Speculation: 2018 NHL Draft Talk :)

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emptyNedder

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The draft is going to be a good test of the new GM. There are two possibilities I like:

1) The most likely--The Canes end up with a 10-13 pick. One of the highly sought D-men will still be available (Wilde, Smith, maybe even Dobson). Carolina should trade it to one of the teams in the 20-25 range. The Canes need to draft a RW with Stempniak leaving and Williams in likely his last season next year. Also, that allows flexibility for Lindholm to play C if needed. The best pick for Carolina in the first (unless they can somehow get into the top 6) is Martin Kaut. He has been performing well in an adult league (actually more productive than Necas last season in the same league), already has some chemistry with Necas, and has been consistently productive in high-level international play (actually more so than Chytl). He is projected to go late first round. I don't know what the value of moving up 12 places would be (a 2nd round pick, a back-up goalie), but it makes sense for the Canes to move down and pick the player who is the best fit. Unless . . .

2) Less likely--the Canes get one of the top 2 picks. If it is one, I still see the benefit of trading it to the team directly behind Carolina if the return is reasonable. Again the Canes need RW (I know Dahlin is a generational player) and Svechnikov appears to be ready to be a 25+ goal scorer in the NHL. If it is two--then Svechnikov without any bargains involved.
 

A Star is Burns

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If we are in the top three, I'd draft Dahlin, Svechnikov, Zadina, in that order, as would most. I don't see any need to complicate any of that.

If we stay put in pick location, I wouldn't trade down. I'd either trade the pick outright for some of the help we need immediately, or just draft the best player at that position.
 

NotOpie

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Sounds like if we shit the bed the rest of the season the best we could hope for is 8th, but we are much more likely to pick somewhere between 10th and 12th. I would argue, as good as our defensive depth is, if a Noah Dobson, Evan Bouchard, or perhaps Bode Wilde, are still on the board, you can't ignore them. They are the new prototypical defensemen. They are fairly big, skate well, and in the case of these 3 guys, are all right shots. Now I'm not saying we'd "have" to pick one of them, but I am saying that they might just be the best player available at the pick. Personally, if we are picking in the 10 to 12 range and I thought I could trade down and pick up a 2nd or a 3rd and still be able to select a Kotkaniemi, a Hayton, or a Veleno, I'd be more inclined to look at that option.
 

GoldiFox

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Svechnikov is a monster from what I've seen. Every Power Forwards uses their mass and momentum to gain advantage. Svechnikov has special Ovechkin-like quality in which he uses his weight, acceleration, and awareness to truly dominate in the offensive zone. He isn't a Center but I think he could be a Superstar RW.

I like a lot of the guys in the Canes range. They should have a good read on Kotkaniemi, Kupari, Lunderstrom, and Kaut given their recent overseas scouting successes. Mattias Samuelsson looks like a dead-ringer of a Canes "Clone army" defensive pick but he seems to be more in the ~15-25 range.
 

A Star is Burns

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I have no problem with drafting a dman, especially a righty. I don't love our overall RD depth in the organization, and I wouldn't be shocked if we move on from Faulk in the long term, much less the short term. Of course, I don't have any great desire to draft a LD, but there is a possibility we move on from Hanifin or Fleury, and then if Bean doesn't work out, then we will ultimately need replacements in the pipeline for that. If that ends up being the strength of where we draft after it all shakes out, take the dman.

I do expect some of those forwards NotOpie mentioned to be available, and I would like to get Veleno or Kotkaniemi based on what I know. I'm a little less gung ho on Hayton. If any of the higher ranked forwards like Tkachuk, Wahlstrom, Farabee slip, then of course, grab one of them as well.
 
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