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

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Loving Keller pretty much means they'd love Zegras too... he's a bigger, better version of Keller

Based off the way Hepple talked about Zegras, they do.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Reading the Athletic mock now. A beat writer for each team does the pick and then Pronman weighs in as to which way he'd go. Clark has the Avs picking Dylan Cozens, Pronman thinks they should go with Trevor Zegras.

I think they'd go Zegras as well.

 

[BaconNater]

So Hepple had a conference call today regarding the draft? Chambers tweeted out a very high effort article about it, just wondering if there is any more juicy info we can read too much into

 

[Balthazar]

Reading the Athletic mock now. A beat writer for each team does the pick and then Pronman weighs in as to which way he'd go. Clark has the Avs picking Dylan Cozens, Pronman thinks they should go with Trevor Zegras.

Actually it's Ryan Clark who picked Cozens for the Avs at #4 and Pronman has us picking Byram in his own Mock.

What Pronman said commenting Clark's choice at #4 is this: "If they wanted to pick a center, I’d prefer Trevor Zegras as a true elite playmaker that stylistically the team lacks, but Cozens is very reasonable and could be a great complement to Nathan MacKinnon as the No. 2 center."

 

[Cousin Eddie]

So Hepple had a conference call today regarding the draft? Chambers tweeted out a very high effort article about it, just wondering if there is any more juicy info we can read too much into

“He’s the new-age defensemen here in the National Hockey League,” Hepple said. “He skates, he moves the puck, his puck management is unbelievable. His sense for the game — he’s got that little bite in his game, that grit, that I think is important … He’s not going to be stopped. This kid is really good.”
To back up his support of Byram, Hepple said the Avs — who have two first-round picks and five in the first three rounds — will take the best player available at No. 4 and No. 16.
“We give (general manager) Joe (Sakic) the list and then he makes the call at the end of the day — especially the top-end picks, based on the fact that he knows them, that he’s seen them,” Hepple said. “Down the road, yeah, we need forwards right now but by the time some of these kids are ready to play we might need defensemen again. So it will be the best player (available), no matter, at 1 and 16.”

- from Chambers’s and the quotes are from Hepple.

That’s what I want to hear.

 

[UncleRisto]

- from Chambers’s and the quotes are from Hepple.

That’s what I want to hear.

Yeah, I didn't bother to post it then, but I thought the quote on Byram was really high praise. I know not to read into Hepple's vanilla quotes too much, but Byram's stood out to me.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Give me a god damn Byram-Makar pairing for the next decade.

It also helps with the cap situation too. Defenseman usually take a couple of extra years to reach their prime which usually leads to getting them locked into sweetheart deals coming off their ELC. Crazy to think about but Makar can actually sign a new contract next summer. Even if he lights the world on fire as a rookie he isn’t going to break our cap coming off his ELC. Same likely goes for Byram.

 

[Balthazar]

“Down the road, yeah, we need forwards right now but by the time some of these kids are ready to play we might need defensemen again.

Perfect.

 

[The Merchant]

- from Chambers’s and the quotes are from Hepple.

That’s what I want to hear.

So Byram it is then. That's fine. Avs could very well have the best top-4 in hockey within the next few years

 

[Cousin Eddie]

4: Byram
16: Newhook/Krebs

UFA: Ferland 1 year 6.5M
Pavelski 2 years 17M (unless Panarin magically comes or we make an impact trade)

Give Tyson Jost two years of mentoring between Landeskog and Little Joe. If it doesn’t work out we have Ferland coming off the books next year and Joe the year following to put money towards another 2C. Plus Newhook might be closer to his ceiling than his floor which would be magical. TJ17 isn’t an ideal 2C by any means. Thus far he’s only proven capable of being a 3C. But that’s a much better hockey team than we had last season and Jost being sheltered between those two 2way studs could be huge. Even if he fails we have Soderberg. Regardless the team is much improved.

This is my new wish.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Great to know that either we will becoming away from the draft with our top pairing for the next decade, one of the better two way C prospects in the league, or a kuzy type prospect. Pretty excited for the draft. Well assuming they draft Byram, Zegras, or Turcotte.

Or Cozens.

 

[Balthazar]

4: Byram
16: Newhook/Krebs

UFA: Ferland 1 year 6.5M
Pavelski 2 years 17M (unless Panarin magically comes or we make an impact trade)

Give Tyson Jost two years of mentoring between Landeskog and Little Joe. If it doesn’t work out we have Ferland coming off the books next year and Joe the year following to put money towards another 2C. Plus Newhook might be closer to his ceiling than his floor which would be magical. TJ17 isn’t an ideal 2C by any means. Thus far he’s only proven capable of being a 3C. But that’s a much better hockey team than we had last season.

This is my new wish.

Zero chance Ferland signs for one year.

 

[The Merchant]

Give me a god damn Byram-Makar pairing for the next decade.

It also helps with the cap situation too. Defenseman usually take a couple of extra years to reach their prime which usually leads to getting them locked into sweetheart deals coming off their ELC. Crazy to think about but Makar can actually sign a new contract next summer. Even if he lights the world on fire as a rookie he isn’t going to break our cap coming off his ELC. Same likely goes for Byram.

I'm definitely warming up to him. There's also a good chance he comes in and becomes an impact player sooner than any of the F we could've drafted otherwise. Kid wants to make the NHL asap

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Zero chance Ferland signs for one year.

I really think there’s a chance he does. Just turned 27 and has a career high 41 points. If he takes a long term deal he can’t exodct anymore than 5ish M per year. One year on a line with Nate and Mikko on one of the favorites to win the cup (a long playoff run where he can prove his worth with his style of play) can earn him a long term deal in the range of 6-7 per year.

Right now his best comparable for a long term deal is Tom Wilson and he likely can’t even do that because his playoff numbers are trash and Willie’s playoffs are really what got him paid. If Ferland can one up Wilson’s contract season he can net himself some large bank.

 

[shadow1]

If Colorado takes Byram...even though I’ve been advocating for them to go forward heavy, I’m really skeptical of a lot of the forwards predicted to be available at #16.

I’d much rather them go with a defenseman with a safer NHL future (Soderstrom or York...or in my dreams Broberg) than swinging for the fences on a forward who’s game is full of warts (Kaliyev, Lavolie). Just my $0.02.

 

[henchman21]

Y'all love reading into any little comments by Hepple...

 

[Gatorbait19]

Reading the Athletic mock now. A beat writer for each team does the pick and then Pronman weighs in as to which way he'd go. Clark has the Avs picking Dylan Cozens, Pronman thinks they should go with Trevor Zegras.

I can’t be the only one that always sees/thinks “Pornman” when I see “Pronman”, right?

 

[BaconNater]

Y'all love reading into any little comments by Hepple...

Cmon dawg we dont have anything else

 

[Perratrooper]

The US Team seems to be powered by Hughes, but there are some concerns. Level of competition and being on a stacked team. Here are the players I have the most concerns:

• Hughes. Special player, but not generational. He is small and surrounded by elite Wingers the last few years which helped his stats. 2018 - Farabee/Walhstrom & 2019 - Boldy/Caufield. I liked what KK has done this year which might be enough to be the top pick.
• Turcotte. No concerns and deserves to be a Top 5 pick. Missed a significant part of the season recovering from a serious Hip injury. Plays defensive 2C with inferior Wingers and produced the 2nd highest P/G. Replaced Hughes as the 1C and matching his production. AVs pick?
• Zegras. Steady riser from mid teens and deservingly so. He doesn't have the elite skating and defensive skills as Turcotte, but has a higher upside. Offensively lower output, but played with inferior Wingers and less ice time. So he is the dark horse on possibly being the best player from the draft and might be the next Barzal/EP. Draft potential of Top 7 seems about right.
• Boldy. Benefited from Hughes and might be a tad high. Similar to Landy. Recommend - 15 to 20 OA.
• Caufield. Biggest concern on being a bust. Elite hands and shot, but small and average skater. This is a huge flag, smaller players should have separation speed and strong edge work. He also benefited from elite passers Hughes/Turcotte. He reminds me of EDM pick Yamamoto (2017-22nd), still struggling in the AHL. Yamamoto has elite speed and exceptional skating, which Caufield lacks that could hinder his career. Recommend - Mid 2nd Round.
• York. Small puck moving DMan. Slick skating with high IQ. He reminds me of Girard. He definitely from the Forward offensive weapons. Ranking is mid to low teens which is about right. AVS pick?

I agree these players seem elite, but they still produced outstanding numbers. If the pick is close, ie. Hughes/Kakko or Byram/Turcotte then looking at the level of competition should be seriously considered.

If Boldy is in the 15-20 range we should draft him

 

[cgf]

If Boldy is in the 15-20 range we should draft him

I know I'm not as high on Boldy as some who aren't as worried by how overly safe he is, but I can't see him falling out of the top 10 by much.

 

[Hasbro]

Ethan Phillips with the Avs 3rd?

He's headed to college and from Halifax.

 

[BoxOfChocolates]

 

[Barklez]

Logically your way of thinking makes sense to me, but I'm curious what the best test cases of the counter-opinion are? Who were the guys who had very polished techniques as prospects and who's skating improved dramatically just from filling out?


This is very intriguing because with shooting a basketball...another sporting topic where the technical elements of a player's actions are deeply scrutinized by fans...I am much more sympathetic with the good mechanics + time = good shooter camp. As shooting a basketball is much more of a pure skill thing, where even guys with textbook mechanics...who don't have problems with their elbow flaring out, not squaring up before their shots, releasing the ball after the apex of their jump, poor-arm alignment or hand positioning, an obvious hitch in their motion, etc...can regularly see their shooting improve with increased refinement/practice. Although even in that pure skill action you see guys like Ben McLemore; who has one of the most beautiful strokes that can't hit the broadside of a barn...even after years of refinement.

But skating is much more of an athletic action, where the technical aspect is all about transferring that athleticism into mobility around the ice. So it makes a lot of sense to me for it to be tougher to improve significantly unless there are obvious technical errors to correct...at least when it comes to burst & speed, edgework seems like something that should continually improve for players with continued refinement in a way that it doesn't make sense to me for their explosiveness to continue growing past their athletic peak.


In football there isn't a single thing that fans can obsess about a player's technique with, because technical errors are much more situational...i.e. using the wrong part of the foot to receive a certain type of pass or to shoot from a certain area, not having the touch to bring a ball in, or hitting the wrong part of the ball to drop a pass exactly where it needs to be, etc. There's no one thing for fans to clutch onto and discuss like a hockey player's stride or a basketball player's stroke.

I really can't think of that many... part of why I'm on that side of the fence. Sedins and Getzlaf come to mind, but I don't recall their early years as much with regards to their technique so I might be off base. Recently I'd say Larkin when from a very good to near elite skater by filling out.. not really the same thing.

Mackinnon has added a significant amount of power/initial burst since junior.

Not quite what Henchy is getting at I think but kinda close?

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Mackinnon has added a significant amount of power/initial burst since junior.

Not quite what Henchy is getting at I think but kinda close?

Tavares and Brian Boyle are the big ones for significant improvement in their skating.

 

[cgf]

Mackinnon has added a significant amount of power/initial burst since junior.

Not quite what Henchy is getting at I think but kinda close?

MacK exploded from his first few strides since day one. I may not know what common flaws in the technique look like, but he just lept out of his skates even before the 20 pounds he added after his rookie year.

If anything I think MacK fits more into the Larkin category than what we're looking for...an average or above-average skater with good technique who became elite from getting his man strength.