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

[MarkovsKnee]

You're a little late with my fandom news.

Already posted. Existing bias, already acknowledged and accounted for, in my posts, right here.

I'll add a bit. Going to junior games since '72. Following drafts since then as well.

So I'm confident, but also cautious in what I say.

You really don't sound very cautious as it pertains to Hayton. It sounds personal, like he's your nephew or something and you need to defend him against all criticism.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Hayton and Zadina are the type of guys who get perennially under drafted. Not sexy because they aren't the biggest (but good enough size), not the fastest (but good skaters none the less), but have great puck skills, and have high compete levels and IQs. I pretty much guarantee these two will be 2 of the better players to come out of this draft.

 

[BeliveauFan4ever]

You really don't sound very cautious as it pertains to Hayton. It sounds personal, like he's your nephew or something and you need to defend him against all criticism.

I haven't made grand proclamations. I haven't reached for that which is not there, so, yes, I have been cautious.

OTOH, I just don't let some things pass, and probably should.

 

[Mrb1p]

Hayton and Zadina are the type of guys who get perennially under drafted. Not sexy because they aren't the biggest (but good enough size), not the fastest (but good skaters none the less), but have great puck skills, and have high compete levels and IQs. I pretty much guarantee these two will be 2 of the better players to come out of this draft.

Compare them straigth up to prior players, go.

 

[Goldenhands]

If we had a true top line and more offensive punch in place, adding Tkachuk would be fine.

Instead, as we speak, we have a talent-starved mish-mash screaming for a stabilizing centrepiece.

I pray we leave the draft thinking we got it, or else MB might go on a lame spending spree, or make more trades.

exactly, Tkachuk is a very good player and every teams would be ecstatic to have a prospect like him in their pipeline, the prob, as you mentionned Tkachuk fits better on teams that have talended centers and wingers since he isnt a guy that lead the play, more like a great complimentary guy that will do the dirty work and score alot of goals around the net.. unfortunately, we have a couple of undersized Tkachuks in our line-up in Domi, Gallagher, Lehkonen and no centers so thats just not a good fit here IMO.

 

[aresknights]

MB has to more a few more bodies for more top 45 picks this year or a potential mid/high 1st rd pick next year.
Cant say Im confident he will but Im hoping.
Gotta load up.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

So Bobby Mac has Tkachuk 3rd. Kotka 5th, so not a reach at all at 3.

Scouts really love Tkachuk.

It's like they've conspired to troll our GM

Poor MB with visions of the Devil Tkachuk tempting him on one shoulder and the Angel Kotka on the other

What will he do...

 

[MarkovsKnee]

It's like they've conspired to troll our GM

Poor MB with visions of the Devil Tkachuk tempting him on one shoulder and the Angel Kotka on the other

What will he do...

I don't know anymore. There's been a couple of posts where people insist that Montreal is taking Zadina. But, then, not even Zadina thinks Montreal is taking him.

Tkachuk does seem like a Bergevin pick & they've had a recent second interview with him, so they're still poking around him.

Then there's others - 2 NHL executives - who think Montreal is trying to trade down to take Kotkaniemi.

I've given up. The good news is we pick 3rd so the suspense won't be long.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Compare them straigth up to prior players, go.

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....

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Hayton and Zadina are the type of guys who get perennially under drafted. Not sexy because they aren't the biggest (but good enough size), not the fastest (but good skaters none the less), but have great puck skills, and have high compete levels and IQs. I pretty much guarantee these two will be 2 of the better players to come out of this draft.

Neither is getting under-drafted. Ok. If Zadina really does go 9th then that's insane, but it also has to do with a lot of teams prefering D and centers to wingers.

Hayton is all over the board & always has been. 5-18 is where I've seen him.

If anything centers like Hayton often get taken earlier rather than later. He could easily go 8th to Chicago if Kotka is gone & they want a center over any of the D left. Or, 10th if Edmonton likes him, which I think they do.

The only way he gets under-drafted is if he falls to 20+. And that simply isn't happening.

I can see passing on Zadina for Kotkaniemi, who I think will be a 60+ pt center eventually, but passing on Zadina for Tkachuk? Gawd, I hope not, because Zadina is getting minimum 25+ goals a year & probably 30+ most years.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

exactly, Tkachuk is a very good player and every teams would be ecstatic to have a prospect like him in their pipeline, the prob, as you mentionned Tkachuk fits better on teams that have talended centers and wingers since he isnt a guy that lead the play, more like a great complimentary guy that will do the dirty work and score alot of goals around the net.. unfortunately, we have a couple of undersized Tkachuks in our line-up in Domi, Gallagher, Lehkonen and no centers so thats just not a good fit here IMO.

He'd be perfect on the Leafs. Thankfully, they can't get him.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

I don't know anymore. There's been a couple of posts where people insist that Montreal is taking Zadina. But, then, not even Zadina thinks Montreal is taking him.

Tkachuk does seem like a Bergevin pick & they've had a recent second interview with him, so they're still poking around him.

Then there's others - 2 NHL executives - who think Montreal is trying to trade down to take Kotkaniemi.

I've given up. The good news is we pick 3rd so the suspense won't be long.

MB dropping more smoke screens than Spy Hunter

At of all those I predict........Dobson

Just don't think he can help himself when it comes to D

 

[Andrei79]

Hayton and Zadina are the type of guys who get perennially under drafted. Not sexy because they aren't the biggest (but good enough size), not the fastest (but good skaters none the less), but have great puck skills, and have high compete levels and IQs. I pretty much guarantee these two will be 2 of the better players to come out of this draft.

What do you mean by perennially under drafted ? One is likely going top 5 and the other top 12, how is that under drafted ? If theyre not two of the best players in the draft, theyll be what we call "busts".

That said, do you have names from previous drafts, who were "underdrafted", who would fit in this newly formed, but convienently extremely vague category of players ? Its essentially so englobing half the players can fit in it - to the point two completely different players like Zadina and Hayton have.

 

[Andrei79]

@Andrei79 or others.
Can you explain to me the love for Lundkvist, I just don't get it? Statistically he doesn't project well for a D under 6'00. And from my viewing of him (I have seen 4 Sweden games in the WJC18), nothing stands out to me about his game, like where I could see him in a role in which he could strive at the NHL level. To make it clear, there is no top2D upside here IMO. Top4 you need to have some edges about your game that you can exploit particularly if you have limited size. To me, he screams vanilla bottom2D, but I am open to be wrong about him since everyone seems to have him quite high in their rankings. I know he has good mobility and that he is known to make good decisions with and without the puck, but that simply isn't enough for me to justify having him in the first round over the other options.

I feel like by playing in the SHL Lundkvist might be benefiting from the comparison with Boqvist(similar size/age) who is ranked in the top10, but on the flip side, wasn't able to stick in the SHL this year. Sometimes it just ends up that way, Boqvist showed clear separation in skill level with Lundkvist at the WJC18. Lundkvist didn't step up when he became the go-to guy offensively for the defensemen once Boqvist got injured for what was left of the tournament.

Its true that he didn't stand out as much at the U18s, but he did at the 5 nations. That, with confirmation from guys who did follow him like NP that his play there was representative of him made me high on him.

I thought he had a mature game for a 17 yo, but his puck skills and playmaking are why Im sold on him. He's just smart and he's got the skills to carry and pinch, and do it often without putting his team in a bad position.

He needs to get a lot stronger though.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

Thanks for the feedback @Andrei79
_______________

On a different subject, who do you guys think has the lowest hockey IQ: Wilde or Kupari?

 

[NeptunesTrident]

I'm going to post my top 31. I know it goes against conventional wisdom but Svechnikov actually passed Dahlin in my eyes. His plays and dominance stood out to me.

1. Svechnikov
2. Dahlin
3. Dobson
4. Boqvist
5. Kotkaniemi
6. Zadina
7. Kravtsov
8. Tkachuk
9. Wahlstrom
10. Smith
11. Hughes
12. Hayton
13. Bouchard
14. Farabee
15. Kupari
16. Alexeev
17. Kaut
18. Sandin
19. Denisenko
20. Veleno
21. Bokk
22. Berggren
23. O'Brien
24.Dellandrea
25.Miller
26. Thomas
27. Foudy
28.McIsaac
29.Ylonen
30.Noel
31.Lundestrom

 

[Redux91]

Button has us taking Kotkaniemi in his mock

I guess when it comes down to it, i also want Kotkaniemi overall.

We're fine at wing..i mean we really are... they just need CENTERS, and if we can get kotkaniemi and poehling down the middle in the not too distant future. i think we're better for it in the long

and as ToLegit2quit eloquently put it, ..if kotkaniemi DOESNT work at center....then he becomes a scoring winger, which is what the others are, could be worse.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Thanks for the feedback @Andrei79
_______________

On a different subject, who do you guys think has the lowest hockey IQ: Wilde or Kupari?

Wilde. Kupari just showed poor or rather...uninspired offensive decision making, but was actually a responsible 3rd line center for Oulu this year. I don't think the bust risk is as high as some make it out to be for Kupari. His biggest defect is actually his ability to win puck battles, which is why it was so f***ing hilarious when DGS found out he's actually close to 6'2 190 and subsequently popped a boner for him.

He couldn't do it in Liiga. Like, really, I've seen him be first to pucks and still lose them. Early in the season he was playing wing, and nothing worked for this kid. He couldn't do the winger thing: too much board play for him to be effective. They moved him to center and he was much better. His skating became an asset on swing breakouts and he wasn't involved in (read: losing) as many battles. Moreover he was actually really good on draws (weird, because that's a puck battle of a kind), and good at turning pucks over through the neutral zone.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Almost there..

 

[Tyson]

The most unpredictable pick in recent memory.

I will stick with drafting the best player available which at #3 is Zadina

Habs however with Bergevin at the helm will go for size and character and pick Tkachuk

 

[Frank JT]

With the departure of Galcheniuk, and potentially Paccioretty, two good scorers, I feel that it goes in the direction that Montreal will select Zadina.
But Paccioretty is not gone yet. Who knows?

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

After watching more of Boqvist recently I'm really excited about this kid's potential, he's such an incredibly smart player, I think he can be a gamebreaker on D. Unfortunately it's highly unlikely that we do pick him.

 

[Mrb1p]

After watching more of Boqvist recently I'm really excited about this kid's potential, he's such an incredibly smart player, I think he can be a gamebreaker on D. Unfortunately it's highly unlikely that we do pick him.

His shooting ability is what sets him apart from the pack to me. He has similar tools to guys like Hughes, Smith, Lundkvist and every other small PMDs but he also has a wrister that can be used to score from every where on the ice. Game breaker in the making.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

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.

 

[MonkeyBusiness]

His shooting ability is what sets him apart from the pack to me. He has similar tools to guys like Hughes, Smith, Lundkvist and every other small PMDs but he also has a wrister that can be used to score from every where on the ice. Game breaker in the making.

I love his release on that wrist shot, he's so deceptively quick to release it.