Speculation: HFWild Mock Draft Pick #4

[Digitalbooya]

Tim Stutzle takes #3!

Who do you think Minnesota should take #4 overall?

The idea is to create a Minnesota Wild big board for the draft.

Vote for who you think it is and then give recommendations on who to add for next poll. For this poll I have added Dylan Holloway.

I am going to limit the poll day length to just a single day, so get your votes in!

Wild Draft:
1. Alexis Lafreniere 88.9%
2. Quinton Byfield 61.5%
3. Tim Stutzle 57.1%
4.

Click to read more...

 

[TaLoN]

Drysdale

 

[57special]

Drysdale might be the best player, but do we need another smallish RHD? Given team needs, I went Rossi. I don't see a big separation in talent between Drysdale, Rossi, and the two Swedes.

 

[MNRube]

Rossi for me

Greenway-Rossi-Kaprizov
Boldy-JEE-Fiala
Beckman-Khovanov-Kunin

I wouldn’t hate Drysdale or Lundell either. I’m a big believer in the latter.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I've got Rossi. Not necessarily BPA, but with Spurgeon+Dumba locked up and some decent AHL and prospects I'm not sure it's worth it to pick Drysdale just yet.

 

[AKL]

I've got Rossi. Not necessarily BPA, but with Spurgeon+Dumba locked up and some decent AHL and prospects I'm not sure it's worth it to pick Drysdale just yet.

The idea behind Drysdale would be to allow us to move Dumba in a year or two rather than re-signing him to a long term, high AAV contract into his 30s with a NMC like we seem to enjoy doing. Drysdale is a special talent and would be the cornerstone two-way defender to replace Suter and Spurgeon when they get too old to anchor a D. Dumba isn't that, neither is Addison nor anyone else in our system.

Not trying to say Drysdale is the only answer, I completely understand taking Rossi, just explaining my rationale for Drysdale. We don't have a future cornerstone center, true enough, but we also don't have a future cornerstone defenseman either.

 

[BagHead]

The idea behind Drysdale would be to allow us to move Dumba in a year or two rather than re-signing him to a long term, high AAV contract into his 30s with a NMC like we seem to enjoy doing. Drysdale is a special talent and would be the cornerstone two-way defender to replace Suter and Spurgeon when they get too old to anchor a D. Dumba isn't that, neither is Addison nor anyone else in our system.

Not trying to say Drysdale is the only answer, I completely understand taking Rossi, just explaining my rationale for Drysdale. We don't have a future cornerstone center, true enough, but we also don't have a future cornerstone defenseman either.

Well stated. I went with Rossi, but I definitely thought twice about it. Drysdale seems like a lot of talent to leave on the board, but that's true of several guys up there.

 

[TaLoN]

The idea behind Drysdale would be to allow us to move Dumba in a year or two rather than re-signing him to a long term, high AAV contract into his 30s with a NMC like we seem to enjoy doing. Drysdale is a special talent and would be the cornerstone two-way defender to replace Suter and Spurgeon when they get too old to anchor a D. Dumba isn't that, neither is Addison nor anyone else in our system.

Not trying to say Drysdale is the only answer, I completely understand taking Rossi, just explaining my rationale for Drysdale. We don't have a future cornerstone center, true enough, but we also don't have a future cornerstone defenseman either.

That's the benefit of going BPA, even if that BPA is a position you're strong in. You can't keep EVERYONE you draft, otherwise you get stuck with massive contracts for old players. It would be great to have Drysdale ready for the top 4 or even the top pair when the time comes to move Dumba.

If some think Rossi is the BPA, that's fine, but I just see Drysdale as the BPA at this point of the poll.

 

[P10p]

And I was so wrong for being surprised with Rossi at 1...

 

[BagHead]

And I was so wrong for being surprised with Rossi at 1...

Well, all we're doing is predicting the future, which is impossible to do, so it's all a matter of opinion. Some people will have divergent opinions, and they'll have their reasons for it. Minnesnota may be right about Rossi vs. Lafreniere, in the end. Rossi is small, but he is also very, very skilled, and he can really skate. If he were half a foot taller (or maybe even just a couple inches) I think he'd be in a 2 horse race with Lafreniere in most mock drafts.

 

[P10p]

Well, all we're doing is predicting the future, which is impossible to do, so it's all a matter of opinion. Some people will have divergent opinions, and they'll have their reasons for it. Minnesnota may be right about Rossi vs. Lafreniere, in the end. Rossi is small, but he is also very, very skilled, and he can really skate. If he were half a foot taller (or maybe even just a couple inches) I think he'd be in a 2 horse race with Lafreniere in most mock drafts.

I totally get this argument to explain a small minority. And I for sure understand their point of view.

But in the same breath if you're going to hold a minority viewpoint you're exposing yourself to ridicule and criticism. Most of it for good reason when it comes to the draft. Nothing is a sure thing, but consensus is a pretty safe average.

 

[Digitalbooya]

The idea behind Drysdale would be to allow us to move Dumba in a year or two rather than re-signing him to a long term, high AAV contract into his 30s with a NMC like we seem to enjoy doing. Drysdale is a special talent and would be the cornerstone two-way defender to replace Suter and Spurgeon when they get too old to anchor a D. Dumba isn't that, neither is Addison nor anyone else in our system.

Not trying to say Drysdale is the only answer, I completely understand taking Rossi, just explaining my rationale for Drysdale. We don't have a future cornerstone center, true enough, but we also don't have a future cornerstone defenseman either.

The issue I have with taking Drysdale is purely organizational need. If both Rossi and Drysdale reach their peak potential then I’d rather have Rossi. We’ve got Suter for 5 more years, Spurgeon for 7 more years, Dumba for 3 more years, and I believe that Brodin will be signed to a long term deal at some point as well. If Soucy signs, we have the most stacked D depth in the league for years. We have guys who will be deserving a shot (Belpedio, Menell, Addison, Johansson, Johansson, Warren) down the road and the majority are RHD. Sure, none of them will likely be a #1D, but I believe Suter can be the #1 for at least 3 more years and the quality of the blue line overall won’t drop tremendously like it could for our centers. After next year, our centers are Eriksson Ek, Sturm, Khovanov and Rask. We could have four #1D and it’d be tough to overcome that center lineup without drastic improvement from those players.

With Rossi putting up comparable numbers to Lafreniere and being a legit center with good faceoff ability, I think he’s pretty even overall with Drysdale in terms of BPA. His size being what seems to be his only hinderance. But keep in mind, he’s not Cole Caufield 5’7” 157lbs nearing his draft. He’s 5’9” 179lbs. That’s pretty stocky.This is why organizational need is my primary reason for choosing him. No slight to Drysdale, he’s my next pick.

 

[BagHead]

I totally get this argument to explain a small minority. And I for sure understand their point of view.

But in the same breath if you're going to hold a minority viewpoint you're exposing yourself to ridicule and criticism. Most of it for good reason when it comes to the draft. Nothing is a sure thing, but consensus is a pretty safe average.

I really can't get behind the idea that people with minority viewpoints should be ridiculed for them. I guess in the world we live in, yeah, you're exposing yourself if you hold a minority viewpoint, but that's more an indictment on the majority viewpoint holders that think it's ok to ridicule others than it is on the minority. Anyone with a well reasoned opinion should be treated with respect. Anyway, that's getting a bit off topic, I suppose we should be talking about the draft.

 

[57special]

As always, the voice of reason, Baghead. Most of us have no clue how these guys will really turn out, anyway.