Prospect Info: The 2018 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[AllAboutAvs]

BPA is so subjective it doesn't exist.

You are right if you are talking BPA league-wise but it sure does team-wise. What BPA means is if a team's next player available, when it is their turn to pick, is a dman for example and their need is a FWD they should still pick the dman. If not they are picking by needs.

 

[McMetal]

Last year was the year to pick BPA as it was a weaker draft. You get what you can out of a draft like that and move on, because you're not likely to get a big time core player out of it, especially on D. But this year with their needs lining up so well with this draft's strengths they'd be crazy to pick a small PMD under any circumstances, especially since they reached for one last year.

 

[AnimalMother73]

Who did they reach for? Makar went where he was supposed to according to pundits

 

[Pokecheque]

That hasn't worked out too well for us the past decade.

Well, that's not because of a flawed philosophy, it's because of shitty talent evaluation and a guy who rarely, if ever, ventured outside of the OHL/WHL to draft a player.

 

[McMetal]

Who did they reach for? Makar went where he was supposed to according to pundits

So did Yakupov. Makar's hype IMO was a combination of groupthink and seeing what they wanted to see. Karlsson going nuts in the playoffs made everybody fall in love with offensive defensemen and wish they had one like him, and I think that made teams put on some rose colored glasses when looking at his game.

Honestly, I would rather believe that Sakic picked him because of pressure to pick any defenseman in the draft than think that Hepple and company really thought he was better than Pettersson (we'll never know what they really thought of Heiskanen).

 

[AvsCOL]

Yeah I have no qualms about where they took Makar. He has the raw tools to become a legit #1 D. Have to take the chance when you can.

Lets revisit this after the WJC.

 

[S E P H]

BPA is so subjective it doesn't exist.

Ehhhhhhhh, people who don't follow the draft because they trust their team's BPA philosophy exists doesn't it?

Yeah I have no qualms about where they took Makar. He has the raw tools to become a legit #1 D. Have to take the chance when you can.

Lets revisit this after the WJC.

I know you love Makar, but I wonder if you can say that with a straight face after you click the Eliteprospect profile of Elias Pettersson and see the season he's putting up...

Elias Pettersson

 

[cgf]

Ehhhhhhhh, people who don't follow the draft because they trust their team's BPA philosophy exists doesn't it?


I know you love Makar, but I wonder if you can say that with a straight face after you click the Eliteprospect profile of Elias Pettersson and see the season he's putting up...

Elias Pettersson

...he didn't even mention Pettersson in his post...

 

[Pokecheque]

Okay, I'll admit there is no universal "BPA" meter, and even consensus picks can be dead wrong (see: Strome, Ryan), but where I think teams go way wrong when they draft based on "need" is when they start valuing the wrong things. The minute Buffalo concluded their very, very skilled-but-small team needed to get tougher they proceeded to load up on grit both on the roster and right on through the organization, and fell into a deep, dark hole from which they still haven't emerged.

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

Clamouring for Pettersson is some real hindsight BS.

 

[Pokecheque]

So did Yakupov. Makar's hype IMO was a combination of groupthink and seeing what they wanted to see. Karlsson going nuts in the playoffs made everybody fall in love with offensive defensemen and wish they had one like him, and I think that made teams put on some rose colored glasses when looking at his game.

Honestly, I would rather believe that Sakic picked him because of pressure to pick any defenseman in the draft than think that Hepple and company really thought he was better than Pettersson (we'll never know what they really thought of Heiskanen).

They picked MacKinnon when they already had three scoring line centers in the fold. I get the people doing the picking are different now but I don't buy this at all. They went for the guy they thought was the best player. If that ends up being Pettersson so be it, but they knew Makar would be a project.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Clamouring for Pettersson is some real hindsight BS.

Numerous people thought very highly of him.

 

[Patagonia]

They picked MacKinnon when they already had three scoring line centers in the fold. I get the people doing the picking are different now but I don't buy this at all. They went for the guy they thought was the best player. If that ends up being Pettersson so be it, but they knew Makar would be a project.

Choosing the BPA resulted in Mackinnon, while Jones - RHD was clearly the player the AVs needed. I don't believe too many fans regret this decision. Looking at the past few drafts and Sakic seems to focused on BPA. Here are the rumoured choices.

2017 - Makar vs Mittlestadt/Tippett/Vilardi
Timmins vs Hague

2016 - Jost vs Brown/Mcleod /Bean

2015 - Rants vs Crouse/

So overall, BPA seemed to have worked fairly well for the team. There are some players that seemed to have developed faster than others, but there are less busts than previous years that set the team back.

 

[Papa Francouz]

I remember @Pierce Hawthorne and I both agreed that Pettersson could very easily end up the best player from this draft due to his skill and IQ. However, that doesn’t mean I want to draft him in hindsight. I’m fine with the Makar pick, as he really wowed me in camp this past year. I’m not sure if Pettersson was considered BPA at the draft, given Makar’s skyrocketing up the rankings, but there was always the possibility that Pettersson was going to end up better than most of the players picked before him.

 

[lonelybadger]

Let's hypothesize that they both reach their ceilings and Pettersson becomes the #1 center in this draft and makar the #1D. I would take the D over the forward every time.

 

[landy92mack29]

Choosing the BPA resulted in Mackinnon, while Jones - RHD was clearly the player the AVs needed. I don't believe too many fans regret this decision. Looking at the past few drafts and Sakic seems to focused on BPA. Here are the rumoured choices.

2017 - Makar vs Mittlestadt/Tippett/Vilardi/Glass/Pettersson

2016 - Jost vs Brown/Mcleod /Bean/Chychrun

2015 - Rants vs Crouse/Barzal

So overall, BPA seemed to have worked fairly well for the team. There are some players that seemed to have developed faster than others, but there are less busts than previous years that set the team back.

fixed


TPG rosters are out. I'd have Beaudin, Dunkley and Topping there over Bahl, Hillis and Nizhikov but overall good picks

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Let's hypothesize that they both reach their ceilings and Pettersson becomes the #1 center in this draft and makar the #1D. I would take the D over the forward every time.

That's not how it works though. Timmins, a 2nd round, has #1 potential.

 

[hockeyviking]

Ehhhhhhhh, people who don't follow the draft because they trust their team's BPA philosophy exists doesn't it?


I know you love Makar, but I wonder if you can say that with a straight face after you click the Eliteprospect profile of Elias Pettersson and see the season he's putting up...

Elias Pettersson

Yes he is puting up good Numbers, but to be honest, would you want any of the other in the top 5 in point producing in shl? To me producing points in shl isnt of any value. The League isnt good enough anymore.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

He isn't just putting up good numbers. He is leading the league, and doing it as a teenager. Is anyone else in the top 5, or even close to a PPG for that matter, a teenager?

 

[S E P H]

...he didn't even mention Pettersson in his post...

Except you can absolutely compare the two since they went back to back in picks....

Clamouring for Pettersson is some real hindsight BS.

No way was I saying I prefer Pettersson over Makar (I mean I do overall before and after the draft) or that Makar is a bust. It's too early to tell, but we cannot let Pettersson's season go unnoticed either.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Clamouring for Pettersson is some real hindsight BS.

I'm still confident Pettersson will be the best player out of the draft.


That said, Makar was definitely the right pick for us.

That's my post from the Cale Makar thread on our boards, literally the day after the draft last year.


Has nothing to do with "Hindsight". The elite skill, IQ, and vision was clearly evident. Just needed to fill out his frame and he was going to be a legit player.


But like I said back then as well, Makar made a lot of sense for us and still does now. The highest pure upside in the draft and if he can put it all together we have a really special player on our hands.

 

[hockeyviking]

He isn't just putting up good numbers. He is leading the league, and doing it as a teenager. Is anyone else in the top 5, or even close to a PPG for that matter, a teenager?

No they are not teenagers, they are a bunch of nobodyes Yes he is leading the League. But they value of leading that is next to nothing. He might be a star in the making. But leading shl in points cant be used as evidence of that.

 

[tigervixxxen]

It's absolutely hindsight after months of if this org doesn't take a defenseman for once posts.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

It's absolutely hindsight after months of if this org doesn't take a defenseman for once posts.

No. It really isn't.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

No they are not teenagers, they are a bunch of nobodyes Yes he is leading the League. But they value of leading that is next to nothing. He might be a star in the making. But leading shl in points cant be used as evidence of that.

Sure it can. Young kids doing extraordinary things is pretty good evidence of being a damn good player.