Prospect Info: 2019 NHL Draft Talk Part III

[Hen Kolland]

They should 100% see how the draft plays out before doing any trading back.

I'm not advocating signing the paperwork right now. But they can have a deal in place. Custance just talked to Ken Holland and the Datsyuk-Chychrun for Cholowski-Hronek trade was discussed. They had something in place that just depended on the draft playing out a certain way.

 

[DRW204]

If Byram isn't there at 6 and we can get a good asset in return, I have no problem at all moving to 10 to take Krebs, Caufield, Podkolzin or Broberg over Zegras, Dach or Cozens at 6.
What can we get for those 4 spots do you think? I'd want better than 40th OA.

id want a guy like Jett Woo who was picked 2nd last year. A RD a year further into his development, and more on top of that, dont know if VAN would do it though

I think Vancouver wants to move ahead of EDM to get Broberg.

 

[Mister Ed]

Rumor from the Editor in Chief of @EliteProspects

Moving up four spots would cost the Canucks #40 like @Hen Kolland said. #35 , #40, #54 and #60 would be a pretty interesting 2nd round for sure. It would go with what Yzerman said in his presser earlier, that they have 6 or 7 players they think would be at #6, so moving back to #10 might not be that bad - half of their initial 6 or 7 players would be still available.

Or they could trade the extra 2nd to EDM for Puljujarvi :

 

[Frk It]

I'm not advocating signing the paperwork right now. But they can have a deal in place. Custance just talked to Ken Holland and the Datsyuk-Chychrun for Cholowski-Hronek trade was discussed. They had something in place that just depended on the draft playing out a certain way.

That article is exactly how I'd do it... I'd say talk to me after pick 5, and we will either have a deal or not. Byram or Turcotte are there, I walk right up to the podium.

 

[Ricelund]

Or they could trade the extra 2nd to EDM for Puljujarvi :

Abdelkader for Puljujarvi. Holland won't be able to resist.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Byram certainly has some amazing stats... that's the one thing keeping me from losing my mind if we end up with him and everyone else throws a parade.

From what I have seen of his play, he's not that offensively talented (shot power, accuracy, stick handling, passing, speed all seem like nothing special). His points come from the fact that he plays like a 4th forward and is not a big fan of actually playing the defensive position. His pivot when skating backwards looks like he's in quicksand. His effort level seems questionable at best at times.


(Disclaimer: I am stating this opinion as a fan that looks at stats and does some youtube scouting. I am aware that my opinion comes from limited sources and I am no expert, but at the same time it is fun to have an opinion. I welcome with open arms any specific examples of what makes you a fan of his)

Don't worry, I have the same disclaimer (as should pretty much all of HF otherwise our lists would look way less consensus).

Honestly you're not wrong that Byram lacks an elite flashy skill that really stands out (his sksting is almost there). Furthermore he is super willing to jump into the rush and that's risky sometimes. But I think you're underrating each of his skills individually, especially his skating and vision/IQ. He's good at everything, he's nearly elite there.

Whenever I watched an actual game with Byram two things really stood out to me, how often he has the puck creating offense and how rarely he gets burned because of it (he definitely does get burned sometimes though). And I attribute that to those two things, his skating and smarts.

He sees the ice well enough to find the right lanes to take and skates well enough that he can hit them without having to make a flashy play. When he does lose the puck carrying it he gets back well and usually recovers. He's aggressive because he can do that. Add that his hands are good enough to beat guys when they challenge him, his passing is good enough to set up teammates and he has a good wrister that he gets through (it's pretty hard and he is dangerous to pick a corner when he moves down) and to me, he's a complete package offensively with his skating and vision being the foundations of his game. I love defenseman that skate well.

I also think he's the odd young offensive D that's actually really solid defensively. I haven't noticed his pivot looking slow backwards and I really like the way he uses his body and positioning to angle guys to the outside. He never gets beat clean by a forward. If they rush him, they get pushed to the outside. If they dump it, he's always there first and the puck is going the other way. Turn it over to him and he's flying down the ice with the puck leading the rush. If you want to score when Byram's on the ice you have three options IMO: score off the rush when he's behind your net (you better be fast because he's coming), completely outmuscle him in the slot and get a dirty one (you better be big because he's not small), avoid him and try to rush the other side of the ice (you better hope his partner is sub-par). Otherwise your rush is turning into his going the other way.

If I could design a D, he would be Byram with a flavor of Boqvist. If Byram had slightly better instincts in the offensive zone- sometimes he can get caught in a cycle of just making safe plays repeatedly, short passes, shots for rebounds when nothing is presenting- and a better shot (both slapper and wrister though as I said his wrister is quite good), he'd be my perfect D really (assuming you can't just ask for someone that's elite at everything, 7' and unstoppable).

 

[DRW204]

Don't worry, I have the same disclaimer (as should pretty much all of HF otherwise our lists would look way less consensus).

Honestly you're not wrong that Byram lacks an elite flashy skill that really stands out (his sksting is almost there). Furthermore he is super willing to jump into the rush and that's risky sometimes. But I think you're underrating each of his skills individually, especially his skating and vision/IQ. He's good at everything, he's nearly elite there.

Whenever I watched an actual game with Byram two things really stood out to me, how often he has the puck creating offense and how rarely he gets burned because of it (he definitely does get burned sometimes though). And I attribute that to those two things, his skating and smarts.

He sees the ice well enough to find the right lanes to take and skates well enough that he can hit them without having to make a flashy play. When he does lose the puck carrying it he gets back well and usually recovers. He's aggressive because he can do that. Add that his hands are good enough to beat guys when they challenge him, his passing is good enough to set up teammates and he has a good wrister that he gets through (it's pretty hard and he is dangerous to pick a corner when he moves down) and to me, he's a complete package offensively with his skating and vision being the foundations of his game. I love defenseman that skate well.

I also think he's the odd young offensive D that's actually really solid defensively. I haven't noticed his pivot looking slow backwards and I really like the way he uses his body and positioning to angle guys to the outside. He never gets beat clean by a forward. If they rush him, they get pushed to the outside. If they dump it, he's always there first and the puck is going the other way. Turn it over to him and he's flying down the ice with the puck leading the rush. If you want to score when Byram's on the ice you have three options IMO: score off the rush when he's behind your net (you better be fast because he's coming), completely outmuscle him in the slot and get a dirty one (you better be big because he's not small), avoid him and try to rush the other side of the ice (you better hope his partner is sub-par). Otherwise your rush is turning into his going the other way.

If I could design a D, he would be Byram with a flavor of Boqvist. If Byram had slightly better instincts in the offensive zone- sometimes he can get caught in a cycle of just making safe plays repeatedly, short passes, shots for rebounds when nothing is presenting- and a better shot (both slapper and wrister though as I said his wrister is quite good), he'd be my perfect D really (assuming you can't just ask for someone that's elite at everything, 7' and unstoppable).

i hate trying to create player comparables but stylistically is he similar to Josh Morrissey?

 

[Frk It]

If I could design a D, he would be Byram with a flavor of Boqvist.

So basically.... Dahlin.

 

[lhsgolf19]

I saw Max comment on this



He has in order... Dach, Krebs, Cozens

 

[HisNoodliness]

i hate trying to create player comparables but stylistically is he similar to Josh Morrissey?

To be honest I don't watch enough of Winnipeg to really say if that's a great comparison or not. The two I see a lot are Drew Doughty and Morgan Rielly and I think the average of those two is the best you can do for a comparable. Because of the way Doughty has turned out that one is just too lofty, Doughty's simply too complete and great at everything. Byram's style is less physical, worse defensively as a result, worse shooter and Byram's a little more agressive offensively jumping in the rush. He's a better skater at the same age and that's about it for me.

Rielly is a better comparison as I think Byram stylistically is very similar to Rielly offensively. The way they carry the puck up ice, into the high slot for good shots or passes is really similar. But Byram is just straight up better defensively- like if you told me today that I have a defensive zone start, OT cup finals, 30 seconds left in the period and I can choose to put Byram or Rielly out there- I'd take Byram over Rielly as crazy as that sounds (Everything else here is pure stylistic comparison not talent right now. Byram won't be nearly as good as these guys in general for a while if ever).

Also Rielly just had like 70 points I think, you can't project that production out of Byram. They're similar stylistically but that's a lot of points. Rielly is that unique D that you live with being (really) bad defensively because he's just so good the other way. Byram plays similarly, but you just can't expect that top end offense. In exchange you get really solid defense though. I think you're looking at a ~40 point 1D that plays huge minutes, PP and PK if everything goes great. So stylistically I think he's somewhere between Rielly and Doughty.

I should probably repeat that disclaimer that I'm an internet scout and particularly high on this player.

 

[HisNoodliness]

So basically.... Dahlin.

Yeah pretty much. I love Dahlin almost an irrational amount. Dahlin is also bigger and stronger than Byram and has better hands than Boqvist. He's just too perfect.

 

[Hen Kolland]

I saw Max comment on this



He has in order... Dach, Krebs, Cozens

Remarkable that he boils down to Krebs being the best playmaker of the three. I know his game is underappreciated, but to see that conclusion was a surprise.

Since he discusses cross-slot passes, I will say, the biggest complaint I have had about the Wings powerplay over the last handful of years is how little they attempt passes cross-slot. They are such a painful powerplay to watch, with a shitty perimeter swinging umbrella that never actually challenges the PK unit or gets the goalie moving his position.

Edit: Honestly, I don't know how you can read this and not have Krebs extremely high on the list.

 

[Zetterbeer]

I saw Max comment on this



He has in order... Dach, Krebs, Cozens

Great article, free read for about another 25 minutes for anyone who's interested.

 

[jkutswings]

I'm in no hurry to trade back. There should be several great options at 6, so somebody would need to wow me in order to slide down to 10.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Interesting that Krebs does so well in a statistical analysis.

 

[Larkin1578]

Moving up four spots would cost the Canucks #40 like @Hen Kolland said. #35 , #40, #54 and #60 would be a pretty interesting 2nd round for sure. It would go with what Yzerman said in his presser earlier, that they have 6 or 7 players they think would be at #6, so moving back to #10 might not be that bad - half of their initial 6 or 7 players would be still available.

Or they could trade the extra 2nd to EDM for Puljujarvi :

I'd jump on board with this.

 

[HisNoodliness]

I saw Max comment on this



He has in order... Dach, Krebs, Cozens

Man that's an awesome article. I noticed that Dach seems to strip the puck well, but he apparently does so incredibly well. My order has been Dach then Cozens/Krebs flipping all year. After seeing his analysis of Krebs playmaking I was beginning to think "hmm maybe I've underrated Krebs that way and I should consider bumping him above Dach. They were already close and I had Dach as the clear edge in passing" and then I got to the NZ defense section and "nope I was right to like Dach more, stick to it."

 

[newfy]

They should 100% see how the draft plays out before doing any trading back.

I'm sure there are teams talking and everything to gauge the value of some of the picks around them but theres no way this happens until pick#5 is made. Vancouver likely has one guy theyre targeting in that range that they wanna move up for so he'll have to fall. Theres also probably guys Detroit really wants, I would guess if Byram falls it would take a lot for Detroit to move that pick given what the team needs

 

[Retire91]

I hope we find a way to get Byram. I doubt he falls to us though I wouldn't be trading that 6th overall unless I knew he was off the board.

 

[jkutswings]

Hmm...would a pair of 2019 2nd's and a 2020 1st be enough to get #5 from LA? Maybe with a lesser player thrown in?

Long shot or no, it would be so fantastic to Green Byram at 5, and then come back with a center at 6.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Hmm...would a pair of 2019 2nd's and a 2020 1st be enough to get #5 from LA? Maybe with a lesser player thrown in?

Long shot or no, it would be so fantastic to Green Byram at 5, and then come back with a center at 6.

I can't imagine there's any way they give us 5 without 6 or a crazy overpay like Larkin going the other way

 

[Frk It]

Hmm...would a pair of 2019 2nd's and a 2020 1st be enough to get #5 from LA? Maybe with a lesser player thrown in?

Long shot or no, it would be so fantastic to Green Byram at 5, and then come back with a center at 6.

Have fun watching the lottery next year with the pick we traded becoming #1 in 2020.

 

[Marky9er]

2019 NHL Mock Draft: Predicting a turbulent first round - Sportsnet.ca

Sportsnet mock has Turcotte to Detroit 6OA. I'll take that.

 

[SirloinUB]

I'm in no hurry to trade back. There should be several great options at 6, so somebody would need to wow me in order to slide down to 10.

Agreed. while additional 2nd round picks are nice the focus should be on getting the best player possible with our 1st round pick. This likely wouldn't involve trading back to 9 or 10.

 

[SirloinUB]

I would be thrilled with any one of Turcotte, Dach, Byram, Zegras or Coezns.