StevenToddIves
Registered User
1 Los Angeles Kings
Highlights: where to begin? A future franchise two-way C in Alex Turcotte (5), a stud second-pairing D in Tobias Bjornfot (22). With two home run picks in the first, the Kings were able to take a chance on the enormous upside of the mercurial scoring prodigy Kaliyev in round 2. They continued to hit pick after pick in the later rounds, with players like high-upside offensive RD Jordan Spence (4th round) and Kim Nousianen (also 4th round).
Lowlights: the Kings did not have even more picks to knock out of the park
The Skinny: Turcotte could surprise and nail the Kings #2C role out of camp -- he's that good and his game is that advanced. The Kings were extremely lucky to have him fall to #5. LA now has a top-five prospect pool in the NHL if Gabe Vilardi can recover from injury and Rasmus Kupari can continue his meteoric ascent.
2 Las Vegas Golden Knights
Highlights: Peyton Krebs' achilles injury was like a lottery win for the Knights -- they got a top-10 prospect in a loaded draft picking all the way down at 17. Kaeden Korczak was the best shut-down RD in the draft and a tremendous get in the second, while Knyazev is a very talented LD. Pavel Dorofeyev may turn out to be the steal of the draft in the 3th round -- he compares both talent and style-wise to Flip Forsberg. GM George McPhee continued to nail it every pick down the line with high-upside value picks in LD Ahac (4th), RW Donovan (4th), G Saville (5th) and LW Kallionkieli (5th).
Lowlights: Krebs may not be ready for the start of his draft+one season due to the injury
The Skinny: several trades for established players like Mark Stone depleted the Vegas prospect pool, but a stunningly outstanding draft makes their future one to be reckoned with -- McPhee has proven to be one of the top GMs in the NHL
3 Anaheim Ducks
Highlights: Zegras at #9 was a coup -- he could very conceivably turn out to be the second-best offensive producer in the class of 2019 after Jack Hughes. Brayden Tracey was a late riser and a nice get at #29, and then the Ducks hit it big with huge character, high floor picks in the 4th (LD Henry Thrun) and 5th (C Trevor Janicke). If there's a Ryan O'Reilly in this draft (later round C who turns into a two-way stud), it's Janicke -- his compete level is high as anyone and he can shoot the lights out. In the 6th round, the Ducks grabbed the toughest customer in the entire draft class, bruising and ferocious RD Will Francis.
Lowlights: Jackson LaCombe (39th) offers excellent upside, but comes with a lot of risk; some of the players who were drafted in the following 10 picks offer similar upside at lower risk, and it's possible that the organizational distaste for Eastern European skaters scared them off superior players like Kolyachonok and Misyul.
The Skinny: it's interesting that the Kings took Turcotte and the Ducks took his often-linemate at the US-NTDP in Zegras -- it's going to be fun to see these two face off against one another in this heated rivalry. Also, the Kings took Bjornfot, which translates from the Swedish as "bear foot", while the Ducks took Brayden Tracey, which translates from the Gaelic as "salmon fighter". So we will also get to see Bear Foot vs. Salmon Fighter one day in the foreseeable future. Damn, I love the NHL draft.
4 Vancouver Canucks
Highlights: the Canucks hit home runs with their top two round picks of uber-skilled power winger Podkolzin (10) and ultra-skilled dynamo Nils Hoglander (41). LW Ethan Keppen has the upside as a Tom Wilson-type beast -- crushing and intimidating the opposition while pumping in 20+ goals; he was a steal in the 4th round. The Canucks continued to nail it in the later rounds with promising Latvian netminder Arturs Silovs (156), one of the speediest Fs in the draft in Karel Plasek (175), and big, skilled USHL RW Jack Malone (180).
Lowlights: Desperately needing D throughout the organization and prospect pipeline, the Canucks did not draft a single defenseman.
The Skinny: Canucks fans had an up and down draft weekend -- while their draft class itself was stellar, they gave up far too much (2020 #1 pick!) for a mid-6 F in J.T. Miller, leaving them precious little ammo to acquire the present and future defensemen they desperately need.
5 Arizona Coyotes
Highlights: Victor Soderstrom (11) is going to be a terrific defenseman and is pretty close to NHL ready. C John Farinacci (76) has a blazing shot and huge compete level, while LW Matias Maccelli (98) is a risky prospect but has top 6 upside.
Lowlights: GM John Chayka must be running out of rope in Arizona, right? Nothing he does turns into any appreciable success. He gave up the #45 pick to move up three slots -- then the pick he gave up turned out to be D Cam York, who offers a similar game and talent level to the player he traded up for in Soderstrom. Considering the strong chance that Soderstrom would be available at the pick he started out with in the first place and the huge talent which was available at #45 (Kolyachonok, Afanaseyev, either Robertson), it must be considered a foolhardy trade.
The Skinny: the Coyotes certainly improved their organizational talent with some good picks, but if Cam York turns out to be better than Soderstrom, it's certainly something Chayka will have to answer for. The Coyotes were also decidedly mediocre with their late round picks, aside from the upside of 6th round center Anthony Romano.
6 Edmonton Oilers
Highlights: the Oilers were desperate for scoring wingers, so when Rafael Lavoie somehow fell to them with the 38th pick, it was an absolute coup. Lavoie exploded for 20 goals in 23 Memorial Cup playoff games and was universally ranked in the 12-20 range. LW Matej Blumel has good offensive upside and was a nice grab in the 4th round.
Lowlights: the Oilers were desperate for scoring wingers, so when absolute blue-chip wingers like Caufield, Zegras, Boldy, Krebs and Podkolzin fell to them with the 8th pick, they drafted... a left defenseman whose criticisms include a lack of high-end passing vision and puck handling skill. Then, in the third round with high-upside wingers like Cajkovic, Teply, Donovan and Tieksola available they took... a 20 year old goaltender. Oilers gonna Oilers, I suppose.
The Skinny: if Edmonton had taken Caufield or Zegras or Boldy or Krebs in the first, they would be lauded as one of the winners of the draft. But this is the Oilers, and thus are clearly adverse to winning anything.
7 Calgary Flames
Highlights: Ilya Nikolayev is considered a first-round talent with top-6 C upside by many draft pundits, so even with some polarization in his ratings he must be considered an excellent pick at 88th overall. Dustin Wolf was ranked a top-3 goaltender in this draft, so taking him in the 7th round is a terrific value.
Lowlights: Jakob Pelletier is absolutely a coach's dream and a terrific future 2nd-line LW, but the Flames are loaded at the position with Gaudreau and Tkachuk and Mangipane. Lavoie or Brink for the right side would have made a great deal more sense there -- they both feature greater upside than Pelletier and play a more needed position.
The Skinny: With only five picks and no second-rounder, the Flames got some nice talent with Pelletier, Nikolayev, Feuk, Nodler and Wolf but did not address organizational need, nor did they always take the best available talent.
8 San Jose Sharks
Highlights: LW Dylan Hamaliuk has terrific middle-6 power forward potential, comparable to players taken in the first round like Samuel Poulin and Nolan Foote. C Yegor Spiridonov was an absolute steal in the 4th round -- his 2-way acumen and skill screams NHL 2C and he is without a doubt the best face-off wizard from the 2019 class. Santeri Hatakka was another great grab at 184th overall, he was perhaps the best physical, defensive D prospect out of Finland this side of Antti Tuomisto.
Lowlights: With only four picks, the Sharks certainly fell behind the future of their division, especially considering the outstanding draft hauls of LA, Vegas, Anaheim and Vancouver.
The Skinny: The Sharks did a terrific job with the picks they had, especially with Spiridonov -- but with no first-rounder and only four picks they must be considered the bottom of the Pacific.
Highlights: where to begin? A future franchise two-way C in Alex Turcotte (5), a stud second-pairing D in Tobias Bjornfot (22). With two home run picks in the first, the Kings were able to take a chance on the enormous upside of the mercurial scoring prodigy Kaliyev in round 2. They continued to hit pick after pick in the later rounds, with players like high-upside offensive RD Jordan Spence (4th round) and Kim Nousianen (also 4th round).
Lowlights: the Kings did not have even more picks to knock out of the park
The Skinny: Turcotte could surprise and nail the Kings #2C role out of camp -- he's that good and his game is that advanced. The Kings were extremely lucky to have him fall to #5. LA now has a top-five prospect pool in the NHL if Gabe Vilardi can recover from injury and Rasmus Kupari can continue his meteoric ascent.
2 Las Vegas Golden Knights
Highlights: Peyton Krebs' achilles injury was like a lottery win for the Knights -- they got a top-10 prospect in a loaded draft picking all the way down at 17. Kaeden Korczak was the best shut-down RD in the draft and a tremendous get in the second, while Knyazev is a very talented LD. Pavel Dorofeyev may turn out to be the steal of the draft in the 3th round -- he compares both talent and style-wise to Flip Forsberg. GM George McPhee continued to nail it every pick down the line with high-upside value picks in LD Ahac (4th), RW Donovan (4th), G Saville (5th) and LW Kallionkieli (5th).
Lowlights: Krebs may not be ready for the start of his draft+one season due to the injury
The Skinny: several trades for established players like Mark Stone depleted the Vegas prospect pool, but a stunningly outstanding draft makes their future one to be reckoned with -- McPhee has proven to be one of the top GMs in the NHL
3 Anaheim Ducks
Highlights: Zegras at #9 was a coup -- he could very conceivably turn out to be the second-best offensive producer in the class of 2019 after Jack Hughes. Brayden Tracey was a late riser and a nice get at #29, and then the Ducks hit it big with huge character, high floor picks in the 4th (LD Henry Thrun) and 5th (C Trevor Janicke). If there's a Ryan O'Reilly in this draft (later round C who turns into a two-way stud), it's Janicke -- his compete level is high as anyone and he can shoot the lights out. In the 6th round, the Ducks grabbed the toughest customer in the entire draft class, bruising and ferocious RD Will Francis.
Lowlights: Jackson LaCombe (39th) offers excellent upside, but comes with a lot of risk; some of the players who were drafted in the following 10 picks offer similar upside at lower risk, and it's possible that the organizational distaste for Eastern European skaters scared them off superior players like Kolyachonok and Misyul.
The Skinny: it's interesting that the Kings took Turcotte and the Ducks took his often-linemate at the US-NTDP in Zegras -- it's going to be fun to see these two face off against one another in this heated rivalry. Also, the Kings took Bjornfot, which translates from the Swedish as "bear foot", while the Ducks took Brayden Tracey, which translates from the Gaelic as "salmon fighter". So we will also get to see Bear Foot vs. Salmon Fighter one day in the foreseeable future. Damn, I love the NHL draft.
4 Vancouver Canucks
Highlights: the Canucks hit home runs with their top two round picks of uber-skilled power winger Podkolzin (10) and ultra-skilled dynamo Nils Hoglander (41). LW Ethan Keppen has the upside as a Tom Wilson-type beast -- crushing and intimidating the opposition while pumping in 20+ goals; he was a steal in the 4th round. The Canucks continued to nail it in the later rounds with promising Latvian netminder Arturs Silovs (156), one of the speediest Fs in the draft in Karel Plasek (175), and big, skilled USHL RW Jack Malone (180).
Lowlights: Desperately needing D throughout the organization and prospect pipeline, the Canucks did not draft a single defenseman.
The Skinny: Canucks fans had an up and down draft weekend -- while their draft class itself was stellar, they gave up far too much (2020 #1 pick!) for a mid-6 F in J.T. Miller, leaving them precious little ammo to acquire the present and future defensemen they desperately need.
5 Arizona Coyotes
Highlights: Victor Soderstrom (11) is going to be a terrific defenseman and is pretty close to NHL ready. C John Farinacci (76) has a blazing shot and huge compete level, while LW Matias Maccelli (98) is a risky prospect but has top 6 upside.
Lowlights: GM John Chayka must be running out of rope in Arizona, right? Nothing he does turns into any appreciable success. He gave up the #45 pick to move up three slots -- then the pick he gave up turned out to be D Cam York, who offers a similar game and talent level to the player he traded up for in Soderstrom. Considering the strong chance that Soderstrom would be available at the pick he started out with in the first place and the huge talent which was available at #45 (Kolyachonok, Afanaseyev, either Robertson), it must be considered a foolhardy trade.
The Skinny: the Coyotes certainly improved their organizational talent with some good picks, but if Cam York turns out to be better than Soderstrom, it's certainly something Chayka will have to answer for. The Coyotes were also decidedly mediocre with their late round picks, aside from the upside of 6th round center Anthony Romano.
6 Edmonton Oilers
Highlights: the Oilers were desperate for scoring wingers, so when Rafael Lavoie somehow fell to them with the 38th pick, it was an absolute coup. Lavoie exploded for 20 goals in 23 Memorial Cup playoff games and was universally ranked in the 12-20 range. LW Matej Blumel has good offensive upside and was a nice grab in the 4th round.
Lowlights: the Oilers were desperate for scoring wingers, so when absolute blue-chip wingers like Caufield, Zegras, Boldy, Krebs and Podkolzin fell to them with the 8th pick, they drafted... a left defenseman whose criticisms include a lack of high-end passing vision and puck handling skill. Then, in the third round with high-upside wingers like Cajkovic, Teply, Donovan and Tieksola available they took... a 20 year old goaltender. Oilers gonna Oilers, I suppose.
The Skinny: if Edmonton had taken Caufield or Zegras or Boldy or Krebs in the first, they would be lauded as one of the winners of the draft. But this is the Oilers, and thus are clearly adverse to winning anything.
7 Calgary Flames
Highlights: Ilya Nikolayev is considered a first-round talent with top-6 C upside by many draft pundits, so even with some polarization in his ratings he must be considered an excellent pick at 88th overall. Dustin Wolf was ranked a top-3 goaltender in this draft, so taking him in the 7th round is a terrific value.
Lowlights: Jakob Pelletier is absolutely a coach's dream and a terrific future 2nd-line LW, but the Flames are loaded at the position with Gaudreau and Tkachuk and Mangipane. Lavoie or Brink for the right side would have made a great deal more sense there -- they both feature greater upside than Pelletier and play a more needed position.
The Skinny: With only five picks and no second-rounder, the Flames got some nice talent with Pelletier, Nikolayev, Feuk, Nodler and Wolf but did not address organizational need, nor did they always take the best available talent.
8 San Jose Sharks
Highlights: LW Dylan Hamaliuk has terrific middle-6 power forward potential, comparable to players taken in the first round like Samuel Poulin and Nolan Foote. C Yegor Spiridonov was an absolute steal in the 4th round -- his 2-way acumen and skill screams NHL 2C and he is without a doubt the best face-off wizard from the 2019 class. Santeri Hatakka was another great grab at 184th overall, he was perhaps the best physical, defensive D prospect out of Finland this side of Antti Tuomisto.
Lowlights: With only four picks, the Sharks certainly fell behind the future of their division, especially considering the outstanding draft hauls of LA, Vegas, Anaheim and Vancouver.
The Skinny: The Sharks did a terrific job with the picks they had, especially with Spiridonov -- but with no first-rounder and only four picks they must be considered the bottom of the Pacific.
