The 2022 NHL Draft Thread

[hbk]

We were criticized and our entire scouting group revolted against the then Director of Scouting when we drafted an overrager years ago in Jordon Martinook. If they can play forget about the criticism on reaching for a player early.

 

[Heldig]

1. 19-20 DET .275P% - 4OA - Lucas Raymond - too early to tell
2. 16-17 COL .293P% - 4OA - Cale Makar - homerun - added to a young core including McKinnon and Landesgog. Next pick was Elias Pettersson
3. 13-14 BUF .317P% - 2OA - Sam Reinhart - good player - next pick was Draisatl - oops
4. 14-15 BUF .329P% - 2OA - Jack Eichel - no brainer but franshise is a mess
5. 01-02 ATL .329P% - 2OA - Kari Lehtonen - lousy draft (as evident by Phoenix missing on all 11 picks)
6. 20-21 BUF .330P% - 1OA - Owen Power - too early but a no brainer
7. 06-07 PHI .341P% - 2OA - James van Riemsdyk - lousy draft - decent pick on a team that never seems the sum of its parts
8. 14-15 ARI .341P% - 3OA - Dylan Strome -
9. 05-06 STL .348P% - 1OA - Erik Johnson - good player but wrong pick (next three are all NHL allstar Centres)
10.01-02 CBJ .348P% - 1OA - Rick Nash - lousy draft

The 2022 draft IMO compares very well to the 2015 draft. Several teams will tank for the chance to draft a franchise C. Coyotes just have to avoid drafting the next Dylan Strom instead of the next Mitch Marner or Zach Werenski

 

[rt]

The point is that being historically horrrifically awful doesn’t seem to pan out as much as you’d think. Those are the ten worst seasons of the last 20 years and it was worth it for like one of those teams (so far).

What I’m saying is that I love that we’re tanking and I hate how hard we are tanking. It’s too much. The risk of an inescapable death spiral is way too high, and the odds of getting a franchise changer are way too low.

 

[RemoAZ]

They were bad last year. You either resign Garland and add 2 or 3 real difference makers in FA and/or trades while filling the other open spots with decent players or you go the other way. Trying to be bad but not too bad is what we did all through the bankruptcy years. That's stupid and a complete waste of time. We're committed now. Let the f***er burn.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

The difference in those selections is the fact that those players except for Makar & Eichel weren't going to be top 20 players in the league.

Wright will be a top 20 player in the league and when you combine him with Guenther & Chychrun, it's the makings of a pretty good squad. Have hope, this is our year.

 

[RemoAZ]

The difference in those selections is the fact that those players except for Makar & Eichel weren't going to be top 20 players in the league.

Wright will be a top 20 player in the league and when you combine him with Guenther & Chychrun, it's the makings of a pretty good squad. Have hope, this is our year.

Still a lot of luck involved. First, you have to be one of the worst teams. Then you have to win the lottery. Lastly, the player has to be as good as advertised while not getting hurt. Now throw Coyote luck at that.

 

[rt]

The difference in those selections is the fact that those players except for Makar & Eichel weren't going to be top 20 players in the league.

Wright will be a top 20 player in the league and when you combine him with Guenther & Chychrun, it's the makings of a pretty good squad. Have hope, this is our year.

You've missed the point. I didn't list the first overall picks from the last 20 years. I listed the 10 worst records from the last 20 years. If we have the the worst record in the league, the chances of picking 1st and selecting Wright are very, very small.

 

[rt]

Trying to be bad but not too bad is what we did all through the bankruptcy years. That's stupid and a complete waste of time.

I don't think that's what the team did. I think the team tried to spend as much of the budget as they could to be as good as they could and failed.

I'm not suggesting we attempt to make the playoffs. What I'm saying is that actively trying to be historically bad isn't necessary and doesn't work anyway. Plus it's embarrassing. You can get 40-45% of your points and finish in the bottom five of the league every year. Always. You don't have to be so bad that you only get 25-30% of your points. There's no reason to tank that hard. There's no advantage to it, and it can have lasting negative impacts on the players and coaches unlucky enough to be stuck on that squad.

You can get 45% of your points and have only a negative 50 goal differential and still be the 4th worst team. You don't have to be a 0.28P% team with a -147 +/- in order to accomplish the tank. It's just gratuitous, shameful, and damaging. And it doesn't even help.

 

[Grimes]

You've missed the point. I didn't list the first overall picks from the last 20 years. I listed the 10 worst records from the last 20 years. If we have the the worst record in the league, the chances of picking 1st and selecting Wright are very, very small.

Not every draft will have franchise players to be had in the top ten. Of course they dont always pan out (Strome, Hanafon, Zach's are the three from the top ten in 2015). But if this draft is supposed to be similar in pure talent wise and you have a top ten pick, now the chances of adding a top line or pair player turns into a 7/10 chance. Not every draft is built the same. I would have been really reluctant to absolutely tank for all the drafts between 2018-2021. Poor Detroit.

A lot of the teams highlighted got those picks when they were absolutely bare bones roster wise. Another difference is hopefully these kids come into a team with Keller, Chychrun, Dvorak and then of course maybe Hayton, Jenik and Timmins are pulling their own weight. I know it's a long shot for this franchise but I feel we may actually be doing this right. A re-tank after a botched tank that got us a couple of assets but not enough.

 

[Fyreman]

Still a lot of luck involved. First, you have to be one of the worst teams. Then you have to win the lottery. Lastly, the player has to be as good as advertised while not getting hurt. Now throw Coyote luck at that.

You're killing me RemoAz, the last faint glimmer of hope was just extinguished...

 

[rt]

Not every draft will have franchise players to be had in the top ten. Of course they dont always pan out (Strome, Hanafon, Zach's are the three from the top ten in 2015). But if this draft is supposed to be similar in pure talent wise and you have a top ten pick, now the chances of adding a top line or pair player turns into a 7/10 chance. Not every draft is built the same. I would have been really reluctant to absolutely tank for all the drafts between 2018-2021. Poor Detroit.

A lot of the teams highlighted got those picks when they were absolutely bare bones roster wise. Another difference is hopefully these kids come into a team with Keller, Chychrun, Dvorak and then of course maybe Hayton, Jenik and Timmins are pulling their own weight. I know it's a long shot for this franchise but I feel we may actually be doing this right. A re-tank after a botched tank that got us a couple of assets but not enough.

I support the tank. Really.

I just don't support this shocking degree of tanking. It's not necessary to be one of the three worst teams of the last two decades in order to be on of the three worst teams this season.

I'm saying that we could have added a decent goalie that keeps games a little closer, a tough, defensive center who chokes other teams, and a tough, defensive mid-pair LD that chokes other teams without endangering our status as a bottom five team in this single season. But it would have done wonders to ensure we aren't a bottom five team of the last twenty seasons.

I'm saying we should have Vitek Vanecek, Dan Vladar, Zack Smith, and Jordie Benn. I'm not asking for much. And it's not too late to get Georgiev, Smith and Benn. We should. I'll quite complaining if they add a handful of actual NHL players that make us just a little bit harder to beat, even though they won't actual prevent losses.

I support the tank. But icing a team with Carter Hutton, Loui Eriksson, Andrew Ladd, Jay Beagle and Travis Boyd on your opening night roster is just too much. That's not tanking. That's disgrace.

I'm saying on a tank scale of 1-10, I'm cool with an 8 or a 9. We are currently at a 27 and the meter is broken.

 

[rt]

You're killing me RemoAz, the last faint glimmer of hope was just extinguished...

Here's my hope: We've always been in the lottery for doing the wrong thing and just f***ing up so bad that we ended up there anyway. We've never been rewarded for the pure stupidity and absolute incompetence that has landed us in the lottery each and every time we've suffered those heart-breaks. But this time feels different. We've made the right choice. And we're committed. And we're executive the plan very, very well. Maybe we finally get rewarded for finally doing the thing we actually set out to do.

 

[Grimes]

I support the tank. Really.

I just don't support this shocking degree of tanking. It's not necessary to be one of the three worst teams of the last two decades in order to be on of the three worst teams this season.

I'm saying that we could have added a decent goalie that keeps games a little closer, a tough, defensive center who chokes other teams, and a tough, defensive mid-pair LD that chokes other teams without endangering our status as a bottom five team in this single season. But it would have done wonders to ensure we aren't a bottom five team of the last twenty seasons.

I'm saying we should have Vitek Vanecek, Dan Vladar, Zack Smith, and Jordie Benn. I'm not asking for much. And it's not too late to get Georgiev, Smith and Benn. We should. I'll quite complaining if they add a handful of actual NHL players that make us just a little bit harder to beat, even though they won't actual prevent losses.

I support the tank. But icing a team with Carter Hutton, Loui Eriksson, Andrew Ladd, Jay Beagle and Travis Boyd on your opening night roster is just too much. That's not tanking. That's disgrace.

I'm saying on a tank scale of 1-10, I'm cool with an 8 or a 9. We are currently at a 27 and the meter is broken.

I hear ya. I guess I'm just assuming that management has a plan and wmwe aren't done adding. Of course I've learned over and over that management is usually dumber than rocks and doesn't do what it needs to do to keep their employees happy in most scenarios.

I like what we have done. We have gotten very good assets for moving Garland and pieces we don't need past the rebuild. I don't believe BA is corporate manager dumb enough to go into this season with Hutton and Boy as the 4th line center. I guess my best advice is hold your horses. But feel free to reference all these red flags you have raised if BA does nothing.

 

[rt]

I hear ya. I guess I'm just assuming that management has a plan and wmwe aren't done adding. Of course I've learned over and over that management is usually dumber than rocks and doesn't do what it needs to do to keep their employees happy in most scenarios.

I like what we have done. We have gotten very good assets for moving Garland and pieces we don't need past the rebuild. I don't believe BA is corporate manager dumb enough to go into this season with Hutton and Boy as the 4th line center. I guess my best advice is hold your horses. But feel free to reference all these red flags you have raised if BA does nothing.

Yeah, I like what he's done. It's what he hasn't done that worries me. If they're not done, and further moves are coming that fill things out and make things a touch less pathetic, then I'll be happy.

And I really don't need much. One of Zack Smith or Riley Sheahan and one of Erik Gudbranson or Jordie Benn. Like that. Bottom line/pair guys. That's all I'm asking for. And some kind of a goalie.

Give me 35 year old Devan Dubnyk, 34 year old Jordie Benn, and 33 year old Zack Smith, all on one-year contracts for 25-50% more than whatever their next best offer is on the market. We should be able to do that, right? At least? Do that, and I'll shut up.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

but this year even if we lose the lottery, if we finish last, the worst we pick is 3, which is what we need to pick up 1 of the top 3 centers

Wright
Lambert
Savoie

If we finish 4th or 5th to last, and we get jumped, we'll be picking 6th or 7th, which doesn't get us what we need. We need one epic failure season to secure the future.

 

[rt]

but this year even if we lose the lottery, if we finish last, the worst we pick is 3, which is what we need to pick up 1 of the top 3 centers

Wright
Lambert
Savoie

If we finish 4th or 5th to last, and we get jumped, we'll be picking 6th or 7th, which doesn't get us what we need. We need one epic failure season to secure the future.

Miroshnichenko is probably going to shoot up there. Maybe all the way to 2nd and he’s a winger. Geekie may end up the 2nd ranked center rather than Lambert or Savoie. The rankings will change a lot I think.

 

[Gwyddbwyll]

I'd put Rick Nash as the best out of that lot and class him as a top 20 player in his prime. He was awesome. Three players there make the tank worthwhile - Makar (who wasnt expected to be THAT good) Nash and Eichel.

rt has convinced me though, I agree we shouldnt be tanking quite so hard - the likely outcome doesnt justify it. One small benefit may be that it's easier for a kid to take a NHLer's job and cheaper when it happens (ie it stings less to see your 750k veteran sitting rather than one paid 3 times that). Tourigny will be itching to bring through talented young players after half a season with those vets.

 

[Jakey53]

They were bad last year. You either resign Garland and add 2 or 3 real difference makers in FA and/or trades while filling the other open spots with decent players or you go the other way. Trying to be bad but not too bad is what we did all through the bankruptcy years. That's stupid and a complete waste of time. We're committed now. Let the f***er burn.

DM and DT did a masterful job of what they had to work with. They weren't trying to be bad, but when you have a low budget and no FO personal to speak of the record speaks for itself.

 

[rt]

but this year even if we lose the lottery, if we finish last, the worst we pick is 3, which is what we need to pick up 1 of the top 3 centers

Wright
Lambert
Savoie

If we finish 4th or 5th to last, and we get jumped, we'll be picking 6th or 7th, which doesn't get us what we need. We need one epic failure season to secure the future.

One of the main points of my previous post is that many of those historically bad teams still picked 2nd or 3rd and still didn’t get anything out of it.

 

[Jakey53]

I support the tank. Really.

I just don't support this shocking degree of tanking. It's not necessary to be one of the three worst teams of the last two decades in order to be on of the three worst teams this season.

I'm saying that we could have added a decent goalie that keeps games a little closer, a tough, defensive center who chokes other teams, and a tough, defensive mid-pair LD that chokes other teams without endangering our status as a bottom five team in this single season. But it would have done wonders to ensure we aren't a bottom five team of the last twenty seasons.

I'm saying we should have Vitek Vanecek, Dan Vladar, Zack Smith, and Jordie Benn. I'm not asking for much. And it's not too late to get Georgiev, Smith and Benn. We should. I'll quite complaining if they add a handful of actual NHL players that make us just a little bit harder to beat, even though they won't actual prevent losses.

I support the tank. But icing a team with Carter Hutton, Loui Eriksson, Andrew Ladd, Jay Beagle and Travis Boyd on your opening night roster is just too much. That's not tanking. That's disgrace.

I'm saying on a tank scale of 1-10, I'm cool with an 8 or a 9. We are currently at a 27 and the meter is broken.

I will never support a tank. All teams go through the same cycle. The difference is that some organizations don't fall as bad as others because of the stability and personal they have, all the way from ownership to coaches. It's hard to win in the NHL and it's even harder to win consistently. It's so important to keep the winning culture alive during a bad few years. The Coyote's, Oiler's, Buffalo and a few others are finding out how hard it is to shed that losing culture.

 

[Kaizen]

Yeah, I like what he's done. It's what he hasn't done that worries me. If they're not done, and further moves are coming that fill things out and make things a touch less pathetic, then I'll be happy.

And I really don't need much. One of Zack Smith or Riley Sheahan and one of Erik Gudbranson or Jordie Benn. Like that. Bottom line/pair guys. That's all I'm asking for. And some kind of a goalie.

Give me 35 year old Devan Dubnyk, 34 year old Jordie Benn, and 33 year old Zack Smith, all on one-year contracts for 25-50% more than whatever their next best offer is on the market. We should be able to do that, right? At least? Do that, and I'll shut up.

No you won't And that's ok.

 

[rt]

No you won't And that's ok.

Well. Yeah. Haha. I meant my griping on this particular topic. Lol

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I don't like tanks, because a tank belies the truth that a single player - no matter how legendarily promising or good he ends up being - is still one cog in a machine. The Pittsburgh and Chicago "dynasties" required not one, but two generational-level players per team to drive them to the Cup. Even that has not been enough for Edmonton, who have offset McDavid and Draisaitl - perhaps the most potent one-two punch since Gretzky and Messier - with a room so anemic and free of chemistry that just making the playoffs has been a struggle, even in a year when all they had to do was beat Canadian teams.

So while I get the impulse to want to be bad enough to draft Wright (assuming, for a moment, that he will be the landmark franchise-changer that everyone hopes a 1OA will be), I don't like aiming for it - deliberately being terrible to get the prize. It's a waste of your fanbase's goodwill, especially given the odds that even if you tank flat-out, you still aren't very likely to get 1OA (and good luck trading for 1OA if you end up on the losing end of the lottery - who among the Club is gonna want to do a favor for a team that publicly and openly wants to rig the system?).

It's just bad juju, man.

I've loved the trades and transactions Armstrong has done, but what I haven't loved is that either a) we don't have the ability to sign some serviceable UFAs on short deals to patch the holes until we can do major surgery, or b) we didn't have the desire to do it.

 

[Jakey53]

I don't like tanks, because a tank belies the truth that a single player - no matter how legendarily promising or good he ends up being - is still one cog in a machine. The Pittsburgh and Chicago "dynasties" required not one, but two generational-level players per team to drive them to the Cup. Even that has not been enough for Edmonton, who have offset McDavid and Draisaitl - perhaps the most potent one-two punch since Gretzky and Messier - with a room so anemic and free of chemistry that just making the playoffs has been a struggle, even in a year when all they had to do was beat Canadian teams.

So while I get the impulse to want to be bad enough to draft Wright (assuming, for a moment, that he will be the landmark franchise-changer that everyone hopes a 1OA will be), I don't like aiming for it - deliberately being terrible to get the prize. It's a waste of your fanbase's goodwill, especially given the odds that even if you tank flat-out, you still aren't very likely to get 1OA (and good luck trading for 1OA if you end up on the losing end of the lottery - who among the Club is gonna want to do a favor for a team that publicly and openly wants to rig the system?).

It's just bad juju, man.

I've loved the trades and transactions Armstrong has done, but what I haven't loved is that either a) we don't have the ability to sign some serviceable UFAs on short deals to patch the holes until we can do major surgery, or b) we didn't have the desire to do it.

Good post. Years ago Tom Lysiak said on national TV that he did not want to be drafted by the Montreal Canadians, and if he did, he would not report. What would happen if we won the lottery and Wright said the same thing? These kids are better at a earlier age and like Eichel and others want to win and not be associated with these loser teams. BS baffles brains for only so long. Mind you, the BS has baffled the Coyote fans for years.

 

[Neighborhood Coyote]

Just don't take any half measures, imo.

Best way to lose fan goodwill is to tank but not commit to it and come away with nothing for all of the losing. In that scenario, the people who accepted a tank are pissed, the people who didn't want to tank are also pissed... no one is happy.

Set a goal and aim for it.