Every team's draft needs?

[HanSolo]

I never really see any of these, and I thought it would be nice to see input from fans on what each team's draft needs are. That way it makes it easier to predict who might go where, who might fall, who might go earlier than expected. I'm not all too educated in this, but I'll share what I know.

Anaheim: Primary concern is offense. Carter, Ebbett, Beleskey, and Sexton all graduated without making much of an impact. Question marks surround Palmieri, Holland, Etem, Smith-Pelley, and Deschamps. As for D, Anaheim is overstocked with offensive D, so even if they fell Murray wouldn't draft guys like Murphy or Hamilton. Not enough shutdown D here. Goalies...Bobkov is the only one that shows promise, but very little. I think we might go for a Gibson in the later rounds.

Edmonton: I keep hearing they need a dynamic C? Loaded with young talented forwards. Can't really think of any promise on the blueline.

Colorado: They couldn't go wrong with either O or D. But they have two high picks so they can get both and get some real talent.

L.A: Look pretty set on the blue line and goaltending. Might as well add some scorers.

St. Louis: Enough D already. They are set. They need some offensive skill and fast.

Detroit: Their core lineup is aging. I'd say start finding some scoring, now.

SJS: don't know much about their farm, but I'd say more D should be a focus.

Carolina: Hear their fans talk about D being a team need. I'd have to agree.

Buffalo: Honestly no idea.

Toronto: It could go either way.

Calgary: Anything would help, really. Just whatever they pick should be the highest level available

NY Islanders: Similar to EDM. Decent offensive corp. D won't hurt.

CBJ: Keep hearing about that next C to play w/ Nash. Wasn't that supposed to be Johansen?

Phoenix: Bad history of offense not panning out as hoped. Get a scorer.

Dallas: B.Richards is leaving. Don't really know their situation, but I'd say draft a talented C

Atlanta: Talent. Forward or D. Just get some bigger names in there.

Boston: I don't really know what to suggest. Maybe defense? High pick, Hamilton wouldn't hurt

New Jersey: Defense. From what I've heard. Everywhere I look people have Murphy a Devil.

Vancouver: I don't really know. Defense could stand to improve.

Montreal: I'd say more scoring. Try to pick up a sniper.

Ottawa: Either way. Talent is more important here.

Pittsburgh: Meh. I never know with this team...offense? D? i don't...

Washington: Everything is looking pretty good in all honesty. Draft the highest talent available.

Tampa Bay: I don't know. With Connolly being picked last year...Stamkos...who knows how much MSL and Vinny have left in the tank. My gut says draft some D, but I could say offense would help.

Nashville: Defense, for sure goaltending no, lol. Scoring for sure. I can't remember for sure, but didn't their top scorer only have like 57 points on the season?

Philadelphia: Another one that stumps me. I'll say offense.

Minnesota: Why are you guys so bad at drafting (in general)? I'll say scoring cause you need some bigger names, but that blueline needs work too.

Florida: Offense. Straight up. You're picks never pan out well enough.

Chicago: Erm...I'll say D. Offense can help after last offseason though.

Rangers: Lol. McIlrath. Anyway. D looks pretty solid. Sniping scorer could help


AHHH that took so long. Anyway. I'm probably wrong about a couple of them.

Click to read more...

 

[R S]

Avs: Defense-first defenseman. High end wingers.

 

[leoleo3535]

Anaheim was 1th in the league in goals for...........20th in the league in goals against.

 

[MoreMogilny]

The Leafs could use forwards with a good blend of size and skill, preferably centers.

 

[ummerr]

Philly needs a goalie.

 

[Asquaredx2]

Ottawa has stacked D, a top goalie prospect in Lehner, and pretty good grinding talent at forward.

They need skilled scorers/playmakers up front and depth goaltenders.

 

[schronote]

St. Louis: Enough D already. They are set. They need some offensive skill and fast.

I would say with a top 10 forward group of Backes, Berglund, Stewart, Oshie, Macdonald, Steen, Tarasenko, Perron, Sobotka, and D'agostini the Blues have a very good group of forwards and also have prospects Mcrae, Schwartz, Reaves, Porter and Della Rovere very close to being NHL ready.
The Blues biggest needs are:

1. Big left handed two way defensemen
2. Potential shut down type centers
3. Big depth centers (future 4th line types)

 

[ct2111]

Buffalo: Honestly no idea.

Biggest draft need: Center that projects as a scoring center.
Beyond that: Skilled forwards with offensive upside, two-way center that has 3rd line upside, some goaltending depth.

Basically everywhere but defense. Different from previous years they have enough grinding type of players and could use some high-end skill on all forward positions.

 

[HanSolo]

Anaheim was 1th in the league in goals for...........20th in the league in goals against.

1th?
It was 11. Teemu isn't staying forever, Saku and Blake are getting old, our bottom 6 consists of:
Beleskey-McMillan-Sexton
Ruutu-Marchant-Parros

Beleskey and Sexton are in serious danger of becoming busts, marchant is retiring, Ruutu doesn't score, Parros same.

Our top offensive prospects are: Holland, Palmieri, Bonino, Deschamps, Etem, and Smith-Pelley.

We traded away Jake Gardiner, a huge talent, because we're overstocked on offensive D. Only D i see the Ducks drafting is Oleksiak.

The bottom 6 is a big question mark, and our second line is running on it's last gallon of gas. I'd say without a doubt in my mind that we need more offense, even if it only ends up being depth offense. We can't rely on the RPG line.

 

[The Expert]

Ottawa has stacked D, a top goalie prospect in Lehner, and pretty good grinding talent at forward.

They need skilled scorers/playmakers up front and depth goaltenders.

Agreed, no either way about it skilled forward is number 1.

 

[CamDegs13]

Need: Defenseman

Reason: Organizational depth at the position is not deep. Kampfer has had success at the NHL level in his short stint with the big club this season, but he does not possess high end potential. After Kampfer, there's Bartkowski, Alexandrov, Cohen, Warsofsky, Cross, Button, and Chudinov - nothing to get excited about in that group. It has been said that there is a specific need for a defenseman that can move the puck, but this is not necessarily the case with Kaberle in the fold / money to sign a Pitkanen/Ehrhoff, plus Kampfer bringing some puck-moving skills to the table on top of a solid all-around game.

Potential Picks: Murphy, Hamilton, Beaulieu, Siemens

Other potential positions of need: Goal-scoring winger (Huberdeau, Zibanejad, Phillips, Armia), Big Top-6 Forward (McNeill, Saad, Biggs, Scheifele)

My Pick: Beaulieu

 

[leoleo3535]

1th?
It was 11. Teemu isn't staying forever, Saku and Blake are getting old, our bottom 6 consists of:
Beleskey-McMillan-Sexton
Ruutu-Marchant-Parros

Beleskey and Sexton are in serious danger of becoming busts, marchant is retiring, Ruutu doesn't score, Parros same.

Our top offensive prospects are: Holland, Palmieri, Bonino, Deschamps, Etem, and Smith-Pelley.

We traded away Jake Gardiner, a huge talent, because we're overstocked on offensive D. Only D i see the Ducks drafting is Oleksiak.

The bottom 6 is a big question mark, and our second line is running on it's last gallon of gas. I'd say without a doubt in my mind that we need more offense, even if it only ends up being depth offense. We can't rely on the RPG line.

yes 11th....my typo..... and lots of offence in the system

 

[Juxtaposer]

The Sharks do not need D. We have ridiculous depth on D in the pipes. The Sharks need top-end wingers, real scorers to play with Couture and Pavelski. We have tons of D, tons of goaltenders, and tons of bottom six guys with upside. We just need true top-end wing talent. We need a draft like last year, that produced Charlie Coyle at 28th.

 

[Juxtaposer]

And I've just read the entire OP and it's actually quite insulting to quite a few teams...

 

[HanSolo]

yes 11th....my typo..... and lots of offence in the system

Love the answer CamDegs

I agree...but how good is that offense? We thought the system we had offensively would bring us at least one good line. So far, everyone who has come up (with the exception of McMillan) has been a bust. Sexton and Beleskey are toeing the line.

Holland is a question mark...his effort level has been said to be dangerously low. We'll see if the AHL will help.
Palmieri looks like he'll be good, but will probably graduate soon, without any real linemates to play with.
Etem: I love the guy. The story of the Cali kid ending up w/ a cali kid is great. He seems to be doing great. But that's juniors. Need to see him in the pros.
Smith-Pelley: really impressed. I'm actually confident about him.
Bonino: Wild card. Does well at the AHL level, can't score in the NHL.
Maroon: Looks...sketchy. Don't know what to expect.
Deschamps: Looking like a career AHLer.

After that...no one else is worth talking about, and that group is a concern. I'll take Oleksiak, but not Musil with that 22cd pick.

 

[Bure]

Capitals need

Coach

Oh how I wish we could draft those.

 

[HanSolo]

And I've just read the entire OP and it's actually quite insulting to quite a few teams...

I'm honestly not all educated about EVERY team. Some I had to guess based on info I gathered all year long. Take it easy.

 

[Sideline]

The Penguins will take BPA that's not a goalie.

 

[grits207]

The Leafs need forwards with high end offensive potential, even if it's a "boom or bust" prospect. They could also use a power forward type guy.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Oilers: #1 center and top-pairing d-man


loaded on the wings but need that top guy to down the middle..

also got some good D prospects but none (so far) that look like they are top-pairing a material

one of those will be addressed with the #1 pick

 

[TMLife*]

Maple Leafs should try to pick up a high potential forward(preferably a center) with one of their first rounders, a defenceman with a high offensive upside with their other first rounder, and a boom or bust type player with the early second rounder.

 

[Warden of the North]

Leafs need big, skilled, forwards. Centre and LW over RW. Emphasis on talent over size if it comes down to it.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I'm honestly not all educated about EVERY team. Some I had to guess based on info I gathered all year long. Take it easy.

No, what I mean is the thing you say about teams like Florida ("Everyone you draft is a bust lulz") and Minnisota ("You guys really suck at drafting").

I don't care that you got some wrong, that's the point of the thread.

 

[DaveG]

Canes D need is more in free agency then the draft. That said, if one of Murphy, Siemens, or Hamilton is still on the board at #12 I'm all for it. Otherwise, it's simply BPA, though we could afford to take a goalie in the 2nd or 3rd.

overall needs:
Goalie in the 2nd or 3rd
Right Wing
Playmaker (ton of goal scorers in the system, but Chris Terry and Zach Boychuk are the only real PMs of note)

 

[Analyzer*]

Montréal could use:

More big, skilled, tough wingers.
Big centremen
Big, tough d.
Offensively skilled d.
Shutdown type centre.

Basically anything but a number 1 goalie. Even then, Montréal needs to draft a goalie.