2017 NHL Draft Part III (June 23-24)

[Vatican Roulette]

Top 10s from each drill

Norris killed it on most drills. I was really hoping he'd be available in round 2 for us, but he'll likely be gone

Not surprised.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

He's the best goal scorer in juniors. I don't see his game translating to the NHL.

Having a great shot is one thing. Knowing how and when to use it is another.

Guys with lightning releases that can shoot off either foot usually translate up.

Again I wouldn't pick him, but if it happens he isn't a bad hockey player at all in my opinion.

 

[Frk It]

Guys with lightning releases that can shoot off either foot usually translate up.

Again I wouldn't pick him, but if it happens he isn't a bad hockey player at all in my opinion.

I agree with you here. Plus he's a really good skater and very solid on the puck.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I agree with you here. Plus he's a really good skater and very solid on the puck.

He is a plus skater, again like I said when you brought it up earlier, I do really like the Kessel comparison with him.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Pettersson doing well on the wingate is not something I thought I would see. Pretty darn impressive for how slight he is, and shows IMO that he has good athletic potential. I really, really hope the Wings draft him, but I'm starting to think he's not even going to be there at #9.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

Continue here.

Detroit's picks
RD1: #9-Erik Brannstrom
RD2: #38-Joshua Norris
RD3: #71-Luke Martin
RD3: #79- Olle Eriksson-Ek
RD3: #83-Logan Hutsko
RD3: #88-Nate Knoepke
RD4: #100-Reagan O'Grady
RD5: #131-Colt Conrad
RD6: #162- Brady Lyle
RD6: #164-Luke Richardson
RD7: #193-Jacob Tortora

Final picks for me.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Liljegren continues to fall. This could be the perfect storm. If we can pull an Arizona and get Petterson/Necas/other C at 9, and then trade Nyquist/Tatar, Green or whoever to acquire another mid first to get Liljegren that would be incredible.

 

[Frk It]

Final picks for me.

Man, it's so hard to guess how rounds 2-7 are gonna go... but here's 1 guy I'd really like at each pick potentially.

RD1: #9 - Martin Necas
RD2: #38 - Filip Chytil (or Lipanov)
RD3: #71 - Antoine Morand
RD3: #79 - Dmitri Samorukov
RD3: #83 - Filip Westerlund
RD3: #88 - Cayden Primeau
RD4: #100 - Kasper Kotkansalo
RD5: #131 - Jocktan Chainey
RD6: #162 - David Kvasnicka
RD6: #164 - Hakan special
RD7: #193 - Hakan special

Swedish mafia was cool, I'm ready to start the Czech mafia now though...

 

[Run the Jewels]

Liljegren continues to fall. This could be the perfect storm. If we can pull an Arizona and get Petterson/Necas/other C at 9, and then trade Nyquist/Tatar, Green or whoever to acquire another mid first to get Liljegren that would be incredible.

I personally would love to make a trade to move up and draft Heiskanen. I'm sick of pretending our scouting department has some sort of amazing track record and we know better than everyone else. Trade one of your roster players + #9 OA and move up and draft Heiskanen. That would give you another solid building block that will help you become good again.

 

[Frk It]

I personally would love to make a trade to move up and draft Heiskanen. I'm sick of pretending our scouting department has some sort of amazing track record and we know better than everyone else. Trade one of your roster players + #9 OA and move up and draft Heiskanen and get another solid building block that will help you become good again.

I don't think he's worth the trouble, I'd much rather wait and take a defenseman with our 1st pick next year. Very likely there will be some better options, IMO.

 

[HisNoodliness]

I personally would love to make a trade to move up and draft Heiskanen. I'm sick of pretending our scouting department has some sort of amazing track record and we know better than everyone else. Trade one of your roster players + #9 OA and move up and draft Heiskanen. That would give you another solid building block that will help you become good again.

Personally I don't want to move up in this draft. No one after Nolan and Nico strikes me as being much better than whoever we'll get at 9. I still think that Heiskanen will top out as about a #3 defenseman ( lwhich is a great piece that we need), but if I'm paying the price of moving up to 3/4 in a draft then I need a guy with higher upside. I think from about 3-11 is one big tier this year and while that means we're getting whoever is left from that tier at 9, I don't think it's worth it to move up when I'm not confident in any one guy. The way I see it, you're probably getting a 2C or a second line defenseman anywhere in that tier with a team or two getting lucky with someone surprising as a first line player and a team or two getting unlucky with a third line player.

I think Liljegren has very high potential and while he's a very risky pick, I'd be happy to trade Nyquist/Tatar and a 3rd or whatever for that gamble. This is a year where I'd prefer more picks opposed to higher picks as it's a particularly wide-open draft. If next year shapes out like it's projecting to, I'd trade just about anything to get into the top picks.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

It’s not often that a prospect admits that a team had dinner with them. That was the case for Martin Necas (ranked 5th on the European skaters list.) He told me the Detroit Red Wings had dinner with him. This of course is no guarantee he gets drafted as their first-round pick, but it’s intriguing to see this as it does express a level of interest higher than usual.

http://thehockeywriters.com/emptying-the-2017-nhl-combine-notebook/

 

[Run the Jewels]

This is a year where I'd prefer more picks opposed to higher picks as it's a particularly wide-open draft. If next year shapes out like it's projecting to, I'd trade just about anything to get into the top picks.

I have the opposite approach. Everyone seems in agreement that this is a very weak draft. So why not move up and get the best d-man in this draft class? I'm pretty sure we'll be in the lottery again next year so I fully support trading assets to get additional draft picks next year when there is more potential to hit on that group of draft picks and thereby build solid depth. If we can get Heiskanen and Dahlin you have rebuilt the top end of your defense for the next 10-15 years.

This year I would make a play for Heiskanen because a) the teams near the top seem open to moving their draft pick because b) this is considered a very weak draft class.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I have the opposite approach. Everyone seems in agreement that this is a very weak draft. So why not move up and get the best d-man in this draft class? I'm pretty sure we'll be in the lottery again next year so I fully support trading assets to get additional draft picks next year when there is more potential to hit on that group of draft picks and thereby build solid depth. If we can get Heiskanen and Dahlin you have rebuilt the top end of your defense for the next 10-15 years.

This year I would make a play for Heiskanen because a) the teams near the top seem open to moving their draft pick because b) this is considered a very weak draft class.

Heiskanen is good, but I'm still not convinced you're getting a much worse guy in Makar or Valimaki. I think his u-18 performance has gotten him a little too much hype. He's good, but he's not a crazy talent or anything.

Really, I'm pretty impressed with both of those guys (Makar and Valimaki). They had good combines. It's easy to see now how Makar is so explosive laterally, and Valimaki was just really solid all over the place.

 

[Frk It]

I have the opposite approach. Everyone seems in agreement that this is a very weak draft. So why not move up and get the best d-man in this draft class? I'm pretty sure we'll be in the lottery again next year so I fully support trading assets to get additional draft picks next year when there is more potential to hit on that group of draft picks and thereby build solid depth. If we can get Heiskanen and Dahlin you have rebuilt the top end of your defense for the next 10-15 years.

This year I would make a play for Heiskanen because a) the teams near the top seem open to moving their draft pick because b) this is considered a very weak draft class.

Because (IMO) the best d man in this draft would be the 2nd, 3rd, 4th best defenseman in other drafts (like next year) so you are getting bad value and being impatient by trying to force the issue.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Also, just for discussion: is Kailer Yamamoto for real? That's got to be the most dominating combine performance for a kid sub-150 lbs... ever. He's a physical monster for his size. #1 on the V02max, which is probably the most indicative of pro athletic potential.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Also, just for discussion: is Kailer Yamamoto for real? That's got to be the most dominating combine performance for a kid sub-150 lbs... ever. He's a physical monster for his size. #1 on the V02max, which is probably the most indicative of pro athletic potential.

I was really impressed with him when I have seen him. Terrific skater.

 

[A II R]

NHL.com did their final mocks - three different guys picked three different players for us:

Mike Morreale
9. Detroit Red Wings - Owen Tippett, RW, Mississauga (OHL)

He's arguably the best shooter and one of the better skaters in this draft class. Tippett (6-0, 200), who has Phil Kessel-like potential and can play either right or left wing, is a natural goal scorer who is extremely dangerous when attacking with speed. He had 75 points (44 goals, 31 assists) in 60 games.

Adam Kimelman
9. Detroit Red Wings - Cody Glass, C, Portland (WHL)

Scouts love his consistency and high hockey IQ. Glass (6-2, 178) won't overwhelm with pure skill, but his smarts allow him to be in the right position to create scoring chances for himself and his teammates. His game got better as the season progressed, and he was tied for seventh in the WHL with 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists) in 69 games.

Guillaume Lepage
9. Detroit Red Wings - Cale Makar, D, Brooks (AJHL)

If you only looked at his size (5-11, 180), Makar would not appear to be the most attractive NHL defense prospect. But he's very mobile, uses his high-end skating ability to get the play moving toward the offensive end, and his intelligence helps makes up for his size. Glass improved steadily all season and finished with 75 points (24 goals, 51 assists) in 54 games.

 

[Leronziia]

Necas seems like a ripper of a kid from that Oilers interview.

I'd take him over Pettersson at the moment.

He's a better skater and has a massive engine which allows him to be strong defensively, projects as a 2C right now but has a pretty high ceiling.

 

[ZDH]

We're picking necas

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

We're picking necas

While I really, really like the kid, I think they probably took about four others to dinner as well.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

We've seen Swedes with no accent, but Juuso Valimaki is the first Finn I've seen who could easily blend in as an American or Canadian. He probably speaks better English than I do...

 

[Martinez]

We're picking necas

Hope so. His vision and skating are amazing

 

[theD86]

I'd like to say I could care less about a player's size. They can either play or not at the NHL level. Look at guys like Cam Atkinson. He's 5'9" (being kind)