Leaf Draft Wars 2015: Who! Will! They! Pick!? - Part VII

[The Bad Seed*]

That indicates they are willing to move to 7. I could see them talking to Carolina about flip scenarios. Let's say Strome goes 3rd that means either Hannifin or Marner but dropping to 7th seems risky. Dubas talked about elite talent but Provorov sounds good, not elite.

Carolina's 5th plus their 2nd rounder this year to take Hannifin? Strome at 4th leaving Hunter with (Ontario boy)Marner I could see easily.Or what if Az takes Hannifin but Carolina wants Strome to mentor under Staal? It is worth it to take a 2nd rounder and still get anyone of Strome,Marner or Hannifin.

I would be all over this. If strome and marner are both there at four, we absolutely need to know what Carolina covets. If we can get their second to move back one spot to get the kid we want we have too. I will be pissed if we move out of the top five though

 

[SeenSchenn2]

I have no interest in moving down to pass on Marner, Hanifin or Strome.

Barzal/Crouse/Zacha aren't as good as Marner and Strome, and IMO Hanifin is better than Provorov. He's impressive for sure, but yeah I don't think he's better.

 

[hockeywiz542]

“it’s something we would definitely look at,†said dubas about moving the no. 4 selection. “if [another team] was adamant about a player, we’re pretty comfortable with the players in that cluster. We need to be acquiring as many draft pick assets as we can; as many prospects as we can. If there was something [a trade] that made sense, we’d be open to listening and having some thorough discussions on the fourth pick.â€

when dubas said “another team,†the presumption had to be one of two trade partners: Carolina and new jersey — slotted fifth and sixth in the draft. Any notion of the maple leafs moving out of the top half–dozen is preposterous. Connor mcdavid will go to first to edmonton; jack eichel second to buffalo. It is widely assumed arizona wants strome at no. 3. That would leave toronto an attractive choice between hanifin, crouse and marner among the top–six–rated prospects. Given his remarks to mcgran, dubas implied the leafs have no particular favorite in that group. So, trading no. 3 for no. 4 or no. 5 — plus, let’s say, a second–round pick (which toronto doesn’t have) — is considered a “safe†move.

More comfortable, i might suggest, would be the maple leafs forming a consensus among hanifin, crouse and marner — which is still possible before the june 26–27 lottery in sunrise, fla. You would think mark hunter and his eagle–eyed posse of amateur scouts could agree on a clear 1–2–3 appraisal of the aforementioned, thereby minimizing the appetite to deal the no. 4 slot. In regard to wayward speculation that the leafs would include their pick as part of an elaborate transaction involving roster players, let us advocate for the club to remain efficiently conservative in its early building process. There is no requirement to reconstruct the maple leafs for the 2015–16 season. Mike babcock, you’ll likely recall, has come aboard for eight years, not eight months.

The leafs would be much–better served to offer up a current asset in a simple, one–for–one deal to fill their second–round vacancy; perhaps center–man tyler bozak, who’d be well worthy of such an exchange from a team further along in development. It would also allow the maple leafs to eliminate what is — for their purposes — a bloated contract.

Bottom line is, brendan shanahan’s crew has to stay smart and keep its eye on the ball. It has long required much ineptitude to land a no. 4 pick and the maple leafs were full value for their crumminess throughout the 2014–15 season. Many scouts will tell you the fourth selection in this year’s draft is equal to a no. 1 pick in most others. If i’m kyle dubas, i would be content — and very careful — with it.

 

[Petkopoulos]

Dubas was scouting the heck out of Jansen Harkins my friend told me so there's that.

Heard the same thing... Apparently loves him and I was told this right after the trade deadline

 

[AppsSyl]

I think the key move the leafs need to make is to acquire the 5th from Carolina without giving up Reilly, Nylander or the 4th. If they can do that, the are going to be the winners of the draft. Getting a combination of 2 of Marner, Hanifin, Provorov or Strome would be incredible. If Hanifin is gone at 3
You can draft Marner at 4 and flip flop with NJ to get Provorov + likely. I think they could make a play for the 8th or 10th as well. In that case one of Rantanen, Barzal, Crouse would look good too.
I think we have the horses to pull off the deals. Kessel and JVRs values are often underrated.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Heard the same thing... Apparently loves him and I was told this right after the trade deadline

30 on Bobs list; bit of a stretch ? Don't know a lot about him.

Looking at other lists, he ranked right around where we picking.

 

[Paradoc]

How would you guys rank Marner and Strome against previous top 2 draft picks as PROSPECT?

Hall
Seguin
Landeskog
RNH
Mackinnon
Barkov
Ekblad
Reinhart
Yakupov
Murray
Tavares
Hedman
Stamkos
Doughty

 

[Duke16]

Interesting tidbit:
Today I was at my local hockey training where a lot of OHL players train in the offseason. I caught a couple of my OHL buddies after their practise and I asked them a question:
Who is the hardest forward to contain in the OHL out of Marner, Strome and Zacha?
2 answered Marner and 2 answered Zacha. I asked them why and for Marner they said he is a quick playmaker who is able to do it all himself or he can surprise them with a great pass as well. They also said he is relentless on the forecheck which creates a lot of oppurtinities for himself and team mates. For Zacha they said he is hard to stop because he is tall and filled out, he is a very skilled player and punishing at the same time.

 

[horner]

Interesting tidbit:
Today I was at my local hockey training where a lot of OHL players train in the offseason. I caught a couple of my OHL buddies after their practise and I asked them a question:
Who is the hardest forward to contain in the OHL out of Marner, Strome and Zacha?
2 answered Marner and 2 answered Zacha. I asked them why and for Marner they said he is a quick playmaker who is able to do it all himself or he can surprise them with a great pass as well. They also said he is relentless on the forecheck which creates a lot of oppurtinities for himself and team mates. For Zacha they said he is hard to stop because he is tall and filled out, he is a very skilled player and punishing at the same time.

Would love either player

 

[Mess]

Going back a decade here's a list of the 15 highest scoring first time OHL draft eligible players (points per game):

3 of the top 5 on this list are draft eligible this year.

 

[Rufio65*]

How would you guys rank Marner and Strome against previous top 2 draft picks as PROSPECT?

Hall
Seguin
Landeskog
RNH
Mackinnon
Barkov
Ekblad
Reinhart
Yakupov
Murray
Tavares
Hedman
Stamkos
Doughty

Tavares
Stammer
Ekblad
Doughty
Mackinnon
Hedman
Reinhart
Seguin
Yakupov
Strome
RNH
Landeskog
Marner
Barkov
Murray

 

[BigWilly]

Going back a decade here's a list of the 15 highest scoring first time OHL draft eligible players (points per game):

3 of the top 5 on this list are draft eligible this year.

Why was it that Bailey lasted to 9th overall?

 

[The_Chosen_One]

Going back a decade here's a list of the 15 highest scoring first time OHL draft eligible players (points per game):

3 of the top 5 on this list are draft eligible this year.

It's amazing how deep this draft is. We really need to acquire another high first rounder ( say 10-ish) and draft someone like Barzal.

 

[BigWilly]

Tavares
Stammer
Ekblad
Doughty
Mackinnon
Hedman
Reinhart
Seguin
Yakupov
Strome
RNH
Landeskog
Marner
Barkov
Murray

Pretty ridiculous rankings in my opinion. Ekblad was not nearly as hyped as Mackinnon, Doughty, or Hedman, for example.

Tavares
Stammer
Mackinnon
Doughty
Marner
Hedman
Barkov
Strome
Seguin
Ekblad
Yakupov
RNH
Reinhart
Landeskog
Murray

 

[Paradoc]

Going back a decade here's a list of the 15 highest scoring first time OHL draft eligible players (points per game):

3 of the top 5 on this list are draft eligible this year.

Interesting chart. Wish it consist of QMJHL and WHL players as well. I'll be using this though for future references.

 

[Daisy Jane]

30 on Bobs list; bit of a stretch ? Don't know a lot about him.

Looking at other lists, he ranked right around where we picking.

a centre, really, really smart
that's all i really know lol. but he's really good statistically, puts up good points and all of that jazz

 

[Nithoniniel]

a centre, really, really smart
that's all i really know lol. but he's really good statistically, puts up good points and all of that jazz

Wouldn't mind the pick. Feels like the kind of guy that has strengths in areas that are hard to develop, weaknesses in more easily corrected or developed areas.

 

[theIceWookie]

I agree this isn't going to happen today or tomorrow and this is going to go down around the draft or during the draft.

If teams are interested in Hanifin and talking to Leafs about acquiring the #4 overall to do so that is all dependent on Hanifin not being drafted at #3. So this deal couldn't happen until after the #3 selection is actually made.

Conversely a team debating about trading their top 10 pick for Kessel might do that only if the player they really wanted to draft there is also gone.

The odds are likely greater the Leafs don't trade down from #4, but according to Dubas/Hunter own quotes (not fan speculation) they claim their listening to offers for it. How do you know its not in the cards?

And chiarelli said that Edmonton would be open to the possibility of trading the first overall pick.

GMs say things all te time. It really means nothing. Gms will be open to anything but it doesn't mean that is the most likely option.

 

[FlareKnight]

In the end if we can just pick someone at 4 I'll be happy with it . There are a ton of really good and talented guys available there.

No idea who they'll go for at this point. Could easily see them take any of Marner/Strome/Hanifin, or even a bit of an unexpected guy like Provorov.

 

[91Stammer*]

Pretty ridiculous rankings in my opinion. Ekblad was not nearly as hyped as Mackinnon, Doughty, or Hedman, for example.

Tavares
Stammer
Mackinnon
Doughty
Marner
Hedman
Barkov
Strome
Seguin
Ekblad
Yakupov
RNH
Reinhart
Landeskog
Murray

I would put Seguin over Barkov and Strome everyday. He is just that much better.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Heard the same thing... Apparently loves him and I was told this right after the trade deadline

Interesting, But I hope he's taking a look at the other PG centre as well.

 

[ConnorTO]

i bet they pick strome

 

[BigWilly]

I would put Seguin over Barkov and Strome everyday. He is just that much better.

I'm having a bit of a hard time remembering the hype Seguin received in his draft year, but I'm almost 100% positive he was less hyped than Barkov.

 

[Muston Atthews]

I'm having a bit of a hard time remembering the hype Seguin received in his draft year, but I'm almost 100% positive he was less hyped than Barkov.

Taylor vs Tyler was a huge story all year

 

[BigWilly]

Taylor vs Tyler was a huge story all year

That doesn't really answer my question of "wasn't Barkov more hyped than Seguin?"