Rumor: AVS Proposals/Rumors/Free Agents & Drouin 2016-17 Part XX

[agentblack]

On any other franchise, MacK and Drouin would be an unstoppable offensive force. On the Avs, MacK and Drouin would amount being the league's most exciting 50-point duo.

its entirely possible Rants may not be the finisher to complete that line. Even though he led our team in goalscoring. Tippett?

 

[AvsMakar08]

Watch this deal go down and Bednar puts Drouin on Soda'a wing or C a line with Comeau and Colborne

Yeah, but if Sakic reads these HF Avs forum boards and then tells Bednar to play Drouin on our 1st line. You never know.

 

[Foppa]

I'm not the biggest Tippett fan but I can see the appeal.

But I was mostly just making a wry comment on the offensive black hole the Avs have become for high-end forward talent. We all think Drouin could be a key to unlocking MacK's top end and have every reason to believe they would have awesome synergy together but this being the Avs - would it be all that shocking for Drouin to come here and simply turn into yet another under-producing talent? His per minute metrics have been great and you easily can extrapolate his 53 points in 73 games last season to something much greater given a bigger role but that could easily be countered by the effect of playing on the Bednar-Army led offensive machine that is Colorado. Which probably leaves you with...a 53 point player.

 

[5280]

You don't know much about the 2015 picks then

So do you like Hepple? Henchy do you?

If he's good or ar least better than Pracey that's a pretty good commendation of the overall decisions being made and a huge step on the right direction

 

[tigervixxxen]

So do you like Hepple? Henchy do you?

If he's good or ar least better than Pracey that's a pretty good commendation of the overall decisions being made and a huge step on the right direction

I believe there's a lot more than one man's decisions that go into it. Much of the scouting staff is largely the same, how the org and philosophies from the top down factor in and I believe that development is still a huge part of it too. I think he's better and seemed to relax/differ on some beliefs Pracey had but that's such a small part of it.

 

[henchman21]

So do you like Hepple? Henchy do you?

If he's good or ar least better than Pracey that's a pretty good commendation of the overall decisions being made and a huge step on the right direction

I like the 2015 draft quite a bit, but I do wonder where that influence really came from. It was Q heavy and almost all of those influences are gone. Any top 10-12 pick should be good and if they are not, it is a bad sign all around. The Meloche, Greer, Beaudin, and Boikov picks all have a very heavy influence from the Q guys that are gone. The leaves Mironov and Olhaver as the two players that don't fit as either connections or a pick that can't be screwed up (or if it is, it is a fireable offense)... and I've heard suggestions that Mironov was recruited by Drummondville in 2012, but I have nothing to back that up. I'm willing to give Mironov to the current scouting group.

As for Hepple himself... not a big fan of his. He could prove me wrong, but he has been a big player in the disaster that has been the Avs drafting of the early to mid 2000s until now. My opinion of the Avs' scouting staff in general is very low. Mesonero is a very bright guy and I believe Shea is a very good scout. Beyond them, not a big fan of the group.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Olhaver came from Rogle and the connection to Konowalchuk getting drafted by Seattle in the import draft. I know hockey works largely on connections but the Avs seem to take it to another level. I wonder how many players they ever choose without some connection. I will give them credit for Mikko, they could have gone a number of different directions with that pick and going for a Euro that early was out of the box for them. He's more than just a good/competent pick at that spot. I'll give Hepple some credit for (helping) making that decision.

 

[Foppa2118]

I don't think Hepple is as different from Pracey as people think. They're both Ontario guys that had similar draft philosophies. I just think Pracey didn't get great results, and he probably didn't work well with the new guys and new philosophy, so he got canned. Hepple probably was more willing, but I think they changed their philosophy a bit again when MacFarland came in, along with a few other areas.

 

[5280]

Thanks for the responses. I'm just trying to find some positives here and our drafting and development seem to have been terrible for years. I always thought this was a good move for the organization but then again I don't have as much knowledge to back it up.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I don't think Hepple is as different from Pracey as people think. They're both Ontario guys that had similar draft philosophies. I just think Pracey didn't get great results, and he probably didn't work well with the new guys and new philosophy, so he got canned. Hepple probably was more willing, but I think they changed their philosophy a bit again when MacFarland came in, along with a few other areas.

Hepple has been around a long time, as has a lot of our scouts and most of the FO, that's not insignificant. But in the 2 drafts since Hepple has been in charge they've taken one OHL player and that was Barron in the 7th round. They took at least 2 OHL players per draft for 6 years Pracey was in charge before that. Plus the no Russians or any Euros taken before the lower rounds. His first pick in each of his draft classes was from the CHL. We'll need a larger sample size of Hepple to really compare but he's already gone off the more rigid structure that Pracey had.

 

[henchman21]

I actually think Pracey is a really good scout, but he wasn't head scout material. He is great at finding a specific type of player, that is about all. A scout needs to be more varied on making final decisions and I think that is where Pracey struggled. In Philly, Pracey in in the right role.

On Rants... the Avs really weren't missing on that pick no matter what, but Hepple wasn't the one making that decision. Hepple had a say, but that was a Sakic/Roy sort of call.

 

[Foppa2118]

Hepple has been around a long time, as has a lot of our scouts and most of the FO, that's not insignificant. But in the 2 drafts since Hepple has been in charge they've taken one OHL player and that was Barron in the 7th round. They took at least 2 OHL players per draft for 6 years Pracey was in charge before that. Plus the no Russians or any Euros taken before the lower rounds. His first pick in each of his draft classes was from the CHL. We'll need a larger sample size of Hepple to really compare but he's already gone off the more rigid structure that Pracey had.

Right, that's what I was alluding to though. That Hepple played well with the new regime better than Pracey did. When Pracey was running things, he had carte blanche basically the whole draft. How they planned for each round, and who they picked, which almost always was a pure BPA strategy hoping to hit home runs.

When the new regime came in, they changed the philosophy looking to find good depth players in the mid to late rounds, and put more emphasis on leagues outside the OHL. I don't think Pracey saw eye to eye on certain prospects either. I imagine there was probably some vocal disagreements mounting up, and Roy's probably the kind of guy who's like "either you're on board with us or you can get the eff out."

 

[Ararana]

On Rants... the Avs really weren't missing on that pick no matter what, but Hepple wasn't the one making that decision. Hepple had a say, but that was a Sakic/Roy sort of call.

I think the Avs got lucky as hell SJ picked Meier leaving them Rantanen. Still not quite sure why they did that, the Avs would have been stuck with Meier/Crouse. Doubt they would have reached for Chabot/Zboril, reaching doesn't seem to be their MO in top 10 picks, maybe you can consider Jost a bit of a reach though.

It's possible I'm too low on Meier, but I'd take Rantanen over him all day everyday.

 

[henchman21]

Meier will be a fine NHL player, but I totally agree. The Avs were pretty high on Zboril that year. They scouted him a lot (could have been double dipping with Chabot, but rumors had it they like Zboril more).

 

[tucker3434]

I think the Avs got lucky as hell SJ picked Meier leaving them Rantanen. Still not quite sure why they did that, the Avs would have been stuck with Meier/Crouse. Doubt they would have reached for Chabot/Zboril, reaching doesn't seem to be their MO in top 10 picks, maybe you can consider Jost a bit of a reach though.

It's possible I'm too low on Meier, but I'd take Rantanen over him all day everyday.

Nah, I agree. I think Rantanen will be twice the player as the ones picked on either side of him. Now if we could have gotten Provorov...

 

[Ararana]

Meier will be a fine NHL player, but I totally agree. The Avs were pretty high on Zboril that year. They scouted him a lot (could have been double dipping with Chabot, but rumors had it they like Zboril more).

Thats an interesting tidbit. We need to hear more behind the scenes stuff like this, damn the Avs and their secrecy. CBJ posted a video of their GM on the phones taking trades in, I believe, the 2015 draft. That was seriously fascinating.

Nah, I agree. I think Rantanen will be twice the player as the ones picked on either side of him. Now if we could have gotten Provorov...

Oh man, Provorov/Werenski were my dream that draft, but no way were they falling to 10, we just had to win those last few games of the season didn't we... You won't hear me complaining about Rantanen dropping to us though, we got hella lucky at 10.

 

[dahrougem2]

Thats an interesting tidbit. We need to hear more behind the scenes stuff like this, damn the Avs and their secrecy. CBJ posted a video of their GM on the phones taking trades in, I believe, the 2015 draft. That was seriously fascinating.

I'm afraid of what we'd hear from the Avs

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I'm afraid of what we'd hear from the Avs

Can't be any worse than the Behind the B episode when Chia traded Seguin right?

 

[CobraAcesS]

Can't be any worse than the Behind the B episode when Chia traded Seguin right?

I will always remember that as a shining example of how down right stupid and backward some people in the NHL are lol.

In the case that anyone missed it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRyIgatcTAs

 

[Freudian]

I know Drouin is a talented guy but I don't understand the head over heels love affair this forum has with him. Is it because he played with MacKinnon in junior hockey?

If you put two super talented players on the same line in CHL they will tear it up. Don't mistake obvious skill and talent advantage for some mysterious chemistry.

If Avs can acquire Drouin on the cheap, of course go for it but I don't see any reason to pay a premium price to get him. A smaller high skill winger should be fairly low on Avs list of priorities.

 

[agentblack]

I know Drouin is a talented guy but I don't understand the head over heels love affair this forum has with him. Is it because he played with MacKinnon in junior hockey?

If you put two super talented players on the same line in CHL they will tear it up. Don't mistake obvious skill and talent advantage for some mysterious chemistry.

If Avs can acquire Drouin on the cheap, of course, go for it but I don't see any reason to pay a premium price to get him. A smaller high skill winger should be fairly low on Avs list of priorities.

I agree to an extent but if they can somehow turn Duchene into Drouin+(the plus being from the Isles) then I'm for it
We need to move on from this dream of somehow turning Duchene into _____________ that's a potential no. 1 D-man.
it's just not happening.
So it's not a bad swap, and I will echo the idea that they may not even end up playing together when it's all said and done. They may at first but a coach will break them up eventually.

that being said I have a hard time swallowing TB accepting Ham for Drouin alone. Unless they realize he's the best they can get at this juncture, idk

 

[dahrougem2]

I don't believe in this magical chemistry that could exist between MacKinnon and Drouin, either. Why didn't they play together during the World Cup of Hockey if the chemistry there is so natural?

It'd be great to acquire Drouin, but I'd sooner put him on his own line so that he could dominate the puck and leave MacKinnon with Rantanen and Andrighetto.

 

[AvsGuy]

Drouin did have a pretty good season, and his scoring is now on par with MacKinnon's. Depends on whether anyone thinks Andrighetto can have a similar effect on MacK's line

 

[Patagonia]

Drouin did have a pretty good season, and his scoring is now on par with MacKinnon's. Depends on whether anyone thinks Andrighetto can have a similar effect on MacK's line

Mackinnon plays in a much tougher division, surrounded by lesser players especially on D. Compared to Mack abilities at the WCH and World Cup, he dominates. Drouin is a fine player, but Mack carries the play and if surrounded with better wingers, there is no need to make this trade.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

We shouldn't be looking at Drouin because of MacK. We should be interested in him because he has crazy potential. The guy could be the best player on our team. If we cant get a potential #1 Dman he is probably the most talented player we will be able to get.