Prospect Info: 2018 NHL Draft Part I

[Zippy316]

can i guess since people are asking - it's not about boqvist being bad other than who else was available?

marcus davidsson
heponiemi
dylan samberg
maxime comtois

i think you had some preferences for who to pick? am i right?

This type of exercise is pointless because every list is drastically different. I'm sure Steven's list looks much different than the Devils list and both look much different than how the draft played out.

Just for an example, here was a leaked Canucks draft board in 2010:

1. Hall
2. Seguin
3. Burmistrov
4. Gormley
5. JACK CAMPBELL
6. Tarasenko
7. Gudbranson
8. Skinner
9. Fowler
10. Forbort
11. Johansen
12. Connelly
13. McIlrath
14. Visentin
15. Granlund
16. Kuznetsov
17. Nino
18. Tinordi
19. Bennett
20. Sheahan
21. Bjugstad
22. Merrill
23. Melchiori
24. Corbiel-Therault
25. Hishon
26. McNally
27. Straka, Petr
28. Jarnkrok, Calle
29. Gailev, Stanislav
30. Lindberg, Oscar
31. Polasek, Adam
32. Kabanov
33. Ross, Brad
34. Rensfeldt
35. Hayes, Kevin
36. Dominque, Louis
37. Petterson-Wentzel
38. Schwartz, Jaden
39. Knight, Jared
40. McFarland, John
41. Faulk, Justin
42. Zucker, Jason
43. Larsson, Johan
44. Watson, Austin
45. Toffoli, Tyler
46. Etem, Emerson
47. Pitlick, Tyler
48. Pickard, Calvin
49. Johns, Stephen
50. Pysyk, Mark
51. Marincin, Martin
52. Culek, Jakub
53. Howden, Quinton
54. Hamilton, Curtis
55. Friesen, Alex
56. Spooner, Ryan
57. Gudas, Radko
58. Mrazek, Petr
59. Holl, Justin
60. Pulkkinen, Teemu
61. Wannstrom, Sebastion
62. Bocharov, Stanislav
63. Nelson, Brock
64. Alt, Mark
65. Martindale, Ryan
66. McNeill, Reid
67. Aubry, Louis
68. Leach, Joey
69. MacMillan, Mark
70. Petrovic, Alex
71. Simpson, Kent
72. Brittain, Sam
73. Cehlin, Patrick
74. Gustafsson, Johan
75. Iilahti, Jonathan
76. Brodin, Danielk
77. Nemeth, Patrik
78. Coyle, Charlie
79. McCormick, Max
80. Kitsyn, Maxim
81. Donskoi, Joonas
82. Wind, Cameron
83. Smith Pelley, Devante
84. Tommernes, Henrik
85. Hannay, Sawyer
86. Zahn, Teigan
87. MacKenzie, Matt
88. Weal, Jordan
89. Chudinov, Maxim
90. Houser, Michael
91. Wedgewood, Scott
92. Sundher, Kevin
93. Beukeboom, Brock
94. O’Donnell, Brendan
95. Herbert, Caleb
96. Archibald, Brandon
97. Chaput, Michael
98. Salmivirta, Mikael
99. Hjalmarsson, Simon
100. Marchenko, Alexei
101. Brickley, Connor
102. Clark, Jason
103. Henley, Cedrick
104. Gauthier Leduc, Jerome
105. Gardiner, Max
106. Schemitsch, Geoffrey
107. Smith, Dalton
108. Yogan, Andrew
109. Barbeshev, Sergei
110. Hakanpaa, Jani
111. Aittokallio, Sami
112. Stahl, Tyler
113. Kantor, Michael
114. Marshall, Ben
115. Abeltshauser, Konrad
116. Shipley, Steven
117. Kuhnhackl, Tom
118. Bulmer, Brett
119. Grubauer, Phillip
120. Arnold, Bill

Compare that to the actual draft results and you can just see how differently teams rank players.

 

[4thline]

Edit: thanks for the redirect

While I'm here, post above is excellent. Too few understand that and think that the draft day result is representative of an aggregate ranking that is binding to all teams.

 

[Darkauron]

Stuff like that goes in the team discussion - Post season edition

 

[Bowzer55]

Hey guys,
I have participated in two mock drafts and I was the Devils for both of them. In both drafts I picked K'Andre Miller so it certainly seems he could fall to us

 

[OmNomNom]

This type of exercise is pointless because every list is drastically different. I'm sure Steven's list looks much different than the Devils list and both look much different than how the draft played out.

Just for an example, here was a leaked Canucks draft board in 2010:


Compare that to the actual draft results and you can just see how differently teams rank players.

i mean i'm just thinking of the reason why he didn't "like" the boqvist pick - there were PLENTY of other good players available, so while some are questions why he didn't "like", i was wondering if it was moreso a case of "i liked someone better"

 

[StevenToddIves]

Veleno hasn't produced enough for me to put him in the top #10. When the majority of his points are collected on the PP, it's something that bothers me.

Another point would be his average performance at the U-18. I'm expecting him to carry his team yet Lafreniere and Lavoie where playing much better imo. True Lafreniere is probably the #1 overall pick in 2020 (I don't see anyone else tbh) but I wanted to see more out of him and it didn't happen.

I watched Veleno play midget AAA for the "Lions du Lac St-Louis" and the kid was just absurd. I'm not knocking him for his overall play because he's a very smart hockey player and his hockey IQ is off the charts. I'm just not sold on his offensive game for me to be comfortable taking him before Boqvist. I'd view that has a "Zacha over Provorov" type of situation but that's just my opinion.

One of the things that might be in his favour is that there's no centers the top #5 and a team wanting a pivot might reach.

Just so there's no misunderstanding, that list you quoted was my personal ranking -- not a mock draft or a Devils-centric ranking. Considering how closely I have Veleno/Boqvist/Smith ranked at 7/8/9, I think we can agree that any of the three players would be a coup if they fell to the Devils at #17 overall. That being said, I think Smith is the only player of the three NJ has even a remote chance at landing.

 

[StevenToddIves]

im not paying too much attention to the draft, since I think #17 is trade bait this year and dont wanna get myself interested in any prospects

The Devils are not trading this pick. It's a defense-deep draft, and the Devils are desperate for young blue-chip blueliners. Also there are a few high-scoring wingers who are sure to tempt the Devils at #17, such as Bokk, Kravtsov and Thomas.

If anything, I expect the Devils to attempt to trade for another pick in the 2nd or 3rd round, either by trading down a few slots from 17 or by swapping a blocked prospect (Mueller? Speers? Quenneville?).

 

[StevenToddIves]

can i ask why you 'strongly disagreed' on boqvist, and whether your opinion has changed since then? i don't know much about him, but i have high hopes

I felt Boqvist had first-round offensive ability, but often would 'float' in the defensive zone and shy away from the more physical aspects of the game.

At the time, I really wanted Heponiemi, whom I felt had even more offensive upside than Boqvist and also played a far more courageous game despite a similar slight frame to Boqvist's. Also, I felt (and still feel) that Heponiemi can make it as a C or LW in the NHL, whereas Boqvist will not play C in the NHL. If we decided to go defense I really liked Dylan Samberg, who went a few picks later to the team I consider to be the best-drafting team in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets.

Again, I do not want to sound like I "dislike" Boqvist. I think he has huge upside -- if he figures a few things out he can be a high-scoring second-line LW behind Taylor Hall, and we need secondary scoring. With the #36 pick, this type of player is an absolute coup. At the time, I just liked Heponiemi and Samberg far better.

 

[StevenToddIves]

can i guess since people are asking - it's not about boqvist being bad other than who else was available?

marcus davidsson
heponiemi
dylan samberg
maxime comtois

i think you had some preferences for who to pick? am i right?

I explained this a few times in this thread, but I really wanted Heponiemi or Samberg. I had them both ranked in my top 30.

 

[StevenToddIves]

This type of exercise is pointless because every list is drastically different. I'm sure Steven's list looks much different than the Devils list and both look much different than how the draft played out.

Just for an example, here was a leaked Canucks draft board in 2010:


Compare that to the actual draft results and you can just see how differently teams rank players.

I could not agree with you more.

But I will say that both Shero and I seem to place an emphasis on speed/skill/hockey IQ/character.

That being said, there are always exceptions. I am certain that, last year for instance, there was no way on earth that Shero and Castron thought that Popugayev would still be available in the 4th round. Though he does not exactly fit in with team philosophy, Popugayev had first-round upside, which is tough to pass on that late in the draft. So they did what any of us would do, they pounced.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Hey guys,
I have participated in two mock drafts and I was the Devils for both of them. In both drafts I picked K'Andre Miller so it certainly seems he could fall to us

Fans tend to follow the rankings of the more-well-known scouting services. Teams have their own scouts, so their rankings have a greater degree of fluctuation.

But yes, I think Miller is quite likely to be available at 17.

 

[StevenToddIves]

i mean i'm just thinking of the reason why he didn't "like" the boqvist pick - there were PLENTY of other good players available, so while some are questions why he didn't "like", i was wondering if it was moreso a case of "i liked someone better"

Precisely. But I fully agree with Zippy's point that there is a huge degree of fluctuation from team to team in terms of draft rankings.

 

[My3Sons]

You guys have it all wrong. With Hynes coaching the squad to a playoff appearance he’s here for the long haul. I think Castron knows this and as we speak is looking at video trying to find the next Ben Lovejoy. I saw him looking at road construction crews and talking to some of the shinier traffic cones to get a feel for what kind of player they might be.

 

[Zippy316]

I could not agree with you more.

But I will say that both Shero and I seem to place an emphasis on speed/skill/hockey IQ/character.

That being said, there are always exceptions. I am certain that, last year for instance, there was no way on earth that Shero and Castron thought that Popugayev would still be available in the 4th round. Though he does not exactly fit in with team philosophy, Popugayev had first-round upside, which is tough to pass on that late in the draft. So they did what any of us would do, they pounced.

Which is smart. You see a guy like Bratt who fit like a glove for what the Devils are looking for, but if a team like LA drafted him, he likely struggles to fit into their system. Helps you get more from less.

I'm curious to see how the Devils start drafting defensively now. Seems like all the guys we've been going for are strong skaters on the smaller side, but Tampa put on a clinic against the Devils with how size and reach can shut down so much defensively.

 

[devilsblood]

Which is smart. You see a guy like Bratt who fit like a glove for what the Devils are looking for, but if a team like LA drafted him, he likely struggles to fit into their system. Helps you get more from less.

I'm curious to see how the Devils start drafting defensively now. Seems like all the guys we've been going for are strong skaters on the smaller side, but Tampa put on a clinic against the Devils with how size and reach can shut down so much defensively.

Which makes Miller all the more coveted. I know the game has changed in terms of what teams want from their d-men, but there has to be some level of size on the blue line.

And if we are factoring in team need, the fact that Butcher is likely a long termer on the left side, can we really have another 5'11" offensive lefty? Granted the potential draftee will very likely skate much better then Butch, but, which of those guys is going to play on the 2nd PK, let alone the first. Plus they would but heads for PP time.

 

[glenwo2]

So....should the Devils draft a russian at #17?

 

[Oneiro]

I don't think we need to learn more lessons. BPA.

 

[StevenToddIves]

So....should the Devils draft a russian at #17?

I don't care if a player is from Mars, if he's the best player available, you take him.

 

[Billdo]

David Conte and Lou thought that you draft for grit in every round as they got older.

Case in point... Point.

 

[NJDevils17]

Take BPA and move on. Lots of good options at 17 but whoever we take probably isn’t ready for 2-3 years. A lot can change in that time.

 

[Billdo]

I think you always take BPA in the first round. If there's a tie on their board though at their selection slot I'd prefer to go D obviously as that's essentially the last remaining void Shero needs to fill. Walsh, Chainey, and Sissons are nice pieces to have already but we need that blue chip defenseman in the pipeline.

 

[MartyOwns]

I think you always take BPA in the first round. If there's a tie on their board though at their selection slot I'd prefer to go D obviously as that's essentially the last remaining void Shero needs to fill. Walsh, Chainey, and Sissons are nice pieces to have already but we need that blue chip defenseman in the pipeline.

i agree- go with BPA. i couldnt agree more that we need a blue chip defenseman, but if that can't be done through drafting or UFA we should have some expendable pieces in the next year or 2 that we can package in a trade.

 

[Spoiled Bratt]

Just so there's no misunderstanding, that list you quoted was my personal ranking -- not a mock draft or a Devils-centric ranking. Considering how closely I have Veleno/Boqvist/Smith ranked at 7/8/9, I think we can agree that any of the three players would be a coup if they fell to the Devils at #17 overall. That being said, I think Smith is the only player of the three NJ has even a remote chance at landing.

I respect your opinion and I always enjoy reading your posts but I just don't see what you do in Veleno. I do agree with you that if he's there at #17, you grab him and run but I don't think it's that far fetched to see him drop for the reasons I stated earlier.

IMO if you're not crushing in at the minor league level and especially in a high scoring league like the "Q", I would be wary to pick that player in the top #10. It doens't mean that he's a poor player but he might not be the BPA at #7, #8 or #9.

I don't know if him getting the exceptional status hurt him more than anything else in regards to his offensive game. He had to play a more mature game at a very young age and that might of stalled his offensive game. Don't get me wrong, his vision and hockey IQ is off the charts but I'm talking about his goal scoring and his overall offensive game.

Looking back, the last couple of players to be granted such status haven't been doing anything special since getting that reward. IMO, that status should go to players like Crosby and McDavid and not Sean Day, Joe Veleno and even Aaron Ekblad.

 

[Triumph]

I don't think the QMJHL is a substantially higher scoring league than either of the other two junior leagues. In fact it looks like from eyeballing it that there were more goals scored in the OHL this season, though of course there's shootouts to consider. The Q was once a higher-scoring league but I also feel like higher-scoring was code for 'full of French-Canadian guys who can't hack it in the NHL'.

Veleno was traded to a team where the highest total scorer ended up with a point a game but he had nearly a point and a half a game. That seems good.

 

[OmNomNom]

Case in point... Point.

i'll always associate him with connor chatham sigh