Prospect Info: 2018 NHL Draft

[WhatTheDuck]

Yeah, I don't know how you justify that with Kaut. The Czechs are really churning out some great forwards, these days. I honestly don't know how there's a lack of consensus around 15 to 45, as there are clear tiers of talent in that range. Then again, there's always some scouting staffs every year that make judgments that are baffling.

Unrelated to his ranking up to this point but apparently Kaut had a non career threatening heart condition discovered at the combine and will soon have an operation.

Not sure how he's flown under the radar, played alongside Zadina last year so you'd think scouts would have seen plenty of him prior to this season.

 

[Exit Dose]

Unrelated to his ranking up to this point but apparently Kaut had a non career threatening heart condition discovered at the combine and will soon have an operation.

Not sure how he's flown under the radar, played alongside Zadina last year so you'd think scouts would have seen plenty of him prior to this season.

Yeah, I read that after the original post. Sad to hear it. Hope he recovers.

 

[bsu]

NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Dahlin a lock at No. 1, Tkachuk moves up to No. 3
NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Dahlin a lock at No. 1, Tkachuk moves up to No. 3

Another mock draft

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Dahlin a lock at No. 1, Tkachuk moves up to No. 3
NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Dahlin a lock at No. 1, Tkachuk moves up to No. 3

Another mock draft

Tkachuk to 3 seems a little risky imo…. plus doesn't montreal need centers more than anything.. if im montreal im looking to trade down to 6-8 range and just grab wahlstrom. This draft seems kinda hard to predict... honestly the only forsure things I see is dahlin going 1st and svec going 2nd. After that I could see players from 3-12 going in a lot of different orders.... then 13-30 will be all over the map too.

Some teams make out in that mock draft tho
Hawks- Hughes + Thomas
Flyers - Veleno + Bokk
Rangers- Wahlstrom, Dellandrea

 

[Opak]

NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Dahlin a lock at No. 1, Tkachuk moves up to No. 3
NHL Mock Draft 2.0: Dahlin a lock at No. 1, Tkachuk moves up to No. 3

Another mock draft

I can't see us picking Alexeyev, when Thomas and Dellandrea are still on the board.

Speaking of mock drafts, NHL.com released their post-combine list. All three NHL.com guys have us picking a center -- Lundeström, McLeod or Thomas.

Tkachuk to 3 seems a little risky imo…. plus doesn't montreal need centers more than anything.. if im montreal im looking to trade down to 6-8 range and just grab wahlstrom. This draft seems kinda hard to predict... honestly the only forsure things I see is dahlin going 1st and svec going 2nd. After that I could see players from 3-12 going in a lot of different orders.... then 13-30 will be all over the map too.

Some teams make out in that mock draft tho
Hawks- Hughes + Thomas
Flyers - Veleno + Bokk
Rangers- Wahlstrom, Dellandrea

IMO MTL is in a really tough spot at 3. They get one of Zadina/Svechnikov guaranteed, but IMO it'd make more sense for them to grab one of the defensemen, especially Dobson. Tkachuk is a good player, but IMO he won't be an elite talent, which is something MTL desperately needs.

It'll be curious to see what they do. Their HF fanbase seems to be absurdly high on Kotkaniemi, simply because he might be a center. The reason I say might is because he mostly played wing in Liiga this season, making it possible that he eventually pulls a Rakell (drafted as center, developed as winger).

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I can't see us picking Alexeyev, when Thomas and Dellandrea are still on the board.

Speaking of mock drafts, NHL.com released their post-combine list. All three NHL.com guys have us picking a center -- Lundeström, McLeod or Thomas.




IMO MTL is in a really tough spot at 3. They get one of Zadina/Svechnikov guaranteed, but IMO it'd make more sense for them to grab one of the defensemen, especially Dobson. Tkachuk is a good player, but IMO he won't be an elite talent, which is something MTL desperately needs.

It'll be curious to see what they do. Their HF fanbase seems to be absurdly high on Kotkaniemi, simply because he might be a center. The reason I say might is because he mostly played wing in Liiga this season, making it possible that he eventually pulls a Rakell (drafted as center, developed as winger).

I feel like chi will end up getting dobson
Out of those 3 centers i prefer thomas

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I'm participating in another mock draft (just three rounds this time). I ended up trading picks 23, 54 and 79 to Detroit in exchange for 33,36 and 66. Seemed worthwhile to get an extra shot in the top 40, without losing a pick to do so.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

^ Six picks still to come before I'm up at 33, but all of the following are currently available which means I can land two of them.

Thomas, Bokk, Dellandrea, Kaut, Hallander, O'Brien, Olofsson, McLeod, Ylonen, Samuelsson, Addison, Lundkvist

 

[Exit Dose]

With Kaut's health issue, I'd probably pass and see if he falls to the late 2nd. I'd go with Hallander and one of Thomas or Ylonen, personally, but there are a lot of good options on the table.

Edit: Missed that you also traded the late 2nd.

 

[bsu]

Just found this guy
HSD Prospects

Has some awesome videos of draft prospects including last year (Comtois, Morand)

I don't want McLeod, think there is much better players at our spot.​

 

[Exit Dose]

Just found this guy
HSD Prospects

Has some awesome videos of draft prospects including last year (Comtois, Morand)

I don't want McLeod, think there is much better players at our spot.​

I don't think that you posted the right link. There's an entire playlist of different player highlights there.

Edit: Never mind, I thought you were saying that you discovered a player, not the channel itself.

 

[JabbaJabba]

^ Six picks still to come before I'm up at 33, but all of the following are currently available which means I can land two of them.

Thomas, Bokk, Dellandrea, Kaut, Hallander, O'Brien, Olofsson, McLeod, Ylonen, Samuelsson, Addison, Lundkvist

Thomas and Bokk would be nice.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Thomas and Bokk would be nice.

Thomas was gone but I took Bokk and Dellandrea which I was quite happy with.

 

[Goose of Reason]

Thomas was gone but I took Bokk and Dellandrea which I was quite happy with.

Lol that would be an absolutely insane draft for us

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I found the Jay O'Brien thread to be interesting reading, and there's a few good videos in there as well. Have to keep the quality of competition in mind but man does he ever look like an impressive skater.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/c-jay-obrien-thayer-acad-ne-prep-2018-draft.2466121/

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Nathan Smith at eliteprospects.com

Intriguing later round prospect who was mentioned in the sleepers thread. Undrafted late '98 out of Florida HS hockey, made Cedar Rapids (USHL) this past season as a free agent camp invite and went on to lead them in scoring.

I figured the Ducks of all teams likely have him on their radar given their recent history of targeting older breakout prospects in the draft.

 

[Opak]

Another interesting mid-to-late round prospect is Kristian Tanus. With the exception of size, the guy has all the tools required to become a top level hockey player. He's very young though, maybe he grows an inch or two?

When I watched team Finland play during the U18 games, Tanus really reminded me of Sebastian Aho...

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Really curious to know what went on with Xavier Bouchard's development this season. Big RHD who showed a lot of offensive upside and confidence in his rookie QMJHL season, and then seemed to take a step back this year.

As you'll see in this video below from his 16 year old season, his skating doesn't look overly powerful, but the vision and touch in the offensive end is evident. He also shows a nice heavy point shot.

 

[Terry Yake]

akil thomas should be the guy they go after

guy has tons of potential

 

[Opak]

Opak's first round mock:

1. Buffalo -- Rasmus Dahlin
2. Carolina -- Andrei Svechnikov
3. Montreal -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi
4. Ottawa -- Noah Dobson
5. Arizona -- Filip Zadina
6. Detroit -- Oliver Wahlstrom
7. Vancouver -- Brady Tkachuk
8. Chicago -- Evan Bouchard
9. NY Rangers -- Adam Boqvist
10. Edmonton -- Quinn Hughes
11. NY Islanders -- Joe Veleno
12. NY Islanders -- Ty Smith
13. Dallas -- Joel Farabee
14. Philadelphia -- Vitali Kravtsov
15. Florida -- Isac Lundeström
16. Colorado -- Akil Thomas
17. New Jersey -- Barrett Hayton
18. Columbus -- Dominik Bokk
19. Philadelphia -- Ryan Merkley
20. Los Angeles -- Bode Wilde
21. San Jose -- Rasmus Kupari
22. Ottawa -- Ryan McLeod
23. Anaheim -- Ty Dellandrea
24. Minnesota -- Serron Noel
25. Toronto -- Alexander Alexeyev
26. NY Rangers -- Grigori Denisenko
27. Chicago -- Rasmus Sandin
28. NY Rangers -- K'Andre Miller
29. St. Louis -- Martin Kaut
30. Detroit -- Mattias Samuelsson
31. Washington -- Jett Woo

Note that this isn't a mock based on who should be ranked above who, this is more like my best guess as to what the first round will end up looking like. I'm reasonably confident up until pick 12, after that I have zero faith in anything, as the entire draft just falls apart consensus-wise.

 

[Fighter]

Tkachuk that love seems unlikely to me, Veleno might be a bit too high. I wish Kupari would somehow be available when we pick...

 

[Kariya 9]

Really curious to know what went on with Xavier Bouchard's development this season. Big RHD who showed a lot of offensive upside and confidence in his rookie QMJHL season, and then seemed to take a step back this year.

As you'll see in this video below from his 16 year old season, his skating doesn't look overly powerful, but the vision and touch in the offensive end is evident. He also shows a nice heavy point shot.

That's also one of the most awesome hockey names I've ever heard.

 

[Masch78]

TSN would land us

#23 Ty Dellandrea
#54 Filip Johansson
#79 Alec Regula
#85 Matje Pekar

 

[WhatTheDuck]

TSN would land us

#23 Ty Dellandrea
#54 Filip Johansson
#79 Alec Regula
#85 Matje Pekar

I don't know much about Pekar but I like the looks of those first three.

The more I watch of Dellandrea the more he starts to separate from some of the other forwards ranked in that range. Very well rounded offensive player. I also love that three years ago he was an after thought on his minor hockey team, his trajectory has pointed straight up during that time.

 

[sasha barkov]

If the ducks can land any of the following guys, Id be happy,

Joe Veleno (C)

Barrett Hayton (C)

Nils Lundqvist (RHS D)

Jonatan Berggen (LW C RW)

Domnik Bokk (RW LW)

Joel Farabee (LW)

Ty Dellandrea (C)

Akil Thomas (RW C)

Benoit Oliver Groulx (LW C)

Jett Woo (RHS D)

Jesse Ylonen (LW, C)

Jonathan Tychonik (LHS D)

Bode Wilde (RHS D)


Although I feel Farabee, Veleno, or Hayton will certainly not fall past the teens, I just want one of these guys and hope one of them fall.

Based off our recent picks, If Veleno falls to us, he has the Ducks written all over him.

I think Groulx is another Ducks - like pick, although I see him going early second though.

For some reason, I feel Anaheim is going to take Nils Lundqvist. Idk why, I just have a feeling.

Also if we do pick a defenseman, I hope its a right hand shot.