Prospect Info: NHL Entry Draft Discussion Thread - Looking Ahead to 2020

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SeaOfBlue

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If O'Rourke is available in the 2nd when the Leafs pick, is there any doubt Dubas picks him without hesitation? In pre-season I was confident he'd be gone in the late 1st, now he's fallen a bit and it's looking like he could be a mid-2nd round option.

Captain of the Greyhounds at 17 (revered for his leadership ability), won a silver medal with team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, plays a physical shutdown game, and resembles a similar prospect mold to Sandin/Dermott.

If he drops, definitely. He is a 1st round caliber player.
 
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hockeynorth

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If he drops, definitely. He is a 1st round caliber player.
I love the idea of O'Rourke, also think if Thompson is there in the 4th you have to take him, he was originally a 2nd round player and I feel slipped due to the Wolves being well the Wolves, not himself. Also like Evangelista out of the OHL, and think Zayde Wisdom could surprise.
 

SeaOfBlue

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I love the idea of O'Rourke, also think if Thompson is there in the 4th you have to take him, he was originally a 2nd round player and I feel slipped due to the Wolves being well the Wolves, not himself. Also like Evangelista out of the OHL, and think Zayde Wisdom could surprise.

The concern with him is his defensive ability. Depending on how teams feel about that, he could go undrafted. At this point, I think enough guys have passed him over and he'll be at most a 4th rounder.
 
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Fogelhund

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Sep 15, 2007
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The concern with him is his defensive ability. Depending on how teams feel about that, he could go undrafted. At this point, I think enough guys have passed him over and he'll be at most a 4th rounder.

Whom are you referring to as the defensive liability? O'Rourke, or Thompson? TIA.
 

SeaOfBlue

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Whom are you referring to as the defensive liability? O'Rourke, or Thompson? TIA.

Thompson. O'Rourke comes as advertised. Good all-around skill, but not going to be an elite player. Don't know about his IQ, which will be the determining factor for me. If he has the IQ, he should be a 1st round guy. If he does not, who knows. If it is only decent, he likely still goes in the 2nd round.
 

Maplebeasts

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Oct 26, 2014
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If O'Rourke is available in the 2nd when the Leafs pick, is there any doubt Dubas picks him without hesitation? In pre-season I was confident he'd be gone in the late 1st, now he's fallen a bit and it's looking like he could be a mid-2nd round option.

Captain of the Greyhounds at 17 (revered for his leadership ability), won a silver medal with team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, plays a physical shutdown game, and resembles a similar prospect mold to Sandin/Dermott.
I'd personally hope not. We have so few picks in the early rounds this year that I'd rather the Leafs swing for the fences with their pick than go for someone safe with only middle pairing upside
 

SeaOfBlue

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I'd personally hope not. We have so few picks in the early rounds this year that I'd rather the Leafs swing for the fences with their pick than go for someone safe with only middle pairing upside

O'Rourke would be one of the most talented guys available at our spot, despite also likely being the safest. It's not like the guy has #4 upside. We are talking about the same kind of upside Sandin had when he was drafted. Maybe slightly less (i.e. Sandin could be a decent #2 while O'Rourke may only get to a high end #3). Regardless, he would be the type of guy any playoff team wants on their defense.

I'd take a guy with high end #3 upside and a good shot at being at least a solid lower end contributor than many of the other guys who will likely be around there. The guys who will likely be available and more talented than him are like Pashin, Simontaival, Gushchin, Bordeleau... All are super boom-bust scoring wingers who may help this team score but won't do much otherwise. If this team makes the playoffs, we are not going to struggle to score goals (at least not in a way that any of these guys would be able to fix).
 

acrobaticgoalie

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Jun 18, 2014
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I love the idea of O'Rourke, also think if Thompson is there in the 4th you have to take him, he was originally a 2nd round player and I feel slipped due to the Wolves being well the Wolves, not himself. Also like Evangelista out of the OHL, and think Zayde Wisdom could surprise.
I like Evangelista. He seems like a smart player. I think he will break out next year for London
 
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SeaOfBlue

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I'd personally hope not. We have so few picks in the early rounds this year that I'd rather the Leafs swing for the fences with their pick than go for someone safe with only middle pairing upside

O'Rourke would be one of the most talented guys available at our spot, despite also likely being the safest. It's not like the guy has #4 upside. We are talking about the same kind of upside Sandin had when he was drafted. Maybe slightly less (i.e. Sandin could be a decent #2 while O'Rourke may only get to a high end #3). Regardless, he would be the type of guy any playoff team wants on their defense.

I'd take a guy with high end #3 upside and a good shot at being at least a solid lower end contributor than many of the other guys who will likely be around there. The guys who will likely be available and more talented than him are like Pashin, Simontaival, Gushchin, Bordeleau... All are super boom-bust scoring wingers who may help this team score but won't do much otherwise. If this team makes the playoffs, we are not going to struggle to score goals (at least not in a way that any of these guys would be able to fix).
 

hockeynorth

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The concern with him is his defensive ability. Depending on how teams feel about that, he could go undrafted. At this point, I think enough guys have passed him over and he'll be at most a 4th rounder.
Thanks for this! Never really realized his defensive game was so flawed but it does make sense.
 

hockeynorth

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Well you have seen him more than I have more than likely. How good is his defensive game?
Didn’t make it to many games past about December this season unfortunately, you know, life gets away from you. It always seemed average in my viewings.
 

ChazzMichaelMichaels

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Jul 10, 2014
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Scott Powers has an looong article in The Athletic on former Boston Bruins amateur scout and U.S National team development program director and current Chicago Steel and USHL GM of the year, Ryan Hardy.

He has some controversial views on hockey that well shouldn't be controversial and touches on some really cool thoughts on the draft and prospects. He goes into reasons scouts can't actually get the guys they really want cause they wanna keep their jobs and don't wanna reach too far away from rankings as year after year guys go early that shouldn't and teams find later round guys passed over even though scouts believe they are the better pick. Scouts don't wanna look like idiots in scouting meetings.

Also touches on is drafting players past their first year of eligibility. He points out Krug as a big one and how scouts would like him more but choose the first year eligible players and talks about Abbruzzese as another example. Just cause they're older they're biologically younger than first year eligible players. He thinks the hockey world gets too caught up in birth years.

Good read for those interested!
 

Stephen

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Feb 28, 2002
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Scott Powers has an looong article in The Athletic on former Boston Bruins amateur scout and U.S National team development program director and current Chicago Steel and USHL GM of the year, Ryan Hardy.

He has some controversial views on hockey that well shouldn't be controversial and touches on some really cool thoughts on the draft and prospects. He goes into reasons scouts can't actually get the guys they really want cause they wanna keep their jobs and don't wanna reach too far away from rankings as year after year guys go early that shouldn't and teams find later round guys passed over even though scouts believe they are the better pick. Scouts don't wanna look like idiots in scouting meetings.

Also touches on is drafting players past their first year of eligibility. He points out Krug as a big one and how scouts would like him more but choose the first year eligible players and talks about Abbruzzese as another example. Just cause they're older they're biologically younger than first year eligible players. He thinks the hockey world gets too caught up in birth years.

Good read for those interested!

That sounds like a guy the Leafs should look into employing. The Bruins have pulled some gems out of thin air over the past decade. He's also worked with Greg Moore who is the Marlies coach as well as Darryl Belfry.
 
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Cor

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Scott Powers has an looong article in The Athletic on former Boston Bruins amateur scout and U.S National team development program director and current Chicago Steel and USHL GM of the year, Ryan Hardy.

He has some controversial views on hockey that well shouldn't be controversial and touches on some really cool thoughts on the draft and prospects. He goes into reasons scouts can't actually get the guys they really want cause they wanna keep their jobs and don't wanna reach too far away from rankings as year after year guys go early that shouldn't and teams find later round guys passed over even though scouts believe they are the better pick. Scouts don't wanna look like idiots in scouting meetings.

Also touches on is drafting players past their first year of eligibility. He points out Krug as a big one and how scouts would like him more but choose the first year eligible players and talks about Abbruzzese as another example. Just cause they're older they're biologically younger than first year eligible players. He thinks the hockey world gets too caught up in birth years.

Good read for those interested!

Interesting.

Seems like a guy that would fit with Dubas’ line of thinking
 

DuncanMacpherson

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Apr 6, 2010
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The pick we gave up in the Marleau trade is protected right? So if the season gets cancelled and they put every team in the lottery we get to keep the pick if we win the lottery, right?
 

Kiwi

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Mar 5, 2016
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What picks do we have?

A 2nd, 2 4th's, a 5th, 3 6th's, 3 7th's
10 picks in total

That could change though if we make some trades around draft time

The pick we gave up in the Marleau trade is protected right? So if the season gets cancelled and they put every team in the lottery we get to keep the pick if we win the lottery, right?

I doubt every team goes into the lottery, it would just be the teams currently outside of the playoffs by points percentage imo

So I'm expecting to lose our 1st rounder
 

LeafsOHLRangers98

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Jun 13, 2017
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Anybody like any of the big RHD available in this draft?

I like Jake Ratzlaff, and Luke Prokop if they fall to our slots.

Maybe Rhett Rhinehart with one of our later picks considering the way he played after the trade this year.
 

Duke16

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Apr 14, 2015
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Anybody like any of the big RHD available in this draft?

I like Jake Ratzlaff, and Luke Prokop if they fall to our slots.

Maybe Rhett Rhinehart with one of our later picks considering the way he played after the trade this year.
Not really a comparable type of player, but I really want Alex Cotton. Too bad we traded our third, although I would not be shocked one bit if he ends up going second round.
 

4thline

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Jul 18, 2014
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Not really a comparable type of player, but I really want Alex Cotton. Too bad we traded our third, although I would not be shocked one bit if he ends up going second round.

He if we was born 4 months later he'd likely be looked at as a late first round. Zero change to his actual career or ability, just no stigma of "re-entry".
 

SeaOfBlue

The Passion That Unites Us All
Aug 1, 2013
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The NHL rankings are so lazy this year. Seems like they decided "Let's go with our Midterms, but switch up a few things so they don't notice". The NA Skater rankings are especially bad. Would not be surprised to see a lot more guys in that 75-125 range go undrafted than usual.

On a separate note, the goalies are laughably bad this year. Majority of the class are 4th round quality at best in an average draft. Should not make a difference to the Leafs though. They shouldn't be looking at a goalie in the 2nd round anyways. Then just make sure they don't reach.
 
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LaPlante94

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Apr 12, 2011
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Anybody like any of the big RHD available in this draft?

I like Jake Ratzlaff, and Luke Prokop if they fall to our slots.

Maybe Rhett Rhinehart with one of our later picks considering the way he played after the trade this year.

Justin Barron if he drops. Billy Constantinou is probably my favourite D prospect not rated in the first round but I wouldn't consider him big in the sense that you're talking about here.
 
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