Prospect Info: MacKenzie Blackwood -G- (42nd Overall 2015)

[devilsblood]

I'd rather have Brandon Carlo than both of those picks.

I'd rather have Rasmus Andersson, Vince Dunn, Jordan Greenway, Jeremy Brocco, ........Hell I rather have anyone from than 2nd round other than a goalie.

As a frosh Greenway had 5 goals in 39 games.
Heck as a sophomore he has a near exact stat line as Anderson does as a Frosh.

Kid displays a coupe nice moves in the WJC and people go ga ga.

The other guys you are just cherry picking.

 

[JimEIV]

As a frosh Greenway had 5 goals in 39 games.
Heck as a sophomore he has a near exact stat line as Anderson does as a Frosh.

Kid displays a coupe nice moves in the WJC and people go ga ga.

The other guys you are just cherry picking.

It is not a matter of cherry picking. EVERYONE knew the 2015 draft was good one, not only a good one, a deep one.

Turning a #36 into a #42 and then taking a goalie was a big mistake.

 

[JimEIV]

We are a little over a year removed from the 2015 draft and already over 100 NHL games have come out of the second round.

 

[NJDevs26]

This thread is about Blackwood. Keep the discussion on him or this thread gets locked

 

[Cheddabombs]

Blackwood has every single tool you want to not only be a starter in this league but one of the better ones. Doubting this pick so early makes my head hurt.

 

[MadDevil]

Blackwood has every single tool you want to not only be a starter in this league but one of the better ones. Doubting this pick so early makes my head hurt.

Not to mention goalies tend to take longer to develop. Cory wasn't an NHL regular until he was 24 years old.

If people want to argue that a forward or defenseman would have a more immediate impact, that's fine. But let's see what Blackwood becomes before saying it was a bad pick.

 

[AfroThunder396]

We are a little over a year removed from the 2015 draft and already over 100 NHL games have come out of the second round.

Don't be a smart ass, you know how long it takes for goalies to mature.

Not a single G drafted in 2016, 2015, or 2014 has started a game yet, and from 2013 only 4 goalies have played a total of 16 games (9 of them came from one goalie, Juuse Saros).

I personally wanted Brandon Carlo with the pick, I was singing his praises a year before the draft after I saw him in person, but Blackwood is an excellent talent and needs time to develop.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Not to mention goalies tend to take longer to develop. Cory wasn't an NHL regular until he was 24 years old.

If people want to argue that a forward or defenseman would have a more immediate impact, that's fine. But let's see what Blackwood becomes before saying it was a bad pick.

Not only that but our goaltending depth at the time was abysmal. We had Schneider sure but what prospects were there? Wedgewood? At the time he wasn't looking like much though he did have a nice season, followed by an injured year this season. Kinkaid? I thought he had potential to be a starter but even then it was a long shot. And then?? Appleby wasn't signed yet and even if he was, great that's one.

Blackwood is a fantastic prospect.

 

[MNDevilsfan]

Yeah, no way should the book be written on Blackwood due to a bad start in the AHL. Plenty of time for him to come around. Dude's huge and an athletic freak...you need to be patient and see his development through. Goalies are tough to predict but he's got serious potential.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Goalies are weird. Surprised people keep forgetting that. Their development curves are weird a lot of times too.

 

[Devils Dominion]

MBW let in a terrible goal (goal-1) last night and the last minute game tying goal (goal-2) was soft.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

MBW let in a terrible goal (goal-1) last night and the last minute game tying goal (goal-2) was soft.

we should probably just cut him

 

[JimEIV]

Goalies are weird. Surprised people keep forgetting that. Their development curves are weird a lot of times too.

Yup. And that's why we shouldn't have taken one with a #36 in our pocket in an excellent draft year.

If it was just some ordinary draft year, I would have absolutely no problem with taking a good goalie prospect high in the second round. But it wasn't an ordinary draft year and I'd bet real money more than 1 or 2 all-star level player comes from that 2nd round. That is the kind of missed opportunity that this team cannot have for what our current situation is.

 

[Cult of Hynes]

He was the top rated goalie that draft, the team needs a goalie for the future. He'll be ready in 3 years to take over. I'm not worried about his stats in the AHL, he's an atheletic and technically sound goalie who always thinks there is something he can improve.

 

[Billdo]

Goalies are weird. Surprised people keep forgetting that. Their development curves are weird a lot of times too.

I don't think anyone is downplaying Blackwood as a prospect, it's moreso where, when, and how he was selected.

 

[Sykie]

Yup. And that's why we shouldn't have taken one with a #36 in our pocket in an excellent draft year.

If it was just some ordinary draft year, I would have absolutely no problem with taking a good goalie prospect high in the second round. But it wasn't an ordinary draft year and I'd bet real money more than 1 or 2 all-star level player comes from that 2nd round. That is the kind of missed opportunity that this team cannot have for what our current situation is.

Just curious, what all-star level prospect drafted in the 2nd round after Blackwood are you thinking about ?

 

[Bleedred]

Just curious, what all-star level prospect drafted in the 2nd round after Blackwood are you thinking about ?

Daniel Sprong! We really should have just drafted him and not traded the pick for Palmieri though!

One thing to take into consideration when we drafted Blackwood though, we had no NHL caliber prospects at the time. All we had was Cory and one solid season as a backup for Kinkaid. After that, we had Clermont and Wedgewood. Clermont really had no NHL future at all and Wedgewood was yet to have a good season as pro hockey goaltender. Wedgewood was barely a 90% goaltender in the AHL at that time.

So we kind of had to draft a goalie at some point. And we hadn't even signed Appleby by that time either. The goalie cabinet was pretty depleted in the organization. We also had Marty's son in the organization at the time, but it was pretty apparent he probably wasn't gonna turn pro with us.

 

[JimEIV]

Daniel Sprong! We really should have just drafted him and not traded the pick for Palmieri though!

One thing to take into consideration when we drafted Blackwood though, we had no NHL caliber prospects at the time. All we had was Cory and one solid season as a backup for Kinkaid. After that, we had Clermont and Wedgewood. Clermont really had no NHL future at all and Wedgewood was yet to have a good season as pro hockey goaltender. Wedgewood was barely a 90% goaltender in the AHL at that time.

So we kind of had to draft a goalie at some point. And we hadn't even signed Appleby by that time either. The goalie cabinet was pretty depleted in the organization. We also had Marty's son in the organization at the time, but it was pretty apparent he probably wasn't gonna turn pro with us.

"At some point", sure. Not with #36 overall in a great draft year is my point.

One goalie went in the 1st round. One goalie went in the 2nd round.
6 goalies went in the 3rd round.
3 goalies went in the 4th round.

What do you think the chances are of 1 of the 9 goalies taken in the 3rd and 4th rounds being as good or better than Blackwood? I would say pretty decent.

Right now Arizona pick Adin Hill #76 overall is in the AHL with a .920 SV% and 11 wins in 17 starts.

Blackwood also has 17 starts with 5 wins and an .888 SV%

We've drafted Frazee, and Blackwood in the 2nd round, Wedgewood in the 3rd. And two of the better goalies in Albany in the last 5 have been undrafted Kinkaid and Appleby....So go figure.

 

[MadDevil]

Maybe we should wait just a bit to see what a draft class from 2 freaking years ago actually turns out to be before decrying all the amazing talent we passed on in the middle of the 2nd round?

 

[JimEIV]

Maybe we should wait just a bit to see what a draft class from 2 freaking years ago actually turns out to be before decrying all the amazing talent we passed on in the middle of the 2nd round?

How it turns out is irrelevant. If turns out ok, it doesn't make it any less of a bad decision.

It's like driving drunk and making it home... It's still really stupid.

 

[MadDevil]

We also got the pick that ended up being Joey Anderson for trading down to #42.

 

[JimEIV]

We also got the pick that ended up being Joey Anderson for trading down to #42.

That part makes the decision even worse in my opinion. They didn't even use the option they had for the 2015 3rd...So they were taking a goalie and couldn't justify it at #36.

A #36 in a solid year is worth more than a #42 in the same year and #73 the next year and to do that for a goalie makes no sense.

If this were just a matter of percentage, what are the odds of a goalie pick being successful vs the odds of producing an NHL skater at #36?

What are the odds that you are going to produce a better player with #36 vs #42 and #73?

Before you factor in the quality of the daft year or the goalie issue, I want the #36 over #42 and #73 next year. Factor in the quality of the year, then there is no question whatsoever. Taking a goalie on top of reducing the quality of your pick in a quality year is all around bad decision making

 

[NJDevils17]

That part makes the decision even worse in my opinion. They didn't even use the option they had for the 2015 3rd...So they were taking a goalie and couldn't justify it at #36.

A #36 in a solid year is worth more than a #42 in the same year and #73 the next year and to do that for a goalie makes no sense.

If this were just a matter of percentage, what are the odds of a goalie pick being successful vs the odds of producing an NHL skater at #36?

What are the odds that you are going to produce a better player with #36 vs #42 and #73?

Before you factor in the quality of the daft year or the goalie issue, I want the #36 over #42 and #73 next year. Factor in the quality of the year, then there is no question whatsoever. Taking a goalie on top of reducing the quality of your pick in a quality year is all around bad decision making

I disagree with the logic. Stockpiling more picks is really the best draft strategy. Speers was a 3rd round draft pick and the only player from that round to play in the NHL so far(albeit three games). It's not like we passed up an insane talent, that round is kind of bland honestly.

Weird stat(using data up to 2014)t: 41.0% of players picked from 41-45 play 100 games. Only 34.0% of players picked from 36-40 play 100 NHL games. Now that varies a bunch, but it just goes to show that there's not a big difference in that pick. Stockpiling is a lot of more valuable, especially when you have the staff that can get a player like Anderson.

Giving a good staff more picks is almost always better. It gives them the opportunity find gems like Speers or Anderson later in the draft.

I don't argue with Blackwood pick because we probably won't know the results for a few years, but the trade back was honestly very smart and we have a top 15 goalie prospect in the world.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I'm not sure why there is even an argument. This is the same person who said we made a mistake by trading a 2nd for Palmieri

 

[217 Forever]

I'm not sure why there is even an argument. This is the same person who said we made a mistake by trading a 2nd for Palmieri

The whole argument is silly anyway. Talk about nit-picking. The draft is a crapshoot. Always was and always will be. What matters is making the right picks no matter what round or number. If Blackwood ends up being a stud it was a good pick. If he craps out then it was a bad pick. You take the BPA and hope for the best.