2021 NHL Entry Draft Thread

[Gniwder]

I don't follow the Avs as much as I want to but their series against the Sharks was a real eye opener to me. That team is so much fun to watch. I love the skill level the players have and more so I think they are coached right. No cocky or dirty nonsense.

Also, as an expansion team some 'dark' years are to be expected. Though, if you have good scouting and management in place, things could be turned around quicker. 2-3 years drafting in the top-10 would be a great start.

Looking at the players projected to be available for the expansion draft, I think the team will be better than you expect.

With the salary cap stalled out, there will be teams willing to make deals with Francis to pick certain players, and additionally there are some decent D-men available due to the format. What the expansion draft lacks is reliable scorers, so ideally Ron picks some D and trades them for top 6 forwards.

That being said, I expect the team to select a center, being optimistic, I'll say Raty. (Would have to win the lottery probably.)

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

A full rebuild done mostly right takes about 5 years. I can't remember which GM said that, but it may have been Ron Francis lol.

I would agree with that but this is not a real rebuild. We are going to have young NHL ready pieces in the expansion draft to fill out majority of a middle-9 F and bottom-4 D. Should have a decent starting goalie as well. The top-4 D and top-6 forwards are what we need to depend a lot on the draft (or Free Agency) for. I expect 2-3 year could have us be a fairly competitive team able to make the playoffs. That is assuming that we don't screw the pooch with our drafting or free agency.

Looking at the players projected to be available for the expansion draft, I think the team will be better than you expect.

With the salary cap stalled out, there will be teams willing to make deals with Francis to pick certain players, and additionally there are some decent D-men available due to the format. What the expansion draft lacks is reliable scorers, so ideally Ron picks some D and trades them for top 6 forwards.

That being said, I expect the team to select a center, being optimistic, I'll say Raty. (Would have to win the lottery probably.)

I think the league is going to be in a very interesting place around the expansion draft. A lot of teams are going to have cap issues. These are compounded by needing to protect younger players for the expansion draft as well as needing to pay salary increased for their kids coming of ELC's.

If Francis plays his cards right, we can definitely be a fun team right off the bat. I am going to still expect to miss the playoffs for the 1st 2 years and not expect an opening season like the Knights. But if that happens, I will happily take it ..

And yeah, I think D is going to be easier to fill out than the forwards. decent top-4 D are going to be easier to find in the expansion draft than top-6 F. Francis just needs to be smart about not treating the expansion draft as building the roster as-is but using the best available assets from the roster to fill in missing pieces. Drafting 'center' would make the most sense to me in the draft because I feel they are what a team should be built around. That being said, the team needs to go BPA there. Specially for an expansion team like us.

 

[DEANYOUNGBLOOD17]

A team Roster is made up of 23 players.

Seattle will select 30 players in the expansion draft.

To be eligible to be selected in the expansion draft a player must just finished his 3 rd pro year which would make most of them waiver eligible.

which means ..... if they did not make any trades/deals they would have to cut 7 players and expose them to waivers after training camp.

selecting 30 players during the expansion draft ....... just gives them a base of players and some currency to use at their first draft.

The idea is not to field a team that can compete for Stanley the first year.That was a Vegas fluke.

The idea is to use that extra currency to trade for young ELC players coming up and draft picks that creates good young base for a solid future.

The biggest asset that Seattle will have is there starting a Zero dollars on there Cap Hit. They should be able to translate that to multiple 1st and 2 Nd round picks. Vegas has 3 1st round picks in the top 15.

I think it will be important to not take the long really bad contracts. Take some bad 1/2 year contracts.... when the player is still useful but just not living up to his huge contract.... that way you can get paid in draft picks for providing cap relief and the player plays well they can get paid again in draft picks by selling him against the trade deadline.

with the flat cap...... Seattle is going to be in the drivers seat with their cap space.

 

[LadyStanley]

VGK's plan resulted in THREE first round picks (their own, plus two from other teams as part of expansion draft protections/selections). Long term, they traded the second and third first round picks as part of packages to pick up key veterans in trade (Stone, Pacioretty).

Who knows how things will shake out for Seattle Kraken. Could have a dozen picks in the 2021 expansion draft. Unknown now.

 

[tmlfan98]

I am going to start looking more at the 2021 draft rankings/prospects but I would love to land a Franchise 1C. Would absolutely get us someone to build the franchise around.

Taking a quick look Cole Sillinger and Chaz Lucius are both C's that may fall to us. Raty seems more of a long shot unless we are drafting top-3. Though honestly, I would be pretty happy if we get any one of those 3.

Its easy to forget though that they are just kids. They can grow a lot at this age and can develop similarly. Someone who is relatively unknown today can make a massive jump in the next year or so to the top-6.

2021 isn't really the draft to look for a franchise C, there's too many dmen with #1 potential like Brandt Clarke, Owen Power, Carson Lambos and Simon Edvinsson.

2022 on the other hand has Shane Wright, Matthew Savoie and Brad Lambert who should all be elite centres at the very least. These 3 make the centre class of 2021 look weak.

Having success right away like Vegas would be nice, but adding a 1D in year one and a 1C in year two would have you set for years at two key positions, never mind that they'll both be on ELCs at the same time while the cap is going to remain flat for who knows how long.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

2021 isn't really the draft to look for a franchise C, there's too many dmen with #1 potential like Brandt Clarke, Owen Power, Carson Lambos and Simon Edvinsson.

2022 on the other hand has Shane Wright, Matthew Savoie and Brad Lambert who should all be elite centres at the very least. These 3 make the centre class of 2021 look weak.

Having success right away like Vegas would be nice, but adding a 1D in year one and a 1C in year two would have you set for years at two key positions, never mind that they'll both be on ELCs at the same time while the cap is going to remain flat for who knows how long.

I am not concerned about replicating Vegas at all. I am perfectly fine missing the playoffs the first 2 years and drafting 3 straight years in the top-5.

I have not really looked at the draft for 2022 so I will take you word on it regarding the quality of C's. My interest in the 1C position merely stems from their ability to give the team a player to build around. I don't think you can build around a 1D but can do around a 1C. In the end, as I have said before, you go BPA. This is an expansion team and we don't have specific needs. We have needs in all areas and the BPA sets us up for now and the future. The only time I would consider trading (maybe) is if the BPA is a winger. Move down (or up) to get either a C or D. I do think that depending on the draft, outside the top-5 (in most drafts) or top-10 (in some exceptional ones), it really becomes a crapshoot with how the players convert to NHL level players so you just do your due diligence and pick BPA.

I am not one to get personally attached to players. I appreciate and really like players on my team(s) and have my own favorites but if moving them makes the team better in the long run, I always choose the team over the individual. You draft BPA both in the standard draft and expansion draft. Use those picks as assets if they do not have a place on the team and move them for futures or assets that the team can benefit the most from.

 

[hockey20000]

havn't heard much of the 2021 class besides raty is it a down year? and is raty anywhere near to alexis?

 

[RainyCityHockey]

havn't heard much of the 2021 class besides raty is it a down year? and is raty anywhere near to alexis?

Raty isn't as highly touted as Lafreniere(and the class of 2021 not as high as the class of 2020) and it seems like the 2021 draft has it's strength rather on the blueline.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Based on the one draft book I follow yearly (Black Book), it does seem like the 2021 draft is pretty heavy on D-men. Basically 5 of the top-10 are D-men, 2 in the top-5. Out of the 5 forwards in the top-10, 2 are classified as pure wingers, 2 as pure C'2 and 1 is a C/W.

 

[S E P H]

I am going to start looking more at the 2021 draft rankings/prospects but I would love to land a Franchise 1C. Would absolutely get us someone to build the franchise around.

Came in and found this thread. There are good players available for this draft, but the 2021 class is looking pretty bad as of now. 2022 is the draft everyone should focus to and where you could potentially get a very high potential Franchise...on the border of generational #1 centre with the likes of Lambert, Wright, or Fleming currently.

 

[Mc Hael Productions]

There ain't as much big star talent in this draft. We said the same in 2017, but Heiskanen, Makar and Pettersson turned out quite good thus far. It may not be super high end now, but looking back in five years when the players are more developed it might be.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Let’s get Clarke

 

[DEANYOUNGBLOOD17]

Vegas making the playoffs the 1st year through a wrench into their 2nd drat plans, ( for the Kraken that would be the 2022 draft). Vegas was all set up to trade some of their expansion draft players on expiry last year until UFA eligible at the deadline for good draft picks in their 2nd ever draft. (James Neal was having a great year and would have got a 1 st round pick back at the deadline). They even spent draft capital as buyers in their first year (Tatar), which was the total opposite of the original plan. NEAL as a UFA left with no picks coming back.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

The Kraken actually held a stream for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

 

[Hockey Rush]

Hard to say given we have no idea what spot we'll draft at in the first round.

Vegas was given the 5th OA pick. I assume the same will happen with Seattle.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Vegas was given the 5th OA pick. I assume the same will happen with Seattle.

They weren't given the 5th pick.

They took part in the lottery being tied with the team who had the 3rd worst record and moved down to #6.

It's the same thing for us and therefore we'll take part in the draft lottery tied with the team who has the 3rd worst record and will end up between #1 - #6.

 

[Gniwder]

2021 isn't really the draft to look for a franchise C, there's too many dmen with #1 potential like Brandt Clarke, Owen Power, Carson Lambos and Simon Edvinsson.

2022 on the other hand has Shane Wright, Matthew Savoie and Brad Lambert who should all be elite centres at the very least. These 3 make the centre class of 2021 look weak.

Having success right away like Vegas would be nice, but adding a 1D in year one and a 1C in year two would have you set for years at two key positions, never mind that they'll both be on ELCs at the same time while the cap is going to remain flat for who knows how long.

Yup, as a Red Wings fan, I'm looking at #1D next draft, #1C the following. Goalies in the second round. Seattle should have the same priorities, but in the end it's BPA when drafting top 10.

Luke Hughes is also a possibility for 2021. He's the biggest out of the Hughes brothers.

 

[Fisticuffer]

I think the mess created by the pandemic will make it hard to get a good read on the entire class. Could mean we can steal a beauty beyond the 2nd rd.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

If anyone wants some fun they can use the 2021 NHL Mock Draft Simulator of Tankathon.

Again, we've got the same odds as the team with the 3rd worst record and will land somewhere between #1 - #6.

 

[Fisticuffer]

I’ve been paying more attention to the BCHL than normal due to it presently being the only game in town. With any luck the Rockets and Blazers will get to play at some point prior to the draft. Otherwise I’m stuck with a few videos and various scouting service opinions. The former do have value but I’m a “like to see it for myself” type.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Looking at the Tankathon site they also have to draft lottery odds.
For us they look like this.

#1 - 11.5 %
#2 - 11.3 %
#3 - 11.1 %
#4 - 13.2 %
#5 - 37.7 %
#6 - 15.2 %

Looking at those odds we're most likely to end up with the #5 pick and there's a 52.9 % chance of us picking at #5 or #6.

 

[StreetHawk]

Looking at the players projected to be available for the expansion draft, I think the team will be better than you expect.

With the salary cap stalled out, there will be teams willing to make deals with Francis to pick certain players, and additionally there are some decent D-men available due to the format. What the expansion draft lacks is reliable scorers, so ideally Ron picks some D and trades them for top 6 forwards.

That being said, I expect the team to select a center, being optimistic, I'll say Raty. (Would have to win the lottery probably.)

Teams have been preparing for Seattle since Vegas entered the NHL. There are guys who would have gotten nmc in the past 2 years that didn’t because teams were cognizant of Seattle coming in.

I do see some teams willing to give Seattle something to take a contract, like TB. Just don’t see Seattle coming out ahead like vegas did With their deals with Anaheim, Minny, isles and jackets for example getting Theodore, Tuch, and 2 first rounders.

Seems like teams are more likely to simply let a guy go.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Draft Site added the 6th round of their 2021 Mock Draft.

They currently have us taking:
#4 - Mason McTavish(C - Peterborough OHL)
#35 - Matthew Sameskovich(RW - Chicago USHL)
#67 - Oscar Plandowski(D - Charlottetown QMJHL)
#99 - Victor Stjernborg(LW - Växjö SHL)
#131 - Kenny Connors(C - Dubuque USHL)
#163 - Isaac Enright(D - Niagara OHL)

 

[RainyCityHockey]

NHL Central Scouting released it's first list.

2021 NHL Central Scouting list

A rating = 1st round candidate
B rating = 2nd + 3rd round candidate
C rating = 4th, 5th and 6th round candidate

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

The 2021 draft is supposed to be a weak draft compared to the last few years as well (as of now). I would not be shocked if we have atleast 1 more 1st round pick as a result of taking some cap from another team.