2022 draft Discussion

[19 for president]

Our position depends on how Stevie fills out the D/ Goalie and injuries.

If we go into the seasons with Hronek, Seider, DD, Lindstrom, Cholo and Stretcher on D and we don't resign Bernier year I could see us being Bottom 3. I don't expect Stevie to do that. I realistically see us probably finishing in the 5-10 area if Stevie makes the deals and moves I expect him too.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Where is Miroshnichenko?

Wright, Miroschnichenko, Lambert, Savoie are my guys early on.

I like the mold of Miroschnichenko quite a bit- good size, good speed, good shot. He is (alongside Jiricek) definitely on that running list I mentioned of European talent that I'll try to get a closer look at this fall. At the moment I simply haven't seen as many games of his relative to the five players on my list, so I'm not as comfortable placing him yet. An exciting prospect for sure though.

 

[Frk It]

I like the mold of Miroschnichenko quite a bit- good size, good speed, good shot. He is (alongside Jiricek) definitely on that running list I mentioned of European talent that I'll try to get a closer look at this fall. At the moment I simply haven't seen as many games of his relative to the five players on my list, so I'm not as comfortable placing him yet. An exciting prospect for sure though.

If you saw the U18s, he was much better than Lambert.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

If you saw the U18s, he was much better than Lambert.

I did, and I agree. I still favor Lambert's broader body of work, including his WJC, as well as a lot of his tools. I think he's an exceptional skater, good puck skill, etc. Definitely some rawness to work through, but I think there's 1C upside there.

Not to say Miroschnichenko doesn't have great tools himself or that he can't overtake Lambert as the year goes on, but at the moment I'm personally still pretty bullish on Lambert as the #2 prospect in '22.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Imagine our top D pair of Seider and Jiricek. Jiricek is average defensively but he is very physical and his offensive ability is off the charts. He is amazing puck carrier and skater, has absolute canon and he is as much of an asshole as Seider. Can imagine these two being absolute nightmare to play against. Both guys are huge.

 

[Killerjas]

Where is Miroshnichenko?

Wright, Miroschnichenko, Lambert, Savoie are my guys early on.

He is at 6 for me

 

[Fil Larkmanthanasiou]

Where is Miroshnichenko?

Wright, Miroschnichenko, Lambert, Savoie are my guys early on.

There are a lot of guys in the next 2 drafts after this year's who are better than anyone in the 2 drafts before them

 

[Henkka]

There are a lot of guys in the next 2 drafts after this year's who are better than anyone in the 2 drafts before them

Too bad, because we aren't near of tanking.

We are trending up, because Seider makes the team so much better, as well as Vrana and dead weight players gone more and more.

But maybe we get lucky! Win the lottery from 11th worst position.

 

[Fil Larkmanthanasiou]

Too bad, because we aren't near of tanking.

We are trending up, because Seider makes the team so much better, as well as Vrana and dead weight players gone more and more.

But maybe we get lucky! Win the lottery from 11th worst position.

I think Yzerman thinks otherwise and that's why he extended Blash 2 years

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

NHL Draft 2022: Wheeler's early look at the top 22 prospects

 

[Roy S]

Too bad, because we aren't near of tanking.

We are trending up, because Seider makes the team so much better, as well as Vrana and dead weight players gone more and more.

But maybe we get lucky! Win the lottery from 11th worst position.

I think we are still going to be really bad. Either way, we need to get lucky in either the 2022 or 2023 draft and draft lots of high skilled centers.

 

[NickH8]

Real excited for this draft. I think as long as we're in the top 10 we're gonna be able to pick a high end forward, hopefully a center

 

[DatsyukToZetterberg]

Early players to watch and my top 10/15 as of now

1. Shane Wright (C)
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2. Simon Nemec (D)
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3. Elias Salomonsson (D)
4. Brad Lambert (C)
5. Conor Geekie (C)
-------
6. Matthew Savoie (C)
7. Danila Yurov (W)
8. Noah Ostlund (C)
9. Ivan Miroshnichenko (W)
10. Julian Lutz (C)
11. Frank Nazar (W)
12. David Jiricek (D)


HM: Maxim Barbashev (F), Isaac Howard (F), Denton Mateychuk (D), Lane Hutson (D)

Shane Wright is the clear top talent a year out with a talented 2nd and 3rd tier behind him. I think Lambert could experience a Raty like fall if he doesn't pick his play up in the Liiga this year. For someone once compared to Barkov, in terms of potential impact, he has a lot of live up to. If there was one player I think could unseat Wright it would be Nemec, he is the best D in this draft right now and has played professional hockey since he was 16. I think if he played outside of Slovakia the hype would be off the charts.

In the 3rd tier are the "small bois". As of now any one of them could end up in the top 5, I just want to see more from them before I move them upwards.

Overall, I think the top 5 picks as of now carry top line F or Top pairing D, with Wright & Nemec being cornerstone pieces. The rest of the top 10 look like solid top 6 pieces or potentially top line players if things break the right way.

 

[Sweetpotato]

Hoping you guys get one of the top 3. Love what Stevie is doing.

 

[lilidk]

Any good LD ?

 

[HisNoodliness]

I know people are expecting us to be better and maybe we'll be a little better... But I really think we have to tank again this year and potentially next depending on who we get. Buffalo and Seattle look like stiff competition but we're still pretty bad.

We absolutely need one of Wright, Savoie, or Lambert this year (or someone else that emerges before the draft). And if we can't get them, Bedard, Michkov (winger I know) or whoever else emerges as a top tier C next year. Our defense is ready to go. We need to get that one player that can run our offense as THE GUY. Hopefully he's a center too

 

[Vector Cereal]

Can't wait for this class. Two stud centers from Canada (with Wright being a true franchise player), Lambert, a resurgent Russian crop, and an incredibly deep NTDP team. With the deep NTDP team you get the 2019 effect where guys get buried a bit more than they should and might have more upside in a bigger role. This is absolutely the year to swing Bert or Hronek for an extra first, then start legitimately working to contend.

On a separate note, I'm really interested to see how Lane Hutson gets evaluated. Quinn Hughes paved the way for confidence in smaller defenders, but Hutson is like Natham Gerbe small. Absolutely filthy with the puck though and would make for probably the most entertaining pairing with Seider.

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

If I am Steve Yzerman, I would currently be doing as much as possible to try and con Montreal out of their first, as I can see their organization being delusional enough to expect they'll make the playoffs next year, where as in reality their first could be another 5=10% at a lottery pick

 

[Gniwder]

I know people are expecting us to be better and maybe we'll be a little better... But I really think we have to tank again this year and potentially next depending on who we get. Buffalo and Seattle look like stiff competition but we're still pretty bad.

We absolutely need one of Wright, Savoie, or Lambert this year (or someone else that emerges before the draft). And if we can't get them, Bedard, Michkov (winger I know) or whoever else emerges as a top tier C next year. Our defense is ready to go. We need to get that one player that can run our offense as THE GUY. Hopefully he's a center too

I'm not quite sure what Francis is doing, but Seattle is $10M under the cap, so I guess I expect him to buy at least 2 UFA forwards. That means they're running 3 second lines, which should be somewhat competitive.

It's Buffalo, Preds, CBJ, and Arizona at the bottom since they're all deliberately tanking even before the season starts. Probably the Ducks too, unless Zegras and Drysdale make huge jumps. Gonna be hard to finish lower than this season.

 

[Killerjas]

Any good LD ?

Forsmark is the only one that is highly rated, potential 1st round pick.

 

[Rusty7550]

Early players to watch and my top 10/15 as of now

1. Shane Wright (C)
-------
2. Simon Nemec (D)
-------
3. Elias Salomonsson (D)
4. Brad Lambert (C)
5. Conor Geekie (C)
-------
6. Matthew Savoie (C)
7. Danila Yurov (W)
8. Noah Ostlund (C)
9. Ivan Miroshnichenko (W)
10. Julian Lutz (C)
11. Frank Nazar (W)
12. David Jiricek (D)


HM: Maxim Barbashev (F), Isaac Howard (F), Denton Mateychuk (D), Lane Hutson (D)

Shane Wright is the clear top talent a year out with a talented 2nd and 3rd tier behind him. I think Lambert could experience a Raty like fall if he doesn't pick his play up in the Liiga this year. For someone once compared to Barkov, in terms of potential impact, he has a lot of live up to. If there was one player I think could unseat Wright it would be Nemec, he is the best D in this draft right now and has played professional hockey since he was 16. I think if he played outside of Slovakia the hype would be off the charts.

In the 3rd tier are the "small bois". As of now any one of them could end up in the top 5, I just want to see more from them before I move them upwards.

Overall, I think the top 5 picks as of now carry top line F or Top pairing D, with Wright & Nemec being cornerstone pieces. The rest of the top 10 look like solid top 6 pieces or potentially top line players if things break the right way.

Surprised you didn't mention Slafkovsky. He played for Slovak team at men's world championship and looked awesome. He's built like a truck but his hands are super soft for a big guy.

 

[Larkin2AA]

The 2022 NHL Draft top 24 prospects: Shane Wright leads Corey Pronman's list – The Athletic

1. Shane Wright - C
2. Ivan Miroshnichenko - LW
   
3. Danila Yurov - RW
   
4. Brad Lambert - C
   
5. David Jiricek - RHD
   
6. Juraj Slafkovsky - LW
   
7. Matthew Savoie - C
   
8. Conor Geekie - C
   
9. Logan Cooley - C

 

[Frk It]

The 2022 NHL Draft top 24 prospects: Shane Wright leads Corey Pronman's list – The Athletic

1. Shane Wright - C
2. Ivan Miroshnichenko - LW
   
3. Danila Yurov - RW
   
4. Brad Lambert - C
   
5. David Jiricek - RHD
   
6. Juraj Slafkovsky - LW
   
7. Matthew Savoie - C
   
8. Conor Geekie - C
   
9. Logan Cooley - C

Top 3 centers are all RH.... love to see it.

 

[DatsyukToZetterberg]

Surprised you didn't mention Slafkovsky. He played for Slovak team at men's world championship and looked awesome. He's built like a truck but his hands are super soft for a big guy.

He'd be on a bigger list, but I'm not sold on him as a top 10 talent. His production hasn't been jump off the page that I'd want to see. He probably should be on the HM part though. If he can have a good year in the Liiga I definitely see him creeping into the top 10.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

To land any of the top centers in this class I think you've got to cross your fingers on lottery night. That would obviously be a god-send for the rebuild.

Assuming we're more realistically picking in that 5-10 ballpark, I think McGroarty and Miroschnichenko are early candidates that would make sense. I imagine their size and scoring will tick boxes for a lot of folks on this board as the year progresses.

McGroarty brings a plus shot, plus playmaking ability, and good hands on a pretty broad 6'1 frame. Skating is not a plus, and I imagine that's what all the lazy one page scouting reports will harp on throughout the year. I think he's strong on his edges, but he's not especially fast or agile at this stage. Some growth on those fronts would be nice as the year goes on.

He has played center in the past, if the NTDP tries him there this year that would be interesting. I kind of doubt we see it though.