2018 NHL Entry Draft Thread (Less then 24 Hours Edition)

[76]

It's between Zadina, Kotkaniemi and Dobson. Those are the 3 BPA at 3 imo.
I was watching games of Kotkaniemi again yesterday, and god he is such a smart player, a beauty to watch. Does everything well, all over the ice. It's Kopitar 2.0, but with more character. He would be my choice. The way he competed against men at 17yo is very impressive, looked comfortable and not intimidated at all. That speaks a lot to me. I think he could even handle the NHL as soon as next season, even if the probabilities it happens are actually low.

 

[Runner77]

Almost there..

Yeah but ... are you really ready?

 

[Ozmodiar]

No 2 guys are exactly the same, but Hayton has a Sheifele vibe and some Kadri qualities... For Zadina, he reminds a bit of William Karlsson, or a little Pastrnak, heck even a little Luc Robitaille....

I see a little Filip Forsberg there.
A winger who can score, but also drives the play, and isn't a perimeter player. Can be useful even when not scoring.

Yes, they need a center, so hopefully Zadina will be part 1 of a 3 part draft plan.
2) acquire another top 20 pick (Max) to be used to draft a center
3) be patient - no band-aid solutions - and pick top 10 next year. fill the void at center here.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

I see a little Filip Forsberg there.
A winger who can score, but also drives the play, and isn't a perimeter player. Can be useful even when not scoring.

Yes, they need a center, so hopefully Zadina will be part 1 of a 3 part draft plan.
2) acquire another top 20 pick (Max) to be used to draft a center
3) be patient - no band-aid solutions - and pick top 10 next year. fill the void at center here.

While that's a good plan, it does seem as though we are going to keep Max and draft Kotkaniemi at 3. But if we do draft Zadina, then I do expect Max to be moved.

 

[Yoshidas Island]

Boqvist is a hell of a prospect, but I think when you combine the fact he's a RD with the concussion issues, we can do better at 3rd overall.

I have Boqvist as the 3rd best prospect in this draft, but if I were an NHL team, I likely wouldn't want to take the risk, therefore I could see him dropping.

 

[Ozmodiar]

While that's a good plan, it does seem as though we are going to keep Max and draft Kotkaniemi at 3. But if we do draft Zadina, then I do expect Max to be moved.

My biggest fear for this offseason. Keeping Max, 2nd line centers signed, hope for a one year turnaround.

They *have* to move on from Max, and they need a 2 year draft plan, at least. Too many holes to try to turn around in 1 year.

 

[Mrb1p]

My biggest fear for this offseason. Keeping Max, 2nd line centers signed, hope for a one year turnaround.

They *have* to move on from Max, and they need a 2 year draft plan, at least. Too many holes to try to turn around in 1 year.

Yup, but a two year plan is too short. Do things right, develop for 4, 5 and them compete. Put an emphasis on picking players and signing young guys instead of filler like Pap, Briere and Hemsky.

 

[G0bias]

Lol Timmins seemed pissed when Tony asked him if the Galchenyuk-Domi trade meant Zadina having higher stock now.

 

[NotProkofievian]

I was never as high on Boqvist as some people on this board, and never as low as the scouts have him now. The real issue with Boqvist isn't even being discussed. Instead the only thing we hear about him is ''concussions.'' A lot of amazing players have been ''one hit away'' from never playing again with their concussion syndrome, and that doesn't describe Boqvist at all. What does describe him is someone with incredible skill and talent, who nevertheless couldn't establish himself in either of the pro-leagues in Sweden. I thought Allsvenskan would be a good place for him, but even in Almtuna he was given mostly 3rd pairing minutes and didn't really earn the trust of Marcus Ragnarsson. In SHL, when he even got to play, I thought Lundkvist looked better.

He's just someone that I've never been able to move into my top 5. Something was just never quite right to me, but the talent and ability is so great that I can't move him below 9. It really could just be age. Filip Forsberg was also an august birthday and had similar struggles in Allsvenskan.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

@Mrb1p What make you drop Wahlstrom?

 

[Saxon]

My biggest fear for this offseason. Keeping Max, 2nd line centers signed, hope for a one year turnaround.

They *have* to move on from Max, and they need a 2 year draft plan, at least. Too many holes to try to turn around in 1 year.

We are only seven years into Bergy's five year plan. Let's be patient.

 

[NotProkofievian]

@Mrb1p What make you drop Wahlstrom?

P H Y S I C A L I M P L I C A T I O N

 

[MarkovsKnee]

So who's doing the actual draft GDT?

Should go up by tomorrow night. It's a seperate thread from this one.

@Runner77
@sandviper
@donghabs98
@groovejuice

did a lot of the season gdts. Probably missed someone.

 

[Ozmodiar]

We are only seven years into Bergy's five year plan. Let's be patient.

If he's patient, they can be successful in year 10, or be on their way.

If he isn't patient, they'll never be successful.

Yup, but a two year plan is too short. Do things right, develop for 4, 5 and them compete. Put an emphasis on picking players and signing young guys instead of filler like Pap, Briere and Hemsky.

I meant draft plan, not development plan. To be more specific, the 2 year plan involves drafting top 10, so staying away from false hopes who would hurt draft rankings.

After that, they still need an emphasis on drafting and development ... but not be so worried about hurting their draft ranking. They can add FA's after 2019.

 

[FrankMTL]

For some reason, I have a feeling Timmins is trolling everybody (the type of thing he would do). Not that I don't think he'll pick Kotkaniemi, or Zadina, or Dobson, or even Tkachuk, but with everybody having a different opinion and "knowing" who the habs will pick, I have a feeling he's playing the whole smoke and mirrors thing to make it seem like they could pick one of many different players. That very well may be the case, but I think they have a player in mind (obviously) and are playing the "game" down to a tee to keep most people guessing. In the end, I think they'll go for Kotkaniemi, but I have no freaking clue anymore. They may go completely in another direction and surprise us with Hughes...I have no clue.

Only 2 1/2 days left

 

[Ozmodiar]

Timmins interview ... it's clear he won't pick Hughes.

Twice, he mentioned valuation is affected based on position. Not surprising. He mentioned they have Zadina ranked on their board as a scoring winger asset (something like that).

He seemed to speak highly of Kotka ... mentioned ACL surgery as a reason there were concerns about his skating. "good kid"

Also spoke highly of Tkachuk, defended his production vs players as old as 24.

Didn't seem to want to say much about Zadina. Loooong pause when asked about him.

He mentioned Dahlin and Svesh when asked about who could play next season. I've heard others include Zadina in this group .... did he omit as a smoke-screen?

 

[donghabs98]

So who's doing the actual draft GDT?

Should go up by tomorrow night. It's a seperate thread from this one.

@Runner77
@sandviper
@donghabs98
@groovejuice

did a lot of the season gdts. Probably missed someone.

I believe @sandviper signed up in the GDT a few months back saying he would do it.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I believe @sandviper signed up in the GDT a few months back saying he would do it.

Ok. Couldn't remember if someone volunteered already.

 

[philipsson]

I've modified this so much over the past month that there has to be like 10 duplicates and twenty players I've forgot in there. Went with a fun but useless EA style rating for each player. (High to Low in likeliness to hit potential, Potential being : Franchise, Elite Top6/Top 4, Top 9/top 6, 4th line/7th D.)

1-Rasmus Dahlin Franchise Medium
2-Andrei Svechnikov Franchise Medium
3-Jesperi Kotkaniemi Elite Medium
4-Adam Boqvist Franchise Low
5-Filip Zadina Elite medium
6-Noah Dobson Top 4 High
7-Quinn Hughes Franchise low
8-Brady Tkachuk Top 6 high
9-Vitali Kravtsov Elite Low
10-Alexander Alexeyev Elite Low
11-Ty Smith Elite Low
12-Nils Lundkvist Elite low
13-Oliver Wahlstrom Elite low
14-Evan Bouchard Elite Low
15- Jonathan Berggren Elite Low
16- Joel Farabee Top 6 medium
17- Alexander Khovanov Top 6 Medium
18- Grigori Denisenko Elite Low
19- Dominik Bokk Top 6 medium
20- Ty Dellandrea Top 6 medium
21- Isac Lundestrom Top 6 Low
22- Calen Addison Top 4 Medium
23- Rasmus Kupari Top 6 Low
24- Jacob Bernard Docker Top 4 Medium
25- Jonny Tychonick Top 6 Medium
26- Bode Wilde Top 4 Medium
27-Joe Veleno Top 9 High
28- Akil Thomas Top 9 Medium
29- Jesse Ylonen Top 6 Medium
30- Jake Wise Top 6 Low
31- Martin Kaut Top 9 High
32-Cole Fonstad Top 6 Low
33- David Gustafsson Top 6 Low
34- Blake McLaughlin Top 6 Low
35-Barret Hayton Top 9 Medium
36-Filip Hallander Top 9 High
37-Jacob Olofsson top 9 medium
38-Jay O’brien WHO FN KNOWS REALLY
39-Jack Drury Top 9 Medium
40- Blade Jenkins Top 6 Medium
41-Rasmus Sandin Top 6 High
42-K’andre Miller Top 4 Low
43-Seron Noel Bottom 6 Medium
44- Bulat Shafigulin Top 6 Low
45- Liam Foudy Top 9 Medium
46- Ryan Merkley Elite Low, very low.
47- Ivan Morozov Top 6 Low
48- Kiril Marchenko Top 6 Low
49-Ryan McLoed Top 9 Medium
50- Jett Woo Top 6 Medium
51-Albin Eriksson Top 9 Medium
52- Semyon Der-Arguchintsev Top 9 Low
53-Nicolas Beaudin Top 6 Medium
54-Ruslan Ishkakov Top 6 Low
55- Jared McIsaac Top 6 Medium
56- Cam Hillis Top 9 Medium
57-Danila Zurahlyov Top 9 Medium
58-Milos Roman Top 9 Medium
59- Jacob Ragnarsson Top 6 Medium
60 Philip Kurashev Top 9 Low
61- Matej Pekar Top 9 Low
62- Jack McBain Top 9 Low

My confidence is good over 36, but after that it's mostly a crap shoot of talent that is all mostly similar.

Good job on the ranking. Just wondering why Khovanov is so high on your list ? I saw him play live multiple times and he was ..... invisible. I know he had health problems and stuff but still.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Second round of our Mock

2018 NHL Mock Draft - 2nd Round Lottery Picks - Last Word on Hockey

 

[FrankMTL]

Timmins interview ... it's clear he won't pick Hughes.

Twice, he mentioned valuation is affected based on position. Not surprising. He mentioned they have Zadina ranked on their board as a scoring winger asset (something like that).

He seemed to speak highly of Kotka ... mentioned ACL surgery as a reason there were concerns about his skating. "good kid"

Also spoke highly of Tkachuk, defended his production vs players as old as 24.

Didn't seem to want to say much about Zadina. Loooong pause when asked about him.

He mentioned Dahlin and Svesh when asked about who could play next season. I've heard others include Zadina in this group .... did he omit as a smoke-screen?

So if valuation is based on position, both Tkachuk and Zadina are wingers and they have the least amount of value. After that other variables come into play including skill (Zadina) or Grit (Tkachuk). I'm assuming defensemen are the second most valuable and centers the most valuable. So logic would say he picks a centre or defensemen...Logic didn't come into play when picking Carey Price in 2005 though...Anyways, all this to say that I think I have a feeling he likes Dobson and Kotkaniemi, but who knows what he'll do.

 

[Ozmodiar]

So if valuation is based on position, both Tkachuk and Zadina are wingers and they have the least amount of value.

no, it just means the wingers have less value with all else being equal.
Svesh is valued higher than Kotka.

If Timmins thinks Zadina is the next Forsberg, he could be ranked ahead of Kotka on their board.

 

[Runner77]

Lol Timmins seemed pissed when Tony asked him if the Galchenyuk-Domi trade meant Zadina having higher stock now.

Tony tried to corner Timmins about whether they'd go for the BPA or organizational need.

The answer was a mix -- Timmins said that a player's position is a component of his asset value. We can get the exact wording of the quote when 690 puts up a podcast, but that's the idea that was expressed.

Fast forward to the same time next year ... "I can't believe it. 90% of the players projected to go in the first round are either full time centers or have played the position in the last year."

 

[FrankMTL]

no, it just means the wingers have less value with all else being equal.
Svesh is valued higher than Kotka.

If Timmins thinks Zadina is the next Forsberg, he could be ranked ahead of Kotka on their board.

Sorry yes that's what I meant, I just didn't write it properly. All things being equal, they have the least amount of value. The amount of tools the player possesses will affect their status obviously.

 

[philipsson]

Button has us taking Kotkaniemi in his mock

I missed it. Do you have a link to the "show" or the list somewhere ?