Prospect Info: All-Purpose 2024 Draft Thread & Celebrini discussion (also the 14th pick and whatever else is draft related)

[jMoneyBrah]

Why is eisermans stock falling this year? If scouts or prospect experts seen him as a top 2 pick last season, this season was exactly like it was last year just with more games played.

I’m also curious, if anyone can give a TLDR. I’ve seen comments that sorta vaguely allude to some holes in his game, but a quick lap around the Google pool and it seems he’s the consensus “best scorer” in the draft and some light criticism of his defensive game (which to me feels like a super common concern for so many offensively gifted prospects). Is there something specific to his game or this season that is causing him to drop so severely?

 

[Hodge]

Why is eisermans stock falling this year? If scouts or prospect experts seen him as a top 2 pick last season, this season was exactly like it was last year just with more games played.

I mean, you hit the nail on the head. Typically you want to see a prospect grow between his D-1 and draft year.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I’m also curious, if anyone can give a TLDR. I’ve seen comments that sorta vaguely allude to some holes in his game, but a quick lap around the Google pool and it seems he’s the consensus “best scorer” in the draft and some light criticism of his defensive game (which to me feels like a super common concern for so many offensively gifted prospects). Is there something specific to his game or this season that is causing him to drop so severely?

Play away from the puck isn't adequate, blackhole defensively, goes invisible when not in a scoring position in the offensive zone. He isn't a good playmaker, at least to the level you'd want at minimum from an elite prospect.

He's basically an elite version of Ottawa & Florida Mike Hoffman. That could be a 40-45 goal guy in the league who is pretty shit in most other aspects of the game. So that's still valuable in the regular season when scoring is plentiful/actual defense is rarely existent, but it's less valuable in the playoffs when teams play defense, more physical, gameplan, actually care, and the overall game tightens up.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Why is eisermans stock falling this year? If scouts or prospect experts seen him as a top 2 pick last season, this season was exactly like it was last year just with more games played.

In a nutshell

- Other than goalscoring, he’s not a good player and could be considered actively bad
- He hasn’t improved on anything in the last year; in fact, he looked worse at the U18 this year than last year
- Kind of a PP specialist
- Personally, I never really liked him and thought he was ranked way to high to begin with
- His attitude seems questionable, his effort is inconsistent, he apparently thinks that his off-puck game is good, and he referred to himself in the third person with the quote “that’s Cole Eiserman doing what Cole Eiserman does” when he scored a goal against like, Norway or something

 

[YUPPY 2 7 10 11]

I’m also curious, if anyone can give a TLDR. I’ve seen comments that sorta vaguely allude to some holes in his game, but a quick lap around the Google pool and it seems he’s the consensus “best scorer” in the draft and some light criticism of his defensive game (which to me feels like a super common concern for so many offensively gifted prospects). Is there something specific to his game or this season that is causing him to drop so severely?

Here is a good video on Eiserman negatives. This is not a video about his scoring highlights but on why his stock has fallen. Remember Eiserman was projected to go 2nd after Celebrini before this year. Even with all these issues, with a good NHL coach, it can all be fixed. To me he is the Ovechkin of this draft, a pure scorer and the Sharks can not afford to miss it if he is still around by the 14th pick.

 

[TheBeard]

At this point it sounds like we already have our Eiserman in Halttunen.

 

[Rafters]

I could have sworn I just seen Mike Grier on his phone, downtown Medicine Hat… maybe having a meeting with Cayden Lindstrom, Medicine Hat coaches or both.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

At this point it sounds like we already have our Eiserman in Halttunen.

Maybe but if he's the best there then we should take him and hope we can develop both of them well enough to be useful to us somehow. I don't see a way where Eiserman is the BPA at 14 but it would be hard for me to imagine Grier turning down that opportunity given everything else that goes into that potential selection.

 

[TheBeard]

Maybe but if he's the best there then we should take him and hope we can develop both of them well enough to be useful to us somehow. I don't see a way where Eiserman is the BPA at 14 but it would be hard for me to imagine Grier turning down that opportunity given everything else that goes into that potential selection.

IMO he’ll never be the objective BPA at 14. 20 or 21 maybe but at 14 there’s still gonna be too many good players that teams will have ranked higher. I could see him having a Brad Lambert-esque fall.

 

[Lebanezer]

I could have sworn I just seen Mike Grier on his phone, downtown Medicine Hat… maybe having a meeting with Cayden Lindstrom, Medicine Hat coaches or both.

Can you get close enough to hear their conversation?

 

[Stewie Griffin]

I could have sworn I just seen Mike Grier on his phone, downtown Medicine Hat… maybe having a meeting with Cayden Lindstrom, Medicine Hat coaches or both.

I mean maybe he's extremely optimistic Lindstrom will be there at 14 or he can trade up to get him. There's also the chance they're scouting Andrew Basha.

 

[Munnyro]

This Brandsegg-Nygård clip is making the rounds on social media.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I mean maybe he's extremely optimistic Lindstrom will be there at 14 or he can trade up to get him. There's also the chance they're scouting Andrew Basha.

Hey, if Lindstrom’s injury is scaring off other teams I’m more than happy for the Sharks to be the ones to take the risk on him at 14. With Celebrini and Smith in the fold we wouldn’t be relying on him to stick at center and he’d be a ridiculously awesome winger for either of those guys.

This Brandsegg-Nygård clip is making the rounds on social media.

Yeah, he’s good. I want him as a Shark.

 

[TheBeard]

Can you get close enough to hear their conversation?

"I'm over all these Boston connections. It's making me look like a one trick pony. I'm going Lindsy with first."

 

[coooldude]

Only 6 more weeks of drafterbating! I will also be at the draft and would be fun to get a group together.

I personally would be shocked to see anyone trade down from 6-10. I think the only chance MTL trades down from 5 is if Lindstrom is injured enough to scare everyone.

Maybe BUF trades down from 11, if so -- that's our best shot at Yakemchuk. Buium will likely be gone by then. Parekh, who knows.

My prioritized list at 14:
1. Buium if available (pretty much no chance)
2. Yakemchuk (unlikely - BUF, MIN may take him)
3. MBN
4. Sennecke (probably gone by then if the "riser" smoke continues)
5. Chernyshov
6. Trade down with someone who wants Eiserman, try to grab EJ Emery in the high teens or mid-twenties
7. Reach for Emery anyway
8. Eiserman

If we go Eiserman, I'll be fine with it because maybe he can round out his game and his one trick is really good (and probably better than Halttunen)... but I get serious Dany Heatley vibes from him without the 6'4" part.

 

[fEyD08]

This Brandsegg-Nygård clip is making the rounds on social media.

He' already has 2 Goals in 4 Games

 

[Saskatoon]

Only 6 more weeks of drafterbating! I will also be at the draft and would be fun to get a group together.

I personally would be shocked to see anyone trade down from 6-10. I think the only chance MTL trades down from 5 is if Lindstrom is injured enough to scare everyone.

Maybe BUF trades down from 11, if so -- that's our best shot at Yakemchuk. Buium will likely be gone by then. Parekh, who knows.

My prioritized list at 14:
1. Buium if available (pretty much no chance)
2. Yakemchuk (unlikely - BUF, MIN may take him)
3. MBN
4. Sennecke (probably gone by then if the "riser" smoke continues)
5. Chernyshov
6. Trade down with someone who wants Eiserman, try to grab EJ Emery in the high teens or mid-twenties
7. Reach for Emery anyway
8. Eiserman

If we go Eiserman, I'll be fine with it because maybe he can round out his game and his one trick is really good (and probably better than Halttunen)... but I get serious Dany Heatley vibes from him without the 6'4" part.

Prime Dany Heatley was a great player

 

[NiWa]

Only 6 more weeks of drafterbating! I will also be at the draft and would be fun to get a group together.

I personally would be shocked to see anyone trade down from 6-10. I think the only chance MTL trades down from 5 is if Lindstrom is injured enough to scare everyone.

Maybe BUF trades down from 11, if so -- that's our best shot at Yakemchuk. Buium will likely be gone by then. Parekh, who knows.

My prioritized list at 14:
1. Buium if available (pretty much no chance)
2. Yakemchuk (unlikely - BUF, MIN may take him)
3. MBN
4. Sennecke (probably gone by then if the "riser" smoke continues)
5. Chernyshov
6. Trade down with someone who wants Eiserman, try to grab EJ Emery in the high teens or mid-twenties
7. Reach for Emery anyway
8. Eiserman

If we go Eiserman, I'll be fine with it because maybe he can round out his game and his one trick is really good (and probably better than Halttunen)... but I get serious Dany Heatley vibes from him without the 6'4" part.

For the guys not on your list, assume you are thinking these guys have already been taken? Or were they options you didn't like?

• Helenius, Iginla

What do you think about some of the other Ds that may be in contention for #14 or the "trade down for someone that wants Eiserman" option.

• Solberg, Jiricek

And then for #33/#42 - who do you like best among the other Ds?

• Wallenius, Freij, Hutson, Badinka, Brunicke, Elick, Mews

 

[coooldude]

For the guys not on your list, assume you are thinking these guys have already been taken? Or were they options you didn't like?

• Helenius, Iginla

What do you think about some of the other Ds that may be in contention for #14 or the "trade down for someone that wants Eiserman" option.

• Solberg, Jiricek

And then for #33/#42 - who do you like best among the other Ds?

• Wallenius, Freij, Hutson, Badinka, Brunicke, Elick, Mews

I think Helenius and Iggy will be gone. If Helenius drops, I'd prefer MBN personally. They both have their fanboys, but Helenius sounds a lot like Eklund and MBN brings a bit more sandpaper (but might also still be able to play C).

Jiricek I don't know enough how to evaluate his knee injuries but that scares me. I think he'll drop into the 20's and be someone else's Musty (or never pan out).

Solberg I know nothing about. Hopefully the scouts do!

On #33/42, I am far less well read on those guys, but from the little I know or have read about from others, I'd put them in this order for the Sharks team Grier is trying to build:
Elick/Badinka/Brunicke, Hutson, Wallenius, Mews/Freij

Prime Dany Heatley was a great player

He scored a lot of points... I don't think I want to build a team around him, and players like him are often available in FA or at the TDL (as Heatley was, many times)

 

[Juxtaposer]

An absolute truckload of mocks are sending Jiricek to the Sharks right now. I feel like it’s more positional need than actual inside knowledge, so I’ll be curious if that starts to change closer to the combine and draft.

At the end of the day, if the scouts think Jiricek projects well as a top-4 D and aren’t worried about his injuries affecting his play long-term, then I’m on board. If healthy and improving, Jiricek would check a lot of boxes in our prospect pool and potentially would make a great partner for Mukhamadullin on our second pairing.

 

[pappaf2]

This Brandsegg-Nygård clip is making the rounds on social media.

Dude is a menace! I would think that’s the type player GMMG would love to see on the sharks. Other than wreaking havoc on the fore and back checks where does his skill set project him?

 

[Pinkfloyd]

An absolute truckload of mocks are sending Jiricek to the Sharks right now. I feel like it’s more positional need than actual inside knowledge, so I’ll be curious if that starts to change closer to the combine and draft.

At the end of the day, if the scouts think Jiricek projects well as a top-4 D and aren’t worried about his injuries affecting his play long-term, then I’m on board. If healthy and improving, Jiricek would check a lot of boxes in our prospect pool and potentially would make a great partner for Mukhamadullin on our second pairing.

How do you project the top six defenseman compared to Jiricek in terms of top four or top pairing? Are they all except for Jiricek relatively similar but maybe on different paths to get to that spot?

 

[coooldude]

How do you project the top six defenseman compared to Jiricek in terms of top four or top pairing? Are they all except for Jiricek relatively similar but maybe on different paths to get to that spot?

All of these guys are so different in flavor, the paths are all different and the upside/downside risk profile all different too.

AFAIK before the injuries Jiricek was seen as a stable all-rounder type. He's tall but he hasn't filled out. He is a 2-way defenseman but not super-elite in any area, certainly not as spiky as his brother but maybe more stable. Good skater.

With all that, he sounds most similar to Dickinson. Maybe there's a sliver of a shot that he ends up being a 50+ point all situations top pair D, but more likely he's a really stable calming force on the backend who chips in on occasion for 35-40 points and can play supporting on the top pair or can be solid second pair.

I think we can't say where he would have stacked up vs. Levshunov/Dickinson/Silayev/Parekh/Yakemchuk/Buium, except that as a RD, maybe he ends up being neck and neck with Dickinson if he had a good season. Dickinson is mocked anywhere from 4 to 10-11OA, so if his knee isn't a problem then it's great value at 14.

 

[Alaskanice]

Over on NHL.com there is an article by Aaron Vickers that has some NHL players who practiced with Macklin at the worlds. Quite impressive what they had to say. Even more exciting that he’s going to be in teal.

 

[Juxtaposer]

How do you project the top six defenseman compared to Jiricek in terms of top four or top pairing? Are they all except for Jiricek relatively similar but maybe on different paths to get to that spot?

The main difference is that I don’t think Jiricek has true top-pairing upside, so he has a more limited projection than the top six defensemen (who all definitely have top pairing upside, though some are riskier than others).

Jiricek is very much a “jack of all trades” type of player. Above average at everything, but no outstanding skill. Compared to his brother David, who has an elite shot, I just don’t see any particular aspect to Adam that I can project to a top pairing level. But if he can stay healthy he’s got a really good shot at playing in the NHL, and even even if he doesn’t hit his middle-pairing upside, bottom pairing two-way RHD’s with 6’2” frames are valuable.

Dude is a menace! I would think that’s the type player GMMG would love to see on the sharks. Other than wreaking havoc on the fore and back checks where does his skill set project him?

He’s got an excellent shot, which gives him good scoring potential. To me, MBN seems like everything we love about Zetterlund but dialed up to 20. Bigger, faster, better at everything.