2020 NHL Draft Thread: only 365 more days until next years hockey tryouts

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thestonedkoala

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Goalies are more of a guess that a for sure to make the NHL, but any prospect can turn out to be a bust.

I mean Al Montoya was a bust, and there was no room for him. Benoit Pouliot was a bust, but at least they could pencil him on the 3rd and 4th line.
 
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Saga of the Elk

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I mean Al Montoya was a bust, and there was no room for him. Benoit Pouliot was a bust, but at least they could pencil him on the 3rd and 4th line.

Hate when people say this. A guy with over 600 NHL games is NOT a bust. I was going to defend Montoya too.. but he never hit 200. That said, that 2004 first round famously includes real and spectacular busts like Thelen, Picard, Tukonen, etc.

Scouting and development has come a long way in the past decades.
 

thestonedkoala

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Hate when people say this. A guy with over 600 NHL games is NOT a bust.

For Minnesota, he was a huge bust. He was the 4th overall pick, and yes I've made the argument that he wasn't a bust given that he's carved out a pretty long career in the NHL, but in terms of where he was drafted and the draft, he was a huge bust for Minnesota.
 

Dr Jan Itor

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There isn't a universal definition of a "bust" when it comes to sports. It should be all about actual performance vs. reasonable expectations IMO. In Pouliot's case, being picked 4th overall and never scoring more than 20 goals or 40 points in a season, and the fact that he only played 65 NHL games for us, does not meet expectations of being that selection. So I would consider that a pretty big bust.

Even Granlund would technically be one IMO, though to a much lesser degree, as he was drafted to be at least a good top 6 center for us for what was hoped to be many years. He was only a center for a little less than 2 seasons worth of NHL seasons, and a pretty mediocre one at best. Now, he salvaged some of his value when he moved to the wing, and that's why he's less of one than Pouliot or Shepard were.
 

Dr Jan Itor

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Even Sheppard had some mitigating circumstances and that was Minnesota rushed him badly.

I won't disagree, but I'm also not sure it was the difference between him being a top 6 NHL center vs. out of the league at 27/28 years old.

Sheppard in the NHL was somewhat defensible, coming off of 96 points in 53 games in the Q, followed by 20 points in 16 playoff games. It was a tough spot, because there was no AHL option for him, if you look at his NHL numbers, he was actually trending up, even if it was slight, the first couple years before the bottom fell out:

19 points in 78 games (20 per 82)
24 points in 82 games
6 points in 64 games (8 per 82)

I mean, I think bad development could maybe claim responsibility for him topping out as a 20-30 point player, but I'm not sure that it's responsible for the fall from year 2 to year 3. It might be that he just wasn't any good.
 

DemidovSaveUs

Danila Yurov Fan Club Executive Assistant
May 2, 2018
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The problem is, teams seem to feel "obligated" to pay the elite goaltender rather than move them. I want nothing to do with them to make sure it doesn't happen at all.

If this was a non-cap league, say yes to elite goaltenders every time, but in this climate? Give me more skaters please, I can find goaltending other ways.


Goaltenders don't even play every game. Skaters do. In terms of impact per dollar when it comes to high end goaltenders vs their lesser counterparts when compared to high end skaters and their lesser counterparts, the value just isn't there for goaltenders anymore. Not in a cap world.
Exreemely debatable
 

2Pair

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Oct 8, 2017
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It's not that "elite Goalies" aren't worth spending big money on. It's the fact that very few goalies, if any, can be considered "elite" consistantly. Is there a goaltender that has been a top 5 goalie for each of the past 5 years?
 
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chchelseII

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Sep 24, 2014
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There isn't a universal definition of a "bust" when it comes to sports. It should be all about actual performance vs. reasonable expectations IMO. In Pouliot's case, being picked 4th overall and never scoring more than 20 goals or 40 points in a season, and the fact that he only played 65 NHL games for us, does not meet expectations of being that selection. So I would consider that a pretty big bust.

Even Granlund would technically be one IMO, though to a much lesser degree, as he was drafted to be at least a good top 6 center for us for what was hoped to be many years. He was only a center for a little less than 2 seasons worth of NHL seasons, and a pretty mediocre one at best. Now, he salvaged some of his value when he moved to the wing, and that's why he's less of one than Pouliot or Shepard were.
I think when you term a player a bust, you have to keep in the context of that draft. When you look at the first round for the 2005 draft, there are only two forwards taken after Pouliot that have had better careers, Kopitar and Oshie. That first round just plain sucked. So, bust in terms of historical top 5 picks, for sure. Bust in terms of the choices we had, not so much.
 

thestonedkoala

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Setoguchi and Downie didn’t have better careers than Pouliot, either length or numbers wise.

Depends. Setoguchi put up some good numbers but flamed out due to alcoholism. Downie was a major pest and took a beating. They didn't have long careers, but they had better years and better careers than Pouliot who was a journeyman at best.

It'd be like saying Koivu is a better goal scorer for the Wild than Gaborik.
 

DemidovSaveUs

Danila Yurov Fan Club Executive Assistant
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I think that we end up finishing 7th last, only in front of Detroit, LA, Ottawa, NJ, Anaheim, and Columbus. Let’s stay we pick 8th, a player that I would be hoping to get in that range is either Perfetti or Stutzle
 

DemidovSaveUs

Danila Yurov Fan Club Executive Assistant
May 2, 2018
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Marco Rossi is an old prospect for the draft, but holy crap: 2.31ppg in the OHL. Small player, CENTER, producing at a better rate than Mitch Marner in his draft year
 
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