Proposal: Poll: Will Smith or trade 5th overall for Clayton Keller?

[Natey]

Former NHL defenseman Phillip Boucher who's been involved in the Q and Hockey Canada thinks Benson's going to be a star in the NHL.

And he's right. The kid is a complete player. He's a great skater (except top speed), he's probably the smartest player in the draft, and his compete level is top of the class. The only thing that will hold him back is size, and that's less and less of an issue these days.

 

[BozoTheClown]

Undersized Caufield,Keller, Mesar, Beck, Farrell…
That’s going to be fun to watch come playoffs time

 

[26Mats]

Undersized Caufield,Keller, Mesar, Beck, Farrell…
That’s going to be fun to watch come playoffs time

Personally I wouldn't worry about Mesar and Farrell. If we already build a great lineup before they're ready, so be it, we trade them. There is no guarantee they'll ever be good NHLers, so IF a move is good for building a great lineup, I won't not do it because of them.

I think we can at maximum have 1 small player on each of the top 3 lines. So Caufield and RHP only leave room for one more.

As for Beck: A) Will Smith was measured as 5'11 3/4, so I'm not sure he's that much taller than Beck. B) Maybe he's good trade bait for PLD?

But mean if we get PLD, what's stopping us from getting another player that's also turning 25 to add to the core for the next 5 to 7, 8 years?

 

[CHwest]

It's age (turning 25) and size (5'10) that many take issue with.

Age is a very under rated factor. 25 vs 18, that's 7 years, basically a generation in hockey.

Age is a very under rated factor. 25 vs 18, that's 7 years, basically a generation in hockey. If we were a contender it would be different, but we are not.

 

[cphabs]

37g, 86 points at the age of 24 on a team where the 2nd highest point getter had 58?

Why would Arizona trade him? Honest question and thanks!

 

[26Mats]

Why would Arizona trade him? Honest question and thanks!

There was a post on his father's Twitter account saying something like he's going to want out if the situation with the arena and the city doesn't stabilize. I forget the exact statement. After that tweet, it was later taken down and the father claimed his account was hacked.

But there's speculation Keller wants oit and it would be best for the coyotes to move him if they can get a good deal.

Who knows, maybe they'd like the idea of drafting Smith and Leonard 5th and 6th - and maybe Gabe Perreault with their other 1st.

 

[26Mats]

Age is a very under rated factor. 25 vs 18, that's 7 years, basically a generation in hockey.

It's not seven years because Smith is going to Boston College next year. So, every year Smith ends up being in college plus every year he's in the NHL but isn't that good because he's still developing comes off of that 7 years. Right now it's 6 years max. And if he does like Cooley and stays in college two years, it goes down to 5. Then if he has early NHL seasons like say Slaf or KK, it goes down 4 or 3.

The point is we don't know when he'll start to be a good NHLer, just as we don't know how good of an NHLer he'll be. He may be a point per game NHLer right out of Boston College. Or, he may never even be an NHLer. Or, he may be anything in between such as the next Galchenyuk or Drouin, or a late bloomer like Jonathan Marchessault.

Whereas with Keller, you know he's just entered his prime and put up 37g and 86 points at 24 on a bad team. What could he do playing with Dach, or Dach and Dubois, When there's also another line on the team that has Caufield and Suzuki on it?

 

[CHwest]

It's not seven years because Smith is going to Boston College next year. So, every year Smith ends up being in college plus every year he's in the NHL but isn't that good because he's still developing comes off of that 7 years. Right now it's 6 years max. And if he does like Cooley and stays in college two years, it goes down to 5. Then if he has early NHL seasons like say Slaf or KK, it goes down 4 or 3.

The point is we don't know when he'll start to be a good NHLer, just as we don't know how good of an NHLer he'll be. He may be a point per game NHLer right out of Boston College. Or, he may never even be an NHLer. Or, he may be anything in between such as the next Galchenyuk or Drouin, or a late bloomer like Jonathan Marchessault.

Whereas with Keller, you know he's just entered his prime and put up 37g and 86 points at 24 on a bad team. What could he do playing with Dach, or Dach and Dubois, When there's also another line on the team that has Caufield and Suzuki on it?

Yes, and black is white?

 

[26Mats]

Yes, and black is white?

?

 

[CHwest]

?

Age makes a big difference, how long you have a player till he retires, when your window is, etc. Keller will be done or close to done when we hopefully hit our peak in 6 or 7 years. The draft pick will be in his prime.

 

[26Mats]

Age makes a big difference, how long you have a player till he retires, when your window is, etc. Keller will be done or close to done when we hopefully hit our peak in 6 or 7 years. The draft pick will be in his prime.

That's a fair point about the peak. But if Keller will be done in 6 years, that means so will Dubois and suzuki will be done in 7 years, since he's he's 1 year younger.

So a) hopefully these turning 25 and 24 year olds (Suzuki, Keller if we were to get him , Dubois) last longer than 6 or 7 years. And b) hopefully we hit our peak in 2 to 3 years when they're still in their primes - and when Michkov comes over! (Yes, it would be nice to draft Michkov with 5 and trade for Keller using the Calgary pick +).

 

[Runner77]

There was a post on his father's Twitter account saying something like he's going to want out if the situation with the arena and the city doesn't stabilize. I forget the exact statement. After that tweet, it was later taken down and the father claimed his account was hacked.

But there's speculation Keller wants oit and it would be best for the coyotes to move him if they can get a good deal.

Who knows, maybe they'd like the idea of drafting Smith and Leonard 5th and 6th - and maybe Gabe Perreault with their other 1st.

This was Keller’s dad’s tweet that subsequently got deleted. However, the internet never forgets …