2022 NHL Entry Draft - Kraken Edition

[kihei]

Things I'd like to see happen in the next 24-48 hours:

Prefer Wright/Cooley, but happy with Nemec/Jiricek.
Trade back into the first round to land another piece to the puzzle
Trade for Puljujarvi
Offer sheet Sandin for a 2nd rounder and get a 22-year old second-pairing Dman with upside to grow into more

Or a smaller Travis Dermott, version 2.0.

 

[J Corso]

I just hope someone else takes a defenceman so we get one of the forwards.

Look back at old drafts and the team that takes the defence early in the 1st almost never gets the better guy. Even when they still do ok and get a Heiskanen they miss a Makar. Is Hanafin better than Provorov, Werenski or Chabot?

A top 5 miss on forwards still usually gets you a decent forward even if they don't hit their ceiling. Top 5 misses on defence get you trash like Juolevi, Gudbranson, Reinhart.

 

[kihei]

Whomever we take at #1, it will just be nice to have an enlarged prospect pool. Can't wait to see who the new infant Kraken are.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I just hope someone else takes a defenceman so we get one of the forwards.

Look back at old drafts and the team that takes the defence early in the 1st almost never gets the better guy. Even when they still do ok and get a Heiskanen they miss a Makar. Is Hanafin better than Provorov, Werenski or Chabot?

A top 5 miss on forwards still usually gets you a decent forward even if they don't hit their ceiling. Top 5 misses on defence get you trash like Juolevi, Gudbranson, Reinhart.

I generally tend to agree but it really comes down to how much potential Francis and the rest of the scouting group sees in the skater. It really should be position dependent but around potential and how the players ceiling and floor projects to be.

If you think Nemec is going to be 1D and is the best available skater in our top-4 board, then you go with him. Worrying about it pans out down the road or some skater picked behind him becomes a better D-man is not the best way to make a decision here.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Things I'd like to see happen in the next 24-48 hours:

Prefer Wright/Cooley, but happy with Nemec/Jiricek.
Trade back into the first round to land another piece to the puzzle
Trade for Puljujarvi
Offer sheet Sandin for a 2nd rounder and get a 22-year old second-pairing Dman with upside to grow into more

Sandin isn't better than Dunn and you have Evans coming up. Doesn't make any sense for him to be a target. If you take one of the D at 4 that's another guy who is offensively skilled. If you use a 2nd it should be for a forward in Sandin situation, not Puljujarvi, as that position needs help. If you go for Puljujarvi it should be your last 2nd and try to get back a 4th or 5th but preferably 3rd + 5th for him.

 

[kihei]

I just hope someone else takes a defenceman so we get one of the forwards.

Look back at old drafts and the team that takes the defence early in the 1st almost never gets the better guy. Even when they still do ok and get a Heiskanen they miss a Makar. Is Hanafin better than Provorov, Werenski or Chabot?

A top 5 miss on forwards still usually gets you a decent forward even if they don't hit their ceiling. Top 5 misses on defence get you trash like Juolevi, Gudbranson, Reinhart.

I haven't thought about it before but this is a really good point. I shuffled through 21st century entry drafts, and your take on the situation is accurate nearly all the time. In 21 drafts, among the first defensemen picked in each draft, there are superstars--Daughty, Hedman, Seth Jones, Suter, Heiskanen. Then there are some other good ones, like Boumeister and Ekblad, but they are followed by a bunch of serviceable D (the Johnsons, :Larsson, Murray) and busts and mediocrities (Juolevi, Kleska, Komisarek, Hickey, Barker). Compare that with the first forward taken in each year: Crosby, McDavid, Ovechkin. Matthews, Kovalchuk, Kane, McKinnon, Stamkos, Tavares are at the top of the heap, followed by some good lesser lights like Eric Staal amd Rick Nash. Second and third forwards picked also appear to be well ahead of their defensive counterparts in terms of impact on their teams. It would indeed seem that at the top of the draft a team is consistently more likely to draft a star forward than a star defenseman.

 

[Soul Rebel]

Sandin isn't better than Dunn and you have Evans coming up. Doesn't make any sense for him to be a target. If you take one of the D at 4 that's another guy who is offensively skilled. If you use a 2nd it should be for a forward in Sandin situation, not Puljujarvi, as that position needs help. If you go for Puljujarvi it should be your last 2nd and try to get back a 4th or 5th but preferably 3rd + 5th for him.

Fair points.

Does your opinion on Sandin change if we end up with Cooley/Wright/Slaf at 4 instead?

Outside of Dunn, Oleksiak, Soucy and Larsson I only see 4 defensemen worthy of a "core" moving forward. I am stoked for Evans, but that puts us at 5. Larsson will eventually move on as well within the next four years. At that point, Sundin will be 26, Evans at 24 and Dunn at 29 years old.

 

[HoseEmDown]

Fair points.

Does your opinion on Sandin change if we end up with Cooley/Wright/Slaf at 4 instead?

Outside of Dunn, Oleksiak, Soucy and Larsson I only see 4 defensemen worthy of a "core" moving forward. I am stoked for Evans, but that puts us at 5. Larsson will eventually move on as well within the next four years. At that point, Sundin will be 26, Evans at 24 and Dunn at 29 years old.

The problem I have with Sandin is his too similar to Dunn and Evans in size and style. You just don't want 3 guys all that similar in your lineup to me. It won't allow at least one of them to fully develop as their deployment and minutes will be stymied. Plus an offer sheet would be for your 2nd next year and that could be a top 40 pick. If you could trade say pick 61 for him this year then maybe it makes a little more sense as I don't value that pick nearly as high as the Seattle 2nd next year.

 

[kihei]

Slavkovsky is now the betting favourite to go #1 to Monteal. Wow.

 

[The Marquis]

I had a dream we got Wright and it didn’t go well. I’m never right. Lmfao

 

[kihei]

Finally. Here we go....

 

[kihei]

Montreal indeed grabs Slavkovsky.

 

[Cisse]

I thought they would do that. Devils has their centers.

 

[Cisse]

Wow, we can get Wright.

 

[kihei]

I had a dream we got Wright and it didn’t go well. I’m never right. Lmfao

Holy hell.

RF don't overthink this.

 

[Cisse]

I think we got lucky.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Granted exceptional status at the age of 15 and allowed to enter the OHL a year early, Shane Wright has long been the top prospect in the 2022 Draft Class. While he had a tough start to the year, a dominant second half has only cemented Wright’s status as the best player in this year’s group of top prospects. Wright scored 32 goals and 62 assists for 94 points in 63 games with the Kingston Frontenacs this season. So far in the playoffs, he has put up two goals and eight points in six games as the Frontenacs advance to the second round. He also was named to Team Canada for the World Junior Tournament which was rescheduled due to a COVID outbreak amongst the teams.

Shane Wright Scouting Report: 2022 NHL Draft #1

Shane Wright Scouting Report: Wright has long been the top prospect in this year's draft. The Kingston Frontenacs centre does it all.

lastwordonsports.com

 

[The Marquis]

Holy hell.

RF don't overthink this.

I’m clearly wrong on something here. Lol

 

[RainyCityHockey]

OK, so now the interesting part starts.

I hope Francis uses those extra picks to target a couple of guys in rounds 2 and 3.

Guys that would be on my list are.

Defense:
Lane Hutson
Calle Odelius
Seamus Casey
Ryan Chesley
Mats Lindgren
Christian Kyrou
Mattias Havelid
Atryom Duda

Forward/Centers:
Gleb Trikozov
Owen Beck
Adam Sykora
Viktor Neuchev
Jagger Firkus
Janni Nyman
Julian Lutz
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
Jordan Gustafson
Dmitri Buchelnikov

Goaltender:
Toppias Leinonen
Tyler Brennan

 

[kihei]

I'm rooting for Seamus, Aleksanteri, Atryom, Gleb, Jagger, and Toppias so, if nothing else, we can have the most interesting first names in the league.

 

[Kraken Jokes]

Really loving Seattle's draft so far. I had Ty Nelson and Jagger Firkus going in the 1st, and Goyette going early in the 2nd. Not familiar with Kokko at all though.

 

[95snipes]

You guys are having an excellent draft. Wright at 4 and then two players who could have been 1st rounders in Firkus/Goyette.

 

[Gniwder]

Another solid draft by Francis and company. As much as I hated the expansion draft, it is paying off dividends in the entry draft.

 

[Price is Wright]

Another solid draft by Francis and company. As much as I hated the expansion draft, it is paying off dividends in the entry draft.

I would have become a Seattle Kraken fan earlier if they had a better expansion draft and chose a better head coach. This draft settled it for me.

 

[Irie]

Another solid draft by Francis and company. As much as I hated the expansion draft, it is paying off dividends in the entry draft.

It's frustrating to watch a team you like lose, especially knowing that they could be a fair amount better had they gone all in at the expansion.

But recognizing there was not a contender available through expansion was a major sign that this teams future would heavily be determined by it's first three entry drafts.

If Francis has one more draft like this one, Seattle should be a perennial contender for years starting in the near future.