Prospect Info: Hurricanes Prospect Info and Discussion - Part VI

[MinJaBen]

Just noticed Booth has the top save % in the QMJHL. Pretty impressive. With his solid season and Ned's disappointing season, you guys think he is now our top goalie prospect?

I'd put him there at this point because of his consistency. Ned's always had peaks and valleys to his game, where as Booth has steadily improved.

 

[NotOpie]

Just noticed Booth has the top save % in the QMJHL. Pretty impressive. With his solid season and Ned's disappointing season, you guys think he is now our top goalie prospect?

I'd put him there at this point because of his consistency. Ned's always had peaks and valleys to his game, where as Booth has steadily improved.

When factoring in who is closer to eventually being ready for the AHL/NHL, he's probably the guy. But there's a lot of positive buzz around Jeremy Helvig and Jack LaFontaine. LaFontaine is the youngest guy in a 3-headed monster at Michigan and, I believe, Helvig has one more year of eligibility in the OHL. My guess is Ronnie takes one more tender in this Summer's draft, too.

 

[TheOllieC]

hmmm odd how matt filipe outproduced this boards mancrush and savior kieffer bellows playing in the same division of college hockey

 

[bleedgreen]

If we keep the majority of our picks I'd expect a goalie in the first three rounds.

 

[raynman]

hmmm odd how matt filipe outproduced this boards mancrush and savior kieffer bellows playing in the same division of college hockey

David Cotton too.

 

[FaulkYouAho]

If we keep the majority of our picks I'd expect a goalie in the first three rounds.

First 2 for me. We have 4 picks in the first 2 rounds and 7 in the first 3 rounds but i expect us to pick a forward with the first pick a goalie with our 2nd pick and get one of the best goalies in the draft. (i like Oettinger) Here our the stats for him

Oettinger: 33 2.09 .927

 

[NotOpie]

David Cotton too.

Plus he really came on as the season progressed. Frankly I was impressed with both Cotton and Filipe, especially since both were somewhat slow out of the blocks. But that's not atypical for freshman in the NCAA, especially when playing for ECAC and Hockey East teams.

First 2 for me. We have 4 picks in the first 2 rounds and 7 in the first 3 rounds but i expect us to pick a forward with the first pick a goalie with our 2nd pick and get one of the best goalies in the draft. (i like Oettinger) Here our the stats for him

Oettinger: 33 2.09 .927

Despite all the anti-hype of this draft, there are a bunch of good goalie prospects. Many will be available in the 3rd and 4th rounds. At the top will be guys like Oettinger, but there's also Keith Petruzzelli, Olle Eriksson Ek, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and later in the draft Dayton Rasmussen and Maxim Zhukov. All of these guys show promise and 3 or more of them will almost certainly be available in the 3rd or 4th round.

I'd much rather us look at moving some of those early picks in deals for NHL ready or near ready players. I really don't want us making more than 8 picks this Summer.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I'm in the tank for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, just because I want to say it over and over.

Ukko.
Pekka.
Luukkonen.

ukapekalukanen.

No brainer.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Trying to say that the Canes will use pick #1 on this and pick #2 on that is a complete shot in the dark, because we have no idea how the draft will play out. Last year showed that for sure as EVERYBODY expected the Canes would take a forward with their 1st pick, but because their was a run on forwards right before they picked, they went with D. I'm guessing that unless the Canes trade their pick, they'll take the best player, regardless of position.

NotOpie, I agree with you that it would be nice to trade some picks for NHL players, but I'm not worried about the # of picks they make (your statement of not making more than 8 picks) as it's deal dependent. For instance, if they were to trade their 1st round pick in a package for someone really strong, then I have no problem with them using the rest of their picks. Or, if they are able to take advantage of either cap strapped teams or teams struggling with expansion, they may not need to trade as many picks. The good news, is they have a lot of options.

 

[NotOpie]

NotOpie, I agree with you that it would be nice to trade some picks for NHL players, but I'm not worried about the # of picks they make (your statement of not making more than 8 picks) as it's deal dependent. For instance, if they were to trade their 1st round pick in a package for someone really strong, then I have no problem with them using the rest of their picks. Or, if they are able to take advantage of either cap strapped teams or teams struggling with expansion, they may not need to trade as many picks. The good news, is they have a lot of options.

Oh, I agree BBA. I think there are a couple of things at play here, too. For example, if we trade a couple of prospects and a pick or two for an NHL player or two, then we've effectively reduced the depth in our prospect pool. GMRF would probably want to restock if he's shed some of those assets in a deal(s) for NHL'ers. So he could easily use more of those picks. Also, if a deal isn't to be had, he's got little choice but to make the picks.

That said, while I was surprised by the Bean pick, I wasn't against it at all. We had that 2nd 1st rounder and Kunin, Bellows, Gauthier, Rubstov, Jones, Tufte, Thompson, and Howden were all still on the board. We ended up with a great pick in the 2nd round in Kuokkanen (even though he's fallen off a bit, he's still over a PPG and potted 26 goals in his 1st season playing NA hockey). So I was very satisfied with the 2 forwards we got in the 1st 60 picks. Add in Filipe's nice freshman season at Northeastern and Elynuik's big year with Spokane, while it's still too early to tell, this points to good things in the future.

Finally, there may be less cap-strapped teams this year as there was a recent statement by somebody in the league office who suggested the cap might rise by as much as $3 million. Regardless, I still think Ronnie does something creative whether for a team up against the cap or a team looking to not lose a player for nothing in expansion.

 

[Brock Anton]

Trying to say that the Canes will use pick #1 on this and pick #2 on that is a complete shot in the dark, because we have no idea how the draft will play out. Last year showed that for sure as EVERYBODY expected the Canes would take a forward with their 1st pick, but because their was a run on forwards right before they picked, they went with D. I'm guessing that unless the Canes trade their pick, they'll take the best player, regardless of position.

Sure, but as NotOpie pointed out, last year was a bit of a different situation. We could afford to go D at #13 because of the second 1st. If we didn't have the luxury of having #21, I'm not sure we take Bean there, we very well may have just taken Gauthier at #13.

This year, unless Liljegren falls to our pick, it's pretty much a lock that we're going forward in the 1st round. There's just not that many high-end defensemen in this draft to even consider taking in the range we're likely going to be picking (i.e. there's no Bean, Chychrun, McAvoy level prospects).

 

[NotOpie]

Sure, but as NotOpie pointed out, last year was a bit of a different situation. We could afford to go D at #13 because of the second 1st. If we didn't have the luxury of having #21, I'm not sure we take Bean there, we very well may have just taken Gauthier at #13.

This year, unless Liljegren falls to our pick, it's pretty much a lock that we're going forward in the 1st round. There's just not that many high-end defensemen in this draft to even consider taking in the range we're likely going to be picking (i.e. there's no Bean, Chychrun, McAvoy level prospects).

Personally I think we would have picked Luke Kunin if we only had a single 1st rounder last year. He's just too much of a Ron Francis type of player.

While Liljegren is rated highly by some and is a RHD, many rate Miro Heiskanen higher. Personally I like Juuso Valimaki better than any of them, but Heiskanen and Valimaki are both lefties, so I don't thing they are in the cards. Then there's the smurphy Cale Makar, who has been rising on a lot of boards.

Still, there are too many solid, big-bodied guys with skill that should be on the board when we pick for us to go defense again. That's my story and I'm sticking to it....

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Fair enough, I don't know the prospects as well as you guys so you may be right. I'm just going off of the fact that in 3 of the last 6 drafts, we all thought about "need" and were surprised by the pick. 2010 (Skinner vs. Fowler), 2014 (Fleury vs. Nylander/Ehlers/Richie), and 2016 (Bean vs. Bellows, etc..).

 

[A Star is Burns]

I said last year all along that it wouldn't be a big deal if they went D with their pick, and was happy with that thought process, and the Bean pick. They got the best asset in their minds, and they'll be in a position to cash in on the overabundance of D at some point. Of course, that probably needs to be sooner than later, but we'll see.

Same thing this year. Of course I think all things being equal, they'll go forward, but who knows if we've perhaps traded a roster dman, and a prospect dman, or two prospect dmen to get the NHL forward we all want, then taking a D wouldn't be that shocking. Even if we haven't, I'm sure that if the team thinks one of the dmen is way ahead of the available forwards, they will take them. And it may not be a dman we're even thinking of again.

 

[FaulkYouAho]

Despite all the anti-hype of this draft, there are a bunch of good goalie prospects. Many will be available in the 3rd and 4th rounds. At the top will be guys like Oettinger, but there's also Keith Petruzzelli, Olle Eriksson Ek, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and later in the draft Dayton Rasmussen and Maxim Zhukov. All of these guys show promise and 3 or more of them will almost certainly be available in the 3rd or 4th round.

I'd much rather us look at moving some of those early picks in deals for NHL ready or near ready players. I really don't want us making more than 8 picks this Summer.

i like keith but i like Oettinger more. And also like you said there are a lot of good goalie prospects in this draft beyond the 2nd round. That really doesn't happen that often. Yes we got lucky with booth and our other goalie prospects but still its very rare for a deep draft in goalies.

 

[NotOpie]

Fair enough, I don't know the prospects as well as you guys so you may be right. I'm just going off of the fact that in 3 of the last 6 drafts, we all thought about "need" and were surprised by the pick. 2010 (Skinner vs. Fowler), 2014 (Fleury vs. Nylander/Ehlers/Richie), and 2016 (Bean vs. Bellows, etc..).

I don't profess to be anywhere near informed as our scouts/GM are/is. And I also have a begrudging adherence to "BPA" drafting strategy, because I do believe you can move these guys for assets that you want...it's just not always as easy as some think. However, I also think you have to look at your system and factor in area of greatest need. I think that's why Fleury, Hanifin, and Bean all were drafted in the 1st round. They were the best players available as far as the Canes were concerned AND it filled what was perceived to be our greatest weakness at the time.

Now we all seem to think we've got some depth on the back end and our forward corps is what needs to be addressed. What is particularly interesting about this draft is that it isn't chock full of game changer forwards, but there's still a lot of good talent there. The back end seems to be rather strong, especially in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Given that there's also a ton of goalie talent, I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with a couple more netminders too (although I'd probably limit that to one this year).

I said last year all along that it wouldn't be a big deal if they went D with their pick, and was happy with that thought process, and the Bean pick. They got the best asset in their minds, and they'll be in a position to cash in on the overabundance of D at some point. Of course, that probably needs to be sooner than later, but we'll see.

Same thing this year. Of course I think all things being equal, they'll go forward, but who knows if we've perhaps traded a roster dman, and a prospect dman, or two prospect dmen to get the NHL forward we all want, then taking a D wouldn't be that shocking. Even if we haven't, I'm sure that if the team thinks one of the dmen is way ahead of the available forwards, they will take them. And it may not be a dman we're even thinking of again.

Again, I think Valimaki and Heiskanen are really good and I might snag one of those guys if the forward options look grim in the 1st round. But we really need a solid righty and they aren't that.

i like keith but i like Oettinger more. And also like you said there are a lot of good goalie prospects in this draft beyond the 2nd round. That really doesn't happen that often. Yes we got lucky with booth and our other goalie prospects but still its very rare for a deep draft in goalies.

Goalies are super unpredictable and picking early round goalies is never a sure bet. Jack Campbell says hello. Some of the best goalies out there were taken in the 3rd round and later. Lundqvist was a 7th rounder, Quick was a 3rd rounder, Martin Jones was undrafted; for every Carry Price )1st rounder, there's a Sergei Bobrovsky (undrafted free agent pick up).

 

[Navin R Slavin]

A reminder:

ukkopekkaluukkonen

 

[A Star is Burns]

A reminder:

ukkapekkaluukkonen

I am now at the point where I'll be disappointed if they don't draft him. He will easily pass Jyrki Jokipakka for my favorite name if he makes it.

"And the first start of the game with 37 saves uuuukkaaaaapekkaaaaluuuuuuukkonennnnnn!"

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I am now at the point where I'll be disappointed if they don't draft him. He will easily pass Jyrki Jokipakka for my favorite name if he makes it.

"And the first start of the game with 37 saves uuuukkaaaaapekkaaaaluuuuuuukkonennnnnn!"

Add me to the list that will be disappointed if we dont' get him.

 

[CandyCanes]

I want in on this list too. What a remarkable name.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Hey Lempo, we need a scouting report on this remarkable young man.

 

[NotOpie]

Add me to the list that will be disappointed if we dont' get him.

Now call it a quintet.


U-Pek is gonna be the man!

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Canes goaltending tandem of 2020. Nedeljkovic and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Maybe that's been our problem all along? Our goalies have last names that are too short and uncomplicated: Ward, Lack, Peters, Ellis, etc..

 

[MinJaBen]

Canes goaltending tandem of 2020. Nedeljkovic and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Maybe that's been our problem all along? Our goalies have last names that are too short and uncomplicated: Ward, Lack, Peters, Ellis, etc..

Khudobin?

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Khudobin?

Obviously, Ruined by Marcoux.