Did any credible scouting outlet have misgivings about Lafreniere or Yakupov ?

[StreetHawk]

Laf, I'm trying to recall his scouting report. Only big thing I recall was that his skating wasn't great. But it was regarded as better than Tavares, so it's average at best.

Didn't hear anything about vision, shot, passing, size, etc. being elite. Or at least, I don't recall it.

What skillset was going to make up for skating if he wasn't able to bring it up another level or two?

Heading in 2020 was regarded as a deep draft, but maybe the high end top of the draft wasn't as good as others, but plenty of depth.

 

[K1984]

I am not a scout and am regularly very wrong, but I never got the hype for Laf. Looked like he just matured/developed early and seemed a 3rd line NHLer playing against lesser competition. Didn’t see special skills or ways he’d improve, just looked like a more complete player at a younger age who might not grow much from there.

I did like Yak, however, mostly because he was exciting, like how being chased by bees is exciting. It ain’t necessarily good, but it’s something.

PS- I had the same feeling on Wright as I did on Laf watching the world juniors. Bedard looked special, Wright didn’t. NHL teams wizened up to that one in time, however.

As an Oiler fan I didn't really watch any Yakupov other than highlights before he was drafted. Firs time I saw him was the Russia - CHL super series during the lockout and I remember being very, very underwhelmed. First time a red flag went off and unfortunately I was right.

Lafreniere and Yakupov aren’t in the same category. People are talking about Laf as if he is a bust, but he’s gotten better every year. The man is only 21. I still think there is some potential there to be a 60 point guy.

Nail could’ve been a great hockey player. He had some electrifying skill. I don’t know what happened in his life, but something prevented him from having a great career.

When you really watch him in detail he actually doesn't. His skating is choppy and awkward with poor acceleration and a low top end. He doesn't really have any fine touch puck skill. His passing and vision of the ice is atrocious.

He has a wildly inaccurate shot that happens to be hard, but that's honestly it.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Do the Rangers have problems developing forwards?

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

"I had someone in the scouting community describe his style to me as a guy who looks like he's being chased by bees."

- Ray Ferraro (When Asked about Yakupov before the start of his rookie year)

 

[Samsquanch]

Many of us didn't think he was a franchise talent. A lot of people did yes, but I didn't think he'd be a franchise type.

Thats why I said at "or near" franchise level. And hindsight is great and all that, but none of you called him being anything less than an elite first line winger. Maybe you didnt think he was going to be a top 10 kind of player, but this level of production is truly shocking.

 

[Unbiased Fan]

Watched Laf play in the Q and actually played against him at the Montreal meltdown before the Q draft. He was absolutely dominant he’d skate circles around our team and no one could even touch the puck. I only watched him play in his last year in the Q a couple of times but he looked just as dominant as he did in midget there. He made other drafted NHL players look like absolute fools. He has elite vision and was mature + he has zero faults to his game. He is a very good NHLer and will be for a long time but he lacks that elite game breaking talent. Reminds me of Brandon Saad and he was probably as good as Saad during his draft year. I think his lack of speed in particular will keep him down the lineup.

Watching him play tho I did think he was going to be a superstar but these are observations being made in hindsight

 

[983 others]

yes but their reports and concerns were accused of being clickbait

 

[Brookbank]

No means no

tldr version below

That is exactly it. It makes sense to me. This is not a good example but there's a woman at my job who is breathtakingly beautiful. She's sociable, accommodating, cheery, sings and dances. And I wouldn't be with her unless my very life counted on it because she also breaks down and cries, storms off, huffs and puffs all stressed out and goes through warp speed mood changes that swing so hard it'll knock you out just looking at them. Imagine her asking to be with me. HELL NO. HELL NO. If she goes through 8 mood swings in 8 hours what in God's name is she like at home? And for as much as I care about my sister, this also describes her (and my dad and my grandmother because they're all bipolar with BDP) and there is not one man whom would be my brother in law that I would not urge the greatest of caution.

Now imagine running the Maple Leafs a priceless, treasured franchise. You owe it to that locker room to keep this fool out. You saw the worst this kid had to offer and you STILL took him? Yeah I get it. You don't commit to someone who acts like this. If I wind up with a nutcase girlfriend it's my damn fault for being with her anyway despite every possible warning

The New England Patriots would have drafted Yak. Too bad there isn't a team in the NHL that specializes in odd ball players

 

[Brookbank]

Didn't hear anything about vision, shot, passing, size, etc. being elite. Or at least, I don't recall it.

I missed the 2020 NHL year completely. So I had to get the lowdown on it. This was one of the things I watched.

Bob Mckenzie says "elite" like 3 times in a row. I know its just a TV segment but still. This was the buzz. Watch the whole thing. Its a total hype train. And there was results to back the hype up.

 

[Gospel of Prospal]

Dan Scouch was the one scout I saw that wasn't sold on Lafreniere

 

[StreetHawk]

BMac notes elite hockey sense, creativity and competitiveness. Hockey sense makes up for average skating. Pavelski and Robertson are slow but think the game fast.

 

[Cup or Bust]

He may not have exploded out of the gate like you might hope a 1st overall pick would but If I was the Rangers I would be pretty happy to have a couple players in their early 20's who were able to put up 16 goals and 40 points as complementary players.

 

[AvroArrow]

People were literally calling Yakupov, Ovechkin 2.0 . I don't know if anyone predicted he'd bust this badly

 

[Frank Drebin]

He may not have exploded out of the gate like you might hope a 1st overall pick would but If I was the Rangers I would be pretty happy to have a couple players in their early 20's who were able to put up 16 goals and 40 points as complementary players.

Absolutely. Great second and third round picks

 

[Synergy27]

I remember watching @Scouching on YouTube's video breakdown of Lafreniere (just looked for it and it's not there...but there's 7 profiles from the 2020 draft that are hidden, assuming that must be one of them) - he was pretty critical from what I recall. His biggest red flags were skating and too many instances of just not moving his feet. Lots of floating.

I remember watching this too. The thing is, I am pretty sure Will still had him rated number one by a fair margin.

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

"I had someone in the scouting community describe his style to me as a guy who looks like he's being chased by bees."

- Ray Ferraro (When Asked about Yakupov before the start of his rookie year)

Mad accurate description

 

[sr edler]

I didn't follow Yakupov as a prospect or anything, but I still remember him having 0 goals at the World Juniors in his draft year, which I thought was a little odd at the time for a presumed top notch goal scorer, and in hindsight perhaps something that could have been a bit of a red flag. Then in his next WJC, he didn't really lit up that tourney either.

3 goals in 14 games at the World Juniors for someone some people described as the new Ovi or Bure?

Overall I think people just get bored and overhype some prospects, just because it's more fun to pretend all #1 picks are potential world beaters.

 

[abo9]

I never understood the love for Laf as a prospect either. In my mind, he was a Taylor Hall level prospect at best, not the franchise talent others were holding him out to be. Tbf, my recollection is that the hype actually wasn’t crazy until *after* NYR won the lottery, and then the big media market hype machine got going

Mayeb it was only a quebec thing, but I remember the hype train being pretty big for a while for Lafreniere.

As a rookie in the Q, he put up the most goals since Crosby, and iirc his pts totals were alao extremely impressive for being a rookie.

And then with the draft in Montreal... he was quite hyped

 

[Frank Drebin]

I didn't follow Yakupov as a prospect or anything, but I still remember him having 0 goals at the World Juniors in his draft year, which I thought was a little odd at the time for a presumed top notch goal scorer, and in hindsight perhaps something that could have been a bit of a red flag. Then in his next WJC, he didn't really lit up that tourney either.

3 goals in 14 games at the World Juniors for someone some people described as the new Ovi or Bure?

Overall I think people just get bored and overhype some prospects, just because it's more fun to pretend all #1 picks are potential world beaters.

 

[Pancakes]

Laf is still only 21. It doesn't seem like he's going to live up to hype at this point but I wouldn't be surprised if he turns into a reliable top six forward in the next few years. You'd want more than that out of a #1 overall but it would be stupid of the Rangers to give up on him this early.

And I say all this as a Pens fan so I obviously don't care much for the Rangers lol. But I think people are digging Laf's grave too soon.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I don’t get why this is considered a horrible interview I think it was a great interview

 

[luiginb]

I see nothing wrong with this interview, just how I saw nothing wrong with Yak's first season in the league. Something happened afterwards, he lost this mojo he used to have and super confidence in his skills.

 

[Thallis]

People were literally calling Yakupov, Ovechkin 2.0 . I don't know if anyone predicted he'd bust this badly

Who are "people"? In his draft year there was a legitimate question whether to pick Murray or not until the #failfornail hype train really got in motion. The overall mood was "bad draft. Bad draft. Bad Draft." Then it changed around February when the oilers were pulling away with last in the league. I didn't see any Ovechkin comparisons.

 

[Bougieman]

What I specifically remember about Laf before he was drafted was that whichever team won that televised draft lottery was basically winning a turnaround for their non-contender into a playoff team in the next year or so. He was hyped -- if not as much as Matthews, McDavid and Crosby were in their draft years -- then pretty damn close to it. The consensus was that he was a star NHLer already, and would just step in and make his team better.

I did not see anyone argue against this narrative at the time. It was as close to as universally agreed upon as any opinion I've seen on these boards and in the hockey world.

My brother is a Rangers fan, and I vividly remember phoning him up and congratulating him when the Rangers won the draft lottery. I've never done that for anything the rangers have accomplished in the last 20 years. It was that big of a deal.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Absolutely. Great second and third round picks

Yeah cause all top picks are elite players by the age of 21 or 22. Not all 1st overall picks even end up being elite NHL players.