2018 HF Team Boards Mock Draft -- Pick #24

Pick #24

  • D Addison Calen

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • D Ginning Adam

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F Groulx Benoit-Olivier

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F Gustafsson David

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • D Lundkvist Nils

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F McBain Jack

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • D Miller K'Andre

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F Nordgren Niklas

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • F Olofsson Jacob

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • D Tychonick Jonathan

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .

mcpw

WPG
Jan 13, 2015
10,024
2,072
Every year there's a mock draft done by the team boards of HF -- here are the results of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Rules are easy: just pick the player you want your team to draft based on who is still available; "trade the pick" is not an option ;)

2018 Mock Draft
1 BUF --- D Rasmus Dahlin 117/126 (93%)
2 CAR --- F Andrei Svechnikov 69/74 (93%)
3 MTL --- F Filip Zadina 56/71 (79%)
4 OTT --- F Brady Tkachuk 38/71 (54%)
5 ARI --- F Oliver Wahlstrom 34/49 (69%)
6 DET --- D Adam Boqvist 41/93 (44%)
7 VAN --- D Quinton Hughes 34/64 (53%)
8 CHI --- D Evan Bouchard 28/39 (72%)
9 NYR --- D Noah Dobson 61/132 (46%)
10 EDM --- F Jesperi Kotkaniemi 41/65 (63%)
11 NYI --- F Joseph Veleno 52/68 (76%)
12 NYI* --- D Ty Smith 44/68 (65%)
13 DAL --- F Joel Farabee 10/30 (33%)
14 PHI* --- F Vitali Kravtsov 30/67 (45%)
15 FLA --- F Grigori Denisenko 5/18 (28%)
16 COL --- F Barrett Hayton 15/47 (32%)
17 NJD --- D Bode Wilde 23/63 (37%) (Tiebreaker)
18 CBJ --- F Rasmus Kupari 9/27 (33%)
19 PHI --- F Jonatan Berggren 38/55 (69%)
20 LAK --- F Dominik Bokk 8/25 (32%)
21 SJS --- D Ryan Merkley 12/42 (29%)
22 OTT* --- F Martin Kaut 15/37 (41%)
23 ANA --- F Akil Thomas 15/30 (50%)
24 MIN ---
25 TOR ---
26 NYR* ---
27 CHI* ---
28 NYR* ---
29 STL* ---
30
31
 
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Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
19,091
4,345
Jet Woo, I'll take the guy coolest name; Alex Alex (Alexeyev Alexander) was also in the running. I do like both of these guys as players, the name put them over the top for me.
 

Dr Jan Itor

Registered User
Dec 10, 2009
44,928
19,782
MinneSNOWta
As someone who knows nothing about any of these guys, I would select Ryan McLeod.

6'2" center
70 points in 68 games
Ranked right around our pick by 3 different sources
"Effortless skater" and "great speed and edges" per Elite Prospects
 

Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
19,091
4,345
Here's another writeup on McLeod:

Mikey's Brother is about as fast on his skates as big brother. Ryan McLeod
Big centre with great really good skating ability and a separation gear, who creates scoring chances with his quick hands, and use his size to own the face off circle and dominate opposing centres in many phases with his strong compete level. Strong face-off man and is a good stick-handler able to make neat passes, setting up his linemates. Plays both on the power play and the penalty kill. There are serious questions as to whether he can fill a NHL top six role, because he simply hasn’t shown very much scoring prowess. He shows defensive capabilities but I would like him to have a lot more edge and push at his size. The NHL can tolerate a “finesse” big centre IF he is a scorer, but no so much if he isn’t.
—Bill Placzek—

The last few lines give me pause about McLeod.
 

57special

Posting the right way since 2012.
Sep 5, 2012
47,622
19,461
MN
I like Noel. Really big, but can skate, and has a bit of skill to his game. He looks like a big goofy guy, then he does something that makes you go, "Whoa, where did that come from?"

He might take a while to develop.
 

DANOZ28

Registered User
May 22, 2012
6,842
424
nearest bar MN
i really think our D is set for awhile otherwise alexeyev wouldnt be a bad choice. olofsson would be a conservative choice. mcleod doesnt have big #'s but has that kempe / zucker toolbox im looking for. noel is a big boy that is either hit or miss. cheers!
 

57special

Posting the right way since 2012.
Sep 5, 2012
47,622
19,461
MN
i really think our D is set for awhile otherwise alexeyev wouldnt be a bad choice. olofsson would be a conservative choice. mcleod doesnt have big #'s but has that kempe / zucker toolbox im looking for. noel is a big boy that is either hit or miss. cheers!
I don't think that Noel will be a miss. To me, he's a sure thing top 9 guy. The question is how high of a ceiling does he have. He's almost of the same mold as a Greenway or Tuch. Very Big, with some scoring touch, but not elite.

What I'd really like would be another setup guy. A Granlund clone. Doesn't have to be a big scorer, or even big, but can run a PP, and handle the puck really well. Speed would also be nice. We've gone from being a pass first team to a shoot first team. We have nice passing from the back end, Granlund, Koivu a little bit, and that's about it. Coyle passes, but he should be shooting(healthy wrists might help there), Nino is a shooter, Zucker is a shooter, Staal and Parise, too.

Want the Wild to pick a couple of Dmen in the later rounds. Have my eyes on Brinkman in 2019. He might not end up being the top 10 guy I thought he was going to be, but he is a very talented player....always has been.
 
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Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
19,091
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We've gone from being a pass first team to a shoot first team. We have nice passing from the back end, Granlund, Koivu a little bit, and that's about it. Coyle passes, but he should be shooting(healthy wrists might help there), Nino is a shooter, Zucker is a shooter, Staal and Parise, too.

The Wild are not a shoot first team, they were 26th in shots last year. Their 6th (tied) in s% was the impressive shooting stat.

Granny has really turned himself into a full o-zone player, not just a pass first (and second, and third) guy anymore.

Coyle is weird with shooting; was a shock collar put on him as a kid and every time he shot it would zap him? It's not just last year and bad wrists either, it's a yearly thing.

Parise, Staal, and Zucker are shooters. Nino is more of an around the crease, garbage collector, backdoor tap-in for his shots than an open ice sniper.

JEE is an interesting one to watch as he progresses. He's not afraid to shoot, and has decent passing ability. His accuracy needs to improve a lot, but he has a wicked release on his wrister.
 

57special

Posting the right way since 2012.
Sep 5, 2012
47,622
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MN
Wild were 10th in shots in 2017. Coyle(-42), Nino(-53), and especially Parise(-75) had far fewer SOG last year because of injuries. All those players had significantly more SOG in 2016, also...Parise had a whopping 115 more.
 

Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
19,091
4,345
Wild were 10th in shots in 2017. Coyle(-42), Nino(-53), and especially Parise(-75) had far fewer SOG last year because of injuries. All those players had significantly more SOG in 2016, also...Parise had a whopping 115 more.

Yes they were 10th, with a whopping 51 more shots. Their shot total from last season (2527) would have been good for 24th this year. The NHL (as a whole) shifted to a very shot heavy league last year. The Wild/BB is a work for the high quality chances; not just shoot from everywhere. So I really don't see their shot total rising much from last year even if they were fully healthy.

FWIW the Caps were dead last in shots last season and they are in the Cup Finals. :dunno:
 

57special

Posting the right way since 2012.
Sep 5, 2012
47,622
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MN
That Caps stat is bizarre, because Ovi usually has the most shots in the league., doesn't he?
 

Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
19,091
4,345
That Caps stat is bizarre, because Ovi usually has the most shots in the league., doesn't he?

Yes, he lead the league in shots, but a lot of their offense is geared towards giving Ovi the puck to shoot.
 

BagHead

Registered User
Dec 23, 2010
6,367
3,408
Minneapolis, MN
After reading up on everyone, I'm really not excited that the Wild are choosing 24th. Even 5 spots earlier and there are some interesting upsides available, but at 24th it's all potential middle pairing defenders and 2nd line forwards. I voted for Isac Ludestrom because he sounds like a two-way forward at the NHL level that should play 2nd line, possibly at center. He also just put up 15 points in the SHL, which is pretty decent for a 17 year old. "Big body" (he's 6'0" 180, so I'm not sure why the scouting reports call him big), throws his weight around, strong zone entries, good defensively, does the little things right, highly versatile, passes the puck too much but is good at it.

Sounds like a mixed bag, which is what you expect toward the end of the 1st round, I suppose.
 

Puhis

Nah.
Jul 4, 2011
11,507
747
Jaervenpaeae
Curious to see the absence of Jesse Ylönen from the predicted 1st round draft picks.

Yes, some sources claim he is a 2nd rounder, but others however rate him very highly. For example, in Corey Pronman's draft board (The Athletic, paywall) Jesse is predicted to go 14th overall. Pronman had following to say about Ylönen (snippet, hopefully allowed):

Oct. 3, 1999 | six-foot | 167 pounds
GP: 48 | Goals: 14 | Points: 27 | Shoots: Right

Rating scale 0-80

Skating: 60
Puck Skills: 60
Physical Game: 40
Hockey sense: 55

Ylonen has played the entire season in Finland’s second division pro league, being good but not great there, and he was the top scorer at both the U19 Five Nations tournament in February and U19 Four Nations in April... ...but I have little doubt he’s a high-end talent who can break open a shift. His skating is high-end, as is his playmaking. He’s incredibly elusive with his skating, able to jet up the ice as well as turn on a dime. He can dangle, but he also makes plays to his teammates well and shows very good instincts... He’s more of a playmaker to me, but he has a fine shot and I’ve seen his one-timer and wrist shot be dangerous from a distance... ...If he can add bulk to his frame and get to the inside areas a bit more, the sky’s the limit for him.

Some pretty high praise. Now of course, there are legit criticisms too. Not very physical, and has that dreaded (?) "playmaker" stigma attached to his play. He is also a RW, which while not an area of strength is not something we have a dire need of either.

As for his points: While 14 goals may seem little in 48 games, he was the leading scorer of his team (Espoo United) last season. He is also the son of ex-NHLer Juha Ylönen, so he comes from some pretty good hockey background. A product of highly-rated Blues Jr. system, Ylönen in my mind is an intriguing prospect. And I'm not saying this just because of personal bias. I truly think he has high upside, and from what I've seen and heard, others seem to agree as well.

Is he a risky pick? Sure. What if he never develops the kind of physical play needed to make it on the small ice? What if he just doesn't have that next level scoring, and unable to find the space to pull off his moves and playmaking at the next level? All valid concerns. Thankfully, Jesse seems to have little trouble making quick (and correct) decisions on the fly. Dude also has solid, solid hands. He is one of those guys who just loves having the puck and creating plays. It reminds me of perhaps the traditional Czech way of playing hockey, and a new wave of highly-skilled, agile Finnish prospects who are not afraid to make their own decisions.

Here, see for yourself:



I like it. And it's an older video, too. Of course, highlights are just that: Highlights. They do, however, tell certain things about a player: How he scores, how he plays, what he looks like on the ice. Not as good as watching an entire game, or even better, going to see the player with your own eyes. But it's the next best thing, and better than nothing.

Jesse is contracted to play for Pelicans in Liiga for next two years. Will be interesting to see how he fares on a higher level, and whether the "lack" of scoring was due to a bad team. My guess? As good as anyone's. We'll have to wait and see. But best case scenario... We'd have a Sebastian Aho on our hands.

With all that said, I picked Ryan McLeod out of the available options. Another risky pick, but we need a gamebreaker. If there is one who might just flash just potential at #24... take him. Take him and see what happens. Give the kid a chance to succeed.
 
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Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
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How is McLeod a game breaker? He's one of the oldest 18 yo in the draft this year (missed last season's draft cutoff but 6 days). He's not a top-end scorer, a decent setup guy yes, but nothing about his skillset is elite.
 

Saga of the Elk

Honoured Person
May 31, 2008
3,125
924
After reading up on everyone, I'm really not excited that the Wild are choosing 24th. Even 5 spots earlier and there are some interesting upsides available, but at 24th it's all potential middle pairing defenders and 2nd line forwards. I voted for Isac Lundestrom because he sounds like a two-way forward at the NHL level that should play 2nd line, possibly at center. He also just put up 15 points in the SHL, which is pretty decent for a 17 year old. "Big body" (he's 6'0" 180, so I'm not sure why the scouting reports call him big), throws his weight around, strong zone entries, good defensively, does the little things right, highly versatile, passes the puck too much but is good at it.

Sounds like a mixed bag, which is what you expect toward the end of the 1st round, I suppose.

I voted the same. And yes, the late first / lack of 2nd makes this draft another crappy one for the Wild most likely.

I ended up with Merkley in the one mock draft (in real life would be highly contingent on his interview) but I like Ylonen too. McLeod doesn't really appeal. Might be kind of bad reasoning - Auston Matthews was old for his draft class too - but for the most part, I go with the younger guy all else being equal, and I think there are others with higher upside than McLeod.
 

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