StevenToddIves
Registered User
1 Colorado Avalanche
Highlights: where to begin? A future Norris-caliber two-way D in Bowen Byram (4). C Alex Newhook (16) is the second-best skater in the draft after Jack Hughes -- will anyone be able to keep up with the tandem of him and McKinnon in three years? RD Drew Helleson (47) compares to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and could potentially overtake first round picks like Soderstrom and Bjornfot to become the top shut-down D in the entire 2019 draft class. Two value picks at RW, a high scorer in Alex Beaucage (78) and a heart-and-soul crease crasher in Sasha Mutala (140). A sneaky, high-upside sleeper from a largely unspotted league in C Matthew Steinburg (63). Oh, and grabbing one of the most heralded goaltenders in the draft in the seventh round with Trent Miner.
Lowlights: all of these guys are going to have to find a spot to play on what looks like a future all-star team with top-liners McKinnon/Landeskog/Rantanen and future D all-stars Makar and Byram. The future is incredibly bright in Colorado.
The Skinny: the only thing keeping the Avs from being the runaway winners of the 2019 draft weekend is the fact that the New Jersey Devils got Jack Hughes and then traded for PK Subban. What a tremendous job by GM Joe Sakic and the entire Colorado scouting department.
2 Minnesota Wild
Highlights: after a questionable 2018 draft, the Wild righted the ship with flying colors. W Matthew Boldy (12) is a first-line lock with high scoring upside -- every tool in his kit is elite aside from just above-average skating. LWs Slava Firstov (42) and Adam Beckman (75) were both incredible value picks; not one but two sniping left-wingers with 30+ goal, top six potential if they hit their talent ceilings. C Matvey Guskov (149) has tremendous size/skating and is a lock for a bottom six C future with possible second-line upside. LD Marshall Warren was one of the best late-round steals of the draft -- a tremendous skater with terrific calm with the puck, he could be a mid-pairing stalwart in three or four years.
Lowlights: the Avalanche's even better draft kept the Wild from having the best weekend in the Central Division.
The Skinny: GM Paul Fenton at least partially made up for the worst first-round pick of the 2010s (Filip Johansson, 2018) with a tremendous talent haul up and down the line. Will he also learn from the Nino Niederreiter debacle and get deserved value on Jason Zucker?
3 Chicago Blackhawks
Highlights: C Kirby Dach is not the player I would have drafted at #3 overall, but there is no denying his skill set -- based on tools alone, he could be the third most talented F in the draft after Hughes and Kakko. The Hawks repeated this model in the second round with LD Alex Vlasic -- a 6'6 giant who can skate extremely well, but whose all-around game needs a great deal of fine-tuning before he reaches the professional level. RW Michal Teply (105) and C Antti Saarela (123) both were excellent value picks, but Chicago's biggest steal may have been RD Cole Moberg in the 7th round. The Prince George rearguard is toolsy beyond belief and has top-4 upside.
Lowlights: it's hard not to love Dach, but was this a case of organizational need over best available player? Byram was the clear #3 overall choice based on talent, but Chicago had used 5 of their past 6 top two round picks on defensemen. I do not believe this should have mattered -- Byram would have been head and shoulders above them all.
The Skinny: Tough to argue the talent which the Hawks amassed in the draft, but what if they would have taken LD Byram at #3 and C Jamieson Rees at #43? It would have been an upgrade over the reverse picks of C Dach and LD Vlasic at their respective positions.
4 Nashville Predators
Highlights: C Philip Tomasino (24) represented the most dynamic offensive skill set of any F taken outside the top 17 -- he's a human highlight reel with electrifying skates and NHL #1C upside. LW Alexander Campbell (65) has big-time offensive abilities, and 7th rounder Juuso Parssinen has a terrific future as a big, bottom 6 center and could be the best guy in the face-off circle in the class of 2019 after only Yegor Spiridonov.
Lowlights: The Predators took a pair of seriously undersized defensemen in the 4th round with Marc Del Gaizo and Semyon Chistyakov. They are both capable puck-movers, but both easily knocked off the puck by opposing forwards. Do they have enough high-end offensive potential to overcome their defensive shortcomings and reach the NHL?
The Skinny: the draft must be considered a success simply for landing an enormous offensive talent like Tomasino without a pick in the top 10, but the remainder of the Predators' crop was unspectacular.
5 Dallas Stars
Highlights: LD Thomas Harley (18) might have more pure upside than any D in the draft not named "Byram" -- he's huge, extremely fast, dynamically skilled and one of the youngest players in the class of 2019. LDs Samuel Sjolund (111) and Ben Brinkman (173) both have the skill-set to carve bottom-4 roles and were strong values when they were taken. LW Nicolas Porco needs to work on his overall game, but is one of the top skaters in the draft class.
Lowlights: with only 4 picks in the draft, Dallas did nothing to fortify any area in the prospect pipeline aside from LD.
The Skinny: Dallas GM Jim Nill does not have to worry about LD for awhile, but he has plenty of other concerns.
6 Winnipeg Jets
Highlights: LD Ville Heinola (20) is extremely polished, mature and intelligent and could be ready for a middle-pairing NHL role sooner rather than later. C Henri Nikkanen (113) is huge and offers strong potential as a bottom 6 pivot, while C Harrison Blaisdell oozes offensive potential and was a potential steal in the 5th round.
Lowlights: with only five picks, the Jets should have aimed higher in the second round than RD Simon Lundmark. He's solid across the board, but offers little top-4 upside and the very next pick in the draft was a far more talented D in Vladislav Kolyachonok; there were plenty of superior-reward D available with the #51 pick.
The Skinny: the key to the draft for the Jets is clearly Heinola -- he was the only return for Jacob Trouba, so it's crucial that he develop into a fixture in the Winnipeg top 4, and quickly.
7 St. Louis Blues
Highlights: C Keean Washkurak was an absolute steal in the 5th round -- he's as competitive as any player in the draft and can absolutely fly -- his two-way acumen and non-stop engine virtually guarantees a bottom-6 NHL role, and he has the skill to perhaps develop into an exciting second-liner. C Nikita Alexandrov (62) should also fill out into a middle six NHL pivot, while Colten Ellis (93) was one of the highest regarded goaltenders in the 2019 draft class.
Lowlights: with only 5 picks and no first-rounder, the Blues could not help but lose ground to their divisional rivals in terms of prospect depth.
The Skinny: despite a last-place finish here, Blues fans have nothing to be sad about -- they did very well with the picks they had and, more importantly, stand atop the world as the Stanley Cup champions of 2019.
Highlights: where to begin? A future Norris-caliber two-way D in Bowen Byram (4). C Alex Newhook (16) is the second-best skater in the draft after Jack Hughes -- will anyone be able to keep up with the tandem of him and McKinnon in three years? RD Drew Helleson (47) compares to Marc-Edouard Vlasic and could potentially overtake first round picks like Soderstrom and Bjornfot to become the top shut-down D in the entire 2019 draft class. Two value picks at RW, a high scorer in Alex Beaucage (78) and a heart-and-soul crease crasher in Sasha Mutala (140). A sneaky, high-upside sleeper from a largely unspotted league in C Matthew Steinburg (63). Oh, and grabbing one of the most heralded goaltenders in the draft in the seventh round with Trent Miner.
Lowlights: all of these guys are going to have to find a spot to play on what looks like a future all-star team with top-liners McKinnon/Landeskog/Rantanen and future D all-stars Makar and Byram. The future is incredibly bright in Colorado.
The Skinny: the only thing keeping the Avs from being the runaway winners of the 2019 draft weekend is the fact that the New Jersey Devils got Jack Hughes and then traded for PK Subban. What a tremendous job by GM Joe Sakic and the entire Colorado scouting department.
2 Minnesota Wild
Highlights: after a questionable 2018 draft, the Wild righted the ship with flying colors. W Matthew Boldy (12) is a first-line lock with high scoring upside -- every tool in his kit is elite aside from just above-average skating. LWs Slava Firstov (42) and Adam Beckman (75) were both incredible value picks; not one but two sniping left-wingers with 30+ goal, top six potential if they hit their talent ceilings. C Matvey Guskov (149) has tremendous size/skating and is a lock for a bottom six C future with possible second-line upside. LD Marshall Warren was one of the best late-round steals of the draft -- a tremendous skater with terrific calm with the puck, he could be a mid-pairing stalwart in three or four years.
Lowlights: the Avalanche's even better draft kept the Wild from having the best weekend in the Central Division.
The Skinny: GM Paul Fenton at least partially made up for the worst first-round pick of the 2010s (Filip Johansson, 2018) with a tremendous talent haul up and down the line. Will he also learn from the Nino Niederreiter debacle and get deserved value on Jason Zucker?
3 Chicago Blackhawks
Highlights: C Kirby Dach is not the player I would have drafted at #3 overall, but there is no denying his skill set -- based on tools alone, he could be the third most talented F in the draft after Hughes and Kakko. The Hawks repeated this model in the second round with LD Alex Vlasic -- a 6'6 giant who can skate extremely well, but whose all-around game needs a great deal of fine-tuning before he reaches the professional level. RW Michal Teply (105) and C Antti Saarela (123) both were excellent value picks, but Chicago's biggest steal may have been RD Cole Moberg in the 7th round. The Prince George rearguard is toolsy beyond belief and has top-4 upside.
Lowlights: it's hard not to love Dach, but was this a case of organizational need over best available player? Byram was the clear #3 overall choice based on talent, but Chicago had used 5 of their past 6 top two round picks on defensemen. I do not believe this should have mattered -- Byram would have been head and shoulders above them all.
The Skinny: Tough to argue the talent which the Hawks amassed in the draft, but what if they would have taken LD Byram at #3 and C Jamieson Rees at #43? It would have been an upgrade over the reverse picks of C Dach and LD Vlasic at their respective positions.
4 Nashville Predators
Highlights: C Philip Tomasino (24) represented the most dynamic offensive skill set of any F taken outside the top 17 -- he's a human highlight reel with electrifying skates and NHL #1C upside. LW Alexander Campbell (65) has big-time offensive abilities, and 7th rounder Juuso Parssinen has a terrific future as a big, bottom 6 center and could be the best guy in the face-off circle in the class of 2019 after only Yegor Spiridonov.
Lowlights: The Predators took a pair of seriously undersized defensemen in the 4th round with Marc Del Gaizo and Semyon Chistyakov. They are both capable puck-movers, but both easily knocked off the puck by opposing forwards. Do they have enough high-end offensive potential to overcome their defensive shortcomings and reach the NHL?
The Skinny: the draft must be considered a success simply for landing an enormous offensive talent like Tomasino without a pick in the top 10, but the remainder of the Predators' crop was unspectacular.
5 Dallas Stars
Highlights: LD Thomas Harley (18) might have more pure upside than any D in the draft not named "Byram" -- he's huge, extremely fast, dynamically skilled and one of the youngest players in the class of 2019. LDs Samuel Sjolund (111) and Ben Brinkman (173) both have the skill-set to carve bottom-4 roles and were strong values when they were taken. LW Nicolas Porco needs to work on his overall game, but is one of the top skaters in the draft class.
Lowlights: with only 4 picks in the draft, Dallas did nothing to fortify any area in the prospect pipeline aside from LD.
The Skinny: Dallas GM Jim Nill does not have to worry about LD for awhile, but he has plenty of other concerns.
6 Winnipeg Jets
Highlights: LD Ville Heinola (20) is extremely polished, mature and intelligent and could be ready for a middle-pairing NHL role sooner rather than later. C Henri Nikkanen (113) is huge and offers strong potential as a bottom 6 pivot, while C Harrison Blaisdell oozes offensive potential and was a potential steal in the 5th round.
Lowlights: with only five picks, the Jets should have aimed higher in the second round than RD Simon Lundmark. He's solid across the board, but offers little top-4 upside and the very next pick in the draft was a far more talented D in Vladislav Kolyachonok; there were plenty of superior-reward D available with the #51 pick.
The Skinny: the key to the draft for the Jets is clearly Heinola -- he was the only return for Jacob Trouba, so it's crucial that he develop into a fixture in the Winnipeg top 4, and quickly.
7 St. Louis Blues
Highlights: C Keean Washkurak was an absolute steal in the 5th round -- he's as competitive as any player in the draft and can absolutely fly -- his two-way acumen and non-stop engine virtually guarantees a bottom-6 NHL role, and he has the skill to perhaps develop into an exciting second-liner. C Nikita Alexandrov (62) should also fill out into a middle six NHL pivot, while Colten Ellis (93) was one of the highest regarded goaltenders in the 2019 draft class.
Lowlights: with only 5 picks and no first-rounder, the Blues could not help but lose ground to their divisional rivals in terms of prospect depth.
The Skinny: despite a last-place finish here, Blues fans have nothing to be sad about -- they did very well with the picks they had and, more importantly, stand atop the world as the Stanley Cup champions of 2019.
