Prospect Info: 2020 NHL Entry Draft (Round #1 - 10/6/20 @ 7pm ET)

[rt]

I've been able to watch some full MHL games and I really like Marat Khusnutdinov as early as our 2nd. I think Ivan Didkovsky and Dmitri Zlodeyev would make great mid-round picks. Maxim Beryozkin, too. I'd be really intrigued to see how his game could translate to North American ice. He's bigger, and older than the others. Wouldn't be upset to see him in Tucson as soon as next season.

 

[lanky]

I've been able to watch some full MHL games and I really like Marat Khusnutdinov as early as our 2nd. I think Ivan Didkovsky and Dmitri Zlodeyev would make great mid-round picks. Maxim Beryozkin, too. I'd be really intrigued to see how his game could translate to North American ice. He's bigger, and older than the others. Wouldn't be upset to see him in Tucson as soon as next season.

I hope Chayka is watching too.
If he's gonna keep trading our 1sts, he'll have to step up with the mid-rounders. Russia is a good place to find a diamond in the rough.

 

[rt]

I hope Chayka is watching too.
If he's gonna keep trading our 1sts, he'll have to step up with the mid-rounders. Russia is a good place to find a diamond in the rough.

He seems to visit Russia often and seems to fall in love with KHL free-agents on a regular basis. I hope he values the MHL.

Honestly, if I could keep the players, systems, coaches, and style of play, but shrink the rinks down to NHL size, I’d probably prefer to watch the MHL over any other league besides the NHL. Very smart, very tough hockey.

Strikes me as undervalued on draft day, too. I think you can get value out of that league. I think it’s partly a self-fulfilling prophecy. Guys from the MHL don’t get drafted because they don’t come over but they don’t come over because they don’t get drafted.

I bet if we took Zlodeyev, Didkovsky and Trineyev from Dynamo Moscow with actual NHL draft picks, they’d be thrilled to come over together. Same as if we took Beryozkin and Tyutnev from Loko.

Additionally, I would hope if we start drafting and developing players from Russia, maybe we’d stop losing out on all these Russian free agents Chayka spends so much time on, only to see them sign with Toronto or Ottawa or Chicago.

 

[rt]

Here’s an example of a game with a bunch of kids ranked in the mid rounds of this draft, playing with and against eachother in a full MHL game.

Junior Hockey League - Live stream. Loko vs JHC Dynamo Msk (16.11.19)

 

[Mosby]

Have any of the Russian free agents been worth signing in retrospect? Yes there was Panarin but have most others not been fourth liner, AHL crap?

 

[rt]

Have any of the Russian free agents been worth signing in retrospect? Yes there was Panarin but have most others not been fourth liner, AHL crap?

I’d have been happy to have Ilya Mikheyev over about half of our forwards last season. Nikita Gusev was really good for a really bad New Jersey team. Obviously Panarin is the big one. And there have been some disappointments too. It’s basically like the big college free agents. LOL. There’s always this big sweepstakes and they are complete disappointments like 80% of the time. Haha.

 

[Mosby]

It's still so weird with what happened with Vegas and Vadim Shipashev.

 

[rt]

It's still so weird with what happened with Vegas and Vadim Shipashev.

I really do wonder if he would’ve had success somewhere else.

 

[Mosby]

Just looked it up and he led the KHL in scoring this year too. Haha. 65 points in 61 games.

 

[rt]

Regardless of league, as I’m getting older and grumpier and more stubborn, I really just want to see a few things from forward (ideally center) prospects, these days:

1) do they work hard to generate turnovers, are they a hound? [Y/N]

2) do they look to dump at the blueline or drop pass back into the neutral zone or do they skate the puck into the offensive zone with possession? [Y/N]

3) do they stick to the perimeter when they gain the zone, or are they inside players that put their shoulder down, and take the puck directly to the net? [Y/N]

Basically I want to see guys who at the very least, just as a cost of entry, generate Takeaways, are top Controlled Zone Entry producers, and top generators of Shots and High Danger Chances.

If I can get 3 Yesses on the above, then you can talk to me about their skating, vision, IQ, size, strength, hands and shot. Rank them based on those qualities from there.

But I need at least one guy on every line in my system from the NHL to the ECHL that can do those three bare minimum things consistently and effectively. And that’s never going to change. In my eyes that’s a constant.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

Couldn't agree more...I love puck hounds. There is nothing more frustrating to the opposition than someone who is always pressuring the puck. I like #1 more than I like 2 or 3 to be honest, because I believe that if you do #1, then you can dump and chase and be good and you will have more scoring chances as the turnovers will occur with more frequency in the danger zones.

#2 & #3 are nice additions to #1 though...the team would be much more fun to watch if we had more guys who had this skill set.

 

[rt]

So who do you guys believe Chayka will be targeting at 41? I know who I like, but I wonder if we can guess who Chayka likes. I'm thinking

From Bob's list:
32. Helge Grans
34. Jan Mysak
35. Marat Khusnutdinov
36. Tyler Kleven
37. Ryan O'Rourke
42. Shakir Mukhamadullin
46. Jean-Luc Foudy
51. Thomas Bordeleau
56. Brock Faber
57. Donovan Sebrango
59. Vasiliy Ponomarev
60. Joni Jurmo

I don't personally think Grans or Mysak will be there. I have a little bit of doubt that Kleven, Faber, or Sebrango are really high on his list relative to some of the others.

So that leaves:
35. Marat Khusnutdinov
37. Ryan O'Rourke
42. Shakir Mukhamadullin
46. Jean-Luc Foudy
51. Thomas Bordeleau
59. Vasiliy Ponomarev
60. Joni Jurmo

Based on nothing but my own gut instinct.

There are a bunch of guys in that range that wouldn't surpise me like Niemela, Smilanic, Colangelo, Tuch, Evangelista, Torgersson, Hirvonen, Viro, and Kuznetsov. Even Berard or Powell.

 

[BUX7PHX]

So who do you guys believe Chayka will be targeting at 41? I know who I like, but I wonder if we can guess who Chayka likes. I'm thinking

From Bob's list:
32. Helge Grans
34. Jan Mysak
35. Marat Khusnutdinov
36. Tyler Kleven
37. Ryan O'Rourke
42. Shakir Mukhamadullin
46. Jean-Luc Foudy
51. Thomas Bordeleau
56. Brock Faber
57. Donovan Sebrango
59. Vasiliy Ponomarev
60. Joni Jurmo

I don't personally think Grans or Mysak will be there. I have a little bit of doubt that Kleven, Faber, or Sebrango are really high on his list relative to some of the others.

So that leaves:
35. Marat Khusnutdinov
37. Ryan O'Rourke
42. Shakir Mukhamadullin
46. Jean-Luc Foudy
51. Thomas Bordeleau
59. Vasiliy Ponomarev
60. Joni Jurmo

Based on nothing but my own gut instinct.

There are a bunch of guys in that range that wouldn't surpise me like Niemela, Smilanic, Colangelo, Tuch, Evangelista, Torgersson, Hirvonen, Viro, and Kuznetsov. Even Berard or Powell.

Colangelo and Hirvonen are the two that I would include on that list. Fischer is an RFA after this offseason. Give him two more years, and that should be the time needed for Colangelo to work his way to the roster. Seems like an obvious one for one in two years time. I am souring slightly on Jurmo (like him closer to 50-70, as opposed to 30-50 range). Khusnitdinov and Ponomarev are the two that intrigue me the most. Mysak could be there, but I have him pegged for late 1st. I think Justin Barron may be available at 41, as some team may drop him because of blood clots. I also think that there is a small chance of a faller like Chromiak, Foerster, or Brisson, where I think Chromiak is the most likely to fall. I have seen those 3 all over between 25 and 45.

 

[rt]

I think Colangelo being a winger hurts him. Could be Hirvonen but there’s a lack of dynamic quality I can’t put my finger on that would make me thing Chayka could shy away.

Pretty sure Chromiak is listed in the 70s on MacKenzies last scouring poll.

 

[lanky]

Farinacci (76) ~ Biondi (93)
Bahl (55) ~ Wallinder (27)
Jenik (66) ~ Mysak (34)
Westerlund (44) ~ Grans (32)
Entwistle (69) ~ Evangelista (50)
Dineen (68) ~ Poirier (33)

(drafted position) ~ (Bob's 2020 final ranking)

 

[Mosby]

Intrigued by Ponomarev. Might be a biiiit of a reach at 41.

JL Foudy is dumb as a brick, but of course the same was said about Keller so...

 

[BUX7PHX]

I think Colangelo being a winger hurts him. Could be Hirvonen but there’s a lack of dynamic quality I can’t put my finger on that would make me thing Chayka could shy away.

Pretty sure Chromiak is listed in the 70s on MacKenzies last scouring poll.

Hirvonen to me, is the type that kind of fits what Chayka has looked for. He stresses players that play above their level, which highlights two viewpoints: players with late birthdays amongst peers or players who have played in men's leagues (think about how he gushed over Soderstrom and his ability playing big minutes against men in the SHL.

Every scouting report on Hirvonen has some great things to say about his competitiveness and battle. His size is the only glaring thing working against.

 

[rt]

Anyone remember how absolutely beautiful the chemistry between Hayton and Lafreniere was at the WJC? Those two are meant to play together. Thinking about Conor Garland as the complimentary player on that line, and I start to tear up.

 

[rt]

Hirvonen to me, is the type that kind of fits what Chayka has looked for. He stresses players that play above their level, which highlights two viewpoints: players with late birthdays amongst peers or players who have played in men's leagues (think about how he gushed over Soderstrom and his ability playing big minutes against men in the SHL.

Every scouting report on Hirvonen has some great things to say about his competitiveness and battle. His size is the only glaring thing working against.

I love Hirvonen’s strengths. I love that the he’s a direct player who just does the high-percentage stuff. He very nearly exactly represents everything I just went on and on about wanting. But it’s pretty much all of the other stuff that I worry about. He’s very weak, very tiny, and has a butt f***ing ugly skating stride. But he is unquestionably hardwired to immediately put the puck into high danger areas automatically and at all times. Love that.

Also, he will have a hard path. He is a center. He wants to be a center. He can’t be a center. Not in the NHL. Not without a ton of work. He’s going to have to learn to adjust one way or the other. If he gains the weight he needs to gain to play his game, he’s going to have to fix his stride big time.

There’s good upside though. And at 41st that’s about all you can hope for. I’d be more open to him at 41 if we win 1st overall, as stupid as that sounds.

I recommend watching the Will Scouch video on Hirvonen and then also watching the Yannick St-Pierre video on him. I think those two videos combined make extremely compelling, yet diametrically opposes arguments about this one player.

 

[rt]

Watch this first:



Then this:

 

[rt]

One thing I like about Ivan Didkovsky is when you watch the highlight reel for his teammates, it likes more like you’re watching a highlight reel for him.

 

[XX]

Some interesting players in the 2-3 round range I'd like to see in the system if Sullivan can acquire some picks.

Mukhamadullin
Bordeleau
L. Tuch
JL Foudy
Pytlik
Seeley
Kubicek

I basically want players that are willing to be physical in some capacity at this point. If not, they better be wildly talented.

 

[lanky]

Looks like we have no 1st rounder and no 3rd rounder, am I right?

The guy I want with our 2nd is Biondi. Would be considered a reach based on his ranking but for me, that's the guy.

 

[rt]

Looks like we have no 1st rounder and no 3rd rounder, am I right?

The guy I want with our 2nd is Biondi. Would be considered a reach based on his ranking but for me, that's the guy.

If I was going to reach, I’d probably reach on Berard. Bordeleau is the guy I’m hoping drops. I’d be happy with O’Rourke, too.

 

[Mosby]

Don't like Foudy. At all. Wouldn't even have him on my list.

We really need D. I could see someone like Villeneuve being available at 41.