Prospect Info: #5 OA - Barrett Hayton - Center - Back to the OHL

[Grimes]

And I guess with my point here is how upset would you be if we took Hayton over Tkachuck

 

[rt]

I prefer Tkachuk. My top four was Dahlin, Svechnikov, Zadina, and Hughes. I had Wahlstrom or Kotkaniemi 5th, IIRC. Hayton instead of one or the other of those two would sting a lot less than passing on Zadina and Hughes who I like a lot more than Hayton, but also more than Kotkaniemi, Wahlstrom, Tkachuk, Bouchard, Dobson, etc.

 

[Alberta Yote]

I think Hayton is going to be a better version of Dvorak. Great pick at 10.

That’s my story.

 

[PuckLife]

I love reading this crap, knowing that within 3 years Hayton will have proven Chayka right and all the doubters wrong.

 

[rt]

I love reading this crap, knowing that within 3 years Hayton will have proven Chayka right and all the doubters wrong.

Yeah? I suppose you had him in your pre draft top five right?

 

[rt]

Deleted tweet?

 

[Mosby]

Deleted tweet?

Yup. It was a Rich Nairn tweet. Said Hayton led Team Canada in goals at the Hlinka.

 

[PuckLife]

Yeah? I suppose you had him in your pre draft top five right?

I’m a Soo fan, and I had him inside 10.

 

[Jormungandr]

Yup. It was a Rich Nairn tweet. Said Hayton led Team Canada in goals at the Hlinka.

I believe he did. In 2017. In the same tournament Jan Jeník led the entire tournament with 6.

 

[rt]

I’m a Soo fan, and I had him inside 10.

Nice! Hopefully he lives up to it. He’d be a VERY rare case of becoming an impact offensive player in the NHL despite becoming an impact offensive player in the CHL only AFTER their draft year. That’s exceedingly rare. Unicorn stuff.

 

[johnchayka89]

I think we are overdue for a unicorn or 2.

 

[YotesFan47]

1 Dahlin
2 Svechnikov
3 Zadina
4 Wahlstrom
4 Kotkaniemi
4 Dobson
5 Hughes
5 Boqvist
6 Hayton
6 Tkachuk
6 Veleno
6 Bouchard
6 Smith
6 Wilde

As of today, this is my ranking with the numbers indicating the grouping in my eyes.

Just want to make sure I put this in here for a few years down the road so i can see if my eye was right. If I remember correctly, there was another poster that was saying he thought he could go top ten. If he does pan out, I'm totally tooting my own horn.

 

[PuckLife]

Nice! Hopefully he lives up to it. He’d be a VERY rare case of becoming an impact offensive player in the NHL despite becoming an impact offensive player in the CHL only AFTER their draft year. That’s exceedingly rare. Unicorn stuff.

For the amount of ice he got and the role he was given, he did make a significant impact offensively. I understand that it’s hard to see past stats until you watch him play multiple games. The kid does it all.

 

[Jakey53]

For the amount of ice he got and the role he was given, he did make a significant impact offensively. I understand that it’s hard to see past stats until you watch him play multiple games. The kid does it all.

Thanks for info. Must of us fans only have the pts. and a few highlight videos to go on, and that is why most wanted Zadina, not Hayton. Time will tell if Chayka was right.

 

[tucknroll]

I’m a Soo fan, and I had him inside 10.

What was your top 10?
Also being as you're Soo fan what did you think of Sandin, Trott and Verbeek?

 

[rt]

Tough to look at the 2018 class and see so many top D and then look at the 2019 class and see so many intriguing C prospects.

Man. Looking around at these great 2019 centers, I’m wondering if Hayton would crack my top five of just centers in this draft. There could easily be ten centers (just centers) as impressive or even more impressive than Hayton. Very strong draft for centers. Very weak for D.

I think we really got our wires crossed when we reached so far just to get that C.

We’re going to end up reaching on a C in the best D crop/worst C crop draft in years and then subsequently reaching on a D in the best C crop/worst D crops draft in years.

 

[lanky]

We’re going to end up reaching on a C in the best D crop/worst C crop draft in years and then subsequently reaching on a D in the best C crop/worst D crops draft in years.

A bit early to be critical of next June's decision.

 

[Heldig]

Man. Looking around at these great 2019 centers, I’m wondering if Hayton would crack my top five of just centers in this draft. There could easily be ten centers (just centers) as impressive or even more impressive than Hayton. Very strong draft for centers. Very weak for D.

I think we really got our wires crossed when we reached so far just to get that C.

We’re going to end up reaching on a C in the best D crop/worst C crop draft in years and then subsequently reaching on a D in the best C crop/worst D crops draft in years.

And we just learn that the scouting director - Bernhardt - has left the team. Pure speculation but maybe Chayka wanted Hayton waaaaay more than our scouts did.

 

[lanky]

And we just learn that the scouting director - Bernhardt - has left the team. Pure speculation but maybe Chayka wanted Hayton waaaaay more than our scouts did.

I've made this assumption. We'll probably never know tho.

 

[BUX7PHX]

Wasn't there an article that stated that our scouts had been tracking Hayton since he was 16, though? While Chayka is certainly allowed to have his favorites, as we all are, my understanding was that this wasn't an out of left field decision for our department. I would imagine that it is even possible that if Bernhardt was higher on Hayton than others, maybe Chayka did him a solid (just like the Rangers did when they selected Lias Andersson with our 7th OA pick in the Stepan trade - my understanding was that the European scout for the NYR was retiring and his "gift" was being given the decision on that pick).

Granted, if that is the case, I don't necessarily approve of that happening with a pick in the top 5, but I think there was a little more consensus feeling on Hayton than would be assumed.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I would imagine that it is even possible that if Bernhardt was higher on Hayton than others, maybe Chayka did him a solid (just like the Rangers did when they selected Lias Andersson with our 7th OA pick in the Stepan trade - my understanding was that the European scout for the NYR was retiring and his "gift" was being given the decision on that pick).

I actually think that Chayka was a lot higher on Hayton than Bernhardt. From the video I saw of their pre-draft meetings (admittedly, edited too much to give proper context, but it's still out there), it looked a lot like the scouts' pick was Tkachuk, and their fallback was someone else. Chayka, meanwhile, has said more than once that he was "obsessed" with Hayton for a while.

 

[BUX7PHX]

I actually think that Chayka was a lot higher on Hayton than Bernhardt. From the video I saw of their pre-draft meetings (admittedly, edited too much to give proper context, but it's still out there), it looked a lot like the scouts' pick was Tkachuk, and their fallback was someone else. Chayka, meanwhile, has said more than once that he was "obsessed" with Hayton for a while.

Right - for some reason I thought that the reason that Chayka became "obsessed" with this particular player was due to the fact that Bernhardt had been keeping an eye on him since Hayton was 16, and that the information on Hayton and his game really resonated with Chayka starting with last season. Once he kept getting good video of Hayton, Chayka's "obsession" started. "Was Bernhardt the scout that keyed Chayka to Hayton?" or not is the question.

 

[hbk]

In Latest Full60 Pronham indicates 4 teams in Top 10 were looking hard at Hayton.

 

[rt]

We already knew of three, right? Yet the McKenzie poll had him outside the top ten.

 

[Matias Maccete]

It doesn't look like the insane reach it did at the draft. I've also been impressed by what I've seen of Hayton. I wonder more and more about an attitude or personality concern with Zadina after hearing that Vancouver preferred Hughes.

At the time the pick was announced I was livid, now even if we could swap Hayton for Zadina I'm not sure I would. This will be a really interesting pick to follow.