Prospect Info: 2023 Draft Thread (Yotes picking #6 & #12)

[rt]

Bedard is the best prospect to come out since Matthews. Its not even close. He's a little undersized, but he makes up for it with his generational offensive skill.

I keep saying “since McDavid”. Forgot Matthews was a year later. I mean “since Matthews”. Man, the lack of respect from me for our boy! Shame on me.

 

[Kai Yo T]

Bedard is by far the most fun to watch. Kid is amazing. I'd REALLY like to get him even though any of the 3 would have a big impact on the team.

 

[Grimes]

This was part of the reason that I was questioning if we go D with Nemec or Jiricek early and wait until 2023 for top C, as opposed to taking Cooley.

Nearly all D in the top 30 or so are 6 foot or shorter and primarily offensive/puck-moving types. Cooley is nice, and Lamoreaux has very intriguing upside. But I think Jiricek's floor outweighs that of Lamoreaux heavily (ceiling will only be similar if Lamoreaux develops properly).

Would be intriguing to see what would have happened if all trades made in 2022 draft remained the same and our picks were:

Jiricek
Geekie
Lambert/Schaefer

As a bottom 5 team, one of Bedard, Fantilli, Dvorak, or Jager should be available and I think all would be ahead of Cooley if the 22 and 23 draft eligibles were combined

Have some similar concerns but after thinking about it we have stock piled so many assets and are not done doing so (six 2nds between the 24 and 25 drafts). Some of these guys will start hitting, some will continue to develop in various leagues. Some of the picks will be used to move up too. But I have this gut feeling by 2024 we do something big, like CBJ just did. Maybe it's signing a huge UFA defenseman that somewhat fits into our timeline. Maybe another team's"Chychrun" becomes available. But if we don't have a clearcut top pairing defenseman or two in our pool after the 2024 draft I feel like we aquire one either through trade, UFA or offer sheet.

 

[hbk]

Have some similar concerns but after thinking about it we have stock piled so many assets and are not done doing so (six 2nds between the 24 and 25 drafts). Some of these guys will start hitting, some will continue to develop in various leagues. Some of the picks will be used to move up too. But I have this gut feeling by 2024 we do something big, like CBJ just did. Maybe it's signing a huge UFA defenseman that somewhat fits into our timeline. Maybe another team's"Chychrun" becomes available. But if we don't have a clearcut top pairing defenseman or two in our pool after the 2024 draft I feel like we aquire one either through trade, UFA or offer sheet.

There's a guy in Toronto set to be a UFA in 2024 that you have to think we will be very high on.

 

[EbonyRaptor]

With my Hawks in full tank/rebuild mode I think the odds of getting a top-5 pick in the 2023 draft is pretty good. Bedard would be my first choice - kind of a no-brainer there. I wouldn't hesitate to take Michkov second because the Hawks can afford to wait 3-4 years for him and in one respect it would work out well with the timing of the rebuild. Considering the rebuild timeline is at least 3-4 years so getting Michkov starting his ELC in 3 years would be perfect.

Fantilli or Carlsson would be next choice based on how they do next season.

The Hawks also have TB's 1st and 2nd round picks and their own 2nd round pick in 2023. If Kane gets traded they may end up with a 3rd 2023 1st round pick. So basically - the season will suck but next offseason looks pretty good.

 

[rt]

With my Hawks in full tank/rebuild mode I think the odds of getting a top-5 pick in the 2023 draft is pretty good. Bedard would be my first choice - kind of a no-brainer there. I wouldn't hesitate to take Michkov second because the Hawks can afford to wait 3-4 years for him and in one respect it would work out well with the timing of the rebuild. Considering the rebuild timeline is at least 3-4 years so getting Michkov starting his ELC in 3 years would be perfect.

Fantilli or Carlsson would be next choice based on how they do next season.

The Hawks also have TB's 1st and 2nd round picks and their own 2nd round pick in 2023. If Kane gets traded they may end up with a 3rd 2023 1st round pick. So basically - the season will suck but next offseason looks pretty good.

Michkov would be a great choice for Chicago. Much more concerning for AZ.

 

[moosemeister]

With my Hawks in full tank/rebuild mode I think the odds of getting a top-5 pick in the 2023 draft is pretty good. Bedard would be my first choice - kind of a no-brainer there. I wouldn't hesitate to take Michkov second because the Hawks can afford to wait 3-4 years for him and in one respect it would work out well with the timing of the rebuild. Considering the rebuild timeline is at least 3-4 years so getting Michkov starting his ELC in 3 years would be perfect.

Fantilli or Carlsson would be next choice based on how they do next season.

The Hawks also have TB's 1st and 2nd round picks and their own 2nd round pick in 2023. If Kane gets traded they may end up with a 3rd 2023 1st round pick. So basically - the season will suck but next offseason looks pretty good.

Good luck this season, tank brother. See you at the top

 

[Grimes]

With my Hawks in full tank/rebuild mode I think the odds of getting a top-5 pick in the 2023 draft is pretty good. Bedard would be my first choice - kind of a no-brainer there. I wouldn't hesitate to take Michkov second because the Hawks can afford to wait 3-4 years for him and in one respect it would work out well with the timing of the rebuild. Considering the rebuild timeline is at least 3-4 years so getting Michkov starting his ELC in 3 years would be perfect.

Fantilli or Carlsson would be next choice based on how they do next season.

The Hawks also have TB's 1st and 2nd round picks and their own 2nd round pick in 2023. If Kane gets traded they may end up with a 3rd 2023 1st round pick. So basically - the season will suck but next offseason looks pretty good.

Didn't love all of Chicago's moves this offseason, but as we learned sometimes you just gotta rip off the band-aid to get the rebuild started and garuntee some top picks. I think I would have been more concerned as a fan of they continued down the path of trying to get one last run with that core.

It's going to be fun watching our two franchises do rebuilds in hyper speed and be in the same division. We may also get some great timing of coming out of it as NSH/STL/DAL start to weaken and maybe even COL not being quite the juggernaut they currently are.

Cheers! (And leave some 23 1sts for us)

 

[EbonyRaptor]

Didn't love all of Chicago's moves this offseason, but as we learned sometimes you just gotta rip off the band-aid to get the rebuild started and garuntee some top picks. I think I would have been more concerned as a fan of they continued down the path of trying to get one last run with that core.

It's going to be fun watching our two franchises do rebuilds in hyper speed and be in the same division. We may also get some great timing of coming out of it as NSH/STL/DAL start to weaken and maybe even COL not being quite the juggernaut they currently are.

Cheers! (And leave some 23 1sts for us)

Which is exactly what the Hawks tried to do for the last few years. The rebuild should have been started a couple years ago, if not 3 or 4 years ago. They were trying to avoid a total rebuild even as late as last summer when they traded for Seth Jones and then extended him for 8 years at $9.5M. Well, regardless of the reasons for not starting the rebuild earlier - it wasn't done and now here we are nd I'm happy they are finally going scorched Earth instead of tiptoeing around the edges.

I don't have any inside information with which to base my opinion - but I think part of the rationale for trading DeBrincat was to help Kane decide to request a trade. Kane is still a top player and with the Hawks retaining 50% most teams would love to add him to their team for only $5.25M and theoretically be willing to give up a 1st round draft pick to do so - maybe more if Kane agrees to an extension. As much as I would hate to see Kane play for another team - it's a business decision and recouping asset to help the rebuild takes priority.

 

[Jagged Ice]

I read an article from Tony Abbott this morning speculating that the Wild could be executing a one year tank if the Russian gov't restricts NHL players travel. Kaprizov is (apparently) still having work visa issues and unable to get out of Russia.
If Kaprizov can't return, that's 80 goals and almost 200 points lost between him and Fiala with a 38 year old starting goalie.
From the article-
"They look at the success of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche. Those teams won 12 of the last 14 Stanley Cups, and top-2 draft picks are the foundations of all of them."

I'm not concerned about any team besides Chicago being worse than us, but the Bedard/Mischkov sweepstakes could be quite entertaining.

 

[Grimes]

I read an article from Tony Abbott this morning speculating that the Wild could be executing a one year tank if the Russian gov't restricts NHL players travel. Kaprizov is (apparently) still having work visa issues and unable to get out of Russia.
If Kaprizov can't return, that's 80 goals and almost 200 points lost between him and Fiala with a 38 year old starting goalie.
From the article-
"They look at the success of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and Colorado Avalanche. Those teams won 12 of the last 14 Stanley Cups, and top-2 draft picks are the foundations of all of them."

I'm not concerned about any team besides Chicago being worse than us, but the Bedard/Mischkov sweepstakes could be quite entertaining.

Great...potentially the three teams trying to tank in the league may all be in the same division.

I think this is still a long shot for Minney and I think they would be happy with a top 10 pick in an offseason rather than going straight to the bottom.

I truly think the only teams who have actually gotten worse on paper are CHI, CGY, ANA, SJ, MTL and us. I can't think of any other team that got considerably worse, and you could make an argument that we will be better with players developing and being more used to AT's systems. There are some top teams that got a touch worse due to having to lose players due to cap reasons, but it's not like any of those teams will fall into lotto land.

PHI - bad offseason but DeAngelo is a good hockey player for what he brings. And that unit seems to have gotten tighter without Giroux. They should have committed to the tank but they didn't and are ultimately a smidge better because of it. Also Couturier should be back and potentially Ellis
SEA: Added Burakovsky and potentially will add Wright and a full season of Beniers.
ANA: Really gutted some of their best vets. They could be very bad, but they still have a ton of potential on that roster. They overperformed at the start of last season, I feel like they will start slow and progressively get better through this one.
SJ: Lost Burns, which I think is a bigger blow than it may seem. They just have too much talent to be bottom 3 bad. A couple key injuries could do them in though, especially since other teams have gotten so much better.
WPG/VAN: both seem like they are in the same spot. Lots of good kids and vets, but the team mix is off. Either could start blowing it up, or surprise folks.
MTL: On paper they moved out some good players, but they should also be much healthier and wont have such a shit show of a season. I think they are much better than last year and probably close to 10th worst in the league that last place.
NYI: Started putting things together at the end of the season. But the east is just so stacked now that I have a feeling they may actually struggle and the some of the vets may take a step back. This is a team that could potentially blow it all up and race to the bottom.

My too early to know anything predictions are:
CHI - 32
AZ - 31
ANA - 30
NYI - 29
SEA - 28
PHI - 27
SJ - 26
MTL - 25

 

[Jagged Ice]

Great...potentially the three teams trying to tank in the league may all be in the same division.

I think this is still a long shot for Minney and I think they would be happy with a top 10 pick in an offseason rather than going straight to the bottom.

I truly think the only teams who have actually gotten worse on paper are CHI, CGY, ANA, SJ, MTL and us. I can't think of any other team that got considerably worse, and you could make an argument that we will be better with players developing and being more used to AT's systems. There are some top teams that got a touch worse due to having to lose players due to cap reasons, but it's not like any of those teams will fall into lotto land.

PHI - bad offseason but DeAngelo is a good hockey player for what he brings. And that unit seems to have gotten tighter without Giroux. They should have committed to the tank but they didn't and are ultimately a smidge better because of it. Also Couturier should be back and potentially Ellis
SEA: Added Burakovsky and potentially will add Wright and a full season of Beniers.
ANA: Really gutted some of their best vets. They could be very bad, but they still have a ton of potential on that roster. They overperformed at the start of last season, I feel like they will start slow and progressively get better through this one.
SJ: Lost Burns, which I think is a bigger blow than it may seem. They just have too much talent to be bottom 3 bad. A couple key injuries could do them in though, especially since other teams have gotten so much better.
WPG/VAN: both seem like they are in the same spot. Lots of good kids and vets, but the team mix is off. Either could start blowing it up, or surprise folks.
MTL: On paper they moved out some good players, but they should also be much healthier and wont have such a shit show of a season. I think they are much better than last year and probably close to 10th worst in the league that last place.
NYI: Started putting things together at the end of the season. But the east is just so stacked now that I have a feeling they may actually struggle and the some of the vets may take a step back. This is a team that could potentially blow it all up and race to the bottom.

I agree. Only a few teams are in on the tank starting in October. Teams like Minny and the ones you mentioned will be late to the party. The Flyers and Seattle will be dogshit but at least they'll try to get some wins. Right now I only see Chicago and AZ sharing the #32 spot in the power rankings by actual design. Maybe Anaheim.

 

[Grimes]

I agree. Only a few teams are in on the tank starting in October. Teams like Minny and the ones you mentioned will be late to the party. The Flyers and Seattle will be dogshit but at least they'll try to get some wins. Right now I only see Chicago and AZ sharing the #32 spot in the power rankings by actual design. Maybe Anaheim.

Agreed. I don't think ANA will outright try to be bad and they wont have much to sell off. Maybe Gibson if he can rehab any value and is willing to move. They did the gutting this past trade deadline and lost Getzlaf. They probably look to do something similar to OTT after this draft, but also probably do not trade their top pick. The fact that they took so many defensemen this year was telling, I think they want to secure another top forward with their 23 pick, then try to grab some top FA's and start to turn the corner in 24.

Another "advantage" we have is not being in the Pacific. SEA, SJ and ANA will all get to beat up on each other and may be able to steal wins from CGY time to time. Lots of two point games in the race to the bottom in the Pacific. We are blessed in being in a tough division where only CHI will be close to our level of stink.

 

[BUX7PHX]

Have some similar concerns but after thinking about it we have stock piled so many assets and are not done doing so (six 2nds between the 24 and 25 drafts). Some of these guys will start hitting, some will continue to develop in various leagues. Some of the picks will be used to move up too. But I have this gut feeling by 2024 we do something big, like CBJ just did. Maybe it's signing a huge UFA defenseman that somewhat fits into our timeline. Maybe another team's"Chychrun" becomes available. But if we don't have a clearcut top pairing defenseman or two in our pool after the 2024 draft I feel like we aquire one either through trade, UFA or offer sheet.

I could see that as well. The issue comes down to whether or not we could have picked that stud D in various drafts anyhow. Now, if our scouts are doing this right, and we are getting 1st/2nd/3rd rounders who are playing at a level above where they were taken, no problem with sending two players taken after the 1st who are now progressing like 1st round picks if it gets us to that right player.

I just think trades get harder to accomplish at points in time because teams have to see eye to eye on value. We can get our picks for taking on bad deals, but what happens when a true hockey trade has to be made? Do the pieces on both sides fit? Especially when dealing with top pairing D or top two line forwards - most of the time, these players rarely get moved anyhow, and when they do it is usually 3-5 yrs after draft when we finally know their development path a little more clearly.

 

[rt]

I hope Chicago picks 2nd and we pick either 1st or 3rd. Hawks can take Michkov with no concerns. I want Bedard or Fantilli.

 

[Jagged Ice]

I want Bedard or Fantilli.

I can see BA having Stramel in that mix with his size and mean play. Wisconsin is a good landing spot for him and he's even bigger than Fantilli. I have not seen a minute of his play. Any early thoughts on him yet?

 

[rt]

I can see BA having Stramel in that mix with his size and mean play. Wisconsin is a good landing spot for him and he's even bigger than Fantilli. I have not seen a minute of his play. Any early thoughts on him yet?

Yeah, I saw most of Stramel’s games that he played with the 18’s squad against USHL teams. They call him “The Big Rig” for a reason. Maybe like a Tuch/Kreider hybrid. With a little Nelson mixed in. Will have to see how much the edge/drive the net play style translates to D1 next season. Might be more Tuch/Nelson than Tuch/Kreider.

I’ve got Fantilli miles ahead. Fantilli is a star. Like a Tkachuk. A little Roenick in there.

 

[Jagged Ice]

I just did the Tankathon simulator 10 times in row. Results-
Zero firsts
(Once) #2 Mischkov
(Twice) #3 Fantilli
The seven remaining sims had us taking Dvorsky #4. Haha
Even Tankathon knows we aren't getting Bedard. I'm really fine with that. I want big and mean. If we can sneak in another top ten pick I'll be a happy camper. I wonder if Crouse & Chychrun could get us Seattle or Philly's '23 1st. Maybe Chicago's GM or Grier in San Jose would bite. I know that's a steep price, but it's a steep return and increases our odds for Bedard and might be the difference in the long run. Maybe we have to add but if we can get an extra top 7 pick in that draft I think we're done tanking and can start assembling the team without signing Kassian and Lucic types. We'll be too young to compete in '23/'24 season but bad enough to get another top ten pick in '24.
Another thing I could do and maybe should do, is put my phone away and enjoy the summer and stop thinking about all this.

 

[TheLegend]

The 2023 draft is 350 days away and you’re all setting yourselves up for major disappointment already.

 

[moosemeister]

Finishing 32nd gets you a 100% chance at Bedard, Michkov or Fantilli.

That’s the mindset. That’s the goal. Not Bedard. The goal is top 3, the bonus is Bedard.

 

[rt]

Finishing 32nd gets you a 100% chance at Bedard, Michkov or Fantilli.

That’s the mindset. That’s the goal. Not Bedard. The goal is top 3, the bonus is Bedard.

Why can’t Matvei Michkov be Matthew Michaels from Moose Jaw?

 

[Fyreman]

Finishing 32nd gets you a 100% chance at Bedard, Michkov or Fantilli.

That’s the mindset. That’s the goal. Not Bedard. The goal is top 3, the bonus is Bedard.

Great point, BUT did you expect MTL to go into free fall? Also, we had the same amount of wins PHI had, the OTLs is what saved them. So my point being- worst record, 'Yotes luck? We'll pick 3, 4, 5. Mark my words...

 

[RemoAZ]

Finishing 32nd gets you a 100% chance at Bedard, Michkov or Fantilli.

That’s the mindset. That’s the goal. Not Bedard. The goal is top 3, the bonus is Bedard.

Coyotes fan = reality is 4th...

 

[moosemeister]

Coyotes fan = reality is 4th...

Dvorksy goes #1 in this most recent draft

 

[Schemp]

My early prediction is we pick 12th