F Riley Heidt - Prince George Cougars, WHL (2023, 64th, MIN)

[57special]

He's 5'10 1/2", 180 . Could easily see him putting on at least 1/2", and 10-15 lbs over the next 2-3 years. That's hardly tiny.

Either he just fell through the cracks for no reason at all, or scouts don't think much of his game, or he had some really bad interviews.

I mean, he was tied with Stankoven in points, who everyone is raving about (rightfully), who was a 2022 draftee. 4th oa in the WHL, second only to Bedard and Benson (barely), both of who he is bigger than. That's got to count for something.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He's 5'10 1/2", 180 . Could easily see him putting on at least 1/2", and 10-15 lbs over the next 2-3 years. That's hardly tiny.

Either he just fell through the cracks for no reason at all, or scouts don't think much of his game, or he had some really bad interviews.

I mean, he was tied with Stankoven in points, who everyone is raving about (rightfully), who was a 2022 draftee. 4th oa in the WHL, second only to Bedard and Benson (barely), both of who he is bigger than. That's got to count for something.

He also played 20 more games than Stankoven.

 

[vildurson]

Heidt's fall in draft is mystery to me. I quess size mattered even more in this draft than it used to matter. I can understand end of first but end of second is kinda stupid. Makes me think that he had really bad interviews or something along this way. Also playing for unknown team does not seem to help his stock

 

[seafoam]

Scouts don’t care to go out to PG, such a shame.

 

[57special]

Scouts don’t care to go out to PG, such a shame.

I had a gf from there, and she had to travel to me.

 

[57special]

Heidt's fall in draft is mystery to me. I quess size mattered even more in this draft than it used to matter. I can understand end of first but end of second is kinda stupid. Makes me think that he had really bad interviews or something along this way. Also playing for unknown team does not seem to help his stock

Bedard, Benson, Michkov? Heidt is bigger than all of them. Maybe the skating was a problem, maybe inconsistency, but 97 pts as a draft year player is damn good. He was one pick away from being in the 3rd round. That's crazy, for someone with his skill and production.

 

[Blueston]

Heidt's fall in draft is mystery to me. I quess size mattered even more in this draft than it used to matter. I can understand end of first but end of second is kinda stupid. Makes me think that he had really bad interviews or something along this way. Also playing for unknown team does not seem to help his stock

Teams really seemed to emphasize performance u18 tourney as it is one place to really compare across countries. Guys like heidt and cristall and lardis who failed to make an impact, it compounded questions about their size.

For other guys, especially on Canada, who failed to shine they slipped too. I think Barlow stock wasn’t helped by his performance there either, nor were several of the d (dragicevic, price, and Allen come to mind). And while I get argument that it’s just one tourney and shouldn’t over emphasize, it also kinda reinforced that maybe some of the seemingly historical whl numbers this year were inflated and that the draft classes from Q and ohl were weaker than normal. This is even more apparent when you realize the top 2 guys on team Canada were from ushl and ncaa.

 

[pgfan66]

He's 5'10 1/2", 180 . Could easily see him putting on at least 1/2", and 10-15 lbs over the next 2-3 years. That's hardly tiny.

Either he just fell through the cracks for no reason at all, or scouts don't think much of his game, or he had some really bad interviews.

I mean, he was tied with Stankoven in points, who everyone is raving about (rightfully), who was a 2022 draftee. 4th oa in the WHL, second only to Bedard and Benson (barely), both of who he is bigger than. That's got to count for something.

Heidt's fall in draft is mystery to me. I quess size mattered even more in this draft than it used to matter. I can understand end of first but end of second is kinda stupid. Makes me think that he had really bad interviews or something along this way. Also playing for unknown team does not seem to help his stock

It’s the skating, mostly. Not surprised it was Judd Brackett who ended the fall, though.

Scouts don’t care to go out to PG, such a shame.

Not true. At least not this year. Scouts went way out of their way to see PG games.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Quotes from the Athletic about the pick:

“Brackett also was stunned to snatch up playmaker Riley Heidt, another center who had first-round talent and who tied for fourth in WHL scoring (72 assists, 97 points), late in the second round (No. 64).

The Wild felt like it was a steal.

“Judd was doing backflips,” Guerin said.”

Russo and Smith: The Wild's week of 'torture,' drafting for need, and free agency updates

What will GM Bill Guerin be able to accomplish when the free agency period opens on Saturday?

theathletic.com

 

[BKarchitect]

Honestly I know Wild fans were probably cursing their top two picks with Stramel having a poor year on a completely dysfunctional Badgers team and Kumpulainen being a late season riser that wasn’t exactly on the top of people’s minds…

But if you throw in Heidt and re-arrange the order and go back a couple of months…it looks like a pretty standard first three picks. Heidt the well-known WHL playmaker in the mid-1st, Stramel as your physical impressive project pick dropper with upside in the mid-2nd and Kumpulainen another large bodied center with a good second half as a late-2nd flier.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Longitudinal threads like this are fascinating.

We watched Heidt grow up before our eyes, saw the highlights, the first WHL goal, saw the 1st round expectations, and boom, bottom of the 2nd round.

Perhaps draft week will be a wake-up call for the kid, because GMs don't pass on that skill for no reason.

 

[landy92mack29]

Longitudinal threads like this are fascinating.

We watched Heidt grow up before our eyes, saw the highlights, the first WHL goal, saw the 1st round expectations, and boom, bottom of the 2nd round.

Perhaps draft week will be a wake-up call for the kid, because GMs don't pass on that skill for no reason.

Yeah they do there's stars that get picked in the 2nd and later every year. Drafting is a imperfect system and there's always guys that go too high or too low when people look back on it. Will Heidt become a star or even nhler we'll see but he has extra motivation now to stick it to the scouts.

 

[Mrb1p]

Longitudinal threads like this are fascinating.

We watched Heidt grow up before our eyes, saw the highlights, the first WHL goal, saw the 1st round expectations, and boom, bottom of the 2nd round.

Perhaps draft week will be a wake-up call for the kid, because GMs don't pass on that skill for no reason.

For size they do

 

[57special]

For size they do

Heidt is 5'10 1/2, 180. 1/2" shorter than Moore, ASP, and Yager. 1/4" shorter than Perreault. Same as Cowan. 3/4" taller than Benson, Bedard, and Michkov. 1" taller than Cristall, 2 1/2" taller than Brindley. All of those players went far above him.

Something else is operating here. Either some teams think that there is something fundamentally flawed in his game, or he presented himself poorly at interviews.

 

[Bubbles]

2G, 3A tonight in a rout. 11-2 over the Royals.

 

[57special]

He looked good in the Wild camps. He, Haight, and Sammy Walker really clicked as a line.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

If Minnesota can sign Danny Weight, they might have the right line. Heidt, Haight, and Weight

 

[Bubbles]

2G,, 2A tonight. The kid was absolutely flying tonight, it looked like other guys were stuck in mud. He's either gotten faster or skating issues were overblown. His skill is undeniable.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

He was putting up points in the preseason too. I don’t think he’s that far away. It will be about adding strength, but he could probably play on an NHL powerplay now.

 

[57special]

The mystery continues as to why he was picked so low. He is not big, but not small, either(is now listed at 5'11" on WHL website), and he plays somewhat physically, or at least, not timidly. He might not be a brilliant skater, but he is above average. His offensive skills are well above average. All signs are he is following last year's excellent season with another. Throw in an excellent rookie camp in MN... well, let's just say that consistency isn't a problem, either.

Meanwhile, Charlie Stramel, MN's first pick, picked up even worse than he left off after last year's turd of a season. Been either injured or ineffective so far. 0 points in 5gp. Apparently being 6'3" gets you lots of run.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The mystery continues as to why he was picked so low. He is not big, but not small, either, and he plays somewhat physically, or at least, not timidly. He might not be a brilliant skater, but he is above average. His offensive skills are well above average. All signs are he is following last year's excellent season with another. Throw in an excellent rookie camp in MN... well, let's just say that consistency isn't a problem, either.

Meanwhile, Charlie Stramel, MN's first pick, picked up even worse than he left off after last year's turd of a season. Been either injured or ineffective so far. 0 points in 5gp. Apparently being 6'3" gets you lots of run.

Hopefully the same mystery around why Brayden Point fell so much.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Heidt could have not interviewed well. Also a lot of scouts were down on his commitment to play any sense of defensive hockey.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Would have to have been a generationally shitty interview for him to fall to essentially the 3rd round

 

[Circulartheory]

Would have to have been a generationally shitty interview for him to fall to essentially the 3rd round

It happens, especially when you are already considered to be a late 1st/early 2nd pick. That generally signals there are some flaws (like any prospect) the scouts are concerned about, and a bad interview that doesn't dissuade those arguments drops you late 2nd.

Those 20-30 spot drop isn't the same as being drop 20-30 spots from 1st overall (hell, even dropping from 5th overall to 15th overall is more significant). There are just many more prospects with more equal skill in the 2nd and more options to pick rather than a guy a team may not be excited about.

That said, this is all on draft day. After draft day, none of that matters because he can improve himself, his commitment, his skills, and give the Wild a steal

 

[MichaelFarrell]

The mystery continues as to why he was picked so low. He is not big, but not small, either(is now listed at 5'11" on WHL website), and he plays somewhat physically, or at least, not timidly. He might not be a brilliant skater, but he is above average. His offensive skills are well above average. All signs are he is following last year's excellent season with another. Throw in an excellent rookie camp in MN... well, let's just say that consistency isn't a problem, either.

Meanwhile, Charlie Stramel, MN's first pick, picked up even worse than he left off after last year's turd of a season. Been either injured or ineffective so far. 0 points in 5gp. Apparently being 6'3" gets you lots of run.

It was really weird to me that he was picked in the third round. I thought for a while after that what I could’ve missed in terms of any glaring deficiencies in his game because I ranked him #15 overall.

I’m glad he’s going on to play so well this year. I still can’t believe he was picked so late, but then again I had Andrew Cristall at #9 and he didn’t go until #40.