Prospect Info: 2018 NHL Draft

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Thanks.

Berkowitz over Kase, ha.

Berkowitz won’t amount to anything worthwhile

 

[Masch78]

A player that looks very interesting to me and that could eventually be a Ducks type of forward for the 2nd or 3rd round : Niklas Nordgren prospect thread, eliteprospects

And I have to say, I really hope we sign Vehviläinen this year. I simpley don't understand why we did not draft him.

 

[Kalv]

Berkowitz won’t amount to anything worthwhile

I remember there was article comparing him to Ryan Suter. Even the best makes mistakes oh well. But there had to be some certain abilities that impressed our scouts, he just didn`t pan out for whatever reason. Our scouts don`t make that much mistakes with the defensemen lately.

 

[Opak]

It's incredible to see, just how much Ryan Merkley has fallen in draft rankings. He was top-5 (maybe top-3) at the start of the season, but now he's ranked at the end of the first round, somewhere between 20 and 31. Great skater, great puck handler, great IQ. Insane offensive talent. The main criticism says that the kid is poor defensively and inflates his point totals by leeching off a good amount of PP minutes.

Definitely a flashy offensive defenseman, but seems like a high risk, high reward type of prospect. If we're somehow picking at the end of the 1st round, this guy could be a decent pick for us. I think we're one of the few NHL teams out there, who could make a guy like him become an NHLer.

Speaking of the first round, Dahlin will most likely be the #1, but after that the "first round" could last for the next 50-60 picks. Crazy amount of top-end talent in this draft.

The two 3rds that we currently have shouldn't be overlooked either. It'd be amazing if someone good fell out of the top-2 rounds and we'd be there to scoop them up.

Man I hope Veleno lands w/ us that would be amazing... its such a heavy defence draft that I have to imagine a center will be available wherever we pick.

I just want them to draft the BPA, regardless of position. I would like for them to go for high upside guys also, as I think that's a major weakness in our prospect pool ATM.

A player that looks very interesting to me and that could eventually be a Ducks type of forward for the 2nd or 3rd round : Niklas Nordgren prospect thread, eliteprospects

And I have to say, I really hope we sign Vehviläinen this year. I simpley don't understand why we did not draft him.

Can't sign him yet, he's still draft eligible. I'd bet that someone takes him with a 7th or something like that, as he's had a pretty good Liiga season.

 

[mightyquack]

-41 last season (12 worse then anyone else) despite being the top point scorer? That is.....unusual. Even this year he's - 19 despite being the top scorer. I know other factors go into +/- but that's just extreme, just reading abut and looking at his stat lines it's easy to see why he's fallen like a stone.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I remember there was article comparing him to Ryan Suter. Even the best makes mistakes oh well. But there had to be some certain abilities that impressed our scouts, he just didn`t pan out for whatever reason. Our scouts don`t make that much mistakes with the defensemen lately.

The fact that a prospect doesn't turn out doesn't mean it was a mistake to pick him.

 

[Opak]

-41 last season (12 worse then anyone else) despite being the top point scorer? That is.....unusual. Even this year he's - 19 despite being the top scorer. I know other factors go into +/- but that's just extreme, just reading abut and looking at his stat lines it's easy to see why he's fallen like a stone.

His +/- is very bad, I must agree with that, but I still prefer to look at things from another perspective. This guy, an undersized offensive defenseman, led his team in scoring last year as a 16-year-old. And he's doing it again this year, as one of the youngest players available in the draft. The OHL is meant for players aged 18-20, the fact that he keeps doing this is absolutely insane!

Sure, it goes without saying that whoever ends up drafting the kid has a work-in-progress in their hands. Merkley is nowhere near pro ready, he'd have to go through years and years of successful development, without any setbacks, to get to that level. The risk obviously makes some NHL teams shy away from players like him, but the talent and the potential can not be questioned. That star potential is what will draw the more ambitious drafting organizations towards him. Watch him end up in Chicago and become the next Duncan Keith or something like that.

 

[bumperkisser]

His +/- is very bad, I must agree with that, but I still prefer to look at things from another perspective. This guy, an undersized offensive defenseman, led his team in scoring last year as a 16-year-old. And he's doing it again this year, as one of the youngest players available in the draft. The OHL is meant for players aged 18-20, the fact that he keeps doing this is absolutely insane!

Sure, it goes without saying that whoever ends up drafting the kid has a work-in-progress in their hands. Merkley is nowhere near pro ready, he'd have to go through years and years of successful development, without any setbacks, to get to that level. The risk obviously makes some NHL teams shy away from players like him, but the talent and the potential can not be questioned. That star potential is what will draw the more ambitious drafting organizations towards him. Watch him end up in Chicago and become the next Duncan Keith or something like that.

If he's so offensively gifted are we not able to try and convert him to fw?

 

[Goose of Reason]

Merkley is really talented but it all comes down to whether he can play defense at an NHL level. He could very well be the next Ryan Murphy.

 

[Opak]

If he's so offensively gifted are we not able to try and convert him to fw?

That's a tough question. I guess there's a chance it could work, but how many people (aside from Jacques Lemaire) would want to try something like that with a first round pick?

Merkley is really talented but it all comes down to whether he can play defense at an NHL level. He could very well be the next Ryan Murphy.

This is basically the gist of things.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Jacob Oloffson is one that has caught my eye for this draft, reminds me a bit of Wild Bill at the same age, but with more power to his game. This draft is short on centers, but Oloffson, Hayton and Veleno all look like they could become quality, well-rounded top 9 pivots. I believe the former two provide more scoring upside than Veleno, particularly Hayton who has developed a pretty wicked release.

 

[Opak]

Jacob Oloffson is one that has caught my eye for this draft, reminds me a bit of Wild Bill at the same age, but with more power to his game. This draft is short on centers, but Oloffson, Hayton and Veleno all look like they could become quality, well-rounded top 9 pivots. I believe the former two provide more scoring upside than Veleno, particularly Hayton who has developed a pretty wicked release.

If you're interested, you should also look at Olofsson's teammate Filip Hållander. Both guys are listed as centers, they're playing for Timrå of Allsvenskan, Sweden's 2nd tier pro league.

Timrå has done a remarkable job in developing top-tier NHL prospects over the past few years. Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Timothy Liljegren are examples of the guys that have gone through their development system.

 

[rickardr]

If you're interested, you should also look at Olofsson's teammate Filip Hållander. Both guys are listed as centers, they're playing for Timrå of Allsvenskan, Sweden's 2nd tier pro league.

Filip has played C all of his career, but was moved to the wing a while ago, versatile player that plays in all situations.

Appears to be injured rn, hope to see him at the february tourney in Playmouth

Timrå has done a remarkable job in developing top-tier NHL prospects over the past few years. Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Timothy Liljegren are examples of the guys that have gone through their development system.

They also had Jesper Boqvist for a while last season.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

If you're interested, you should also look at Olofsson's teammate Filip Hållander. Both guys are listed as centers, they're playing for Timrå of Allsvenskan, Sweden's 2nd tier pro league.

Timrå has done a remarkable job in developing top-tier NHL prospects over the past few years. Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Timothy Liljegren are examples of the guys that have gone through their development system.

Yeah that's a nice pair of legit first round candidates they have there.

Have you guys seen much of Albin Eriksson? Looks to have some intriguing upside as well.

 

[Opak]

Yeah that's a nice pair of legit first round candidates they have there.

Have you guys seen much of Albin Eriksson? Looks to have some intriguing upside as well.

I must confess that I hadn't seen or heard anything of Albin prior to your post. Maybe that's just my ignorance. His teammate, Jonatan Berggren, has been highly touted though (early 2nd round talent?), maybe Eriksson is getting overshadowed a bit?

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I must confess that I hadn't seen or heard anything of Albin prior to your post. Maybe that's just my ignorance. His teammate, Jonatan Berggren, has been highly touted though (early 2nd round talent?), maybe Eriksson is getting overshadowed a bit?

Button has Eriksson ranked as a late 1st rounder and ahead of Berggren and I believe a couple other rankings have him in that territory. Any way he has some pretty impressive physical tools, 6'4 207 and won't turn 18 until right around draft day. Looks to have a pretty good motor and finishing hands around the net.

 

[Opak]

Button has Eriksson ranked as a late 1st rounder and ahead of Berggren and I believe a couple other rankings have him in that territory. Any way he has some pretty impressive physical tools, 6'4 207 and won't turn 18 until right around draft day. Looks to have a pretty good motor and finishing hands around the net.

Interesting, thanks for the videos. Eriksson seems to be a late riser, will have to look out for him.

 

[Opak]

Bob McKenzie released his mid-season top-80 list, along with a nice 20+ minute video.

 

[Goose of Reason]

Keep on falling to us, Veleno

 

[eternalbedhead]

Keep on falling to us, Veleno

Or we can keep falling to him. Either way works.

 

[Opak]

NHL.com released their first 2018 mock draft.

 

[mightyquack]

Kupari would be my favoured one out of those 3, type of high skill forward I'd like to see Anaheim go for if we have a lowish pick (around the top 10), we might get lucky as it seems teams with the low picks are looking more towards defencemen opposed to forwards at this point.

Not too sure I buy into Hayton as a top 6 NHL player, he honestly sounds like the classic solid scorer at Junior level but limited ceiling at the NHL type of player (something of a 3rd line center). Granted I'm probably way off base as I don't look into prospects a ton, just the feeling I get when I read some of the reports on him.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Kupari would be my favoured one out of those 3, type of high skill forward I'd like to see Anaheim go for if we have a lowish pick (around the top 10), we might get lucky as it seems teams with the low picks are looking more towards defencemen opposed to forwards at this point.

Not too sure I buy into Hayton as a top 6 NHL player, he honestly sounds like the classic solid scorer at Junior level but limited ceiling at the NHL type of player (something of a 3rd line center). Granted I'm probably way off base as I don't look into prospects a ton, just the feeling I get when I read some of the reports on him.

Hayton has legitimate goal scoring ability in my opinion. I actually think his offensive game will perhaps translate easier to the next level than some guys who are able to dominate junior based on more flashy stand out tools. Hayton is high IQ, versatile and has a very nice release. Protects the puck extremely well for an average sized guy and has the the edgework to shake defenders on the cycle.

I first seen him play about six years ago and he's definitely one of these kids who shows very obvious improvement every time you see him (even when it's only a couple weeks apart).

I don't see elite first line potential, but could easily see him becoming a quality top 9 guy who brings value in all situations.

 

[Opak]

ISS released their February top-31 list. Others may have different opinions, but IMO the rankings of LD Jonathan Tychonick (#26), RD Jacob Bernard-Docker (#28) and RD Adam Ginning (#29) seem a little high to me. Maybe it just suggests that these guys have been rocketing up the rankings lately.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Bump, any new interesting prospects yiu guys would like to grab.


Im still liking the idea of veleno, but wouldnt mind kotkemniemi(sp?) Or kupari, he seems like a good skill guy to play between terry comtois jones ritchie etc.