I'm not quite sure how to feel about Tyler Wright. His first round picks have been Larkin, Svechnikov, Cholowski, and Rasmussen. I hated the Larkin pick at the time, but he's developed better than I expected. Still we're yet to see if Larkin can stick as a top 6 C. I still prefer higher IQ Cs like Fabbri but Larkin has developed very well so far. We're yet to see who will ultimately be the better player but Laekin was obviously a good choice.
Svechnikov was an interesting pick because it greatly ignored areas of need like C and D to draft a winger. Still they said they thought he was the most skilled players available and had to go BPA. I'm fine with that as I think Svech is a very high ceiling W. I think he and Mantha will be an awesome force.
Cholowski is definitely a huge question mark. I have hope that he'll be a top 4 D but he's a very uncertain prospect. At the time of the draft I figured we'd pick Rubstov which wasn't particularly exciting either. Cholowski was the great unknown that made us feel hopeful with his mystery but still remains one haha.
He's done well with his later picks though. Saarijarvi and Hronek being the recent standouts. Still a team lives and dies on its first round picks and we have yet to draft a player that looks like a top line C or D. That made this year a big "prove it" year for me. Tyler Wright has done pretty well but not great. His picks seemed to produce pretty good players but not address needs very well.
If he could draft an elite potential player this year that looks like a 1/2 C/D I'd be happy. We had 9th overall, our first top ten pick in a long time. Vilardi and Necas were both available and I thought we'd go with one of them. Perfect high skill top 6 Cs hopefully. There was also Liljegren, the classic pre-season hype D that had a rough year and dropped. Personally I still think he could be a Letang-esque #2 offensive defenseman. Or they could have been bold and went with Eric Brannstrom or Nick Suzuki. There were lots of options I liked. Instead we picked the one guy I really didn't want in Rasmussen. It finally established that my fears about Tyler Wright are perhaps true.
I think he's a skilled scout in that he can watch a player and determine their strengths and weaknesses well. Unfortunately I think he prioritize players that have a combination of good physical tools (size/speed) and a good attitude over players that have good skill and think the game well.
Larkin is a Michigan born defensively responsible C that has good size and elite skating. He's known for being a very committed player. Svechnikov is constantly praised for his humble personality and willingness to listen to advice and work to get better. He's quite strong and plays an Ovechkin esque game...not that I expect him to be nearly that good unfortunately. Cholo was going through a huge growth spurt and will be quite fast and strong if he can fill out his growing body. He's known for being extremely committed and hard working...even being a bookworm at school this year.
And finally Rasmussen, he's a huge C with great character. He scored a lot of goals from in tight and uses his size and quick hands to deflect/rebound effectively on the PP. His even strength numbers showed that he struggled a lot and he may have trouble at even strength in the NHL. Furthermore he didn't collect many first assists. These are red flags for a player's future as a player that's expected to produce. I genuinely think he projects as a 3C + PP. That's just not what I was hoping for at 9th overall. How did Holland and Wright justify the pick? He's big and has great character. That's what they are looking for. It's not what I'd normally prioritize but I hope it works out. Ultimately I wish we had someone better than Wright but I think he's fine.
Kortkansalo and Lindstrom seem like they have the potential to follow the path of Hronek and Saarijarvi which is promising.
