If Jack Finley is still around with our 3rd or 4th I would take him. 6'5" left shot center near a PPG pace and is one of the youngest players in the draft as well.
He'll have a full 2 more years of junior hockey before his 20th birthday.
Prospect Info: NHL Entry Draft Discussion Thread - Looking Ahead to 2020
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He'll have a full 2 more years of junior hockey before his 20th birthday.
robertmac43
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robertmac43
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I have only really watched short highlight videos on him. Seems to get to the right spots, I would just be worried about his explosiveness and ability to win the puck against stronger opponents.
Obviously he is young so hopefully he grows into his tall frame a bit more and gets a little bit of a better shot.
SeaOfBlue
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I haven't really ranked anyone either, so instead I'll list some of the likely lesser known names I think are intriguing rather than rehashing what is probably out there quite a bit already.
3rd/4th round
Goalies: Samuel Hlavaj, Nico Daws, Joseph Tynan
Defensemen: Ilya Solovyov, Jeremie Biakabutuka, Joni Jurmo, Eemil Viro, Yan Kuznetsov, Alex Cotton
Forwards: Lukas Reichel, Parker Ford, Trevor Kuntar, Jack Smith, Luke Evangelista, Jack Finley, Jason-John Peterka, Evan Vierling, Ethan Bowen
5th-7th round
Goalies: Hugo Ollas, Jakub Dobes, Vsveolod Skotnikov, Roman Basran
Defense: Danila Galenyuk, Max Glotzl, Ivan Rogov, Thimo Nickl
Forwards: Emil Heineman, Yevgeni Oksentyuk, Daniil Gutik, Ben Baumgartner, Josh Lawrence, Brady Burns, Patrick Guay, Tanner Dickinson
Honestly, just a small subset of a list that over 200 names long and will only get longer.
That's where him being so young comes into play.
Even if he takes 2 full years of junior, and 2 or 3 years with the Marlies, he'll still just be 22 years old at that time. That is a lot of time working with Barb Underhill and our development team.
The age profile is liked by the FO, as precedent shows.
Plus, there’s a pretty good skating consultant in house.
If any organization is going to have good insider knowledge on him, its going to be us given Speltz's strong connections to Spokane.
Didn't we put a premium on skating in last seasons draft though?
I've never seen him but it doesn't sound like skating is a strength with him
We didn't at all. Last years draft had quite a few questionable skaters, at least when you compare their skating ability to their size. Robertson is not a good skater for a 5'9 guy and Kokkonen isn't that mobile for a 5'11 defender. For example, in HP's Black Book, Robertson is 5 out of 9 skating, Kokkonen got 5 out of 9, Abramov 6 out of 9, Abruzzese 6 out of 9, Koster 5 out of 9, and Loponen 5 out of 9. Those are all pretty low skating grades given that all of them are sub-6 feet. 5 is considered average, and 6 is considered good, so it wouldn't appear the emphasis was on skating with the picks. Outside of them all being sub-6 feet I'm not sure there is any real recurring theme in them except maybe the belief of them having high-hockey IQ. The forwards seemed to also have good compete and skill. It doesn't seem like skating was the most emphasized point.
I remember the emphasis on hockey IQ but I do remember something about skating but I could be misremembering that, it was a while back
If were taking smaller guys I'd prefer they can skate at a decent level, I don't see how you can succeed at that sort of size if you don't have some sort of separation gear or 4-way mobility
The emphasis for forwards seemed to be IQ and skill, Robertson grades out high for effort level and work ethic. Abruzzese seemed like more of a gamble on late-blooming production than anything else. Robertson/Abramov seemed to be gambles mostly on skill. I never got the vibe skating was heavily emphasized. Not that any of them are horrendous, but in most cases, they are sub-par for their size particularly Robertson and Kokkonen given their draft slots. Not sure on Kokkonen, but I believe Robertson's other tools (his skill level mainly shot and puck control) combined with his compete and work ethic can help him overcome it, either through improving his skating to the next level or just outworking the competition on the ice.
Based on p% we hold 8th overall right now I believe.
Boston is unreal
Tampa has woken
Buffalo playing well again
Only a matter of time before Bobrovsky wakes up
Metro has both wildcards on lockdown.
This team needs to go on a large run if we have any hope of making it
robertmac43
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As a later round forward I would nominate Reid Valade of Kitchener. Reminds me of an AJ type of player with better skating abilities. Skilled, fast, good at battling in the corners for a smaller guy.
Could be a good project pick in the later rounds.
Could be a good project pick in the later rounds.
robertmac43
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SeaOfBlue
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He would be fine as a late round pick.
Another one out of the OHL who is more of a mid-round pick would be Luke Evangelista. Plays like a Marner-lite but is known for a more lethal shot and raw speed than I think Marner ever was.
Plus he's Shanahan's nephew so nepotism.
robertmac43
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Wait what? We never see that in hockey or pro-sports.... :p
In all seriousness Evangelista has looked solid each time I have seen him play in Kitch.
SeaOfBlue
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No doubt that he will likely get taken somewhere in the 3rd or 4th if he maintains his current pace, but nepotism is just the extra incentive for the Leafs to take him
At the same time even if every team wins all of their makeup games, at the most we're just 5 points out of a playoff spot in this division with 49 games to go..
We need to outwin Buffalo/Florida/Montreal by 3 to make the playoffs. If this team gets their **** together after this road trip with the easy schedule down the stretch we should have no problem making it.
Not really. They have 8 back to backs I think in the new year vs. our 4, and they have a 5 game road trip as well as a 6 game road trip in the new year.
They have 3 games left on a 9 game homestand then see a lot of road games the rest of the way.
Ya I looked after I posted. And I tend to agree. I remember reading an article in the athletic where they listed Florida as the easiest schedule.
but looking at it I don’t really agree.
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