Prospect Info: "Tank ran out of gas" - 2014 NHL draft discussion - Part II

[Huffer]

I don't really see a massive difference between 7-11th pick this year.

6th could be pretty big as I could see just one of Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl or Dal Colle falling there.

Does anyone see Ekblad falling out of the top five altogether? What would you do if we were 6th and he was still there?

Hope Chevy runs to the microphone?

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Hope Chevy runs to the microphone?

Enstrom - Bogo
Morrissey - Trouba
Stuart (or ??) - Eckblad.

That would be OK in a couple years.

 

[buggs]

Enstrom - Bogo
Morrissey - Trouba
Stuart (or ??) - Eckblad.

That would be OK in a couple years.

Don't get too excited on us.

 

[StronGeer]

Enstrom - Bogo
Morrissey - Trouba
Stuart (or ??) - Eckblad.

That would be OK in a couple years.

Left wingers beware

With Ladd and Buff out for the year, tank mode is in full force!

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Left wingers beware

With Ladd and Buff out for the year, tank mode is in full force!

Yes, that's true. Keep your head up! Other than Enstrom, the right side would be a fairly punishing place to try to cross the blue line as well.

 

[Mathmew Purrrr Oh]

Enstrom - Bogo
Morrissey - Trouba
Stuart (or ??) - Eckblad.

That would be OK in a couple years.

Enstrom - Trouba
Morrissey - Bogo
Stuart - Eckblad

PP1 : Enstrom/Trouba
PP2 : Morrisey/Eckblad

PK1 : Stuart/Trouba
PK2 : Enstrom/Bogo

 

[ps241]

I don't really see a massive difference between 7-11th pick this year.

6th could be pretty big as I could see just one of Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl or Dal Colle falling there.

Does anyone see Ekblad falling out of the top five altogether? What would you do if we were 6th and he was still there?

So playing devils advocate the way things have been unpredictable in recent years. Take 2011 with a guy that was 3rd on our board like Trouba falling to us at number 9 I believe every place is pretty important. I also firmly believe if we beat Tampa in OT in the last game of the year in 2011 we wouldn't have Jacob Trouba because Tampa would have drafted Trouba instead of Slater Koekkoek . Last year we missed out on Domi by 1 team (Phoenix) and I think we did well by getting Morrissey on our team but Domi was the guy TNSE “really†wanted. To me every place is pretty critical if we want the best shot at landing “our guyâ€

 

[Flair Hay]

I guess a different way of asking what I was thinking is:

Is Ekblad really that good? He had a very large amount of his points from the PP this year. For instance, we saw a spike in Morrissey's points this year as a few of the stat guy predicted. Morrissey's production was mostly 5v5 despite playing the toughest competition already in his draft year. 60% of Ekblad's points were on the PP this season. How much more room for improvement is there offensively if he's going to be in the NHL next year focusing mainly on his own end?

I'm beginning to think that he's one of those players who is drafted for how high his floor is and not what he will be in the NHL. He will likely be a rock as a stay at home guy. An have a bomb from the point. But is his skating, stick handling, vision, etc good enough that he is the kind of player that will take over games?

How much of his hype is that he is a sure fire first pairing D? And how much is based on his pedigree, exceptional status, being a man beast with a Weber beard at 16, etc?

Now, a team with a young D may give us something to move up and draft him. He's NHL ready and certainly has first pairing potential. But is he a franchise changing defenseman? Not without putting up 45+ point seasons minimum.

I don't think the Oilers are idiots for passing on him in favour of Bennett, Reinhart or Draisaitl.

I'm more asking than telling, but this is the vibe I'm getting.

 

[ps241]

I guess a different way of asking what I was thinking is:

Is Ekblad really that good? He had a very large amount of his points from the PP this year. For instance, we saw a spike in Morrissey's points this year as a few of the stat guy predicted. Morrissey's production was mostly 5v5 despite playing the toughest competition already in his draft year. 60% of Ekblad's points were on the PP this season. How much more room for improvement is there offensively if he's going to be in the NHL next year focusing mainly on his own end?

I'm beginning to think that he's one of those players who is drafted for how high his floor is and not what he will be in the NHL. He will likely be a rock as a stay at home guy. An have a bomb from the point. But is his skating, stick handling, vision, etc good enough that he is the kind of player that will take over games?

How much of his hype is that he is a sure fire first pairing D? And how much is based on his pedigree, exceptional status, being a man beast with a Weber beard at 16, etc?

Now, a team with a young D may give us something to move up and draft him. He's NHL ready and certainly has first pairing potential. But is he a franchise changing defenseman? Not without putting up 45+ point seasons minimum.

I don't think the Oilers are idiots for passing on him in favour of Bennett, Reinhart or Draisaitl.

I'm more asking than telling, but this is the vibe I'm getting.

Good post and in that context I think I have opened my mind to the fact that it appears a few of the GM's I have heard think Ekblad is can't miss talent but they have similar concerns about his ability to be a take over games type D man......maybe he slides but with how tough it is to find decent top 4 D men it seems like he is a pretty safe bet.

 

[JC Numminen]

I can see Ekblad falling as low as 4, but not quite to 6th. There will be at least ONE team who takes the bait on him before us who needs a strong D man.

He would be my first choice if he is still available. As YWG said, the RHD depth on our team would be SCARY if we had Ekblad.

 

[drumzan]

There are some schools of thought to not draft d-men first round. So I can see Ekblad dropping a few spots just like Trouba and Seth Jones.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Good post and in that context I think I have opened my mind to the fact that it appears a few of the GM's I have heard think Ekblad is can't miss talent but they have similar concerns about his ability to be a take over games type D man......maybe he slides but with how tough it is to find decent top 4 D men it seems like he is a pretty safe bet.

I personally think he'll end up being a solid 3-4 guy, with potential for top pairing. I feel like I'm defending my 'hate' but while I'm not enamoured with him in the top 5, I think he'd be a very solid pick past that.

If the Oilers were smart though, they'd grab him at their position and start dealing with their blue line deficiencies.

 

[wpgsilver]

I'm pretty high on Ekblad

 

[JC Numminen]

I'm pretty high on Ekblad

Me two. I think he could be dominant with his size and shot. As pointed out in the thread, he may end up being like Jones last season, and fall two or three spots, but I cant see him pulling a Trouba and slipping all the way to 6 or so spots.

I think Ekblad has potential to be a Shea Weber type guy.

 

[CaptainChef]

I can see Ekblad falling as low as 4, but not quite to 6th. There will be at least ONE team who takes the bait on him before us who needs a strong D man.

He would be my first choice if he is still available. As YWG said, the RHD depth on our team would be SCARY if we had Ekblad.

Ekblad is the one guy from that top 5 that I could never see dropping to 6. Not that he is # 1 by any means, but it would mean that none of the 5 teams before us had interest in a D. I can see one of the Sam's or Dal Colle being possible though -- I think the first two are Cs and Dal Colle is a converted C.

 

[gbill2004*]

Based on the Jets current needs and strengths, I just can't see us drafting a d-man with our first pick. If we want to roll 3 legit lines, we will be drafting a forward.

 

[DancesWithWookies]

So stoked to see Hutch play

 

[ps241]

I personally think he'll end up being a solid 3-4 guy, with potential for top pairing. I feel like I'm defending my 'hate' but while I'm not enamoured with him in the top 5, I think he'd be a very solid pick past that.

If the Oilers were smart though, they'd grab him at their position and start dealing with their blue line deficiencies.

It's a weird year......I feel the same way about the Sam's and Draisaitl.....I don't feel like any of them are clear cut 1st line NHL centre's. Like Ekblad I could see these guys as great 2nd line centres. Now any one of these guys could end up being excellant 1st line or 1st pair talent but it doesn't jump out at me.

 

[AriIQ]

Leon falls before Sam does. You need to consider Sam Bennets age.

 

[Hansen Brother]

I went and watched Barrie play Kingston last year and I took a liking to Bennett. He plays hard. I would love to have him on our team.

I'm curious about Hayden Fluery, I could see him turning into a really solid player. I'm biased though as I personally like the idea of building from the net out and would love to have one more solid LD for the future.

Morrisey - Trouba
Fluery - Bogosian

Comrie
Hellebuyck

That'd be a defense that could win championships. At least they do in my mind.

 

[drumzan]

That loss was pretty big for draft positioning. Giving Jets much better chance at 6th pick. Still a glimmer of hope for 5th, but not likely. Would require Jets losing last 2 games and either Flames winning next 3 or Islanders winning next 4.

 

[Boreal]

I like Haydn Fleury. In some ways, I'm not so sure that there is a big gap between him and Ekblad (I keep envisioning Ekblad as Bogosian 2.0). Lots of hype, but an offensive game that generally fails to deliver. I wish him well though.

My only concern with Fleury, is that it might not be the type of talent you take at 6th overall, especially for a team that could use some high end skill up front. I wouldn't be disappointed with Fleury all things considered, but leaving Dal Colle, Draisaitl, Ritchie, even Ehlers and Kapanen on the board would be tough to do.

I just do not see much offensive upside to Haydn Fleury. A Brayden Coburn of sorts. Rock solid defensive 2nd pairing guy that any team could use, but not a game breaker. If both players were available this draft, I'd take Morrissey over Fleury for example. Relatively easily.

I'm no scout though. I could be wayyyyy off the mark.

 

[GoldenJet89]

If Ekblad falls to us, I think they would have to take him. His upside is huge.. I see some question marks, but i'd be very surprised if he didnt turn into at least Bogosian.. (solid #3) with upside to potentially be great.

And as others have mentioned, our d group in a few years could be scary good. Add solid goaltending and we could make some noise.

Franchise players are hard to come by regardless of position. So if any of the players with that kind of "potential" fall to us it would be a huge success.

Though my personal preference is hoping one of Draisaitl, Bennett, Reinhart, or Dal Colle are still there instead

 

[Hansen Brother]

This is total boxscore stats so take it for what it's worth, but last year Morrisey had 47 points, this year Fluery has 46. Only 1 less point in, comparing draft years.

I've never been as convinced our forwards are the problem. That said, I would absolutely love it if Bennett would be available. I wonder if the Islanders would be interested in trading their pick, they seem to have enough prospects.

 

[Duke749]

This is total boxscore stats so take it for what it's worth, but last year Morrisey had 47 points, this year Fluery has 46. Only 1 less point in, comparing draft years.

I've never been as convinced our forwards are the problem. That said, I would absolutely love it if Bennett would be available. I wonder if the Islanders would be interested in trading their pick, they seem to have enough prospects.

Depth is really our problem. We don't have an issue with most of our forwards, just that some shouldn't be in the line up and we need some guys to help take pressure off of the top guys.