Prospect Info: The Adolescent 2019 Draft Thread

[ImmuneEH]

Lets say we pick at #9. What would a realistic ask be from a team who is willing to move down from the 4th pick to the 9th pick?

Don't see Detroit moving down. Chicago not really either... they need to draft kids that will eventually replace Toews, Kane, etc. Philadelphia might.

Philadelphia could use a RD prospect. Is Bear + 20192nd + 2019 1st for their #4 overall 2019 pick enough? Is it too much?

Picking up one of Dach or Cozens would be huge.

 

[Macblender]

Lets say we pick at #9. What would a realistic ask be from a team who is willing to move down from the 4th pick to the 9th pick?

Don't see Detroit moving down. Chicago not really either... they need to draft kids that will eventually replace Toews, Kane, etc. Philadelphia might.

Philadelphia could use a RD prospect. Is Bear + 20192nd + 2019 1st for their #4 overall 2019 pick enough? Is it too much?

Picking up one of Dach or Cozens would be huge.

I would see if I could swing it as the 2020 2nd but I think this is reasonable. Just trying to rebuild the cupboard faster that way.

If you know who you want go get that player and I am not overally sold on Bear being more than the 3rd pair RD who plays 2nd PP behind Bouchard. Maybe my assessment is wrong on that as I do see he is picking it up.

Cozens seems to have more attributes that fit what this team needs based on big, RH, fast, and good shot so he could slot with McDavid or Nuge at some point. Dach while more cerebral I tend to trust more as a prospect but I would think we would need to pick up 1-2 solid FA shot first wingers or hope Yamo and Pulju can become those players.

 

[ImmuneEH]

I would see if I could swing it as the 2020 2nd but I think this is reasonable. Just trying to rebuild the cupboard faster that way.

If you know who you want go get that player and I am not overally sold on Bear being more than the 3rd pair RD who plays 2nd PP behind Bouchard. Maybe my assessment is wrong on that as I do see he is picking it up.

Cozens seems to have more attributes that fit what this team needs based on big, RH, fast, and good shot so he could slot with McDavid or Nuge at some point. Dach while more cerebral I tend to trust more as a prospect but I would think we would need to pick up 1-2 solid FA shot first wingers or hope Yamo and Pulju can become those players.

I think part of what makes Dach or Cozens a good fit (I see Dach being a compliment to Drai, Cozens a compliment to McDavid), is that they are big RHC's and also highly skilled.

It's a trade worth making imo. Their games would translate to the NHL really well (especially in our division) and fill a hole. We have 3 LHCs in the top 6, a RH that can take faceoffs when necessary and also compliment the powerplay would balance things out.

Puljujarvi - RAW player, obvious language barrier, STILL adjusting to NA ice.
Yamamoto - High hockey IQ, very very skilled but also quite small. Will take a while for him to adjust to playing against men.

The jury is still out on whether they will find a consistent role in the top 6 (Puljujarvi is currently more out of necessity), or be a checker.

Meanwhile, Cozens & Dach are more 'sure things' to me for being productive at the NHL level.

 

[smokersarejokers]

Lets say we pick at #9. What would a realistic ask be from a team who is willing to move down from the 4th pick to the 9th pick?

Don't see Detroit moving down. Chicago not really either... they need to draft kids that will eventually replace Toews, Kane, etc. Philadelphia might.

Philadelphia could use a RD prospect. Is Bear + 20192nd + 2019 1st for their #4 overall 2019 pick enough? Is it too much?

Picking up one of Dach or Cozens would be huge.

Lots of hockey still left to be played and the Oilers still have a chance at ending up in that bottom 5.

I feel like Philly would just take Dach or Cozens, and I'd be fine with Krebs if he's still there at 9. I've stated it before, but I personally don't see much of a downgrade from Dach and Cozens to Krebs. He's a little smaller than those guys, but man does he have skill and smarts. Dach and Cozens are putting up good numbers on decent teams, Krebs is putting up similar numbers on a glorified Midget AAA team.

 

[HeavyHitter99]

I think part of what makes Dach or Cozens a good fit (I see Dach being a compliment to Drai, Cozens a compliment to McDavid), is that they are big RHC's and also highly skilled.

It's a trade worth making imo. Their games would translate to the NHL really well (especially in our division) and fill a hole. We have 3 LHCs in the top 6, a RH that can take faceoffs when necessary and also compliment the powerplay would balance things out.

Puljujarvi - RAW player, obvious language barrier, STILL adjusting to NA ice.
Yamamoto - High hockey IQ, very very skilled but also quite small. Will take a while for him to adjust to playing against men.

The jury is still out on whether they will find a consistent role in the top 6 (Puljujarvi is currently more out of necessity), or be a checker.

Meanwhile, Cozens & Dach are more 'sure things' to me for being productive at the NHL level.

So realistically Dach isn’t the best fit for Edmonton. Edmonton is looking to get quicker and more skilled. Obviously Dach has skill but he isn’t a flashy offensive player like some people seem to think. He moves around the ice decently for a player his size but overall he’s not very quick.

He also wouldn’t be a good fit next to Draisaitl. Both are pass first players that have size and aren’t great skaters. Both have questionable intensity levels at times as well. The Oilers need to move in the same direction of the new NHL which is speed and skill.

Dach is also the type of player that Oiler fans typically get frustrated with. Has size but doesn’t use it to throw hits and has very little overall physicality. Plays with very little intensity and kind of lumbers around the offensive zone waiting for his chance to strike. He can often disappear for stretches of time at even strength. With all that being said I like Dach and feel he’ll be a top six player in the NHL but he isn’t a great fit for Edmonton.

I don’t claim to be an expert on him by any means but I will say that I’ve followed his career since he was 12/13 years old, I scouted for a WHL team (no I can’t say which one) when he was drafted in 2016 and I’ve closely followed his career up to this point.

 

[ImmuneEH]

Lots of hockey still left to be played and the Oilers still have a chance at ending up in that bottom 5.

I feel like Philly would just take Dach or Cozens, and I'd be fine with Krebs if he's still there at 9. I've stated it before, but I personally don't see much of a downgrade from Dach and Cozens to Krebs. He's a little smaller than those guys, but man does he have skill and smarts. Dach and Cozens are putting up good numbers on decent teams, Krebs is putting up similar numbers on a glorified Midget AAA team.

Yeah, I'd be stoked to draft Krebs. It's another year where anything can happen, I mean Zadina was high on everyone's list (top 3 I believe) last year and fell to 6OV.

Interesting things could happen. Going by these rankings, the draft is 9 forwards deep in the 1st round. All the forwards in the top 9 look like they would be great picks (granted, I know little about Podkolzin but he's ranked highly everywhere).

My prediction is that Podkolzin & one of Dach or Cozens are drafted in the top 4. #5 we may see a team go for one of the three Americans, then it's wide open. Good chance someone in front of us drafts Byram ahead of us.

 

[Zaddy]

So realistically Dach isn’t the best fit for Edmonton. Edmonton is looking to get quicker and more skilled. Obviously Dach has skill but he isn’t a flashy offensive player like some people seem to think. He moves around the ice decently for a player his size but overall he’s not very quick.

He also wouldn’t be a good fit next to Draisaitl. Both are pass first players that have size and aren’t great skaters. Both have questionable intensity levels at times as well. The Oilers need to move in the same direction of the new NHL which is speed and skill.

Dach is also the type of player that Oiler fans typically get frustrated with. Has size but doesn’t use it to throw hits and has very little overall physicality. Plays with very little intensity and kind of lumbers around the offensive zone waiting for his chance to strike. He can often disappear for stretches of time at even strength. With all that being said I like Dach and feel he’ll be a top six player in the NHL but he isn’t a great fit for Edmonton.

I don’t claim to be an expert on him by any means but I will say that I’ve followed his career since he was 12/13 years old, I scouted for a WHL team (no I can’t say which one) when he was drafted in 2016 and I’ve closely followed his career up to this point.

You pick the player you feel have the highest upside (+ most realistic chance of reaching said upside) in the draft, regardless of needs. If Hughes and Kakko are gone and you have a chance to draft Dach, you do it. Taking someone like Cozens (or whoever else) because he's seen as a better fit or that he's a better skater or whatever would be really dumb and that's how you end up with a bust or low impact player when you could have had an additional elite player on your team. I mean look at the 2015 draft, imagine Oilers keeping the pick and taking Svechnikov or Eriksson Ek because Barzal wasn't seen as a "fit". That'd be a huge mistake.

Actually, this is exactly what the Bruins did in 2015. They didn't want more centers becuase they believed they were set there, so they take Zboril, DeBrusk and Senyshyn instead of the no-brainer picks Barzal and Connor. They likely also took Zboril because he was seen as a tough guy and fit the Bruins M.O., when they could have had the "softer" Chabot, who is a much better player. Starting these narratives to convince yourself to pick someone who is a worse prospect because of perceived needs or a certain style that player has to fit is just dumb.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

So which previous draft does this draft remind people of? How deep is it in terms of projected impact players and wha is the positional strength/weakness of this draft? ie. strong at D last season but weak at ?

I'd still be surprised if we make our 1st round pick TBH but just in case, it's interesting to know what this particular draft is all about.

 

[Zaddy]

So which previous draft does this draft remind people of? How deep is it in terms of projected impact players and wha is the positional strength/weakness of this draft? ie. strong at D last season but weak at ?

I'd still be surprised if we make our 1st round pick TBH but just in case, it's interesting to know what this particular draft is all about.

According to Mark Edwards from HockeyProspect and the NHL scouts he has been talking to this is supposed to be a really weak draft. Personally I don't know. It looks about average to me. Not bad, not necessarily great. It's very up in the air still, lots of hockey to be played until the draft.

I don't think this is a great draft for D. More like a forward-heavy draft with a decent amount of centers at the top. Seems to be reasonably strong when it comes to goalies too.

 

[HeavyHitter99]

You pick the player you feel have the highest upside (+ most realistic chance of reaching said upside) in the draft, regardless of needs. If Hughes and Kakko are gone and you have a chance to draft Dach, you do it. Taking someone like Cozens (or whoever else) because he's seen as a better fit or that he's a better skater or whatever would be really dumb and that's how you end up with a bust or low impact player when you could have had an additional elite player on your team. I mean look at the 2015 draft, imagine Oilers keeping the pick and taking Svechnikov or Eriksson Ek because Barzal wasn't seen as a "fit". That'd be a huge mistake.

Actually, this is exactly what the Bruins did in 2015. They didn't want more centers becuase they believed they were set there, so they take Zboril, DeBrusk and Senyshyn instead of the no-brainer picks Barzal and Connor. They likely also took Zboril because he was seen as a tough guy and fit the Bruins M.O., when they could have had the "softer" Chabot, who is a much better player. Starting these narratives to convince yourself to pick someone who is a worse prospect because of perceived needs or a certain style that player has to fit is just dumb.

I understand how drafts work believe me. I would never draft for need and you should always take BPA. Never once did I say anything about not taking BPA. But there are players in the draft other than Kakko and Hughes that have equal or higher upside than Dach in a lot of scouts eyes.

I’m not even saying I wouldn’t draft Dach as I easily would and would be happy to have him as an Oiler. What I’m saying is that Oiler fans will likely be frustrated with his style of play and that saying he would be great with Draisaitl likely isn’t correct. I know the the pressure that Oiler prospects face and I know the type of players that get crapped on here.

I don’t need to be told about Barzal. I’ve followed his career since he was 13 and had him as a top 5 pick for that draft. The only ones more stupid than the Oilers that day were the Bruins.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

According to Mark Edwards from HockeyProspect and the NHL scouts he has been talking to this is supposed to be a really weak draft. Personally I don't know. It looks about average to me. Not bad, not necessarily great. It's very up in the air still, lots of hockey to be played until the draft.

I don't think this is a great draft for D. More like a forward-heavy draft with a decent amount of centers at the top. Seems to be reasonably strong when it comes to goalies too.

Thanks, I must say that what little I have heard about this draft it doesn't seem to be anything special. If we do make the pick it should be BPA all day long.

 

[780il]

So realistically Dach isn’t the best fit for Edmonton. Edmonton is looking to get quicker and more skilled. Obviously Dach has skill but he isn’t a flashy offensive player like some people seem to think. He moves around the ice decently for a player his size but overall he’s not very quick.

He also wouldn’t be a good fit next to Draisaitl. Both are pass first players that have size and aren’t great skaters. Both have questionable intensity levels at times as well. The Oilers need to move in the same direction of the new NHL which is speed and skill.

Dach is also the type of player that Oiler fans typically get frustrated with. Has size but doesn’t use it to throw hits and has very little overall physicality. Plays with very little intensity and kind of lumbers around the offensive zone waiting for his chance to strike. He can often disappear for stretches of time at even strength. With all that being said I like Dach and feel he’ll be a top six player in the NHL but he isn’t a great fit for Edmonton.

I don’t claim to be an expert on him by any means but I will say that I’ve followed his career since he was 12/13 years old, I scouted for a WHL team (no I can’t say which one) when he was drafted in 2016 and I’ve closely followed his career up to this point.

I agree with this 100p

Go with one of Cozens/Byram over Dach for sure

 

[Stoneman89]

Lets say we pick at #9. What would a realistic ask be from a team who is willing to move down from the 4th pick to the 9th pick?

Don't see Detroit moving down. Chicago not really either... they need to draft kids that will eventually replace Toews, Kane, etc. Philadelphia might.

Philadelphia could use a RD prospect. Is Bear + 20192nd + 2019 1st for their #4 overall 2019 pick enough? Is it too much?

Picking up one of Dach or Cozens would be huge.

You want to give up our 1st next year ( in addition to our 2nd and a developing d prospect) to move up 5 places? We have a reasonable chance to be a lottery team next year as well, based on our current situation. That would be a dumb trade, imo. A Chia trade, as it were.

 

[smokersarejokers]

I understand how drafts work believe me. I would never draft for need and you should always take BPA. Never once did I say anything about not taking BPA. But there are players in the draft other than Kakko and Hughes that have equal or higher upside than Dach in a lot of scouts eyes.

I’m not even saying I wouldn’t draft Dach as I easily would and would be happy to have him as an Oiler. What I’m saying is that Oiler fans will likely be frustrated with his style of play and that saying he would be great with Draisaitl likely isn’t correct. I know the the pressure that Oiler prospects face and I know the type of players that get crapped on here.

I don’t need to be told about Barzal. I’ve followed his career since he was 13 and had him as a top 5 pick for that draft. The only ones more stupid than the Oilers that day were the Bruins.

Fair point.

They should draft the best player available. Plain and simple.

Since you seem pretty plugged in to the west, what do you think of Byram, Cozens, Krebs, Robertson and the other highly ranked WHL players?

 

[Macblender]

You want to give up our 1st next year ( in addition to our 2nd and a developing d prospect) to move up 5 places? We have a reasonable chance to be a lottery team next year as well, based on our current situation. That would be a dumb trade, imo. A Chia trade, as it were.

This is on the premise we finish in a spot that we arent going to get our guy. It is a gamble for sure but if you see a player that is exactly what you want (you think could be a top 3 guy from the draft) available at 5 then I think you do it.

Realistically if you see a high skill Pettersson, Sergachyov, Provorov, Marner, Ehlers, Barkov, Monahan, Rielly etc. I dont see the issue giving up Bear + a second to secure your guy.

Also the trade proposed was the 1st this year lets say 8-10th +2nd 2019/2020 + Bear.

In all likelihood you pay much more than that for one of the top end guys once they crack the NHL. Obviously the player needs to hit and there is no guarantees on that but landing the right player in this draft and having Bouchard pan out would go a long way for this team. Next year I think we are probably a little more competitive as I expect some wing depth to come in through a trade/FA.

 

[LTIR]

Cozens or trade for me!
We need to compete right away and cant wait 3yrs for a kid to be NHL ready.

 

[Zaddy]

I understand how drafts work believe me. I would never draft for need and you should always take BPA. Never once did I say anything about not taking BPA. But there are players in the draft other than Kakko and Hughes that have equal or higher upside than Dach in a lot of scouts eyes.

Fair enough, although you did say that you don't think he's the best fit here, so which guys do you, or the scouts you refer to, think have equal or higher upside to Dach?

I’m not even saying I wouldn’t draft Dach as I easily would and would be happy to have him as an Oiler. What I’m saying is that Oiler fans will likely be frustrated with his style of play and that saying he would be great with Draisaitl likely isn’t correct. I know the the pressure that Oiler prospects face and I know the type of players that get crapped on here.

You're correct that he wouldn't be a very good fit with Drai as they're similar players. Maybe you're right that some Oilers fans would crap on him too, but I think Dach probably projects as more of a two-way guy than Drai has been so far in the NHL, plus he's a good ole canadian boy (and Albertan at that) so that should help too

Anyway, I honestly don't know how anyone could be mad or disappointed at getting another Drai type player. Who wouldn't want another guy capable of putting up 70+ point seasons?

 

[Stoneman89]

This is on the premise we finish in a spot that we arent going to get our guy. It is a gamble for sure but if you see a player that is exactly what you want (you think could be a top 3 guy from the draft) available at 5 then I think you do it.

Realistically if you see a high skill Pettersson, Sergachyov, Provorov, Marner, Ehlers, Barkov, Monahan, Rielly etc. I dont see the issue giving up Bear + a second to secure your guy.

Also the trade proposed was the 1st this year lets say 8-10th +2nd 2019/2020 + Bear.

In all likelihood you pay much more than that for one of the top end guys once they crack the NHL. Obviously the player needs to hit and there is no guarantees on that but landing the right player in this draft and having Bouchard pan out would go a long way for this team. Next year I think we are probably a little more competitive as I expect some wing depth to come in through a trade/FA.

I see, thought you meant the first from next year, sorry. So, swap 1st rounders this year, and chuck in Bear and a 2nd. There would need to be quite a gap in talent between the 2 players though to give that up and move 5 spots.

 

[Macblender]

I see, thought you meant the first from next year, sorry. So, swap 1st rounders this year, and chuck in Bear and a 2nd. There would need to be quite a gap in talent between the 2 players though to give that up and move 5 spots.

No problem!

I cannot comment on the gap in talent as I do not know enough about this draft class. This theoretical situation fully relies on our scouts having a guy rated in the top 3 or so and that player is available if we moved up.

I guess the best example may be Toronto having Morgan Rielly ranked 1st overall and they picked him up at 5 in 2012. We just need that huge potential player to help drive a line with RNH. From their we can probably acquire another good winger in FA/trade and then hope one of other guys develops as a good complimentary piece.

Overall I am liking the sounds of a lot of these players so it would really depend on the situation.

What do people think of Turcotte? Sounds like he goes hard to the dirty areas along with possessing a lot of good traits.

 

[HeavyHitter99]

Fair point.

They should draft the best player available. Plain and simple.

Since you seem pretty plugged in to the west, what do you think of Byram, Cozens, Krebs, Robertson and the other highly ranked WHL players?

It’s hard not to like Byram if you’re an Oilers fan. Puck moving defender who really likes to push the pace offensively. He has decent defensive abilities but doesn’t always engage physically as much as he should which isn’t a surprise given his average size. What’s really impressive about him is the way he’s transformed his game from bantam to the WHL. When he was in bantam he was all offence all the time, you would think he was another forward and he had a lot of defensive deficiencies in his game. He’s a smart player and the only Dman that has a shot of going ahead of him is Broberg. Some scouts compare Byram to Morgan Rielly.

Cozens has had a very impressive development curve since his days with Delta. Big, strong and and a great skater. I think sometimes he’s a little undefined on what type of player he is. He can pass, he can shoot and he can play the body so he’s pretty well rounded in that regard.

Krebs is really interesting. It’s been Dach vs Krebs since their bantam draft days (Krebs went first overall but Dach was already in Midget). Even now they are pretty close and since Dach has slowed down I think Krebs even has the better ppg now. Dach’s obvious advantage is his size. Krebs is average sized but he’s a work horse for Kootenay. He had very little supporting cast to start the year and basically none now after some trades this season. He literally has to do everything and carry the team on his back. Last week at the top prospects game he showed what he can do with some skilled players. He has excellent hockey sense and vision and like Dach he is a pass first type player.

Matthew Robertson is a work in progress. He’s arguably been the Oil Kings’ top defender since last season. He has size, impressive mobility and a solid defensive game. The question with him is his offensive ability. His offence is improving and he activates well on the rush due to his mobility but he just isn’t a consistent threat yet. He’s a safe bet to be an NHLer due to his size + skating but it’s a matter of how high his upside is. If his offense develops he could be a top pair Dman most likely and if it doesn’t then he could be a bottom pair most likely in my opinion. I’m not sure he’s the kind of risk the Oilers should take with how much heat they take with underwhelming first rounders. He could easily be one of those players that people look back and say “wow I can’t believe he went that early and a head of X player”. The Oilers seem to hear that a lot. But like I said his offense is developing but the numbers aren’t outstanding. The tools are all there and this isn’t a Teubert type situation but hopefully he turns out better than Siemens which he should. Also the Oil Kings are a meat and potatoes type team right now but once their young players (Neighbours, Souch, Alistrov, Williams and Guenther) take over the team they should be more offensively dynamic which should help his numbers. He’s still getting better and showing improvement so he could take an offensive step next year.

Hope this helps!

 

[Aerrol]

So, starting to dig into the meat of this draft a bit more for the first round (thanks in large part to great posts here, thanks guys), but it sounds like the forwards that we could be in range to draft are very much pass-first C's. Is that right? We could really load up on more shooters if possible IMO, which makes the sound of all these skilled but 'pass-first' guys a little disappointing to me. Who are the better goal-scoring forwards this year? From a quick look around/my memory, it sounds like: Kaliyev (would be a reach for us where we are now given skating issues and defensive awareness), Boldy? (I don't know much), aannndd...that's it? Any others? If that's the case, maybe we should just be looking for more offensive dman in Byram or Broberg (with the caveat that of course BPA rules if there's an obvious distinction in talent).

Thoughts @HeavyHitter99 @Zaddy etc?

 

[780il]

So, starting to dig into the meat of this draft a bit more for the first round (thanks in large part to great posts here, thanks guys), but it sounds like the forwards that we could be in range to draft are very much pass-first C's. Is that right? We could really load up on more shooters if possible IMO, which makes the sound of all these skilled but 'pass-first' guys a little disappointing to me. Who are the better goal-scoring forwards this year? From a quick look around/my memory, it sounds like: Kaliyev (would be a reach for us where we are now given skating issues and defensive awareness), Boldy? (I don't know much), aannndd...that's it? Any others? If that's the case, maybe we should just be looking for more offensive dman in Byram or Broberg (with the caveat that of course BPA rules if there's an obvious distinction in talent).

Thoughts @HeavyHitter99 @Zaddy etc?

Cozens is the shoot first right shot guy we need!

 

[McDNicks17]

So, starting to dig into the meat of this draft a bit more for the first round (thanks in large part to great posts here, thanks guys), but it sounds like the forwards that we could be in range to draft are very much pass-first C's. Is that right? We could really load up on more shooters if possible IMO, which makes the sound of all these skilled but 'pass-first' guys a little disappointing to me. Who are the better goal-scoring forwards this year? From a quick look around/my memory, it sounds like: Kaliyev (would be a reach for us where we are now given skating issues and defensive awareness), Boldy? (I don't know much), aannndd...that's it? Any others? If that's the case, maybe we should just be looking for more offensive dman in Byram or Broberg (with the caveat that of course BPA rules if there's an obvious distinction in talent).

Thoughts @HeavyHitter99 @Zaddy etc?

Another small guy, but:
No. 18-ranked right winger Cole Caufield, all 5–foot-6-3/4 of him, is arguably the pre-eminent natural goal-scorer in the draft. He has 31 goals in 35 games to lead, by far, the U.S. U-18 team in goals. Yes, the prospect who is viewed as the second coming of Chicago’s Alex DeBrincat often lines up alongside Jack Hughes but Caufield continued to score goals while Hughes was away at the WJC. In fact, in six games against NCAA competition while Hughes was at the World Junior Championship, Caufield scored seven goals.

https://www.tsn.ca/it-s-still-the-jack-hughes-draft-1.1246625

 

[snipes]

So which previous draft does this draft remind people of? How deep is it in terms of projected impact players and wha is the positional strength/weakness of this draft? ie. strong at D last season but weak at ?

I'd still be surprised if we make our 1st round pick TBH but just in case, it's interesting to know what this particular draft is all about.

Average/below average but nowhere near Yakupov’s draft year bad.

2020 is an absolutely stacked draft though.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Average/below average but nowhere near Yakupov’s draft year bad.

2020 is an absolutely stacked draft though.

Thanks. So hopefully we keep our 2020 1st if we decide to deal futures to improve the team immediately with non rentals.