Prospect Info: 2020 NHL draft.

[Henkka]

Forward in draft with the highest pick and goalie from UFA market.

Kind of no-brainer summer plan.

 

[Killerjas]

How about Connor McClennon?

I really have not watched as much of these kids this year, but everything on paper is intriguing here. Former #2 pick in the WHL draft. Late June birthdate, so one of the youngest in this class. 49 pts in 42 games so far this year. But no one has him ranked as a top 30 player, presumably because he is on the smaller side?

It is because he is tiny. Will go between the 4th and 7th round. Might even get undrafted due to his size...

 

[Debrincat93]

Forward in draft with the highest pick and goalie from UFA market.

Kind of no-brainer summer plan.

id disagree. its a big summer to not make a poor choice. just because we need a goalie, doesnt mean we should load up on the wrong goalie. yzerman needs to be smart, stick to his plan and not rush anything.

signing someone like holtby right now for, say, 7x7 would be insane. so, while its a no-brainer in terms of what you said, its far from because he could also make a poor choice. the goalie needs to be short-term UFA or a long-term asset (like a Georgiev or similar).

 

[Henkka]

id disagree. its a big summer to not make a poor choice. just because we need a goalie, doesnt mean we should load up on the wrong goalie. yzerman needs to be smart, stick to his plan and not rush anything.

signing someone like holtby right now for, say, 7x7 would be insane. so, while its a no-brainer in terms of what you said, its far from because he could also make a poor choice. the goalie needs to be short-term UFA or a long-term asset (like a Georgiev or similar).

Sign a goalie short-term. I never said it should be signed long-term.

Imo, no goalie should ever again be signed long-term, thanks to Howard's injury experiment. 3-4 year deals always at maximum. Be ready to swap the guys, never trust really anybody.

 

[Debrincat93]

Sign a goalie short-term. I never said it should be signed long-term.

Imo, no goalie should ever again be signed long-term, thanks to Howard's injury experiment. 3-4 year deals always at maximum. Be ready to swap the guys, never trust really anybody.

i know you didnt, i was more so stating that we cant go making the bad choices right now.
I would agree, no goalie should be signed long-term. However, i think if its internally and they are a top 5-10 goalie in the league and you've had them majority or all their career, there's en exception at times (rask, price, lundqvist).

i must admit, a buddy and i talked about this and this position within the organization is the most intriguing one because of our pure lack of depth and how much of an issue it is.

 

[Marky9er]

It is because he is tiny. Will go between the 4th and 7th round. Might even get undrafted due to his size...

Would be awesome to get him in that range. He's going to need some time obviously but could pay off in a few years. He's this years Fix-Wolansky it seems.

Having a guy in Winnipeg is going to boost familiarity with Lambos(21) and Savoie(22) and that's not a bad thing. I'll stop short of calling him a mole.

 

[Frk It]

Would be awesome to get him in that range. He's going to need some time obviously but could pay off in a few years. He's this years Fix-Wolansky it seems.

Having a guy in Winnipeg is going to boost familiarity with Lambos(21) and Savoie(22) and that's not a bad thing. I'll stop short of calling him a mole.

Guess McClennon got hurt and is out a few months. Sucks because he was really picking it up, had 25 pts in his last 14 games. Saw some clips of him, kid has a hell of a release.

 

[Christien]

 

[roman star]

concerning goalie . sign the 28 year old lehner for 5 years to get ship righted and in the mean time keep looking to draft a goalie with 2nd / 3rd round picks while lehners holding the fort down and getting us back to respectable and maybe beyond if we can pick off a star ufa dman .

 

[Christien]

He scored a nice goal today as well:

 

[Frk It]

He scored a nice goal today as well:

I remain a big, big fan of this kid.

 

[Henkka]

concerning goalie . sign the 28 year old lehner for 5 years to get ship righted and in the mean time keep looking to draft a goalie with 2nd / 3rd round picks while lehners holding the fort down and getting us back to respectable and maybe beyond if we can pick off a star ufa dman .

Exactly this.

 

[Christien]

I remain a big, big fan of this kid.

Best winger in the draft class.

Out of curiosity, what's your top 5 looking like?

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Best winger in the draft class.

Out of curiosity, what's your top 5 looking like?

He’s definitely not better than Lafreniere.

 

[Christien]

He’s definitely not better than Lafreniere.

Yeah that was stupid of me to say.

Best winger outside of Lafreniere, of course.

 

[Frk It]

Best winger in the draft class.

Out of curiosity, what's your top 5 looking like?

After Lafreniere and Byfield it's really tough to say. I think you can make a case for a bunch of these guys. Raymond just feels special to me when I watch him play, for lack of a better word. Then I also like Stutzle as far as having skill and pushing play with his skating. Drysdale I think will be a very good defenseman, as long as he is not rushed. The guy I remain divided on is Rossi. He is a great player in the OHL, but I am not sure how well his game translates to the next level. Originally I had concerns he might be one of those guys that is just a good Juniors player.

I'd say my top 5 would probably be:

Lafreniere
Byfield
Raymond
Stutzle
Drysdale

But honestly after the top 2, I am pretty open to different options. I also would be tempted to include Perfetti in that group as well. People absolutely rave about his hockey IQ and his release is pretty unreal.

 

[AttilaTheFun]

After Lafreniere and Byfield it's really tough to say. I think you can make a case for a bunch of these guys. Raymond just feels special to me when I watch him play, for lack of a better word. Then I also like Stutzle as far as having skill and pushing play with his skating. Drysdale I think will be a very good defenseman, as long as he is not rushed. The guy I remain divided on is Rossi. He is a great player in the OHL, but I am not sure how well his game translates to the next level. Originally I had concerns he might be one of those guys that is just a good Juniors player.

I'd say my top 5 would probably be:

Lafreniere
Byfield
Raymond
Stutzle
Drysdale

But honestly after the top 2, I am pretty open to different options. I also would be tempted to include Perfetti in that group as well. People absolutely rave about his hockey IQ and his release is pretty unreal.

The thing I like about Rossi is how he goes hard to the net with or without the puck. He seems to get into high-danger areas and make plays in tight coverage. I can never judge a prospect's skating but I think the rest of his game is there regardless of size.

 

[Christien]

 

[bellringer77]

Was at the Griffin's game last night and there was some later middle aged gentleman that said if the wings or their fans think drafting anything but a goalie with their first are idiots! Not draft Askarov. Draft any goalie
Guy thought he was so knowledgeable. Can't stop laughing about it.

 

[DatsyukToZetterberg]

Was at the Griffin's game last night and there was some later middle aged gentleman that said if the wings or their fans think drafting anything but a goalie with their first are idiots! Not draft Askarov. Draft any goalie
Guy thought he was so knowledgeable. Can't stop laughing about it.

There are quite a few interesting goalies in this years draft that should go in the top 60/90 such as Joel Blomqvist, Jan Bednar, Nick Malik, Nico Dawes, and Lassi Lehtinen. I think there should be a number of those goalies around after our 1st, my favorites out of them are Blomqvist, Malik, and Lehtinen. I think given the inherent risk attached to goalie prospects as well as the longer incubation time it would be a mistake to draft Askarov in the top 5, especially given our teams many needs up front. If it was a perceived weaker draft, perhaps like 2017, I think you could make the argument for Askarov, but this years draft is quite strong at the top.

In non goalie related news it looks Seth Jarvis is going to be playing himself out of our 2nd picks area. He now has 59 points in 40 games, a point per game pace similar to that of a lot of top 10 picks from the WHL, and if he keeps it up will be the top WHL prospect in the draft. He's someone who would have been great to get at #32.

 

[Marky9er]

There are quite a few interesting goalies in this years draft that should go in the top 60/90 such as Joel Blomqvist, Jan Bednar, Nick Malik, Nico Dawes, and Lassi Lehtinen. I think there should be a number of those goalies around after our 1st, my favorites out of them are Blomqvist, Malik, and Lehtinen. I think given the inherent risk attached to goalie prospects as well as the longer incubation time it would be a mistake to draft Askarov in the top 5, especially given our teams many needs up front. If it was a perceived weaker draft, perhaps like 2017, I think you could make the argument for Askarov, but this years draft is quite strong at the top.

In non goalie related news it looks Seth Jarvis is going to be playing himself out of our 2nd picks area. He now has 59 points in 40 games, a point per game pace similar to that of a lot of top 10 picks from the WHL, and if he keeps it up will be the top WHL prospect in the draft. He's someone who would have been great to get at #32.

Hot goalie: Garand b2b donuts. Blazers 9W streak. 1 GA at top prospects game was buzzer beater.



Cold goalie: Dawes. Guelph 8L streak. He was hurt in CHL prospects game warmups and is nursing sore ribs. Owen Bennett his backup has some potential too but inconsistent.




Malik .874 adjusting to OHL was never going to be easy. Looks good in red, though.

 

[Marky9er]

There's a G waiting in the wings behind Joel Hofer that might be worth a flyer. Caught my eye on the roster.

Dante Giannuzzi at eliteprospects.com

Sub 6' but also one of the very youngest eligible.

Also find Garin Bjorklund at eliteprospects.com interesting. 1st round WHL pick. Poor team, stats not too far off teammate Sogaard who went 2nd round last year.

 

[GOZetterberg]

Can't wait till we pick Lundell at 4 and everyone loses their minds

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

There's a G waiting in the wings behind Joel Hofer that might be worth a flyer. Caught my eye on the roster.

Dante Giannuzzi at eliteprospects.com

Sub 6' but also one of the very youngest eligible.

Also find Garin Bjorklund at eliteprospects.com interesting. 1st round WHL pick. Poor team, stats not too far off teammate Sogaard who went 2nd round last year.

Yzerman has chased bigger goalies traditionally when he hunts the position. I don't expect him to draft the smaller guys, I guess if the value became overwhelming.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Can't wait till we pick Lundell at 4 and everyone loses their minds

He's not that bad of a prospect. Top 10 is still reasonably in the picture for him. If Detroit's scouting staff thinks he's #4, then I didn't see enough of him, and I'll have to catch up.

Edit: like, come to think of it, this time last year we would have been ecstatic to get Lundell at 4. He had a huge amount of hype going as a potential challenger to Lafreniere.