Draft Poll

[CC321]

We currently have the #5 draft pick after Florida, Colorado, Calgary, and Carolina. Who do you draft. I'm guessing the top four players to go are Jones, MacKinnon, Drouin, and Barkov.

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[JFleegs]

go with best player available regardless of position

 

[BoltSTH]

BP available which is Nichushkin if the OP 1-4 is correct, but I expect he will be gone. My guess MacKinnon may fall out of the top 4 and then it is a choice of him or Nurse, but a lot could change after the world U18 Apr 18-28.



ISS April rankings:

Rank Name Position Birthdate Shot H W Team League Mar. Rank
1 Seth Jones D 10/03/94 R 6.03.5 208 Portland WHL 1
2 Valeri Nichushkin C 03/04/95 L 6.04 196 Chelyabinsk KHL 2
3 Nathan MacKinnon C 09/01/95 R 6.00 182 Halifax QMJHL 3
4 Jonathan Drouin LW 03/27/95 L 5.10.75 185 Halifax QMJHL 4
5 Sasha Barkov C 09/02/95 L 6.02 205 Tappara FinE 6
6 Darnell Nurse D 02/04/95 L 6.03.5 189 Sault Ste. Marie OHL 5
7 Nikita Zadorov D 04/15/95 L 6.05.25 230 London OHL 7

 

[Jacko95]

If the top4 go as expected (Jones, Drouin, Barkov and MacKinnon), I think it will come down to Nurse and Nishushkin and who our scouts like more. But I could also see us trading down to ~10 for the right offer and draft Zadorov.
Questionable would just be what the right offer to trade down would be.

 

[InjuredChoker]

BPA.

To me at #5 that is Elias Lindholm. Played RW this year but I expect him to be C next year. Was better than what Bäckström was at he's age. I'd take him even if/when Vinny is not bought out.

But I'm confident that SFY and co. makes the right choice. To me it comes down to Elias, Monahan and Nichushkin.

 

[chasespace]

Nichushkin will most likely slip due to the "Russian Factor". Yzerman has no qualms drafting Russians and Nuchushkin looks like he's going to be a beast. If he's there, grab him.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

If I suppose that Barkov, Jones, Mackinnon and Drouin are drafted...

I choose one of Nichuskin or Lindholm, both will be great players.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

I'm torn. Love both Nurse and Zadorov, both exactly what our blueline needs, but... you get one of these centers, let him work his way into the lineup, and have a VL replacement. Not a bad spot to be in.

 

[The Macho King]

I really like Monahan out of this group, though. There's a ton of talent, though, so a lot of picks could go right.

 

[Jacko95]

I'm torn. Love both Nurse and Zadorov, both exactly what our blueline needs, but... you get one of these centers, let him work his way into the lineup, and have a VL replacement. Not a bad spot to be in.

Why replace VL, he still plays great (20th best center in the league in PPG) and we have enoguh guys, that could step up into his position as long as he is injured (Killorn, Johnson and maybe with some line juggeling Pyatt/Thompson). And we might really whine that he is injured every season, but many guys are (Sid, Malkin, Kesler,....) and yet their teams don't give up on them.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Nichushkin!

 

[bov]

I'm with Still All In. I've been hoping for Nurse, or Zadorov to a slightly lesser extent, for quite some time. I expect we'll have a suitable 2nd line center to replace Vinny when the time comes without having to draft that player in the first round this year. Regardless, I have no reason to doubt that we'll go BPA and end up with a hell of a player no matter what position he plays. There are just so many intriguing names in this draft, and I'm really excited about it.

 

[Butchered]

Nichushkin if he's available. No question.

Nichushkin-Richard-Kucherov

Done.

But. If we can weasel our way into pick 4 and someone else picks up on Nichushkin that means one of the "top 3" comes to us at 4.

 

[jg39]

I said in the original Jones/MacKinnon/Drouin thread that I would take Elias Lindholm. At #5/6, I still take Elias Lindholm. I love the way the guy plays, and it's a type of play that combines both grit and skilled hands. It's not like Sweden doesn't know what they're doing with centers.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Why replace VL, he still plays great (20th best center in the league in PPG) and we have enoguh guys, that could step up into his position as long as he is injured (Killorn, Johnson and maybe with some line juggeling Pyatt/Thompson). And we might really whine that he is injured every season, but many guys are (Sid, Malkin, Kesler,....) and yet their teams don't give up on them.

I don't mean now, just moving forward. Marty and Vinny aren't getting younger.

 

[MattM92]

I'll be happy with any of Jones, Drouin, Nichushkin, MacKinnon, Barkov, Lindholm or Monahan in that order

Not that I am in any way scouting these players regularly. These are based solely off of gut feelings from what I HAVE seen of the players and also based on what I've heard from others.

 

[Rschmitz]

Nichushkin if we are going BPA.

 

[InjuredChoker]

EE tweeted that if Tampa gets top 5 pick it's BPA regardless of position.

 

[MattM92]

EE tweeted that if Tampa gets top 5 pick it's BPA regardless of position.

Of course

 

[TBLHoser]

I can see us doing something stupid and winning 4 out of the next 5 games and blowing a top 5 pick. Interesting to see how they play against Montreal and especially Carolina on Sunday.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

I went with Nurse because he seems to have everything we are currently missing on defence and his character makes him an ideal fit for Coop's pack mentality. He's got size, toughness, above average skating ability and a burgeoning offensive game that makes him a potential top pairing d-man.

Nichushkin is a good shout too, would not be disappointed with him either. If MacKinnon somehow drops out of the top 4, he's a no brainer pick for me and will likely be BPA.

 

[Steazy Doo]

I thought we were drafting Colonel Klinkhammer?

 

[MattM92]

I thought we were drafting Colonel Klinkhammer?

Florida already has the #1 pick all but locked up. We've gotta deal with the scraps that follow

 

[Steazy Doo]

Florida already has the #1 pick all but locked up. We've gotta deal with the scraps that follow

Bah. Tampa Bay Trio it is, I guess.

 

[The Wyzerhood]

Bah. Tampa Bay Trio it is, I guess.

Whoa, whoa. In what nonsense draft ranking am I below Colonel Klinkhammer? Last I checked, he had a confidence issue that affected his game. When I said Crabby was quickly becoming one of my favourite posters, he was visibly upset. Clear red flag for me if I were a scout...