VainGretzky
Registered User
- Jun 4, 2015
- 13,224
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Very impressive drafting but no chance Oilers would of moved 16th for Gardiner let alone adding 33 homer wishful thinking at best.As a draft junkie and someone that watches 100's of junior games each year and ever minute of ever U-18, WJC and other events Frozen 4 and NCAA regional finals that are televised etc as well as buying major draft guides and reading all on-line scouting reports I can get my hands I always create my own draft board rankings each draft year. Then I compare Leafs actual picks to my own draft board and what I would have done if I was Leafs director of scouting.
Here is this year results.
Hunter's actual Leafs Draft
#4 --- Mitchell Marner, Right Wing/Centre, London Knights (OHL) – 5-foot-11, 160 pounds
#34 -- Travis Dermott, Defense, Erie Otters (OHL) – 5-foot-11, 197 pounds
#61 -- Jeremy Bracco, Right Wing, USHL (USA U-18) – 5-foot-9, 173 pounds
#65 -- Andrew Nielsen, Defense, Lethbridge Broncos (WHL) – 6-foot-3, 207 pounds
#68 -- Martins Dzierkals, Left Wing, Riga 2 ( Russia Jr.) – 5-foot-11, 169 pounds
#95 -- Jesper Lindgren, Defense, Modo Jr (Sweden JR) – 5-foot-11, 161 pounds
#125 - Dmytro Timashov, Left Wing, Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) – 5-foot-9, 192 pounds
#155 - Stephen Desrocher, Defense, Oshawa General (OHL) – 6-foot-3, 198 pounds
#185 - Nikita Korostelev, Right Wing, Sarnia Sting, (OHL) 6-foot-2, 195 pounds
My Leafs draft (using my draft rankings board) for 2015 draft
#4 --- Noah Hanifin, D, Boston College (NCAA) – 6-foot-2, 205 pounds
#16 -- Mathew Barzal, C, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) – 6-foot-0, 180 pounds
#29 -- Nick Merkley, RW/C, Kelowna Rockets (WHL) — 5-foot-10, 185 pounds
#33 -- Jansen Harkins, C, Prince George Cougars (WHL) – 6-foot-1, 180 pounds
#61 -- Alexander Dergachyov, Centre, SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) – 6-foot-4, 200 pounds
#65 -- Felix Sandstrom, Goaltender, Brynas IF, (SHL) – 6-foot-2, 191 pounds
#95 -- Parker Wotherspoon, Defence, Tri-City Americans, (WHL) – 6-foot-0, 171 pounds
#125 - Simon Bourque, Defense, Rimouski, (QMJHL) – 6-foot-0, 184 pounds
#155 - Stephen Desrocher, Defense, Oshawa General (OHL) – 6-foot-3, 198 pounds
#185 - Nikita Korostelev, Right Wing, Sarnia Sting, (OHL) 6-foot-2, 195 pounds
* Instead of the NYI trading Griffin Reinhart, I would have traded Jake Gardiner to Edmonton for #16 and #33 when Barzal was on the board, and moved heaven and earth to get that pick even if it meant adding another pick (Pens 2nd in 2016)..
** Instead of trading #29 for #34 and #68 I would not have traded out of the 1st round but stayed at #29 particularly when my hometown team Merkley was still on the board.
So how much is enough? You said this a while back
And what has happened within the last month to go from this to your current stance?
What is that pseudo science?
Also, Reinhart was picked three years ago. He's still a prospect, whereas most players in Gardiner's age group who were likely to be star players have already blossomed into those players by now. He was picked 2 spots behind Erik Karlsson. I don't think people are seeing the same kind of upside there.
The Leafs drafted a lot of skill.
Now we have to take the wait and see approach to see what becomes of it all when we look back at this draft in the future.
Trading out of the 1st round in a draft considered one of the best in a decade to pick up extra 3rd rounder is a concern particularly if you are passing on Konecny and Merkley smaller skilled players to take more smaller skilled players with the picks acquired.
I was hoping for a Bozak trade for a 2nd and 3rd and then you don't need to trade out of the 1st round.
A pick-by-pick look at the recent draftees:
Timashov- the next Ziggy Palffy? Jokes aside, this pick is great. Worst case, he goes to the KHL after 2 or 3 AHL stints. He could be a 20+20 guy in the Nhl.
Why would a Swede go to the KHL?
Lots of Swedes play there and his father is Russian and lives in Moscow.
A because you asked to rate the draft not what we didn't do to get more picks.
Thought one of the big priorities and objectives was to get multiple 1st rounders this year? We had two going into the draft, so the objective was to get at least one more.
In the end, we had one 1st rounder.
Are we shifting the goal posts?
Thought one of the big priorities and objectives was to get multiple 1st rounders this year? We had two going into the draft, so the objective was to get at least one more.
In the end, we had one 1st rounder.
Are we shifting the goal posts?
I think the most underrated player that we drafted this year was Dermott. We could have a special player there in a few years.
My observation is this, but not a criticism.
When you take a bunch of CHL GMs like Hunter, Dubas and Paliafito etc and they have been scouting 15/16 year olds for OHL teams then size doesn't matter as much as these kids grow from 16-18 before they are draft eligible.
With Leafs drafting 6 of 9 players 5-11 or under taking some of the players that other teams passed on due to size the perception is that they were stuck in CHL team building thinking and not adjusted to NHL drafting because its their first kick at the can. Generally by age 18 the majority of people are finished growing in height and now fill out weight wise as they mature.
Leafs drafted for skill no questioning that but they disregarded the size of that skill. So for them to hit on some of these player they are hoping for growth spurts.
You can only have so many smaller players on an NHL team so they might also be hoping that these players drafted are not intended for the Leafs roster but more currency in trade as Dubas says "you can trade small for size".
So it will be very interesting to see how this pans out.