Panthers 2015 Draft Talk | Part II

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

Agreed... we have decent winger prospects and quite a few of them. We have 2 d prospecs and none have played pro hockey so we're banking to go 100 percent t on our defense... there's a good chance one of matheson or McCoshen don't cut it in the nhl... adding a proverov if available would be great and would instantly be our best d prospect

Outside of Grimaldi, what other wingers have top 6 potential?

Actually, let me re-phase that. What other wingers are locks for a top 6 role?

 

[MillarWithASave]

Outside of Grimaldi, what other wingers have top 6 potential?

Actually, let me re-phase that. What other wingers are locks for a top 6 role?

I don't follow prospects that much, but didn't Kyle Rau have a great year this past year? Also Howden could be considered a fringe top-6 player.

EDIT: No one is a lock.

 

[Gizmo Tkachuk]

I don't follow prospects that much, but didn't Kyle Rau have a great year this past year? Also Howden could be considered a fringe top-6 player.

Rau hasn't played past the college level yet and Howden, great speed aside, is hardly a for sure top 6 player. Especially with all his injuries holding him back.

 

[Android 16]

I don't follow prospects that much, but didn't Kyle Rau have a great year this past year? Also Howden could be considered a fringe top-6 player.

Currently?

Absolutely not.

Rau isn't even in the conversation unless he impresses in the AHL. A good bench mark for him is do better than Grimaldi and Brickley did last year if we want to start penciling Rau into Florida Panthers' top six future. Maybe Howden back in 2010, but his stock has done nothing but fall since then. Injuries and a lack of production playing professional hockey hurt his cause to be penciled in the top six one day.

 

[MillarWithASave]

Rau hasn't played past the college level yet and Howden, great speed aside, is hardly a for sure top 6 player. Especially with all his injuries holding him back.

The problem is that the "future" is the present right now, all of our young guys are ready to play. Huberdeau, Barkov, Trocheck, Pirri, Grimaldi would be the list of players I think have the best potential at being top-6 players.

Currently?

Absolutely not.

Rau isn't even in the conversation unless he impresses in the AHL. A good bench mark for him is do better than Grimaldi and Brickley did last year if we want to start penciling Rau into Florida Panthers' top six future. Maybe Howden back in 2010, but his stock has done nothing but fall since then. Injuries and a lack of production playing professional hockey hurt his cause to be penciled in the top six one day.

I worded it wrong, I meant Howden could potentially be a fringe top-6, but that was probably giving too much credit already.

 

[vendetta]

Well what d man do we have as a lock for top4? Matheson is probably a good bet but hasn't played pro hockey yet.. so we're in the same boat... hawryluk rau brickley grimaldi all have top6 potential... just saying we r deeper at wing than d for pro prospects at the moment

 

[I am not exposed]

Well what d man do we have as a lock for top4? Matheson is probably a good bet but hasn't played pro hockey yet.. so we're in the same boat... hawryluk rau brickley grimaldi all have top6 potential... just saying we r deeper at wing than d for pro prospects at the moment

I feel more comfortable with our young defensemen and D prospects.

Tallon agrees, as he knows we lack in the wing and goaltending.

Never known anyone to say we're better stocked at wing than defense.

Most of our wing prospects have bottom 6 potential.
Whilst some of our defensive prospects have top 4 potential.

 

[MintyFresh88]

With the way Tallon has been talking, I'd say there's about a 90% chance he keeps the pick and drafts a forward.

I strongly believe he'll do something else in the 1st round though.

 

[Gentle Man]

With the way Tallon has been talking, I'd say there's about a 90% chance he keeps the pick and drafts a forward.

I strongly believe he'll do something else in the 1st round though.

Bet you he trades for Elias

 

[Sparkman112]

Excited:
We some how move up in the draft and grab one of McDavid, Eichel or Marner.

Happy
We Draft 11th overall Meier, Zacha, Rantanen
And we make a trade for Oshie/Sharp

Satisfied:
We draft 11th overall Meier, Zacha, Rantanen, Provorov, Werenski

Angry
We trade our a 11th overall pick for Sharp or someone worse!

Irate:
There is an announcement that the team is moving to Quebec!

You're spot on!

Making a trade for kessel/sharp/etc AND keeping the 11th would make me a really happy panthers fan.

 

[Juggernaut27]

Well what d man do we have as a lock for top4? Matheson is probably a good bet but hasn't played pro hockey yet.. so we're in the same boat... hawryluk rau brickley grimaldi all have top6 potential... just saying we r deeper at wing than d for pro prospects at the moment

I just posted this somewhere else but I can't find it.

Matheson - Ekblad
McCoshen - Guddy
Kulikov - Petrovic
Racine - Weegar
Downing - Brown

That's not everyone, but it's a heck of an impressive list to work off of going forward.

 

[vendetta]

I just posted this somewhere else but I can't find it.

Matheson - Ekblad
McCoshen - Guddy
Kulikov - Petrovic
Racine - Weegar
Downing - Brown

That's not everyone, but it's a heck of an impressive list to work off of going forward.

Looks great on paper all I'm saying is let matheson play a few pro games before pencil ing him in as our top pair d ditto with mcoshen... also if we add proverov he is instantly our best d prospect and the most nhl ready ahead of matheson imo... same can't be said for any of the forwards that would be availabke... again all I'm saying is if proverov fell to us... I'm not quite as high on werenski

 

[Juggernaut27]

Looks great on paper all I'm saying is let matheson play a few pro games before pencil ing him in as our top pair d ditto with mcoshen... also if we add proverov he is instantly our best d prospect and the most nhl ready ahead of matheson imo... same can't be said for any of the forwards that would be availabke... again all I'm saying is if proverov fell to us... I'm not quite as high on werenski

I'd take Ivan without a second thought. M&M have decent trade value.

As far as prospect depth though our top-6 wings are our hardest to fill area of need. Bottom 6 and some 2-3 tweeners coming out our ears but beyond Grimaldi the top-6 is very thin on prospects.

 

[kelsier]

I truly hope Tallon is loyal enough to cast the franchise best interest on top of what'd be best for him personally. The #11 pick could lure in quite a bate and a proven goal scorer but it doesn't go along with the team's age line if that forward is lets say 28 years old or older. I'm pretty much always in for drafting than taking the saver route, atleast when you are close to guaranteed getting a really good player from the draft. Some GMs may hit the panic button if they're job is in jeopardy (by missing playoffs in this case).

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I just posted this somewhere else but I can't find it.

Matheson - Ekblad
McCoshen - Guddy
Kulikov - Petrovic
Racine - Weegar
Downing - Brown

That's not everyone, but it's a heck of an impressive list to work off of going forward.

The bottom 4 are kind of so so to me.

I truly hope Tallon is loyal enough to cast the franchise best interest on top of what'd be best for him personally. The #11 pick could lure in quite a bate and a proven goal scorer but it doesn't go along with the team's age line if that forward is lets say 28 years old or older. I'm pretty much always in for drafting than taking the saver route, atleast when you are close to guaranteed getting a really good player from the draft. Some GMs may hit the panic button if they're job is in jeopardy (by missing playoffs in this case).

That's my opinion as well. This team is not ready yet to "go for it". It would only be a panic move to do that. And panicking is getting you nowhere in this league. I don't think Tallon makes panic moves whether his job is on the line or not (and that's if his job is even on the line).

 

[SoupyFIN]

Rantanen was 10th on Bob's final rankings.

This is going to be another 2012 and Määttä, isn't it..

 

[FinlandPanther]

Rantanen was 10th on Bob's final rankings.

This is going to be another 2012 and Määttä, isn't it..

Oh the horror that was that year. My excitement turned into screaming. Though I am very happy with Matheson as a consolation.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

As far as the moving up to the #3 spot discussion, Dave Maloney is really impressed with the offers for the #3 overall pick. (about the 2:06 mark of the video)

http://www.azfamily.com/story/29377702/1-on-1-with-coyotes-gm-don-maloney

So, you know, the price is going to be significant for that pick.

 

[FlaPanthers11]

Rantanen was 10th on Bob's final rankings.

This is going to be another 2012 and Määttä, isn't it..

Does anyone still remember beating the Devils?

 

[IceManCat]

That's cause you haven't really watched him play. While I agree on Barkov being the better player in the long run. The reason for that is mostly the fact he fits into that Selke type of a player mold. If you think Barkov's vision is far higher than Rantanen, then you only confirm what I'm thinking. Barkov has also slightly better hands, but how they play sets them apart. Rantanen isn't afraid of challenging players where Barkov prefers to take a pass or make the save play. A slight edge on vision and hands to Barkov but Rantanen is and will be the better skater out of the two.

20+35 isn't even close to the ceiling. Highly skilled winger with high hockey IQ that can skate, and without star potential huh? I doubt that's even going to be close to his average on the prime years. The only reason Rantanen didn't make a huge splash this year was the fact he played in maybe the worst team in FEL and for whatever odd reason was misplayed until after the WJC. He actually made pretty much all of his points on ES prior to that. Had he played on another team then he might just have had a shot on reaching Barkov draft season numbers.

Lets say f.ex. he goes fifth. Now you got two spots cemented with guys with generational ceilings. Exclude the two and you have #3. Highly hypotectical and even unlikely but still possible. Pretty much no one would've bet money on Barkov going down to history books as the 2nd pick in another deep draft. Super excited to see where Rantanen drops. Of course I'd prefer him to fall for the obvious reasons but there's only so far you can.

Ive seen plenty of Mikko. And ill reiterate I am big fan. With that said I have him as 20-25 goal scorer and 35-40 assist player. This would put him as a 55-65 point player. That is very good production with his style of play. To put things in perspective Jonathan Toews scored 66 and 68 points in his last 2 seasons. Patrice Bergeron has scored 55 and 62 points his last 2 seasons. Both players played a healthy and full season. Do you really see Mikko out scoring those guys while playing that same shut down 2 way style? Its possible sure but certainly not realistic. He is a good player but lets not say he can score like Seguin and shut down lines like Toews just yet. There is nothing as of now to indicate he has this ultra offensive ability that you speak of.

As far as the moving up to the #3 spot discussion, Dave Maloney is really impressed with the offers for the #3 overall pick. (about the 2:06 mark of the video)

http://www.azfamily.com/story/29377702/1-on-1-with-coyotes-gm-don-maloney

So, you know, the price is going to be significant for that pick.

To be fair there is a lot of posturing this time of year.

 

[flapanthersfan]

I haven't read through this thread at all, been super busy, but I just wanted to go on the record as saying I really, really, really, REALLY hope we end up with Travis Konecny on Friday.

Size gets so overblown on draft day. If that kid was 6'3 we'd be talking about him in the top-5. Ridiculous skills, plays with intensity. Gimme.

 

[EnforceTheLaus]

Cap is at 71.4 and Panthers are at 60 mil right now. Hubs, Hayes + RFAs should put us north of 66 mil. Hopefully we can move Boyes to give more wiggle room.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Does anyone still remember beating the Devils?

It was still terrible to see Määttä fall so far, only to have Pittsburgh select him from right under our nose.

No offense to Matheson, but I doubt he's going to become as good of a 2-way d-man as Määttä already is at 21yo (come next season).

 

[kelsier]

Ive seen plenty of Mikko. And ill reiterate I am big fan. With that said I have him as 20-25 goal scorer and 35-40 assist player. This would put him as a 55-65 point player. That is very good production with his style of play. To put things in perspective Jonathan Toews scored 66 and 68 points in his last 2 seasons. Patrice Bergeron has scored 55 and 62 points his last 2 seasons. Both players played a healthy and full season. Do you really see Mikko out scoring those guys while playing that same shut down 2 way style? Its possible sure but certainly not realistic. He is a good player but lets not say he can score like Seguin and shut down lines like Toews just yet. There is nothing as of now to indicate he has this ultra offensive ability that you speak of.



To be fair there is a lot of posturing this time of year.

To be frank I'm not sure how this is putting things into perspective comparing him into two of the best defending forwards, when still his best qualities come about in the o-zone. Needless to remind both are considered being stars in the league, while Toews being amongst the brightest. Who's to say what becomes of the guy really. He is 18 years old at the moment and oozing with potential. Nice to hear your a fan though.

 

[FlaPanthers11]

It was still terrible to see Määttä fall so far, only to have Pittsburgh select him from right under our nose.

No offense to Matheson, but I doubt he's going to become as good of a 2-way d-man as Määttä already is at 21yo (come next season).

Yeah but I'm talking about this year when we beat the Devils last game of the year, leading to us picking 11th instead of 8th.