Prospect Info: 2019 Draft

[zman77]

Billy Moskal:
London Knight:
Date of Birth: March 22, 2000
Place of Birth: Sudbury, Ontario
Ht: 6’0” Wt: 176 lbs.
Position: Shoots R and plays Centre
Another speed guy who will protect his team-mates when needed. Dale Hunter plays
him a lot in critical situations. Excellent on Face-Offs and plays a solid 200' game. He was passed over in the 2018 Draft. He would fit well with players like Foegele and McGinn. Good pick around 5-7th Rounds.
Scouting Report:
“Underrated draft prospect right now. Moskal has a very high hockey IQ at both ends of the ice. Makes a lot of plays down low, below the hash marks to maintain possession or create scoring opportunities. Some jam to his game too, that I think really develops to the point of him being a pest. Moskal also happens to be terrific on faceoffs, something that should not be overlooked. I guess the question I have is… what is he at the next level? Will the offensive game continue to develop to the point where he could be a top-six player? I do get some real flashbacks of Chris Tierney (from his draft season in London), when watching Moskal play. Could possibly profile as a similar type of player down the line.”
Brock Otten/OHL Prospects
Billy Moskal at eliteprospects.com

 

[Frank JT]

Hi! I would like to ask you what are the most important needs before next draft?
G, RD, LD, LW, C, RW?
Thanks!

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Hi! I would like to ask you what are the most important needs before next draft?
G, RD, LD, LW, C, RW?
Thanks!

We really need a RH defender but, we aren’t taking a defender in the first rounder.

Looking down the line in 2-3 years we’ll have the following in the farm:
Cotton-wild card (Lw/C)
Drury- C
Mattheos- C/RW
Henman- C/RW
Eetu-C

We’ll have a ton graduate to the roster or be veterans at this point (Kuokkanen, Gauthier, Saarela, Necas, and Geekie)

I’d say we need BPA although the right side of the defense is dried up with Fox gone.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Hi! I would like to ask you what are the most important needs before next draft?
G, RD, LD, LW, C, RW?
Thanks!

None of the above.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

None of the above.

Counterpoint: all of the above.

 

[Lempo]

None of the above.

Counterpoint: all of the above.

Synthesis: some of the above.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Synthesis: some of the above.

Non seqitur:

I don’t even care about the draft this year. I just want to see Svech 2.0 in October.

 

[My Special Purpose]

I’d say we need BPA although the right side of the defense is dried up with Fox gone.

I agree with this. The thing is, we're just so darn young, when realistically is the next time we're going to need to work in a rookie RD? I mean, hell, aside from taking shots for elite talent hidden in the lower rounds, we could take the year off from drafting entirely and be fine for a while. Instead, we're going to make a league-high *10* picks.

I think this is where the need for veterans comes in, for me at least. You just can't have half a team on their entry-level deals.

 

[Unsustainable]

I think we should draft another figure skater

 

[emptyNedder]

The thing is, we're just so darn young, when realistically is the next time we're going to need to work in a rookie RD?

In 4 years--at that point I would be stunned if one of Faulk or Hamilton isn't elsewhere. TVR will be 32--and likely on a contract for another team. Right Ds drafted in 2019 will be 22 or possibly turning 23 early in the season. It would be organizational malpractice not to draft RD this draft.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

If anyone's curious, the Mod Mock Draft is going on - here's how the first round went down

Round 1:
1. New Jersey Devils - Jack Hughes
2. New York Rangers - Kappo Kakko
3. Chicago Blackhawks - Bowen Byram
4. Colorado Avalanche (from Senators) - Alex Turcotte
5. Los Angeles Kings - Dylan Cozens
6. Detroit Red Wings - Kirby Dach
7. Buffalo Sabres - Cole Caufield
8. Edmonton Oilers - Trevor Zegras
9. Anaheim Ducks - Matthew Boldy
10. Vancouver Canucks - Vasili Podkolzin
11. Philadelphia Flyers - Moritz Seider
12. Minnesota Wild - Alex Newhook
13. Florida Panthers - Victor Söderström
14. Arizona Coyotes - Arthur Kaliyev
15. Montreal Canadiens - Peyton Krebs
16. Colorado Avalanche - Spencer Knight
17. Vegas Golden Knights - Phillip Broberg
18. Dallas Stars - Cam York
19. Ottawa Senators (from Blue Jackets) - Raphael Lavoie
20. New York Rangers (from Jets) - Phillip Tamisino
21. Pittsburgh Penguins - Thomas Harley
22. Los Angeles Kings (from Maple Leafs) - Ryan Suzuki
23. New York Islanders - Connor McMichael
24. Nashville Predators - Ville Heinola
25. Washington Capitals - Bobby Brink
26. Calgary Flames - Jakob Pelletier
27. Tampa Bay Lightning - Samuel Poulin
28. Carolina Hurricanes - Nils Hoglander
29. Anaheim Ducks (From Sharks via Sabres) - Matthew Robertson
30. Boston Bruins - Jamieson Rees
31. Buffalo Sabres (From Blues) - Alex Vlasic

Visions of Hamilton the Pig in a Hoglander jersey totally were NOT going through me or Dave's head. The 2nd round is still going on but here's how that's looking so far:

Round 2:
32. Ottawa - Ryan Johnson
33. Los Angeles - Pavel Dorofeyev
34. New Jersey - Vladislav Kolyachonok
35. Detroit - John Beecher
36. Carolina (from Sabres) - Patrik Puistola
37. Carolina (from Rangers) - Drew Helleson
38. Edmonton - Yegor Afanasyev
39. Anaheim - Lassi Thomson

 

[emptyNedder]

37. Carolina (from Rangers) - Drew Helleson

I love the Hoglander and Puistola picks. Even though I am adamant that the Canes need to come out of the draft with two right-shot D-men, I would use 37 on another boom forward. Given that Hoglander and Puistola are both left-shots, I would target a right shot. Any of Fagemo, Leason, or Legare fits the bill. My preference would be Leason (due to size and WJC 20 success) slightly over Fagemo.

 

[mhart1]

Puistola <3

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I've been on flights/out of town for 3 of the last 4 drafts. Wedding season sucks.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I kind of want KK to bust just so I can call him Krappo and feel clever on the internet

 

[GoldiFox]

I kind of want KK to bust just so I can call him Krappo and feel clever on the internet

Canes overpay for Kapanen. Kapanen busts playing next to Staal/Wallmark rather than Matthews. You get to call him Krapanen for the remainder of his 6 year x $5 million deal. Everyone wins!?

 

[tarheelhockey]

Canes overpay for Kapanen. Kapanen busts playing next to Staal/Wallmark rather than Matthews. You get to call him Krapanen for the remainder of his 6 year x $5 million deal. Everyone wins!?

This would be an opportunity to double up on my cleverness by also using my go-to Walmart joke

 

[My Special Purpose]

I love the Hoglander and Puistola picks. Even though I am adamant that the Canes need to come out of the draft with two right-shot D-men, I would use 37 on another boom forward. Given that Hoglander and Puistola are both left-shots, I would target a right shot. Any of Fagemo, Leason, or Legare fits the bill. My preference would be Leason (due to size and WJC 20 success) slightly over Fagemo.

The organizational need for right shots is overblown, IMO. *All* the kids coming up are right shots. Even if only Necas and Geekie make it as NHL regulars, that's still pretty much problem solved at the NHL level. And that leaves out Gauthier, Luostaranen, Mattheos and Roy.

Also, I hope we don't take Leason. If he's BPA, fine. But he immediately goes into a group of 20-year-old's pushing for a lineup spot, when we just don't have lineup spots available. I'd rather take a first-year eligible to extend out our pipeline a little. Right now, we've got a bunch of players ripening at the same time, and Leason would just add to that.

 

[Mildan]

Just did fanspeak mock draft. That system of theirs is so poor. I drafted 28th Caufield, 36th Knight 37th Heinola and 58th Seider. I wanted to draft forwards but sort of work out like this. Btw, Kakko went 3rd Turcotte 16th and Puistola 27th

 

[GoldiFox]

https://www.tsn.ca/americans-set-to-dominate-first-round-of-the-nhl-draft-1.1323878

McKenzie's Final Draft list looks pretty favorable for the Canes needs. Lot of high upside players ranked #28 and beyond:

McMichael (#28), Pelletier (#31), Rees (#32), Hoglander (#35), Tracey (#36), Afanasyev (#37), Beecher (#41), Robertson (#42), Holmstrom (#43), Firstov (#46), Grewe (#48), Mastrosimone (#51), Farinacci (#52), Tuomisto (#53), Fagemo (#56), Puistola (#71)

Canes board pick Dorofeyev in at #82

 

[MinJaBen]

https://www.tsn.ca/americans-set-to-dominate-first-round-of-the-nhl-draft-1.1323878

McKenzie's Final Draft list looks pretty favorable for the Canes needs. Lot of high upside players ranked #28 and beyond:

McMichael (#28), Pelletier (#31), Rees (#32), Hoglander (#35), Tracey (#36), Afanasyev (#37), Beecher (#41), Robertson (#42), Holmstrom (#43), Firstov (#46), Grewe (#48), Mastrosimone (#51), Farinacci (#52), Tuomisto (#53), Fagemo (#56), Puistola (#71)

Canes board pick Dorofeyev in at #82

I really hope we can grab Beecher with one of our seconds. He seems ripe for a breakout once he’s out of the shadows of the other USNDT kids, plus he’s really fast and big.

 

[DaveG]

I love the Hoglander and Puistola picks. Even though I am adamant that the Canes need to come out of the draft with two right-shot D-men, I would use 37 on another boom forward. Given that Hoglander and Puistola are both left-shots, I would target a right shot. Any of Fagemo, Leason, or Legare fits the bill. My preference would be Leason (due to size and WJC 20 success) slightly over Fagemo.

Lesson honestly scares me a bit. At least with an early 2nd. If he's there at 59 i'm all over it, but bigger d+1 guys dominating is nothing unheard of. Sometimes you get a Morgan Geekie type out of that, sometimes it's merely a guy that's so much more physically mature than the rest that he can dominate that way and things go back to reality once they hit the ahl.

 

[GoldiFox]

I really hope we can grab Beecher with one of our seconds. He seems ripe for a breakout once he’s out of the shadows of the other USNDT kids, plus he’s really fast and big.

He was definitely buried so there is some breakout potential. Black Book is filled with scouting quotes saying he has "zero skill". Says that he has trouble making and accepting passes. Upside as a 4th line, hard-skating C.

I'd prefer most of the listed players ranked after him. But I'd be swinging for the fences every pick if I were in charge.

 

[My Special Purpose]

https://www.tsn.ca/americans-set-to-dominate-first-round-of-the-nhl-draft-1.1323878

McKenzie's Final Draft list looks pretty favorable for the Canes needs. Lot of high upside players ranked #28 and beyond:

McMichael (#28), Pelletier (#31), Rees (#32), Hoglander (#35), Tracey (#36), Afanasyev (#37), Beecher (#41), Robertson (#42), Holmstrom (#43), Firstov (#46), Grewe (#48), Mastrosimone (#51), Farinacci (#52), Tuomisto (#53), Fagemo (#56), Puistola (#71)

Canes board pick Dorofeyev in at #82

Since it's draft week, here's my official guess post for our pick at No. 28.

I posted about what I thought the Canes should be looking for in another post and I centered around about five players. Now keep in mind, it's *very* likely -- extraordinarily likely, even -- that most of us are saying "we could have gotten this guy with one of our second-rounders" after our pick. But there are only seven picks between our first and our back-to-back seconds, and only ANA, BUF, BOS, OTT, LA, NJ, DET make picks in there. I think it's incredibly likely we get three guys out of four or five on our list, so who goes 28th vs. who goes 36/37 is kinda irrelevant, IMO. There's a tier of players around 22-40, IMO, and all of them are good picks at any of our three slots.

To start, if any of these players are available, my Guaranteed Pick TM is null and void and we should take him: Jack Hughes, Kaapo Kakko, Dylan Cozens, Alex Turcotte, Bowen Byram, Vasily Podkolzin, Kirby Dach, Cole Caufield, Trevor Zegras, Matthew Boldy, Peyton Krebs, Alex Newhook, Spencer Knight, Arthur Kaliyev or Philip Tomasino.

So, I basically grouped these guys together and picked the one I thought fit our needs best. The guys were: Patrik Puistola, Bobby Brink, Nils Hoglander, Nick Robertson and Jakob Pelletier. And the guy in that group that I think will be the best NHL player is Nick Robertson, so he's my pick.

Along with Brink, Hoglander and Pelletier, Robertson is on the small size at 5-9, 160. The difference, to me at least, is upside. As one of the youngest players in the draft (Sept. 11, 2001, yes, *that* Sept. 11), Robertson has barely begun to scratch the surface. Despite his age, Robertson finished in the top 10 of several fitness categories at the combine. He's got Saarela's shot/release, Foegele's work ethic, as well as great speed/edges and a high hockey IQ. He rocked up Central Scouting's list from 30 at mid-season to 17 after the season.

His comparatively low numbers are mostly the result of a wrist injury suffered in 2018 that cost him a few months. But looking at his shot the second half of the season, he's obviously got no lasting effects. IMO, if he had a full, injury-free season this year, we'd be talking about this guy in the 10-20 range, if not higher.

I'm a bit miffed by McKenzie's ranking having him at 42. Maybe the kid is a jerk, or a lousy interview. These are things I can't know. But with the type players ranked around 25-40 and us having three picks, I think we can afford to jump up and grab a guy with this kind of upside.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I'm a bit miffed by McKenzie's ranking having him at 42. Maybe the kid is a jerk, or a lousy interview. These are things I can't know. But with the type players ranked around 25-40 and us having three picks, I think we can afford to jump up and grab a guy with this kind of upside.

Your phrasing here may in fact imply that you know this, but regardless, here's everyone's annual reminder that McKenzie's ranking is a collection of opinions from his sources from various teams around the league, not his own opinion. Don't shoot the messenger.