The 2022 NHL Draft Thread v4 (Coyotes have #3 pick)

[jmelm]

I haven’t fully come around yet. Because if Cooley doesn’t make it as a center (there is a likelihood he doesn’t) he’s basically Clayton Keller.

And we already have a Clayton Keller signed for six more years

I don't see why he won't be a C, even if it's "only" a very high end 2nd line C. But even if he's a W, he should end up being at least as good as Keller was this past season. If they're on 2 different lines, it's a completely non-issue.

 

[jmelm]

Cooley feels very safe but he isnt a slam-dunk for 3rd and I'm not sure he fits the plan. It's possible the Coyotes have zeroed in on Nemec instead as was strongly rumored a few months ago. It's essential to get that star blue-liner if they're trading Chychrun away and they'll want that guy to be an impact player at the same time as their 2023 #1 centre arrives. Jiricek is a wildcard, love his attitude so he's my pick but I'm a gambler. If they dont get Nemec/Jiricek then I guess they could move up to top 20's to grab another defenseman they hope can be that #1 guy. But that feels less solid of a plan.

Honeslty, I'm perfectly fine with any of Wright/Cooley/Slaf/Nemec.

The 3 things that could influence it are:

1) JC will likely be traded by the draft, and if he is, who are the primary players we get in return? If it's a Dman prospect (like Faber or Grans from LA, both RHD) that may influence the #2 pick if we're on the fence at all.

2) Is BA intent on taking Dmen with our next 2 picks, perhaps trading up to do so? If we're going to draft 2 Dmen with the next 2 picks in the first round, we may feel like we're adding enough D depth (plus factoring in the above potential Chychrun return)

3) Just how intent is BA on tanking next year, versus trying to be as competitive as possible? If he wants to "engineer" our roster to finish bottom 5, he's likely going to be confident about getting a C in next year's draft.

So if he truly has Nemec as an equally good prospect to Cooley -- which may or may not be the case, and he may feel like there is a gap between Cooley or Nemec -- then those 3 variables could push over to the Nemec side of the fence. But if he feels Nemec is more of a high end #3 Dman and PP guy, he'll take Cooley regardless.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

he should end up being at least as good as Keller was this past season.

BOLD, crazy bold imo.

 

[Grimes]

BOLD, crazy bold imo.

Cooley is very good. The more I watch him the more I see Keller in his play (maybe why I'm hesitant because it's not as "exciting" having two Kellers. That doesn't mean it a bad thing at all). Take a little bit of Keller's play making away and add it to his two-way play and you start to see what this player is. He is much bulkier than Keller in his build and I think his release is better than Kellers. Has a tendency to snip shoulders and gets great elevation of the puck, something that I think his height actually helps him with.

A player I haven't seen him compared much to but I think makes a ton of sense is Bryan Rust. Great shot, speed and two-way play. We saw what Rust can do with Guenztle this year, so I'm drooling over Cooley and Guenther.

 

[BlazingBlueAnt]

It should be interesting to see where all the NDTP players after Cooley go. It feels like there's 5-6 more that could go in the first round

 

[Nowotny]

Agree. They should just pick him. Really no need to overthink it. That honestly goes for all three teams in in the top three. Montreal should just do the logical, expected, easy thing and pick Wright. The Devils should just pick Slafkovksy. And even Arizona, we have to just simplify and take the center in Cooley.

It has to be Cooley.I usually believe in drafting BPA(which Cooley might be anyway) but Coyotes situation with centers is so dismal they have no other choice.

 

[jmelm]

BOLD, crazy bold imo.

No, I don't think it is bold at all. Otherwise he wouldn't be a consensus 2nd/3rd rated player in the drafft. I think a lot of scouts project his upside as about a 70-80 point forward down the road, otherwise he would not be rated so highly. If he only projected to only be a 55-60 point second line C, he wouldn't be 2nd/3rd overall.

That's why I say this year's Keller (just under a ppg) rather than previous years' Keller (50-60 point pace).

 

[TheLegend]

Buccigross puts Slafkovsky over Wright, but thinks NJD will end up with him and trading down would be foolish.

Devils could snag best prospect in 2022 NHL Draft, despite having 2nd pick

The 2022 NHL Entry Draft begins on Thursday, July 7, 2022 (7/7/22) at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Montreal Canadiens have the No. 1 overall pick and the New Jersey Devils have the No. 2 pick.

www.nj.com

 

[Matias Maccete]

I 100% think Slaf should go first, but Montreal will pick Wright. I also think New Jersey laughs all the way to the podium and takes the perfect winger for Hughes.

 

[gorsk11]

I really hope its Cooley if wright and Slaf are gone. I think Cooley could turn into the best player in this draft. I think its very close with all 3 of them.

 

[Jagged Ice]

I really hope its Cooley if wright and Slaf are gone. I think Cooley could turn into the best player in this draft. I think its very close with all 3 of them.

Nemec too. He's just not a forward and we're starving for a center. He gets less mention than the other three but he's going to be dynamite.

 

[rt]

What I like about Cooley is that he checks both the box for logical pick (position/need) and the box for fun pick (skill/entertainment). Usually our choice comes down to one (Strome) or the other (Marner). Nothing about Cooley feels like a compromise.

 

[Puck possession wins]

I haven’t fully come around yet. Because if Cooley doesn’t make it as a center (there is a likelihood he doesn’t) he’s basically Clayton Keller.

And we already have a Clayton Keller signed for six more years

Brayden Point is 5'10.

Size does not matter.

Good players will find a way to make good plays and score goals.

 

[jmelm]

I really hope its Cooley if wright and Slaf are gone. I think Cooley could turn into the best player in this draft. I think its very close with all 3 of them.

Honestly, any of those 3 has a legit chance to be the best player in the draft, so I'm happy with any of them -- or Nemec if BA and his staff feel he has that same potential. I have no doubht they'll be sober-minded and simply go BPA, so I'm confident no matter what.

 

[moosemeister]

Nemec too. He's just not a forward and we're starving for a center. He gets less mention than the other three but he's going to be dynamite.

No doubt. I can’t get anyone (besides Wright) rated above Nemec. He just seems like such a slam dunk pick. I believe he’s going to be Heiskanen good.

 

[moosemeister]

Brayden Point is 5'10.

Size does not matter.

Good players will find a way to make good plays and score goals.

He was also selected in the fifth round. Size DOES matter. How many players have been 5’10 on draft day selected in the top three?

P. Kane and Hughes are the only recent ones I can remember.

I would be satisfied if AZ picked Cooley, I am coming around to him. But I just can’t imagine a GM who historically has said he wants to build a big, tough team, selecting a kid who is 5’10 at the third spot. I don’t think BA has ever selected anyone believe 6’0” with a first rounder (or second rounder even but I might be wrong).

Again, I was a big Cooley hater. Wanted nothing to do with him. I have come around to him. I just can’t see BA picking him. There is nothing in his past to indicate selecting a smaller, skilled player.

 

[rt]

He was also selected in the fifth round. Size DOES matter. How many players have been 5’10 on draft day selected in the top three?

P. Kane and Hughes are the only recent ones I can remember.

I would be satisfied if AZ picked Cooley, I am coming around to him. But I just can’t imagine a GM who historically has said he wants to build a big, tough team, selecting a kid who is 5’10 at the third spot. I don’t think BA has ever selected anyone believe 6’0” with a first rounder (or second rounder even but I might be wrong).

Again, I was a big Cooley hater. Wanted nothing to do with him. I have come around to him. I just can’t see BA picking him. There is nothing in his past to indicate selecting a smaller, skilled player.

If he comes in at 5’11 at the combine this argument disintegrates. Yzerman, Sakic, Crosby and on and on and on.

 

[moosemeister]

If he comes in at 5’11 at the combine this argument disintegrates. Yzerman, Sakic, Crosby and on and on and on.

Absolutely. It may shift my argument and perception. But, I do wonder if it changes BA’s thought process.

Gonna be interesting to see where they go. I actually think AZ is the wildcard this year. Wright is being selected by Montreal. NJ is going to run to the podium to select Slafkovsky.

I honestly think our pick is where we throw people off.

 

[lanky]

I think Bill will look past Cooley's height. Cooley is committed to strength training and that is a must for Bill's players. Height is obviously valued but I'm guessing it's not a requirement.

 

[jmelm]

He was also selected in the fifth round. Size DOES matter. How many players have been 5’10 on draft day selected in the top three?

P. Kane and Hughes are the only recent ones I can remember.

I would be satisfied if AZ picked Cooley, I am coming around to him. But I just can’t imagine a GM who historically has said he wants to build a big, tough team, selecting a kid who is 5’10 at the third spot. I don’t think BA has ever selected anyone believe 6’0” with a first rounder (or second rounder even but I might be wrong).

Again, I was a big Cooley hater. Wanted nothing to do with him. I have come around to him. I just can’t see BA picking him. There is nothing in his past to indicate selecting a smaller, skilled player.

The thing about Cooley and why I don't think height is a deal breaker for him is because of the combination of speed, creativity and drives hard to the traffic areas. So he can impact the game in a way that you may expect from a C who is a couple inches taller.

BA will only take Nemec (or someone else?) if he thinks he's the superior player, not because of Cooley's size. And if it's neither Cooley or Nemec, maybe BA tries to trade down 1 or 2 spots to grab some more assets.

I just don't see enough concern with Cooley to discount him because of his size, in general, for any team.

BA may not have a player in his history that you can point to as a comparable for Cooley, but frankly there aren't that many comparables for Cooley -- if you go back to St. Louis Blues' past drafts and look at their 1st round picks, at or around whatever number they were picking in the draft, I doubt there were any players ranked in that range where small but had elite level skill. So that is probably the reason. Cooley is REALLY skilled, so he can be the exception to the norm of being a smaller player even if BA wants to build a bigger team in general.

p.s. now that I think of it, I assume BA was the head scout when St. Louis drafted Scott Perunovich pretty high in the 2nd round, which shows that he is willing to make an exception for a smaller player if the skill differential is high enough.

 

[rt]

I think Bill will look past Cooley's height. Cooley is committed to strength training and that is a must for Bill's players. Height is obviously valued but I'm guessing it's not a requirement.

Especially if wingspan rumors are true. That mattered for Cale Makar. I remember a lot of chatter about that. And remember that it wasn’t until the emergence of Makar, Hughes, and Fox that we started to accept the sub-6ft blue liner an option.

I think that wingspan is the thing that makes it so Makar’s lack of height was actually hard to spot when watching him play. Much like Cooley. When you watch a game, you don’t think “he’s short”. You do with Savoie. Even though Savoie is much more filled out and burley. I suspect it’s the wingspan. But this is just a theory. I’m looking forward to combine results next week.

The thing about Cooley and why I don't think height is a deal breaker for him is because of the combination of speed, creativity and drives hard to the traffic areas. So he can impact the game in a way that you may expect from a C who is a couple inches taller.

BA will only take Nemec (or someone else?) if he thinks he's the superior player, not because of Cooley's size. And if it's neither Cooley or Nemec, maybe BA tries to trade down 1 or 2 spots to grab some more assets.

I just don't see enough concern with Cooley to discount him because of his size, in general, for any team.

BA may not have a player in his history that you can point to as a comparable for Cooley, but frankly there aren't that many comparables for Cooley -- if you go back to St. Louis Blues' past drafts and look at their 1st round picks, at or around whatever number they were picking in the draft, I doubt there were any players ranked in that range where small but had elite level skill. So that is probably the reason. Cooley is REALLY skilled, so he can be the exception to the norm of being a smaller player even if BA wants to build a bigger team in general.

p.s. now that I think of it, I assume BA was the head scout when St. Louis drafted Scott Perunovich pretty high in the 2nd round, which shows that he is willing to make an exception for a smaller player if the skill differential is high enough.

Robbie Fabbri and Jaden Schwartz are two more. I was a huge fan of both in their draft years.

 

[jmelm]

Robbie Fabbri and Jaden Schwartz are two more. I was a huge fan of both in their draft years.

Good call, I wasn't even thinking back that far.

I guess the point that everyone should agree with is that you can still have a big, heavy team, even if you have 3 or 4 smaller guys on the roster.

 

[IrishFin]

No matter what, we would still need another center in the top 6 that would compliment Cooley well if he’s our pick. He alone won’t solve our problems. Point has Stamkos. Pavelski had Thornton. Crosby has Malkin etc.

 

[rt]

No matter what, we would still need another center in the top 6 that would compliment Cooley well if he’s our pick. He alone won’t solve our problems. Point has Stamkos. Pavelski had Thornton. Crosby has Malkin etc.

Exactly. You need two. And Hayton ain’t it. Ideally you have Someone better than Cooley and then Cooley and then Hayton.

But even that’s not enough given we don’t have any first pairing defensemen in the system once Chychrun is gone. And no goalie of the future. Haha.

This is just the 2nd draft of a 4 draft plan. We got time.

 

[Jagged Ice]

Exactly. You need two. And Hayton ain’t it. Ideally you have Someone better than Cooley and then Cooley and then Hayton.

But even that’s not enough given we don’t have any first pairing defensemen in the system once Chychrun is gone. And no goalie of the future. Haha.

This is just the 2nd draft of a 4 draft plan. We got time.

I know it's way early, but does the '23 draft have a high end dman like Nemec projected to go top 5? I'm so back and forth on this pick and I think I'm leaning Nemec now. Then Fantilli in '23. Hoping one of our late 1sts or 2nd this year can be the #2C. Maybe we should grab the high-end dman that's about to fall to us now. Especially if he's three years away from the NHL.