FireBird71
Registered User
- Aug 6, 2015
- 3,113
- 1,212
Please use our second 1st on this kid.
Probably first 2nd but he's a beast and will be even better next season
Please use our second 1st on this kid.
While I don't completely agree with the rankings, here is the March edition of The Hockey Writers' Top 31 (with a paragraph on each of several top 10 guys):
2018 NHL Draft Ranking: March's Top 31 Prospects
Looks like Bouchard's stock is continuing to rise, particularly on the defensive side. I'm really liking how this kid is shaping up, if Detroit ends up in the 5-8 range.
Dahlin will be like a Scott Niedermayer but with more flash, Boqvist and Bouchard can be a very good top pairing guy, like a Kronwall or Rafalski, and Dobson ends up settling in as a great #3, having all the tools to eat steady minutes, but not quite that extra gear for the really big moments of NHL top pair duty.
Bouchard makes me nervous. Great stats, but I'm not reading much about his abilities.
Yes, we are reasonably good at drafting wingers outside of the first round. The wingers we are finding are not, however, elite wingers. There is still a huge difference between very good and elite. This board frequently miscasts good for elite and gets upset when good doesn't perform as elite. Most days I agree with your thinking. Yes, if we want a number one defensemen, we need to go out and draft a number one defensemen. I am, however, willing to break from this convention when presented with the opportunity to acquire an elite winger. This team will not be rebuilt overnight.
The more important question is do you think Bouchard or Dobson are 1Ds?
I think an elite C can make good wingers look like great wingers, and I don't believe that the reverse is true at all.
If you want to talk about linemates in general, Patrick Kane and Johnny Gaudreau give whoever they play with a gigantic boost.
Bouchard makes me nervous. Great stats, but I'm not reading much about his abilities.
Doesn't Kane play with Toews/Saad or Panarin last year? Panarin has pretty close numbers (.9 to .83 ppg) in CBJ. I think Saad's numbers are even worse, this year (and Kane's, while still outstanding, are lower).
I don't know enough about the Flames to say either way, and I don't think he's lost any primary linemates that offer a comparison (like Panarin/Saad), but it seems like Monahan's #s have sat right around 60 and Bennett's numbers are still poor, in spite of playing with Gaudreau 25% of the time (by Frozen Pool's numbers).
I don't want to sidetrack the draft thread, but it just doesn't seem like even the elite wingers are really pushing their linemates that much. And without Duncan Keith, does Kane have the ability to push that team to a single Cup, let alone multiple?
He's a great passer with a solid shot. Very high hockey IQ. Good hands. Excellent PP quarterback. Decent defensively, but needs to keep working at it. Good enough skater, but I've seen him criticized a little for his straight-line top speed. The biggest knock on him is that he looks fairly passive on the ice. He's not a high intensity guy. Critics say he lacks compete level. Supporters say he's playing 30 min a night and conserving his energy.Bouchard makes me nervous. Great stats, but I'm not reading much about his abilities.
Kane played mostly with Anismov and Panarin last year. Has played mostly with Anisimov and Schmaltz this year.
I've seen it by a bunch of analytics folks that these two give a huge boost to who they play with. I can try and dig for that if you want.
If it's easy, I'd love to look. It doesn't square with my impressions, which means it's likely a learning opportunity for me. Might even change my mind on drafting Ws.
This season, Gaudreau's pure offensive numbers have greatly exceeded Monahan's. Gaudreau has a 16-point lead on Monahan in the same number of games. Gaudreau has overtaken Monahan in average ice time, topping 20 minutes per game. Gaudreau's 5-on-5 score-adjusted Corsi is 1.72 percent higher than the team average, whereas Monahan's is 0.26 percent below average. And the Corsi numbers with and without each other (a stat known as WOWY, or "with or without you," U2 fans) are even more pronounced this time. Together 5-on-5 this season, they produce a mark of 49.9. Gaudreau without Monahan: 47.2. Monahan without Gaudreau: a hideous 36.2 percent. For perspective, the Colorado Avalanche have the league's worst 5-on-5 team Corsi this season at 44.1 percent.
While I don't completely agree with the rankings, here is the March edition of The Hockey Writers' Top 31 (with a paragraph on each of several top 10 guys):
https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-draft-ranking-march-2018/
Looks like Bouchard's stock is continuing to rise, particularly on the defensive side. I'm really liking how this kid is shaping up, if Detroit ends up in the 5-8 range.
Thanks for posting this, it was an educational read. A question to those of you who follow/watch/evaluate the prospects more than I do, what is up with Ty Smith at 20? I thought he was solidly in the 9-10 range and I was keen on landing him if we picked at the end of the top 10. Would love to hear your thoughts on him dropping down to 20 or even lower. It's not realistic to think we might have a chance to land him with our second 1st rounder, is it?
In my opinion, no. Rankings are subjective and will always vary to a degree. But your best bet to get a feel for what teams think is to look at Bob Mckenzie's rankings, since they are based on input from actual NHL scouts as opposed to rankings that are the opinions of scouting services.
In Bob's January rankings Ty was ranked #11.
11 Seems more of what I've been hearing/reading, so I'm assuming 20 seems a tad too high to you also?
Thanks Frk It, I didn't know that about the McKenzie rankings, that should be very insightful to look at. I'm assuming that can be found on TSN's sight... I'll dig it up.
In Bob's January rankings Ty was ranked #11. He has had 26 pts in 16 games since then.
Thanks for posting this! At the moment, I'd be thrilled to come away with one of Boqvist/Bouchard/Dobson, then either another defenseman (maybe Woo) or a center (maybe Dellandrea) with the pick from Vegas.
As long as we pick in the top 7 I'll be happy