Prospect Info: 2019 NHL Entry Draft Part I

[OmNomNom]

I'm really leaning towards Kappo even if we draft #1. The size an skill is undeniable an he's doing it in a mens league right now at age 17 putting up 20 pts 9 goals through 27 games for TPS.

It's impressive.

A strong WJC could bump him up to #1 in the rankings.

i want himmmm

 

[MichaelJ]

I'm really leaning towards Kappo even if we draft #1. The size an skill is undeniable an he's doing it in a mens league right now at age 17 putting up 20 pts 9 goals through 27 games for TPS.

It's impressive.

A strong WJC could bump him up to #1 in the rankings.

Read that he has Center potential and has been playing there for a few games. If so, that would be really great versatility in the Devils’ forward group. Kakko and Hischier down the middle could solve the team’s problems there quickly.

 

[OmNomNom]

Read that he has Center potential and has been playing there for a few games. If so, that would be really great versatility in the Devils’ forward group. Kakko and Hischier down the middle could solve the team’s problems there quickly.

+1. look what hischier did for our top 6. if we didn't have him, we'd be so dead. i'd argue that we have a 1C in hischier, and (2) 2.5Cs in zacha and zajac (some might fight me on zacha being called a 2.5C).

but i shudder to think what would happen without nico... if we added another NHL ready top 6 C this draft/offseason, though.....

 

[thethinglonger]

For what it's worth, Kakko has plenty of experience playing C...mostly in his junior years. He has played C for his Liiga team fairly often as of late, but I see him more as a winger long-term (specifically RW).

 

[OmNomNom]

For what it's worth, Kakko has plenty of experience playing C...mostly in his junior years. He has played C for his Liiga team fairly often as of late, but I see him more as a winger long-term (specifically RW).

so, since you're now Mr. Pro Scout

who would you rank top 10 for this draft?

 

[thethinglonger]

so, since you're now Mr. Pro Scout

who would you rank top 10 for this draft?

Haha, thank you. As of right now my top 10 would be:

1) Jack Hughes
2) Kaapo Kakko
3) Dylan Cozens
4) Vasili Podkolzin
5) Kirby Dach
6) Alex Turcotte
7) Bowen Byram
8) Trevor Zegras
9) Matthew Boldy
10) Ryan Suzuki

 

[OmNomNom]

Haha, thank you. As of right now my top 10 would be:

1) Jack Hughes
2) Kaapo Kakko
3) Dylan Cozens
4) Vasili Podkolzin
5) Kirby Dach
6) Alex Turcotte
7) Bowen Byram
8) Trevor Zegras
9) Matthew Boldy
10) Ryan Suzuki

do you have knocks on lavoie or broberg?

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

For what it's worth, Kakko has plenty of experience playing C...mostly in his junior years. He has played C for his Liiga team fairly often as of late, but I see him more as a winger long-term (specifically RW).

What makes you think he'll be a wing?

 

[MartyOwns]

Haha, thank you. As of right now my top 10 would be:

1) Jack Hughes
2) Kaapo Kakko
3) Dylan Cozens
4) Vasili Podkolzin
5) Kirby Dach
6) Alex Turcotte
7) Bowen Byram
8) Trevor Zegras
9) Matthew Boldy
10) Ryan Suzuki

wow...cozens in your top 3. i wasn’t all that impressed with the (limited) amount i’ve seen from him, but it looks like there’s more chatter about him as time goes on

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

wow...cozens in your top 3. i wasn’t all that impressed with the (limited) amount i’ve seen from him, but it looks like there’s more chatter about him as time goes on

I like cozens because I think the style he plays will translate very well to playoff hockey.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Im more interested in whos available offensively from the 5-10 range as thats where I have us landing

Would prefer a shooter for sure

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Im more interested in whos available offensively from the 5-10 range as thats where I have us landing

Would prefer a shooter for sure

shooter in 5-10 range would probably be lavoie. He'd be my pick in that range.

 

[thethinglonger]

do you have knocks on lavoie or broberg?

Okay so now I can answer some of these questions...sorry about the delay. I'll be honest in that I haven't seen enough of Lavoie's game to be able to rank him yet. Our organization is very high on him, and has him at #10 in our recent rankings. However, at this point I'm not able to make an informed decision on his game.

Broberg on the other hand...I've been watching him since the Hlinka Tournament. There's a lot to like about Broberg's game. He has some great size and skating speed, but his decision-making and overall "hockey IQ" are suspect in my opinion. He has a very strong shot from the blue-line and is relatively safe, defensively. Teams will fall in love with his size and skating speed, especially since there aren't too many defensemen near the top of the draft class, but the lynchpin to his development is the IQ since he has all of the other tools. There is potential there, but is it worth the risk? Especially the risk of a top-10 pick? I don't think so at this point. He'll likely be off the board by the 15th pick though. We'll see how the season progresses.

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

Im more interested in whos available offensively from the 5-10 range as thats where I have us landing

Would prefer a shooter for sure

KAKKKOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[OmNomNom]

Okay so now I can answer some of these questions...sorry about the delay. I'll be honest in that I haven't seen enough of Lavoie's game to be able to rank him yet. Our organization is very high on him, and has him at #10 in our recent rankings. However, at this point I'm not able to make an informed decision on his game.

Broberg on the other hand...I've been watching him since the Hlinka Tournament. There's a lot to like about Broberg's game. He has some great size and skating speed, but his decision-making and overall "hockey IQ" are suspect in my opinion. He has a very strong shot from the blue-line and is relatively safe, defensively. Teams will fall in love with his size and skating speed, especially since there aren't too many defensemen near the top of the draft class, but the lynchpin to his development is the IQ since he has all of the other tools. There is potential there, but is it worth the risk? Especially the risk of a top-10 pick? I don't think so at this point. He'll likely be off the board by the 15th pick though. We'll see how the season progresses.

so a smooth skating eric gelinas eh hahaha

 

[My3Sons]

I’m sure Mueller looked enticing in his draft year but IQ is more important than ever given the speed of the game now. Hopefully the team picks a player with good processing speed and lots of RAM.

 

[thethinglonger]

I’m sure Mueller looked enticing in his draft year but IQ is more important than ever given the speed of the game now. Hopefully the team picks a player with good processing speed and lots of RAM.

So Bowen ByRAM?

Thanks folks, I'll be here all week.

 

[dupont]

I wouldnt be suprised to see both Hughes brothers get best D and best Forward at the WJC. their skating is just awesome.

 

[VoidCreature]

Don't have any interest in Lavoie personally. Big forward with "all the tools" who's barely putting up point per game sounds too much like another Zacha.

 

[Ripshot 43]

Okay so now I can answer some of these questions...sorry about the delay. I'll be honest in that I haven't seen enough of Lavoie's game to be able to rank him yet. Our organization is very high on him, and has him at #10 in our recent rankings. However, at this point I'm not able to make an informed decision on his game.

Broberg on the other hand...I've been watching him since the Hlinka Tournament. There's a lot to like about Broberg's game. He has some great size and skating speed, but his decision-making and overall "hockey IQ" are suspect in my opinion. He has a very strong shot from the blue-line and is relatively safe, defensively. Teams will fall in love with his size and skating speed, especially since there aren't too many defensemen near the top of the draft class, but the lynchpin to his development is the IQ since he has all of the other tools. There is potential there, but is it worth the risk? Especially the risk of a top-10 pick? I don't think so at this point. He'll likely be off the board by the 15th pick though. We'll see how the season progresses.

Question... what does the career path look like for a person that ends up being a scout or working for a scouting organization? It’s way too late for me but it sounds like an amazing job for someone who loves hockey.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

To be surprised if Kakko goes number 1. I like the Russian kid as well. Top 5, looks very good and the top ten is a all around good group.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

from that he seems about on par with keller. I'm not a fan of his lopsided goal to assist ratio though.

His #'s are better than eichel's against tougher competition is what I got from that article.

I don't know about you but hall-hischier, hughes-palms sounds like a damn fine 1-2 punch to me. Especially if he excels with a pure goal scorer on his wing.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

I think at 1 or 2 Kakko is who we take just because we need someone like him and he's close to hughes if not at the same level.

You draft the BPA that high, not for a specific talent one player excels at.

Not to mention that we're fine on RW and pretty thin down the middle. especially 2 years from now when Zajac inevitably breaks down. So Hughes should fit with anyone's logic who believes in drafting for positional need.

Let us also not forget that most teams win with 2 top 10-15 centerman.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Closing in on the half way point and we would be picking 8th overall.

Even a modest winning streak could bump that back to 13th. Would be a challenge to naturally get a top 5 pick with the crap teams currently behind us.

Selloff most likely doesn’t change much as the only guy currently doing anything positive that we would lose is Boyle.

 

[VoidCreature]

How strong is this draft? Like, beyond Hughes and Kakko?

I don't know if it's just from being weary of rebuilding but I'm having a lot of trouble getting hyped for it.