Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
The drafting has been pretty bad under GMBM. Not sure I liked any of his picks or trades in the draft.
Too early to say that, the prospects haven't had the time to prove themselves yet.
The drafting has been pretty bad under GMBM. Not sure I liked any of his picks or trades in the draft.
Too early to say that, the prospects haven't had the time to prove themselves yet.
I don't think there's much of a threat for that this year. Another defenseman seems like the bigger threat given the draft field.Although even if he drops to us, i can see us drafting a goalie anyways..
In an interview with Kravtsov's father, he mentions his son's dream to play with the Caps alongside Ovechkin & Kuznetnov. His KHL playoff performance is probably making that a trade up scenario at best.
Who is this year’s Alex DeBrincat? I.e. the guy who inexplicably drops way below where he should be drafted because of “size concerns”?
I don't think there is one in terms of an otherwise top 20-40 talent. There are a couple of shorter defensemen (Hughes, Addison) but they're at least ranked where they ought to be otherwise.Who is this year’s Alex DeBrincat? I.e. the guy who inexplicably drops way below where he should be drafted because of “size concerns”?
This would perhaps suggest an intent on restocking the forward ranks with their first two picks. They've always tended to stick with BPA, though, and it's is a D heavy draft. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if they packaged their first two picks to move up and land one of the more skilled forwards in the late teens range.
It depends on the strengths of the skilled forward. If they're defensively trustworthy and physically mature they'll have a far easier time gaining his trust. Otherwise? Yeah, dicey. But I don't think there's a very good chance he returns. He has to get over the hump for that to happen and they're not exactly engineered for it unless they get fantastic goaltending. Plus, he's very likely to command a pretty healthy raise after the Q & Babcock contracts.
When paired with elite offensive upside, yes. But there could be some options like, say, Hayton, Veleno, Farabee or Olofsson that slide a bit due to perhaps some offensive upside concerns. They probably should attack the draft with that sort of strategy in order to counter the more flashy yet inconsistent play of 65/13 with more substance and leadership potential.Those kinds of attributes, paired with lots of offensive skill tend to go in the top-10 of the draft pretty much always. Even more so now because the draft is D heavy and there are still teams that are desperate to add offense.
Another draft riser: Czech RWer Martin Kaut. He had a productive playoff against men in the Czech league and is putting up points now playing for the men's national team. They could use an upside right shot so he'd fit something of a need. He's up to 17th in the latest ISS rankings.
The Caps are currently set to pick 28th as a division leader, subject to future playoff finish reshuffling, but the play of guys like Kaut is rounding out the first round pretty nicely IMO. There's a number of players outside of my top 31 that could make a case for the first round with a strong finish, including a number of likely Team Canada players at the U18s in two weeks. Another one that'll be at the U18s is Jake Wise, who was mentioned earlier. He's finished strong and a big U18s could perhaps push him into that late first round territory.
If Trotz is still around I don't think you have to worry about him signing off on taking any Czechs, he apparently explodes if more than two are in a lineup at any one time.Czech RW Martin Kaut... Czech RW Martin Erat... too similar, pass.