Craig Button’s March Top 31 List (and my thoughts)

[AmericanDream]

that’s not the same thing.

sure it is a bit of stretch, but it is in my eyes on the same level of silliness it gets around here.

Wahlstrom and Samuelsson born and raised in the US, they have nothing to do with Sweden hockey outside of their fathers. players have roots from all over the place, God only knows where else these kids families have come from..

might as well call Akil Thomas American and countless others who are like him.

 

[Lays]

This list is terrible although I like the Berggren/Woo/ ranking who I find very overrated as well
I don’t know how you can make an argument for Tkachuk over Svech/Zadina. Tkachuk really isn’t as gritty as people think and Svech+Zadina both are better offensively than Tkachuk and defensively they’re both good as well and it’s not like Tkachuk is great defensively. He’s ok. His all around game is so overrated because of Matthew
Wilde over Hughes is funny because the only thing Wilde has on Hughes is size. Hughes is better defensively but Wilde has better defensive tools. Hughes is also dynamite offensively which Wilde isn’t(he’s good offensively but nothing special)
Also where is Bokk?
He seems to be really high on Swedes but I can’t find Nils Lundkvist on here which is surprising
There’s many more terrible things but these are the main ones

 

[Tryamkin]

sure it is a bit of stretch, but it is in my eyes on the same level of silliness it gets around here.

Wahlstrom and Samuelsson born and raised in the US, they have nothing to do with Sweden hockey outside of their fathers. players have roots from all over the place, God only knows where else these kids families have come from..

might as well call Akil Thomas American and countless others who are like him.

It really doesn’t matter. I could’ve said 7 Swedish born, I just chose a different wording, no need to get defensive of Americans.

 

[firstemperor]

If I'm being frank, awful list, but one of his off-the-wall picks will hit, and everyone will point to that to keep the list redeemable in hindsight.

 

[Tryamkin]

This list is terrible although I like the Berggren/Woo/ ranking who I find very overrated as well
I don’t know how you can make an argument for Tkachuk over Svech/Zadina. Tkachuk really isn’t as gritty as people think and Svech+Zadina both are better offensively than Tkachuk and defensively they’re both good as well and it’s not like Tkachuk is great defensively. He’s ok. His all around game is so overrated because of Matthew
Wilde over Hughes is funny because the only thing Wilde has on Hughes is size. Hughes is better defensively but Wilde has better defensive tools. Hughes is also dynamite offensively which Wilde isn’t(he’s good offensively but nothing special)
Also where is Bokk?
He seems to be really high on Swedes but I can’t find Nils Lundkvist on here which is surprising
There’s many more terrible things but these are the main ones

I think you meant Bode Wilde
But I agree

 

[M2Beezy]

Think id go for now

1 Dahlin
2 Svech
3 Zadina
4 Boquist
5 Wahlstorm
6 Hughes
7 Kepnoniemi
8 Farabee
9 Wilde
10 Bouchard
11 Tkachuck

 

[Killerjas]

Useless list, useless scout.

 

[Tryamkin]

Think id go for now

1 Dahlin
2 Svech
3 Zadina
4 Boquist
5 Wahlstorm
6 Hughes
7 Kepnoniemi
8 Farabee
9 Wilde
10 Bouchard
11 Tkachuck

Lmao the spellings
Mixing up Heponiemi with Kotkaniemi
Wahlstorm is a sick name

 

[AppsSyl]

At least he made the qualification just before the list that he did not include Bokk or Kravtsov, because he hadn't viewed them enough. At first I thought he just left them off.

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

I just feel he’s very biased against Russians. There’s many Russians you can argue deserve a top 31 spot.

Meh, they’ll just stay in Russia and compete for the Gagarin Cup and winning ”best on best”-championships in honor of Putin anyways...

 

[Tryamkin]

Meh, they’ll just stay in Russia and compete for the Gagarin Cup and winning ”best on best”-championships in honor of Putin anyways...

Haha, I was thinking more specifically of Khovanov(OHL) and Alexeyev (WHL)

 

[93LEAFS]

This is what happens when you attend the Olympics and not 5 nations.

Some of his flip flopping at this point is pretty bad. Yo-yoing guys that heavily is never a good look, and it makes me question how many viewings you are letting alter your opinions.

 

[QJL]

No Bokk or Kravtsov in the top 90 is absurd.

 

[Brodeur]

No Bokk or Kravtsov in the top 90 is absurd.

From the article:

Note: If I haven’t seen a player at least four times, they don’t get evaluated. That’s why highly rated players like German winger Dominik Bokk and Russian forward Vitaly Kravtsov aren’t in this month’s rankings.

 

[Tube Skates]

Just wanted to point out that Groulx is a centre

 

[Tryamkin]

Just wanted to point out that Groulx is a centre

I don’t think he’ll be one in the NHL but that’s just my opinion.

 

[Tube Skates]

I don’t think he’ll be one in the NHL but that’s just my opinion.

Thought that might have been what you were saying just wasn't sure

 

[Tryamkin]

Thought that might have been what you were saying just wasn't sure

Guess I didn’t word it very well. My blood started to boil and the words just came after reading his rankings

 

[42]

Think id go for now

1 Dahlin
2 Svech
3 Zadina
4 Boquist
5 Wahlstorm
6 Hughes
7 Kepnoniemi
8 Farabee
9 Wilde
10 Bouchard
11 Tkachuck

Tkachuk will go much higher than 11th. I think ISS has the best list I've seen ISS Top 31 - Top Prospect Rankings

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Tkachuk is great. I love how ill informed people are about him (same thing happened to Matt, he just kept falling in the ‘expert rankings’. I remember someone ranked him in the 20s.)

I could see Brady being the next Getzlaf.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Craig's List: Bouchard rocketing up draft board - Article - TSN

1 Rasmus Dahlin Frolunda (SHL) D
2 Brady Tkachuk Boston U (NCAA) LW
3 Andrei Svechnikov Barrie (OHL) RW
4 Filip Zadina Halifax (QMJHL) RW
5 Evan Bouchard London (OHL) D
6 Adam Boqvist Brynäs (SWE J20) D
7 Barrett Hayton S.S. Marie (OHL) C
8 Noah Dobson A-Bathurst (QMJHL) D
9 Oliver Wahlstrom USA NTDP (USHL) C
10 Jesperi Kotkaniemi Ässät (SM Liiga) C
11 Bode Wilde USA NTDP (USHL) D
12 Quinn Hughes Michigan (NCAA) D
13 Rasmus Kupari Kärpät (SM Liiga) C
14 Grigori Denisenko Yaroslavl (MHL) LW
15 Joel Farabee USA NTDP (USHL) LW
16 Serron Noel Oshawa (OHL) RW
17 Isac Lundestrom Luleå (SHL) C/LW
18 Rasmus Sandin S.S. Marie (OHL) D
19 Ty Smith Spokane (WHL) D
20 Akil Thomas Niagara (OHL) RW
21 Jacob Olofsson Timra (SWE-Als) C
22 Jack McBain Toronto (OJHL) C
23 Filip Hallander Timra (SWE-Als) C/LW
24 Jared McIsaac Halifax (QMJHL) D
25 Nicolas Beaudin Drummondville (QMJHL) D
26 Ryan Merkley Guelph (OHL) D
27 Joe Veleno Drummondville (QMJHL) C
28 Mattias Samuelsson USA NTDP (USHL) D
29 Albin Eriksson Skellefteå (SWE J20) LW
30 Ryan McLeod Mississuaga (OHL) C/LW
31 Benoît-Olivier Groulx Halifax (QMJHL) C

Here’s Craig’s monthly ranking, and I need to let loose some air on how I feel about this.

first thing; Tkachuk at 2 is laughably bad. Taking him over Svechnikov or Zadina would be one of the worst GM moves ever. Worse than than Juolevi over Serg and Tkachuk. It doesn’t make any sense, and it adds to my point that he buys into media pressure. He’s had Boqvist at 2 the entire year and literally hasn’t stopped praising him. Look at every one of his lists the entire year. Now he drops Boqvist to 6 when he realizes he’s been partially wrong the entire time. Hayton is a favourite player he’s always had. He’s even credited himself for his discovery so I’m not surprised he’s still in his top 10. I don’t even see Hayton as a top 3 center in the draft. Positionally, Wahlstrom is a winger. Still on Bode Wilde, even though he’s been quite bad. He’s always had a love for SSM players and it’s evident with the crazy high rankings of Sandin and Hayton as I mentioned earlier. I remember he had Frost and McCann high as well. He’s dropped Veleno due to bad performance but hasn’t raised him since he’s improved over the last month or two. Along the same path, he dropped Tkachuk when he had a bad few months. All of a sudden he moves Tkachuk back to the top right after a good WJC and a few alright games. That’s completely not a balanced way to measure prospects. You can’t do it for some and not others. Smith is too low, I cant believe he has Sandin above him considering Sandin is literally the same mold of defender as Smith, just worse. Of course he sticks with his love for Lundestrom, Hallander and Olofsson. He literally has Swede Fever. They play worse and he just continues to build them up. Again, Albin ******* Eriksson is in his first round.. why am I surprised. Apparently he needs to watch 4 games to measure players. Bokk and Kravtsov aren’t there of course. How has he NOT seen 4 VAXJO LAKERS GAMES to watch Bokk but he’s seen so many games on Lulea and Frolunda. Back to positions, Groulx is a winger. He was only a center in junior and he can’t play center anymore, he just isn’t that player. 2 Russians in the 1st round, yet 9 players with Swedish roots. He’s got McIssac and Noel high still, not factoring in that they’ve been playing worse and shouldn’t be in the 1st anymore.

That’s just my opinion. What do you guys think?

And this is why,,he is not gm anymore.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Tkachuk getting underrated. People think he's only highly rated because of his last name and size, but his package of size, skill, and nastiness is what makes him so coveted.

He shouldn't go 2nd overall or anything but I could see him going anywhere between 4 and 9. It all depends on the order of the top 10.

 

[kevrondl]

Button has always been awful. A terrible evaluator of talent and just about everything else.

I'll never forget when he had New Jersey taking Zach Fucale at #9 in 2013, not long before the draft.

 

[JK2K]

At least there’s no Kondelik or Giles to be found......
That’s a positive.

 

[JK2K]

This is what happens when you attend the Olympics and not 5 nations.

Some of his flip flopping at this point is pretty bad. Yo-yoing guys that heavily is never a good look, and it makes me question how many viewings you are letting alter your opinions.

Boqvist went from 2 to 6 after an abysmal 5Nations, so I’d say he’s been more than fair.
Can’t have Tkachuk at 2, just not skilled enough. Has to be Zadina or Svechnikov.
Hayton is too high. Not bad otherwise.