NHL Entry Draft 2020 NHL Draft Discussion - Part IX

[DaveMatthew]

Every year there’s a player who people hate on for no reason other than they don’t know much about him other that the statsheet. If they pick Sanderson it would likely be like Tkachuk all over again, blind outrage for no reason.

After seeing the post-draft reaction to us picking Marian Hossa and Erik Karlsson, two of the best players we’ve ever had, and more recently, Brady Tkachuk, you’d think fans would have a bit more patience.

The only lock is Lafreniere at #1.

Stutzle, Byfield, Raymond, Drysdale, Sanderson, Lundell? I have no idea which of those guys will turn out the best. Could be anyone, and I wouldn’t slam the team for taking any of those guys regardless of where we pick between 2-6.

 

[BondraTime]

Kind of like Zibanejad in 2011.

Yeah somewhat, he was a guy who shot up the rankings all year as well. This year we were prepared to be drafting high and we knew we would be. We have been tracking this draft class since the 2018-19 NHL season, and the guys at the top of the list then are the guys who are all liked (for good reason) now. They’ve been on fans radars for 18 months. With Zibanejad, the Sens came off a playoff season and we never expected to be picking high in the draft until January, so there weren’t as many people banking on the top guys for as long as we have been with this draft class.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Kind of like Zibanejad in 2011.

Sanderson was thought of as a potential top 15 pick before the season started though, whereas I'm pretty sure Zibanejad basically came out of nowhere after he got called up to his SHL team and started producing well.

 

[Masked]

Yeah somewhat, he was a guy who shot up the rankings all year as well. This year we were prepared to be drafting high and we knew we would be. We have been tracking this draft class since the 2018-19 NHL season, and the guys at the top of the list then are the guys who are all liked (for good reason) now. They’ve been on fans radars for 18 months. With Zibanejad, the Sens came off a playoff season and we never expected to be picking high in the draft until January, so there weren’t as many people banking on the top guys for as long as we have been with this draft class.

I can remember hoping we'd get Zibanejad with the pick from the Fisher deal and Landsekog with our own pick but then Zibanejad just kept rocketing up the ratings while Anderson pushed us up far enough in the standings to lose out on Landeskog.

 

[SensFactor]

Man if the Isles lose against Florida in the play-in series, their pick should be in the 12-15 range and could allow us to trade up into the top 10 or be in a position to draft a guy like Quinn/Lundell/Jarvis.

In that scenario I wonder if we could package the 12th-15th pick with the 33rd pick and another 2nd to jump into the top 8. Definitely would be happy ending up with Sanderson with our 3rd 1st.

Could end day 1 with 3 excellent prospects that would be legitimate top 10 picks in most drafts. Dream scenario.

Imagine getting Lafreniere, Rossi, Lundell....I would be on cloud 9.

 

[Micklebot]

Imagine getting Lafreniere, Rossi, Lundell....I would be on cloud 9.

Lundell with the isles pick would be bonkers...

 

[Cat Herder]

with the news today of MLB shutting down facilities and Austin Matthews testing positive I have a feeling that they will cancel the season.

Hopefully if they do that they keep the draft lottery as is

 

[Cosmix]

I wonder if the draft lottery will be re-scheduled again if there are any doubts about the league's ability to put on the post season with the recent news of the Lightning shutting down their training camp, and Matthews testing positive.

Yikes. Does not give me a warm feeling.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Yikes. Does not give me a warm feeling.

I don't think whatever they'd come up with due to a cancelled season could be much worse than the current system.

My big contention with the current system is that a team like Pittsburgh has a reasonably good shot at a top 3 pick if one of the placeholders gets it. So I think if the season is fully cancelled, this same thing will happen, just it won't only be Pittsburgh, it will be Boston, Tampa, etc.

But I do not think they will do anything radical like with the Crosby draft. I think if they have to organize a draft where all 31 teams have a shot at a top 3 pick, it'll be the same deal for us, 5/6 as a worst case scenario.

 

[BondraTime]

with the news today of MLB shutting down facilities and Austin Matthews testing positive I have a feeling that they will cancel the season.

Hopefully if they do that they keep the draft lottery as is

They can’t, picks are now dependant on the play in games. They would need to make a whole new system.

 

[Slippy]

with the news today of MLB shutting down facilities and Austin Matthews testing positive I have a feeling that they will cancel the season.

Hopefully if they do that they keep the draft lottery as is

I would doubt this causes them to cancel the season or even give the NHL much pause. People are still getting sick, especially in the US; athletes are not immune to that. Once teams start their training camps there will be much more strict protocols to ensure there the risks are minimized. Just my perspective.

 

[dumbdick]

We don't want superstar players that will cost too much so we'll go with good players that will be much cheaper in the future like Sanderson and Lundell !!! lol

Perhaps not the very worst strategy. If we traded our top 2 picks for 4 in the top 15 somehow, would that be better or worse long term? I dont know the answer, but i hate to see what the rest of our roster looks like if these two guys are worth Marner and Matthews money.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

They can’t, picks are now dependant on the play in games. They would need to make a whole new system.

I don't think this is the barrier you think it is. If Bettman decides the season needs cancelling, they'll sort the logistics out afterward.

 

[dumbdick]

I just want to get to the lottery before they f*** with the draft odds.

 

[BondraTime]

I don't think this is the barrier you think it is. If Bettman decides the season needs cancelling, they'll sort the logistics out afterward.

Yes, including a new draft system. No playoffs means every team needs to gain “something” for the draft.

If they go ahead with the lottery, that’s that. If they cancel it prior, which I’d be surprised, they will redo the odds.

 

[DJB]

So who's everyone's pick at 5 and 6 again?

Truthfully the number 4 has been speaking to me. Wish I could get a feeling on where the other pick lands. (Better be top 3 )

 

[Alf Silfversson]

I was, I was really hoping he could turn into a Tom Wilson type of forward, but it never materialized although he's a decent 4th line enforcer. I still don't like Konecny.

My point was though with bigger bodies that if they don't work out in the top six can sometimes work out in the bottom six so it's not a complete loss of a pick. Crouse for example, has turned into a decent 4th line enforcer while a smaller player might not fit into the bottom six if they can't break into the top six either.

And I'll counter that, in today's NHL (not the 70s, 80s or 90s) that if you are a poor skater you likely won't make the NHL unless you have elite skills elsewhere. And it doesn't matter how big you are. No skate, no play.

That was always an issue with Crouse (he's not AWFUL in the skating department) and he never had any other elite skills. People fell in love with him because he was big and that's it. His offensive skills screamed 4th liner and they screamed 2-4 round pick. He got picked 11th OA and it was an awful choice with Chabot, Barzal, Boeser, Connor and many other players left on the board.

 

[Alf Silfversson]

Wow.

If we pick our two picks in the top 6 and then Jamie Drysdale is still available at 12... then we trade as many of the rest of our picks this year we need to get that 12th pick.

We go Byfield, Raymond and Drysdale in this draft and our core is set.

This list is fantasy land.

 

[DueDiligence]

Sanderson was thought of as a potential top 15 pick before the season started though, whereas I'm pretty sure Zibanejad basically came out of nowhere after he got called up to his SHL team and started producing well.

Sorry that is not the case. Almost every scouting report had him rated in the mid 20's or lower.

 

[DueDiligence]

Wow.

If we pick our two picks in the top 6 and then Jamie Drysdale is still available at 12... then we trade as many of the rest of our picks this year we need to get that 12th pick.

We go Byfield, Raymond and Drysdale in this draft and our core is set.

This list is fantasy land.

If that happened it could be one of the all time best draft results for any team.

 

[SAK11]

Sorry that is not the case. Almost every scouting report had him rated in the mid 20's or lower.

Button had him 12th and he was 16th on McKenzie's list.

 

[BondraTime]

Sorry that is not the case. Almost every scouting report had him rated in the mid 20's or lower.

Lafreniere leads loaded class in TSN Hockey's pre-season draft ranking

The only list that really matters had him 16th, and he was higher by Button

 

[DueDiligence]

Button had him 12th and he was 16th on McKenzie's list.

And Button had him 33rd in Jan 2020!

Well here's his ranking from 8 more organizations from September/October/November 2019:
Sportsnet not in top 30
NHL.com 18th
The Hockey writers 24th
Prospect pipeline 25th
Dobber Prospects 25th
Draft analyst 25th
Scouching Not in top 70
Hockey News 22nd

 

[BondraTime]

And Button had him 33rd in Jan 2020!

Well here's his ranking from 8 more organizations from September/October/November 2019:
Sportsnet not in top 30
NHL.com 18th
The Hockey writers 24th
Prospect pipeline 25th
Dobber Prospects 25th
Draft analyst 25th
Scouching Not in top 70
Hockey News 22nd

I'd take the ranking from actual NHL scouts over online pub's any day

 

[DueDiligence]

Lafreniere leads loaded class in TSN Hockey's pre-season draft ranking

The only list that really matters had him 16th, and he was higher by Button

It's one of a few and Button is a joke.

Well here's his ranking from 8 more organizations from September/October/November 2019:
Sportsnet not in top 30
NHL.com 18th
The Hockey writers 24th
Prospect pipeline 25th
Dobber Prospects 25th
Draft analyst 25th
Scouching Not in top 70
Hockey News 22nd