2022 Draft Thread - July 7-8 (CBJ to pick 6th (via CHI) and 12th overall)

[EspenK]

McKenzie's Mid-Season Rankings

Wright leaves door open atop TSN's mid-season draft rankings - TSN.ca

Wright not unanimous #1 overall (9 out of 10)

Lambert drops from 3 to 11

If there is a bevy of prospects between 11 and 32 who are excellent candidates to break into the Top 10, there are multiple prospects ranked in TSN’s second round (Nos. 33 to 64) who could push their way well into the first round.

Deep draft or weak at the top? Or still a lot of who knows due to Covid related issues?

 

[pled]

Deep draft or weak at the top? Or still a lot of who knows due to Covid related issues?

most definitely weak top. and yeah covid too. I'm not sure about the depth of the draft. I think both chicago and columbus pick will be fine. there will be many player available for the team. would be nice to get a second from the ufa.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

In the situation where we keep both picks, I think we need to pick a defenseman with one of them.

Our forward pool is pretty healthy, nothing special, but solid. Our D pool consists of like 3 prospects who are "likely" NHL caliber.

And yeah yeah I can already hear "Pick best available" and I get it, you do that, but hopefully BPA on one of the picks is a D.

 

[EspenK]

In the situation where we keep both picks, I think we need to pick a defenseman with one of them.

Our forward pool is pretty healthy, nothing special, but solid. Our D pool consists of like 3 prospects who are "likely" NHL caliber.

And yeah yeah I can already hear "Pick best available" and I get it, you do that, but hopefully BPA on one of the picks is a D.

Totally agree. Especially with the guaranteed bpa bs. To me that is load of crap. I have to think positional needs dictate what you do. Saying we take the bpa sort of gives the gm a free pass if things don't work out.

 

[KniespassZegras]

Im sure we take a Dman in the first, but i wouldn't be totally surprised if we double dipped either. Pipeline is really really dry in the defensive end, have Knazko and Ceulemans and thats about it. Christianson and Makarov might be solid 3rd pairing guys, only maybe.

we pick 8th and 10th right now, according to Mckenzie we could grab Nemec (9th) and Geekie or Lambert (1oth and 11th) or Mintyukov (16th)

 

[majormajor]

Our biggest positional need is "elite player".

If you think you are choosing between sub-elite players then sure go with a C or RD.

 

[majormajor]

Im sure we take a Dman in the first, but i wouldn't be totally surprised if we double dipped either. Pipeline is really really dry in the defensive end, have Knazko and Ceulemans and thats about it. Christianson and Makarov might be solid 3rd pairing guys, only maybe.

we pick 8th and 10th right now, according to Mckenzie we could grab Nemec (9th) and Geekie or Lambert (1oth and 11th) or Mintyukov (16th)

I don't think our D pipeline is bad at all, it is just too young to be a help any time soon.

I'd comfortably take Svozil, Holm, and Richard ahead of Knazko, those three and Ceulemans all seem very promising to me. The trouble is that they're teenagers.

I'd love to get Nemec or Jiricek but if you think two of Geekie/Yurov/Lambert/whatever forward are going to be more impactful players then I wouldn't object to taking two forwards.

 

[stevo61]

Something like Geekie and Jiricek depending on where we pick would be pretty nice

 

[Cowumbus]

I want this guy

 

[ColumbusTrill]

I want this guy

people are going crazy in the replies but I feel like this was a totally lucky (but skilled) pass that bounced off of a way out of position goalie

 

[ColumbusTrill]

@majormajor what are your thoughts on Savoie? Besides size what are the concerns?

 

[majormajor]

people are going crazy in the replies but I feel like this was a totally lucky (but skilled) pass that bounced off of a way out of position goalie

It was. Shane Wright never even tries for fancy goals, that was a quick pass attempt.

 

[majormajor]

@majormajor what are your thoughts on Savoie? Besides size what are the concerns?

FYI I'm just watching stuff like this so I might not know any more than you on Savoie:





Savoie looks like a can't-miss scorer to me. He's got every tool. Fast, smart, great hands and shot. He'll end up somewhere in between Gus Nyquist and Brayden Point.

I'm not worried about the size, he's fearless and he's super strong in the lower body.

 

[Cowumbus]

FYI I'm just watching stuff like this so I might not know any more than you on Savoie:





Savoie looks like a can't-miss scorer to me. He's got every tool. Fast, smart, great hands and shot. He'll end up somewhere in between Gus Nyquist and Brayden Point.

I'm not worried about the size, he's fearless and he's super strong in the lower body.

Needs to score more at ES though.

 

[ColumbusTrill]

FYI I'm just watching stuff like this so I might not know any more than you on Savoie:





Savoie looks like a can't-miss scorer to me. He's got every tool. Fast, smart, great hands and shot. He'll end up somewhere in between Gus Nyquist and Brayden Point.

I'm not worried about the size, he's fearless and he's super strong in the lower body.

Reminded me of Domi quite a bit from that first video. What do you think Wright does that much better than him to where he is 2 tiers ahead?

 

[KniespassZegras]

I don't think our D pipeline is bad at all, it is just too young to be a help any time soon.

I'd comfortably take Svozil, Holm, and Richard ahead of Knazko, those three and Ceulemans all seem very promising to me. The trouble is that they're teenagers.

I'd love to get Nemec or Jiricek but if you think two of Geekie/Yurov/Lambert/whatever forward are going to be more impactful players then I wouldn't object to taking two forwards.

yeah not the best take. Knazko is alot better than Svozil, Holm and Richard. alot better. out of the 4, Knazko has far and away the best shot at being a top 4 guy.
you can have all the forwards in the world, doesnt matter when you cant stop the other team from scoring.

 

[majormajor]

Reminded me of Domi quite a bit from that first video. What do you think Wright does that much better than him to where he is 2 tiers ahead?

This year nothing. He's not better right now.

But many scouts expect Wright to bounce back. They're projecting Wright to be a more impactful two-way player at center compared to Savoie. That's their opinion - I don't watch OHL and I'm not going to weigh in on that, maybe I will in the Spring when we reeaallly get into the draft.

 

[majormajor]

Needs to score more at ES though.

That's a fair point. Do you have more of a critique of Savoie?

Also where are you following the stats discussion with these prospects?

 

[majormajor]

yeah not the best take. Knazko is alot better than Svozil, Holm and Richard. alot better. out of the 4, Knazko has far and away the best shot at being a top 4 guy.
you can have all the forwards in the world, doesnt matter when you cant stop the other team from scoring.

We'll have to disagree. Knazko has always been a total project. He failed to crack the Liiga, didn't play well at the WJC, and I have seen a few Thunderbirds games in the last couple weeks (they are carried by Root sports where I live now in WA) and Knazko is just not making things happen. I don't see how that is the player you'd expect to be shutting down the opposition. He's a mistake prone guy at lower levels still. None of that is to say that he can't be really good defensively someday but he has further to go defensively than all three of the guys I mentioned. And his wheels and puck carrying ability just don't seem to add up to much on the offensive end.

Richard is a crazy good defender for an 18 year old in the ECAC. He won best defender in his first month, which I can't imagine happens often. And the kid can make a pass.




Svozil looked a lot better at the WJC than Knazko. He makes some uncanny smart plays. I don't have too much to say about Holm, but everyone was blown away by how solid he was for an 18 year old in the AHL, and since then he was WJC D1A Best D-man, and it looks like he might have found some offensive confidence since he came back from that tournament.

 

[pled]

In the situation where we keep both picks, I think we need to pick a defenseman with one of them.

Our forward pool is pretty healthy, nothing special, but solid. Our D pool consists of like 3 prospects who are "likely" NHL caliber.

And yeah yeah I can already hear "Pick best available" and I get it, you do that, but hopefully BPA on one of the picks is a D.

agree, also Jarmo/crew never really picked best available I wouldn't worry. also D pool is better than F this year I think.

 

[Cowumbus]

That's a fair point. Do you have more of a critique of Savoie?

Also where are you following the stats discussion with these prospects?

No not really. I really think that he is one of if not the most skilled guy in the draft, while also playing with creativity.

I’m going to have to dig up the even strength scoring stuff. Most of that I have been seeing through advanced stat tracking Twitter threads. Let me look

 

[DarkandStormy]

All of the NHL teams under Bettman-.500.

Need Buffalo, Philly, and NJ to go on some heaters. Maybe Ottawa puts it together, but the bottom 3 seem fairly locked in right now. Arizona is ruining their tank just a bit.

 

[5th Line Fanatic]

Our biggest positional need is "elite player".

If you think you are choosing between sub-elite players then sure go with a C or RD.

This! This! 1000 times This!

We need an elite player! We've had 2 elite skaters in 20 years.That's not enough. We either need to get bad enough at the right time to draft one or we need really great scouts to trade for one. All this talk of trading for Chychrun is nonsense. He's a good player who hurts our chances of getting an elite player.

 

[majormajor]

This! This! 1000 times This!

We need an elite player! We've had 2 elite skaters in 20 years.That's not enough. We either need to get bad enough at the right time to draft one or we need really great scouts to trade for one. All this talk of trading for Chychrun is nonsense. He's a good player who hurts our chances of getting an elite player.

I don't think Chychrun does that. He might become an elite player himself.

 

[5th Line Fanatic]

I don't think Chychrun does that. He might become an elite player himself.

Chychrun might become very good, but he's 23 years old already and not having an elite season. Wouldn't we know it already if he was going to be elite? Adding Chychrun to this roster makes it a little better and less likely that that we draft low enough to get an elite player.