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

[The Abusement Park]

I would to...but not in lieu of a 65+ point C or PPG winger...

I mean we need a top pairing LHD just as much as both those things. Like I for sure would pick Cozens/Kakko/Hughes over Byram. But Turcotte and Poldz I’d have to think about.

 

[BleedWell]

Touche and legitimately laughed at that. And if we get Kakko will you take me to Nightwish concert?

If we get Kakko I'll take you to "Nighwish with Tarja Turunen-one night only" - concert.

 

[cgf]

I mean we need a top pairing LHD just as much as both those things. Like I for sure would pick Cozens/Kakko/Hughes over Byram. But Turcotte and Poldz I’d have to think about.

Depends on the top pairing LHD. If we're talking a pure 2/3 tweener who can play on the top pairing with an elite #1, then we need someone you can anchor a scoring line around a lot more.

And I'm more confident in Turcotte or Podkolzin being the kind of guys you can anchor a scoring line around than I am Byram become the kind of blueliner you put on the top pairing regardless of what kind of #1 you've got.

 

[Frenchy]

Just went to over to tankathon. First sim, we got the second pick... with our own pick. Ottawa got 4th. What a fun draft that would be.

I do it for fun almost every day and i can tell you that a team with the 1OA pick at 18.5% ends up drafting 4th maybe 95% of time

 

[Foppberg]

I do it for fun almost every day and i can tell you that a team with the 1OA pick at 18.5% ends up drafting 4th maybe 95% of time

Either way... Top 4 pick boys. I won't complain about not getting enough chocolate frosting on my cake.

 

[Frenchy]

Either way... Top 4 pick boys. I won't complain about not getting enough chocolate frosting on my cake.

Yep . and for good reason , even with the 4th you will end up with a good player

 

[tucker3434]

I do it for fun almost every day and i can tell you that a team with the 1OA pick at 18.5% ends up drafting 4th maybe 95% of time

I know it’s the gambler’s fallacy, but I’m pretty confident we won’t be 4th again. It just can’t happen twice (especially after so many last place teams have gotten 1OA). 3rd would seem about right. A hair away from being a big winner but still not worst case.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Just you guys wait until Draftwired comes out(Hopefully) again this year.


I must have run 100 different mock drafts using that site last year, and we only had the one 1st rounder at 16th overall. This year we'll be looking at a Top 5 pick, another pick in that 16 range, and 3 others before we get through 80 picks in the draft.


I'll probably make Draftwired my homepage from April until June.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Depends on the top pairing LHD. If we're talking a pure 2/3 tweener who can play on the top pairing with an elite #1, then we need someone you can anchor a scoring line around a lot more.

And I'm more confident in Turcotte or Podkolzin being the kind of guys you can anchor a scoring line around than I am Byram become the kind of blueliner you put on the top pairing regardless of what kind of #1 you've got.

I like Byrams game so I think he’d be worth it. But I think of Turcotte/Poldz/Byram you’re getting a real good player and can’t really go wrong.

 

[cgf]

I like Byrams game so I think he’d be worth it. But I think of Turcotte/Poldz/Byram you’re getting a real good player and can’t really go wrong.

Fair enough. I have my reservations with Byram that I've mentioned up-thread...and my position on Podkolzin has been stated enough times not to require re-hashing...but if you feel differently about Byram (or the alternatives) then I can see where you're coming from. As our blueline certainly wouldn't suffer from adding another premium talent, if you're confident that that's what Byram is.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Fair enough. I have my reservations with Byram that I've mentioned up thread...and my position on Podkolzin has been stated enough times not to need to re-hash it...but if you feel differently about Byram (or the alternatives) then I can see where you're coming from. As our blueline certainly wouldn't suffer from adding another premium talent, if you're confident that that's what Byram is.

I think Reilly would be where he’d top out at ceiling wise. Whether he gets there or not is another story but I’d be pretty confident that he could get to be a legit top pairing guy.

 

[AvsFan29]

Fair enough. I have my reservations with Byram

My biggest reservation is that I'm all hyped up to grab another great forward, that drafting a Dman, no matter how good he is, seems like a loss to me. I know it isn't, but I'd rather watch Kakko every night.

 

[cgf]

I think Reilly would be where he’d top out at ceiling wise. Whether he gets there or not is another story but I’d be pretty confident that he could get to be a legit top pairing guy.

See if I was confident that he had that level of skill/dynamism to his game, then I would be a lot more on board with him. But whenever I've watched him I felt like there was a dissonance between his tools & his production...and that type of thing usually doesn't hold up very well at the next level. Which is why I keep throwing out various smooth skating 30-40(ish) point blueliners; all of whom I'd be happy to add to our roster...just not with that pick...

My biggest reservation is that I'm all hyped up to grab another great forward, that drafting a Dman, no matter how good he is, seems like a loss to me. I know it isn't, but I'd rather watch Kakko every night.

I wouldn't mind adding a blueliner at all if there was someone I was as high on as I was Heiskanen & Makar...cause then we might actually end up with the blueline depth for a good player to become expendable in a trade for forward help, and having that depth to ease talent through would increase our hit-rate...I just don't think Byram is that guy.

At least not yet, maybe it'll click for me one of these days and I'll see the creativity & hands to become confident that his offense will translate well.

 

[Iceberg]

I do it for fun almost every day and i can tell you that a team with the 1OA pick at 18.5% ends up drafting 4th maybe 95% of time

Because of that i'm trying not to think about Kakko or Hughes as part of this team going forward, i'm more interesting in who should we pick with the 4th pick and our own.

 

[Balthazar]

What are the chances for Bowen Byram to turn into Ryan Murray 2.0? They seem to be almost identical pre-draft (good skater, 2-way guy, dman who plays to his strenght, etc). You could copy/paste their pre-draft description into one or the other profile and wouldn't notice. Exact same size, too.

It worries me a little to draft a "jack of all trades" in the top 5.

 

[cgf]

What are the chances for Bowen Byram to turn into Ryan Murray 2.0? They seem to be almost identical pre-draft (good skater, 2-way guy, dman who plays to his strenght, etc). You could copy/paste their pre-draft description into one or the other profile and wouldn't notice. Exact same size, too.

It worries me a little to draft a "jack of all trades" in the top 5.

He's healthier...

FWIW I'd happily add Murray to our team...just not at the cost of that pick...

 

[Balthazar]

He's healthier...

FWIW I'd happily add Murray to our team...just not at the cost of that pick...

Yeah I know Murray got derailed because of injuries and development isn't linear and all that...but man from what I'm reading they are extremely similar.

 

[cgf]

Yeah I know Murray got derailed because of injuries and development isn't linear and all that...but man from what I'm reading they are extremely similar.

TBF his scouting report also reads just like Heiskanen's, Rielly's and (minus the 2 inches height difference) Noah Hanifin's. So just because he could be a similar prospect to Murray, doesn't mean he can't reach a much higher level than Murray.

The ultimate question with Byram will be whether his skill is elite enough for him to drive production in the NHL as well or if he's only producing because he's facing junior goalies with junior spacing to take advantage of. I'm skeptical, but that doesn't mean I'm convinced that his offense won't translate.

...and if you believe in his offense translating, then he looks like a modern #1 you can be happy with.

 

[Ivan13]

Really don’t see a parallel between the two. I was one of the biggest fans of Murray back at the draft, and thought Oilers were dumb beyond belief to pick Yakupov over him, but he never exhibited half the offensive prowess Bowen does.

 

[cgf]

Really don’t see a parallel between the two. I was one of the biggest fans of Murray back at the draft, and thought Oilers were dumb beyond belief to pick Yakupov over him, but he never exhibited half the offensive prowess Bowen does.

Prowess or production?

 

[Pokecheque]

The less said about that 2012 draft the better. The best player selected ended up being...Filip Forsberg.

 

[Ivan13]

Prowess or production?

Both. Byram showed ability to dictate the game offensively along with being a sound defender, Murray was a safe two-way guy who I liked more for his D.

 

[AvsCOL]

How's his skating is what matters most to me. It's more important than ever to be able to keep up.

 

[henchman21]

Both. Byram showed ability to dictate the game offensively along with being a sound defender, Murray was a safe two-way guy who I liked more for his D.

There’s gotta be a better way to say that.

 

[cgf]

Both. Byram showed ability to dictate the game offensively along with being a sound defender, Murray was a safe two-way guy who I liked more for his D.

With how much less I've watched these kids this year, I'm not going to argue that since I don't have a strong opinion either way. I'm not convinced that his skill level will let him dictate the game at the next level as well...at least not yet...from what I have seen. But that's why I generally include the bit about how if you are confident in his offense translating, he's got everything you'd want in a modern #1...and also why I bring up more positive iterations of that smooth-skating & defensively-reliable archetype, like Heiskanen, Rielly & Bouwmeester.