Prospect Info: 2017 NHL Draft Discussion

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Oilers need defence more than offence and next years draft Chiarelli's should draft more defence than offence.
Here's some draft eligible dmans from Finland. Who of these guys fits better to Oilers.

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=250075
Miro Heiskanen HIFK Helsinki FEL

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=221525
Juuso Välimäki Tri-City Americans WHL

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=180538
Urho Vaakanainen JYP Jyväskylä FEL

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=277056
Henri Jokiharju Tappara Tampere FEL

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=221328
Kasper Kotkansalo Espoo Blues Juniors Finn JRS

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=197821
Robin Salo Vaasan Sport FEL

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=277055
Eero Teräväinen Jokerit Helsinki Finn JRS ( Yes he's little brother of Teuvo Teravainen)

 

[GMofOilers]

Patrick is the real deal. What a stud of a player he is.

 

[Zaddy]

Patrick is the real deal. What a stud of a player he is.

I'm more hyped for Liljegren. He could be something real special. EK 2.0 potential.

 

[Soli]

I'm not sure the lines of communication will be as open as they were with Rocky Thompson when he joined the Spitfire staff fresh out of our coaching ranks, but I'm hoping Gator's Oilers ties are still strong and the Oilers get a good read and fall in love with Callan Foote the same way they did Mikhail Sergachev.

 

[Hynh]

I can feel it, this is the year we take a RHD with our top pick. Probably. Maybe.

Tim Liljegren (Super Elit J20) - 6’0 RHD. Below-average height, extraordinary talent. Projected Top-3 OV prospect, but we're about due to win a lottery.

Callan Foote (WHL) - The next defenseman from the Kelowna Rocket factory. 6’3 RHD. Adam Foote’s son, dual citizenship. Big riser. Was invited to Team Canada's WJC summer camp, but he's in a Jake Walman situation (probably will be ruled American for IIHF purposes).

Artyom Minulin (WHL) - 6'2 Russian RHD. Swift Current Bronco. Rookie season 5-28-33 in 72 GP. Doesn't seem to be getting much early press. I liked his teammate Lajoie this draft and he was taken late. Am I missing something?

There are plenty of right handed defenders in this draft class and we're 11 months from the draft. Liljegren and Foote are definitely 1st rounders (Top-3, Top-20) IMO. Minulin's flying under the radar from what I've read. Other RHD that have potential to rise: Luke Martin, Phil Kemp, Joshua Maniscalco, Henri Jokiharju, Cale Makar, Cale Fleury.

It's crazy to think the Oilers haven't used their first 1st round pick to draft a right handed defenceman in over 30 years (Selmar Odelein). They've drafted righties in the first round (Plante) and righties with their top pick (Petry) but in 32 years they haven't used their top first round pick on a right handed D.

http://www.mynhldraft.com/NHL-Mock-Draft/

A real early 2017 mock. This is obviously going to be super inaccurate but it's still fun to look at. According to their mock we'd end up with another 6'6, 200lbs defenseman in Nic Hague. Him and Niemeläinen would be a pair of twin towers on the backend, lol.

I imagine I would be so pissed if Foote went one pick before the Oilers' turn

 

[Zaddy]

I imagine I would be so pissed if Foote went one pick before the Oilers' turn

Yeah, that was my immediate thought as well, haha.

http://thehockeywriters.com/2017-nhl-mock-draft-the-next-ones-summer-edition/

Here's another mock where we also select Hague and Foote is taken two picks ahead of the Oilers pick.

Would suck if that happened, but there's another guy in that ~12-15 range that I'm interested in. Klim Kostin, a big 6'3 PWF from Russia with good hands, good playmaking and a more than able goalscorer. Skating seems decent as well. Left-handed but plays RW, as seems to be the custom in Russia.

 

[Hynh]

Yeah, that was my immediate thought as well, haha.

http://thehockeywriters.com/2017-nhl-mock-draft-the-next-ones-summer-edition/

Here's another mock where we also select Hague and Foote is taken two picks ahead of the Oilers pick.

Would suck if that happened, but there's another guy in that ~12-15 range that I'm interested in. Klim Kostin, a big 6'3 PWF from Russia with good hands, good playmaking and a more than able goalscorer. Skating seems decent as well. Left-handed but plays RW, as seems to be the custom in Russia.

In the grand scheme of things, I'd be ok with drafting in the teens because of what it means.

 

[McWeber]

The later we draft next year the better. Though I hope we win the lottery with the pick Benning gives us for Yak. Those 2 RHD are pretty enticing though, always the studs just out of our pick range.

 

[Zaddy]

Some highlights from some currently top ranked guys:

Nolan Patrick, C, 6'3" 194lbs (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL)


Maxime Comtois, LW, 6'1" 192lbs (Victoriaville Tigres, QMJHL)


Casey Mittelstadt, C, 5'11" 190lbs (Eden Praire High / Green Bay Gamblers, USHL)

 

[Canovin]

I hope this is the year we draft an elite RHD.

 

[Zaddy]

Some more highlights, here's three guys who can really shoot the puck.

Gabriel Vilardi, RC, 6'2" 186lbs (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)


Owen Tippett, RW, 6'1" 181lbs (Mississauga Steelheads, OHL)


Eeli Tolvanen, LW, 5'10" 174lbs (Sioux City Musketeers, USHL)

 

[Zaddy]

Vilardi and Tippett are ranked #3 and #4, respectively on both HockeyProspect and FutureConsiderations early 2017 lists. They are two guys that I like a lot. I haven't seen Tippett as much as Vilardi but from what I can tell they're both very impressive young men. Vilardi is your complete 200ft centerman with a great all-around game and a wicked release. Tippett is a true goalscorer but outside of that he looks to be a smart player with fairly good hands and good wheels.

Hopefully we don't pick in that range again but lets say we just barely miss the playoffs and get pick #3. If that's the case I'd be thrilled with either one. Tippett would be of great use here as a shoot-first RW. Tippett reminds me a little bit of Taylor Hall actually but I think he projects as more of a goalscorer at the NHL level. A 30-35g, 30-35a kind of guy if everything goes well.

 

[48g90a138pts]

Oilers need to go after some RHD in the worst way. At this point even if we win the 1st OA pick we go with Timothy Liljegren.

But I'm confident that the Oilers won't be picking lower than 10th in this upcoming draft so Callan Foote might not even be available once our turn comes up.

Our RHD depth and prospects are so thin this next draft is where Chiarelli needs to address this situation. It really couldn't hurt the teams future build to go after 3 RHD in this upcoming draft.

I would be happy for the Oilers to trade down in situations if BPA isn't what the teams future needs are and then draft RHD's instead.

The organization has put this off for way too long and is now in dire situation. Getting Larsson at the expense of Hall was a big fat middle finger to management from the rest of the league for their lack of planning. Previous Management is all to blame for the current situation. The Oilers deserved it completely.

Still love the trade for what it really means for the team going forward though. But this next draft is so important to address the teams needs for what previous management has left. Maybe this time around Chiarelli can be strong enough to not to pick BPA. He definitely couldn't resist Jesse Puljujarvi.

 

[Zaddy]

Two new highlight videos courtesy of KillEmAll83 here on HF.

Klim Kostin, RW, 6'3" 183lbs (HK MVD Balishka, MHL)


Callan Foote, RD, 6'3" 198lbs (Kelowna Rockets, WHL)


Two guys that are likely to be available in that 8-15 range in the draft. Hopefully the same range as the Oilers pick. Everyone is interested in Foote and they should be but Kostin is an interesting player as well. I don't know a whole lot about him but from the footage I've seen of him he's a very good all-around player. Good skating, good hands, good vision, good passing, good shot, likes to go to the net and does some good work along the boards. Already seems to play an NA style of hockey. Was the captain for Team Russia both in WHC U17 and the U18's. He probably projects more as a 15-30 range pick right now but with a strong year he could be a top10 pick. Very enticing package, but he needs to keep developing.

 

[Zaddy]

The Hlinka Memorial (U18) tournament is starting today, so in under 2 hours the prospect season is officially underway. Sweden are playing against Russia and these some interesting names to watch. Sweden have three very interesting defensemen in Timothy Liljegren (top2), Erik Brännström (likely 1st rounder) and Tom Hedberg (top60 prospect) as well as 2018 eligible legit top prospect Rasmus Dahlin. Up front there is nothing too interesting but I'll keep my eye on Lukas Elevenes (potential 1st rounder, possible 2nd best swedish player in the draft) and Rickard Hugg (top60? prospect).

For Russia you have some very interesting guys as well. Two very solid defensemen in Mark Rubinchik (top60? prospect) and Dmitri Samorukov (legit 1st rounder) as well as 2018 top prospect Danila Galenyuk. Their forward group is probably more interesting as big RW Klim Kostin (likely 1st rounder) and Andrei Svechnikov (currently viewed as top3 prospect for 2018) is playing. Mikhail Bitsadze is supposed to be a very good prospect as well.

Many guys in this game that could very well end up with the Oilers next summer. The Hlinka tournament is a good opportunity to get an impression of guys that one might not get to watch much during the season. Particularly true when it comes to the russians.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

We need defense, preferably offensively capable RHD. I said damn near from the moment that I saw the Larsson trade that we need to draft D, D and more D, especially RHD. The price on quality young defensemen seems to be at an all time high.

 

[snipes]

If we aren't in a position to pick Liljegren, that's a good thing.

 

[lakai17]

We still need defence after looking at the cupboard selecting many d over the last few years?

I understand what some are saying but it takes time for them to develop as well. Half hfoil want nhl ready the other half still want to stock up the shelves. We all know some d will be hit or miss.

We still need some legit bottom 6 guys on offense as well. We also need some real goaltenders.

Although we now have valuable assets to acquire needs, Chia can make legit packages that are enticing. It is also the time to start running a good system in the minors, Bakersfield has the opportunity now to be a perennial contender for many years of done right.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

We still need defence after looking at the cupboard selecting many d over the last few years?

I understand what some are saying but it takes time for them to develop as well. Half hfoil want nhl ready the other half still want to stock up the shelves. We all know some d will be hit or miss.

We still need some legit bottom 6 guys on offense as well. We also need some real goaltenders.

Although we now have valuable assets to acquire needs, Chia can make legit packages that are enticing. It is also the time to start running a good system in the minors, Bakersfield has the opportunity now to be a perennial contender for many years of done right.

Jones, Bear, Paigin, etc. are all question marks at this point. I like all of them as prospects, but would it kill us to have back-ups that were rated higher than them coming up through the pipeline in the event that they falter? Even if we are overloaded with D then we could move some for picks or help elsewhere seeing how valuable they are in today's game. I don't see one good argument for a team like us to not draft very D heavy the next year or two unless the D prospects remaining are garbage.

 

[lakai17]

Jones, Bear, Paigin, etc. are all question marks at this point. I like all of them as prospects, but would it kill us to have back-ups that were rated higher than them coming up through the pipeline in the event that they falter? Even if we are overloaded with D then we could move some for picks or help elsewhere seeing how valuable they are in today's game. I don't see one good argument for a team like us to not draft very D heavy the next year or two unless the D prospects remaining are garbage.

I can not argue either of course and want the best out of this team like any oilfan. I am enjoying the defence pool that is coming along and it takes time always for a sleeper pick to rise and develop. I like the looks so far and understand there is always room to improve. This is McDavids team now so I want the best built around him for the next 10+ years like anyone. Its all a process when developing d so I am optimistic.

 

[Zaddy]

The Hlinka tournament finishes today with Sweden-Russia playing for the bronze and USA-Czech Republic playing for the gold. Information, links to free streams etc can be found here http://hlinkamemorial.com/eng/zapas.asp for anyone interested.

 

[Zaddy]

Craig Button just released his september rankings: http://www.tsn.ca/craig-s-list-nolan-patrick-stands-above-the-rest-1.566071

Would be nice to get some actual draft/prospects discussion going as it is now september and most leagues are starting up.

 

[McShogun99]

I hope this is the year we draft an elite RHD.

An elite RHD available at 30th OA????

 

[Canovin]

An elite RHD available at 30th OA????

I don't think I can take another loss in the Stanley Cup Finals like 06'

 

[LTIR]

I hope this is the year we draft an elite RHD.

There isnt a single one unless we are winning the lottery.

Hopefully this is the year we trade our top pick lottery protected to load up for playoffs.

amen!