Prospect Info: 2020 Draft Thread

[DatDude44]

Hi Blues fans,

I had the pleasure of drafting for St. Louis in the HFboards Avs forum mock draft, and I'm curious to hear what you guys think of my picks?

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Mysak and rafkin are the only ones i've actually watched. Would be curious to know where some other guys went...I personally prefer Kasper Puutio to rafkin, so wondering if he was available at that spot. As well as a guy like Colby Ambrosio or Trevor Kuntar. Also, Hank Kempf imo could be a 5th rd absolute steal on left defense imo, super high IQ and has all the tools to be a good pro.

 

[Brockon]

With Bill Armstrong gone, Doug Armstrong has put Tony Feltrin, one of the team’s amateur scouts, in charge. Feltrin was the head amateur scout for the New York Islanders from 1996 to 2004 and prior to that he was with the Rangers. He’ll be assisted by longtime Blues scout Dan Ginnell.

Head amateur scout for the NYI from that stretch where they drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000?

I'll admit, I'm concerned. Without knowing the extent to which he was involved in the scouting of DiPietro there and how his opinion contributed to one of the biggest flop 1st overall picks in NHL history, I'm not panicking... But, I'm definitely concerned.

 

[Stealth JD]

Head amateur scout for the NYI from that stretch where they drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000?

I'll admit, I'm concerned. Without knowing the extent to which he was involved in the scouting of DiPietro there and how his opinion contributed to one of the biggest flop 1st overall picks in NHL history, I'm not panicking... But, I'm definitely concerned.

Yeah...but he also found Chara in the 3rd round and produced plenty of NHL-caliber talent during that time frame.

 

[kimzey59]

Head amateur scout for the NYI from that stretch where they drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000?

I'll admit, I'm concerned. Without knowing the extent to which he was involved in the scouting of DiPietro there and how his opinion contributed to one of the biggest flop 1st overall picks in NHL history, I'm not panicking... But, I'm definitely concerned.

On one hand, you're right that he was involved in the DiPietro fiasco.
On the other hand, he was also involved in one of the better finds in that era: Drafting Zdeno Chara in the 3rd round.

Personally, I'm not concerned with Feltrin. He's got the same rankings to work with that Bill would have had available. All he really needs to do is not go crazy and make some stupid reach.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Head amateur scout for the NYI from that stretch where they drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000?

I'll admit, I'm concerned. Without knowing the extent to which he was involved in the scouting of DiPietro there and how his opinion contributed to one of the biggest flop 1st overall picks in NHL history, I'm not panicking... But, I'm definitely concerned.

The issue wasn't DiPietro's game, it was his health. His Knees were his downfall. He was a very good goalie.

 

[Brockon]

The issue wasn't DiPietro's game, it was his health. His Knees were his downfall. He was a very good goalie.

I'll concede very little knowledge of the circumstances around it, I didn't really follow hockey before 2010.

I just know that DiPietro's name is often bandied about with discussion about the biggest NHL draft bust and worst contract in history of the NHL by many. Nail supersedes him in the Bust category for sure. But in terms of #1 picks, DiPietro is not well regarded in retrospect.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I'll concede very little knowledge of the circumstances around it, I didn't really follow hockey before 2010.

I just know that DiPietro's name is often bandied about with discussion about the biggest NHL draft bust and worst contract in history of the NHL by many. Nail supersedes him in the Bust category for sure. But in terms of #1 picks, DiPietro is not well regarded in retrospect.

During the Shootout Skills Completion during the All-Star Game in 2008 DiPietro went down with a Hip injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. That June he went and had a surgery on his left knee (Meniscus). After his 3rd game back during the 2008-09 season he went back down, injuring his knee, and having to have another surgery on his meniscus. Came back the day after Xmas, then went back out due to swelling of his right knee. This pattern continued until he was forced to retire in 2013 leaving the Islanders with that horrendous contract they had to buyout which won't be off the books until 2029.

 

[Alklha]

Head amateur scout for the NYI from that stretch where they drafted Rick DiPietro 1st overall in 2000?

I'll admit, I'm concerned. Without knowing the extent to which he was involved in the scouting of DiPietro there and how his opinion contributed to one of the biggest flop 1st overall picks in NHL history, I'm not panicking... But, I'm definitely concerned.

There are a lot of caveats there.

Normally when a player is picked very high in the draft then there is consensus. Like in 2012 the consensus pick was Yakupov; there was a recognition that it wasn’t a strong draft year, but he was the consensus pick. Difficult to blame the scouts there.

DiPietro wasn’t a consensus pick, and I don’t believe that anyone really expected him to go #1. Top 10, maybe top 5. There wasn’t a consensus pick overall.

The other aspect is that when you are picking that high in the draft then the GM is going to have serious input. He’ll listen to his scouts, but he’s going to do what he wants. The Islanders GM then was Mike Milbury. He had fallen in love with DiPietro at the WJC’s that year.

The Islanders had the first and fifth picks. I suspect that the Islanders scouts didn’t have a clear #1, so Milbury decided to take who he wanted at 1 and then get whoever was left at #5.

Scouting, and organisation structure, has moved on so much since then that we shouldn’t read much into that.

 

[Frenzy31]

There are a lot of caveats there.

Normally when a player is picked very high in the draft then there is consensus. Like in 2012 the consensus pick was Yakupov; there was a recognition that it wasn’t a strong draft year, but he was the consensus pick. Difficult to blame the scouts there.

DiPietro wasn’t a consensus pick, and I don’t believe that anyone really expected him to go #1. Top 10, maybe top 5. There wasn’t a consensus pick overall.

The other aspect is that when you are picking that high in the draft then the GM is going to have serious input. He’ll listen to his scouts, but he’s going to do what he wants. The Islanders GM then was Mike Milbury. He had fallen in love with DiPietro at the WJC’s that year.

The Islanders had the first and fifth picks. I suspect that the Islanders scouts didn’t have a clear #1, so Milbury decided to take who he wanted at 1 and then get whoever was left at #5.

Scouting, and organisation structure, has moved on so much since then that we shouldn’t read much into that.

Mad Mike also gave him that insane contract.

For all the talk of Bill Armstrong being great, which I do think he is very good, we have had some busts on his watch also.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

There are a lot of caveats there.

Normally when a player is picked very high in the draft then there is consensus. Like in 2012 the consensus pick was Yakupov; there was a recognition that it wasn’t a strong draft year, but he was the consensus pick. Difficult to blame the scouts there.

DiPietro wasn’t a consensus pick, and I don’t believe that anyone really expected him to go #1. Top 10, maybe top 5. There wasn’t a consensus pick overall.

The other aspect is that when you are picking that high in the draft then the GM is going to have serious input. He’ll listen to his scouts, but he’s going to do what he wants. The Islanders GM then was Mike Milbury. He had fallen in love with DiPietro at the WJC’s that year.

The Islanders had the first and fifth picks. I suspect that the Islanders scouts didn’t have a clear #1, so Milbury decided to take who he wanted at 1 and then get whoever was left at #5.

Scouting, and organisation structure, has moved on so much since then that we shouldn’t read much into that.

Also important to remember that when DiPietro was drafted, it was right in the Hasek/Roy/Brodeur years where a good goalie could steal you a Cup. Teams believed that to build a team, you needed that elite goaltender, and therefore it was worth the high draft investment. That’s the same reason the Pens drafted Flower, and the same reason we drafted Marek Schwarz. Then you had a lot of teams find success with goalies drafted waayyy down the draft order, and team-building philosophies changed, especially with the Kings and Hawks teams that thrived on stingy defenses and two-way forwards.

DiPietro is obviously a bad pick in retrospect, and the team-building philosophy itself was always suspect. BUT, it was the dominant thinking at the time, and you’ve got to account for it when evaluating it today.

Ironically, the tides are sort of shifting back to goalies going early again. Knight and Oettinger have both gone in the first round in the last 3 years, and Askarov will probably go earlier than either of them. Jesper Wallstedt will probably go top 15 in 2021.

 

[DatDude44]

For those that remember my super long draft rankings post a page or two back. I forgot to add brisson and his write up.... he’d be my 18th forward behind Khusnutdinov and in front of Mercer

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Army is definitely up to something today. We have heard nothing from the team about Pietrangelo or any of our RFAs for a week or two. I feel like something happens today.

 

[BlueDream]

Welp, today through the weekend will hopefully be really fun with all the activity that’ll be going on across the league.

I do expect Armstrong has something up his sleeve. I feel like he either signs Petro, or if he doesn’t, he makes a fairly big move to compensate.

 

[Brian39]

I wouldn't blame scouts for DiPietro. After all, he was a good NHL starter by 20 years old, had a down year at 22 following the year long lockout and then was a top 10 starter at 23 years old. Then injuries destroyed his career. Additionally, drafting a goalie #1 overall is an organizational mistake, not a scouting mistake.

Moreover, the 2000 draft wasn't all that great and there was no legit superstar among the top prospects. Heatley and Gaborik were the next 2 picks, followed by Klesla, Torres, Hartnell, 6 guys who never hit the 200 game mark, Hainsey, 2 more guys who didn't hit 200 games MARCEL Hossa, Orpik and 2 more guys who never played 200 games, etc.

Heatley and Gaborik were very good players, but honestly a top 10 NHL starter would have had just as much organizational value as either of those two. DiPietro appeared to be a top 10 starter until injuries destroyed his career. Lundqvist and Bryz were the only other starting goalies to come out of that draft and both were unknown European guys who went in the 4th and 7th rounds who no one viewed as surefire prospects.

I just can't say it was a failure of scouting to believe DiPietro was among the draft's best players to take with a top pick. I wouldn't ever use a #1 pick on a goalie, but I can't blame the scouts for rating him as a potential top end NHL goalie.

 

[Blues0307]

Hoping for either Brisson or Bordeleau. To get Brisson, we'll have to take him at #26, or we may even need to trade up to get him. Bordeleau is my hope if we end up trading out of the 1st round. I'd target him at the beginning of the 2nd round.

 

[DatDude44]

Hoping for either Brisson or Bordeleau. To get Brisson, we'll have to take him at #26, or we may even need to trade up to get him. Bordeleau is my hope if we end up trading out of the 1st round. I'd target him at the beginning of the 2nd round.

Would love Robbins too

 

[TK 421]

Like most of us I'm really excited. I see a lot of potential impact wingers available and I'm hoping we get at least one of them.

Obviously the big elephant in the room is whether or not Petro stays a Blue and I honestly don't get a feeling one way or the other how that's going to shake out. This is the domino that has to fall before all other potential moves though so we'll at least know which general direction we're headed after tonight. If we trade Dunn tonight then I'm taking that as the indication we've come to terms with Petro and they're will be a signing announcement shortly thereafter. If Dunn isn't traded tonight I'm assuming Petro is gone. I'm of course operating under the assumption that the Blues won't part with 2 productive defensemen within a couple of days.

I've recently become a big fan of Jake Neighbours, a 6'0, 200lb LW available this year who has a 200 ft game and is noted for his combination of high IQ, tenacity and physicality. He's been described as Matt Tkachuk lite and has been rated as likely to be drafted between 30-40 somewhere. There are more skilled guys available at our pick but some team is going to be thrilled with this young super pest with skills and I'm going to be jealous of whoever gets him.

 

[Stealth JD]

Mad Mike also gave him that insane contract.

For all the talk of Bill Armstrong being great, which I do think he is very good, we have had some busts on his watch also.

it's hard to call any of Bill's picks 'busts' when the highest he drafted was 20th overall. 2nd rounders and later have a coin-toss chance (at best) of becoming pros.