2013 Draft Re-order? Would Val still be the pick?

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Over in the prospects section, there is a thread on re-ordering the 2013 draft, based on 2-3 years results. Val seems to pretty much stay in the spot he was drafted, plus or minus with most fans of other teams.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1839695

Question to fans here in DFW - Do you feel the same, or if re-ordered, would you have preferred Nil to have picked someone picked just lower than Val, such as Nurse, Wennberg, Domi or Horvat, who stand out as most successful so far? A few others are in the NHL as well, but haven't checked the stats, etc., or compared situations. Obviously, someone coming up in the Yotes system is going to get more of a chance than on a loaded Stars team, etc.

Or, put another way, and figuring in injuries etc. that have slowed his development, do we still feel Val has the most upside? Sometimes, I get the feeling that his hands aren't as good as his feet. Even in the first half of his rookie year, he was known for great rushes, but no goals out of it. He got going with Benn and Seguin the second half, though.

Right now, I sometimes wonder if he will be another Hemsky type, looking good, with too little production. He does seem to be positionally better and more responsible, so I see that growth. I also understand he can't be as productive in his current 4th line role, but seems he has earned the demotion due to production.

Anyway, no flames required. Just posted for some lively discussion.

1. Nathan MacKinnon
2. Aleksander Barkov
3. Seth Jones
4. Sean Monahan
5. Jonathan Drouin
6. Rasmus Ristolainen
7. Elias Lindholm
8. Valeri Nichushkin
9. Anthony Mantha
10. Nikita Zadorov
11. Darnell Nurse
12. André Burakovsky
13. Alexander Wennberg
14. Max Domi
15. Bo Horvat
16. Curtis Lazar
17. Samuel Morin
18. Josh Morrissey
19. Ryan Pulock
20. Shea Theodore
21. Pavel Buchnevich
22. Mirco Müller
23. Anthony Duclair
24. Kerby Rychel
25. Marko Dano
26. Jacob de la Rose
27. Oliver Bjorkstrand
28. Madison Bowey
29. Émile Poirier
30. Bogdan Yakimov

Click to read more...

 

[Satan]

I still pick Nichushkin.

 

[txomisc]

I think in a redo where everything else before us was the same Max Domi would be the proper pick.

As far as Nuke goes I do find it troubling how often he is invisible out there. He had a nice streak where he looked consistently dangerous be lately he is back to being a nonfactor. I'd be on board with using him as a trade piece at this point.

 

[MBTendy]

I am still thrilled with Val as I still believe he will be a bonafide top 6 winger in the NHL. This year, although he is struggling to produce, his defensive game and playmaking ability (IQ) has improved greatly compared to his rookie season. So this is far from a set back season that Stars fans tend to believe in terms of his all around game. Points will come. IMO prior to the games before being a healthy scratch, and these last 2 weeks, Val has been relevant for the majority of the season and has played solid with and without the puck which is why Ruff spoke highly about him,and got promoted to the 1st line for a few games. Not to mention when he was on that first line, Benn/Segs came out to call it Val's line for how good he was meshing with them. At times he was the best player on that line, and we saw that in his rookie year as well. The kid obviously has talent. Dry spells are normal for rookies, it's just part of the process. He's 20 years old still, and not to mention he had to hit the restart button at the beginning of the year cause he missed out on building off his strong rookie season due to his hip injury.

Only downside with Val is that he will take longer than we all expected before he can be a consistent factor for us game in and game out. Which is fine, we have the depth to give him the time he needs.

Val seems to be criticized so easily just because of the expectations everyone set for him.

 

[Satan]

Say Nichushkin and Domi were off the board, I think the Stars take Josh Morrissey. The exercise is kind of dumb after only two and a half years.

 

[Ghost of Kyiv]

Gotta think Domi would be off the board in a redraft, the highly drafted hits would obviously be off the board as well. I still think Nichushkin could be the best available, but Buchnevich and maybe Pesce would both tempt me.

 

[LT]

Say Nichushkin and Domi were off the board, I think the Stars take Josh Morrissey. The exercise is kind of dumb after only two and a half years.

Agreed. Usually need at a minimum four years to really evaluate a draft, ideally more.

I'm happy with Nichushkin.

 

[tjcurrie]

Yeah, I mean you'd have to kind of go with Domi there, as of now anyways.

And as for that list, I'm not sure why Darnell Nurse took a hit like that with a guy like Anthony Mantha climbing ahead. People paying attention to the oilers know full-well Nurse is a player and is looking like they made a good pick.

 

[Magic Mittens]

If that list was the way the draft went, Id be picking Nurse before Nuke. I love Nuke and all, but Nurse has all the tools to be a top 2 D man

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

I wonder if Nuke reads this board.....seems like my post inspired two goals last night......

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Agree Nurse would have been a great pick. Especially, since we weren't quite as known to be stacked at D prospects at the time. Nil had done his evaluation, however, at the time of the draft. He may have sensed the young D was the strength of the team, but most of our forward prospects weren't grade A, which he has corrected in the last few drafts.

But, its interesting to think how things might have gone down otherwise. If we pick Nurse, then maybe we don't draft Honka, or take Johns in the Patrick Sharp deal. Of course, you could go forever with the ripple effect.

 

[LT]

Nurse wasn't available so its a moot point.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Nurse wasn't available so its a moot point.

Hmm, I thought the list I posted was as they were drafted, but the initial poster seems to just have put his preferences in the first post. Should have had a reference to the original draft. My bad.

Yeah, I don't see too many past Nuke worth that pick.

 

[LT]

For reference, the top 15:

1 - Nathan MacKinnon, C (Colorado Avalanche)
2 - Aleksandr Barkov, C (Florida Panthers)
3 - Jonathan Drouin, W (Tampa Bay Lightning)
4 - Seth Jones, D (Nashville Predators)
5 - Elias Lindholm, C (Carolina Hurricanes)
6 - Sean Monahan, C (Calgary Flames)
7 - Darnell Nurse, D (Edmonton Oilers)
8 - Rasmus Ristolainen, D (Buffalo Sabres)
9 - Bo Horvat, C (Vancouver Canucks)
10 - Valeri Nichushkin, W (Dallas Stars)
11 - Samuel Morin, D (Philadelphia Flyers)
12 - Max Domi, C (Arizona Coyotes)
13 - Josh Morrissey, D (Winnipeg Jets)
14 - Alexander Wennberg, C (Columbus Blue Jackets)
15 - Ryan Pulock, D (New York Islanders)

Other notable picks - Nikita Zadorov, Curtis Lazar, Andre Burakovsky, Shea Theodore, Marko Dano, Madison Bowey, Pavel Buchnevich, Anthony Duclair.

 

[Troy McClure]

It would be nice to see him win the occasional puck battle.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

To me he looks like he is improving, but yes, skating alone isn't enough, just like hitting alone isn't enough. In both cases, you have to use your unique skill to get the puck, keep the puck, or do something with the puck that leads to a goal or at least scoring chance.

I saw him lose the puck off his stick a few times last night, but to be fair, he was trying to skate through or around 2-3 Dmen at the time, so his odds were pretty low.