GDT: 2018 NHL Draft

[LickTheEnvelope]

Right now I like:

Dahlin
Svechnikov
Zadina
Kotkaniemi
Wilde
Boqvist

 

[Nuckles]

We need to hoard picks this year and do everything we can to get another first or two.

I hate to break it to you, but Benning made it sound like he isn't interested in acquiring early picks in a recent interview.

 

[Knight53]

I haven't watched much of the 2017-2018 season yet, but my thoughts on B.Tkachuk is that there is a lot of chaos in his game and there is definitely something to be desired for his skating, sort of uncoordinated. I'm not sure i see it much better than Matt's in his draft year (maybe in terms of pure speed), nor is the vision/smarts better, IMO of course.

I do share your love for Kotkaniemi though, like him more than Tkachuk.

Brady Tkachuk generates more power off his strides and picks up speed faster than Matt IMO. Brady's skating also looks more smooth. Think his board play, puck protection, vision, hands, and motor are exceptional just like Matt's. See Brady as more a goalscorer as well, has better ability to separate from the opposition and create space due to his skating. Might seem uncoordinated in his skating due to him being lankier compared to his brother.

Yea Kotkaniemi is flying under the radar right now, just like Pettersson was this time last year. Caught my eye at the U-18's and have been tracking him ever since. I mean a kid who just recently turned 17, playing in Liiga, a men's league, and not looking out of place. Production is very good for his age as well. Big center with elite vision, and a plus shot. Good speed on him as well. Very reminiscent of Draisaitl/Rantanen.

 

[Knight53]

Some awesome gifs of Dahlin on the mainboard.



Zadina off to a hot start.

 

[thefeebster]

Brady Tkachuk generates more power off his strides and picks up speed faster than Matt IMO. Brady's skating also looks more smooth. Think his board play, puck protection, vision, hands, and motor are exceptional just like Matt's. See Brady as more a goalscorer as well, has better ability to separate from the opposition and create space due to his skating. Might seem uncoordinated in his skating due to him being lankier compared to his brother.

Yea Kotkaniemi is flying under the radar right now, just like Pettersson was this time last year. Caught my eye at the U-18's and have been tracking him ever since. I mean a kid who just recently turned 17, playing in Liiga, a men's league, and not looking out of place. Production is very good for his age as well. Big center with elite vision, and a plus shot. Good speed on him as well. Very reminiscent of Draisaitl/Rantanen.

I think maybe straight line power/speed is better but coordination-wise, its like his mind is on another page from his feet. Sort of falls a lot as a result. I don't see the same vision as Matt's, some of the plays Matt did in London were incredibly smart/nifty, haven't seen the same creativity or vision or passing ability from Brady. Board play/motor yes, maybe even better than Matt's.

Yeah, caught my eye at the U18s as well. Should definitely be a heavy favorite for the top 5.

At the U 18s, i was also pretty impressed with Isac Lundestrom, should be higher than his average ranking. Reminds me of a Landeskog-type.

And damn, whats wrong with the site? It took me forever to write this out due to the input lag.

 

[Szechwan]

What's the story on Zadina? I've never seen him play and know almost nothing about him.

 

[ItalianCanuck1]

 

[Zombotron]

Pour one out for dear Andrei. Now's a good time for someone to step up and dethrone him - how about this Filip Zadina guy?

 

[ItalianCanuck1]

What's the story on Zadina? I've never seen him play and know almost nothing about him.

Based on what I've seen (only highlights honestly) and read he hasn't the wow factor that you see in player like Ehlers for example, but he's very smart, physical and strong on the boards.
And he has s great ability to put himself in the right position to score. That's why he's putting up great numbers.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Svechnikov could fall out of the top 3. Could be a massive steal.

 

[Nuckles]

 

[Zombotron]

are you f***ing kidding me

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

The four dmen currently ranked in the top 10 are all under 6 feet and 180lbs...they must be crazy talented.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

The four dmen currently ranked in the top 10 are all under 6 feet and 180lbs...they must be crazy talented.

I like Bode Wilde and he's 6'2, 195 already.

 

[Zombotron]

 

[Knight53]

Quinton Byfield is getting a lot of hype lately. Eligible for 2020 draft. 15 years of age - 6'3, 190lbs.

You need to know 15-year-old Quinton Byfield. The 6-foot-1 forward plays for the Toronto York Simcoe Express – Connor McDavid’s old team – in the Eastern AAA League Minor Midget League. Byfield has 38 goals in 20 games – including 13 in eight games at the Wendy Dufton Memorial Tournament in London, Ont. – and is regarded as the leading candidate to go first overall in the 2018 OHL Draft. Byfield’s goal-scoring rate compares with those of Steven Stamkos and John Tavares at a similar age.

As Byfield all but clenches his first on the top ranking in this crop, his performance this year is a feat that is currently on pace to extend beyond just the first overall pick. He’s got the potential to do something that’s only been done one other time in the OHL Cup era.
Steven Stamkos, who currently stands – albeit unofficially – as the only player to have a 100-goal season in Ontario minor midget in the aforementioned OHL Cup era. He would go on to rip off 105 goals in just 66 games played.
It was an incredible feat, one that has yet to be topped by the myriad of talent that has gone through the minor midget loop in the 10+ years since. It’s also a feat that may be toppled this season by one player: Quinton Byfield.

You’re probably thinking he plays against weaker competition in the ETA or that it’s only October, but the numbers here make a compelling case that Byfield won’t just hit 100 goals this season, he could very well end up exceeding Stamkos’ mark by a comfortable margin. The pace thus far has Byfield scoring goals at a staggering clip of 1.78 per game. Contrast that against Stamkos? The 2008 first overall pick in the NHL Draft merely managed 1.59 per game. Over the course of that same 66-game sample size Stamkos provides us with, Byfield would be on pace for 118 goals at this point in time.

Assuming he stays healthy, however, the current structure of AAA hockey in the province would see Byfield play approximately 80 games, which should give him a very realistic opportunity at putting up in excess of 125 goals.

 

[Knight53]

Dahlin scores again. Just amazing.

 

[Nuckles]

 

[ItalianCanuck1]

Yes, he's good at hockey.
Yes, he will be the 1st overall.
No, he will not wear Canucks' uniform.

Next.

 

[DDRhockey]

Yes, he's good at hockey.
Yes, he will be the 1st overall.
No, he will not wear Canucks' uniform.

Next.

What makes you think canucks wont be in the bottom?

 

[ItalianCanuck1]

What makes you think canucks wont be in the bottom?

I really think and hope that we'll finish bottom 10, maybe bottom 5.

I'm simply tired to watch all season long highlights of top prospect a la Matthews and Laine and then we pick with the 5th overall and end with Juolevi.

 

[Deeds26]

What makes you think canucks wont be in the bottom?

Its not thinking we'll be at the bottom, its knowing our draft lottery luck is terrible

 

[valkynax]

I hate to break it to you, but Benning made it sound like he isn't interested in acquiring early picks in a recent interview.

Oh yes that's been made abundantly clear to everyone in multiple parallel universes.

Rumor has it that a draft pick from around 700 BC insulted Benning's ancestor, which caused his hatred and sworn vengeance towards all draft picks (source needed).

 

[ItalianCanuck1]

From the main board, a great take on Zadina.

I've watched most of Zadina's games this season.

He is excellent on his edges. The reason people such as Steve Kournianos and Sam Cosentino have made comparisons to Nico Hischier is primarily his ability to turn on a dime and control his motion in tight spaces with ease and precision.

That said, beyond that and their shared association with the Halifax Mooseheads, Zadina and Hischier are very different players.

Hischier's greatest attribute is his hockey IQ; while he tends to play a roaming, patient game, he always takes advantage of his quick acceleration and attacks the puck whenever he sees an opportunity to strike. He is fearless as well as aggressive, and he actively pressures the opposition on the forecheck. There is a sense of relentlessness in his game, and he hustles to get to loose pucks. He drives his line and knows when to hold on to the puck, when to pass the puck, and when to shoot.

Zadina is a much different player. He tends to let the play come to him, and he does not move his feet anywhere near as much as Hischier. There has been a lot of half-speed coasting in the games so far, and when his teammates don't have possession of the puck, he can have some fairly quiet shifts; when there are loose pucks, he is just late enough that the opponent gets to it first; rather than lay a hit and fight for possession, he sometimes just turns away. He has the ability to challenge the opposition and pressure them, but he does not do this as effectively as Hischier for two reasons: he lacks a little bit of the same explosiveness, and he also does not assess plays with the same keen eye or edge as Hischier. His ability to read plays is a notch below that of the Swiss star. In the defensive end, he has an itch to leave the zone early at times and is sometimes prone to turning the puck over with a bad pass or holding on to the puck too long. There was one play against the Screaming Eagles, for example, where he tried to wind up from behind his own net and tried to beat the opposing forechecker, but instead turned it over and created a bit of havoc in his own zone.

His offensive skill set is quite impressive, and there are some who would contend that he has the best hands in the draft, although I think that point is debatable. His ability to weave around using his edges makes his body difficult to pinpoint when he wants to hang on to the puck and deke around the opponent; purely from a stick-handling perspective, I think Andrei Svechnikov is better at handling the puck from a standstill, although Zadina's ability to swivel and swerve around the opponent while keeping the puck makes him very slick in a different manner. Unlike players like Patrick Kane and Casey Mittelstadt who do quite a bit of stick-handling while standing still, Zadina's handling of a puck is more like Hischier's in the sense that his skating is as important, if not more important than his hands whenever he makes a one-on-one move against the opposition. At 6'1'', 192 lbs, he has the strength and balance to keep the opponent off of him when he has possession of the puck, but I haven't seen a lot of physicality from him on the forecheck, and sometimes he'll let his teammates dig for the puck while he waits a few feet away in open ice. He isn't afraid to go to the front of the net or to go into high-traffic areas, and he knows how to maneuver into open space in the crease or anywhere where there is space between the opponent and the puck, but he also doesn't push hard enough to win a lot of battles; he has a tendency to do too much standing around when teams are trying to fight for a loose puck. Unlike Hischier, who is 10 to 15 lbs lighter, he doesn't push hard enough -- he doesn't jam the net hard enough or compete with anywhere near the same intensity or determination.

He is a shooter. He doesn't have a world-class shot, but he loves to put the puck on net and has a tendency to cut into the middle to change his shooting angle, holding on until he sees something; he can also distribute the puck, but as I mentioned, he sometimes makes errant passes that result in turnovers. While he is skilled, he makes questionable decisions with defensive consequences; that has to be fixed before teams will ever trust him at the NHL level. Based on his current play, he isn't NHL-ready from a defensive point of view. Last year's draft had a plethora of high-end, two-way players; a few of those players were NHL-ready from a defensive point of view. At the moment, Zadina is a thoroughly one-way player who has to clean up his game quite a bit.

Zadina started the year on a line with Arnaud Durandeau and Raphael Lavoie. Ever since Otto Somppi's return against Cape Breton five games ago on October 13, 2017, Zadina has been lined up alongside Somppi and Durandeau.

The presence of Somppi, who is a lightning-fast, skilled line driver has had a very positive impact on Zadina. The right half-wall tends to be where Zadina operates from.

 

[Zombotron]

Why am I not surprised Otto Somppi is a TBL draft pick