Pre-Game Talk: 2020 NHL Draft

[Kranix]

I think the Kings pick Byfield, with the hope that Kopitar can help Byfield out by teaching him to use his body against NHLers.

They also have that Gabe Vilardi looking pretty good at centre too.

 

[CraigsList]

They also have that Gabe Vilardi looking pretty good at centre too.

Yeah, I think the plan is to roll Kopitar, Byfield, and Vilardi as the centers, and once Kopitar starts to really regress, he is the 3C while the other two start taking bigger minutes. Byfield and Vilardi is a solid 1-2 punch, assuming they pan out the way as planned.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Yeah, I think the plan is to roll Kopitar, Byfield, and Vilardi as the centers, and once Kopitar starts to really regress, he is the 3C while the other two start taking bigger minutes. Byfield and Vilardi is a solid 1-2 punch, assuming they pan out the way as planned.

Don’t forget about Turcotte.

 

[Flameshomer]

Being a wrecking ball who can score can make up for that though. Ask Sam Bennett

I don't understand this post at all. How exactly has Sam Bennett used his "wrecking ball" to overcome his total lack of Hockey IQ? I would say he certainly hasn't, which is why he is dramatically overpaid even on his 2.5 mil a year contract. I am not even sure I would give him a QO.

If you're comparing a prospect to Sam Bennett you are doing that prospect a large disservice.

 

[BurnEmUp]

I don't understand this post at all. How exactly has Sam Bennett used his "wrecking ball" to overcome his total lack of Hockey IQ? I would say he certainly hasn't, which is why he is dramatically overpaid even on his 2.5 mil a year contract. I am not even sure I would give him a QO.

If you're comparing a prospect to Sam Bennett you are doing that prospect a large disservice.

I thought it was pretty clearly sarcasm.

 

[Flameshomer]

I thought it was pretty clearly sarcasm.

In that case: WHOOOSH lol sorry

 

[Basko34]

So who are we drafting at 19?

just checking the mock draft‘s
One has Dylan Holloway at 19. projected 2 way player. Power forward. Calgarian. Can play Center.

does sound quite all right to me

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Laf/Stutzle/Byfield/Drysdale/Sanderson/Perfetti/Rossi/Quinn/Lundell/Askarov/Holtz/Raymond

From everything I’ve heard those are the top 12 guys.

we are likely looking at one of:

Seth Jarvis
Dylan Holloway
Hendrix Lapierre
Connor Zary
Dawson Mercer
Kaiden Guhle
Braden Schneider
Ruslan Amirov
Tyson Forrester

maybe a D like Grans or Wallinder too. Edit: Brendan Brisson and Noel Gunler could also be choices.

Personally I would love Mercer, Holloway, Zary or Lapierre

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Laf/Stutzle/Byfield/Drysdale/Sanderson/Perfetti/Rossi/Quinn/Lundell/Askarov/Holtz/Raymond

From everything I’ve heard those are the top 12 guys.

we are likely looking at one of:

Seth Jarvis
Dylan Holloway
Hendrix Lapierre
Connor Zary
Dawson Mercer
Kaiden Guhle
Braden Schneider
Ruslan Amirov
Tyson Forrester

maybe a D like Grans or Wallinder too.

Personally I would love Mercer, Holloway, Zary or Lapierre

Agreed with this. Holloway and Lapierre are probably my top choices.

 

[Kranix]

Draft diamonds in the rough. bam

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Laf/Stutzle/Byfield/Drysdale/Sanderson/Perfetti/Rossi/Quinn/Lundell/Askarov/Holtz/Raymond

From everything I’ve heard those are the top 12 guys.

we are likely looking at one of:

Seth Jarvis
Dylan Holloway
Hendrix Lapierre
Connor Zary
Dawson Mercer
Kaiden Guhle
Braden Schneider
Ruslan Amirov
Tyson Forrester

maybe a D like Grans or Wallinder too. Edit: Brendan Brisson and Noel Gunler could also be choices.

Personally I would love Mercer, Holloway, Zary or Lapierre

Honestly I'd be okay with most of the names on the list. I really like Mercer and Jarvis though.

Jarvis had 63 points in 26 games before the pandemic hit. If the WHL season hadn't been cancelled he'd be going a lot higher imo.

RW/C, right handed shot, explosive skater, kills penalties, a lot to like.

 

[crackdown44]

Honestly I'd be okay with most of the names on the list. I really like Mercer and Jarvis though.

Jarvis had 63 points in 26 games before the pandemic hit. If the WHL season hadn't been cancelled he'd be going a lot higher imo.

RW/C, right handed shot, explosive skater, kills penalties, a lot to like.

say less

 

[Bond]

I just want a center or RW. No more left shot left wings please

 

[Fig]

I'm probably going to be skewered for this opinion, but I'm leaning more towards trading the pick and loading up on a big huzzah next season. See if we can nab a top 6 potential forward plus or a potential 2/3 dman plus (change of scenery and RFA situations). We'd basically nab a player of similar calibre to our pick, but several seasons forward. Many teams might do weird things to their roster due to the impending Seattle draft. If we can nab talent for slightly cheaper, jumping in and targeting several talented pieces means we lose one of the pieces, max. Basically, if we can stock up 2-3 players of Mangiapane's calibre and lose only one of those guys to the draft because we can't protect them all, we are laughing.

It'd be like a Schmidt vs Grubauer situation for Washington. Vegas can only take one. Yes, it would hurt to lose a piece of that calibre no matter how you slice it, but if you have several pieces of that calibre and you paid like 75 cents on the dollar, having those pieces for a strong huzzah and losing only one of them is basically almost like exposing a Tom McCollum to Seattle and them going after Deryk Engelland. We win and are happy with our roster after the draft and they are super happy with the piece they end up with.

It's playing the bottleneck like the sensationalized movie, 300?

 

[Dack]

I have some thoughts on certain prospects, and ideas before hockey came back I found myself watching more prospect film than I have before.

- If we were to get a top 10 pick (which I see as unlikely but not impossible with the flat cap and mounting playoff disappointments), after the big 3 I like all of Drysdale, Raymond, Perfetti and Rossi. I think Drsydale is my favorite of the 4 right now and if by some miracle he falls to us he's the pick for me. I think he might be a #1 in the Spurgeon mold, where he's just a great all around player, he's an elite skater and he's a right shot which are both sorely needed.

- Burke once described Sam Reinhart as "Einstein on skates" that's the vibe I get from both Perfetti and Rossi, I think Perfetti is actually the smarter of the two and due to that and his great shot I prefer him but I think they're both very good bets. The issue with Perfetti is for his size he's not a plus skater, which may limit his upside. If he turned his skating into a plus he'd go top 5 easily.

- Holtz is a good player, I doubt he's a star though. I don't know much about Sanderson

- More realistically at our 19th pick I'd prefer to pick a forward, I see very little difference between the "first round" D men talents (Schnieder, Guhle, Wallinder) and consensus 2nd or 3rd round guys like Ryan O'Rourke (who I really like for his puck moving and defense and would take at our 2nd), Cormier, Barron (who could easily go 1st round and may be underrated due to the team he played on)

- Poirier and Benning are both guys who could go 2nd or 3rd round with high upside as offensive d men, Poirier has high end offensive skill but is completely lost defensively. Benning on the other hand I really like same statline as Makar in the AJHL, not as much upside but I think he's a good bet and he's localish.

- Bader's model likes Grans who seems underrated.

- On forwards I like Jarvis (huge numbers especially in the 2nd half of the season), Perrault, Zary, Bourke, Grieg (very young, similar stats to Nick Robertson last year) and Mercer (if he fell a bit). All but Zary and Grieg are RHS.

- Perrault is a weird player, 90% of his points this season were primary, that's something I've basically never seen before. From watching him I come away very impressed, high end skater, high end shot, good hands, one of the younger players in an older draft.

- Zary is an elite playmaker top 6 center potential if he hits it, needs to improve his skating.

- Dmitri Sheshin is an overager who would be a good bet in the later rounds similar trajectory to Buchnevich so far.

- Brett Berard grades out very well by people who track analytics, very small similar to Gaudreau maybe, 7 days from not being eligible until next years draft.

- Alexander Cotton is another promising overager IMO

- Finally Craig Button appears to have a favorite later round prospect Dmitri Zlodeyev - Centre - TSN.ca if Tod sees the same thing, then you have to imagine we take this guy.

 

[Volica]

I can't remember a season I've cared less about the draft than I do this year.
Mediocre season. Meh pick. Likely imminent core changes... hard to get up for this one for me.

 

[Kranix]

I can't remember a season I've cared less about the draft than I do this year.
Mediocre season. Meh pick. Likely imminent core changes... hard to get up for this one for me.

Except for perhaps a dramatic/traumatic draft day trade

 

[Volica]

Except for perhaps a dramatic/traumatic draft day trade

I'm wondering if it'll be a 2015 or a 2012.
In one we at least got some core pieces from trades, and then further trades.
In one we skipped out on a significant player to move back so we could get a second round pick and promptly wasted both.

 

[InfinityIggy]

I'm wondering if it'll be a 2015 or a 2012.
In one we at least got some core pieces from trades, and then further trades.
In one we skipped out on a significant player to move back so we could get a second round pick and promptly wasted both.

Cant wait to trade down to the 20's to pick a project forward and 0-dimensional defender.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I can't remember a season I've cared less about the draft than I do this year.
Mediocre season. Meh pick. Likely imminent core changes... hard to get up for this one for me.

Me and you both, my interest level is about a 1.5 out of 10.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I'm wondering if it'll be a 2015 or a 2012.
In one we at least got some core pieces from trades, and then further trades.
In one we skipped out on a significant player to move back so we could get a second round pick and promptly wasted both.

I have dreams that the Flames took Tom Wilson in 2012 instead of trading the pick.

Imagine rolling a line of Tkachuk - Bennett - Wilson. Hockey fans everywhere would literally be protesting the Flames' very existence.

 

[Volica]

I have dreams that the Flames took Tom Wilson in 2012 instead of trading the pick.

Imagine rolling a line of Tkachuk - Bennett - Wilson. Hockey fans everywhere would literally be protesting the Flames' very existence.

still remember Destroying a phone charger when they traded that pick with Teraveinen on the board. I never understood how a team could be so dumb. I know that year they went in looking to trade that pick... but man. 60 point additional winger would round out that top 6.

 

[Kranix]

still remember Destroying a phone charger when they traded that pick with Teraveinen on the board. I never understood how a team could be so dumb. I know that year they went in looking to trade that pick... but man. 60 point additional winger would round out that top 6.

To be fair Feaster had his eye on the best player in the 2012 draft.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

still remember Destroying a phone charger when they traded that pick with Teraveinen on the board. I never understood how a team could be so dumb. I know that year they went in looking to trade that pick... but man. 60 point additional winger would round out that top 6.

I mostly recall lamenting letting Cody Ceci slip by, but missing Teravainen was also disappointing. Top notch sell job by Feaster though.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I mostly recall lamenting letting Cody Ceci slip by, but missing Teravainen was also disappointing. Top notch sell job by Feaster though.

Is Teravainen the best player from that draft?

Realistically speaking, I think Jankowski maybe has 2 more years in the NHL before he goes full Colborne.