Prospect Info: The 2019 Entry NHL Draft Thread - Part II

[cgf]

I'm still trying to figure out what causes me issues with him, but I think that is a big part of it. He can be completely invisible for all but 2 or 3 shifts in a game, but those 2 or 3 shifts he looks downright incredible. Right now I think he has the pure talent to be a top 5 guy, but I don't think I'd pick him in the top 5... not with Cozen, Dach, Byram around.

Can is not always has.

I still don’t think I’ve watched a junior / MHL / AHL / WJC game from beginning to completion this year; but I’ve seen periods where Pod may not quite have reached Denisenko levels of annoying on the forecheck, but where he made his presence felt even without any of his trademark game breaking moments. Hopefully he can finish strong in all facets & make big strides over the next two years, because the kid reminds me of Bure at his best...when he still used his speed for more than leaking out of the zone early; when instead he was using his explosiveness to drive the puck up ice, shift after shift, and using his speed to create turnovers.

Which plays into the things that make me less worried about it; namely, that even at his worst, the handful of game-breaking scenes that Pavel delivered turned the tide of games. And podkolzin’s skillset, creativity, and bravado are there to deliver those handful of game changing moments whether the rest of his game is a strength or liability.


So if we could get this generation’s version of that gamebreaking weapon that the Russian rocket was, behind our top line with Podkolzin...then I’d be ok with filling the rest of the bottom 9 with defense first guys. To the point where Jimmothy, Jost & Kaut battling for the title of our 5th most skilled forward with little competition...none of them coming even close to Barrie, Samwise or DW (Dude Where’s) either; when talking about the skill level of all skaters & not just forwards.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Can is not always has.

I still don’t think I’ve watched a junior / MHL / AHL / WJC game from beginning to completion this year; but I’ve seen periods where Pod may not quite have reached Denisenko levels of annoying on the forecheck, but where he made his presence felt even without any of his trademark game breaking moments. Hopefully he can finish strong in all facets & make big strides over the next two years, because the kid reminds me of Bure at his best...when he still used his speed for more than leaking out of the zone early; when instead he was using his explosiveness to drive the puck up ice, shift after shift, and using his speed to create turnovers.

Which plays into the things that make me less worried about it; namely, that even at his worst, the handful of game-breaking scenes that Pavel delivered turned the tide of games. And podkolzin’s skillset, creativity, and bravado are there to deliver those handful of game changing moments whether the rest of his game is a strength or liability.


So if we could get this generation’s version of that gamebreaking weapon that the Russian rocket was, behind our top line with Podkolzin...then I’d be ok with filling the rest of the bottom 9 with defense first guys. To the point where Jimmothy, Jost & Kaut battling for the title of our 5th most skilled forward with little competition...none of them coming even close to Barrie, Samwise or DW (Dude Where’s) either; when talking about the skill level of all skaters & not just forwards.

This is a bit insensitive, but I kind of feel like you getting a crush on any player means he won't be playing for the Avs. This applies all the way down to our current prospects lol.

Does this apply to you outside of hockey too?

 

[cgf]

Yeah..not picking a Russian guy playing in Russia in the top 5. It's not compatible with where we are at this point in time. We need the player ASAP.

That depends on what other moves are made. If we brought Zibby or Schenn in using our pick and could sign Silfy to a fair offer...or turn Jost + two 2nd founders into Radu...then we should have the pieces to compete in the short run even if the Ottawa pick won’t make an impact until his draft+3 season.

Now if we sit on our hands and expect that pick on it’s own to complete this team, well then we’d better get Hughes or Kakko lol

 

[cgf]

This is a bit insensitive, but I kind of feel like you getting a crush on any player means he won't be playing for the Avs. This applies all the way down to our current prospects lol.

Does this apply to you outside of hockey too?

Well I am a knicks fan, so that one should be pretty obvious...they only get players I have crushes on...


Though I have better luck with the first division soccer club I like most. They get a lot of my favorites...at least my favorites for a club of their stature, as they’re not poaching players off Real & Bayern or anything. But their great scouts & management team get a lot of kids that I get crushes on before they are ready for the giants to come crawling, or they bring in unique players that I love but who lack pedigree...or who only take off once Gladbach plays them in a different position than where they played previously in their senior team careers like Stindl, Raffael, Kramer, etc.

My team is just too poor for their options to be restricted enough for me to care that passionately...although they did sign the lesser brother of one of my favorite players & he’s been great for us.

Now the national team never selects the squad that I would, but after the disgusting way the coach & management team shifted the blame for their shameful incompetence — that I wasn’t the only one calling out beforehand — onto the kid who’s grandparents came from turkey, I no longer root for the national team. That nose picker finally did what FIFA’s rampant corruption & certain morally grey aspects of the sport...like third party ownership of players...couldn’t and turned me off of international football. Now it’s just the club level for me...at least until the FA is replaced (to a man) with new blood that is able to win back my respect & love. [/repressed rant from me no longer posting on the soccerboard]

 

[S E P H]

Kakko is now 6’4” and 210 pounds. Likely reaches Rants level of 225 or so. What a beast.

Dach is 6’4”, 190 and thick as hell.

Cozens is 6’3” 180.

Hughes is obviously the goldmine, but any one of these three hogs would be fantastic.

You wrote this like he is some type of powerforward. Kirby has the same mean streak of Nick Bjugstad.

Zegras will be in contention in the 5-10 range. Lavoie is going to have some calling for him too with how close to ready he is.

I am just not seeing it with Zegras, but certain USA posters on the main board are commenting how he's better than Wahlstrom and Farabee and I'm like wtf? Not sure he's even better than Boldy currently for me.

 

[McMetal]

I am just not seeing it with Zegras, but certain USA posters on the main board are commenting how he's better than Wahlstrom and Farabee and I'm like wtf? Not sure he's even better than Boldy currently for me.

You have to admit that he's scoring in buckets for that team though. He's the main pivot on that line and delivering the goods in a big way.

 

[S E P H]

You have to admit that he's scoring in buckets for that team though. He's the main pivot on that line and delivering the goods in a big way.

Oh no doubt he is putting fantastic numbers, but we also have to remember that he gets to play with Hughes at times too. He reads the game well and plays an NHL style game, but that's all I have been able to get from him. A lot of his tools are quite too vanilla for me and I don't see a lot of dynamic ability in his game either.

 

[McMetal]

Oh no doubt he is putting fantastic numbers, but we also have to remember that he gets to play with Hughes at times too. He reads the game well and plays an NHL style game, but that's all I have been able to get from him. A lot of his tools are quite too vanilla for me don't see a lot of dynamic ability in those tools.

He isn't flashy, but I really like the calm efficiency in his game. He makes a lot of quietly good plays in the offensive zone and while he won't wow you with anything I think his playmaking IQ is really good. He and Boldy have quite a lot of chemistry too when they play together from what I've seen.

 

[S E P H]

He isn't flashy, but I really like the calm efficiency in his game. He makes a lot of quietly good plays in the offensive zone and while he won't wow you with anything I think his playmaking IQ is really good. He and Boldy have quite a lot of chemistry too when they play together from what I've seen.

Yeah he's this drafts version of Robert Thomas and these players just don't excite me at all. Of course some posters here love Thomas (and those type of players) and I get it, but it has to be at an appropriate range. Not sure I like him anywhere in the top 13 .

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Avs could use a spot of crazy and angry, maybe not full Steve Downie, but just a touch more sanity

 

[cgf]

Avs could use a spot of crazy and angry, maybe not full Steve Downie, but just a touch more sanity

Agreed, the avs could use more AJG

 

[CobraAcesS]

Agreed, the avs could use more AJG

Are we firing Bednar and hiring Q? I heard Q is actually in Colorado too during this break of his.

 

[cgf]

Are we firing Bednar and hiring Q? I heard Q is actually in Colorado too during this break of his.

Bednar will do the right thing & break camp next season with a AJ - Kam - Jimmothy line!

...if we gather enough blackmail on him...

 

[Pokecheque]

I really don't think people should hold any vigils for Quenneville's return. They parted ways mutually, but it wasn't exactly amicable. I don't think there's any desire by Joel to return to any old haunts. I think he'll end up in Philly, or (and I wouldn't necessarily be shocked by this, but mildly surprised) he'll simply retire.

BTW, there's also a possibility that Winnipeg will also be up for grabs by season's end. All in all, I don't think the Avs job will be the most desirable should things go south and Bednar is canned.

All that said, unless we see another re-enactment of the 2016-17 season, I don't think Bednar's losing his job.

There are some veteran coaches out there I'd love for the Avs to look at should they decide to move on from Bednar, but I don't even really want to get that deep into a conversation of what amounts to a worst-case scenario. Bottom line, I do not want them to let this season unravel. Don't make a panic trade, but do SOMETHING.

If there are a couple coaches I'm really starting to sour on, it's Nolan Pratt and Jussi Parkkila. I think Parkkila's gone the moment Varly is, so that's probably a moot point, but this defense was supposed to take a lot of strides forward under Pratt. It's not doing that, in fact, it's taking some major steps back. That's unacceptable. Don't know whether the PK is his deal or if it's still Bennett's but either way there needs to be major, major shakeup there. I'm nowhere near calling for the firing of anyone yet, but Bednar and his staff need to start doing something more than reshuffling the deck and praying things right themselves.

 

[cgf]

I really don't think people should hold any vigils for Quenneville's return. They parted ways mutually, but it wasn't exactly amicable. I don't think there's any desire by Joel to return to any old haunts. I think he'll end up in Philly, or (and I wouldn't necessarily be shocked by this, but mildly surprised) he'll simply retire.

BTW, there's also a possibility that Winnipeg will also be up for grabs by season's end. All in all, I don't think the Avs job will be the most desirable should things go south and Bednar is canned.

All that said, unless we see another re-enactment of the 2016-17 season, I don't think Bednar's losing his job.

There are some veteran coaches out there I'd love for the Avs to look at should they decide to move on from Bednar, but I don't even really want to get that deep into a conversation of what amounts to a worst-case scenario. Bottom line, I do not want them to let this season unravel. Don't make a panic trade, but do SOMETHING.

If there are a couple coaches I'm really starting to sour on, it's Nolan Pratt and Jussi Parkkila. I think Parkkila's gone the moment Varly is, so that's probably a moot point, but this defense was supposed to take a lot of strides forward under Pratt. It's not doing that, in fact, it's taking some major steps back. That's unacceptable. Don't know whether the PK is his deal or if it's still Bennett's but either way there needs to be major, major shakeup there. I'm nowhere near calling for the firing of anyone yet, but Bednar and his staff need to start doing something more than reshuffling the deck and praying things right themselves.

Pretty sure cobra’s just joking about Bednar’s radically different feelings towards AJG, as compared to my own, with the quenneville thing.

He’s been a hugely successful coach in his career, but I don’t think he’d be a good for us. So I doubt many are seriously pining for his return.

 

[Pokecheque]

Pretty sure cobra’s just joking about Bednar’s radically different feelings towards AJG, as compared to my own, with the quenneville thing.

He’s been a hugely successful coach in his career, but I don’t think he’d be a good for us. So I doubt many are seriously pining for his return.

The Twittersphere is full of people wanting Q to come back, AJ even shot some of those people down last night, so I think it's a thing, but then again there are a lot of irrational fans out on Twitter so...

 

[Iceberg]

Bednar will do the right thing & break camp next season with a AJ - Kam - Jimmothy line!

...if we gather enough blackmail on him...

That has the potential do be a very good 4th line.

 

[Brett44]

That has the potential do be a very good 4th line.

Very good third

 

[Hasbro]

Kakko is now 6’4” and 210 pounds. Likely reaches Rants level of 225 or so. What a beast.

Dach is 6’4”, 190 and thick as hell.

Cozens is 6’3” 180.

Hughes is obviously the goldmine, but any one of these three hogs would be fantastic.

Cole Caufield or nothing!

 

[cgf]

Very good third

Let them walk before we ask them to run. Aim for that to be the 4th line behind: the big line, a real 2nd scoring line, and the Soda line. Maybe putting Kaut on that line while bumping Jimmothy up into the middle 6.

If Joe gave Bednar the pieces to do that, and Bednar could be blackmailed out of the hate-boner he has for AJG...and they ran with the opportunity, earning more responsibilities...then you just enjoy the depth while we can. Because Soda likely won't be around to anchor our 3rd line for all that much longer.

The Twittersphere is full of people wanting Q to come back, AJ even shot some of those people down last night, so I think it's a thing, but then again there are a lot of irrational fans out on Twitter so...

Ah, yeah I think I could count the # of times I've twatted in my life with fingers to spare; so I can't speak to those folks...but I suspect you've hit the nail on the head with the bolded

 

[avsfan09]

Cole Caufield or nothing!

I'd consider him with the Avs pick to be honest. His size scares me a but though.

 

[Nihiliste]

A glance at the standings suggests that the only teams worse than the Avs over the past 10 games have been DRW and OTT. I hope this doesn’t keep up, but it does we’re going to wind up with two fairly high picks

 

[Balthazar]

Button just released his new rankings

While Kakko had a strong tournament, I still don’t see a better player available in this draft than Hughes, who was limited by injury at the World Juniors but has been outstanding with the U.S. National Development U18 Team this season.

Instead, Kakko is in a race with Russian right wing Vasili Podkolzin (No. 3) and Lethbridge Hurricanes centre Dylan Cozens (No. 4) to establish the second-best prospect in this draft class.

https://www.tsn.ca/craig-s-list-hughes-stays-ahead-of-kakko-after-world-juniors-1.1237475

 

[henchman21]

Live look at some posters:

 

[Ivan13]

If we have our own pick and Turcotte is still there and we don’t pick him I might just buy myself a ticket for an Avs game and bring along a sign saying “Get a brain, morans!”.