Prospect Info: Leafs 2018 5th Rd Draft Pick (#149 OA) - FILIP KRAL (6'1" 171 lbs, D, SPOKANE, WHL)

[Mess]

Fantastic value pick. Numbers suggested he was a late second rounder.

Agreed , This looks like a solid "best value pick" for a 5th rounder, with upward potential.

• Kral ranked first among WHL rookie defensemen with 9-26—35 in 54 games with the Spokane Chiefs in 2017-18. He is the only Chiefs rookie defenseman in the last 20 years to record 35 points in a season.

 

[Tall Morty]

All hail Kral! Signed, little girl.

Love the obscure Simpsons reference, haha.

 

[Mess]

I was withholding judgement but it's pretty clear what kind of influence Hunter had on the Leafs philosophy. Now I'm pretty glad he's gone gone gone.

Hunter drafted wingers, wingers, wingers and created organizational holes while Dubas is drafting Centres and Dman recognizing the weakness and addressing it.

C & D >>> Wingers

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Hunter drafted wingers, wingers, wingers and created organizational holes while Dubas is drafting Centres and Dman recognizing the weakness and addressing it.

C & D >>> Wingers

forget position, Dubas is putting a focus on guys who can skate and play hockey. Hunter put way too much emphasis on size

 

[Orfieus]

Per THW

"The challenge for Kral is that his defensive game is arguably his weakness, and the physical aspect of that in particular – he can get nudged off the puck in the corners."

When will the Leafs start drafting D-men who can actually play some defense? Enough of these finesse offensive d-men!

Jake Gardiner plays like a 5'9" defenseman.

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about and making assumptions based on size alone

Case in point,

 

[Menzinger]

 

[ChrisCall]

C & D >>> Wingers

While I don't want to oversimplify, you can much more easily convert a C to a Wing than you can a Wing to a C. There's a reason why that's the case. So I fully agree with you.

...and I'm liking how Kral is right beside Sandin on that chart above...

 

[A1LeafNation]

Like this pick alot.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

All hail Kral! Signed, little girl.

YES!!!!! thats eexactly what i thought

 

[Mitchy]

Per THW

"The challenge for Kral is that his defensive game is arguably his weakness, and the physical aspect of that in particular – he can get nudged off the puck in the corners."

When will the Leafs start drafting D-men who can actually play some defense? Enough of these finesse offensive d-men!

Jake Gardiner plays like a 5'9" defenseman.

How does a 5'9 d-man play like?

Jared Spurgeon is listed as being 5'9 (probably even shorter than that) and he is a terrific 2-way d-man. Great defensively.

 

[Cor]

How does a 5'9 d-man play like?

Jared Spurgeon is listed as being 5'9 (probably even shorter than that) and he is a terrific 2-way d-man. Great defensively.

There’s some that still believe only guys 6’2 or bigger can be good defensively.

It’s old age thinking.

Some of the best “defenders” are “small, undersized d-men”.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Liljegren’s rival from the upcoming (and previous) WJC. Solid pick.

 

[Scott Malkinson]

Love this pick at 149.

So much better than picking giants like Middleton.

 

[Crease Master]

Hunter drafted wingers, wingers, wingers and created organizational holes while Dubas is drafting Centres and Dman recognizing the weakness and addressing it.

C & D >>> Wingers

For a guy who fancies himself a savvy vet, that's a poor interpretation of events. You know the prospect pool was barren when Hunter took over, his mandate was to stock the cupboard with goodies, any goodies. He didn't create holes because the entire prospect system was a hole. He added skilled wingers sure, because those were the best options. He also added Matthews and Brooks at center, two pros at a difficult position to fill. As far as the hulking defenders go, you know full well that some of those guys are projects that take time to develop. Hunter picked Dermott who is the modern defenseman that's all the rage these days, so it's not like he just drafted giant turds on d. If you were paying attention you would have noticed Washington winning a cup with Brooks Orpik playing defense, size still helps in front of the net. Sounds like you have an agenda against Hunter or something. Trust me, as a Windsor Spitfire fan I hate the man, but I do not question he is one of the very best judges of talent in all of hockey.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Hunter drafted wingers, wingers, wingers and created organizational holes while Dubas is drafting Centres and Dman recognizing the weakness and addressing it.

C & D >>> Wingers

you are aware the weakness now, might not be a weakness 3-4-5 years from now?

you're also aware you need all 4 types of player to build a hockey team and it's good to have a handful of each aspect, right?

 

[PromoterDave]

Heard a lot of great things about this kid. Apparently this is a steal at the 5th round. Good pick

 

[moon111]

Since the NHL is becoming like a game of touch football, who needs size?

 

[SweLeafsFan]

Our new Kaberle?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Also of note that this guy almost exclusively played his off-side last year. He could play with Smith next year on the top pairing.

His defensive game needs work, but it's not due to a lack of IQ. That's all that matters. He needs more time to acclimate to North America, and some more strength, and he'll start to really turn heads.

 

[aingefan]

Did I read that this young man plays his off side?
In one day, the RHD depth improved in appearance form ‘meh’ to ‘not bad’. Taking a quick look, the D group on the right side look more projectable overall than the D on the left side all of a sudden.
Given that there’s fewer/less of those assets around anywhere, that seems like a pretty shrewd direction.

 

[JEI]

Just learning about him since he was picked. Looks like a strong gamble on the skillset he's shown so far.

 

[LeafChief]

I really like this pick. Similar to the SDA pick, this is a boom/bust pick.

We will get a chance to see him at the World Juniors this year which is always nice (he was there last year as well). Should be a top pairing guy in Spokane with 1st round pick Ty Smith next season.

 

[Walshy7]

There’s some that still believe only guys 6’2 or bigger can be good defensively.

It’s old age thinking.

Some of the best “defenders” are “small, undersized d-men”.

It’s mark hunter thinking, which makes me so happy he isn’t in charge anymore. Does that mean I love all the dubas picks no but hunter had an old school size bias that saw us pick some truly horrific giant dmen

 

[Mr Hockey]

There’s some that still believe only guys 6’2 or bigger can be good defensively.

It’s old age thinking.

Some of the best “defenders” are “small, undersized d-men”.

im curious, can you list your top 5 “small, undersized d-men” that played in the NHL last season

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

im curious, can you list your top 5 “small, undersized d-men” that played in the NHL last season

Ryan Ellis*
Torey Krug*
Jared Spurgeon*
Dmitri Orlov
Sami Vatanen*
Will Butcher*
Tyson Barrie*
Anton Stralman
Victor Mete*
Andy Greene
Samuel Girard*

here's some defensemen who are under 6'. guys with an asterisk are 5'10 or under

 

[dangomon]

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about and making assumptions based on size alone

Case in point,

Is the one furthest down and left our other pick Mac? Hope not!