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

[CobraAcesS]

That’s where good drafting comes in. Where you can bring up those Bowers type guys on their ELC’s to keep as many core players as possible.

Yeah, but it is a bitch to trying and roll that many ELCs. Especially if you end up in a position where you have like 10M to pay 6-8 players lol.

I'm just saying that is why people worry about it a lot.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Yeah, but it is a ***** to trying and roll that many ELCs. Especially if you end up in a position where you have like 10M to pay 6-8 players lol.

I'm just saying that is why people worry about it a lot.

Of course. Not that you should have a bottom 6 full young guys on ELC’s but having those players is a key part of a successful team.

 

[cgf]

That’s where good drafting comes in. Where you can bring up those Bowers type guys on their ELC’s to keep as many core players as possible.

Sure, and you can also use bridge deals to push some of the big pay-days out another 2 years...so that our window could well go a couple seasons into MacK's extension*...but even the best organizations can't keep all those plates spinning for long. So I wouldn't bank on us pulling it off any better when we're still trying to prove that we're anything more than a competent organization...and we'll never have the advantages that the Hawks & Kings did on the recruiting front.

That MacK extension is just the biggest milestone after which things will start to become less & less financially feasible and the payments you've been pushing off come due + interest...and needing to convince him to sign it puts a clock on things already. So why procrastinate?

*although bridge deals invariably lead to even pricier longterm deals, which makes opening a 2nd window even harder.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

30M top line, 30M on defense, about 7 to 9M on goaltending. Our second line could cost us 20M by that time too if we draft someone like Hughes or Kakko. So your sitting at 90M hoping the cap gets up to 90 to 95 in 4 years. Your money to pay the bottom six ****ing evaporates lol.

Looks like a cup contender

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Awe I missed the goalie talk. Nice to see @S E P H though bringing up the whole the majority of starters are actually found at the top of the draft rather than the back end. I'll forgive the Avs on missing out on Knight this year if they pick up Yaroslavl Askarov next draft.

 

[Avalanche]

Awe I missed the goalie talk. Nice to see @S E P H though bringing up the whole the majority of starters are actually found at the top of the draft rather than the back end. I'll forgive the Avs on missing out on Knight this year if they pick up Yaroslavl Askarov next draft.

It appears that Knight is by far the best prospect. How do the other top prospects compare to him? If Knight is a midfirst, how high do you think the other guys go?

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Awe I missed the goalie talk. Nice to see @S E P H though bringing up the whole the majority of starters are actually found at the top of the draft rather than the back end. I'll forgive the Avs on missing out on Knight this year if they pick up Yaroslavl Askarov next draft.

Any chance we can convince him to change his name and add a V.

I for one would rock an Avskarov away jersey if he was on our team.

 

[cgf]

Looks like a cup contender

I dunno. Winning cups is tough enough with a full roster, nevermind with only 14 skaters...

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

It appears that Knight is by far the best prospect. How do the other top prospects compare to him? If Knight is a midfirst, how high do you think the other guys go?

Hard to gauge how teams will draft goalies. No one really expected to Olof Lindbom to go as high as he did or as early as he did. Taking a guess though I'd say once Knight is off the board we'll see Hunter Jones and Mads Sogaard going in the early 2nd as long as they finish out the season at the current pace they are at. After that it gets tough. Dustin Wolf is pretty much the American Juuse Saros. Yet the earliest I can see him going is in the 3rd round with the highest chance being he ends up in the 4th. I'm not high on Taylor Gauthier however I can see teams falling in love with him and he'll go late 2nd, early 3rd. Hugo Alnefelt is the wild card for me. Love his play style, not loving his stats out of the SuperElit league.

How do they compare to Knight? Knight is in a tier of his own. He almost looks bored out there because of how good he is. Jones/Sogaard are the closest to Knight. Both are goalies who have exploded onto the scene this year in their respective leagues showing the promise you want to see from them. Neither of them have the physical talents that Knight does. Wolf and Ellis are close or equal to Knight on an IQ/technical scale but Wolf doesn't have Knight's size and Ellis doesn't have Knight's physical skill set. Pretty much after Knight, Jones, Sogaard are off the board the risk starts to jump up pretty high. Maybe there's a 3rd tier after Knight, Jones/Sogaard featuring Alnefelt/Miner but otherwise it's going to be a bit chaotic and will be dependent on what teams like from goalies.

 

[S E P H]

Awe I missed the goalie talk. Nice to see @S E P H though bringing up the whole the majority of starters are actually found at the top of the draft rather than the back end. I'll forgive the Avs on missing out on Knight this year if they pick up Yaroslavl Askarov next draft.

Is he the lad who started for Russia in the Hlinka tournament?

 

[TruePowerSlave]

I dunno. Winning cups is tough enough with a full roster, nevermind with only 14 skaters...

Trades need to be made but the core is cup material. Not buying the idea that in 2023-24 the Avs cannot compete with the top teams in the west.

What kind of a team do you think the Avs are going to be in 5 years? A fringe playoff team? That is what you seem to be implying.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Hard to gauge how teams will draft goalies. No one really expected to Olof Lindbom to go as high as he did or as early as he did. Taking a guess though I'd say once Knight is off the board we'll see Hunter Jones and Mads Sogaard going in the early 2nd as long as they finish out the season at the current pace they are at. After that it gets tough. Dustin Wolf is pretty much the American Juuse Saros. Yet the earliest I can see him going is in the 3rd round with the highest chance being he ends up in the 4th. I'm not high on Taylor Gauthier however I can see teams falling in love with him and he'll go late 2nd, early 3rd. Hugo Alnefelt is the wild card for me. Love his play style, not loving his stats out of the SuperElit league.

How do they compare to Knight? Knight is in a tier of his own. He almost looks bored out there because of how good he is. Jones/Sogaard are the closest to Knight. Both are goalies who have exploded onto the scene this year in their respective leagues showing the promise you want to see from them. Neither of them have the physical talents that Knight does. Wolf and Ellis are close or equal to Knight on an IQ/technical scale but Wolf doesn't have Knight's size and Ellis doesn't have Knight's physical skill set. Pretty much after Knight, Jones, Sogaard are off the board the risk starts to jump up pretty high. Maybe there's a 3rd tier after Knight, Jones/Sogaard featuring Alnefelt/Miner but otherwise it's going to be a bit chaotic and will be dependent on what teams like from goalies.

I'm sorry for my stupid goalie comments sometimes (lol), and thank you for contributing here with this stuff.

@S E P H Thank you for your contributions as well, but you might want to keep your NHL goalie thoughts in a bag in the basement.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Trades need to be made but the core is cup material. Not buying the idea that in 2023-24 the Avs cannot compete with the top teams in the west.

What kind of a team do you think the Avs are going to be in 5 years? A fringe playoff team? That is what you seem to be implying.

Every cup team has won lately with some ELCs contributing at high levels. I'm not sure about six of them though lol. Your depth guys really play a big role in the playoffs too, and we can't pay them all less than 1M. Also who knows wtf the ELC cap is going to be in 4 years. It could be like 1.2M by then.

I think if a lot goes right we'll see a peak Avs team in two years, and that will get some guys paid too. You know when MacK's contract is up there is a good chance our top ELC from this draft class might be up at the exact same time?

They might be smart to actually burn their top picks first ELC year this year regardless. Just play him 10-12 games and send him back to Jr if that is the right thing (it probably will be).

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Hard to gauge how teams will draft goalies. No one really expected to Olof Lindbom to go as high as he did or as early as he did. Taking a guess though I'd say once Knight is off the board we'll see Hunter Jones and Mads Sogaard going in the early 2nd as long as they finish out the season at the current pace they are at. After that it gets tough. Dustin Wolf is pretty much the American Juuse Saros. Yet the earliest I can see him going is in the 3rd round with the highest chance being he ends up in the 4th. I'm not high on Taylor Gauthier however I can see teams falling in love with him and he'll go late 2nd, early 3rd. Hugo Alnefelt is the wild card for me. Love his play style, not loving his stats out of the SuperElit league.

How do they compare to Knight? Knight is in a tier of his own. He almost looks bored out there because of how good he is. Jones/Sogaard are the closest to Knight. Both are goalies who have exploded onto the scene this year in their respective leagues showing the promise you want to see from them. Neither of them have the physical talents that Knight does. Wolf and Ellis are close or equal to Knight on an IQ/technical scale but Wolf doesn't have Knight's size and Ellis doesn't have Knight's physical skill set. Pretty much after Knight, Jones, Sogaard are off the board the risk starts to jump up pretty high. Maybe there's a 3rd tier after Knight, Jones/Sogaard featuring Alnefelt/Miner but otherwise it's going to be a bit chaotic and will be dependent on what teams like from goalies.

What do you think of Isaiah Saville?

 

[Balthazar]

Knight is in a tier of his own. He almost looks bored out there because of how good he is.

See that, people? Remember it.

 

[Foppberg]

How would people feel about taking Knight with our 1st?

 

[The Abusement Park]

How would people feel about taking Knight with our 1st?

Depends on who’s there for me. Definitely not opposed though.

 

[Balthazar]

How would people feel about taking Knight with our 1st?

100% for me but I don't think he'll be available. AVS never drafted a goalie like that in their history.

 

[McMetal]

How would people feel about taking Knight with our 1st?

Not opposed, but it will depend on who is there as far as skaters go. I kind of want an LD prospect, so somebody like Bjornfot would be my personal target there. I really like him.

It also depends on where our pick lands. Which Avs team shows up for the second half could mean a pick in the 20s again, which would mean Knight could be gone, or if it's in the early teens there could be a skater like Krebs available, in which case you have to take the skater.

 

[missionAvs]

How would people feel about taking Knight with our 1st?

*Looks at our goalie situation*

Yes please, sign me up!

 

[Patagonia]

How would people feel about taking Knight with our 1st?

Doubt Sakic drafts a goalie in the 1st round. Depends on the players available, but preference would be a LHD with size: Broberg, Robertson or Vlasic .

 

[Balthazar]

Doubt Sakic drafts a goalie in the 1st round. Depends on the players available, but preference would be a LHD with size: Broberg, Robertson or Vlasic .

What are the chances that any skater we pick in the mid teens will become an impact player in the NHL?

 

[The Abusement Park]

What are the chances that any skater we pick in the mid teens will become an impact player in the NHL?

Probably as likely as us drafting a goalie that becomes a starter.

 

[Balthazar]

Probably as likely as us drafting a goalie that becomes a starter.

Except that its not.

 

[McMetal]

What are the chances that any skater we pick in the mid teens will become an impact player in the NHL?

Pretty decent, if you ask history. About the same chance as a goalie would have. Riku Helenius, Chet Pickard, and Jack Campbell were selected in that range, so it's not like Knight is a 100% guaranteed NHL starter just because he's ranked high.

You just can't be certain with goalies, because SO MUCH has to happen between their draft year and becoming an NHL starter 4-6 years later. Picking one high and forgetting it isn't wise, because of all the development that has to happen in the intervening years. They're so far away from NHL action that anything can happen in between.

I'm not a huge fan of Hepple's Euro overager strategy, but it's not like spending a bunch of high picks on goalies is a proven strategy either. They bet pretty big on Annunen last year, who was a consensus highly ranked tender, so maybe that's changing, but I don't think they would spend a first on a goalie just because we have goalie issues right now and consider the problem fixed.