Prospect Info: 2021 NHL Draft Prospects

[Hen Kolland]

Not mad they included Cole

Don’t know why they wasted their time including Power, lol

I like that they included him, but it seems far fetched to me

 

[Hen Kolland]

Social media account isn't involved in that kind of thinking, I don't think

Well I can tell you that after listening to Winged Wheel Podcast interview Ken Daniels, the front office does feed names. Not preferences, but the relevant names.

He said that he’s talked to the front office and told them they had to throw him a bone to have the discussion on broadcasts because of how unwatchable the product was some nights. I’m assuming the social media team wouldn’t have left out the third Hughes brother given the amount of hype that the family carries.

Ultimately you’re right, there’s probably nothing to read into here, I was just more or less causing controversy. I think they just grabbed a bunch of top 15 names and said that’ll do.

 

[deca guard]

i just found my official pick , CHAZ ... the guy has very quick hands and entire body movements / reflexes . love the way he carries himself = competitor . legit size centerman and one of the younger this draft . move over larks , chaz is the new top yuppy on campus :

 

[Gniwder]

i just found my official pick , CHAZ ... the guy has very quick hands and entire body movements / reflexes . love the way he carries himself = competitor . legit size centerman and one of the younger this draft . move over larks , chaz is the new top yuppy on campus :

He uses his teammates well, but the highlights don't really show much beyond that. You can't even tell if he's got a good shot or not, most of those were layups. If anything, I'm more impressed with the coaching. Maybe the Wings could hire the guy as a consultant to teach our players how to execute a 2 on 1.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

i just found my official pick , CHAZ ... the guy has very quick hands and entire body movements / reflexes . love the way he carries himself = competitor . legit size centerman and one of the younger this draft . move over larks , chaz is the new top yuppy on campus :

Eh...

The guy makes me think of young Mike Comrie. I hated Mike Comrie.

 

[jfrank21]

i just found my official pick , CHAZ ... the guy has very quick hands and entire body movements / reflexes . love the way he carries himself = competitor . legit size centerman and one of the younger this draft . move over larks , chaz is the new top yuppy on campus :

At 22 maybe.....he looks good, and is an enticing package, but there's no way you gamble on someone who played as few games as he did at #6.

 

[jkutswings]

Don’t know why they wasted their time including Power, lol

Yzerman is about to use the Jedi mind trick to convince Buffalo that the only way to unload Eichel is to staple the #1 pick to him.

 

[DInTheB]

Pronman had McTavish mocked to us today. He mentioned McTavish, Johnson and Wallstedt as names he’s hearing around Detroit at this time.

 

[lhsgolf19]

Pronman had McTavish mocked to us today. He mentioned McTavish, Johnson and Wallstedt as names he’s hearing around Detroit at this time.

Wouldn’t be mad at all... him and Beniers are neck and neck for best C in the draft

Also, I trust Stevie Y and you should too

 

[lilidk]

Wouldn’t be mad at all... him and Beniers are neck and neck for best C in the draft

Also, I trust Stevie Y and you should too

Would be nice to get couple more prospects from that Canadian team

 

[Frk It]

Pronman had McTavish mocked to us today. He mentioned McTavish, Johnson and Wallstedt as names he’s hearing around Detroit at this time.

MacTavish and Rosen with our 2 firsts... would not be mad at that.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Pronman had McTavish mocked to us today. He mentioned McTavish, Johnson and Wallstedt as names he’s hearing around Detroit at this time.

After hearing Ken Daniels talk about how much of a vice grip is on that front office in terms of their plans, I'm sure the names that Pronman is hearing is just wild speculation.

Let's see if we can make some silly connections

Wallstedt - Detroit's future at goalie is a giant question mark. Their presumptive future suffered a groin injury, has never recovered and is leaving North America. The new presumptive future has come off a fantastic season and has a clear path to immediate playing time in Grand Rapids and zero competition in moving to the NHL in a handful of years...he hasn't signed. Big, technical, Swedish goalie with a background playing professionally...a draft with little certainty looking at the top talents...a GM who plays by his own rules...I think Detroit takes the goalie.

Johnson - Watching the Red Wings last year a few things became apparent, they struggle with offensive creativity, they can't create goals, the powerplay sucks, and most importantly, they lack star power. Enter Kent Johnson. One of the longer term prospects in the top 10 in need of multiple years to polish his pro style game and build the physique that will allow him to play in the NHL, the one guaranteed thing Johnson brings to the table is pure skill. For a team looking for ways to generate more offense, they need not look further than the home run swing at 6 and trust the Euro scouting staff to turn over every rock and find some gems in the late first and into day 2.

McTavish - much like the goalie position, the future at center is murky at best for the Wings. Relying on Dylan Larkin to handle the 1C responsibility, a true 2C to line up behind him would go a long way in solidifying the rebuild. An organizational preference on smart players who don't cheat on effort would be filled with the pro style play and physical edge that McTavish carries. He really blends the industrious elements of current young players, Rasmussen and Veleno, with the requisite advanced skill, including an quality NHL level shot, that suggests he is well equipped to slot in to the identity that GM Steve Yzerman has set course looking to fill.

And you could do this for literally any prospects. To me, I'm not surprised by these names being listed. The goalie for the goalie needy team; the super potential for the star needy team; the BCA (best center available) for the center needy team. I'm surprised that we didn't get Eklund based solely on Hakan Andersson's existence.

 

[Hoog]

i just found my official pick , CHAZ ... the guy has very quick hands and entire body movements / reflexes . love the way he carries himself = competitor . legit size centerman and one of the younger this draft . move over larks , chaz is the new top yuppy on campus :

He is a wonderful offensive weapon but here is what I read that made me step away from him:

from the Draft Analyst:

Lucius never should be confused with a stopper off the puck, and he is as big a one-way center as you’ll find in this draft class. More times than not, Lucius is either the last man on the back check or hovering up top, and he is not a physical presence on the ice. Keep in mind that this probably has more to do with his rust and an adjustment to game speed as Lucius recovers from injury, and he’s shown an improvement in understanding his contain spacing while assisting his defensemen in board battles. For whatever reason, Lucius does not kill penalties no matter the situation or what the scoreboard reads, although he is excellent on faceoffs, particularly in the neutral and defensive zones (over 60 percent success rate combined). If he finishes a check, however, it usually isn’t enough to separate an opponent from the puck.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

i just found my official pick , CHAZ ... the guy has very quick hands and entire body movements / reflexes . love the way he carries himself = competitor . legit size centerman and one of the younger this draft . move over larks , chaz is the new top yuppy on campus :

I like Lucius a lot, really interesting prospect to me. I feel like he's in that range of "too rich at #6, gone by #22" so I haven't dedicated too much thought to him on the Wings, but that said I thought the exact same thing about Mo Seider and here we are.

If we were to gamble on a toolsy, project center at #6 I'd personally prefer Lucius to McTavish or Sillinger all day, but I can certainly understand why folks' come out the other way.

 

[Hen Kolland]

I like Lucius a lot, really interesting prospect to me. I feel like he's in that range of "too rich at #6, gone by #22" so I haven't dedicated too much thought to him on the Wings, but that said I thought the exact same thing about Mo Seider and here we are.

If we were to gamble on a toolsy, project center at #6 I'd personally prefer Lucius to McTavish or Sillinger all day, but I can certainly understand why folks' come out the other way.

I don't particularly view McTavish as toolsy or a project. I think he's a very mature, pro style, closer to NHL ready player. I think his shot is the real toolsy element, but outside of that he's going to be pretty average in terms of tools. But I also don't need to bank on the tools as much, and I think he will be capable of making things happen away from the puck, on the defensive side of the puck more than the other two by a decent margin with the amount of sandpaper and compete that he is billed to have.

I think there's a reason that McTavish has had this ascension and Lucius and Sillinger have held position just outside of the top 10.

 

[Frk It]

I like Lucius a lot, really interesting prospect to me. I feel like he's in that range of "too rich at #6, gone by #22" so I haven't dedicated too much thought to him on the Wings, but that said I thought the exact same thing about Mo Seider and here we are.

If we were to gamble on a toolsy, project center at #6 I'd personally prefer Lucius to McTavish or Sillinger all day, but I can certainly understand why folks' come out the other way.

I have a really hard time seeing him be a C as he moves up a level. He plays slow for me. Great finisher and gets into scoring positions incredibly well though. He almost reminds me of Vanek in some ways. Could see him being a good player, but see him being more of a finisher than a creator.

Those are just my impressions though, have not seen him a ton and I understand he was hurt this year.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

I don't particularly view McTavish as toolsy or a project. I think he's a very mature, pro style, closer to NHL ready player. I think his shot is the real toolsy element, but outside of that he's going to be pretty average in terms of tools. But I also don't need to bank on the tools as much, and I think he will be capable of making things happen away from the puck, on the defensive side of the puck more than the other two by a decent margin with the amount of sandpaper and compete that he is billed to have.

I think there's a reason that McTavish has had this ascension and Lucius and Sillinger have held position just outside of the top 10.

Yeah I see your point, I probably could have chosen a better word than "toolsy" there. And I totally get why folks are interested in McTavish, I see the argument behind it. I'm very very low on him, but I do get the argument.

I have a really hard time seeing him be a C as he moves up a level. He plays slow for me. Great finisher and gets into scoring positions incredibly well though. He almost reminds me of Vanek in some ways. Could see him being a good player, but see him being more of a finisher than a creator.

Those are just my impressions though, have not seen him a ton and I understand he was hurt this year.

Definitely agree on your skepticism towards Lucius playing center, I think that's a fair concern. For me though, I see the same issue with most of the center/winger hybrids in the first round so I try to judge more based on their overall games and less on position. Not to say you can't gauge which players are more likely than others to stick at center, but I think there's a lot of grey area there at the moment, so I'm more concerned with their overall games.

I also think this pick might really depend on what vision Yzerman has for the team long term. If Yzerman sees a core around Seider, Larkin, etc. as best served in a really strong defensive system which punishes teams on the counterattack, then guys like Johnson and Lucius probably aren't going to be a great fit here unless we view them as just head and shoulders above the other prospects. On the other hand, if we're trying to build a team that maintains possession and enters the offensive zone with a lot of control, then I think we might be looking at a different group of players.

I think that long-term vision factors into Yzerman's decision making more than we generally account for. Unfortunately I don't think we as fans have a super clear picture of how he wants to build this team yet.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Yeah I see your point, I probably could have chosen a better word than "toolsy" there. And I totally get why folks are interested in McTavish, I see the argument behind it. I'm very very low on him, but I do get the argument.

If you have a subscription to The Athletic, I can't recommend the piece by Scott Wheeler looking into McTavish's path more in depth. It's not a game breakdown, but talks about his upbringing and leading up to the draft. From Switzerland and back: The unique hockey story of 2021 NHL Draft prospect Mason McTavish

He's got an element that I think that a lot of people grow to love. He's a red ass through and through. A recollection like this will result in people really coming to appreciate and being entranced by.

In his first full summer with the pro group, that intensity helped McTavish show that he belonged. At one skate, McTavish and Giroux got into it.

“It was funny to watch because Claude eats that stuff up and it was pretty neat to see that Mason wouldn’t back off. I don’t care who you are, a guy like that’s pushing on you and a lot of kids are laying down, and Mason’s just wired a little different like that,” Malloy said. “There were some of those NHL skates where we’d have upwards of $50 million worth of NHL salary on the ice, and he’s shooting the puck harder than half of those guys and leaning on those guys, and at the time he’s 17 years old.”

I am 100% happy with the prospect of taking McTavish at 6, but I wouldn't say he's my favorite considering the crop that he's competing with for the pick.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

If you have a subscription to The Athletic, I can't recommend the piece by Scott Wheeler looking into McTavish's path more in depth. It's not a game breakdown, but talks about his upbringing and leading up to the draft. From Switzerland and back: The unique hockey story of 2021 NHL Draft prospect Mason McTavish

He's got an element that I think that a lot of people grow to love. He's a red ass through and through. A recollection like this will result in people really coming to appreciate and being entranced by.

In his first full summer with the pro group, that intensity helped McTavish show that he belonged. At one skate, McTavish and Giroux got into it.

“It was funny to watch because Claude eats that stuff up and it was pretty neat to see that Mason wouldn’t back off. I don’t care who you are, a guy like that’s pushing on you and a lot of kids are laying down, and Mason’s just wired a little different like that,” Malloy said. “There were some of those NHL skates where we’d have upwards of $50 million worth of NHL salary on the ice, and he’s shooting the puck harder than half of those guys and leaning on those guys, and at the time he’s 17 years old.”

I am 100% happy with the prospect of taking McTavish at 6, but I wouldn't say he's my favorite considering the crop that he's competing with for the pick.

Yeah I actually did have a change to check out that article a little while back, good piece from Wheeler.

McTavish sounds like a good, hardworking kid and if he's our pick I'll get behind him 100%. Even if he's not our pick I'll be in his corner honestly, I always like to see prospects find success.

All that said, I think the clock is ticking on our rebuild and I'm not sure how many top 10 picks we have left. As much as I believe in Yzerman, I think the rebuild is in a pretty precarious position where we can't continue to bottom out too much longer, but we also don't have a ton of talent that I'm in love with beyond Mo Seider. From that perspective I think there is a lot of pressure to hit on this pick, and I'm personally just not a big believer in Mason McTavish as a hockey player, at least relative to the position we're discussing drafting him at. Doesn't mean I'm right, doesn't mean we won't pick him, but the more I see of the player the less I can get behind him as our #6 overall pick.

 

[Hen Kolland]

Yeah I actually did have a change to check out that article a little while back, good piece from Wheeler.

McTavish sounds like a good, hardworking kid and if he's our pick I'll get behind him 100%. Even if he's not our pick I'll be in his corner honestly, I always like to see prospects find success.

All that said, I think the clock is ticking on our rebuild and I'm not sure how many top 10 picks we have left. As much as I believe in Yzerman, I think the rebuild is in a pretty precarious position where we can't continue to bottom out too much longer, but we also don't have a ton of talent that I'm in love with beyond Mo Seider. From that perspective I think there is a lot of pressure to hit on this pick, and I'm personally just not a big believer in Mason McTavish as a hockey player, at least relative to the position we're discussing drafting him at. Doesn't mean I'm right, doesn't mean we won't pick him, but the more I see of the player the less I can get behind him as our #6 overall pick.

I think that I give him a boost because of certainty. It's the same reason I knock Johnson a bit. I will mention right away, there are two super reasonable ways to interpret the argument that you've alluded to and that I am going to touch on; I can buy the alternate side to my argument just as much as the side that I sit on. With the way things are trending, I have significant doubt in this rebuild being boosted by a lottery win. I have zero expectations that we get a chance at Wright or Bedard or Michkov or Lambert. With that in mind, my stance is that we have to be prepared to build this thing playing small ball, and not getting the home run. Single, hit and run, sac fly to get on the board. We can't afford to miss on these early picks if we are going to finish the rebuild, and as such, I give a boost to players that I view as safer in terms of projection. The opposite side would be...this rebuild will fail if we don't get something truly special, so swing for the fences because it doesn't matter unless you hit that home run.

McTavish to me is a guy I can see in NHL in a top 6. I can buy that guy as a 2C for the Red Wings. I can buy him as a top 6 winger if Ras and Veleno pan out well. That's why he gets the boost in my eyes.

 

[lilidk]

After hearing Ken Daniels talk about how much of a vice grip is on that front office in terms of their plans, I'm sure the names that Pronman is hearing is just wild speculation.

Let's see if we can make some silly connections

Wallstedt - Detroit's future at goalie is a giant question mark. Their presumptive future suffered a groin injury, has never recovered and is leaving North America. The new presumptive future has come off a fantastic season and has a clear path to immediate playing time in Grand Rapids and zero competition in moving to the NHL in a handful of years...he hasn't signed. Big, technical, Swedish goalie with a background playing professionally...a draft with little certainty looking at the top talents...a GM who plays by his own rules...I think Detroit takes the goalie.

Johnson - Watching the Red Wings last year a few things became apparent, they struggle with offensive creativity, they can't create goals, the powerplay sucks, and most importantly, they lack star power. Enter Kent Johnson. One of the longer term prospects in the top 10 in need of multiple years to polish his pro style game and build the physique that will allow him to play in the NHL, the one guaranteed thing Johnson brings to the table is pure skill. For a team looking for ways to generate more offense, they need not look further than the home run swing at 6 and trust the Euro scouting staff to turn over every rock and find some gems in the late first and into day 2.

McTavish - much like the goalie position, the future at center is murky at best for the Wings. Relying on Dylan Larkin to handle the 1C responsibility, a true 2C to line up behind him would go a long way in solidifying the rebuild. An organizational preference on smart players who don't cheat on effort would be filled with the pro style play and physical edge that McTavish carries. He really blends the industrious elements of current young players, Rasmussen and Veleno, with the requisite advanced skill, including an quality NHL level shot, that suggests he is well equipped to slot in to the identity that GM Steve Yzerman has set course looking to fill.

And you could do this for literally any prospects. To me, I'm not surprised by these names being listed. The goalie for the goalie needy team; the super potential for the star needy team; the BCA (best center available) for the center needy team. I'm surprised that we didn't get Eklund based solely on Hakan Andersson's existence.

Offensive creativity , Eklund the way to go and if we have Bergreen and Raymond on line up next season will help a lot.well see 8n the training camp

 

[Frk It]

McTavish to me is a guy I can see in NHL in a top 6. I can buy that guy as a 2C for the Red Wings. I can buy him as a top 6 winger if Ras and Veleno pan out well. That's why he gets the boost in my eyes.

Same, and I think he could be a guy that elevates in the playoffs.

Raymond-Larkin-Vrana
Berggren/Bertuzzi-MacTavish-Zadina

I mean, that could be a viable future top 6 in my eyes. Two competitive centers that play a 200 foot game, and some skilled guys on the wing. Maybe you separate MacTavish and Zadina, because they are not the strongest skaters of the group.

Maybe run Veleno/Rasmussen on the 3rd line, and let them pose matchup issues with their size/speed.

In summary -- I could see the thought process behind the pick, if we were to go this route. He’s not necessarily my “favorite”, but I’d be fine with this.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

I think that I give him a boost because of certainty. It's the same reason I knock Johnson a bit. I will mention right away, there are two super reasonable ways to interpret the argument that you've alluded to and that I am going to touch on; I can buy the alternate side to my argument just as much as the side that I sit on. With the way things are trending, I have significant doubt in this rebuild being boosted by a lottery win. I have zero expectations that we get a chance at Wright or Bedard or Michkov or Lambert. With that in mind, my stance is that we have to be prepared to build this thing playing small ball, and not getting the home run. Single, hit and run, sac fly to get on the board. We can't afford to miss on these early picks if we are going to finish the rebuild, and as such, I give a boost to players that I view as safer in terms of projection. The opposite side would be...this rebuild will fail if we don't get something truly special, so swing for the fences because it doesn't matter unless you hit that home run.

McTavish to me is a guy I can see in NHL in a top 6. I can buy that guy as a 2C for the Red Wings. I can buy him as a top 6 winger if Ras and Veleno pan out well. That's why he gets the boost in my eyes.

Yeah, I totally agree with your assessment of where the rebuild is and that we can't rely on a savior pick like Wright or Bedard. I definitely respect your "small ball" strategy on moving forward, but I have the opposite philosophy. With how many picks we've accrued in the late 1st/early 2nd-3rd, I think we have to trust our scouts to fill out the depth of the roster with those picks, free agents, and the occassional Fabbri-esque trade or waiver addition. To me the top 10 is where we go big game hunting. That's why I got on board with the Raymond pick despite some personal reservations about where he stood as a prospect.

I'm not so naive as to think you're going to hit a homerun on every top ten pick. But at the end of the day, you have to hit a few homeruns to win the Stanley Cup, and the top 10 is your best chance at doing so. I think we hit a homerun with Mo Seider, but I think we probably still need a couple more players of that caliber. For that reason I have much more patience for a player's cons if they have really unique pros. Obviously this is an oversimplification of my draft strategy- it's not crystal clear on draft day what a player's upside is. But I want to see a Stanley Cup contending team, and I don't think you get there without taking some calculated gambles.

Larger point aside, I kind of disagree with the notion that McTavish has some incredibly high floor. I think his skating is a pretty real concern. He has a good shot, but I'm not sure he has the other tools to get himself into positions to frequently capitalize on it at the NHL level. I think he'll operate the slot effectively on a powerplay, but beyond that I'm not especially convinced. I don't see the foot speed or shiftiness to be a transition scorer. That would be fine if he had a ton of poise and intelligence to slow the game down during controlled 5v5 possession, but I don't see that either. Defensively I think he often looks very lost. That's not a massive concern to me, as I think that's pretty solvable, but I'm confused to see how many folks describe him as this polished two-way product. He does lay a nice hit, I'll give him that much for sure, but his positioning and awareness has been pretty suspect in my viewings.

I think it's a bit misguided to suggest that Kent Johnson has some AHL floor while McTavish can't fall below second line production. McTavish needs a lot of work.

 

[ShanahanMan]

Ehhhhh, in regards in Pronman. He was insistent (if I remember correctly) that we were going to draft Perfeti and turns out we were never even that high on him.

 

[newfy]

Pronman had McTavish mocked to us today. He mentioned McTavish, Johnson and Wallstedt as names he’s hearing around Detroit at this time.

Yeah it shouldnt be surprsiing either really. McTavish checks a lot of boxes for Detroit and is kinda becoming my favourite in that spot. Two things upfront that they really lack are a shooter and physicality, McTavish brings both. Hes also a center which they lack. In the u18s he looked like a guy that would dive face first in front of a puck to win a game which is a quality both Yzerman and Draper had in spades.

Johnson provides different elements, but still provides things the wings lack up front right now. He also has a chance to be a center.

These 2 would likely be the top forwards I want that are also realistic. Hard to speculate on the D, but if the wings come out of the draft with one of these 2 upfront I'm not going to be disappointed

Ehhhhh, in regards in Pronman. He was insistent (if I remember correctly) that we were going to draft Perfeti and turns out we were never even that high on him.

Pronman said he was hearing a lot about Perfetti to Detroit. A lot of people were saying that they liked him. I never heard that they werent actually high on him though. From what I understand it was between Raymond, him and Drysdale at that pick. Where did you hear they werent high on him?