Intangir
Registered User
The only factors precluding Lundell from a top 5-8 draft slot are skating, his acceleration and top speed are slightly below-average, his strides are choppy and his posture is weird (flaws that long-term power-skating lessons can rectify), and problems pertaining to his overall skillset as an offensive player, AKA lack of ++ puck skills, creativity, coupled with the fact that his release and arsenal of shots are only ''good''. Of the two, his relative weakness offensively compared to higher-ranked prospects is the harder flaw to make up for as you can't really develop pure talent, and it might ultimately limit his offensive potential, but that perceived lack of skill is overstated in my opinion, and Lundell's hockey sense and other attributes are underestimated in turn.
The positives outweigh the negatives massively for this kid, plain and simple. For one, he's as safe a prospect as I've seen in years in the draft; if injuries/weird accidents don't cause him to miss entirely, his absolute lowest floor is a bottom-6 forward. And then there's the fact that his absolute ceiling is not just a 50 point guy, but a 60-70 point strong two-way center that does basically everything well and competes hard, something that all teams need more of.
Personally, I feel that Lundell has less star potential than a guy like Kotkaniemi did as a prospect, also possesses a lower bust factor and higher floor, but otherwise is very similar to what Jesperi was as a prospect, and that is just an insanely good get. Some, put off by the fact that he doesn't track to be a first-liner, are really down on him, but I think they're a bit off their radar in this case.
If Lundell falls lower than the 10th-12th pick, the team that gets him is getting great value for their draft pick investment. If he fell to 16 I'd be stoked for the Canadiens to draft him even though we're set at center for the next 10 years.
He's that good, and should be getting more respect around here from non-finnish posters.
The positives outweigh the negatives massively for this kid, plain and simple. For one, he's as safe a prospect as I've seen in years in the draft; if injuries/weird accidents don't cause him to miss entirely, his absolute lowest floor is a bottom-6 forward. And then there's the fact that his absolute ceiling is not just a 50 point guy, but a 60-70 point strong two-way center that does basically everything well and competes hard, something that all teams need more of.
Personally, I feel that Lundell has less star potential than a guy like Kotkaniemi did as a prospect, also possesses a lower bust factor and higher floor, but otherwise is very similar to what Jesperi was as a prospect, and that is just an insanely good get. Some, put off by the fact that he doesn't track to be a first-liner, are really down on him, but I think they're a bit off their radar in this case.
If Lundell falls lower than the 10th-12th pick, the team that gets him is getting great value for their draft pick investment. If he fell to 16 I'd be stoked for the Canadiens to draft him even though we're set at center for the next 10 years.
He's that good, and should be getting more respect around here from non-finnish posters.
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