HF Habs: Draft 2018: What are your immediate draft class feelings?

[Lebowski]

So what? Does that mean Alexander Alain is now a first round level talent because he ripped up the Q in his final year?

The more you play at a level, the better you become and obviously if his production did not increase this year, he would deserve it.. as the situation is the same.

Alain never dominated to that extent, and he did it at 20 y/o.

Veleno hasn't turned 19 yet.

In any case, he's producing at the same level as Suzuki, who's in his D+2 season.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Alain never dominated to that extent, and he did it at 20 y/o.

Veleno hasn't turned 19 yet.

In any case, he's producing at the same level as Suzuki, who's in his D+2 season.

And they are both doing it at the same number of years in the league.

Call me when Veleno starts scoring goals against pro level competition because that's been my knock on him which is not a concern of Suzuki's because he has a pro level release, shot, and ability to get open to use it.

My care for production from both players at this point is pretty much zero. It's all about translating to the next level and I'm still pretty convinced that Veleno's offense doesn't translate to being more than a 3C at the next level.

 

[Fazkovsky]

I honestly start to doubt Trevor Timmins magic

He uses the word upside a bit too much and emphasis on skating too much . Example Mac Bennett. You can be a rocket on skates but can be below average in other aspects

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Brady Tkachuk has no offense.

-Habs hf pro scouts

 

[1909]

Brady Tkachuk has no offense.

-Habs hf pro scouts

yeah.... Some were ready to jump from the highest bridges if Tkatchuk would had been drafted by the Habs....

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

Putting Kotka aside, most of us on this board didn't like Tkachuk at draft, eating crow right now, including me. Really impressed how he has been able to elevate his game, he already has more goals than he did last year in the NCAA, hard to explained, the "intangibles" boys seems to make all the difference, he is a true gamer like his brother and father.

 

[Mrb1p]

Putting Kotka aside, most of us on this board didn't like Tkachuk at draft, eating crow right now, including me. Really impressed how he has been able to elevate his game, he already has more goals than he did last year in the NCAA, hard to explained, the "intangibles" boys seems to make all the difference, he is a true gamer like his brother and father.

I'm not eating crow on anything until Tkachuk is a 65+ points producer year in and year out, because that's exactly what I said, and why I placed him 12th on my list. We mostly all knew what he was. The value of Brady got lost in the hyperbole created by the two lovely jabronis in this thread.

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

I'm not eating crow on anything until Tkachuk is a 65+ points producer year in and year out, because that's exactly what I said, and why I placed him 12th on my list. We mostly all knew what he was. The value of Brady got lost in the hyperbole created by the two lovely jabronis in this thread.

I also saw him as something similar, but if you have to do a redraft right now he has proven to be in the top5, you have to acknowledge that as it stands at the moment at 12th you misread him to a certain extent.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

I also saw him as something similar, but if you have to do a redraft right now he has proven to be in the top5, you have to acknowledge that as it stands at the moment at 12th you misread him to a certain extend.

I thought Brady Tkachuk was very comparable to his brother. Now Brady Tkachuk has greatly exceeded my expectations. I think he might be better. He would have been a good pick for us and I'm eating crow for having Wahlstrom in my personal ranking over him. That being said I still had Kotkaniemi ahead of all forwards not named Svechnikov and he hopefully is going to become better in the long run.

 

[Mrb1p]

I also saw him as something similar, but if you have to do a redraft right now he has proven to be in the top5, you have to acknowledge that as it stands at the moment at 12th you misread him to a certain extent.

No.

Why would I rank him ahead of other players I think would be more valuable ?

Just looked at my list, and I had him 8th overall.

I had Dahlin, Svechnikov, Boqvist, Kotkaniemi, Zadina, Dobson and Hughes ahead of him.

Maybe I bump him ahead of Dobson, I don't know... but so far I still think it's on track to be right. My top four is clearly not moving, they all have much higher potential than Tkachuk.

The one ranking I kinda regret right now is Hayton.... at 35 He's shown he can produce now.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

If you watch Ottawa, it's clear Tkachuk isn't some flash in the pan. The guy is one of their go-to players already and is playing like an elite first liner. I said that I thought he could step in and be a 30 goal scorer and so far he's looking like that (albeit he's missed some games). His brother is continuing to ascend as well, and Brady has better tools than Matthew so the perceived lack of upside is clearly a miscalculation by those who saw as much. I think some folks just saw the name, saw the late birthday, saw the underwhelming college stats and just came up with an idea of who he is without actually looking at all the wonderful traits he possesses.

 

[jaffy27]

Brady Tkachuk has no offense.

-Habs hf pro scouts

I was ridiculed so many times on how I had him top 5.......apparently he wasn’t even top 10 on some posters lists.....

Tonight’s special.......Crow served cold

 

[NotProkofievian]

Brady has an EV SH% of 24, and a PDO of 1.05, third highest in the entire league among players with his amount of icetime.

TiMe tO eAt SoMe CrOw bOIz

 

[WeThreeKings]

Brady has an EV SH% of 24, and a PDO of 1.05, third highest in the entire league among players with his amount of icetime.

TiMe tO eAt SoMe CrOw bOIz

Marathon, not a sprint anyways. Good for him to expand his goal totals this year. Although I expect the offense he contributes this year to be on par with what he averages in his career.

Still not the type of player I pick with a top 5 pick. End of story.

 

[TT1]

Brady has an EV SH% of 24, and a PDO of 1.05, third highest in the entire league among players with his amount of icetime.

TiMe tO eAt SoMe CrOw bOIz

well, he also has pretty amazing advanced stats

 

[NotProkofievian]

well, he also has pretty amazing advanced stats

Sure. The data is saying that he's riding white hot over a short sample, though. I personally like my crow well done, not tartare.

 

[Hannibal]

Brady Tkachuk is so good damn...

Would still have pick him.

 

[sandviper]

Brady has an EV SH% of 24, and a PDO of 1.05, third highest in the entire league among players with his amount of icetime.

TiMe tO eAt SoMe CrOw bOIz

Maybe I am a little unclear on advanced stats (or you are being overly sarcastic and I am missing it) but doesn’t his 1.05 PDO indicate he may NOT be as good as his numbers seem? I thought PDO over 1 indicates puck luck in his favor?

 

[NotProkofievian]

Maybe I am a little unclear on advanced stats (or you are being overly sarcastic and I am missing it) but doesn’t his 1.05 PDO indicate he may NOT be as good as his numbers seem? I thought PDO over 1 indicates puck luck in his favor?

Yes. His shooting percentage (and PDO by extension) is saying that everything he and his linemates directs toward the net is going in at the moment. His portion of iCF that happen to be high danger chances or scoring chances is also pretty elevated at the moment. Like, if he were able to keep it up through an entire season it would put him into McDavid/Matthews territory.

 

[417]

Brady Tkachuk is so good damn...

Would still have pick him.

He's got more goals then he scored in college last year...

Can't say i'm shocked but some people have some explainin' to do lol

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

What year do you guys think Kotkaniemi will overtake Tkachuk as a scorer?

 

[Habaneros]

Brady Tkachuk is so good damn...

Would still have pick him.

lol..will they pay him?

Imagine when he asks for 13 million a year in a few seasons...

 

[montreal]

Putting Kotka aside, most of us on this board didn't like Tkachuk at draft, eating crow right now, including me. Really impressed how he has been able to elevate his game, he already has more goals than he did last year in the NCAA, hard to explained, the "intangibles" boys seems to make all the difference, he is a true gamer like his brother and father.

He's doing better then I thought but we'll see how things go for him and Kotka over the long term. Right now it's early in the season, the sample size is still small and it looks like things have changed in the NHL with the new goalie rule as scoring at least seems way up. Look at Domi, Tatar, etc.. did these guys suddenly become ppg players or does it have something to do with goalies letting in more goals. Or maybe the goalies are just in an adjustment period where they are trying to figure out what they need to do now that their equipment is smaller.

I wanted to trade down for Boqvist although I don't scout players and just offer what i see in games I watch when watching Hab prospects. I wasn't impressed with Tkachuk, I thought Hughes was a lot more impressive and if the draft were today I'd still take Hughes over him as I think he could end up being a legit stud while Tkachuk had that NHL frame/strength and looked to be a lock to be a solid NHLer but where is his upside. Right now it looks great but we'll see if he keeps that up or not.

 

[le_sean]

Brady is a full calendar year older than Kotkaniemi and grew up playing on NA ice. This shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s producing more today.

 

[Habs Halifax]

What year do you guys think Kotkaniemi will overtake Tkachuk as a scorer?

A lot depends on who they play with. It was funny about the posters who hated Tkachuk and compared him to a McCarron type. We have to stop doing this to ourselves. Tkachuk is a beast and I'm not saying we should of taken him over Kotkaniemi. But he is a top 5 pick value. Some were saying he wasn't even a top 10. Comical and I feel our drafting success with missing on Tinordi and McCarron affect some peoples judgment. Yes the game has gotten faster but you still need guys with skill and strength to go along with good skating. That's not changing and my evidence look at the final 8 rosters in the playoffs vs pre-season or October games.

I think Kotkaniemi and Tkachuk end up close in points potential. Were looking at 60-80 pts ceiling guys. It's anybodies guess how much better they can get and who they end up playing with in future years.