Glaring need for an Elite D prospect

[egd27]

Leafs are now completely stacked in skilled forwards. If need be, they can likely trade a top end forward prospect for a top end defensive prospect in the future.

What?

2 or 3 teenagers that look promising is not even close to being "completely stacked in skilled forwards".

 

[Bullseye]

Reilly will be 1D. And I still believe in Gardiner to be a solid 2nd pairing guy.

I see Rielly like a stronger more offensive Stralman but not like a Hedman.

And Marner could develop in time to a #1C - he could grow physically in every respect in the coming years looking at his his mom and his brother and how much of a baby-faced kid he still is today - lots of growing coming - I'm off-topic this is a #1D thread.

I still want a stud to play with Gards and Rielly.

 

[Fogelhund]

Norris trophy nominees, top three voted D, for the last five seasons...

PK Subban - 2nd round, 43rd overall
Roman Josi - 2nd round, 38th overall
Erik Karlsson - 1st round, 15th overall
Duncan Keith - 2nd round, 54th overall
Alex Pietrangelo - 1st round, 4th overall
Zdeno Chara - 3rd round, 56th overall
Kris Letang - 3rd round, 62 overall
Ryan Suter - 1st round, 7th overall
Shea Weber - 2nd round, 49th overall
Niklas Lidstrom - 3rd round, 53rd overall
Lubomir Visnovsky - 4th round, 118th overall

Elite D men aren't as predictable, as Elite forwards. Eleven different D have been in the top 3 in voting for the Norris in the last five years, and only three of those are players drafted in the first round. Dermott could turn into one of these guys, Percy could... D takes a while to learn... the bottom line... we need to draft a lot of players, both forwards and D, and sooner or later one of them might end up being much better than their draft position. If we can get four or five in picks in the first two rounds, and a couple more in the third, we can hope to draft 3-4 more D prospects, and hope that we hit the lottery along the way.

We could hope for a Chychrun, but even being drafted at #2 doesn't guarantee anything with D... If we get the opportunity to draft a Matthews, we just have to do that, and worry about D with our other picks.

 

[Celly Hard]

Chychrun is going to be a stud, we need to do anything to acquire him.

 

[Hero]

Yeah, I wish we drafted Hanifin, but Marner isn't bad

 

[Hero]

Leafs are now completely stacked in skilled forwards. If need be, they can likely trade a top end forward prospect for a top end defensive prospect in the future.

Edmoton is completely stacked in skilled forwards
- McDavid, Hall, RNH, Eberle, Yakupov

Pittsburgh is completely stacked in skilled forwards
- Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist, Perron

Chicago was and still sort of is, LA is etc...

Leafs are not...

 

[Celly Hard]

Same, I'm going to support Marner, but I feel like drafting 2 similar players with your top pick isn't the best way to pick. Nylander and Marner both project to being a Kane-like player.

Then again, just got a weird vibe from Hannifin. Seems like a sketch dude, so maybe its for the better.

 

[Fogelhund]

Edmoton is completely stacked in skilled forwards
- McDavid, Hall, RNH, Eberle, Yakupov

Pittsburgh is completely stacked in skilled forwards
- Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist, Perron

Chicago was and still sort of is, LA is etc...

Leafs are not...

We need more of everything, particularly high end potential guys.

 

[Fogelhund]

Also, here is our list of young D, or prospects, that I think have NHL potential...

Reilly
Gardiner

1. Scott Harrington Pro 7.0 B
2. Matt Finn Pro 7.0 C
3. Stuart Percy Pro 7.0 C
4. Rinat Valiev CHL 7.0 C
6. Petter Granberg Pro 6.5 C
7. Viktor Loov Pro 6.5 C

Dermott
Nielsen?

That's ten guys... and sure, maybe only Reilly currently projects as elite, but developing D can surprise, just as they can disappoint. We are likely to pickup another three D in next years draft, in the first three rounds... what we really need more than anything else, is to get lucky with one of these prospects and get a #1D or #2D from somewhere.

 

[Duke16]

Also, here is our list of young D, or prospects, that I think have NHL potential...

Reilly
Gardiner

1. Scott Harrington Pro 7.0 B
2. Matt Finn Pro 7.0 C
3. Stuart Percy Pro 7.0 C
4. Rinat Valiev CHL 7.0 C
6. Petter Granberg Pro 6.5 C
7. Viktor Loov Pro 6.5 C

Dermott
Nielsen?

That's ten guys... and sure, maybe only Reilly currently projects as elite, but developing D can surprise, just as they can disappoint. We are likely to pickup another three D in next years draft, in the first three rounds... what we really need more than anything else, is to get lucky with one of these prospects and get a #1D or #2D from somewhere.

None of the 2015 prospects are on the site yet, I think Marner will be 8.5 C or 8.0 B, I think Dermott will be 7.0 B or 7.5 C, Bracco will be 7.5 B

 

[Shwaguy*]

Same, I'm going to support Marner, but I feel like drafting 2 similar players with your top pick isn't the best way to pick. Nylander and Marner both project to being a Kane-like player.

Then again, just got a weird vibe from Hannifin. Seems like a sketch dude, so maybe its for the better.

No they don't

Nylander is more like a Seguin (Not saying he'll be as good).

And Marner is more like Gilmour or Giroux (He will be that good)

 

[Rufio65*]

Reilly will be 1D. And I still believe in Gardiner to be a solid 2nd pairing guy.

Does Rielly have the ability to QB a PP? Nope.
Can Rielly physically impose his will? Nope.

Let's just see if Rielly can play with any sort of structure this year, and maybe can develop even a mediocre shot before we start saying that he can be a #1 D. Not even going to comment on Gardiner.

 

[Gabriel426]

Aki Berg was 3rd overall. As I said before, a lot of elite D now are not 1st rounder. D is a position where I think can really develop through a proper system and experience, bc nobody expects a D man to score 30 goals and have 50 assists a yr. Just look at Giordano, undrafted and IMO best Dman in the league.

 

[DD03]

Does Rielly have the ability to QB a PP? Nope.
Can Rielly physically impose his will? Nope.

Let's just see if Rielly can play with any sort of structure this year, and maybe can develop even a mediocre shot before we start saying that he can be a #1 D. Not even going to comment on Gardiner.

Rielly can QB a PP. Not sure where you heard he can't.

And the NHL isn't about imposing your will anymore. It's about being positionally sound, and controlling the puck, and getting it out of your zone with control.

You don't need to be physically imposing to play defense anymore.

 

[Paradoc]

I feel like if we drafted Hanifin, the same thread pops up except we need elite prospects on F.

Look at LA's defense. Only ONE elite defender and they win the Cup. Look at Boston's too. Chara and then depth.

And if we're 1st overall next year, there's no way, and I mean no way, you pass on Mathews.

If Matthews and Chychrun goes head to head with the first pick, I see teams picking Matthews. I feel like teams pick Franchise, big, centerman over franchise, big, dman.

 

[DD03]

If Matthews and Chychrun goes head to head with the first pick, I see teams picking Matthews. I feel like teams pick Franchise, big, centerman over franchise, big, dman.

Tavares over Hedman is the last one I can think of..

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Bruce Arthur made a really good point on TSN's FA coverage today - we've seen in the last week, trades like Hamilton and Saad, which show that the threat of offer sheets & cap management means that core players DO still move in the NHL.

You just need to make sure you have the assets to be able to acquire them.

Exactly we're in a similar spot to where Buffalo was a few years ago.

Buffalo blew up their roster over a few season but since around the trade deadline they've been able to add Kane, Bogosian, ROR and Lehner from having cap space + lots of extra picks/prospects to deal.

The gutting of this team began at the deadline when we choose to deal out players for whatever futures we could. This deadline we're already shaping up to have a good number of pieces to sell.

For UFAs we've got:

Polak + Spalding as the exact type of depth pieces teams overpay for every deadline.

We've also got Parenteau + Reimer who should net some mid round picks.

 

[Highlander23]

The question is, why do you expect a team to fullfil every hole in a single draft/offseason ? If i was in charge, i would stress that a future JVR trade has to include a stud D (helloooooo nashville)

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Norris trophy nominees, top three voted D, for the last five seasons...

PK Subban - 2nd round, 43rd overall
Roman Josi - 2nd round, 38th overall
Erik Karlsson - 1st round, 15th overall
Duncan Keith - 2nd round, 54th overall
Alex Pietrangelo - 1st round, 4th overall
Zdeno Chara - 3rd round, 56th overall
Kris Letang - 3rd round, 62 overall
Ryan Suter - 1st round, 7th overall
Shea Weber - 2nd round, 49th overall
Niklas Lidstrom - 3rd round, 53rd overall
Lubomir Visnovsky - 4th round, 118th overall

Elite D men aren't as predictable, as Elite forwards. Eleven different D have been in the top 3 in voting for the Norris in the last five years, and only three of those are players drafted in the first round. Dermott could turn into one of these guys, Percy could... D takes a while to learn... the bottom line... we need to draft a lot of players, both forwards and D, and sooner or later one of them might end up being much better than their draft position. If we can get four or five in picks in the first two rounds, and a couple more in the third, we can hope to draft 3-4 more D prospects, and hope that we hit the lottery along the way.

We could hope for a Chychrun, but even being drafted at #2 doesn't guarantee anything with D... If we get the opportunity to draft a Matthews, we just have to do that, and worry about D with our other picks.

Don't hold your breath on Percy.

Percy is 22 and hasn't shown anything elite.

Even the guys like Lidstrom, Weber, Karlsson, Subban, Letang who weren't drafted at the top of the draft saw their stock skyrocket in the year or two after.

Percy is 22 and hasn't come close to showing anything elite yet.

 

[edwardslane]

Shae Webber 2nd rounder
Roman Josi 2nd rounder
Eric Karlsson selected 15th overall
Pk Subban 2nd rounder
Brian boyle drafted 1st round 26th overall
Zdeno Chara 3rd rounder..
TYson Barrie 3rd rounder
big Buff.. 8th rounder!
john carlsson late first
Mike green late 1st
Kris Letang 3rd rounder
Justin Faulk 2nd rounder
francois Beauchemin 3rd rounder
Marc edward vlasic 2nd rounder
alex edler 3rd rounder
Mark Giordano UNDRAFTED!
dennis wideman 8th rounder


Point. you don't need to draft stud D men in the lottery.. You can pick them mid first or later and they can still become elite talent and considering the best in the league.

 

[edwardslane]

Norris trophy nominees, top three voted D, for the last five seasons...

PK Subban - 2nd round, 43rd overall
Roman Josi - 2nd round, 38th overall
Erik Karlsson - 1st round, 15th overall
Duncan Keith - 2nd round, 54th overall
Alex Pietrangelo - 1st round, 4th overall
Zdeno Chara - 3rd round, 56th overall
Kris Letang - 3rd round, 62 overall
Ryan Suter - 1st round, 7th overall
Shea Weber - 2nd round, 49th overall
Niklas Lidstrom - 3rd round, 53rd overall
Lubomir Visnovsky - 4th round, 118th overall

Elite D men aren't as predictable, as Elite forwards. Eleven different D have been in the top 3 in voting for the Norris in the last five years, and only three of those are players drafted in the first round. Dermott could turn into one of these guys, Percy could... D takes a while to learn... the bottom line... we need to draft a lot of players, both forwards and D, and sooner or later one of them might end up being much better than their draft position. If we can get four or five in picks in the first two rounds, and a couple more in the third, we can hope to draft 3-4 more D prospects, and hope that we hit the lottery along the way.

We could hope for a Chychrun, but even being drafted at #2 doesn't guarantee anything with D... If we get the opportunity to draft a Matthews, we just have to do that, and worry about D with our other picks.

haha raced me oh well still good point

 

[Nithoniniel]

Don't hold your breath on Percy.

Percy is 22 and hasn't shown anything elite.

Even the guys like Lidstrom, Weber, Karlsson, Subban, Letang who weren't drafted at the top of the draft saw their stock skyrocket in the year or two after.

Percy is 22 and hasn't come close to showing anything elite yet.

Yeah, spot on. Top D-men might not always have differentiated themselves when they get drafted, but most of them have at draft +1, and pretty much all of them at draft +2.

Percy has had his chance at the NHL-level as well, what he showed there is mostly what we'll get when he's fully developed, just more consistently.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Tavares over Hedman is the last one I can think of..

then Stamkos over Doughty being the other.
MacKinnon over Jones...
and I guess, Ekblad beat everyone else.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Chychrun or Matthews. I'll gladly take either of them.

 

[Bluelines]

We now have plenty of forwards with top six potential, but with the exception of Rielly we don't have any high end D prospects. Who should be a target or who could surprise and become that guy? IMO Chychrun/thread and my underdog is Jesper Lindgren.

Rumors, rumors, rumors... Nikita Zaitsev?