2015 NHL Draft Prospect Discussion - Solidy in the top 10. (Two first rounders.)

[The Winter Soldier]

Noah Hanifan is a Ryan Suter 2.0.

Not dynamic, but cerebral and efficient with how he plays. He's not going to be a Shea Weber or Drew Doughty type of D man. But if you are looking for a better skating Ryan Suter. He's your pick.

 

[weems]

Does anyone here watch Zacha regularly?

I don't believe he's injured but he doesn't seem to be producing at all. It seems odd to me that someone who isn't producing at the OHL level and didn't at the WJC is ranked so highly.

He's basically at a PPG in his first 30+ games in the OHL and on a 30 goal pace. He also plays a team with not much high end scoring talent.

He's also dealt with injuries and suspensions.

 

[613Leafer]

Noah Hanifan is a Ryan Suter 2.0.

Not dynamic, but cerebral and efficient with how he plays. He's not going to be a Shea Weber or Drew Doughty type of D man. But if you are looking for a better skating Ryan Suter. He's your pick.

Looks like he could be Suter with slightly more offensive upside though, which would be incredible.

It is over a decade apart, but Hanifan put up more points in the USDP than Suter did, plus he did it at a younger age. He's also having a better NCAA rookie season offensively speaking, again despite being younger.

The skating + hockey IQ + puck moving ability should help him put up points at the NHL level, though probably on the lower-end when it comes to goals.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Looks like he could be Suter with slightly more offensive upside though, which would be incredible.

It is over a decade apart, but Hanifan put up more points in the USDP than Suter did, plus he did it at a younger age. He's also having a better NCAA rookie season offensively speaking, again despite being younger.

The skating + hockey IQ + puck moving ability should help him put up points at the NHL level, though probably on the lower-end when it comes to goals.

He's a very safe player, I'm impressed by him. Very efficient and smart. I think Werenski actually has more upside, offensively atleast. But Hanifan will be a stud all around D man that all cup winning teams rely on. Not as flashy, but a coach will play the heck out of him in key situations. If we somehow got him, I would not be disappointed one bit. Any of my top 6, I would be estatic!

Eichel
Mcdavid
Hanifan
Strome
Marner
Werenski

 

[613Leafer]

How would people rank the following? (These being the most likely options if we were drafting 6th OA)

Provorov
Barzal
Werenski
Zacha
Crouse
Rantanen

 

[613Leafer]

He's a very safe player, I'm impressed by him. Very efficient and smart. I think Werenski actually has more upside, offensively atleast. But Hanifan will be a stud all around D man that all cup winning teams rely on. Not as flashy, but a coach will play the heck out of him in key situations. If we somehow got him, I would not be disappointed one bit. Any of my top 6, I would be estatic!

Eichel
Mcdavid
Hanifan
Strome
Marner
Werenski

I'd be happy with Provorov or Barzal as well. Which gives me hope, given that there are ~8 prospects in the draft I'd be pretty happy with. If we pass on any of them for a guy like Crouse though, I'll be pretty disappointed.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I'd be happy with Provorov or Barzal as well. Which gives me hope, given that there are ~8 prospects in the draft I'd be pretty happy with. If we pass on any of them for a guy like Crouse though, I'll be pretty disappointed.

I'm not as high on Provorov, but Barzal I do like. If we were closer to 10 I would talk about him more. But he is a player since the under 17.

 

[Rufio65*]

How would people rank the following? (These being the most likely options if we were drafting 6th OA)

Provorov
Barzal
Werenski
Zacha
Crouse
Rantanen

1) Provorov


2) Barzal







3) No one else we should be taking at 6. There's a gap between Provorov and Barzal, and a huge drop off from Barzal to the rest of those guys IMO.

 

[WilliamNylander]

How would people rank the following? (These being the most likely options if we were drafting 6th OA)

Provorov
Barzal
Werenski
Zacha
Crouse
Rantanen

Provorov
Werenski
Barzal

Rantanen
Zacha




Crouse

 

[jmart21]

Noah Hanifan is a Ryan Suter 2.0.

Not dynamic, but cerebral and efficient with how he plays. He's not going to be a Shea Weber or Drew Doughty type of D man. But if you are looking for a better skating Ryan Suter. He's your pick.

Whom would Hanifan compare to from "modern day" top Dmen picks?

Jones?
Murray?
Pietrangelo?
Bogosian?
Hedman?
Trouba?


The offensive "limits" but hockey IQ and cerebral style make me want to compare him to Hedman or Jones, more to the side of Hedman as I think Jones' offensive upside sounds to be a bit higher, probably helped by his great shot.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Whom would Hanifan compare to from "modern day" top Dmen picks?

Jones?
Murray?
Pietrangelo?
Bogosian?
Hedman?
Trouba?


The offensive "limits" but hockey IQ and cerebral style make me want to compare him to Hedman or Jones, more to the side of Hedman as I think Jones' offensive upside sounds to be a bit higher, probably helped by his great shot.

I don't think of any of the D men you mentioned, but I do think Ryan Suter. He doesn't waste alot of energy, but is always a couple steps ahead of reading the play. I can see Hanifan being a 25Mins - 30mins D man in this league. This is quite an asset to a coach.

 

[BigWilly]

How would people rank the following? (These being the most likely options if we were drafting 6th OA)

Provorov
Barzal
Werenski
Zacha
Crouse
Rantanen

Werenski
Provorov
Barzal
Rantanen
Zacha
Crouse

 

[SprDaVE]

Provorov
Rantanen
Barzal
Werenski
Konecny (yeah, I did it.)
Zacha
Crouse

 

[Face Of Bear]

@6OA

Barzal
Werenski
Provorov
Crouse
Rantanen
Zacha

 

[theIceWookie]

He answered me. It was just a question. If i cared about size I wouldn't have been giddy over Nylander last year

Yeah that was my bad. I didn't see if someone had responded already or not

 

[theIceWookie]

Toews, Getzlaf, Nash, Perry, Kopitar......no its not.

If size wasn't a factor, why did the Habs take 5-6 years to and remove a lot of the smaller players on their team and replace them with bigger players? Why don't we LEARN from that?

The sad thing is, people like you will go on and on about size doesn't matter and be thrilled with them drafting small player after small player and in 5 years you'll be complaining about how they keep getting pushed around and don't/can't compete physically with the other bigger teams.

Oh I think I'm starting to like you as a poster hehe.

Didn't say size wasn't necessary, but it is definitely overrated on these boards. Small players get discounted far too often.

Never said I wanted a team full of smaller players, but nice hyperbole. I like having a mix of players.

Size is definitely overrated. It's great but there is too much focus on it. You need both to succeed. Toews doesn't win a cup without Kane. Bergeron doesn't win a cup without Krejci.

 

[Bullseye]

If Nashville keeps playing weak - they could fall quite a few positions before the end.

Washington at 11th is 9 points back.

That pick may improve quite a bit. Great trade.

 

[613Leafer]

If Nashville keeps playing weak - they could fall quite a few positions before the end.

Washington at 11th is 9 points back.

That pick may improve quite a bit. Great trade.

Ribeiro, Forsberg, Rinne, Wilson, Josi, etc were all having career years/breakout years. So there was definitely room for regression IMO.

Forsberg and Wilson both have 3 pts in their last 10 games.
Rinne has cooled off and has 5 games in his last 10 with a .900 save % or lower.

So if half of these guys can't maintain their early season paces, then Nashville should continue to struggle, at least relative to the top teams in the league.

 

[Bullseye]

Any opinions on this thought:

I think the NHL should punish the Sabres for trading both their starting goaltenders before the TDD without having any legit goalies knocking at the door in the their system.

Hacket & Makarov may be the guys down the road but it's not like they've played and done well in the NHL this year like Hammond in Ottawa for instance.

I don't care if they are both upcoming UFA's - you have to negotiate with one of them to be there for next season.

Both goalies they got back in trades are terrible.

They should forfeit a pick. Time for the NHL to step in and protect the integrity of the game from such embarrassment.

The NBA fined San Antonio last year for not playing their star players in the last games of the season leading up to the play-offs (so they wouldn't get injured).

I think this has gotten outa hand.

 

[theIceWookie]

Does anyone here watch Zacha regularly?

I don't believe he's injured but he doesn't seem to be producing at all. It seems odd to me that someone who isn't producing at the OHL level and didn't at the WJC is ranked so highly.

I've seen him a decent amount.

In the OHL he hasn't hit as high production as some would like but he's shown a lot of flashes of potential IMO. Being his first NA season, he's taken a little while to adjust and that's taken a little longer because of some injuries, suspension, and leaving for the WJC's. Plus Sarnia is a very young team and not great at offense. He has only played 32 games, hard to really get consistency with that few games.

For the WJC, no one on the Czech team really produced outside of Pastrnak. Plus you need to remember that the WJC is a 19 year old's tourney, it's very rare for draft year players to produce. McDavid is an obvious exception.

Zacha's ranked so highly because he's got high end offensive skill, combined with his defensive game (which is quite adept), his size and physicality, his skating, his hands. He's got huge upside.

 

[realgoodleafs]

Tor 1st: Provorov
Nash 1st: Dergachyov

Just to see Don's reaction on coach's corner

 

[613Leafer]

Any opinions on this thought:

I think the NHL should punish the Sabres for trading both their starting goaltenders before the TDD without having any legit goalies knocking at the door in the their system.

Hacket & Makarov may be the guys down the road but it's not like they've played and done well in the NHL this year like Hammond in Ottawa for instance.

I don't care if they are both upcoming UFA's - you have to negotiate with one of them to be there for next season.

Both were pending UFAs. Hundreds of pending UFAs of all calibre have been sold off at the deadline over the past decade.

I don't really see how they could, given the precedent that's been set, regardless of them selling both goalies. Many teams have sold off key/vital players for them that would clearly make it substantially harder for them to win games (e.g. Arizona selling off Vermette, Yandle, and Michalek).

 

[theIceWookie]

Any opinions on this thought:

I think the NHL should punish the Sabres for trading both their starting goaltenders before the TDD without having any legit goalies knocking at the door in the their system.

Hacket & Makarov may be the guys down the road but it's not like they've played and done well in the NHL this year like Hammond in Ottawa for instance.

I don't care if they are both upcoming UFA's - you have to negotiate with one of them to be there for next season.

Both goalies they got back in trades are terrible.

They should forfeit a pick. Time for the NHL to step in and protect the integrity of the game from such embarrassment.

The NBA fined San Antonio last year for not playing their star players in the last games of the season leading up to the play-offs (so they wouldn't get injured).

I think this has gotten outa hand.

I don't think there is any grounds to step in. Buffalo is pretty bulletproof on the issue. None of them have mentioned tanking, and Nolan has publicly said to the players to play hard, plus he's not making coaching moves that are suspect. But the kicker is that Neuvirth IS a UFA, and not only is he a UFA but he's one who was playing well. All Buffalo has to do is argue that he's playing so well that he's playing himself into a position where he's just going to go to the highest bidder, and Buffalo can argue they have little chance at actually signing. Plus I'd argue that they could argue that signing him to a contract that he's earning would hurt them long term by not being able to have the ability to sign their young players long term. Thus trade Neuvirth for a pick (and he's a backup on the Islanders, they wouldn't pay much for him).

Fans can be pissed about it all they want, but Buffalo has done all the right moves to properly be bad and not get in trouble for it. There is little the NHL could do.

 

[one77]

Hanifin is exactly like Ryan Suter and Nik Lidstrom. Same type of game - efficient, smart, ahead of the play, steady, great skater, great first pass, great vision, not too aggressive... He's the type of dman that you play 25+ minutes per night and rely on in every situation. you win cups with him. This is why he's projected as a stud #1D.

He's not going to get you 20 goals or pound the puck like Weber, or knock people out like Pronger, but he will simplify and slow down the game and make his whole team better - much like Suter and Lidstrom, two of the best defenders we've seen.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Some Quotes on the 2015 Draft

Interesting Qoutes by respected hockey people.

"It's a good year to be bad," St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said.

"The top 10 kids are going to be pretty good at the NHL level," said Dan Marr, the NHL's director of scouting.

Hanifin is the consensus No. 3 prospect and top defenseman.

"He will be in the NHL sooner rather than later," Marr said

"He understands the position so well," Marr said. "His composure, his ability to transition from defense to offense, (scouts) are just kind of wowed by the game he is playing as a college freshman."

"What I call (Dylan) is an industrious center," Button said. "Those kind of centers go early. Dylan Strome might be like (Columbus Blue Jackets center) Ryan Johansen."

Dylan is not as dynamic as his brother, but he is good using his size down low. "The thing (the Stromes) have in common is neither of them like anyone to get the better of him," Marr said.

"Noah Hanifin is a really good player, but Zach gets lost in the conversation," Button said. "But "What Werenski is doing at Michigan is every bit as good as what Hanifin is doing at BC," he said.

Both Hanifin and Werenski played for the U.S. National Team Development Program.

"Very similar players in that their skating and agility are both excellent," said USA Hockey national team guru Jim Johannson. "Their puck handling and first pass ability are also very good. I would say Noah is probably a little more consistent as a defender, while Zach has showed more goal-scoring ability."