Does anybody actually care about the upcoming draft?

[JT Kreider]

This is the year to load up on picks. There are going to be some sweet under scouted diamonds in that 3rd to 7th round area imo

Last year too.

There was a pretty strong contingent of the USA WJC team that just won gold that was hilariously underdrafted.

 

[RememberTheName]

This is the most exciting draft in a while with all the chaos of scouting players this year. Make or break for scouting teams this year.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

I think this will be an interesting draft to follow in the coming years. Could be some steals given the small sample size.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I hate when people say this draft sucks. These kids have had nearly 2 years robbed from them due to the pandemic (or at least impacted). They’re in need of more development time but what if a few of them really start shining next year? The draft could quickly turn into a good one.

This is the biggest crap shoot draft ever since some of these kids have barely played over the last two years. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad draft, it means it might take longer to get to the NHL.

 

[Nsjohnson]

What? This is probably the draft I'm most interested in since 2010 or so.

You have wildly unscouted players, especially in other countries. I think there will be serious intrigue and unpredictable players going at random spots, hell the announcers will probably be laughing while they cover it because they just won't know where who will go where, unlike other drafts where the top 15 is mildly predictable.

We will see absolute steals starting really even in the first round.

Teams who have large scouting orgs that do scouting beyond just the year to be drafted will benefit greatly. I have to assume there are teams who have scouts in Europe and Russia that watch kids who will be drafted in 2021, 2022, 2023.

The Wild got Kaprizov in what the 7th round? You have to assume something like this, maybe not quite to his talent, but something like this is going to happen to a few different teams this draft, which is very exciting.

The lack of scouting has caused this draft to feel like you are at a casino, at a betting table, and I am exited to see who wins big.

 

[SotasicA]

It's going to be the worst draft class since 1999. Likely worse. Probably some diamonds in the rough in the later rounds.

Is anybody looking forward to this draft?

No. And it's not just lack of talent. Covid shutting down leagues has stunted their development even further.

Sucks for all those bad teams that could use help.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Owen Power is gonna suck?

One scout quotes:
"He does look and play like Hedman but if you were comparing [Power] to Hedman at the same age in his draft year, Hedman would be better [than Power] in pretty much every facet of the game.”

He's the best of a relatively weak and un-scouted bunch. Nobody knows. There's so much uncertainty, mixed with a lack of in-person scouting and a strange developmental year for everyone.
Owen Power the unanimous No. 1 in TSN’s mid-season draft rankings - TSN.ca

From what I can tell, Powers is a decent offensive guy, he's not physically punishing.
He's sorta pretty-good at everything? But doesn't excel at anything is where

General scouting reports is that he's got great tools, but not an incredibly high ceiling.
Will also take several years to develop, and likely needs to spend more time in the NCAA or AHL.

2021 NHL Draft #2: Owen Power Scouting Report - LWOS


I dunno. From what I've read, he's a big dude who skates really well but god knows how he plays in the NHL.
At first glance I'd say the scouting reports sound eerily similar to Darnell Nurse, Erik Johnson, Tyler Myers, Victor Hedman, Adam Larsson...


Look at all the Dmen taken top 4 in the past 20 years.
Dahlin, Ekblad, E.Johnson, R.Murray, Ekblad, Heiskanen, Byram, Hedman, Hickey, Barker, Bouwmeester, Klesla, Hanifin, Jones...

It's just a random hodgepodge of mediocre to amazing.

If anyone claims Power is a surefire #1 Franchise Dman clearly hasn't paid attention.

 

[tucker3434]

2017 sucked too. Some of those guys have turned out pretty decent.

 

[tmlfan98]

Kent Johnson, Dylan Guenther, Fabian Lysell, Matthew Beniers and William Eklund all look like solid bets to be stars but other than Johnson they could all end up being secondary stars on contenders.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

There aren't any surefire superstars (or even stars really) but there's a lot of intrigue. I think it will be a draft where a player drafted quite a bit lower ends up emerging as the best.

 

[Caps8112]

Owen Power is gonna suck?

Like I said no idea who that is. Op said draft will suck

 

[Mikeshane]

It's interesting to think about teams that are pretty good or have a decent collection of talent where one solid player could push them to the next level. So even if there isn't a massive superstar there can still be picks that may have a big impact on a team.

 

[Ingvar]

2017 sucked too. Some of those guys have turned out pretty decent.

Outside of top 5 2017 draft isn't really inspiring. 2021 doesn't seem like a strong year but it is interesting from scouting point of view. I expect unusually high number of overagers selected.

 

[Nucker101]

If anything, it makes it more intriguing, but it must be really frustrating for fans who love to make draft lists and rankings.

 

[pbgoalie]

I feel like this draft
Weird COVID future
Expansion draft

could be a lot of insanity and fun

 

[ElysiumAB]

Btw, given that we read about strong or weak draft classes almost every year- has anyone looked at wether those evaluations before the draft wound up being true a decade later?

Yeah, I looked.

 

[trick9]

Yes.

Not a very good draft class but lots of good prospects still and especially interested in the trades as the expansion draft is here.

 

[UED]

I’m a fan of this draft, looks to have 4 #1Ds and multiple 30 goal scorers. Some or most will bust as always but at the top it’s almost “pick your own #1D!”. There are a lot of traps to avoid though in the first round, and there’s no obvious franchise forward, though a couple potential elite ones, likely no one will be competing for the Hart. Certainly nobody as impactful as Wright and Bedard from the next 2 drafts. Still, I’m sure at least two teams will walk away with their new 1D and at least one with their new best goal scorer and that’s just from the top 8 or so and that’s not even taking Beniers into account who people refer to as the next Toews. I think there are a few potential big steals in the mid-late part of the 1st too, maybe not superstars but really good players.

 

[82Ninety42011]

I'm excited to find diamonds in the rough this year as these kids haven't really had the proper training for the last year. When they get to a solid structure and development in a year or two this is the draft that will have stars drafted all over the chart.

 

[HotPie]

The only draft I care about is the 2023 draft.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

I haven't heard much that it is a "bad" draft like 1999 or 1996.

The issues are that there isn't enough scouting, so it makes the whole thing a bit of a crapshoot. Top-3 picks will still be good players, but there will probably be guys picked in the 20's that probably would have been top-10 guys if they were scouted properly or guys in the top-10 who were clearly better prospects than the top-3 guys.

The teams with lots of picks and good scouts will do fine. The teams with bad scouts and high picks 4-10, might get screwed.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

As a fan of a team who’s ass. Yes.

As a fan of a team with a second first rounder, hell yes.

 

[SurferBroChad]

i mean the scouts most likely still know who the better prospects are

the fans who pretend they do to might not be as informed

 

[Canadian Game]

I always look forward to the draft and this year’s will be very unique.

Unlike normal years, the majority of prospects will have limited games and limited viewing (for scouts), or no games at all from this season. Teams can only rely on limited video from this season (if any at all) and then past seasons, which is tough for 17 year olds. Suddenly the draft order won’t matter as much as before, and teams will rely more on luck than before.

It’s going to be unique and we won’t be able to fairly compare this draft results to past drafts. If anything, when looking back years down the road, I think we will see more first round picks who should have gone later. And vice versa with and second and third round picks.

The players I feel bad for the most are the ones who don’t get drafted this season. This also includes players who are a few years older in “make or break” positions of their hockey careers.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Not at all. I am looking forward to the trades at draft if there is any.