Should have gone with Groulx
Biggest positive listed is basically "strong frame that can stay upright." The neutral zone tid bits are somewhat encouraging. Hagg is a one zone player
Yeah it's such a weird write up. Basically just trashing him, yet they still ranked him #73 so there must be something there.Biggest positive listed is basically "strong frame that can stay upright." The neutral zone tid bits are somewhat encouraging. Hagg is a one zone player
Adding two d-men afterwards makes me like this pick even less. And I already really didn't like it. Way too many difference makers on the board still.
Fwiw, some stats:
Drafting another Lefty defensemen is really strange to me.
Provorov is 21
Sanheim is 22
Hagg is 23
Morin is 23
Kalynuk is 21
Hogberg is 20
Bernhardt is 20
Hextall even said he was targetting right-handed defensemen. Like, how much could they really loved Ginning to ignore all of the above and draft him?
Button had him 34 and McKenzie had him 43. Most "scouting services" had him in the 40's or 50's.
I can see preferring someone else but the outrage is absurd and calling him a reach is simply incorrect.
The kid played 12 SEL games as a 16 year old, and 28 SEL games as a 17 year old.
I wouldn't fret about his advanced stats at the #1 professional level in Sweden being below average. Just the fact that he earned that kind of time at his ages in the SEL should be a positive.
He also put up respectable stats in SuperElite and in tournaments, even captaining a Swedish international team.
I know people want more flash and are hung up on advanced stats, but I think the backlash is a bit strong for taking him 50th overall.
Adding two d-men afterwards makes me like this pick even less. And I already really didn't like it. Way too many difference makers on the board still.
Fwiw, some stats:
That ES GAA stat is taking a kid’s relative value in a bottom pairing role in the SHL (where he’s compared to seasoned veterans, including some of the best defencemen outside the NHL) and comparing it to kids put in position to dominate on top pairings in the CHL and European junior hockey (where many of the bottom guys are long shots to ever play professional hockey). You’d also benefit from being on a defensively terrible team because terrible relative to terrible is just average.
He’s not going to be Dahlin at that level, obviously (which makes me curious what his value in that stat was).