Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Draft Thread

[TK 421]

After watching some of the U18s and playoffs, I think I would be pretty pleased with this draft....If the Cards fell right. Happen to once...on the FC mock draft builder with Consensus picks.
Emery-the Hutson thing doesn't happen without Emery. He is that good defensively.
Freij-right partner he could be a stud
Pulkkinen-Don't seem him falling out of the first, but I would sure take him if he did.
Roberts-Watched him alot. Good player sandpaper bottom six Edmunson type
Traff-Big, very fast and he can shoot the puck. Has some top 9 potential.

Freij checks a lot of boxes for me in terms of what I want in a potential top 4 D, I would love to add him to Lindstein if it breaks that way. He's all over the place on rankings right now but for those who don't know he's a LHS LD 6'1, 196 lbs, multi faceted transitional skill set highlighted by tremendous skating ability and ability to quickly process the game. This player can help you all over the ice and to have a 1/2 punch of Lindstein/Freij at LD....man would I feel better about the future defense. At least 4 rankings have him inside the 1st and two of those have him at 18/19 respectively. THW has him at 8. I think his consolidated has him at 38th overall but when you're playing J20 in Sweden it's easy to get overlooked as I know you're well aware.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Freij checks a lot of boxes for me in terms of what I want in a potential top 4 D, I would love to add him to Lindstein if it breaks that way. He's all over the place on rankings right now but for those who don't know he's a LHS LD 6'1, 196 lbs, multi faceted transitional skill set highlighted by tremendous skating ability and ability to quickly process the game. This player can help you all over the ice and to have a 1/2 punch of Lindstein/Freij at LD....man would I feel better about the future defense. At least 4 rankings have him inside the 1st and two of those have him at 18/19 respectively. THW has him at 8. I think his consolidated has him at 38th overall but when you're playing J20 in Sweden it's easy to get overlooked as I know you're well aware.

I like Freij as well but not enough to use pick 16 on him. And I’ll be pretty surprised if he’s still on the board at pick 48.

 

[TK 421]

I like Freij as well but not enough to use pick 16 on him. And I’ll be pretty surprised if he’s still on the board at pick 48.

Toolsy guys like him will go higher than their consolidated ranking in drafts like this where there's more uncertainty past the top 10-11 guys. In Freij's case that's 38th and I'm suggesting his tools bump him up past several players with higher consolidated rankings into the 1st round. This draft has similarities to the '21 draft where the top fell off quick and your amateur scouts had to be really discerning in identifying potential pros. I think this is one of those drafts but you may view the top group to be larger than 10-11 guys and I concede that could end up being the case here. In any case I like the tools Freij has and think he has a pretty clear path to becoming a potential top 4 NHL D at some point.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Toolsy guys like him will go higher than their consolidated ranking in drafts like this where there's more uncertainty past the top 10-11 guys. In Freij's case that's 38th and I'm suggesting his tools bump him up past several players with higher consolidated rankings into the 1st round. This draft has similarities to the '21 draft where the top fell off quick and your amateur scouts had to be really discerning in identifying potential pros. I think this is one of those drafts but you may view the top group to be larger than 10-11 guys and I concede that could end up being the case here. In any case I like the tools Freij has and think he has a pretty clear path to becoming a potential top 4 NHL D at some point.

Said that about Broberg too. I see the talent definitely. Do I see the adjustment? The physical game when necessary to make a play…. Is his role just predefined?

That scares me a bit, but maybe some of the best tools

 

[STL fan in MN]

Toolsy guys like him will go higher than their consolidated ranking in drafts like this where there's more uncertainty past the top 10-11 guys. In Freij's case that's 38th and I'm suggesting his tools bump him up past several players with higher consolidated rankings into the 1st round. This draft has similarities to the '21 draft where the top fell off quick and your amateur scouts had to be really discerning in identifying potential pros. I think this is one of those drafts but you may view the top group to be larger than 10-11 guys and I concede that could end up being the case here. In any case I like the tools Freij has and think he has a pretty clear path to becoming a potential top 4 NHL D at some point.

I don’t disagree with any of that really but there’s just at least 16 players I like more.

Freij’s skating ability is particularly notable but he always leaves me wanting more too. But he’s definitely solid. He’s on the higher end of the 2nd tier grouping of d-men for me.

 

[STL fan in MN]

After a long day, finally watched the U18 gold medal game. What a stupid penalty by Trevor Connelly. 10 min left in the game, your team is up one and he basically charges at a guy and smashes his head into the glass. Easy 5 and a game, especially under international rules. Canada scored 3 goals on the 5 min PP to win it.

And he was the “ringer” they added. The NTDP was put together with the end goal of winning the U18s as a culmination of these guys being together 2 years together. That’s the advantage the US has. They’re a team whereas all the others are basically a collection of players that don’t usually play together. But they benched a couple of their guys and added Connelly to the roster. I can only think of what those guys must be thinking of the guy that was added to their team right at the end. Most of them were absolutely bawling after the game and getting their silver medals.

My guess is Connelly will still be on the board when it’s the Blues turn to pick at 16. I hope they pass. First the swastika incident, then the urination incident and now this. He’s quite talented but seems to be a head case.

 

[Memento]

There’s absolutely no way I want Connelly. Reminds me of Mitchell Miller, but more talented and a forward.

Still praying for Hage.

 

[sfvega]

I'm still a fan of moving down. It just feels a lot like 2021 where we're in a spot hoping someone falls and they don't. Ideally, the Ducks would deal Edmonton's 1st and their 2nd for our 1st and Toronto's 2nd. I honestly think that there's not a huge drop-off between pick 16 and pick 28 or so, but we are in a spot in the 2nd where there's probably going to be a drop-off again. Like if we could get two of Elick, Emery, Freij, Badinka, LSW, then we're in a great spot. Then maybe someone like Mustard with our 2nd.

I just feel like taking a BPA forward, which I wouldn't be in love with past Helenius or Iginla, would mean that we're left in the 2nd just waiting for whatever falls at D as there's probably gonna be a run on D between 20 and 40. Ideally we'd have dealt Buch last deadline and got a late 1st, but where we are now is a very unenviable position.

 

[AyeBah]

My ideal scenario is trade up for Buium. Whether thats 8, 10, 12th pick whatever. Guys a stud minute muncher who will do it all. What he did as a college freshman is nuts. Blew Hughes, Power, Makar, etc numbers all out of the water.

 

[Blueston]

I don’t disagree with any of that really but there’s just at least 16 players I like more.

Freij’s skating ability is particularly notable but he always leaves me wanting more too. But he’s definitely solid. He’s on the higher end of the 2nd tier grouping of d-men for me.

i thought he generally got better as the tourney went on. he still leaves you wanting more, but i at least am more comfortable that he should go in 1st.

 

[kimzey59]

I'm still a fan of moving down. It just feels a lot like 2021 where we're in a spot hoping someone falls and they don't. Ideally, the Ducks would deal Edmonton's 1st and their 2nd for our 1st and Toronto's 2nd. I honestly think that there's not a huge drop-off between pick 16 and pick 28 or so, but we are in a spot in the 2nd where there's probably going to be a drop-off again. Like if we could get two of Elick, Emery, Freij, Badinka, LSW, then we're in a great spot. Then maybe someone like Mustard with our 2nd.

I just feel like taking a BPA forward, which I wouldn't be in love with past Helenius or Iginla, would mean that we're left in the 2nd just waiting for whatever falls at D as there's probably gonna be a run on D between 20 and 40. Ideally we'd have dealt Buch last deadline and got a late 1st, but where we are now is a very unenviable position.

I would submit that you are far too focused on defense.
We have a lot of needs elsewhere also.
There is a severe lack of playmaking ability in our system(our best playmaker is Juraj Pecarcik; a 3rd round pick). There is a severe lack of Right handed shots in the system(both defensively and up front). There are no PF types in our system. We're still fairly weak on potential NHL centers(Dvorsky looks good; but there's very little behind him). We haven't drafted a goalie in 3 years(last one was Will Cranley).

Yes, this is a good draft for defense. At least hypothetically, we could set up our defense for the foreseeable future if things fall perfectly for us.
But this is also a good draft to fill some other gaps. We could very easily come out of this with our offense set for the next decade also. I think you're under-rating some of those "BPA forwards" a great deal.

 

[sfvega]

I would submit that you are far too focused on defense.
We have a lot of needs elsewhere also.
There is a severe lack of playmaking ability in our system(our best playmaker is Juraj Pecarcik; a 3rd round pick). There is a severe lack of Right handed shots in the system(both defensively and up front). There are no PF types in our system. We're still fairly weak on potential NHL centers(Dvorsky looks good; but there's very little behind him). We haven't drafted a goalie in 3 years(last one was Will Cranley).

Yes, this is a good draft for defense. At least hypothetically, we could set up our defense for the foreseeable future if things fall perfectly for us.
But this is also a good draft to fill some other gaps. We could very easily come out of this with our offense set for the next decade also. I think you're under-rating some of those "BPA forwards" a great deal.

Completely disagree. Again, I think that the 21 draft is the comp, where we knew that there was probably going to be a drop-off but stayed hopeful until the first 13 were the guys everyone wanted. I liked Lambos a lot, I liked Svechkov a lot, I liked Bolduc who I don't think was mentioned on here much. But none of them were slam dunks at our pick. The same I think is true for this year. I like Hage and Boisvert well enough, but not in love with their potential. I want nothing to do with Greentree or Connolly. Nygaard doesn't really move the needle for me. I don't see a big difference between the potential of Hage or Boisvert and Elick. What I do see is a big difference between the players available at the beginning of round 2 and near the end. I honestly think the 1st round is split more between the first half and the second half with some overflow talent into round 2. I think the defense has evened out in ranks in the top 6 and the next 8 or so, and then everyone else. Like I said, I think there's a noticable drop-off in talent after Iginla and Helenius. Even the guys I like are in that Svechkov, Bolduc range of guys that I wouldn't think anyone is betting their reputation on, but they have their favorite.

And this is getting away from the fact that defensemen take the longest to develop. I'm not saying take anyone who is a D. 2022 was noticably light on D. And especially when winger is so deep in every draft. There are wingers and there are centers who end up at wing. I think you badly underrate Stenberg's playmaking. You complain about the depth at C with a blue chip C, but don't want to regale me with our RD prospect depth.

On wing going forward, as I mentioned in the trade board, we have so much depth. We have Kyrou, we haven't traded Buch so he's still in the mix, Neighbours looks great, Bolduc looks solid, Snuggerud is close, Stenberg is right on schedule, Pecarcik is ahead of schedule, Toro is useful, Schenn might end up settling there. That's nine wingers and Dvorsky hopefully settling in at 2C. But you never know, development isn't always linear. Stenberg could bust. Dvorsky could bust. But hey, Lindstein could bust. Then how many projectable top 4 defensemen do we have to build on down the line?

I'm not saying draft defensemen because that's what we need. I think Greentree is most years, if he hits, about a 60 point power forward. I think Badinka or Elick hits, they're a young top 4 D playing 20 mins/night. Now which of those is easier to trade for? How is it that we can continue to kick the can down the road on D like they're readily available but we can't do that with wing or middle 6 center when they're moved WAY more??????

 

[TK 421]

I'm still a fan of moving down. It just feels a lot like 2021 where we're in a spot hoping someone falls and they don't. Ideally, the Ducks would deal Edmonton's 1st and their 2nd for our 1st and Toronto's 2nd. I honestly think that there's not a huge drop-off between pick 16 and pick 28 or so, but we are in a spot in the 2nd where there's probably going to be a drop-off again. Like if we could get two of Elick, Emery, Freij, Badinka, LSW, then we're in a great spot. Then maybe someone like Mustard with our 2nd.

I just feel like taking a BPA forward, which I wouldn't be in love with past Helenius or Iginla, would mean that we're left in the 2nd just waiting for whatever falls at D as there's probably gonna be a run on D between 20 and 40. Ideally we'd have dealt Buch last deadline and got a late 1st, but where we are now is a very unenviable position.

A good bit of news is that there are quite a few D that will be available throughout the entirety of the 2nd so even if a run happens I'm seeing plenty of interesting players that could help out Lindstein down the line and we have a pair of 2nds to work with.

Rather than trading down I'm far more interested in trading 16th in a package for a D that can be an actual long term piece. If they can't find that trade then I'm taking BPA at 16th and deciding which already drafted former 1st is now expendable as a trade piece.

I agree with your take, this is 2021 all over again.

 

[sfvega]

A good bit of news is that there are quite a few D that will be available throughout the entirety of the 2nd so even if a run happens I'm seeing plenty of interesting players that could help out Lindstein down the line and we have a pair of 2nds to work with.

Rather than trading down I'm far more interested in trading 16th in a package for a D that can be an actual long term piece. If they can't find that trade then I'm taking BPA at 16th and deciding which already drafted former 1st is now expendable as a trade piece.

I agree with your take, this is 2021 all over again.

I mean, if we can get a roster defenseman with the pick sign me up. Any of the younger guys we've mentioned in the trade thread. If we could turn this pick that I'm lukewarm on into a defenseman with years of development, that'd be huge.

The 2nd only worries me in that I think the gap is a lot the same as the first round and we're at (most likely, the lottery loves us you know) the same spot. I think LSW, Emery (who I still think could go 1st), Freij, and Pulkkinen all go top 45. I like Solberg with our 2nd, Shuravin with Toronto's, or Skahan more in the 3rd. But I'm pretty ready to be underwhelmed, unfortunately.

 

[kimzey59]

Completely disagree. Again, I think that the 21 draft is the comp, where we knew that there was probably going to be a drop-off but stayed hopeful until the first 13 were the guys everyone wanted. I liked Lambos a lot, I liked Svechkov a lot, I liked Bolduc who I don't think was mentioned on here much. But none of them were slam dunks at our pick. The same I think is true for this year. I like Hage and Boisvert well enough, but not in love with their potential. I want nothing to do with Greentree or Connolly. Nygaard doesn't really move the needle for me. I don't see a big difference between the potential of Hage or Boisvert and Elick. What I do see is a big difference between the players available at the beginning of round 2 and near the end. I honestly think the 1st round is split more between the first half and the second half with some overflow talent into round 2. I think the defense has evened out in ranks in the top 6 and the next 8 or so, and then everyone else. Like I said, I think there's a noticable drop-off in talent after Iginla and Helenius. Even the guys I like are in that Svechkov, Bolduc range of guys that I wouldn't think anyone is betting their reputation on, but they have their favorite.

And this is getting away from the fact that defensemen take the longest to develop. I'm not saying take anyone who is a D. 2022 was noticably light on D. And especially when winger is so deep in every draft. There are wingers and there are centers who end up at wing. I think you badly underrate Stenberg's playmaking. You complain about the depth at C with a blue chip C, but don't want to regale me with our RD prospect depth.

On wing going forward, as I mentioned in the trade board, we have so much depth. We have Kyrou, we haven't traded Buch so he's still in the mix, Neighbours looks great, Bolduc looks solid, Snuggerud is close, Stenberg is right on schedule, Pecarcik is ahead of schedule, Toro is useful, Schenn might end up settling there. That's nine wingers and Dvorsky hopefully settling in at 2C. But you never know, development isn't always linear. Stenberg could bust. Dvorsky could bust. But hey, Lindstein could bust. Then how many projectable top 4 defensemen do we have to build on down the line?

I'm not saying draft defensemen because that's what we need. I think Greentree is most years, if he hits, about a 60 point power forward. I think Badinka or Elick hits, they're a young top 4 D playing 20 mins/night. Now which of those is easier to trade for? How is it that we can continue to kick the can down the road on D like they're readily available but we can't do that with wing or middle 6 center when they're moved WAY more??????

I think you're taking what I said the wrong way.

I'm not saying "don't take D".
I'm saying our needs on D are pretty specific.
We need a top pairing LHD.
We need a potential top 4 RHD(possibly 2 depending on how long Parayko can go).
Specific high end talent. But beyond that? I don't know that we need to be overly focused on loading up on defense.

I don't see how adding a potential 3rd pairing RHD moves the needle when Kessel looks to have cemented the spot.
I don't see how adding another potential 2nd pairing LHD moves the needle when Lindstein is progressing nicely.

If the concern is about depth, I don't get that either. Just in the last 4 years we've gotten guys like Loof, Buchinger, and Burns in the 3rd round. There are always solid D prospects available in that range. Like you said, D take longer to develop and they slide in the draft as a result.

If this run on defense that you're expecting happens; then it will cause guys like Parascak, Chernyshov, Sennecke, Basha, Luchenko and Ritchie to fall, probably all the way to our 2nd. I'm not going to complain about that scenario. We're not so set up front that we can ignore offensive talent if it's there for the taking.

Eventually, yes. We might get into a situation where we have no choice but to address the defense through the trade front. But it will be a heck of a lot easier to do that if the system has a surplus of high end talent to barter with. You're not going to get high end talent by trading down. You get it by trading up. It may not be routine, but Byram for Mittlestadt type trades do happen.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

What is high end defenseman? One extreme you have a Parekh/Yak question mark defensively. On the other, you have Elick/Emery question mark offensively. Still looking at 2 RHD that play 10-15 years in a top 4. Why not take Elick or Emery?

 

[bleedblue1223]

What is high end defenseman? One extreme you have a Parekh/Yak question mark defensively. On the other, you have Elick/Emery question mark offensively. Still looking at 2 RHD that play 10-15 years in a top 4. Why not take Elick or Emery?

Elick is someone I'd like at the end of 1st or early/mid 2nd. Someone like a Carlo type, so can maybe takeover the Parayko role if he hits his potential. He's a type of prospect of why I'm annoyed we finished where we did. Not just not having a top 10 pick, but picking at 48, instead of 40ish could make us lose out on someone good.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Elick is someone I'd like at the end of 1st or early/mid 2nd. Someone like a Carlo type, so can maybe takeover the Parayko role if he hits his potential. He's a type of prospect of why I'm annoyed we finished where we did. Not just not having a top 10 pick, but picking at 48, instead of 40ish could make us lose out on someone good.

He goes in the first just like Emery. There’s no Hutson without Emery. I watched plenty of games to see that. I would be willing to reach for a top RHD as that is the rarest of the positions to fill. A Basha, Greentree or Hage doesn’t move the needle as much as that organizational need outside of a trade down a few spots. I wouldn’t go too far down. I see those two and Badinka going in the first as RHD.

 

[bleedblue1223]

He goes in the first just like Emery. There’s no Hutson without Emery. I watched plenty of games to see that. I would be willing to reach for a top RHD as that is the rarest of the positions to fill. A Basha, Greentree or Hage doesn’t move the needle as much as that organizational need outside of a trade down a few spots. I wouldn’t go too far down. I see those two and Badinka going in the first as RHD.

An interesting trade down scenario could be with Ottawa around the 26th and 39th. Definitely not my preferred route, but an option nonetheless. Or even Anaheim with their late 1st and early 2nd.

 

[LGB]

Great U18 for Cole Hutson. You'd think with his brother's success he'd have more hype. Why isn't he considered among the second tier of defensemen?

 

[bleedblue1223]

Great U18 for Cole Hutson. You'd think with his brother's success he'd have more hype. Why isn't he considered among the second tier of defensemen?

He and other types similar to him obviously should be. Krug will either be moved or aged out by the time this new core is competing or Hutson would be NHL ready. Perunovich doesn't look like a long-term option, and we don't really have any other high-end offensive, PP QB types in the pipeline. I still view our long-term defensive core as a blank slate. Maybe Buchinger can develop into a Dunn and take that primary offensive role, but I still see a long-term need for a high-end offensive defenseman. If Cole develops like his brother, I'd love to have him in our prospect pool.

I think people just prefer more minute-muncher types at this point.

 

[Blueswin]

McKenzie - Today

Bob McKenzie's NHL Draft Ranking: An 'unpredictable ride' after Macklin Celebrini | TSN

Ten out of 10 NHL club team scouts surveyed in the past week by TSN have Macklin Celebrini as the undisputed No. 1 draft prospect. Beyond Celebrini, though? Buckle up.

www.tsn.ca

 

[Blueswin]

He goes in the first just like Emery. There’s no Hutson without Emery. I watched plenty of games to see that. I would be willing to reach for a top RHD as that is the rarest of the positions to fill. A Basha, Greentree or Hage doesn’t move the needle as much as that organizational need outside of a trade down a few spots. I wouldn’t go too far down. I see those two and Badinka going in the first as RHD.

What about drafting Jiricek with our 1st pick. Is he too much of a risk?

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

What about drafting Jiricek with our 1st pick. Is he too much of a risk?

He really didn’t play at all this year. When he did, he didn’t put up any points either. So why not just take Elick or Emery instead? I see them as less of a risk.

 

[LogosBlue]

My ideal scenario is trade up for Buium. Whether thats 8, 10, 12th pick whatever. Guys a stud minute muncher who will do it all. What he did as a college freshman is nuts. Blew Hughes, Power, Makar, etc numbers all out of the water.

Agree on Buium. I could also see them trying to trade up for Parekh. If that doesn't happen, they probably go with a best man available pick like Eiserman or Iginla (which either one would be outstanding in my opinion). I think Iginla has the genes and pedigree. Eiserman has that dang shot. I know the rest of his game needs to pan out but he has an elite shot. 40/50 goal /year type of shot.