I give us a current "B-" with the potential to become an "A/A-" if some of the stars align.
I would rank this pick as an "A". He was 5th on my list and even though I would consider a couple players as better choices, you can't argue against Byram's complete package. I have no problem going down the Predators route of drafting high-end defenders and give us the ability to trade others for other areas of need. I'm with Hench that I think his offence is overvalued and I don't see number one capabilities in his game, but I won't argue that he doesn't have that potential. Whatever the case is, he will be a great addition as a steady piece who will be able to play in all situations.
My rank for this pick would be "B". Captain Hook was 15th on my final list and even though I might've criticized it a bit after he was draft, he will still become a great player. I don't see a strong two-way game and I still prefer Peyton Krebs who I suggest gets better as the games get bigger, but you can't argue against his offencive talent or potential. As I said in previous posts, I do buy the fact that he has one of the highest ceilings in this draft outside of the top ten. However, a big part of that relies on if you see him as a centre or winger in the long run. His straight line speed is good for a winger off the rush, but if he's some latent potential on the lateral portion of skating then I think he can become a centre (which should increase his offencive ceiling for me). I am also in agreement with Hench that Newhook plays a bit too perimeter of a game at times and gets an absurd amount of points on the man-advantage. I did have some of the same issues with Barzal so there is the ability to get better in different areas of the game. I still keep going back between an off the rush Matt Duchene or Vladimir Tarasenko because I buy his shooting traits getting better.
Definitely would rank this as an "A+". Helleson was ranked as 30th on my final list so I am definitely a believer of his talent. Mentioned by both Hench and I here, he is one of the best passers in this draft easily and that consistency will be very hard to break him down on the forecheque. I would say that our defencive core isn't one of the most talented bunches in terms of generating offence, but man oh man with Barrie, Makar, Girard, Byram, and now with Helleson I just cannot see how teams are going to be able to grind us down. Drew is a smart defender on the cusp of being a two-way defender, but I think he's a bit less talented than that. A reason why I put him more as a defencive-defender is that he tends to make the simpler play which kind of downgrades his offencive ability. Now with that said, I am also with Hench in agreement that he has some sneaky tools to provide some offence; such as his mobility, IQ, vision, and passing ability. It will be interesting to see if he develops more of a risky style since he won't be buried behind a loaded NTDP . BC will need to use him more in big game situations and I fully believe he has the ability to be a better stretch passer than Girard.
My ranking on this would be "D-". I never watched Stienburg so he wasn't in my final rankings and in reality this was a big "wtf pick?". Avs probably found out that another team valued him behind them so they went with their guns and picked this lad (which I am not against). I actually don't consider this a truly terrible pick or the Avs worst pick because they probably see him have a lot higher potential than we do on here, perhaps as a legit CBJ Josh Anderson type of player. However, I have two problems with this type of logic concerning the Avs; first and foremost he screams to me as a long-term project along the lines of Mark Jankowski. I am not against long-term players, but honestly I see them as too needy and finicky in terms of watering and sunlight (and if you buy the Avs as a terrible development team then write him off already). I am all for taking risks, but give me a more safer player than someone who might realistically be five years away from having any sort of impact and that might be a Josh Anderson type of player at best. Second, majority of his points came against weak competition and not even in a single Junior A Ontario league. Sure he played a couple of games in the USHL where all he had was one assist. Nonetheless, he was just ten points above PPG in a random league called the CAHS. This means that if he decided to play in the OJHL he probably wouldn't have been a PPG player and would've been a late round project. It's going to suck when players like Campbell, Jones, Grewe, Puistola, Legare, and Farinacci all reach higher levels than him. Hope Avs saw something other teams didn't because I can't justify this pick over the likes of Campbell and Puistola personally.
Can't rank this higher than an "F" personally. Wasn't ranked on my list because he was one of the most disappointing players I watched this season, especially at the Memorial Cup. It's not that I value him having zero offencive talent or NHL potential. Though, that he's one of those players that has enough potential/talent to make the NHL, but doesn't have anything higher except absolutely frustrate you. He is Derick Brassard 2.0 where you see the flashes of talent, but you keep wondering why teams keep giving him a shot. Just too calm and collective, too inconsistency, and skates like he's in mud meaning he's late everywhere. He's a very stationary player similar to Kaliyev, but instead of Arthur Alex doesn't have a lot of tools or athleticism besides his shot. He has an amazing shot which is at the NHL level, but if you can't move or agile around players then what strength will that be if defenders will be able to get in the way of it in (in the higher leagues)? Another concern I am starting to have as a scout and it is the question,"would this lad have gone this high if he wasn't on a loaded team who just won the Memorial Cup?". Realistically ask that you'll find that similar to Stienburg, if Beaucage was on a worse club than he wouldn't have been a top 90 pick. These players are ones to fall in any redraft thread. I would like to add is that very soon we're going to see how bad this pick is going to be when the likes of Dorofeyev, Clarke, Kokkonen, Nikolayev, Cajkovic, and Protas all take the next step.
Rank this as a solid "C". Was below my top two rankings, but that doesn't mean he's a bad player. After a couple days of thinking I still like this pick. Of course he was super inconsistent and I think he's a bit more talented than how he played last year. But why I didn't rank this higher than a C is because I want him to be more of a catalyst instead of complementary player. He played last season as he was there for his teammates instead of being there to create plays, goals, or dangerous chances for his teammates. I do think a part of this is because of his parents being on the back of his mind and that's hard to forget, even in hockey. I would like to see him lose a bit of weight, get leaner, and get faster because you see some good worth ethic skills like taking the puck to the net and being an accomplished player from the puck. He's a bit similar to Beaucage in terms of skating that he wants to play a good defencive game, but doesn't have the explosiveness yet so he trails behind more than I think he would like to. Still think he can become a poor man's Alex Killorn or Matt Calvert type of player.
Rank this as a "B-". Wasn't on my final ranking because I valued him more around the 5th round and he went in the 6th. Thought this was an interesting pick because I thought Burzan always had the flashes of high-end offencive, but he was quite soft and super inconsistent when he was with Moose Jaw. He reminds me a lot of the Denis Smirnov selection a couple years back where both have great talent, but for one reason or another have some really noticeable red flags. In Smirnov's case it seems he hasn't improved his skating and missing time due to some fluke injuries have plateaued parts of his development akin to Duncan Siemens. In Burzan's case, it is if he's able to break out of his shell and win puck battles and put the work of a pro. Nobody, absolutely nobody is going to make it into the NHL being soft on the puck and useless without it. When he has it though, I see an off the rush scorer who also has a surprisingly good cycle game since he's a strong skater and can out skate a lot of opponents. That in reality is why I resembled him to Phil Kessel, but he has the same problems as Mikkel Boedker and it will be interesting to see how good he is at training camp. I would personally send him back to the WHL even though I think (don't quote me on that) he is eligible to play in the AHL next season.
I would rank this as a very solid "B+". As I said in his prospect thread, grabbing him as a 7th rounder is very good value because I see some legit talent here. He doesn't have any amazing attributes where you can single it out as a strength. He's more of a natural jack-of-all-trades goaler where he does a lot of things above-average. However, if I was going to pinpoint two areas I personally liked more so than others is that he has high hockey intelligence and has great anticipation to the play developing. The other aspect and I actually consider this a skill is that he's able to make big time saves. Sure he isn't the most athletic, doesn't have the greatest speed, and I wouldn't say he is one of the best goalers out there in saving shots. However, I saw him make big time saves in almost every other game and there is a reason why he was able to play 32 games as a backup goaler including 6 in the playoffs. I see a lot of Thomas Griess in his game, but I also see some Calvin Pickard competitiveness which people will probably like here. If there is an area I want the Avs goaler coaches to help in the future, it is to be more patient in certain situations and work on positioning, but those are teachable traits.