is on the table

 

[Atomos2]

The more I see Tkachuk, the more I see JVR. More than Corey Perry which I initially saw.

 

[indigobuffalo]

Leafs Lunch brought up the worst case scenario for this year: Making the playoffs in 8th and simultaneously knocking Pittsburgh out of the playoffs

That would be hilarious.

 

[Warden of the North]

Oh man, that'd be a sight

We're the Leafs. Its bound to happen.

 

[Judas Tavares]

We already have a tons of picks, we had a ton last year and we will get more at the deadline. Time to trade up. Get two top 10 picks (our own and Pitts + 2nd + 3rd), then we are really cooking.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

Leafs Lunch brought up the worst case scenario for this year: Making the playoffs in 8th and simultaneously knocking Pittsburgh out of the playoffs

I would laugh so freaking hard bahahahah

 

[Ovate]

i think thats hunters guy. he fits everything we need in the top 6. i think if we pick 3+ thats our guy assuming he is on the table

He fits everything we need in our top 6, but our top 6 is not nearly as big of a need as our top 4. I think we'll be aiming for a defenseman with our top pick this year, someone like Juolevi or Sergachyev if we miss out on Chychrun (who may not be the consensus #2 by the end of the season).

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

I really like what I've seen from Pierre-Luc Dubois. I never thought about him much prior to the season as I didn't really know much about him, but he's a very noticeable presence on the ice.

Big guy, strong and hard working. Drives the net. Works the corners well and protects the puck. Good skill level, decent hands, very good shot. Plays a pro-style power forward game. Supposed to be a high character guy and has a rep for being responsible defensively. Can see him being a very good pick-and-shovel guy on a top line with more skilled linemates. I can see some similarities to a guy like Lawson Crouse. I also see a little Kulemin and Erik Cole.

25games 15g 15a 30pts 37pim +12

I've also liked what I've seen from Dillon Dube.

16games 10g 14a 24pts 22pim +4

Small skilled center but not afraid to go into the dirty areas to score. Comparable to other small skilled/gritty guys like a Fabbri lite. Good offensive instincts and knows where to be. Wins puck battles and goes and gets it. Nice quick release on his shot. Equally good playmaker and scorer.

 

[one77]

Tkachuk would look sweet here:

Tkachuk - Stamkos - Marner
JVR - Nylander - Brown
Kapanen - Kadri - X
Komarov - Gauthier - X

Rielly - X
Gardiner - Dermott

 

[saskguy78]

I'm high on Juolevi and Sergachyov, Juolevi more so. Import players, so they'll get better as the season goes on and they adapt better to NA ice. Really hard to rate Fabbro, he's too good for the BCHL, but by how much remains to be seen. Clauge plays with Provorov, and gets a big boost from that. You didn't list Bean, but he's also been made to look a lot better by playing with Sanheim.

Clague plays on a pairing with Waltz, not Provorov.

 

[Jozay]

Tkachuk would look sweet here:

Tkachuk - Stamkos - Marner
JVR - Nylander - Brown
Kapanen - Kadri - X
Komarov - Gauthier - X

Rielly - X
Gardiner - Dermott

We're already penciling Stamkos in our lineup? Nice

 

[Daisy Jane]

We already have a tons of picks, we had a ton last year and we will get more at the deadline. Time to trade up. Get two top 10 picks (our own and Pitts + 2nd + 3rd), then we are really cooking.

or you know. draft with the ton of picks we have

 

[MJ65]

Alex DeBrincat seem to be a real deal, last year's points total (playing with McDavid) was not a fluke, even this year at this point he is the scoring leader with 27 goals and 41 points

Due to his size he is not considered among the top 5, but he has all the ingredients and tools to be a super star, I believe he is going to end among top 10 in the rankings by the end of the year (if healthy)

 

[gabeliscious]

He fits everything we need in our top 6, but our top 6 is not nearly as big of a need as our top 4. I think we'll be aiming for a defenseman with our top pick this year, someone like Juolevi or Sergachyev if we miss out on Chychrun (who may not be the consensus #2 by the end of the season).

other then chychrun im not sure an argument can be made to pick either of those guys 3-6. we need elite talent first and foremost. if that comes as a winger the thats fine by me. tkachuck is far from a consolation prize. we can address top 4 defenseman with pens 1st or our 2nd.

personally i think we are ok in the top 4. especially if zaitsev comes over.

top 6

tkachuck nylander marner
jvr kadri bracco

top 4

rielly zaitsev
gardiner phaneuf

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

I really like what I've seen from Pierre-Luc Dubois. I never thought about him much prior to the season as I didn't really know much about him, but he's a very noticeable presence on the ice.

Big guy, strong and hard working. Drives the net. Works the corners well and protects the puck. Good skill level, decent hands, very good shot. Plays a pro-style power forward game. Supposed to be a high character guy and has a rep for being responsible defensively. Can see him being a very good pick-and-shovel guy on a top line with more skilled linemates. I can see some similarities to a guy like Lawson Crouse. I also see a little Kulemin and Erik Cole.

25games 15g 15a 30pts 37pim +12

I've also liked what I've seen from Dillon Dube.

16games 10g 14a 24pts 22pim +4

Small skilled center but not afraid to go into the dirty areas to score. Comparable to other small skilled/gritty guys like a Fabbri lite. Good offensive instincts and knows where to be. Wins puck battles and goes and gets it. Nice quick release on his shot. Equally good playmaker and scorer.

What great timing. My man BW06 just posted these highlights of Dube!



As far as defense after Chychrun goes I actually like Sergachyov better than Joulevi.

 

[Ovate]

other then chychrun im not sure an argument can be made to pick either of those guys 3-6. we need elite talent first and foremost. if that comes as a winger the thats fine by me. tkachuck is far from a consolation prize. we can address top 4 defenseman with pens 1st or our 2nd.

personally i think we are ok in the top 4. especially if zaitsev comes over.

top 6

tkachuck nylander marner
jvr kadri bracco

top 4

rielly zaitsev
gardiner phaneuf

Zaitsev isn't a top pairing defenseman in the NHL, and that's our biggest need. We have a bunch of guys who can be middle pairing defensemen, but no one who's likely to make it to the top pairing. We need a real partner for Rielly if we're going to be a championship team, and given how long defensemen take to develop, we need a top prospect sooner rather than later.

 

[91Kadri91*]

Zaitsev isn't a top pairing defenseman in the NHL, and that's our biggest need. We have a bunch of guys who can be middle pairing defensemen, but no one who's likely to make it to the top pairing. We need a real partner for Rielly if we're going to be a championship team, and given how long defensemen take to develop, we need a top prospect sooner rather than later.

Obviously you can't proclaim him (or pencil him in as) a top-pairing defender, but I don't know if it's fair to definitely state that he's not (or won't be) one. Zaitsev likely isn't/won't be a top-pairing defenseman, but Medvedev was playing top-4 minutes for Philadelphia (at even-strength, at least) before he got hurt (and playing fairly well in those minutes), and I think (correct me if I'm wrong) much more is expected of Zaitsev than is/was expected of Medvedev.

 

[highslot]

Zaitsev isn't a top pairing defenseman in the NHL, and that's our biggest need. We have a bunch of guys who can be middle pairing defensemen, but no one who's likely to make it to the top pairing. We need a real partner for Rielly if we're going to be a championship team, and given how long defensemen take to develop, we need a top prospect sooner rather than later.

who knows? but we aren't a championship team yet, and the bottom line is that the more nhlers we have in our system, the better.

it could be something like:

rielly-dermott
gardiner-zaitsev
percy-loov/nielson/valiev

nielson and dermott have a shot of being d2. even percy outplayed phaneuf for a few games there before he fell off. under the right nhl coach...

ideally we get chychrun or matthews.

 

[highslot]

also, how is edmonton dead last again? even without mcdavid, don't they have hall, rnh, eberle, nurse, draisatl, etc?

 

[hotpaws]

also, how is edmonton dead last again? even without mcdavid, don't they have hall, rnh, eberle, nurse, draisatl, etc?

There goalies are crap and there D is weak.