Speculation: 2019 NHL Draft

[JRS91]

In a mock draft, TSN has us picking Cam York at 17th

Who's the last ginger to play for the Penguins?

 

[Jacob]

What's the appeal of Ryan Johnson? I see him in the late teens / early 20s in mocks, and I've never seen him play and have a hard time pulling up scouting reports on him. Stats aren't impressive, especially by USHL standards.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

What's the appeal of Ryan Johnson? I see him in the late teens / early 20s in mocks, and I've never seen him play and have a hard time pulling up scouting reports on him. Stats aren't impressive, especially by USHL standards.

Not gonna pretend that I know much about him at all, but have heard he’s an unreal skater. Just know that and the fact he has NHL bloodlines.

 

[WayneSid9987]

What's the appeal of Ryan Johnson? I see him in the late teens / early 20s in mocks, and I've never seen him play and have a hard time pulling up scouting reports on him. Stats aren't impressive, especially by USHL standards.

Seems like the Cam York thats not actually Cam York type.

 

[Rakell67]

Who's the last ginger to play for the Penguins?

Cole and Scott Wilson?

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

If we keep the first round pick, I think it will be for a D.

But I wouldn't mind if we used our picks to trade for good non-rentals of some sorts. I'd rather have us stay competitive for as long as possible for Sid's a Geno's sake and bite the bullet afterwards. I think there could be some good trades to be made.

I don't really trust Jimmy with or without the pick though.

 

[JRS91]

Cole and Scott Wilson?

I forgot about Wilson.

I think Cole has light brown hair though, doesn't he?

 

[Rakell67]

I forgot about Wilson.

I think Cole has light brown hair though, doesn't he?

Perhaps. His beard looked reddish but so does mine.

 

[Jacob]

If Podkolzin fell to 19 I’m not even sure I’d take him.

 

[SEALBound]

If Podkolzin fell to 19 I’m not even sure I’d take him.

He would absolutely 100% BPA at 19. Yes, you would.

I've been watching Raphaël Lavoie for awhile. He's been creeping up the chart. At 15 now but I would LOVE to nab him.

 

[HandshakeLine]

BPA everyday and twice on Sunday. That said, I think it's worth thinking about drafting a post-Letang anchor for the blueline, but I don't know a whole lot about this year's draft class.

 

[Andy99]

The Pens only have this one first round pick to nail since theyve traded so many picks...just try to pick up a difference maker regardless of position, whomever is most likely...we have so few difference-maker prospects already...

 

[The Old Master]

The Pens only have this one first round pick to nail since theyve traded so many picks...just try to pick up a difference maker regardless of position, whomever is most likely...we have so few difference-maker prospects already...

i'm hoping that we will have more (with trades) but where we are picking now i'm looking at one of heinola, bjornfot, brink, and seider. I could see seider going earlier just because he's a righty. and of course someone could fall.

 

[BladeRunner66]

i'm hoping that we will have more (with trades) but where we are picking now i'm looking at one of heinola, bjornfot, brink, and seider. I could see seider going earlier just because he's a righty. and of course someone could fall.

Is that the Swedish equivalent of BigFoot?

Seriously tho, BPA.

 

[deakka]

Is that the Swedish equivalent of BigFoot?

Seriously tho, BPA.

Björnfot translates to "bear foot". Speaking of names. Is it just me, or does this draft have a LOT of epic names?

 

[The Old Master]

Björnfot translates to "bear foot". Speaking of names. Is it just me, or does this draft have a LOT of epic names?

you find some great names on some Indians playing in jr.s. "wacy rabbit" was one of the best.

 

[The Old Master]

What's the appeal of Ryan Johnson? I see him in the late teens / early 20s in mocks, and I've never seen him play and have a hard time pulling up scouting reports on him. Stats aren't impressive, especially by USHL standards.

Lightweight mobile new age attacking defenseman with good upside due to his mobility, puck carrying skills and over all awareness. Excellent in transition with the outlet pass or carrying the mail. His high end footwork allows him to be aggressive defensively with the confidence in his lateral agility to get back in the mix. In the World Junior Challenge, he acted as a shadow who mirrored the movements of Podkolzin. Needs to get better in his diagnosis and reaction in his end so he isn’t running around so much, but his feet with eventually settle down and slow the game down. Very good at joining the rush down low, but is careful not to get caught. His long fast strides point to his upside. Almost looks as though he uses the boards to secure the time and space to suddenly explode out at top gear in a series of cuts to surprise and catch teams flat footed. There is lots of upside in this youngster who needs a bit more development and weight room work.
mid 2nd pick. imo

 

[Freeptop]

The Pens only have this one first round pick to nail since theyve traded so many picks...just try to pick up a difference maker regardless of position, whomever is most likely...we have so few difference-maker prospects already...

I'm sure they'll try to pick up a difference maker, but the problem is that true difference makers don't usually last to 19th-23rd overall in the draft.

For fun, let's take a look at the 06-15 drafts. That's ten years of recent drafts, where the most recent draft being long enough ago to reasonably have made the NHL by now (given that we're talking about first round picks).
19th overall picks: Mitera, MacMillan, Sbisa, Kreider, Bjugstad, Klefbom, Vasilevskiy, Rychel, Deangelo, Svechnikov
20th overall: Fischer, Esposito, Del Zotto, Josefson, Bennett, Murphy, Laughton, Mantha, Schmaltz, Eriksson Ek
21st overall: Sanguinetti, Nash (Riley), Gustagsson, Moore, Sheahan, Noesen, Jankowski, Gauthier, Gabbri, White (Colin)
22nd overall: Giroux, Pacioretty, Eberle, Schroeder, Tinordi, Biggs, Maatta, Poirier, Kapanen, Samsonov
23rd overall: Varlamov, Blum, Cuma, Erixon, Pysyk, Morrow (Joe), Matheson, Burakosvky, Bleackley, Boeser

Yes, there are some difference makers sprinkled in there, but there are also a fair number of outright busts. Most kind of fall into a more-or-less average NHL player level. It's hard to say that the Pens have to nail this pick, because the chances really aren't all that great.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Yes, there are some difference makers sprinkled in there, but there are also a fair number of outright busts. Most kind of fall into a more-or-less average NHL player level. It's hard to say that the Pens have to nail this pick, because the chances really aren't all that great.

I completely agree with the premise of your post but if they keep the pick, it's crucial to hit on their selection (imo have them become at least a positive contributor 4/5ishD or middle 6 forward).

They don't pick again until the 4th round, have a lack of young talent on the NHL roster, and only hold one top 60 selection next year. Can't afford to finally keep a high pick for the first time in years and then waste it.

 

[Freeptop]

I completely agree with the premise of your post but if they keep the pick, it's crucial to hit on their selection (imo have them become at least a positive contributor 4/5ishD or middle 6 forward).

They don't pick again until the 4th round, have a lack of young talent on the NHL roster, and only hold one top 60 selection next year. Can't afford to finally keep a high pick for the first time in years and then waste it.

Conceptually, I agree. Realistically, it's rather hard to know whether they've actually hit on the selection or not for a few years - this is where I note that the Guentzel pick wasn't very popular on these boards at the time it was made, for example, while people here liked the Esposito pick, again, at the time it was made.

 

[Jacob]

I think some folks had their favorites at the Guentzel selection- maybe Bjorkstrand?- but I think people warmed up to the pick pretty quickly as I recall. Be interesting to find the original thread. Even purely on paper it was a good pick, he had a great draft year and mostly fell because of his size / weight.

 

[steelcityassault]

Mock Draft Pens Choices

DraftSite	23rd	Cam York	D	USNTDP (USHL)	5'11	170	18.3 yrs old	Committed to Boston College
MyNHLdraft	23rd	Bobby Brink	C	Sioux City (USHL)	5'10	165	17.8 yrs old	Committed to Denver
Fansided	24th	Raphaël Lavoie	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6'4	192	18.6 yrs old
Sporting News	19th	Ryan Suzuki	C	Barrie (OHL)	6'0	172	17.9 yrs old
Craig Button TSN	17th	Cam York
BleacherReport	23rd	Philip Tomasino	C	Niagara IceDogs (OHL)	6'0	181	17.8 yrs old
Tankathon	22nd	Matthew Robertson	D	Edmonton (WHL)	6'3	196	18.1 yrs old

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Jacob]

Cam York or Bobby Brink please. Don’t think I’ve watched Tomasino and I don’t like Lavoie & Robertson in particular.

 

[BladeRunner66]

Björnfot translates to "bear foot". Speaking of names. Is it just me, or does this draft have a LOT of epic names?

Pretty close to BigFoot if you ask me.

Mock Draft Pens Choices

DraftSite	23rd	Cam York	D	USNTDP (USHL)	5'11	170	18.3 yrs old	Committed to Boston College
MyNHLdraft	23rd	Bobby Brink	C	Sioux City (USHL)	5'10	165	17.8 yrs old	Committed to Denver
Fansided	24th	Raphaël Lavoie	C	Halifax (QMJHL)	6'4	192	18.6 yrs old
Sporting News	19th	Ryan Suzuki	C	Barrie (OHL)	6'0	172	17.9 yrs old
Craig Button TSN	17th	Cam York
BleacherReport	23rd	Philip Tomasino	C	Niagara IceDogs (OHL)	6'0	181	17.8 yrs old
Tankathon	22nd	Matthew Robertson	D	Edmonton (WHL)	6'3	196	18.1 yrs old

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

From that list: I don't know much about any of them but if Lavoie keeps creeping up like someone said here he could be a good pick, big center, nice. I mean, if we're really going bigger/tougher...

For our needs tho i'd go for one of those 2D but in the end, it's usually BPA.

 

[The Old Master]

I want them to swinging for the fence. no safe picks. whoever has the highest up side....then you can weed out the risker players left.