2017 NHL Entry Draft - Let the Prospect Sleuthing Begin

[93LEAFS]

What a snipe! I'm not sure about him right now in the top 10 but if we pick in the early teens, I'm absolutely on board

His size, shot, and skating are elite. Everything else is fairly questionable. He is going to be a player scouts are heavily divided on. He could be a consistent 30 to 40 goal guy, but he could also be a player who drive you absolutely insane in a top line role like Evander Kane due to his shoot 1st, shoot 2nd, and then look for a pass mindset. While his tool set is much more questionable, I think I like Tolvanen due to his higher offensive IQ, which I think could lead to being a smart player with high-iq guys like Marner and Matthews. Tippett has the tools to create his own shot more often, but with high-end playmakers Tolvanen could be deadly.

One of the guys on the main board KillemAll83 has been putting togeather some good shift by shift videos, along with a bunch of individual highlight packs. Here are his first 3 shift by shift videos of top prospects in this draft.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

^

Mainly why I have Tolvanen at #6 right now and Tippett outside the Top 10. I feel like Tolvanen is more of a 2 way player than Tippett is and could be trusted in more situations

I honestly get a bit of a Sergei Berezin vibe from Tippett. It's not a bad thing. It just highlights his strengths and areas he can improve on.

 

[sxvnert]

Carrick is most certainly a top 6 Defenseman.

Agreed and with less than 80 games in the NHL theres no reason we shouldn't give him the same 200-250 games we give everyone else.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Carrick is most certainly a top 6 Defenseman.

As are Hunwick, Polak and Marincin. Corrado probably could be too, if he had the chance to show it.

The problem is that we only have three top 4 defensemen right now, and the one hole is likely on the top pairing (although Zaitsev looks like he could fill that hole eventually himself). So we are playing a guy better suited for a 2nd pairing role on the top pairing, and a guy who should be on the bottom pairing in a 2nd pairing role. Combine that with a young group of forwards who are prone to make some (expected) sloppy mistakes, and an inconsistent goalie corps and you are going to have a fairly shaky defense.

Hence why picking up someone like Hamilton for the right price would be beneficial for us. Even if he's nothing more than a good bridge instead of a future top pairing defenseman, he'd give us 4 years to properly develop someone like Foote or Liljegren to be that guy while giving us a competitive (and young) top 4.

 

[RyanOhReally]

Tolvanen is high on my wish list just because of how well he'd mesh with our core pieces.

 

[The CyNick]

Carrick is most certainly a top 6 Defenseman.

Its cool you think that

 

[TimeZone]

Its cool you think that

His advanced stats this Season certainly don't hurt my claim. He's also passes the eyetest.

 

[Knies iT]

Tolvanen is high on my wish list just because of how well he'd mesh with our core pieces.

I think he's the most likely to bust. Poor skating, undersized, average puck skills and a seemingly one trick pony.

 

[93LEAFS]

I think he's the most likely to bust. Poor skating, undersized, average puck skills and a seemingly one trick pony.

He's a pure sniper, but I think he's fairly smart with how to create chances, when to pass and how to find open space for a playmaker to find him. He obviously has flaws, but he could be a Mike Cammalleri type player. He has a lower floor than Tippett, and probably a lower ceiling, but I'd bet he has a better chance of hitting 90% of his ceiling than Tippett does.

 

[NCoRe]

Ya who watch OHL more than me could maybe enlighten me a lil bit why isnt Darren Raddysh (yes big brother of Taylor) drafted ? decent sized and skillful RHD havin a huge season with Erie. Not like we have too many rhd prospects in our system and give it a flyer could not be a terrible thing ?

Darren Raddysh

OHLprospects says this about him:
"Erie's Darren Raddysh is definitely someone NHL teams could take a look at come June (and would have been #11 on this list). A terrific two way player, as not only did Raddysh finish in the top 20 of defenceman scoring (with 40 points), but he was also named the top defensive defenceman and 2nd best shot blocker in the West (as per the Coaches Poll)."

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

How do you guys feel about Rasmussen? I like some of the scouting reports i have read on him. With his size, if he could end up as our 2C and Willie could remain on the wing. Would give us good size down the middle in the future.
6'2 Matthews
6'5 Rasmussen
6'0 Kadri
6'5 Gauthier

 

[supermann_98]

His size, shot, and skating are elite. Everything else is fairly questionable. He is going to be a player scouts are heavily divided on. He could be a consistent 30 to 40 goal guy, but he could also be a player who drive you absolutely insane in a top line role like Evander Kane due to his shoot 1st, shoot 2nd, and then look for a pass mindset. While his tool set is much more questionable, I think I like Tolvanen due to his higher offensive IQ, which I think could lead to being a smart player with high-iq guys like Marner and Matthews. Tippett has the tools to create his own shot more often, but with high-end playmakers Tolvanen could be deadly.

One of the guys on the main board KillemAll83 has been putting togeather some good shift by shift videos, along with a bunch of individual highlight packs. Here are his first 3 shift by shift videos of top prospects in this draft.

I have a hard time watching videos like those when I know we won't get either of these guys, but geez anyone of those guys would look amazing on the leafs

 

[bobermay]

How do you guys feel about Rasmussen? I like some of the scouting reports i have read on him. With his size, if he could end up as our 2C and Willie could remain on the wing. Would give us good size down the middle in the future.
6'2 Matthews
6'5 Rasmussen
6'0 Kadri
6'5 Gauthier

I'm not one to draft for position, so I'm not against Rasmussen... but I'd try and avoid having 4 LH Centers.

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

So far we're set to pick where most expected (the 8-12 range) currently 11th.

Lots of names I like right now for both the first and second:
Hischier
Petterson
Andersson
Kostin
Hague
Tippet
Valimaki
Oettinger
Loukkonen
Brannstrom
Rassmussen
Jokiharju
Makar
Minulin

My present day mock (pre-lottery):

1. New York (I) - Nolan Patrick
2. Arizona - Timothy Liljegren
3. Las Vegas - Gabe Vilardi
4. Buffalo - Nico Hischier
5. Colorado - Elias Pettersson
6. Vancouver - Eeli Tolvanen
7. Calgary - Owen Tippet
8. Winnipeg - Nick Hague
9. Detroit - Klim Kostin
10. Carolina - Kristian Vesalainen
11. Toronto - Foote / Rasmussen / Popugayev / Mittelstadt/ Necas / Comtois / Andersson / Valimaki / Glass / Brannstrom / Yamamoto

 

[Kiwi]

So far we're set to pick where most expected (the 8-12 range) currently 11th.

Lots of names I like right now for both the first and second:
Hischier
Petterson
Andersson
Kostin
Hague
Tippet
Valimaki
Oettinger
Loukkonen
Brannstrom
Rassmussen
Jokiharju
Makar
Minulin

My present day mock (pre-lottery):

1. New York (I) - Nolan Patrick
2. Arizona - Timothy Liljegren
3. Las Vegas - Gabe Vilardi
4. Buffalo - Nico Hischier
5. Colorado - Elias Pettersson
6. Vancouver - Eeli Tolvanen
7. Calgary - Owen Tippet
8. Winnipeg - Nick Hague
9. Detroit - Klim Kostin
10. Carolina - Kristian Vesalainen
11. Toronto - Foote / Rasmussen / Popugayev / Mittelstadt/ Necas / Comtois / Andersson / Valimaki / Glass / Brannstrom / Yamamoto

I Wonder If Some Of The Injury Issues That The Big Boys have had may shake up the draft standings a bit
93Leafs has some knowledge on what scouts may be thinking so may be able to shed some light on that
Rasmussen is a big boy and plays center so he could go earlier than a lot of people believe
Nothing gets teams more excited than BIG centers

 

[supermann_98]

So far we're set to pick where most expected (the 8-12 range) currently 11th.

Lots of names I like right now for both the first and second:
Hischier
Petterson
Andersson
Kostin
Hague
Tippet
Valimaki
Oettinger
Loukkonen
Brannstrom
Rassmussen
Jokiharju
Makar
Minulin

My present day mock (pre-lottery):

1. New York (I) - Nolan Patrick
2. Arizona - Timothy Liljegren
3. Las Vegas - Gabe Vilardi
4. Buffalo - Nico Hischier
5. Colorado - Elias Pettersson
6. Vancouver - Eeli Tolvanen
7. Calgary - Owen Tippet
8. Winnipeg - Nick Hague
9. Detroit - Klim Kostin
10. Carolina - Kristian Vesalainen
11. Toronto - Foote / Rasmussen / Popugayev / Mittelstadt/ Necas / Comtois / Andersson / Valimaki / Glass / Brannstrom / Yamamoto

Lots of guys I'd be happy with there at 10 ... lots

 

[93LEAFS]

I Wonder If Some Of The Injury Issues That The Big Boys have had may shake up the draft standings a bit
93Leafs has some knowledge on what scouts may be thinking so may be able to shed some light on that
Rasmussen is a big boy and plays center so he could go earlier than a lot of people believe
Nothing gets teams more excited than BIG centers

I haven't heard anything concrete on guys being moved up or down yet. I do know people are starting to wonder a bit about Patrick (what the real issue is, is he being too cautious, etc). But nothing has happened to drastically change anyone's stock yet. The other thing is, no outside of Hischier, and Pettersson has done much to drastically improve their stock. It will be interesting to see who can make a statement at the WJC.

 

[VictorLustig]

Have a feeling Liljegren could fall a bit. He has been okay since returning but I expected him to look more polished this year. Will be interesting to see if he makes the Swedish WJC team, which lacks a really good D-man on the PP. A lot will depend on the new coach, whether he goes with an older experienced team or a younger but much more talented team.

Overall the depth of this draft looks good from a Swedish perspective. There are quite a few talented players, especially forwards, who haven't really broken out yet. Emil Bemström, Filip Sveningsson, Lukas Elvenes and Kalle Miketinac all have pretty good upside and will probably be taken in the middle rounds.

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

Lots of guys I'd be happy with there at 10 ... lots

I agree. Of the guys who could realistically be available at 11 I would really want Petersson, but after him I'm pretty much ok with whoever.

 

[highslot]

So far we're set to pick where most expected (the 8-12 range) currently 11th.

Lots of names I like right now for both the first and second:
Hischier
Petterson
Andersson
Kostin
Hague
Tippet
Valimaki
Oettinger
Loukkonen
Brannstrom
Rassmussen
Jokiharju
Makar
Minulin

My present day mock (pre-lottery):

1. New York (I) - Nolan Patrick
2. Arizona - Timothy Liljegren
3. Las Vegas - Gabe Vilardi
4. Buffalo - Nico Hischier
5. Colorado - Elias Pettersson
6. Vancouver - Eeli Tolvanen
7. Calgary - Owen Tippet
8. Winnipeg - Nick Hague
9. Detroit - Klim Kostin
10. Carolina - Kristian Vesalainen
11. Toronto - Foote / Rasmussen / Popugayev / Mittelstadt/ Necas / Comtois / Andersson / Valimaki / Glass / Brannstrom / Yamamoto

if foote is faster than his father, then him, then popu then rasmussen would be my pick. if foote looks slower and doesn't have great corsi/puck possession numbers, then i'd take a pass on him. if elias pettersson falls, then he's my pick outside the top 5; i think he's a great top 5 gamble.

 

[sxvnert]

Michael Rasmussen if hes available.

 

[Johny Drama]

Early days and still lots of time, but there doesn't seem to be anyone climbing the ladder as we have seen in previous seasons. Seems to be really wide open at this point. If there was a season for us to stay in the playoff hunt this would be it. Having our young core get the chance to play in meaningful games would be really valueable for their development and it looks like may not matter if we pick 7 or 14th at this point. After the top 1-4 spots in the draft is looking very subjective.