2018 NHL Draft Thread

[islesfan66]

Maybe misses would have been a better word. Though Griffin Reinhardt was a reach.

i remember watching the draft and one of the announcers saying it was a perfect fit. but then said they thought morgan reilly or hampus lindholm wouldve been a better fit

 

[steveat]

If it's a reach, I can see Garf taking Akil Thomas and Jacob Olofsson or Ivan Morozov - I doubt they'd go for a winger, but if they do, it will probably be Denisenko

based on the Staples article, it seems like Hayton is not on their list..so Lundstrom won't be on their list either since he's roughly the same type of player.

 

[Islesfan22]

TSN had him rated 4th, we picked him 4th. How exactly was that a reach

He was a later riser. TSN had him 4th many others didn't. The best move Garth made was trading Griff away. I was literally celebrating when the trade was made not even knowing they were taking Barzal.

 

[boredmale]

He was a later riser. TSN had him 4th many others didn't. The best move Garth made was trading Griff away. I was literally celebrating when the trade was made not even knowing they were taking Barzal.

Like i said I am guessing the Oil Kings making the Memorial Cup really jumped his stock alot

 

[SI]

If it's a reach, I can see Garf taking Akil Thomas and Jacob Olofsson or Ivan Morozov - I doubt they'd go for a winger, but if they do, it will probably be Denisenko

based on the Staples article, it seems like Hayton is not on their list..so Lundstrom won't be on their list either since he's roughly the same type of player.

What else did Staple suggest?

My guess is Veleno and Kotkaniemi are the choices - any mention of smith?

 

[leeroggy]

My apologies to Islander fans around the world, myself included, but this was the same concern about Bossy. I apologize again.

No, it wasn't. The concern about Bossy was that he was kind of the Ho-Sang of his day . . . not defensively interested and opinionated. Al Arbour famously said he could teach Bossy defense but not how to score 50 goals. Not only did Bossy greatly improve on that but playing next to one of the greatest 2-way centers that ever lived helped that transition. Even today Bossy is known to be willing to talk out. In the 1970's it was rare to see a player talk out like him. Remember, he was the league's star player most in favor of eliminating fighting and he was very vocal about that too. He was a normal size for his day. And for those who forget, a pretty heavy smoker too!

 

[Jester9881]

From my observation, it's a pretty good bet that Snow will not be drafting anyone out of Europe..... though a slight possibility he takes a Euro playing in the CHL. He likes to draft players out of Minnesota HS and the USHL and defensemen out of the WHL. He doesn't seem to be too afraid to draft undersized players, and will typically lean toward players with "character" or former/future captain types.

You can pretty much knock a lot of players off the list like the two Finnish centers (Kupari, Kotkeniemi), Lunderstrom, Denisenko and Kravstov.

If I had to guess who Snow actually takes at 11/12 based on his history and who we believe should be left on the board, I'd say two of these players in this order....

Ty Smith
Joel Farabee
Rasmus Sandin
K'Andre Miller
Bode Wilde

Edit: Derp, forgot Ty Smith again.... I know I'm not exactly breaking new ground here. I'm just saying that I think if one of the aforementioned Euros are left (Kotkeniemi), Snow will pass over him for one of these guys.

 

[steveat]

What else did Staple suggest?

My guess is Veleno and Kotkaniemi are the choices - any mention of smith?

I was responding to post #1604

"Lots and lots of reaches and prospects. I expect this draft Garf will take players at 11 and 12 that would be available at 21 and 22."

This was in response to Garth's draft list.

Both Kotkaniemi and Valeno are rated higher than 21 and 22, which is why I thought Garf's group thinks there are better players to be had...they should really trade down...but hey..we can say that, BUT first, you have to find a team that wants to do it. I am guessing a lot won't want to.

To me...if a dman falls that was ranked in the top 10, Garf will pick him. I personally don't think drafting a dman in the first round is on the agenda, but you can't pass up a dman that slips out of the top 10 either and we aren't going to pick wingers...we have enough of those.. I figure we are going to pick the most ready centres available in the draft.

I would prefer Valeno and Hayton....

Hayton's only knock is that his straight line speed isn't fast..Everything else, he does very well.

The reason I said Akil Thomas is because he's got excellent possession stats and he's very quick at taking advantage of other team's mistakes.

Olofsson is strong in the corners and very good for his age

Morozov ...from what I read is like a more defensive Barzal.

"One of the draft's top defensive centers also is a crafty playmaker and finisher. Morozov is strong on his skates and catches defenders flat footed with a deceptively quick first step."

The thing is...I was doing research on Merkely and noticed that nearly every draft ranking list is so different from the others...the Top 10 is roughly the same, but once you get to 10-45, they are ALL over the place. I think that the different between 10-45 is not very big...you just have to find the player that will actually make it and luck out that you picked the best player out of that bunch. I really hope we get Serron Noel, Ryan Merkely and or Woo in the second round

 

[Newsworthy]

If Dobson falls I say that's good but I wouldn't rule out drafting KOT next.
Don't want Veleno or any other forward. Wildes a reach at that point and a jet Woo doesn't work.
Hayton isn't offensively enough gifted for my liking. Please no.

 

[islesfan3913]

I think Snow's record in the late rounds is fairly good. How many 5th, 6th and 7th rounders actually end up getting few games in the NHL let alone end up bona fide NHLers? Very few. Only one or maybe two players from each round make it, and we've done well with those we picked.

However, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks have been appallingly bad, especially when one considers the number of picks we've had. Hamonic, Cizikas, Pelech and Mayfield have all made it but the rest have not. We have wasted a tremendous amount of talent in those rounds think Koskinen, Trivino, Sundstøm, Ullstrøm, Clark, Pokka, Cammarata etc... Of course most players picked 2nd round onard never make it but our record must be among the worst.

For sure, that’s what I was getting at. For whatever reason, late round picks aren’t a problem. But we’ve repeatedly failed in the middle rounds. It would be one thing to get a decent player there, but we’re picking guys who don’t even make it to the pros. The most frustratng part is that we’ve barely missed out on great players in these rounds in some instances. Some gems include:

2007: 3rd round, 76th overll. We took Jason Gregoire. Alex Killorn was taken at 77.

2008: 2nd round, taking Corey Trivino 36th overall and Aaron Ness at 40th. Roman Josi was taken 38th and Justin Schultz at 43rd.

2009: 2nd round again. Took Mikko Koskinen 31st, two spots ahead of Ryan O’Reilly who was taken 33rd. The next goalie taken was Robin Lehner at 46. In the 3rd round, we took Anders Nilsson at 62, two spots ahead of Tyson Barrie who was taken 64th.

2010: We really love missing players by two spots, because it happened again this year. Round 7, pick 185, we took Cody Rosen. Frederik Anderson was taken at 187.

2011: Again, 2nd round. Took Scott Mayfield at 34th ahead of players like John Gibson (39th) and Brandon Saad (43rd) (jury is still out on Mayfield, but this is worth pointing out). At pick 50, we took Johan Sundstrom, and Nikita Kucherov was taken at 58. In the 3rd round, we took Andrey Peden at 63 and Florida took Vincent Trocheck with the next pick at 64.

2012: The infamous all defense draft in which we only have Adam Pelech to show for. We took Doyle Somerby at 125 in the 5th round. Connor Hellebuyck was taken at 130.

2013: Taylor Cammarata in the 3rd round, 76th overall. Jake Guentzel was take with the next pick at 77.

The next four drafts are still to be determined. I understand that drafts are often based on luck, but the amount of misses here are ridiculous, and these are only players we missed out on who have turned into impact players. There’s others taken around us who have become NHL’ers while our picks never made it.

Just to put things into prespective, here’s the games played for all the players we took vs. players we missed out on from above. These numbers come from the 11 players we took and the 11 we missed (not counting Lehner or Saad since they weren’t the next best picked), so everything is equal.

Players we took: 259 GP
Players we missed: 3,761 GP

I’ll let those numbers speak for themselves.

 

[WangMustGo]

If Dobson falls I say that's good but I wouldn't rule out drafting KOT next.
Don't want Veleno or any other forward. Wildes a reach at that point and a jet Woo doesn't work.
Hayton isn't offensively enough gifted for my liking. Please no.

I would be more than happy if we could land Dobson and one of Veleno/Farabee. There is a reason Veleno was granted exceptional status as a 15 year old, he may not have lived up to the hype, but I think he can still be a great player at the next level.

 

[periferal]

I think Snow's record in the late rounds is fairly good. How many 5th, 6th and 7th rounders actually end up getting few games in the NHL let alone end up bona fide NHLers? Very few. Only one or maybe two players from each round make it, and we've done well with those we picked.

However, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks have been appallingly bad, especially when one considers the number of picks we've had. Hamonic, Cizikas, Pelech and Mayfield have all made it but the rest have not. We have wasted a tremendous amount of talent in those rounds think Koskinen, Trivino, Sundstøm, Ullstrøm, Clark, Pokka, Cammarata etc... Of course most players picked 2nd round onard never make it but our record must be among the worst.

You simply cannot analyze the last decade of Islanders drafts and not talk about how they (snow) completely dropped the ball in the top 10. That isn't a story...IT'S THE STORY.

If he hit on the Nylanders, Scheifeles, Forsbergs, etc of the world instead of the average to not in the NHL anymore prospects he did draft, this would be a legit playoff team and we wouldn't be upset with him as a GM.

 

[periferal]

Reinhardt was no reach at all. He was slated to go exactly where he did. Everone knew that the Isles needed a big defenceman at the time and he seemed at perfect fit at the time

A D-man who can't skate and has no offensive game in the post-lockout NHL. It was like putting nails and Elmers glue in your cake batter and thinking that baking at 350 degrees is going to turn into something good.

Reinhart wasn't a reach if you base it on scouting services telling you where players should've been ranking. However it was beyond a terrible pick if you base it on his game vs what the NHL has become.

 

[BarBeauWahlDobLok]

No, it wasn't. The concern about Bossy was that he was kind of the Ho-Sang of his day . . . not defensively interested and opinionated. Al Arbour famously said he could teach Bossy defense but not how to score 50 goals. Not only did Bossy greatly improve on that but playing next to one of the greatest 2-way centers that ever lived helped that transition. Even today Bossy is known to be willing to talk out. In the 1970's it was rare to see a player talk out like him. Remember, he was the league's star player most in favor of eliminating fighting and he was very vocal about that too. He was a normal size for his day. And for those who forget, a pretty heavy smoker too!

All this is true, but he didn't even have any accidental muscle on him, either.

 

[Menwithouthat tricks]

I would be more than happy if we could land Dobson and one of Veleno/Farabee. There is a reason Veleno was granted exceptional status as a 15 year old, he may not have lived up to the hype, but I think he can still be a great player at the next level.

Looking at Las Vegas's success without true top-line or two two-D players, prospects like Veleno, Smith, and Farabee are exactly the type of players fueling Las Vegas's run. If all three are not available for the Isles at 11 and 12, then it means other really good players will drop out of the top-10 for us to grab. Assuming Garth Snow doesn't go off the board (and I don't see why he would in this draft), our two picks will likely bring a better haul then anyone picking ahead of us (except for #1 and possibly #2).

 

[MasksAreForSlaves]

Thought I'd share the link to my draft app with Islander fans. Use the simulator tool and create some
realistic draft scenarios.
http://www.draftwired.com:8888/apps/dwNHL

 

[seafoam]

A D-man who can't skate and has no offensive game in the post-lockout NHL. It was like putting nails and Elmers glue in your cake batter and thinking that baking at 350 degrees is going to turn into something good.

Reinhart wasn't a reach if you base it on scouting services telling you where players should've been ranking. However it was beyond a terrible pick if you base it on his game vs what the NHL has become.

People keep acting like Reinhart was all size in his draft year, when in all reality, he was tracking to develop into something much more than he’s become.

His PPG was .62, scored 12 goals in his draft year, and was the last cut on the Islanders. For a WHL D with his size, those were all promising attributes.

Reinhart’s problem was that he regressed after his draft year. Had his D+1 and D+2 seasons had looked something like this (.76 PPG, 14 goals/.88 PPG, 17 goals) while earning his coach’s trust to play him in a significant role in the powerplay, he’d be looking like an NHLer these days.

You have to be a defenseman who can put up numbers in junior and play on the powerplay, or else your chances of being an NHL caliber D one day is basically nil. The expectations offensively from even the most defensive and least skilled defensemen in the league is still very high, especially with where the game is going.

He was picked around then spot he should have gone based on what he showed pre-draft. Unfortunately, then wheels fell off after being drafted, although I’m not sure why.

 

[Jester9881]

I just did a mock on the Draftwired site and got...

11- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
12- Noah Dobson
32- Mattias Samuelsson (Trade w/Buff 41 + 72)
43 - Dominik Bokk
103 - Curtis Hall
134 - Reily Sutter
196 - Ryan O'Reilly

Bokk is a potential top 30 pick, and many people have O'Reilly going as high as the late 2nd early 3rd.

 

[SI]

I just did a mock on the Draftwired site and got...

11- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
12- Noah Dobson
32- Mattias Samuelsson (Trade w/Buff 41 + 72)
43 - Dominik Bokk
103 - Curtis Hall
134 - Reily Sutter
196 - Ryan O'Reilly

Bokk is a potential top 30 pick, and many people have O'Reilly going as high as the late 2nd early 3rd.

That's a very, very good haul.

I don't see Bokk falling that far, but he'll I'd sign up for that

 

[Jester9881]

That's a very, very good haul.

I don't see Bokk falling that far, but he'll I'd sign up for that

I was bummed out because Gustafsson was picked two or three picks beforehand, then I saw Bokk sitting there.....

 

[Jester9881]

I don't know if I'm just getting lucky or what, but I'm really killing it on this mock draft site... just traded 11, 103 and 134 to Chicago for 8 and took Wahlstrom/Dobson in the first round then had Alexeyev and Benoit-Olivier Groulx fall to me at 41/43.

Edit: The trades are set so only the computer can initiate

 

[doublechili]

Okay, I just took my first look at some highlight videos, and I absolutely want the Isles to pick:

Rasmus Kupari

Holy crap is he an outstanding skater, and he has great stick skills and a really quick/sneaky release on his shot. His highlights remind me of Nylander or Barzal in their draft years. I'll take him, thank you.

 

[Sparksrus3]

For sure, that’s what I was getting at. For whatever reason, late round picks aren’t a problem. But we’ve repeatedly failed in the middle rounds. It would be one thing to get a decent player there, but we’re picking guys who don’t even make it to the pros. The most frustratng part is that we’ve barely missed out on great players in these rounds in some instances. Some gems include:

2007: 3rd round, 76th overll. We took Jason Gregoire. Alex Killorn was taken at 77.

2008: 2nd round, taking Corey Trivino 36th overall and Aaron Ness at 40th. Roman Josi was taken 38th and Justin Schultz at 43rd.

2009: 2nd round again. Took Mikko Koskinen 31st, two spots ahead of Ryan O’Reilly who was taken 33rd. The next goalie taken was Robin Lehner at 46. In the 3rd round, we took Anders Nilsson at 62, two spots ahead of Tyson Barrie who was taken 64th.

2010: We really love missing players by two spots, because it happened again this year. Round 7, pick 185, we took Cody Rosen. Frederik Anderson was taken at 187.

2011: Again, 2nd round. Took Scott Mayfield at 34th ahead of players like John Gibson (39th) and Brandon Saad (43rd) (jury is still out on Mayfield, but this is worth pointing out). At pick 50, we took Johan Sundstrom, and Nikita Kucherov was taken at 58. In the 3rd round, we took Andrey Peden at 63 and Florida took Vincent Trocheck with the next pick at 64.

2012: The infamous all defense draft in which we only have Adam Pelech to show for. We took Doyle Somerby at 125 in the 5th round. Connor Hellebuyck was taken at 130.

2013: Taylor Cammarata in the 3rd round, 76th overall. Jake Guentzel was take with the next pick at 77.

The next four drafts are still to be determined. I understand that drafts are often based on luck, but the amount of misses here are ridiculous, and these are only players we missed out on who have turned into impact players. There’s others taken around us who have become NHL’ers while our picks never made it.

Just to put things into prespective, here’s the games played for all the players we took vs. players we missed out on from above. These numbers come from the 11 players we took and the 11 we missed (not counting Lehner or Saad since they weren’t the next best picked), so everything is equal.

Players we toosk: 259 GP
Players we missed: 3,761 GP

I’ll let those numbers speak for themselves.

With respect to your list and certainly not defending Snow or his staff I just took 10 minutes and reviewed from 1978 up till 2007.
Almost every year there are very good to great NHL players taken within a few spots after our miss in the 2nd and 3rd round . Our worst overall draft may just have been 2003 . One of the greatest ever league wide. Not even touching on the first round pick .See Dimitri Chernykh. and our other 2 second rounders compared to who was available . Snow was still playing back then

Cheers

 

[PROMputt]

I just did a mock on the Draftwired site and got...

11- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
12- Noah Dobson
32- Mattias Samuelsson (Trade w/Buff 41 + 72)
43 - Dominik Bokk
103 - Curtis Hall
134 - Reily Sutter
196 - Ryan O'Reilly

Bokk is a potential top 30 pick, and many people have O'Reilly going as high as the late 2nd early 3rd.

You're Hired!

Okay, I just took my first look at some highlight videos, and I absolutely want the Isles to pick:

Rasmus Kupari

Holy crap is he an outstanding skater, and he has great stick skills and a really quick/sneaky release on his shot. His highlights remind me of Nylander or Barzal in their draft years. I'll take him, thank you.

I agree. My two favorite picks from this draft forward wise(who should be available when the Islanders are picking) are Kupari(who I don't feel is a reach at the 11/12 spots) and Akil Thomas who would probably have to be a Snowjob special and trade back into the late first round to get.

 

[Jester9881]

Quinton Hughes is unreal

Just stripped Bo Horvat at the blue line on a one on one.