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

[The Great Weal]

Pierre Mcguire wants us to pick Brady. He's very high.

Makes sense.

 

[Lebowski]

Very good analogy from Pierre saying that Toews didn't have that much great numbers but he contributes in all of sort of ways. All we should care is who's gonna make us win. Win is everything. We want the Cup.

Back when Toews actually contributed in a meaningful way on cup winning teams, he was a PPG two-way center. Not the 50ish points player he is today. The Hawks aren't winning much these days in part due to Toews' decline.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Pierre McGuire Impression

David Leggio is a hockey treasure for that video and this move

 

[WinterLion]

He has zero speed issues. He's fast.

...and agile. Just don't look pretty.

 

[donghabs98]

Quickly going off-topic, last real day of importance is July 1, so maybe somebody may want to put together a free agent frenzy GDT.

I'll see what I can whip up! Bergevin+Cap space always provides good material to work with.

 

[yianik]

I like Kotkaniemi but you dont like having big questions on any part of a guys game at no.3.

I think about how his legs are so skinny, that if he bulked them up he would be more explosive in his 1st few steps. With his intelligence and puck handling if he added those explosive 1st few steps, he should be very dangerous on the Cycle. Otherwise I don't know. How does his skating compare to Eller ?

 

[Garnet76]

I like Kotkaniemi but you dont like having big questions on any part of a guys game at no.3.

I think about how his legs are so skinny, that if he bulked them up he would be more explosive in his 1st few steps. With his intelligence and puck handling if he added those explosive 1st few steps, he should be very dangerous on the Cycle. Otherwise I don't know. How does his skating compare to Eller ?

And if kotka had knee sugery last off season he wouldn't have been able to train very much. So with full training this summer could make a huge difference

 

[Mrb1p]

I like Kotkaniemi but you dont like having big questions on any part of a guys game at no.3.

I think about how his legs are so skinny, that if he bulked them up he would be more explosive in his 1st few steps. With his intelligence and puck handling if he added those explosive 1st few steps, he should be very dangerous on the Cycle. Otherwise I don't know. How does his skating compare to Eller ?

Kotkaniemi is f***ing 17, hes almost a full year younger than guys like Tkachuk and Zadina. Theres just way more to work with there. Barkov, Lekhonen, Laine, Rantanen all had similar skating draw backs, the trainers in Finland probably suck because every single finn comes out and absolutely destroys the league once they start working out with NHL teams.

I bet you wouldve passed on Barkov too because he had these drawbacks?

 

[Goldenhands]

David Leggio is a hockey treasure for that video and this move

that should be a game misconduct + games suspension..

 

[Goldenhands]

Food for thoughts. It's so not typical of the habs to leak their selection to the world. I don't remember this ever happening. There have been many whispers about Tkachuk, Kotkaniemi in the media. Therefore, I'm starting to believe the habs have somebody else at the top of their draft board (my gut feeling is Dobson or Wahlstrom) and they are willing to trade down to get him and are using the media/whisper to gauge interest from other teams.

ding ding ding we have a winner, thats at least what I think personally, I think they know who they are picking for a long time and loto quebec will be disappointed to know that their guy is Noah Dobson since they are going to lose alot of money with me..

 

[Draft]

There's only so much growing you can do in six months. Being younger does not mean you will improve exponentially more than players a couple months older. This is being way overblown. It's a consideration for growth between players on extremes of the spectrum.

Also, Kotkaniemi's skating is not only bad because of surgery. He is simply a technically weak skater. The explosiveness was not the big issue, which we often see with knee surgeries, it was edgework, balance, and directional mobility. Watch him in any clip in Liiga or U18s and you can see where some major improvements need to be made. This is a significant skating coach/training issue and will be a challenge to adjust. It's going to be a lot more mental work than just strength training or more time on the ice post surgery. I think there's a lot of room to improve, but it's still an issue.

 

[le_sean]

Timmins didn’t seem to care about Tkachuk’s bloodlines when asked in that interview with Tony. Just like he didn’t seem to really care about Zadina.

The real praise was for Kotkaniemi.

 

[jaffy27]

I like Kotkaniemi but you dont like having big questions on any part of a guys game at no.3.

I think about how his legs are so skinny, that if he bulked them up he would be more explosive in his 1st few steps. With his intelligence and puck handling if he added those explosive 1st few steps, he should be very dangerous on the Cycle. Otherwise I don't know. How does his skating compare to Eller ?

At 3

Kotkaniemi
Tkachuk
Zadina
Hughes

They all over some type of question mark.....question is, what are you willing to live with??

Kotkaniemi will be a Hab on Friday

 

[Habsfan18]

I’ll post this here too..

MAG has a new article up on The Athletic discussing buzz as to who the Habs have in mind for their selection.

They have it listed as followed:

Kotkaniemi - 55%
Tkachuk - 20%
Zadina - 14%
Dobson - 5%
Bouchard - 4%
Hughes - 2%

Dobson and Bouchard are “practically neck and neck” in the estimation of the Habs scouting staff, according to people MAG talked to.

 

[admiralcadillac]

ACL surgery for Kotkaniemi is scaring me. Especially for a bad skater and a centerman. See Galchenyuk. High risk, high rewards kind of pick. At third? I would be nervous.

Timmins had good thing to say about Tkachuk. Brady compared himself to Jamie Benn type of player. New era powerforward.

"especially for a bad skater"

Ever think he had issues skating because of his ACL and not because he's a bad skater?

Kotkaniemi got a reputation for bad skating because at the start of the year he was coming off surgery and was playing in a professional men's league. By the end of the year the injury and the skating weren't an issue..... Why would that scare you. It's quite reassuring to me. His BS bad skating rep comes from recovering from a surgery. And now we know that both aren't a real concern.

Wizard

 

[Draft]

"especially for a bad skater"

Ever think he had issues skating because of his ACL and not because he's a bad skater?



Wizard

Just watch him critically a little bit, even YouTube highlights do the trick in this case. Borderline bender and just gross footwork. This isn't from being weak post-surgery, this is just weak technical skills - workable as far as I can tell though.

 

[yianik]

Kotkaniemi is ****ing 17, hes almost a full year younger than guys like Tkachuk and Zadina. Theres just way more to work with there. Barkov, Lekhonen, Laine, Rantanen all had similar skating draw backs, the trainers in Finland probably suck because every single finn comes out and absolutely destroys the league once they start working out with NHL teams.

I bet you wouldve passed on Barkov too because he had these drawbacks?

Your getting a little edgy friend. I have very much been pro Kotkaniemi, though thinking we might get him with a lower pick we might get in a Patches trade. But he has ascended. I have also said take him at 3 if TT thinks he is a no. 1 centre.

I have seen Habs take too many busts in the 1st round due to lack of skating so it's a concern of mine, and legitimately so. At no.3 if skating is an issue then the answer better be at hand ie bulk up legs, or skating expert says to correct this or that mechanics issue and that can be done.

Anyway. How would you say his skating compares to Eller ?

 

[Andrei79]

Just watch him critically a little bit, even YouTube highlights do the trick in this case. Borderline bender and just gross footwork. This isn't from being weak post-surgery, this is just weak technical skills - workable as far as I can tell though.

You're exagerating his skating quite a bit. I even rewatched one of his games before my rankings. He lacks explosiveness in his first few steps, but both speed and agility are good. Hes not McCarron. Hes much like Barkov was.

 

[Draft]

You're exagerating his skating quite a bit. I even rewatched one of his games before my rankings. He lacks explosiveness in his first few steps, but both speed and agility are good. Hes not McCarron. Hes much like Barkov was.

To be clear, I'm talking technical ability and foundational skating dynamics - not how effective/fast/agile he was (which to me was simply fine). Watch how he crosses over and adjusts his weight - both rough. His foot placement is off because of sloppy ankles and bad edgework and he doesn't generate a tonne of power from his stride - but that doesn't mean he's a tortoise! If he wants to get his skating at an NHL level, he needs to change those mechanics to allow for further growth and development. It's going to take a fair amount of time and training if it's going to improve.

 

[CapSpace]

Think I'm gonna bet 10$ on Mtl taking Tkachuk 3rd on mise-o-jeu. Not that I want him, but you know. Dat management tho.

 

[Saxon]

To be clear, I'm talking technical ability and foundational skating dynamics - not how effective/fast/agile he was (which to me was simply fine). Watch how he crosses over and adjusts his weight - both rough. His foot placement is off because of sloppy ankles and bad edgework and he doesn't generate a tonne of power from his stride - but that doesn't mean he's a tortoise! If he wants to get his skating at an NHL level, he needs to change those mechanics to allow for further growth and development. It's going to take a fair amount of time and training if it's going to improve.

He has technical flaws for sure. I don't think they are as extreme as some make them out to be. But that doesn't worry me personally. Technique is fixable.

 

[BB88]

Just watch him critically a little bit, even YouTube highlights do the trick in this case. Borderline bender and just gross footwork. This isn't from being weak post-surgery, this is just weak technical skills - workable as far as I can tell though.

There's not much of highlights material from the end of season, they seem to be more dominated by the 1st half games or pre season.

 

[le_sean]

I’ll post this here too..

MAG has a new article up on The Athletic discussing buzz as to who the Habs have in mind for their selection.

They have it listed as followed:

Kotkaniemi - 55%
Tkachuk - 20%
Zadina - 14%
Dobson - 5%
Bouchard - 4%
Hughes - 2%

Dobson and Bouchard are “practically neck and neck” in the estimation of the Habs scouting staff, according to people MAG talked to.

If they think Dobson and Bouchard are neck and neck then they are dumber than I thought.

 

[Draft]

There's not much of highlights material from the end of season, they seem to be more dominated by the 1st half games or pre season.

There's a decent amount from the U18s, that's likely the best place to get a good example of where he progressed to.

 

[WeThreeKings]

If they think Dobson and Bouchard are neck and neck then they are dumber than I thought.

They are considering Tkachuk.. so obv they dumb