2021 NHL Draft Thread (All draft, lottery, and prospect talk)

[majormajor]

Have people really lost out on development? They have lost out on games, but that is not the same thing.

One thing I have heard from some knowledgeable youth hockey coaches is that kids play too many games and don’t spend enough time working on the basics.

That's true. But the balance for that is probably still 150 practice sessions and 50 games, not 20 games.

Peeke was a smoother player last year than this one, and I'd attribute that to the fact that he's only played like a dozen games in the last 13 months. The OHL still hasn't played.

Also, I'm sure there are some draft eligible kids who aren't quite as rich as others, who don't get nearly as many training sessions in. Ice time + one-on-one trainers is very expensive.

I'd say there is some less of development time but they'll mostly make up for it later. The maturing brains and bodies is always the bigger development factor.

 

[Cowumbus]

If the Jackets win the lottery, who are you picking? Or are you trading down? I know we need C but I might take Owen Power. He could probably step in next season.

 

[EspenK]

If the Jackets win the lottery, who are you picking? Or are you trading down? I know we need C but I might take Owen Power. He could probably step in next season.

There doesn't seem to be a consensus #1 so if we win the 1st pick I would trade down if my scouts say there isn't much difference between the top guys. Although unless there is some inside info that says otherwise I'd probably take Beniers the C from Michigan.


And if Jarmo holds true to form his guy will be available in the 2nd round.

 

[koteka]

If the Jackets win the lottery, who are you picking? Or are you trading down? I know we need C but I might take Owen Power. He could probably step in next season.

I take Power. I think this year we take the three best players we can get in the first round, regardless of position. There are so many holes. We’ll suck next year. Grab a top center next year if we don’t get a top one this year. From what I read people have thought next year is better for centers than this year, and this year has good defenseman.

 

[CBJx614]

Have people really lost out on development? They have lost out on games, but that is not the same thing.

One thing I have heard from some knowledgeable youth hockey coaches is that kids play too many games and don’t spend enough time working on the basics. What if many of the top 500 youth players that will be drafted this year and the next couple of years spent the COVID time working on skating, shooting, strength training, etc.? Maybe these kids will be more developed because of COVID. Heck, if you put 6-10 really good kids together working on small area skills, various situations (3 on 2, 2 on 1, etc.), skating, stick handling, and shooting for a season instead of playing a ton of games where they are the best players on the ice, they probably would have much better development. How do we know that didn’t happen?

Are the OHL kids sitting around doing nothing? If I was the parent of a top 16 or 17 year old last year, you can be sure I’d have him with a skating coach as much as possible. I’d also have better control of his diet (he’d be eating much better than if we were always driving all over the place) and have a personal trainer working on his strength and flexibility. He’d be in the basement or driveway shooting into an old washing machine all the time. Heck, virtual school means more time for working on skills.

I know certain parents (of ice skaters and ballet dancers) whose kids loved having virtual school options this year. More time for development for the kids. I also know the parent of a fairly serious ballet dancer whose kid gave it up this year because the “competition” were increasing the amount of time devoted to ballet and the kid decided that was too much.

No amount of practice can ever make up for in game experience. That's where the growth comes from. Yes kids can get drills in and train. But having to make game decisions can't be replicated in practice/private training sessions.

 

[6zag]

If the Jackets win the lottery, who are you picking? Or are you trading down? I know we need C but I might take Owen Power. He could probably step in next season.

Personally I'd take Matthew Beniers, and roll the dice on if he has what it takes to become a 1C. I'd be happy if he ended up as a serviceable 2C even.

Usually I'd draft player over position, but right now we have a titanic size hole in the middle and basically 2 top end D's.

 

[koteka]

No amount of practice can ever make up for in game experience. That's where the growth comes from. Yes kids can get drills in and train. But having to make game decisions can't be replicated in practice/private training sessions.

Two hours of small area games with kids who are your comparable skill level will much better prepare you for professional hockey than being the best player on the ice for 23 minutes. And this is especially true for the bigger kids. Small area games are all about decision making, footwork, body positioning, stick work, etc. If you think practices can’t replicate situations where you must make decisions on the fly then you have never seen a really well run hockey practice.

 

[cslebn]

That's still a scary thought. We've got two picks that are probably going between 27-32. In 2013, the 30 picks from 27 to 57 were a near total wasteland. The top scorer in that group is Ryan Hartman. The top D-man is Robert Hagg, who makes Scott Harrington look good. The best pick is Tristan Jarry, and I still wouldn't be excited to draft him. We better hope it's a better draft than that, I don't think scouting talent can do much in a bad draft.

*Yes I narrowly tailored this selection to avoid Shea Theodore and Tyler Bertuzzi. Still, 30 picks in a row.

That's an interesting draft though considering 7 players from the third round have more than 200 gp (including Bjorkstrand)

 

[5th Line Fanatic]

If the Jackets win the lottery, who are you picking? Or are you trading down? I know we need C but I might take Owen Power. He could probably step in next season.

One silver lining to this miserable season is this year the draft is after free agency begins (or at least the date when we can extend our own players). So on July 1 we will know if Seth Jones is coming back and the draft is not until July 23rd. If we no longer have Seth Jones on July 23rd, I'm not sure where our biggest hole is.

So to answer your question, I need the answer to the Seth Jones question.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Whatever happened to the Blue Jackets tidbits thread? This video sums up this Blue Jacket season.

It exists! Not my fault no one has anything interesting to put in it...

 

[Cowumbus]

Bobby Mackenzie’s rankings:

Owen Power the unanimous No. 1 in TSN’s mid-season draft rankings - TSN.ca

Aatu Raty down to 20...

 

[EspenK]

Bobby Mackenzie’s rankings:

Owen Power the unanimous No. 1 in TSN’s mid-season draft rankings - TSN.ca

Aatu Raty down to 20...

Great to see the scouts' consensus opinion that two of the three C's in the top 10 are projected as wingers.

Those top D guys getting nice comparisons and props, if, and its a big IF, Jackets were to win lottery I'd be tempted to trade down and take Berniers. OTOH if I'm not sure about Jones re-signing I would likely change my mind. Going to be interesting.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Great to see the scouts' consensus opinion that two of the three C's in the top 10 are projected as wingers.

Those top D guys getting nice comparisons and props, if, and its a big IF, Jackets were to win lottery I'd be tempted to trade down and take Berniers. OTOH if I'm not sure about Jones re-signing I would likely change my mind. Going to be interesting.

Take BPA. We need defensive prospects as badly as we need C prospects

 

[DarkandStormy]

Bobby Mackenzie’s rankings:

Owen Power the unanimous No. 1 in TSN’s mid-season draft rankings - TSN.ca

Aatu Raty down to 20...

Yeah, Raty really did not having a good showing in Liiga.

 

[DarkandStormy]

Seems like the window for the Jackets is 22-30. Not going to catch Buffalo and not likely to finish ahead of Arizona, who is currently .500.

 

[cslebn]

Raty’s plummet reminds me of Debrincat.

wonder if this will turn out the same

 

[EspenK]

Seems like the window for the Jackets is 22-30. Not going to catch Buffalo and not likely to finish ahead of Arizona, who is currently .500.

I think it is a stretch for them to finish any better than 25th but they do have a tendency to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to draft positioning.

 

[koteka]

I say we give Brad Thiessen a start or two in honor of everything he means to the organization.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Take BPA. We need defensive prospects as badly as we need C prospects

Agreed but if your board has Berniers above Power then he is BPA.

The ‘B’ is unfixed. The obvious recent example being Pulujarvi v He whose initials shall not be embroidered.

 

[CBJx614]

Two hours of small area games with kids who are your comparable skill level will much better prepare you for professional hockey than being the best player on the ice for 23 minutes. And this is especially true for the bigger kids. Small area games are all about decision making, footwork, body positioning, stick work, etc. If you think practices can’t replicate situations where you must make decisions on the fly then you have never seen a really well run hockey practice.

Ive played hockey for 25 years. You don't get butterflies before practice, you don't have the crowd noice during practice, you don't have the pressure on you during practice.


Yes you do get better during practice, your stick skills, speed all of that can improve during practice and the off-season. But that doesn't always translate to being better in games and not overthinking everything on the ice.

It doesn't matter how good of a practice you run, in any sport. You can't replicate the feelings that come with gameday.


These kids need as much game experience as possible to be more confident in themselves and their abilities.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Agreed but if your board has Berniers above Power then he is BPA.

The ‘B’ is unfixed. The obvious recent example being Pulujarvi v He whose initials shall not be embroidered.

Oh certainly. But I don't think Berniers should be lock to us (if we have the opportunity) just because he plays C. He won't be here next year anyway, so might as well take BPA. If its him, awesome.

 

[pled]

last in central party

McTavish is interesting with tor/tbl pick if the team cant get berniers with theirs I'd really like a nice center. Bolduc too maybe. but I wouldn't draft 3 centers definitly.

 

[EspenK]

Agreed but if your board has Berniers above Power then he is BPA.

The ‘B’ is unfixed. The obvious recent example being Pulujarvi v He whose initials shall not be embroidered.

I hate the term BPA. It should be as DSL suggests highest guy on our list. And it is a discussion ender. Poster A - I like Player X. Poster B: Take BPA. end of discussion.

 

[CBJx614]

I hate the term BPA. It should be as DSL suggests highest guy on our list. And it is a discussion ender. Poster A - I like Player X. Poster B: Take BPA. end of discussion.

I feel like those are the same thing though. The guy rated highest on the internal list is who they say is the BPA.

 

[koteka]

Ive played hockey for 25 years. You don't get butterflies before practice, you don't have the crowd noice during practice, you don't have the pressure on you during practice.


Yes you do get better during practice, your stick skills, speed all of that can improve during practice and the off-season. But that doesn't always translate to being better in games and not overthinking everything on the ice.

It doesn't matter how good of a practice you run, in any sport. You can't replicate the feelings that come with gameday.


These kids need as much game experience as possible to be more confident in themselves and their abilities.

The world is different than when you and I grew up. These kids have played so many games. There are 8 year olds who play more than 50 games / year now. Older kids play even more. There is year round hockey if you want it. The Battery (partially owned by Cam Atkinson) is taking teams of young kids to hockey tournaments in Las Vegas and Florida this summer. Their teams are as young as 2013 birth year.