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Without question
Well if Detroit gets #1... and Ottawa gets #2... Let's make a deal
Without question
Say Detroit gets #1 and Ottawa gets #2.
Would Ottawa trade the #2 and #18 for the #1 to get Lafreniere?
The value of a #18 pick is peanuts next to a top-3 pick. If Detroit feels Byfield will be the better player, they'll just pick him at 1. Which would be a mistake IMO, but it wouldn't be unreasonable.
But if Byfield is even a 50/50 proposition for Yzerman, and if Ottawa wants Lafreniere, why not go get that #18 pick.
The preference can be very mild even for such an important pick. There's no reason that Lafreniere and Byfield have to be well seperated on their board. If I was planning on taking Byfield at 1, I'd trade down to 2 super happily for 18th OA. It's just an extra free first round pick. Sure it may turn into nothing, might also turn into Mantha or Larkin. We need as many of those as possible so I'll take Byfield with the chance I have to take the consensus 1st OA pick and another 18 OA over just taking Byfield every day of the week.At #1, there's no 50/50 pick. It's a franchise-altering pick. They have scouts that have spent dozens of hours watching these guys play, and they almost certainly prefer one of these guys over the other. And realistically, that preference is worth more than whoever is picked at #18 (in this range, you're lucky if the player you get winds up being an NHL regular).
If Ottawa was offering another top-10 pick instead, then, sure, that would be worth considering.
One can never know how a particular GM or scouting department views certain players but I would be utterly shocked to see Stevie Y trade down to take Byfield at 2 for an extra mid first draft pick. It's not that I don't like Byfield but he's just not at a level that screams guaranteed 1st line franchise center. Laf will be a perennial all star and most see him as the best forward coming into a draft since Mathews. Byfield most likely will be a top 6 forward and perhaps a true number one center but there are certain facets about his game that simply do not guarantee this so sorry but no GM is going to trade down this year for another prospect if they have the number one pick.
I'm of the mind that Lafreniere will be better quicker and the Byfield will develop more slowly, but have chance to better. And - being a center, that's hard for me to pass up.
LOL.
I watched the same guy do a Byfield game.
And I saw a big fast kid just overmatching kids. I saw some heads up hockey from Byfield, too.
I wasn't unimpressed with him. But he definitely looked raw. Which is understandable for a 6'5 17-year old.
So I figured I'd watch the same guy do a Lafreniere video, the one above. I expected my impression of Lafreniere to be MUCH better than what I'd just seen.
And it wasn't.
While Lafreniere is clearly more polished than Byfield, (he should be, he's a year older and not growing into a gargantuan body), I really didn't think he was better.
I'm looking for more shift videos. But honestly, I can't say I'd take Lafreniere over Byfield if I'm Yzerman with the #1 pick.
If Yzerman has first overall and picks anyone other than Lafreniere he should be fired on the spot.
This.. that goes for whichever GM picks first there is nobody getting picked before lafreniere.
hes going first overall to SC Bern per elite prospects
It was a joke.Ok.. so they waste their pick on him. Nhl team will also draft him, and he'll play for that team come new year.
It was a joke.
Bern is a beautiful city, he’ll get to start camp in August, play for 3-1/2 months, then go to NHL camp.
teams have to make money. lafreniere might not help come playoff time, but if he gets enough buzz to bring more people out to the arena, i don't see why they wouldn't be interested.He should just stay in the Q or see if the NHL changes the AHL parameters, if that league starts on time.
What incentive does any good team in Europe have to bring in a kid for 3-4 months that won't be there towards the end of their season? There's almost no chance he'd be there for a full season. If the next NHL season gets cancelled because of a second wave, it's likely that the European leagues would have the same thing happen. I'm sure Lafreniere would produce well and help the team, but it's not as if you can't find some NHL/AHL tweener to also produce well. Unlike Lafreniere, that player will stay a full season, if you are signing them. Unless you are only signing the kid for publicity reasons and to eventually call him a product of your team, there would be no reason for him to play in Europe.
teams have to make money. lafreniere might not help come playoff time, but if he gets enough buzz to bring more people out to the arena, i don't see why they wouldn't be interested.
How much do fans care about that stuff? I don’t know the answer, but I don’t suspect they’d be lining the gates in Switzerland, Russia, Sweden to watch a prospect.
And there’s also the COVID question. There are going to be less fans with tickets attend events, even when they are cleared to return to these venues.
Does anyone think that this guy has a chance to bust, assuming he stays healthy?
With all due respect to the Swiss league, that "prospect" would likely be one the best players in the league.
And yes superstars absolutely attract crowds, and fans in all sports care about that stuff. I imagine that it's also not a bad idea to create an early relationship history with such a player too, in the event of another NHL lockout in the next few years.
Does anyone think that this guy has a chance to bust, assuming he stays healthy?