GDT: 2023 NHL Draft

[CBJWerenski8]

Listening to Cannon Fodder, Hedger said that the Jackets wanted Leo Carlsson at 3 which is why they tried to trade up to get him. When Anaheim said no, Jarmo had to be "talked into" taking Fantilli over Will Smith.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Listening to Cannon Fodder, Hedger said that the Jackets wanted Leo Carlsson at 3 which is why they tried to trade up to get him. When Anaheim said no, Jarmo had to be "talked into" taking Fantilli over Will Smith.

Is that why his voice cracked a bit onstage? Because he was so disheartened from being pressured to select the inferior prospect?

 

[tunnelvision]

Listening to Cannon Fodder, Hedger said that the Jackets wanted Leo Carlsson at 3 which is why they tried to trade up to get him. When Anaheim said no, Jarmo had to be "talked into" taking Fantilli over Will Smith.

So a GM, who publicly stated Fantilli is everything this team needs and said they'll try to convince Fantilli to come to NHL camp next fall, actually liked another prospect more who seems at least a year way from being NHL-ready.

Alright then.

 

[Youngguns80]

Listening to Cannon Fodder, Hedger said that the Jackets wanted Leo Carlsson at 3 which is why they tried to trade up to get him. When Anaheim said no, Jarmo had to be "talked into" taking Fantilli over Will Smith.

Do we trust Hedger???

 

[OldGoaltender]

Do we trust Hedger???

All these talking heads have to justify their swipes and clicks when they appear to be wrong. It’s almost comical that he thinks that the GM isn’t the final say.

 

[DJA]

Hedger is a joke.

 

[majormajor]

So a GM, who publicly stated Fantilli is everything this team needs and said they'll try to convince Fantilli to come to NHL camp next fall, actually liked another prospect more who seems at least a year way from being NHL-ready.

Alright then.

None of that is implausible. I had Carlsson ahead despite expecting Fantilli to come a year earlier, Verbeek perhaps had the same expectation. And of course Jarmo says that Fantilli is everything this team needs, he's going to say that no matter what.

This isn't an endorsement of Hedger's story, I'd want to see more to believe it.

 

[Fro]

Do we trust Hedger???

I want to know who his "source" is...thats laughable

 

[tunnelvision]

None of that is implausible. I had Carlsson ahead despite expecting Fantilli to come a year earlier, Verbeek perhaps had the same expectation. And of course Jarmo says that Fantilli is everything this team needs, he's going to say that no matter what.

This isn't an endorsement of Hedger's story, I'd want to see more to believe it.

I was referring to "Jarmo had to be talked out of preferring Smith over Fantilli" part.

 

[EDM]

If there is one word or characteristic that seemed to be the common thread on all of our selections it is tenacity

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

I'm just waiting until behind the battle comes out. They pick and choose what is shown but if they had Fantilli at 2 there is probably some reactions. I have zero faith in what Hedger or Portzline say

 

[EDM]

And for what reason do you believe you are getting the unvarnished truth out of Jarmo?0

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Item No. 4: Draft drama​

About an hour before the NHL Draft started on Wednesday, word started swirling around Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena that the Anaheim Ducks — owners of the No. 2 pick — were planning to take Swedish prospect Leo Carlsson.

Certainly, there was strong consideration that Carlsson could go in that spot, but the conventional wisdom held that Ducks GM Pat Verbeek would use that pick on Fantilli, who just one year ago was regarded as neck-and-neck with Bedard to go No. 1.

In that scenario, the Blue Jackets were tasked to decide between Carlsson and Will Smith, and the belief was that Smith was their preferred choice of the two. There’s a reason Kekalainen kept shaping his pre-draft quotes to say that the player they pick might not help the Blue Jackets immediately. (Smith is headed to Boston College in the fall.)

The Blue Jackets had come to terms with the fact that their lottery slide — from the No. 2 pick to No. 3 — likely left them out of contention for both Bedard and Fantilli, a crushing blow considering how dreadful, dreary and unending this past season felt.

That’s what made Wednesday so meaningful for the Blue Jackets. The draft has not been kind to them through the years. Much of that is their own doing — Gilbert Brule over Anze Kopitar? Alexandre Picard? — but they’ve had several seasons where they’ve picked just high enough to miss out on the true difference-makers, like Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Nathan MacKinnon, etc.


But not this year.

When Verbeek leaned into the microphone and made the Ducks pick — “From Orebro of the SHL … ” — fans at the Blue Jackets watch party in downtown Columbus knew exactly what that meant.

No, Kekalainen and his scouting staff did not sprint to the stage to make the pick. They were as deliberate as ever, and Kekalainen was surprisingly subdued in the hours after the pick, repeating that any of the three players — Fantilli, Carlsson and Smith — would not have been a surprise at No. 2.

But the Blue Jackets were privately giddy that Fantilli fell to them. It could be a turning point for the franchise.

Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Veteran players weigh in on Babcock, and Fantilli signs

Zach Werenski and Sean Kuraly expressed enthusiasm about the hire and said they will be open-minded.

theathletic.com

 

[LJ7]

Listening to Cannon Fodder, Hedger said that the Jackets wanted Leo Carlsson at 3 which is why they tried to trade up to get him. When Anaheim said no, Jarmo had to be "talked into" taking Fantilli over Will Smith.

Is he a Chicago sleeper agent sowing discord here or something?

 

[GoJackets1]

Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Veteran players weigh in on Babcock, and Fantilli signs

Zach Werenski and Sean Kuraly expressed enthusiasm about the hire and said they will be open-minded.

theathletic.com

The way I’m reading the third paragraph here, Porty’s main (only?) evidence that Smith was the pick over Carlsson is because of Jarmo’s quotes on not getting help for next year? If so, that’s pretty funny.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

The way I’m reading the third paragraph here, Porty’s main (only?) evidence that Smith was the pick over Carlsson is because of Jarmo’s quotes on not getting help for next year? If so, that’s pretty funny.

Indeed. And someone will need to refresh my memory that Jarmo was always framing the pre-draft discussion in ways that indicated help might not be immediately forthcoming.

 

[Byrral]

It's entirely possible but based on his history here I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is no way that Carlsson was ahead of Fantilli on Jarmos draft board much less Will Smith. I had "resigned" myself that Carlsson was going to be a Jacket and was excited about it. I will be following his development closely.

 

[CBJx614]

It's entirely possible but based on his history here I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is no way that Carlsson was ahead of Fantilli on Jarmos draft board much less Will Smith. I had "resigned" myself that Carlsson was going to be a Jacket and was excited about it. I will be following his development closely.

The three of them will have their careers linked forever.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

It's entirely possible but based on his history here I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is no way that Carlsson was ahead of Fantilli on Jarmos draft board much less Will Smith. I had "resigned" myself that Carlsson was going to be a Jacket and was excited about it. I will be following his development closely.

I think its pretty clear that our board was 1. Bedard 2. Fantilli 3. Smith and 4. Carlsson

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[stevo61]

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

That's a fantastic interview. Maybe it's JD just saying all the right things again but certainly sounds honest. Liked the bit that Carlsson made a good impression on Boumedienne in the WC. Also the bit about Babs and how they vetted him, I haven't watched all the Jarmo and Babs interviews on this but JD admits upfront they did ask about the "tough" stuff, and brings up Modano here (which I remember checking the game reports and found out to be overblown in the articles, although I think JD is incorrect with the "30 games left", the truth was somewhere in the middle).

 

[MoeBartoli]

Thanks for posting. This was an exceptional interview. JD is so good at interviews that one might wonder if his words are simply the mastery of PR skills, but I believe what he said was pretty honest stuff.

 

[JacketsDavid]

The way I’m reading the third paragraph here, Porty’s main (only?) evidence that Smith was the pick over Carlsson is because of Jarmo’s quotes on not getting help for next year? If so, that’s pretty funny.

On the draft broadcast one of the announcers mentioned he thought the CBJ were leaning Smith over Carlsson. So it also was known (or discussed) with national media that the CBJ may go that way.

 

[GoJackets1]

On the draft broadcast one of the announcers mentioned he thought the CBJ were leaning Smith over Carlsson. So it also was known (or discussed) with national media that the CBJ may go that way.

I am inclined to believe that everyone's source on that whole tidbit was Porty's initial story. I'm not convinced anyone else had additional context.