Arizona Coyotes 2017 HFNHL Draft Review

[CoyotesHFNHL]

ARIZONA COYOTES 2017 HFNHL DRAFT

Gabriel Vilardi - C/RW - Windsor Spitfires (OHL) 6'02.75" 201
HFNHL: 1st Round, 5th Overall
NHL: 1st Round, 11th Overall by the Los Angeles Kings
GM Says: "Gabriel is a big durable centre, that is more suited for the wing as he gets to the NHL level. He is a dominant player down low and can control the game below the hashmarks. Whenever he makes a play with the puck there's always purpose behind it. He has underrated goaltending and defensive abilities. His skating is his only area of weakness. Gabriel projects as a top six forward"

Isaac Ratcliffe - LW - Guelph Storm (OHL) 6'05.5" 200
HFNHL: 1st Round, 26th Overall
NHL: 2nd Round, 35th Overall by the Philadelphia Flyers
GM Says: "Ratcliffe possesses rare size. He combines it with an even more rare ability to skate for someone his size. He has good playmaking ability with the puck on his stick. He can create offense for his teammates, but at times he also showed high goal scoring ability in tight spaces. He isn't as physical as you'd hope he would be for his size, but possesses the strength to assert himself when necessary. With his size, skating and skill, Ratcliffe projects to be a top six winger at the NHL level after a few years of growing into his body. He has a higher level of talent than some of the other huge forwards we've seen over the past years who have gained some NHL experience."

Tyler Wall - G - UMass-Lowell (NCAA-HE) 6'03" 202
HFNHL: 2nd Round, 59th Overall
NHL: 6th Round, 174th Overall by the New York Rangers in 2016
GM Says: "Tyler is a goaltender we nearly selected last year late in the draft. He was dominant in the GOJHL and was worth a late round pick. But his ability to dominate in the NCAA leading his team to a NCAA Hockey East Championship and was named to the all tournament team as the top goaltender as a freshman forced the Coyotes to jump up to take him late in the second. The last time we jumped up to take a re-entry goaltender in the second round was Steve Mason. I see a lot of similarities in his game and we're just as confident that Tyler will have a similar amount of success."

Lukas Elvenes - RW - Rogle J20 (SWE) 6'00.5" 173
HFNHL: 3rd Round, 64th Overall
NHL: 5th Round, 127th Overall by the Vegas Golden Knights
GM Says: "Lukas is a very highly skilled forward. He has impressive agility and quickness. He is creative and sets up his linemates very effectively. His puck possession ability is very strong and can control the puck for long periods of time. He is a boom or bust type of prospect because he has a tremendous amount of natural puck skills, skating and offensive upside, but plays a very one way type of game and would need to play an offensive role to make it."

Jacob Paquette - LD - Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) 6'03" 200
HFNHL: 4th Round, 95th Overall
NHL: 7th Round, 215th Ovearll by the Nashville Predators
GM Says: "Jacob was regarded as a potential late first rounder at the start of the year. He suffered an injury causing him to miss the Ivan Hlinka and the first six weeks of the OHL season. He played catch up all year but was excellent in the playoffs vs. Hamilton playing about 25 minutes per game shutting down the Bulldogs playing a great mix of physical and defensive minded hockey. He kept it safe moving the puck up ice but is capable of doing more with the puck, including a big point shot. His upside is that of a second pairing defenseman who is reliable defensively and chips in a little offensively. He kinda reminds me of a poor man's version of our former defenseman Karl Alzner."

Joachim Blichfeld - RW - Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 6'01" 180
HFNHL: 5th Round, 143rd Overall
NHL: 7th Round, 210th Overall by the San Jose Sharks in 2016
GM Says: "Joachim has come over and really adjusted well to North American ice. The smaller ice suits his game well and put this on display at the 2017 World Junior Championships for Denmark posting nearly a point per game. His offensive improved when he returned to Portland which included being a regular on Cody Glass' line. Joachim has progressed very well, and in a draft where there are only so many prospects we were able to hand pick Joachim from last year and identify his development bringing him onboard. He is an offensive winger who would be able to play on either wing and take on a role on the second or third line in the future."

Patrick Khodorenko - LC - Michigan State University (NCAA-Big 10) 6'00" 206
HFNHL: 6th Round, 157th Overall
NHL: Undrafted
GM Says: "Patrick is a highly skilled forward who finished in the top four of Michigan State scoring as a freshman. He has always been one of the most productive scorers in his age group with the exception of last year. He found his form once again when opening his NCAA career. He has good puck skills, he can finish on his scoring chances and set up linemates. He has all the tools to become a second or third liner in the NHL after he wraps up his NCAA career."

David Kampf - LC - Pirati Chomutov (CZE) 6'02" 192
HFNHL: 7th Round, 187th Overall
NHL: Signed as a Free Agent by Chicago in 2017
GM Says: "In back to back seasons David helped him Czech Under 20 team to a championship then his Czech 2 men's league team to a championship and promotion to the top league. Since then he was the second highest scorer in the Czech league under the age of 24 and signed with the Chicago Blackhawks. He has a good combination of size and skill. David will likely start out in the AHL but we believe he can step up and become a regular contributor at the NHL after getting comfortable on North American ice."

Kaden Fulcher - G - Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL) 6'03.75" 183
HFNHL: 7th Round, 188th Overall
NHL: Undrafted
GM Says: "This was Kaden's first full season playing junior hockey. He has ideal size and he showed some impressive talent throughout this season. He had a lot on his plate to start the year after earning his spot as a starter and being the only OHL level goaltender on his team the first half of the year. Goaltenders take longer to develop, but Kaden has a great opportunity to develop into a legitimate NHL goaltender over the next two seasons before going pro."

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[Fan.At]

Picking Tyler Wall was shrewed, judging from comments at the draft, he might not have lasted much longer...

 

[MatthewFlames]

"Coyotes get bigger, much bigger" is the headline here. When others might be tempted to take the smaller skilled players you were targeting the bigger ones. Not a single player under 6 feet. Yet, plenty of skill in there. If your two 1st rounders can get their feet to NHL level, watch out. Kampf was a good pick-up as well, I had him allocated to one of my 7th's that came just after yours... bah!

 

[Ohio Jones]

Bullish on Vilardi. I think you'll be happy with this draft in a few years.

 

[CoyotesHFNHL]

Picking Tyler Wall was shrewed, judging from comments at the draft, he might not have lasted much longer...

He might have, but when I looked at my list there wasn't really anyone I was excited about at that pick. Everyone I really wanted was off the board so I went with the highest guy left on my list which was Wall. He might have lasted but Elvenes was the next guy on my list after him and I got him at 64 and I wasn't going to let Wall go to day two.

"Coyotes get bigger, much bigger" is the headline here. When others might be tempted to take the smaller skilled players you were targeting the bigger ones. Not a single player under 6 feet. Yet, plenty of skill in there. If your two 1st rounders can get their feet to NHL level, watch out. Kampf was a good pick-up as well, I had him allocated to one of my 7th's that came just after yours... bah!

I did my Top 20 prospects, I don't have a single player under 6'00", 16/20 are 6'02" or bigger and 3 of them are 6'06" or bigger. Without doing it consciously I draft big. I find smaller players that put up higher point totals in junior at this stage of their development go earlier, so I think I focus more on projectable guys. I put smaller guys on my list they just don't seem to be there when my pick is up.

I actually had a couple guys ahead of Kampf on my list but they went otherwise you likely would have had him.

Bullish on Vilardi. I think you'll be happy with this draft in a few years.

He's got everything but the skating, and Los Angeles is a good fit for his style with the type of players he'd play with. It was very tough between him and Elias Pettersson, I liked both of them evenly, but I didn't expect Vilardi to be there.

 

[MatthewFlames]

... I don't have a single player under 6'00", 16/20 are 6'02" or bigger and 3 of them are 6'06" or bigger. Without doing it consciously I draft big. I find smaller players that put up higher point totals in junior at this stage of their development go earlier, so I think I focus more on projectable guys. I put smaller guys on my list they just don't seem to be there when my pick is up.

It's always an interesting dilemma because I'm always worried that the same bigger players that might be more "projectable" also have a huge physical advantage in junior against smaller, weaker players. Is it an advantage they've had when they're younger and therefore got the better ice time and opportunities to be successful than an average sized player?

Is it an advantage they lose as they move up to the NHL where almost everyone is big and strong? I often read scouting reports and watch video on big players and think they are ranked too high because of this.

If you look at any random NHL roster, you'll see the odd 5'9" guy, and a small handful of 5'10 and 5'11" guys... but it's guaranteed that most of that roster is 6'0" and bigger. It's just a fact that despite the influx of 'famous' smaller players - size still matters when it comes to the odds of a player being a successful draft pick.

But, how much does it matter?

From a team perspective, Nashville and Pittsburgh were 3rd and 1st in the rankings of shortest NHL rosters last season, even though the average height of the Penguins was still over 6'0". Crosby, the best player of his generation isn't 6 feet.

I think one of the reasons people thought this 2017 draft was "weak" was actually because of an overwhelming number of shorter prospects in the top 90 compared to some years - skill and skating only goes so far if a player can't battle it out along the boards or if they can't drive without fear into the slot where a 6'4" defender is waiting to smash them.

 

[CoyotesHFNHL]

It's always an interesting dilemma because I'm always worried that the same bigger players that might be more "projectable" also have a huge physical advantage in junior against smaller, weaker players. Is it an advantage they've had when they're younger and therefore got the better ice time and opportunities to be successful than an average sized player?

Is it an advantage they lose as they move up to the NHL where almost everyone is big and strong? I often read scouting reports and watch video on big players and think they are ranked too high because of this.

If you look at any random NHL roster, you'll see the odd 5'9" guy, and a small handful of 5'10 and 5'11" guys... but it's guaranteed that most of that roster is 6'0" and bigger. It's just a fact that despite the influx of 'famous' smaller players - size still matters when it comes to the odds of a player being a successful draft pick.

But, how much does it matter?

From a team perspective, Nashville and Pittsburgh were 3rd and 1st in the rankings of shortest NHL rosters last season, even though the average height of the Penguins was still over 6'0". Crosby, the best player of his generation isn't 6 feet.

I think one of the reasons people thought this 2017 draft was "weak" was actually because of an overwhelming number of shorter prospects in the top 90 compared to some years - skill and skating only goes so far if a player can't battle it out along the boards or if they can't drive without fear into the slot where a 6'4" defender is waiting to smash them.

Size becomes more of an advantage as they get older. Generally bigger players take longer to develop because they have fully developed size and haven't developed the full capacity to use it, where as smaller players have more control over their size which allows them to be quicker, generally coming in the form of reaction time. This isn't always the case, but it's often the case when dealing with teenage athletes developing. It's the same reason why Nick Suzuki can do 7 bench presses and Issac Ratcliffe can do 2. But who would you choose to win a puck battle in the corner?

You have to have a special amount of talent, Marner, Gaudreau, etc. to completely negate the negative affects of your size when 6'00"+ players who are also very talented fully develop. That's where those players fit in. It's tough which is why some skilled players who dominate junior can't transition at the highest level.

I think it's irrelevant how big the best player in the world is. Sidney Crosby, Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid, Bobby Orr, they're all 5'11" to 6'00". Mario Lemieux is 6'05", Alex Ovechkin is 6'03". When you're talking about one of the best talents of a generation I don't think it really matters how big or small they are their talent overrides the presence of size.

Size really isn't one of the primary factors in determining a players' talent as long as he proves that he has the tools to neutralize the affect of size when he is the smaller player.

Certain small players can play, but more often size is important. So it's about finding which small players can play, what do they have in common and identify them. Only that percentage can make it. Most players are over 6'00" so they have a higher chance to succeed. If they have talent and size that makes them even more likely.

Teams just want players who can play in the NHL, they don't care how big they are. Maybe Nashville and Pittsburgh are good at identifying smaller players who can play?

In my opinion the reason why the draft class was considered weak was because players didn't have the same upside as others who were in their area in previous years and a lot of prospects in the top 40 had more glaring flaws than in previous years' in the top 40. After that I found myself ranking late 3rd rounders late 2nd, mid 5th rounders being ranked early 4th and so on. The talent just wasn't there. When a player is missing so many attributes you only want to take him at a certain spot or lower. But what I found is that you may have needed to take a player like that higher than you wanted. That's why I went with Wall in the 2nd. He was playing like a 2nd rounder, no one left on the board I felt played like a second rounder, and I was in the late 30's on my draft list.