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

[Tommy Shelby]

Going by what Hepple said about Byram, I'd be shocked if they passed him over at 4. Same things he said about Makar in 2017.

 

[Pokecheque]

Not to derail the thread but the most curious skater to me was always Mr. Ossi Vaananen. Dude pumped like crazy and his stride wasn't awkward from what I could see, but for a big guy that stride looked really short and there just didn't seem to be much power behind it. It was really strange to watch live. When he was really trying to gun it going for a loose puck or something it was like watching a guy on an ice treadmill.

Conversely Dan Hinote was one of the fastest guys on that 2001 Cup winner and he always looked like he was tearing chunks out of the ice whenever he moved.

 

[timothy jimothy]

You realize you just listed 5 forwards when talking about the league perception of undersized Defenseman right?


I am sorry but you are flat out wrong on this one. There was most definitely a major concern about undersized Dmen back in 2008, hell I dont think you truly started to turn the corner on that stigma until probably 2011 or 2012 really, and as Henchy said a large part of why that stigma changed was because of the success of Erik Karlsson.




...once again. You realize Letang is 6'0" 200 and was drafted at 185 right? That is a huge difference even today compared to a 5'10" 155 Karlsson when he was drafted.


Additionally, Letang hadn't proven anything at all in the league when Karlsson was drafted. He was a 3rd round pick who had just played his first season and put up a very modest 17 points in 68 games on probably the best offensive team in the league. He had proven nothing at all.

I mentioned Letang moreso because of the hype he had going into 2008 after captaining team Canada at the world Juniors doing what he was doing in Val D'or the seasons before. Teams wanted that type of elite skating offensive guy on the blue line, Letang was fresh and weren't going to let a guy like that slip through the cracks again. Letang is 200lbs, Karlsson is 195lbs after training with NHL level strength and conditioning. Are you really going to try to nitpick over 5lbs? Teams don't look at guys that are 150lbs and have obviously never had quality strength training and conclude with 100% certainty that they are never going to be more than 150lbs. It's all about projection. Everyone knew Karlsson needed to add strength, but no one was saying it was going to hold him back from being an NHL player.

There are sub 6'0" sub 200lb defensemen littered across every era in the NHL. Stop acting like small offensive defensemen are a new thing in the NHL.

Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, Lubomir Vishnovsky, Mathieu Schneider, Dan Boyle, Steve Duchesne, Mark Howe, Guy Lapointe, Borje Salming, Eddie Shore, Francis "King" Clancy, Reed Larson, Pierre Pilote, Doug Harvey.

If you can play you, you can play and made the NHL regardless of your size. We were beyond this stuff by 2008, especially with the rule changes after the 2005 lockout. Anyone worth their salt as a scout does not write off players for being too small.

 

[cgf]

My main concern on Pods' skating stems actually from his desire to work

Let me explain... I believe there is a chance he develops his other leg muscles too quickly and they outshine the hamstring muscles leaving them weaker by proxy and not forcing the strength and flexibility needed there. I'm probably a bit too new school on this, but I would seriously take away 75+% of his weight training away. He's plenty strong now and with his tenacity I think he will always be a handful to deal with. I would put him on a real heavy dose of yoga, plyometrics, and structured skating exercises... don't worry about getting to 210... stay around 190-195 and gain as much explosion as possible.

Interesting.

 

[cgf]

I mentioned Letang moreso because of the hype he had going into 2008 after captaining team Canada at the world Juniors doing what he was doing in Val D'or the seasons before. Teams wanted that type of elite skating offensive guy on the blue line, Letang was fresh and weren't going to let a guy like that slip through the cracks again. Letang is 200lbs, Karlsson is 195lbs after training with NHL level strength and conditioning. Are you really going to try to nitpick over 5lbs? Teams don't look at guys that are 150lbs and have obviously never had quality strength training and conclude with 100% certainty that they are never going to be more than 150lbs. It's all about projection.

There are sub 6'0" sub 200lb defensemen littered across every era in the NHL. Stop acting like small offensive defensemen are a new thing in the NHL.

Paul Coffey, Phil Housley, Brian Leetch, Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, Lubomir Vishnovsky, Mathieu Schneider, Dan Boyle, Steve Duchesne, Mark Howe, Guy Lapointe, Borje Salming, Eddie Shore, Francis "King" Clancy, Reed Larson, Pierre Pilote, Doug Harvey.

If you can play you, you can play and made the NHL regardless of your size. We were beyond this stuff by 2008, especially with the rule changes after the 2005 lockout. Anyone worth their salt as a scout does not write off players for being too small.

Smaller blueliners existing in the league does not mean there wasn't a prejudice against drafting sub 6' blueliners until rather recently...

 

[Patagonia]

Going by what Hepple said about Byram, I'd be shocked if they passed him over at 4. Same things he said about Makar in 2017.

Listened to the interview a little more closely and following interview with Turcotte.

Hepple downplayed Turcotte being a "little small." The following player individual interview confirmed meeting with the Hawks on multiple occasions at the Combine. On this basis, nearly certain he's going to be the Hawks choice.

Consequently, the comment on Byram "new age DMan." He's either going to be the AVs choice or attempts to bring attention to LAK or DET to not expect him to fall. Praising players like Dach and Zegras indicates he might be willing to reconsider, opening possibly trading down.

 

[Gatorbait19]

Listened to the interview a little more closely and following interview with Turcotte.

Hepple downplayed Turcotte being a "little small." The following player individual interview confirmed meeting with the Hawks on multiple occasions at the Combine. On this basis, nearly certain he's going to be the Hawks choice.

Consequently, the comment on Byram "new age DMan." He's either going to be the AVs choice or attempts to bring attention to LAK or DET to not expect him to fall. Praising players like Dach and Zegras indicates he might be willing to reconsider, opening the opportunity on a possibly trading down.

The prospect of trading down scares me.

It means we won’t be that so sold on the guy we get enough that we had to have him at 4. If we think byram is the better player, we just gotta take him. You can always trade him down the road for a star forward that just isn’t available yet.

 

[lonelybadger]

Going by what Hepple said about Byram, I'd be shocked if they passed him over at 4. Same things he said about Makar in 2017.

Where is hepple saying these things?

 

[Patagonia]

The prospect of trading down scares me.

It means we won’t be that so sold on the guy we get enough that we had to have him at 4. If we think byram is the better player, we just gotta take him. You can always trade him down the road for a star forward that just isn’t available yet.

AVs might believe the players are so close they could be satisfied with Dach or Zegras which would still be available at 5th or 6th. Moving the Byram pick, they obtain another asset from LAK or DET with the player they targeted.

Hepple seemed to indicate that Byram is likely the player available to the AVs. He's hinting could be to entice trade offers. Not sure if anything substantial would result. Rare that any picks are moved in the Top 5, so it's unlikely a trade will happen.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Where is hepple saying these things?

 

[S E P H]

Yup poor woman didn't even see it coming or know what she's in for.

Congrats man!

 

[S E P H]

Holy **** was that Dater sounding like he was coughing up a lung? Geez...

 

[AvsRobin]

That was extremely hard to listen to, too bad they can't do that with better audio quality. Like record it from whatever device Hepple is on and mute the others when they are not on the air.

 

[Patagonia]

Where is hepple saying these things?

I wouldn't be surprised if the entire conversation is to bait the Hawks to open their choice. Still believe Hawks are going with Turcotte, hoping AVs add Byram.

 

[S E P H]

I wouldn't be surprised if the entire conversation is to bait the Hawks to open their choice. Still believe Hawks are going with Turcotte, hoping AVs add Byram.

Absolutely nothing substantial happened in that interview, it was pretty much "well we will draft whoever is our BPA and falls to us". It's nonsense since in no way is he ever going to reveal his list.

 

[McMetal]

Absolutely nothing substantial happened in that interview, it was pretty much "well we will draft whoever is our BPA and falls to us". It's nonsense since in no way is he ever going to reveal his list.

Yeah, no doubt he likes a lot of guys in that range at the top of the draft and will have good things to say about all of them. If they weren't highly rated by the scouting community they wouldn't be considered in the top five.

I know we're all starved for information, but we just have to wait for draft day to find out what happens.

 

[Foxtail]

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

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

Not really Nate always had the power and initial burst. He had the quickest first - 3 steps scouts ever seen hence the commercial he did with the speedskater.

He started working with O'Brien at around the age of 13 and one of the first things he had Nate do was learn to walk a certain way for months before working on his skating. Nate's always been explosive

 

[AvsGuy]

Based on my minimal research, I’m pretty much fine with any of Byram, Turcotte, Zegras or Dach. I don’t think Cozens or Podkolzin are our guys.

Very curious who will be BPA at 16 - one of Harley/Boldy/Krebs should still be there but I’d likely be stoked with Knight as well

 

[AdamCalderHero]

One big plus for Zegras, I'm going to Boston next year and I'm gonna see a BU game. This has moved him significantly up my list.

 

[Patagonia]

I’m still hoping for Turcotte/Byram, but here is an NHL article comparing Dach vs Cozens.


2019 NHL Draft: Dach vs. Cozens

 

[AvsRobin]

I shouldn't play expert cause I have only watched highlights of these players, but I saw a mock of us taking Cozens, that would kinda be underwhelming wouldn't it? I dont know at #4 I don't really get excited by a two-way c who "could turn into a perfect 2 C for you"

 

[BaconNater]

Hoping that Fenton will have the Wild reach for a defenseman rated in the 2nd round with their #12 pick to leave more good options for Avs at #16.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Hoping that Fenton will have the Wild reach for a defenseman rated in the 2nd round with their #12 pick to leave more good options for Avs at #16.

The Wild board will be a fun place to visit after they draft Vlasic at 12

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Right at 7pm too...so I'm going to completely miss the Avs' pick

You'd miss it anyway. They're going to commercial break during Avs pick.

 

[Bender]

Hello