Prospect Info: 2018 NHL Draft

[RedWingzz]

I want Jack McBain with our Vegas first rounder.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Who are you favorites in that range?

I would say I am most interested in Dellandrea, Alexeyev, Tychonick and McBain with the Vegas pick. After that some combo of Khovanov, Addison, Olofsson, Merkley, Foudy or JBD for the two second-round picks. I think my preferences will depend a lot on who we take with our first pick. If we take one of the big four wings with our first, I would probably spend the LVG pick on a defensemen.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Isn’t Bouchard one of the older kids in the draft and he really shot of this year? That sort of thing makes me nervous, I’d rather have Boqvist or Hughes.

Who cares if he's a few months older? Bouchard annihilated the OHL. He was 8th in overall scoring in his draft year as a defenseman, while also leading his team in scoring by a mile (30 points). That's a crazy accomplishment. It wasn't the extra 6 months or whatever that made him do that.

 

[RedWingzz]

Anyone think Ryan Merkley will be available with the Vegas pick, and is it worth the gamble?

 

[jkutswings]

Who cares if he's a few months older? Bouchard annihilated the OHL. He was 8th in overall scoring in his draft year as a defenseman, while also leading his team in scoring by a mile (30 points). That's a crazy accomplishment. It wasn't the extra 6 months or whatever that made him do that.

Agreed. When a kid in his draft year looks great, even against guys in their D+1 seasons, I'm not gonna sweat a late birthday during the decision process.

If they end up liking Boqvist or Dobson or Hughes more, based on skill set, cool. But Bouchard is absolutely a good player.

 

[TCNorthstars]

Anyone think Ryan Merkley will be available with the Vegas pick, and is it worth the gamble?

No way he is still there that late. Someone will take a chance on him.

 

[BinCookin]

Anyone think Ryan Merkley will be available with the Vegas pick, and is it worth the gamble?

in most recent 4 drafts, Merkley was only taken top 30 in 1 of them. So i think there is a good chance he is available

2018 NHL Draft Rankings

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

Anyone think Ryan Merkley will be available with the Vegas pick, and is it worth the gamble?

I think it is a possibility, but far from a certainty. A lot of teams won't put up with his shit while others will. I am guessing that the Wings fall into the prior camp, but only time will tell.

 

[Henkka]

Think McBain is a center though.

Ok, that was my mistake.

 

[Redder Winger]

Agreed. When a kid in his draft year looks great, even against guys in their D+1 seasons, I'm not gonna sweat a late birthday during the decision process.

If they end up liking Boqvist or Dobson or Hughes more, based on skill set, cool. But Bouchard is absolutely a good player.

What does he look like:
1) Skating wise?
2) Passing wise?
3) Vision wise?
4) Shot wise?
5) Defense wise?
6) Physicality wise?
7) Character wise?

I want more than G-A-P from Canadian junior.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

What does he look like:
1) Skating wise?
2) Passing wise?
3) Vision wise?
4) Shot wise?
5) Defense wise?
6) Physicality wise?
7) Character wise?

I want more than G-A-P from Canadian junior.

1. B
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. A

He's not perfect, but he's damn close.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

As for Merkley, I'd take him in the 3rd round, nothing above.

He may have the talent, but he doesn't have the head for the game as a defenseman.

 

[Marky9er]

Ok, that was my mistake.

No big deal, he's a difficult prospect to see in action. I'm really curious about a 6'3 C who's headed to BU, but I can't say I have seen him play. Sleeper potential maybe?

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

No big deal, he's a difficult prospect to see in action. I'm really curious about a 6'3 C who's headed to BU, but I can't say I have seen him play. Sleeper potential maybe?

I think he absolutely has some sleeper potential. He has always been pretty well regarded in his peer group. I would at least consider using Vegas' pick on him. He has shown reasonably well in international competition, though his skating requires continued work (which is why I wouldn't consider taking him before the mid-20s). The best thing he has going for him from my perspective is that he is a true playmaking center and is very aggressive on the fore check. I like that college hockey will give him some additional time to work on his feet if necessary. I say this though as someone who is not deterred by good Tier II players.

 

[lilidk]

someone from organization said RW 1st will be defender and second will be forward . He also said that Hicketts and Hronek will be with main team next year

 

[Redder Winger]

1. B
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. B
6. B
7. A

He's not perfect, but he's damn close.

LOL.
Well thanks for the answer.
I heard his skating and defense are more C than B.

I'm disappointed by the quality of McKeen's this year. They seem like they're struggling since McCagg left.

Who should I be subscribing to?

 

[Frk It]

LOL.
Well thanks for the answer.
I heard his skating and defense are more C than B.

I'm disappointed by the quality of McKeen's this year. They seem like they're struggling since McCagg left.

Who should I be subscribing to?

I think hockeyprospect.com is the best scouting service out there. I get the black book (their guide) yearly, but I don’t subscribe. It’s a little pricey but they’re very good and reputable.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

someone from organization said RW 1st will be defender and second will be forward . He also said that Hicketts and Hronek will be with main team next year

Boqvist or Bouchard
Woo
Mcbain
Khovanov

Rebuild the defence in one draft right away then turn all attention to centres with skill starting with the Khovanov pick.

 

[Hen Kolland]

I've seen very little on this thread about mobility in the draft, given the Wings holding so many picks. I know the prospect pool doesn't look that deep and we could really use an injection of widespread talent, but to me the bigger concern has to be getting high end talent. I want to gauge everyone's willingness to move up, as opposed to the discussion of moving back a few picks if we get lucky with the lottery.

It's hard to anticipate a team's willingness to move down, but under what circumstances would you be willing to move up into the first round using the two second round picks, or pairing one of the seconds with the Vegas first to move up to snag a higher pick? I think that having as many picks as we do is the perfect opportunity for us to be aggressively pursuing players with a higher upside than sitting back and picking higher quantity. We have young players that can plug the bottom 6 or maybe play second line minutes if need be, and we have a lot of defensemen that project to be at best #3, but more likely are #4-6.

What are your thoughts on the idea of moving up, and how far would you anticipate we could move up using what we have available?

 

[jkutswings]

I've seen very little on this thread about mobility in the draft, given the Wings holding so many picks. I know the prospect pool doesn't look that deep and we could really use an injection of widespread talent, but to me the bigger concern has to be getting high end talent. I want to gauge everyone's willingness to move up, as opposed to the discussion of moving back a few picks if we get lucky with the lottery.

It's hard to anticipate a team's willingness to move down, but under what circumstances would you be willing to move up into the first round using the two second round picks, or pairing one of the seconds with the Vegas first to move up to snag a higher pick? I think that having as many picks as we do is the perfect opportunity for us to be aggressively pursuing players with a higher upside than sitting back and picking higher quantity. We have young players that can plug the bottom 6 or maybe play second line minutes if need be, and we have a lot of defensemen that project to be at best #3, but more likely are #4-6.

What are your thoughts on the idea of moving up, and how far would you anticipate we could move up using what we have available?

I'm totally fine with moving up (or down, after their first pick) , depending on how the day unfolds. If there's a guy sliding farther than you anticipated, and you wanna move up to nab him, cool. If your pick is approaching, and there are still 3-4 guys you rank about the same, so you drop back a few spots to add another pick, also cool.

Really, I'm fine with just about anything, other than really reaching on a player (say, 10+ slots before their consensus ranking on the earlier picks, or closer to a full round near the end of the draft).

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

I've seen very little on this thread about mobility in the draft, given the Wings holding so many picks. I know the prospect pool doesn't look that deep and we could really use an injection of widespread talent, but to me the bigger concern has to be getting high end talent. I want to gauge everyone's willingness to move up, as opposed to the discussion of moving back a few picks if we get lucky with the lottery.

It's hard to anticipate a team's willingness to move down, but under what circumstances would you be willing to move up into the first round using the two second round picks, or pairing one of the seconds with the Vegas first to move up to snag a higher pick? I think that having as many picks as we do is the perfect opportunity for us to be aggressively pursuing players with a higher upside than sitting back and picking higher quantity. We have young players that can plug the bottom 6 or maybe play second line minutes if need be, and we have a lot of defensemen that project to be at best #3, but more likely are #4-6.

What are your thoughts on the idea of moving up, and how far would you anticipate we could move up using what we have available?

Four picks in the top 37 draftees to me does not warrant moving up or down

The ONLY player worth trading up for is Dahlin

I dont want to trade down from vegas' pick to late second just to add a third 3rd pick or whatever similar return, no thanks.

So trade up to first overall (no chance) or just draft well using those first four picks perfectly positioned to rebuild entire farm system in just 24hrs.

 

[Frk It]

I like the idea of moving up from out late 1st, or packaging our 3rd rounders together to get another 2nd.

But moving up at the very top of the draft is too hard, and it rarely happens. For it to really be worth it I think you would have to move up to #1 or #2, and that will never happen. The guys available in the 3-9 range are pretty even IMO. So you are better off just keeping your pick and taking who you like.

 

[Frk It]

I would say I am most interested in Dellandrea, Alexeyev, Tychonick and McBain with the Vegas pick. After that some combo of Khovanov, Addison, Olofsson, Merkley, Foudy or JBD for the two second-round picks. I think my preferences will depend a lot on who we take with our first pick. If we take one of the big four wings with our first, I would probably spend the LVG pick on a defensemen.

I like Dellandrea, Tychonick, and Addison best out of that list. Don't know as much about some of those other guys.

I also really like the possibility of Jake Wise with one of those picks in the 20-40 range.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Four picks in the top 37 draftees to me does not warrant moving up or down

The ONLY player worth trading up for is Dahlin

I dont want to trade down from vegas' pick to late second just to add a third 3rd pick or whatever similar return, no thanks.

So trade up to first overall (no chance) or just draft well using those first four picks perfectly positioned to rebuild entire farm system in just 24hrs.

I'm not necessarily talking about a small move to jump up a few spots to get a specific player; my thought is to put yourself in position to select from a completely different level of prospect. If you got the chance to move up to the 15-20 pick range, where you might get lucky to get a player that might slip, like Bode Wilde or Ty Smith, or insert your favorite middle first prospect, and it would cost you both Ottawa's and our 2nd round pick, you wouldn't do that? This is completely hypothetical and subjective, but this particular scenario I used the draft pick valuation charts that have been developed for a rough idea of where the value would fall.

Considering that we need first line/first pairing talent, I'd rather have 3 picks in the top 30, two of which are top 20, over 4 picks in the top 40 with 2 of which coming between 35 and 40. To me, there is obviously a reason why players are ranked and drafted in a certain order; if there isn't a large talent/potential variance, every team should be trading back as much as possible.

For reference, look at the players drafted in the 2014 draft in the middle first versus the early second:
Mid-1st: Larkin, Milano, Tuch, Schmaltz, Fabbri, Kapanen
Early-2nd: Jayce Hawryluk, Ivan Barbashev, Dominik Masin, Marcus Pettersson

 

[hawkeerox]

I think he absolutely has some sleeper potential. He has always been pretty well regarded in his peer group. I would at least consider using Vegas' pick on him. He has shown reasonably well in international competition, though his skating requires continued work (which is why I wouldn't consider taking him before the mid-20s). The best thing he has going for him from my perspective is that he is a true playmaking center and is very aggressive on the fore check. I like that college hockey will give him some additional time to work on his feet if necessary. I say this though as someone who is not deterred by good Tier II players.

Well, I've not seen all of the guys who are ranked in the first round play, but I have seen a number more than once and from what I see I think McBain should also go in the first, though I have sensed for the last half year that he'll go second round. The main issues are his not being a statistical standout in a weak league and probably not instilling confidence in the NHL scouts due to inconsistency and skate speed. Can you develop consistency and skate speed in the NCAA? I think you can, esp. at a better coached program like Boston, so all that's left is the question as to whether he can handle the far greater toughness and competition in the NCAA and then the pros. I think he can just as well as anyone - in fact, I wonder if he'll do better in a more demanding league. Some players flourish in that kind of environment. Some flourish by totally dominating a weak league - obviously he's not in the second category.