Anyone going to Prospect Development Camp?

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Anyone going to Prospect Development Camp? I usually try to make it one day, and my schedule is free.....so far....that week.

Possible meet up?

For discussion purposes, what do you like to see when you go there? And which prospect do you think will impress?

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[________]

Roster

 

[Satan]

Is it just me or does it seem like there are a lot more invitations than usual?

 

[Mr Misty]

Is it just me or does it seem like there are a lot more invitations than usual?

Leafs roster. It's a trend, I expect.

 

[93Crazed101]

I'll likely be going for at least 2-3 days of it.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Off ice today. Practice sessions 10-11.45 tomorrow and Sunday. Not sure what I have going on this weekend, but will go one of two days.

Wish they had a formal scrimmage like they do some years, but seeing the new guys will be fun in any setting. Play is better than drills though.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Went over to Frisco and watched day one on ice drills.....


Lots of skating drill, toe drag to stay on sides, stop and starts, etc. Then a down low 3 on 3 drill.

No one looked particularly outstanding as in previous years, like Elie or Honka. This included Miro, Otter, Tufte, Gurianov. Miro didn't stand out for size, speed, or puck handling, really.

Otter let in more goals than other G prospects, although to be fair, 1) most were second shots where he looked like he felt the first shot ended the drill, and 2) he looked better in the 3 on 3 drills. Russu, Point and Bow all looked just a bit better, but they have been through this before.

Jason Robertson had a bit more compete and didn't look like he had any skating issues. Both he and Miro had a little hop in their first step to get accelerating.

Of course, just day one and no conclusions can be drawn....not ready to call it a wasted draft quite yet.

 

[Benneguin]

Is there still time to draft Kostin or Tolvanen? Got a feeling this draft snafu will turn out to be Tarasenko Part Deux.

 

[Boomtime]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRomQ0HV0Vk&t=0s

Camp video couldn't get the embed to work

 

[Azzuri]

Is there still time to draft Kostin or Tolvanen? Got a feeling this draft snafu will turn out to be Tarasenko Part Deux.

Development camp impressions are useless for projecting NHL status. Also the drills aren't especially goalie friendly.

 

[93Crazed101]

I've been that past two days, and I disagree. While nobody stood out like Honka on years past, they did still seem to have an edge. Oettinger, for example, was not the best goalie there, but he did have some of the best technique. He was very smooth going in and out of his butterfly and stayed with the puck well. Heiskanen seemed to be one of the better players there and he's only 17! That's an important part, Honka dominated at age 20. That's a big difference. Gurianov still looks solid. I think patience is important here.

 

[Benneguin]

Development camp impressions are useless for projecting NHL status. Also the drills aren't especially goalie friendly.

Im not referring to the camp. Just bad draft strategy on Nill's part in general. Oettinger will need to have an impressive NHL career to justify the pick, IMO.

 

[eartotheground]

Is there still time to draft Kostin or Tolvanen? Got a feeling this draft snafu will turn out to be Tarasenko Part Deux.

If you want to play the hindsight game and compare your GM skills against Nill's, you have to pick just one horse, can't place bets on both. Who was your pick?

 

[Benneguin]

If you want to play the hindsight game and compare your GM skills against Nill's, you have to pick just one horse, can't place bets on both. Who was your pick?

Before the draft I had Tolvanen as BPA then Kostin, so Tolivanen. FWIW here's the list of first rounders I would have picked in previous drafts at the time of the drafts. Actual picks in parenthesis.

2017 Miro Heiskanen & Eeli Tolvanen (Heiskanen & Oettinger) - I had Miro and Vilardi evenly ranked and went back and forth on them.

2016 Rasmus Asplund (Tufte) - I didn't love anybody at where we picked to be honest so didn't really cared who we picked.

2015 Kyle Connor (Gurianov) - Had Travis Konecky and Mathew Barzal ranked after Connor. Gurianov wasn't even a consideration.

2014 Robby Fabbri (Honka) - At the time I didn't like the Honka pick. I think small skilled D men have a much tougher time than small skilled forwards. Fabbri is already ahead of Honka but if Honka can be a similarly effective offensive player in the NHL, while being a defensemen, I'll have no problems giving Nill the win here. Btw, I would have been fine picking Josh Ho Sang here, had him ranked not far behind Fabbri, but get why Dallas didn't consider him.

2013 Valeri Nichuskin (Nichuskin & Dickinson) - Loved the Val pick at the time. Didn't have a second pick since everyone I wanted was selected right before the pick, so was fine with the Dickinson pick.

2012 Radek Faksa (Faksa) - Although I wanted Grigorenko who was picked right before Dallas. I think GMJN would have made the same mistake if given the opportunity.

2011 Nathan Beaulieu (Oleksiak) - Had Oscar Klefbom ranked next. Lots of highly ranked D in this draft and thought we would get one of them, but instead we went off the board.

2010 Vladimir Tarasenko (Campbell) - Had Cam Fowler ranked next and pretty much everyone else ahead of Campbell. Didn't think we would be the team picking a goalie in the first round of any draft unless it's a consensus top of the draft type / once or twice in a generation type goalie.

2009 Missed the draft that year, traveling. (Glennie) - I remember there being some concerns about him being a product of the line he was on or if he was really that good, but other than that didn't have anybody better I saw prior to lead me to think it was a bad pick at the time.

 

[M88K]

Before the draft I had Tolvanen as BPA then Kostin, so Tolivanen. FWIW here's the list of first rounders I would have picked in previous drafts at the time of the drafts. Actual picks in parenthesis.

2017 Miro Heiskanen & Eeli Tolvanen (Heiskanen & Oettinger) - I had Miro and Vilardi evenly ranked and went back and forth on them.

2016 Rasmus Asplund (Tufte) - I didn't love anybody at where we picked to be honest so didn't really cared who we picked.

2015 Kyle Connor (Gurianov) - Had Travis Konecky and Mathew Barzal ranked after Connor. Gurianov wasn't even a consideration.

2014 Robby Fabbri (Honka) - At the time I didn't like the Honka pick. I think small skilled D men have a much tougher time than small skilled forwards. Fabbri is already ahead of Honka but if Honka can be a similarly effective offensive player in the NHL, while being a defensemen, I'll have no problems giving Nill the win here. Btw, I would have been fine picking Josh Ho Sang here, had him ranked not far behind Fabbri, but get why Dallas didn't consider him.

2013 Valeri Nichuskin (Nichuskin & Dickinson) - Loved the Val pick at the time. Didn't have a second pick since everyone I wanted was selected right before the pick, so was fine with the Dickinson pick.

2012 Radek Faksa (Faksa) - Although I wanted Grigorenko who was picked right before Dallas. I think GMJN would have made the same mistake if given the opportunity.

2011 Nathan Beaulieu (Oleksiak) - Had Oscar Klefbom ranked next. Lots of highly ranked D in this draft and thought we would get one of them, but instead we went off the board.

2010 Vladimir Tarasenko (Campbell) - Had Cam Fowler ranked next and pretty much everyone else ahead of Campbell. Didn't think we would be the team picking a goalie in the first round of any draft unless it's a consensus top of the draft type / once or twice in a generation type goalie.

2009 Missed the draft that year, traveling. (Glennie) - I remember there being some concerns about him being a product of the line he was on or if he was really that good, but other than that didn't have anybody better I saw prior to lead me to think it was a bad pick at the time.

What are you talking about went off board? Oleksiaks final rank(Nhl) was 13, McKenzie had him at 17. He was taken at 14.
How is that off the board?
At worst he jumped 3 spots, at best he fell 1

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Im not referring to the camp. Just bad draft strategy on Nill's part in general. Oettinger will need to have an impressive NHL career to justify the pick, IMO.

Isn't that true of any first round pick, even in the later stages? Captain Obvious is in the house!

 

[Benneguin]

Isn't that true of any first round pick, even in the later stages? Captain Obvious is in the house!

And it should be obvious that non-goalie first round picks tend to meet that criteria more so than goalies, which is the whole point.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Statistically, yes, about 70% to 50% for goalies. But, every case is individual, and a first round FW or D that busts out is just as much a wasted pick as a goalie who busts.

Statistically, while we are all pretty jazzed about our top 3 picks, when we look back in 5 years, probably one will meet expectations, one will be average or a bit below his draft slot and the third will be a bust of sorts...maybe not of Dolly Parton proportions, but a bust nonetheless.

 

[LT]

And it should be obvious that non-goalie first round picks tend to meet that criteria more so than goalies, which is the whole point.

Why don't you look at defenders selected 3rd overall, and then tell me what those statistics say about Heiskanen?

 

[Carl33]

Any report from the prospect camp?

how was Robertson?

 

[David Castillo]

Any report from the prospect camp?

how was Robertson?

Everyone was as advertised. Hintz moreso than most. Easy pick to "pull a Janmark" out of training camp.

Robertson is quicker than you'd expect, but skating is choppy as hell. Like Chiasson, dude can't seem to bend his knees. Thankfully Todd Eldridge (Olympic skater, and coach) was teaching everyone.

Martenet was another standout: agile, and smooth, and not condescendingly "just for his size". I only saw the Stepneski videos, but he scored a couple of slick goals according to reports. Samuel Laberge (just signed by Texas) and Alexey Solovyev (NCAA defenseman) were two dudes no one's ever heard of but looked impressive despite their status. Solovyev showed good movement and aggressive play. Some local station even put up a video on him at development camp.

 

[Starry Knight]

Everyone was as advertised. Hintz moreso than most. Easy pick to "pull a Janmark" out of training camp.

Robertson is quicker than you'd expect, but skating is choppy as hell. Like Chiasson, dude can't seem to bend his knees. Thankfully Todd Eldridge (Olympic skater, and coach) was teaching everyone.

Martenet was another standout: agile, and smooth, and not condescendingly "just for his size". I only saw the Stepneski videos, but he scored a couple of slick goals according to reports. Samuel Laberge (just signed by Texas) and Alexey Solovyev (NCAA defenseman) were two dudes no one's ever heard of but looked impressive despite their status. Solovyev showed good movement and aggressive play. Some local station even put up a video on him at development camp.

Quite possibly the first time I've heard this in a few years, maybe ever.

 

[Benneguin]

Why don't you look at defenders selected 3rd overall, and then tell me what those statistics say about Heiskanen?

No arguments there. I think it's a risk going D at #3 especially when he was a late riser, but at least when they pan out you have a great trade chip if you ever find yourself with too many of them. You can't really say that about goalies since there are so few slots for them at the NHL level and so you don't really need to be drafting them when there are always good ones available on the cheap.

Basicalky, when it comes to the draft, I'd like to see the GM of the team I root for do two things.

1) Pick the BPA, especially when there is strong consensus.
2) if there is no strong consensus as to BPA then draft based on value, not need.