Confirmed with Link: Leafs sign William Villeneuve to 3 year ELC.

[LeafChief]

We are spending too much time on skill .. we need to focus development of guys who are big and can fly .. we have enough skill on team now

Yeah - definitely need to focus on getting less skill in the organization! For sure!

 

[JT AM da real deal]

It's not like they have been avoiding those kinds of players.

Remember the years and years of zero draft success because of the fascination with size? And especially a big guy with some skill who can fly, they go in (or close to) top 5 or 10 overall in a draft. Look at Ritchie, Crouse, etc......

Size is a horribly overrated attribute to draft for on it's own.

Size with speed is da key to drafting .. if you can also get skill great .. but D and bottom 6 forwards need to be BIG and FAST .. we already have too many slow skilled guys

 

[therealkoho]

Wonder if there’s bonuses. I’m betting no.

I'm going to say no, he wasn't drafted high enough to have any really high expectations. His skating is problematic but so far isn't hurting his production, it's all those big fast elite W's in the NHL that will make or break him.

 

[The Podium]

Size with speed is da key to drafting .. if you can also get skill great .. but D and bottom 6 forwards need to be BIG and FAST .. we already have too many slow skilled guys

WTF, or for you I guess it’s WDF, are you talking about?

 

[cupcrazyman]

Dubas would rather draft another smurf with hardly any points instead of 1 of 3 hard hitting big d that can skate in the last draft.

 

[LeafChief]

Dubas would rather draft another smurf with hardly any points instead of 1 of 3 hard hitting big d that can skate in the last draft.

We can always pick up the phone and see if any of the hard hitting d-men we drafted in Nielsen, Rasanen, Desroccher, Mattinen, Middleton or Gordeev want to come back into the organization. They all worked out really well!

 

[justashadowof]

Didn't Villeneuve have a super slow start that he recovered from last season as well? I wonder what's up with that.

 

[kb]

Yeah - definitely need to focus on getting less skill in the organization! For sure!

Hahahahaha!!

 

[Knies iT]

I have never watched him play but I think I’ve read that his issue is on the defensive side of the game? Correct me if I’m wrong.

how has he looked defensively this year?

The parroted generic scouting report is that he's a "flawed defender" with poor skating, low defensive IQ and a high turnover rate.

@SeaOfBlue has mentioned it before, but a lot of that narrative stemmed from playing with Jeremie Poirier who is Swiss cheese defensively and one of the lowest effort players in the D zone in the Q. Hard for any prospect to make up for a liability like that and it magnified Villeneuve's shortcomings.

The above player card shows he's clearly grown out of a lot of those issues. He's a transition wizard by the looks of it with high-level breakout ability, at least at the junior level. What's interesting is that his puck battle win% is impressively high, but he doesn't engage physically often enough. That's something the Marlies staff have been working on with Kral and will likely do the same with Villeneuve (e.g. box-outs, killing cycles with physicality, etc.).

Otherwise I was impressed by him at the rookie tourney and with the Marlies in a short sample. His first pass and evasiveness defending forechecks were all quietly solid and he has good offensive instincts. Not a top 15 prospect yet but I think he could be a vanilla transition defender down the line, kind of like a poor (emphasis poor) man's Liljegren stylistically.

 

[cupcrazyman]

We can always pick up the phone and see if any of the hard hitting d-men we drafted in Nielsen, Rasanen, Desroccher, Mattinen, Middleton or Gordeev want to come back into the organization. They all worked out really well!

I'm talking about the 2020 Draft.Leafs draft Amirov 167lbs soaking wet with 2pts in 21 games.We could have moved down once or a few times grabbing more assets & drafted a blueliner.

16) Kaiden Grule D
19) Braden Schneider D
20) Shakar Mukhamadullin D
25) Justin Barron D

 

[LeafChief]

I'm talking about the 2020 Draft.Leafs draft Amirov 167lbs soaking wet with 2pts in 21 games.We could have moved down once or a few times grabbing more assets & drafted a blueliner.

16) Kaiden Grule D
19) Braden Schneider D
20) Shakar Mukhamadullin D
25) Justin Barron D

You're definitely talking, I'll give you that.

 

[Maplebeasts]

I'm talking about the 2020 Draft.Leafs draft Amirov 167lbs soaking wet with 2pts in 21 games.We could have moved down once or a few times grabbing more assets & drafted a blueliner.

16) Kaiden Grule D
19) Braden Schneider D
20) Shakar Mukhamadullin D
25) Justin Barron D

You clearly don't understand the KHL. Nobody puts up good production in the draft year there. It is notoriously difficult for young players.

 

[Prominence]

I'm talking about the 2020 Draft.Leafs draft Amirov 167lbs soaking wet with 2pts in 21 games.We could have moved down once or a few times grabbing more assets & drafted a blueliner.

16) Kaiden Grule D
19) Braden Schneider D
20) Shakar Mukhamadullin D
25) Justin Barron D

If we traded down, we wouldn’t have gotten three of those players.

I don’t like Mukhamadullin’s game. He’s trigger happy and his shot doesn’t go through traffic. I don’t think he’s “hard-hitting.” I’ve also heard concerns about his defensive game. Niemela is superior in every way except size.

Justin Barron is a late birthday who played injured his draft year. It’s a risky pick.

add: yeah shakir has 22 hits in 33 games. I don’t think barron is a hitter either, but i don’t watch qmjhl.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

but D and bottom 6 forwards need to be BIG and FAST ..

And yet Tampa's (back to back) bottom 6 was neither.

Big, only Coleman and Maroon (who might be the slowest player in the league).

The rest were 6' and under. Johnson 5'9, Gourde 5'8, Cirrelli 6' etc. etc.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

You clearly don't understand the KHL. Nobody puts up good production in the draft year there. It is notoriously difficult for young players.

It is a men's league, so typically not. Ovechkin is arguably the best Russian to ever play the game and even he couldn't put up a 0.5 PPG in his draft year (and he was only 2 days off from being eligible for the 2003 draft).

However, it is still possible for young players to have success in their DY and DY+1.

Typically, if you are on a really stacked team, you actually get better chances as a higher end prospect than if you are stuck on a upper-middle team. Usually those high end teams have so much high end talent that they can afford to let their young stars playing in lesser roles rather than experienced veterans, and their young stars are also typically among the best in their age groups as well.

The upper middle and bubble teams typically have good veteran talent throughout their lineup, but can't afford to play many of their young guys if they want to stay competitive. If you can crack that lineup as a younger player, you have a great shot at an NHL career, because you have to be better than guys who are many years older than you.

If you are on a crappy team, then typically they lack talent and so there are plenty of opportunities for young players. That doesn't mean you are good, but if you can play well on a team with little support, that typically looks good on you as well.

 

[al secord]

My 3rd favourite Villeneuve. What a coup.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

I'm talking about the 2020 Draft.Leafs draft Amirov 167lbs soaking wet with 2pts in 21 games.We could have moved down once or a few times grabbing more assets & drafted a blueliner.

16) Kaiden Grule D
19) Braden Schneider D
20) Shakar Mukhamadullin D
25) Justin Barron D

Amirov is 6'1 and 185 lbs. Thats not small.

The leafs need scoring depth on elc's as well. Look at how we've struggled with retaining depth the last few years with our cap situation. We've been bargain bin shopping. Amirov, Robertson and Knies are going to fill out the roster nicely in the next 2 years.

Amirov Matthews Nylander
Robertson Tavares Marner
Knies FA? Steeves

Wasting a 1st round pick on a big rugged D man who likely tops out as a bottom 3 D man is a waste. You can always sign a Zach Bogosian cheap to round out your D core. Those big rugged D men can also be drafted in the 3rd round.

 

[Marmoset]

Amirov is 6'1 and 185 lbs. Thats not small.

The leafs need scoring depth on elc's as well. Look at how we've struggled with retaining depth the last few years with our cap situation. We've been bargain bin shopping. Amirov, Robertson and Knies are going to fill out the roster nicely in the next 2 years.

Amirov Matthews Nylander
Robertson Tavares Marner
Knies FA? Steeves

Wasting a 1st round pick on a big rugged D man who likely tops out as a bottom 3 D man is a waste. You can always sign a Zach Bogosian cheap to round out your D core. Those big rugged D men can also be drafted in the 3rd round.

This is absolutely the case. Have people forgot about Luke Schenn? In the first round you draft the best talent, period. Position shouldn't matter (with very rare exceptions).

Whether Amirov or one of those defencemen is the best talent is something that remains to be seen. But with a high pick you should never go into it intending to only take a guy at a specific position.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

And yet Tampa's (back to back) bottom 6 was neither.

Big, only Coleman and Maroon (who might be the slowest player in the league).

The rest were 6' and under. Johnson 5'9, Gourde 5'8, Cirrelli 6' etc. etc.

Goodrow is extremely strong and 6ft3 and he carries that team on his back many nights .. man of men

 

[kb]

Goodrow is extremely strong and 6ft3 and he carries that team on his back many nights .. man of men

Come on.....ridiculous. The only reason a team wins is Goodrow? He's not 6'3"

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Come on.....ridiculous. The only reason a team wins is Goodrow? He's not 6'3"

He carried that team on his back, didn't you know?

 

[kb]

He carried that team on his back, didn't you know?

A man's man!

 

[Le Cobra]

we dont need a race car driver