2014 Draft Thread – Part Four

[MayDayMayDay]

Headed to Erie soon for Sault Ste. Marie vs Erie Game 3. Gonna get a good look at McCann, Bunting, and Jenkins.

And McDavid??

 

[B U F F A L O]

15 games for that?! Thats crazy.

 

[Fotes18]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I'm sitting 2 rows behind Kevin Devine right now and there's 2 other Sabres scouts here. OHL off ice official said he's never seen so many NHL teams repped at one game. I count 30 scouts in this section alone.

McDavid made an unreal move around a guy and almost scored. Every scout stopped and looked up at each other in amazement.

 

[Woodhouse]

In his latest radio interview from 18:34-18:53, Devine noted: "If you haven't seen a guy, it's very tough to put him high on your board. I'm out in Edmonton, Alberta right now trying to catch a Tier-II kid and he's hurt again. My first time I went to see him, he was hurt. How do you put those guys high up on your list if you don't see them?" I'm interpreting that snippet to mean that Devine was hoping to catch LHD Brandon Hickey (BU '14) from Spruce Grove in playoff action, but Hickey "looked to injure his wrist" in game three of the AJHL semifinals. More on Hickey, via The Spruce Grove Examiner:

“He has a full season here to go but he’s definitely on the radar, which is a good thing to know as a player in your draft year.

“We expect him to get better and better. He’s come a very long way and he’s a world class skater.

“There’s a lot of things to like about his game, but most importantly, he’s a real good person, a real good teammate and he’s going to improve as the year goes on,†Mckee said.

“He’s getting an opportunity to play in more offensive roles right now and he’s starting to take advantage of that,†Mckee said.

“There’s some details … that we need to work through, but he’s a real good defender, he skates well, he has a good stick, and thinks the game pretty well.

“If we can add a little bit of offensive polish to his game, it’s only going to make him a more complete player.â€

Via THN Prospect Watch:

Coming out of the Alberta Jr. A League, Hickey is a smooth-skating defenseman with the Spruce Grove Saints on track to join B.U. next year. A good bet to go in the second or third round of the NHL draft this summer, Hickey plays a calm game and has a nice offensive upside to his game.

Via DraftSite:

Smart all-around defender with excellent four way mobility and jump. Good PP performer with strong point shot. His lightness on his edges help him activate quickly to carry the play on the attack. good passer. Long term payoff is what teams will be getting as he will have to adjust as the levels of competition increase.

Hickey's #5 in white in these highlights from the game prior to his latest injury:

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

I like the fact we acquired the WPG 2nd in the Moulson trade. Right now it is #37 overall but they only have 2 games left and likely will finish with the #36 pick. How high of a 1st could we get for picks #31 and #36? Somewhere in the 20-24 range? I really hope Murray does a lot of maneuvering with all our excess picks. Say the blues do get knocked out in round 3 giving us pick #26 and that Murray is able to move #31 and #36 for say pick #22. How high of a 1st could we get if we packaged #22 and #26? Would that get us near the top 10? I would hope if we did possess #22 and #26 and moved them that we would get a pick in the 10-14 range. I would rather move all of our extra picks and try to obtain as high as a 1st as we can.

 

[B U F F A L O]

I like the fact we acquired the WPG 2nd in the Moulson trade. Right now it is #37 overall but they only have 2 games left and likely will finish with the #36 pick. How high of a 1st could we get for picks #31 and #36? Somewhere in the 20-24 range? I really hope Murray does a lot of maneuvering with all our excess picks. Say the blues do get knocked out in round 3 giving us pick #26 and that Murray is able to move #31 and #36 for say pick #22. How high of a 1st could we get if we packaged #22 and #26? Would that get us near the top 10? I would hope if we did possess #22 and #26 and moved them that we would get a pick in the 10-14 range. I would rather move all of our extra picks and try to obtain as high as a 1st as we can.

According to this study, it would appear that 31+36 could get us up as high as 17. 22+26 could get you up to #10.

According to this study (page 7), it would appear 31+36 could get us up high as 14. 22+26 could get you up to #9.

I dont know the practicality behind these actual values, but they were created based on actual trades or by player performance by draft position.

 

[Fotes18]

My wonder though, and this Is purely something I thought up in my head, and have no evidence to support this, but, I'm wondering if it will be even harder to move up in to the first round this year, given the drafts relative shallow prospect pool.

The way I was thinking is that teams can get themselves in future troubles should they not get at least 1 player from given drafts. So I'm wondering if teams well say, that quality over quantity is better this season? Like yeah, we need to stay in round 1 and get a guy we really like, as opposed to moving back and get two guys they sorta like?

Of course, not every team might see this draft as weak as some say it is. Maybe one team might value a couple 2nd round guys as much as they do 1 first round guy?

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

According to this study, it would appear that 31+36 could get us up as high as 17. 22+26 could get you up to #10.

According to this study (page 7), it would appear 31+36 could get us up high as 14. 22+26 could get you up to #9.

I dont know the practicality behind these actual values, but they were created based on actual trades or by player performance by draft position.

Very interesting. We can Very easily walk into the draft with our top 2 pick and then another top 10 pick by manuevering our 2nd, wpg 2nd and the Very likely to obtain stl 1st. That means a potential 4 top 10 picks over the next two drafts. That would instantly solve our lack of high end prospects. We could realistaclly attempt to contend for the postseason as early as 2015-2016.

 

[1TuchAnd1NoTuch]

Played bunting in high school hockey last year, absolutely ****ing hate him

 

[boredmale]

According to this study, it would appear that 31+36 could get us up as high as 17. 22+26 could get you up to #10.

According to this study (page 7), it would appear 31+36 could get us up high as 14. 22+26 could get you up to #9.

I dont know the practicality behind these actual values, but they were created based on actual trades or by player performance by draft position.

I think a better thing to do is look at past draft pick trades to get a rough idea

2008:
12th for 17th and 28th
15th for 18th plus future 3rd
21st for 23rd and 54th
28th for 35th and 38th

2009:
12th for 16th, 77th and 181st
16th and 77th for 26th, 37th and 56th
20th for 23rd, 84th
21st for 26th and 37th
29th for 32nd and 75th

2010:
15th for 19th and 59th
22nd and 113rd for 27th and 57th
30th for 35th and 58th

2011:
22nd for 30th and 39th
24th for 35th and 48th

2012:
14th for 21st and 42nd

2013:
18th for 20th and 58th

 

[HOOats]

The Girgensons pick trade stands out on that last. Calgary must have just really liked Jankowski and his availability at 21, because the value doesn't match the other trades. Atta boy Darcy.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Bennett retains top spot on final Central Scouting list

In a year when projecting the best player eligible for the 2014 NHL Draft might be as stern a challenge as it's ever been, Kingston Frontenacs center Samuel Bennett was the desired choice from start to finish in the minds of the gurus at NHL Central Scouting.

Bennett, considered the top player by Central Scouting in its midterm ranking in January, again is No. 1 on the final list of the top draft-eligible skaters in North America. Central Scouting on Tuesday released its final rankings of the top North American and European skaters and goalies.

Rounding out the top five in North America are: No. 2 Aaron Ekblad of the Barrie Colts; No. 3 Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice; No. 4 Leon Draisaitl of the Prince Albert Raiders; and No. 5 Michael Dal Colle of the Oshawa Generals.

 

[1972]

No surprise for me, I've been a Bennett guy for the last few months. It does seem like everyone now has a clear top 5.

But for my money, Bob McKenzie list will tell us more about who is actually the #1 guy at this point.

Niagara goalie Brent Moran all the way up to #3, awesome. I personally think he is the best goaltending prospect in the CHL. Aaron Hayden fell to #54, still to high if you ask me.

 

[Deevo]

Not surprised. I watched a fair amount of Bennett down the stretch and he screams "elite NHL talent" to me.

 

[haseoke39]

Interesting to see Central Scouting stick to its guns on Bennett. You could show me anyone winning the lottery and I wouldn't be sure how to project the top 3 going in this draft.

 

[McCauleyChirps]

I am not a huge Ho-Sang fan at all, I just realise we need to get some guys in our organization that have a high skill level.

If the game you are talking about was march 7th then of course he didn't look good, his team couldn't even touch the puck in a 6-1 romping where the were outshot 41-17 and were never even close to being in the game. One thing i've learned about junior hockey is you never overrate a kid who has a good performance against a bad team, and you never dislike a player based off a small sample size of a player who has a bad game against a good team. Erie is far to good for Windsor to compete with them.

Not to mention they played the night before in Windsor and got blown out, and got blown out again the night before.

Ho-Sang is the definition of a Detroit Red Wings type of pick, take a guy with unreal skill level with obvious deficiencies and give him time to work on his game. Even prospect has deficiencies when you are talking about after the first few picks.

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. I'm wondering if the Sabres would want to give him time to work on his game. I think the price to move up to get a work-in-progress is too much.

 

[BananaSquad]

Bennett retains top spot on final Central Scouting list

Awesome.

 

[BananaSquad]

No surprise for me, I've been a Bennett guy for the last few months. It does seem like everyone now has a clear top 5.

But for my money, Bob McKenzie list will tell us more about who is actually the #1 guy at this point.

Niagara goalie Brent Moran all the way up to #3, awesome. I personally think he is the best goaltending prospect in the CHL. Aaron Hayden fell to #54, still to high if you ask me.

Yup. Cant wait for McKenzies list.

 

[jBuds]

Bothers me.

One year we have our best chance at the top overall pick, it figures there is not a consensus shoo in top guy no brainer kind of thing.

 

[Selanne00008]

Bothers me.

One year we have our best chance at the top overall pick, it figures there is not a consensus shoo in top guy no brainer kind of thing.

I hear ya. But that's what next season is for

 

[jBuds]

I hear ya. But that's what next season is for

We won't be 30th next year IMO

I guess we should just hope Sam Sam pans out like Taylor Tyler or better. Both the latter two are top flight scoring forwards.

 

[stokes84]

Bothers me.

One year we have our best chance at the top overall pick, it figures there is not a consensus shoo in top guy no brainer kind of thing.

It would bother me more if there was one guy and then a clear drop off. It would be unbearable to lose the lottery in such a situation. Having four guys worthy of the top pick is quite the luxury, IMO. You know you are getting a top player no matter what.

 

[stokes84]

We won't be 30th next year IMO

I guess we should just hope Sam Sam pans out like Taylor Tyler or better. Both the latter two are top flight scoring forwards.

Our roster is SOOOOO much worse than everyone right now. I have a hard time seeing how we don't finish 30.

 

[Jame]

It would bother me more if there was one guy and then a clear drop off. It would be unbearable to lose the lottery in such a situation. Having four guys worthy of the top pick is quite the luxury, IMO. You know you are getting a top player no matter what.

agreed

(3 guys... and only 2 will be options for us - Sam or Sam)

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Bothers me.

One year we have our best chance at the top overall pick, it figures there is not a consensus shoo in top guy no brainer kind of thing.

There wasn't really the past few years either. Remember how Seth Jones was #1 for most of the year?