Pre-Game Talk: Call Your Shot - 2019 NHL Draft

[FMichael]

Cozens, Zegras, PodKolzin, and Dach are the 4 whom I feel will be available when we pick...I’m curious as to whom falls in the draft - as in how many projected 1st rounders slip to the 2nd round, and are available?

 

[Claypool]

My vote is Zegras is he's available.

 

[HisNoodliness]

I want this so badly.

My prediction: Zegras
My top 10 mock:
1. Hughes
2. Kakko
3. Turcotte
4. Byram
5. Cozens
6. Zegras
7. Dach
8. Broberg
9. Caufield
10. Boldy

I'm changing my call, I went with my head, but where has that gotten me? Physics grad school, that's where... time to go with my heart:

1. Hughes
2. Kakko
3. Turcotte
4. Zegras
5. Dach
6. BYRAM
7. Who cares we got Byram
8. Who cares we got Byram
9. Who cares we got Byram
10. Who cares we got Byram

 

[rhef3]

If Byram falls to 5, what's the price to swap picks with LA?

I mean if all I'm reading is how we need a #1D and here he is just 1 pick higher, why not pull the trigger and trade up?

#6 #54 #60 for #5 #95 or something around that.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Really huh?

How come?

I think we hit on this recently in terms of the comparison player I would go with. I think he is a slightly less talented Drouin. He doesn't skate as well, though Zegras isn't a bad skater I don't think it is a strength in his game either. He plays at a very slow pace a lot of the time, though he is a wizard on the PP in terms of this at times so there are strengths to it. But for instance the Winged Wheel podcast being down on Dach's play but somehow being sky high on Zegras makes me wonder if they even pay attention to how often Zegras hits the pause button before trying something audacious.

Which would be my big two problems really. I see Zegras as a winger at the next level and I would be very surprised if most of what people like in him translates up. I understand Zegras could fill out, that his ceiling is tremendous. That if he can fulfill the crazy amount of hope plays that he tries in junior in the pros we will talk about him in a Mitch Marner esk playmaking role. But what I see more often than not are plays that flat out won't work at higher levels, yes he has the vision and determination to see them, but they are red light behind your own goal when they don't work plays at the NHL level. The kind that will have your coach benching you and your teammates shying from giving you the puck in those areas. I just am not as sold on him hitting his ceiling and I don't see him as a center, so it drops him down my list.

Now to be perfectly clear, I will root with all my heart for the kid if we draft him. I just see a ton of ifs and if you asked me a player recently that played a similar brash but somewhat unsustainable up a few levels game it would be Drouin. There is a reason he goes through long scoring droughts even with his enormous skill set. It is hard to crack NHL D-man and forwards with behind the back passes and whirling cross ice passes. Yes it is beautiful when Kucherov does it 5 times in a game, but most guys cannot. Even very good NHL players cannot and I am wary that much of how Zegras plays the game has to change massively to work as a NHL guy. I mean to be clear he is still in my top 15, he is just at the bottom of it, I am worried about how he will translate.

 

[Bench]

I'm changing my call, I went with my head, but where has that gotten me? Physics grad school, that's where... time to go with my heart:

1. Hughes
2. Kakko
3. Turcotte
4. Zegras
5. Dach
6. BYRAM
7. Who cares we got Byram
8. Who cares we got Byram
9. Who cares we got Byram
10. Who cares we got Byram

Kopitar did look gassed at times last year. I know the Kings are the popular pick for Byram, and honestly I still think Chicago has a hard time passing on him, but it's not too early for the Kings to start thinking about their future down the middle if they aren't sold on Vilardi's health. And Dach would be a logical choice to shore that up.

 

[HisNoodliness]

If Byram falls to 5, what's the price to swap picks with LA?

I mean if all I'm reading is how we need a #1D and here he is just 1 pick higher, why not pull the trigger and trade up?

#6 #54 #60 for #5 #95 or something around that.

I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm higher on Byram than most though. I think he could be THE guy for us on the backend. No guarantees, but I think that's who he'll be for whoever takes him. If Chicago doesn't take him I'd aggressively pursue Colorado and LAs picks.

 

[Hen Kolland]

If Byram falls to 5, what's the price to swap picks with LA?

I mean if all I'm reading is how we need a #1D and here he is just 1 pick higher, why not pull the trigger and trade up?

#6 #54 #60 for #5 #95 or something around that.

My guess is at least a second round pick.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Who’d you want last year and were you excited when we drafted Zadina? Just wondering, I forgot!

When we were making the selection Quinn Hughes who I had #3 on my board. I had hoped Tkachuk would be the big time winger to fall over Zadina as I had him #4 and Dobson at #5 in terms of my final board if I remember right. I would have to dig it up, Zadina wouldn't have been my selection, I was worried about his ability to create space. I think he should be a 30 goal scorer eventually, I just didn't see superstar. Hoping he becomes that 40 goal scoring superstar for sure now.

There are high ceilings with all of these top 10 picks. You have to draft them for a reason and develop their talents within that construct. Zadina very well could have been the perfect selection. Won't lie, I did mutter an expletive when we picked him. But he has a ton of talent, I am eager to see the steps he makes next year, I am not sure I count on him to have a massive impact this coming season, but he should be a prominent guy on the score sheet in a couple seasons in my opinion. Very good player, we will see if they can fix some of the issues in his game. For the record I am much more happy with him after last year in GR, where yes his numbers weren't huge but he made a lot of strides in his game towards what he will need to do shift in and shift out at the next level. One side note he needs to stop getting killed on a big hit once every 5 to 10 games. He has a Frans Nielsen or Nick Jensen like ability to get absolutely crushed which is concerning on one of your hopeful foundation pieces.

 

[Bench]

The more we talk about these scenarios at #6, the more I'm salty the Wings dropped 2 spots, thus having so much less control of their draft fate. There was a 57.7% chance the Wings would get the #5 pick or better. But nooooooooooo...

 

[Bench]

When we were making the selection Quinn Hughes who I had #3 on my board. I had hoped Tkachuk would be the big time winger to fall over Zadina as I had him #4 and Dobson at #5 in terms of my final board if I remember right. I would have to dig it up, Zadina wouldn't have been my selection, I was worried about his ability to create space. I think he should be a 30 goal scorer eventually, I just didn't see superstar. Hoping he becomes that 40 goal scoring superstar for sure now.

I didn't follow the prospects very closely last year. When Zadina, a consensus #3 pick, fell to #6... I had the "steal" hype. After that wore off, and I poked around these prospects a bit closer, my overwhelming regret the Wings didn't get the skilled defender from their own backyard started to mount. Damn I wish the Wings had Quinn right now.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

The more we talk about these scenarios at #6, the more I'm salty the Wings dropped 2 spots, thus having so much less control of their draft fate. There was a 57.7% chance the Wings would get the #5 pick or better. But nooooooooooo...

That hurt, no real control, you can outright tank and be in that 4th or 5th spot, even then in some years you are still pretty hard done in by that in terms of the current system in my opinion.

This draft has a bit more depth, though the big two prizes for most are way out in front, but in some years that is a huge drop off in my opinion.

 

[Bench]

That hurt, no real control, you can outright tank and be in that 4th or 5th spot, even then in some years you are still pretty hard done in by that in terms of the current system in my opinion.

This draft has a bit more depth, though the big two prizes for most are way out in front, but in some years that is a huge drop off in my opinion.

The Wings are rebuilding during the most difficult time to do it in NHL history. There's no guaranteed top pick. There's no hidden gem countries to pluck players out of with your superior scouting. And they can't buy their way out of the problem anymore with the salary cap.

Good luck, Stevie. You legitimately need some.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

The Wings are rebuilding during the most difficult time to do it in NHL history. There's no guaranteed top pick. There's no hidden gem countries to pluck players out of with your superior scouting. And they can't buy their way out of the problem anymore with the salary cap.

Good luck, Stevie. You legitimately need some.

You always need some luck to build a winner. I think as Stevie has said he has some nice things for his core in terms of Holland kicking some of this in motion. He has to find a couple pieces. Larkin's step forward was really big for this team.

I mean in this thread we aren't talking with the same desperation about a #1 center that has littered the last few drafts. Another important aspect of this too, for me is if we do wind up with a Dach, Zegras, Cozens they also aren't going to be chucked into the deep end of the pool with Larkin here either. That isn't a small thing. We will need to fix the D-core and I would like another really solid option besides Larsson in terms of future in goal, but I don't think it is completely hopeless. We are going to need some luck. Some guys are going to need to outkick their coverage. Really for where we drafted them the young core 4 we talk about in terms of current Wings in Larkin, Mantha, AA and Bert already have done that given where we picked them and what they look like as players.

You make your breaks, but yeah we are going to need some luck. But I also think you can turn things around quickly in this current system with a little bit of luck. We will see, but by this time next year Yzerman cannot be sitting on his hands in my opinion. We are going to need action at some point over the next 13 months or I am very concerned.

 

[Frk It]

The Wings are rebuilding during the most difficult time to do it in NHL history. There's no guaranteed top pick. There's no hidden gem countries to pluck players out of with your superior scouting. And they can't buy their way out of the problem anymore with the salary cap.

Good luck, Stevie. You legitimately need some.

I mean, I’ve been saying this...

 

[Hen Kolland]

Won't lie, I did mutter an expletive when we picked him.

Ditto. I’ve never been more sold on a player to end up a legitimate #1 a la Pietrangelo the way that I did Dobson and still feel that way today. It’s hard to hate Zadina because it feels like he’s just itching for a chance to be special. He’s a good kid, great personality, easy to root for, and plus a game that should give us a lot of excitement and highlights. Hopefully we can add the pieces around him to make him a winner. Kucherov is great and everything, but Tampa won’t give a damn about him in the future if he never lifts the cup.

 

[Lampedampe]

The more we talk about these scenarios at #6, the more I'm salty the Wings dropped 2 spots, thus having so much less control of their draft fate. There was a 57.7% chance the Wings would get the #5 pick or better. But nooooooooooo...

It really shouldn't be the case though, Chicago and Rangers should under no circumstances pick before the wings unless they luck out on 1oa.

The system is laughable. To the point where I'm actually getting upset while writing this.

 

[Ezekial]

Turcotte
Byram
Dach
Zegras

Whichever is left in that order - I think the first 3 will be 3-5, so Zegras. I don't know if AA and Zegras would mesh or will even play on the same team together, but I really like the idea of calling AA-Zegras-Zadina the AA-ZZ line.

 

[StargateSG1]

Well, just another thing Stevie Y has to fix, drafting the first Top 1 D in 20 years.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

I think we hit on this recently in terms of the comparison player I would go with. I think he is a slightly less talented Drouin. He doesn't skate as well, though Zegras isn't a bad skater I don't think it is a strength in his game either. He plays at a very slow pace a lot of the time, though he is a wizard on the PP in terms of this at times so there are strengths to it. But for instance the Winged Wheel podcast being down on Dach's play but somehow being sky high on Zegras makes me wonder if they even pay attention to how often Zegras hits the pause button before trying something audacious.

Which would be my big two problems really. I see Zegras as a winger at the next level and I would be very surprised if most of what people like in him translates up. I understand Zegras could fill out, that his ceiling is tremendous. That if he can fulfill the crazy amount of hope plays that he tries in junior in the pros we will talk about him in a Mitch Marner esk playmaking role. But what I see more often than not are plays that flat out won't work at higher levels, yes he has the vision and determination to see them, but they are red light behind your own goal when they don't work plays at the NHL level. The kind that will have your coach benching you and your teammates shying from giving you the puck in those areas. I just am not as sold on him hitting his ceiling and I don't see him as a center, so it drops him down my list.

Now to be perfectly clear, I will root with all my heart for the kid if we draft him. I just see a ton of ifs and if you asked me a player recently that played a similar brash but somewhat unsustainable up a few levels game it would be Drouin. There is a reason he goes through long scoring droughts even with his enormous skill set. It is hard to crack NHL D-man and forwards with behind the back passes and whirling cross ice passes. Yes it is beautiful when Kucherov does it 5 times in a game, but most guys cannot. Even very good NHL players cannot and I am wary that much of how Zegras plays the game has to change massively to work as a NHL guy. I mean to be clear he is still in my top 15, he is just at the bottom of it, I am worried about how he will translate.

Sorry man

That's right you did

Great analysis though

 

[The Zermanator]

The more we talk about these scenarios at #6, the more I'm salty the Wings dropped 2 spots, thus having so much less control of their draft fate. There was a 57.7% chance the Wings would get the #5 pick or better. But nooooooooooo...

They screwed themselves winning so many games at the end of the season. Just one more loss and we'd be drafting Hughes.

 

[The Zermanator]

As for the thread subject, it's really impossible to predict who we'll pick because we have so little info about not only the Wings' preference but also the teams picking before us. All we can do is really repeat the same 6-8 names we've been talking about ad nauseum for a while now.

Recap of the last 3 months:

Hopefully one of Turcotte or Byram fall to us but it seems unlikely. So it'll probably be down to Dach/Cozens/Zegras/Podkolzin/Broberg/Boldy/Krebs.

 

[FrolundaRedWings]

They screwed themselves winning so many games at the end of the season. Just one more loss and we'd be drafting Hughes.

Yea, I was hoping that our "ani-tank" last 10 games would garner some draft lottery luck but instead we got bumped down 2 spots again. I know that cheering for the tank isn't widely accepted on our boards but man it just feels like theres no other way to get a #1 D-Man like Dahlin/Byram/Heiskanen/Makar. I hope our draft lottery luck changes soon but I'm not counting on it. Regardless, we are going to get an important piece of our future this Friday and we just gotta hope whoever we select reaches their full potential.

 

[The Zermanator]

Yea, I was hoping that our "ani-tank" last 10 games would garner some draft lottery luck but instead we got bumped down 2 spots again. I know that cheering for the tank isn't widely accepted on our boards but man it just feels like theres no other way to get a #1 D-Man like Dahlin/Byram/Heiskanen/Makar. I hope our draft lottery luck changes soon but I'm not counting on it. Regardless, we are going to get an important piece of our future this Friday and we just gotta hope whoever we select reaches their full potential.

Well I'm not really one to cheer for a tank either way. But I didn't consider that to be tanking at the time anyway. There's no real salvaging of a season when you're a bottom 3 team with 10 games to go. I think management should have taken a more proactive approach to roster management in those last 10 games. Get some playing time for 2nd tier prospects (Saarijarvi, etc) and goalie prospects (say Sateri), those guys get an NHL taste when there's nothing to lose. The higher chance of losing is a convenient side effect. Jumping up several spots in the standings screwed us. We'd either be drafting Hughes or have a near 100% chance at one of Turcotte/Byram.

 

[Ezekial]

The Wings are rebuilding during the most difficult time to do it in NHL history. There's no guaranteed top pick. There's no hidden gem countries to pluck players out of with your superior scouting. And they can't buy their way out of the problem anymore with the salary cap.

Good luck, Stevie. You legitimately need some.

Holland really did give him some shots. My buddy told me Ottawa has 16 picks in the top 100 over the next 3 drafts and asked how insane that was. Well, the Wings had 8 last year and 10 more over the next 2 years. I think 7 of those 8 from last year are still solid prospects, the 8th was pick 98.
Hopefully Stevie can identify some more 2nd-3rd round gems with those 8 30-100 picks.