Prospect Info: The 2015 NHL Draft Thread III

[Emperoreddy]

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[Brodeur]

Seattle beat Portland 6-3. Couple weeks ago, they lost to them 4-3 and Barzal was pointless and -4. Tonight he had a goal and was +3.

 

[MichaelJ]

As I mentioned though, with Rantanen his natural position is center.

Seguin did pretty well playing RW with Spezza.

And, many successful wings were once centers in juniors. Centers usually have the complete skillset to shift to a wing. Heck, Marner is playing C right now and they're already talking about him being a better a RW at the NHL level.

 

[Emperoreddy]

As I mentioned though, with Rantanen his natural position is center.

Seguin did pretty well playing RW with Spezza.

And, many successful wings were once centers in juniors. Centers usually have the complete skillset to shift to a wing. Heck, Marner is playing C right now and they're already talking about him being a better a RW at the NHL level.

I don't know if there is enough to say he is better suited as a center. His current success is at wing, he might think he is a center, but he can also be wrong and is just better suited for wing.

Which is fine because we need RWs in the system pretty badly.

Just think if we are really looking center then its better to look at Zacha or Barzal.

 

[schoenfeld]

i know all the 20-somethings on this board want some flashy ******* who SCORES THEM GOALS and thats fine and dandy and all, but if we are gonna draft in the top 15 i want someone who knows how to backcheck.

before the usual chuckle****s chime in about DEVILS STYLE FORWARDS ARE OUTDATED go look at patrik elias's career and tell me we couldn't use someone like that again

 

[MichaelJ]

I don't know if there is enough to say he is better suited as a center. His current success is at wing, he might think he is a center, but he can also be wrong and is just better suited for wing.

Which is fine because we need RWs in the system pretty badly.

Just think if we are really looking center then its better to look at Zacha or Barzal.

He also has a LH shot, if he were to stay at wing, you'd probably see this organization flip him to the other side.

 

[AusDev]

Is it that big a deal if he plays centre or wing? We need good forwards, I don't really care which position he plays. I thought the idea of the previous posts was that he has played and likes playing centre. If he could become a great centre, awesome. If he shows he's much better at wing, that's cool too. Don't young players switch between the two reasonably often? Just take the best forward.

 

[AusDev]

I mean I know they aren't of the same quality but our two Blake's, Pietila and Coleman, have both switched between the two multiple times at college level. Not sure about Coleman, but I'm pretty sure Pietila was drafted as a LW and he has played his best hockey at C in college. You don't have to lock a guy into a spot as soon as he's drafted.

 

[Devils1029]

I was on the Tank bandwagon because I saw an opportunity to get a good young offensive player - either a speedy talented winger in Marner or else a big center who is good on draws and has the ability to both set up and score in Strome.

That said, this recent winning streak has pushed up to picking 8th and 1 pt away from 9th. Sure, we're beating up on the bottom feeders but they continue to stink and drop in the standings while we're push for the moral victories. Yes, we know, we're a better team than our record, yada, yada, yada. I get it.

Thing is, if we're not picking in the top 6 or 7, the forwards drop off in their ceiling a bit. With McEichel, Strome, Marner, and Zacha gone (and Hanafin), we're looking at a dman (Werenski, Kylington, Provonov) or a "next tier" forward in Barzal, Rantannen, excluding Crouse entirely.

At this point, I do question the value. Not only do our lottery chances drop off to 5% or less but these guys have a higher bust potential or at least not as high a ceiling. I'm not one to want to trade off our pick but in this case, would consider doing so for Evander Kane straight up. It's value that I don't think Winnipeg will get any place else. I'm not entirely sold on straightening out the kids attitude but if anyone can, it's Lou, Stevens, etc. He's 23 years old and already an NHL player and arguably, he's more capable that anyone we might pick at 9th or 10th and will help the club immediately. We're still lacking that young #1 center but can use our young depth on defense to maybe make a move for one (thinking someone like Draisatl from Edmonton), especially if thy draft McDavid or Eichel. He would become expendable and they could use a solid young dman like Merrill and grit in Matteau. That would be a deal worth doing in my opinion and would benefit both teams. Merrill and Matteau for Draisatl.

 

[AusDev]

That would be such a bad move. Seriously. If the idea is to trade the pick to avoid the risk of drafting a bust, how is that any better than the risk that comes with Kane? I would prefer to put my money on the pick panning out. Besides, the top end of this draft looks to be pretty good. Picking 8 to 10 would be no shame.

 

[NJDevs26]

They really need to start allocating first and second-rounders toward drafting (or trading for younger) forwards.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

I would consider Kyle Connor over Brazal. Thoughts?

 

[Tretyak 20]

i know all the 20-somethings on this board want some flashy ******* who SCORES THEM GOALS and thats fine and dandy and all, but if we are gonna draft in the top 15 i want someone who knows how to backcheck.

before the usual chuckle****s chime in about DEVILS STYLE FORWARDS ARE OUTDATED go look at patrik elias's career and tell me we couldn't use someone like that again

Any player can be taught to backcheck. It's not a matter of skill, it's just whether a player is lazy or not. Most Jr players don't do it because they know point totals raise draft position.

 

[CerebralGenesis]

I would take Barzal over almost anyone if we are picking like 10th

 

[SeidoN]

Barzal at 10 is robbery.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Barzal at 10 is robbery.

Barzal at 12 (where he sits in lots of mocks) is grand theft auto

 

[Unknown Caller]

Barzal is slipping that far because he probably isn't as good as you think he is

 

[SeidoN]

Barzal is slipping that far because he probably isn't as good as you think he is

or because major knee injury.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Barzal is slipping that far because he probably isn't as good as you think he is

He slipped because of his injury and because WJC hype has jumped some players way overboard.

 

[Brodeur]

I would consider Kyle Connor over Brazal. Thoughts?

From what I saw live, I like Barzal over Connor. As I said in the previous thread, I wish Barzal had played a little more selfishly since I really couldn't gauge his shot. But his hands, vision, and poise with the puck were great. From the game I saw, Connor was playing LW and was a little bit more of an individual act. He has great speed, but I thought his hands and hockey sense aren't quite as good as Barzal. I'll be curious if Connor ends up at wing or center.

 

[MichaelJ]

Is it that big a deal if he plays centre or wing? We need good forwards, I don't really care which position he plays. I thought the idea of the previous posts was that he has played and likes playing centre. If he could become a great centre, awesome. If he shows he's much better at wing, that's cool too. Don't young players switch between the two reasonably often? Just take the best forward.

I don't disagree necessarily, but I don't see this team drafting this high again in the near future. We're going to need 1 (or 2) top 6 centers as part of this rebuild and the draft is the best way to acquire one.

 

[MichaelJ]

I was on the Tank bandwagon because I saw an opportunity to get a good young offensive player - either a speedy talented winger in Marner or else a big center who is good on draws and has the ability to both set up and score in Strome.

That said, this recent winning streak has pushed up to picking 8th and 1 pt away from 9th. Sure, we're beating up on the bottom feeders but they continue to stink and drop in the standings while we're push for the moral victories. Yes, we know, we're a better team than our record, yada, yada, yada. I get it.

Thing is, if we're not picking in the top 6 or 7, the forwards drop off in their ceiling a bit. With McEichel, Strome, Marner, and Zacha gone (and Hanafin), we're looking at a dman (Werenski, Kylington, Provonov) or a "next tier" forward in Barzal, Rantannen, excluding Crouse entirely.

At this point, I do question the value. Not only do our lottery chances drop off to 5% or less but these guys have a higher bust potential or at least not as high a ceiling. I'm not one to want to trade off our pick but in this case, would consider doing so for Evander Kane straight up. It's value that I don't think Winnipeg will get any place else. I'm not entirely sold on straightening out the kids attitude but if anyone can, it's Lou, Stevens, etc. He's 23 years old and already an NHL player and arguably, he's more capable that anyone we might pick at 9th or 10th and will help the club immediately. We're still lacking that young #1 center but can use our young depth on defense to maybe make a move for one (thinking someone like Draisatl from Edmonton), especially if thy draft McDavid or Eichel. He would become expendable and they could use a solid young dman like Merrill and grit in Matteau. That would be a deal worth doing in my opinion and would benefit both teams. Merrill and Matteau for Draisatl.

I wouldn't think twice about that deal and I don't want to move Merrill. I'd take a forward with our first pick and hopefully draft a LHD with our second.

 

[Mgd31]

I wouldn't think twice about that deal and I don't want to move Merrill. I'd take a forward with our first pick and hopefully draft a LHD with our second.

Edmonton isn't trading Draisatl for Merrill and Matteau...they would be a coup for us.

 

[Emperoreddy]

From what I saw live, I like Barzal over Connor. As I said in the previous thread, I wish Barzal had played a little more selfishly since I really couldn't gauge his shot. But his hands, vision, and poise with the puck were great. From the game I saw, Connor was playing LW and was a little bit more of an individual act. He has great speed, but I thought his hands and hockey sense aren't quite as good as Barzal. I'll be curious if Connor ends up at wing or center.

I get the impression he is more of a playmaker then a scorer, but his potential as a playmaker is really high. That said he does apparently have a good scoring touch too.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

i know all the 20-somethings on this board want some flashy ******* who SCORES THEM GOALS and thats fine and dandy and all, but if we are gonna draft in the top 15 i want someone who knows how to backcheck.

before the usual chuckle****s chime in about DEVILS STYLE FORWARDS ARE OUTDATED go look at patrik elias's career and tell me we couldn't use someone like that again

you can teach a player to backcheck. you don't pick a player in the top 10-15 because he can backcheck.