Prospect Info: The Infantile 2020 Draft Thread

[FlameChampion]

Genuinely curious why people want Reichel over Mercer, Zary, or Holloway.

I just like him because he smart and has really good instincts. Hes in the right place at the right time. He scores a lot of goals tipping pucks, garbage goals, arriving at soft spots in coverage at the right time and he actually has a pretty good shot too. He seems like hes pretty good on the boards too because he reads the play and knows where to be before it happens. He wins his fair share of battles even though hes physically immature. I think he has a lot of upside too because he has quite a bit more room to grow. I basically like him because I think he would mesh well with McDavid in particular (but who knows for sure really) and probably Draisaitl as well.

Mercer, Zary and Holloway are too vanilla for me personally. They might be good players but I dont think the upside is there. I just see Reichel as a guy with a higher floor and a higher ceiling personally. I think it might take him a bit longer to hit that ceiling though. The drawback to Reichel for me is that I dont think hes a great playmaker and hes more of a complimentary player (a multifaceted one), but I think on the Oilers with McDavid/Draisaitl down the middle, thats fine. I dont really see Mercer, Zary and Holloway as line drivers/dynamic either. I see Quinn/Jarvis as more dynamic so thats why I would pick them if they were there over someone like Reichel.

 

[McDoused]

I have no problem grabbing one of Mercer, Zary or Holloway.

You need different types of players to win and two way "vanilla" guys might not be sexy but they help your team win.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I have no problem grabbing one of Mercer, Zary or Holloway.

You need different types of players to win and two way "vanilla" guys might not be sexy but they help your team win.

You can get vanilla players later in the draft.

 

[McDoused]

You can get vanilla players later in the draft.

Lol. You can get flashy players later in the draft too.

Since when did drafting two way complete players become a negative?

We need more of these kinds of guys if we are going to win anything.

 

[Llamamoto]

Genuinely curious why people want Reichel over Mercer, Zary, or Holloway.

Zary's pretty close to Reichel imo, but Reichel's the best offensive forward out of the bunch. He's the smartest player and has the best shot out of them as well.

 

[BarDownBobo]

It is kinda interesting to me how HFOil seems to rate Reichel higher than pretty well everyone else. Not saying it’s wrong but it’s interesting how the idea has spread.

 

[McDoused]

It is kinda interesting to me how HFOil seems to rate Reichel higher than pretty well everyone else. Not saying it’s wrong but it’s interesting how the idea has spread.

Everywhere else I look on HF teams have Mercer, Holloway and Zary ahead of Reichel. Not sure why we dont value the two way guys like other teams.

 

[Llamamoto]

Everywhere else I look on HF teams have Mercer, Holloway and Zary ahead of Reichel. Not sure why we dont value the two way guys like other teams.

Reichel's been rising a lot on HF and scouting lists. Holloway (and Zary to an extent) are generally ranked below him. Reichel's also a solid defensive player though, liking him doesn't mean we don't value two-way guys.

That said, HFOIL is pretty high on Zary and Mercer as well. I think it's kind of agreed upon that Holloway doesn't have too much upside, but it still wouldn't be a bad pick.

 

[780il]

If Jarvis & Quinn are off the board, I feel like Holloway is that unflashy guy that we need. Why? Has a very high compete level and isn't afraid to go to the dirty areas.

Question is, how much do you guys project him to grow his game in the NCAA over the next couple years? There's question marks about how much offense he'll have at the next level.

I think of how much Yamamoto added a spark to Draisaitl's line. Yam is that guy who just goes for it. Gets knocked down, pops right back up. Feisty.

With Holloway, you get another fiercely competitive guy who does a lot of the dirty work.

Type of guy Oilers fans love to have. Fierce competitor, never stops going. Question is how much his offense can progress.

Apparently the Oilers org really likes him too.

 

[Zaddy]

Everywhere else I look on HF teams have Mercer, Holloway and Zary ahead of Reichel. Not sure why we dont value the two way guys like other teams.

I mean, Reichel plays in Germany and isn't really that known for the average HF poster. Easier to keep track of guys like Mercer, Zary and Holloway who are all Canadians and have played in the WJC or Hlinka tournament. Also Reichel is a pretty subtle player. Chances are if you watched Germany at the WJC you'd come away more impressed with Stützle and Peterka than Reichel.

You have to look deep into his game to understand just how good he is. Most people don't look beyond the flash in a player's game. Reichel is not flashy at all, just incredible effective at what he does. It's similar to Zboril vs Chabot in 2015. Zboril was the one with physicality and a hard shot while Chabot was just quietly good. 5 years later one is a #1D while the other has 2 NHL games to his name, yet most people (including NHL scouts, evidently) had Zboril ahead.

 

[Magnum23]

Stauffer hyping up Jarvis is encouraging. Also worth mentioning is that the Oilers have posted exactly one draft prospect profile on their website/twitter. That player? Seth Jarvis.

Edmonton should really keep quiet. I remember when we did that for Monahan + Phaneuf and Calgary came in 1 pick before us lol

 

[oil Leaks]

I have no problem grabbing one of Mercer, Zary or Holloway.

You need different types of players to win and two way "vanilla" guys might not be sexy but they help your team win.

I'd put Reichel there as well. Assuming Jarvis, Quinn and Askarov are gone

 

[snipes]

If I am dropping fairly substantially in the first round, I'd want a pick in the high second round (top 40). People keep throwing out the idea of trading down, but there aren't actually that many options.

Potential trade down deals (picks for picks):

To EDM - 22 + 33
To OTT - 14

To EDM - 27 + 36
To ANA - 14

To EDM - 30 + 34
To SJ - 14

I just don't see other options that would be worth it. The later two deals seem like too much of a drop for our first pick. The OTT deal looks okay as 22 still gives our scouts some choices and 33 should be a solid player too. OTT would have 3 picks in the top 14 - quality over quantity for them.

I personally see Jarvis as the player that drops to us at 14 - I'd prefer Quinn because of his size and shot but I think Nashville takes him. Jets take a dman (Schneider), Florida takes Sanderson, Carolina takes Askarov, leaving us with Jarvis.

Would you rather have Jarvis, or Foerster/Mysak/Reichel AND Brisson/Khusnutdinov/O'Rourke/???

Jarvis AINEC

 

[snipes]

Lucas Raymond had two goals and an assist in a 6-4 loss to Raphael Lavoie's team today.

He's going to go top3 over Stutzle, IMO.

This makes this draft so interesting in that some of these players are essentially getting another 1/4 to 1/3 of a season of development prior to the draft. Could shake things up potentially if someone comes out hot/cold.

I’ve always thought the draft should be for 19 year olds and just do it by birth year. Kids can have a big development curve from 18 to 19. It’s why the NFL draft in my opinion is easier to project. You’re drafting players at 21-23ish years old who are now young men not kids anymore.

 

[McDNicks17]

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

next Mikko Koivu?

 

[snipes]

It’s almost like the writers for the Edmonton Oilers are reading HFOil. Next up, a piece on Askarov.

Just re-read the Seth Jarvis article from late August when he was the first one up. This made me beam with a smile when he said the following:

“"I'm someone that plays with tons of competitiveness," Jarvis said. "That's what drives my game. I love to compete, I love to get after it. When I'm playing the game, I'm playing freely. I love to make plays, I like to play fast, I like to move the puck up the ice and jump into holes. When I'm doing that, a lot of offence comes my way.

"Creating chances for myself and for my teammates is what my game really thives on. And then being able to be trusted in the D zone and being able to play in late-game situations is something that I've really put into my game and taken the next step with."”

I’ve said it several with respect to Yamo. Competitiveness and internal competitive fire and desire to constantly compete and learning to love “the grind” is in my opinion the single greatest predictor of individual success in life. The older I’ve gotten, the more I am fully convinced that deeply embedded instric motivation is the best predictor for who will be successful in life and who won’t. I absolutely loved reading that piece on Jarvis.

 

[Zaddy]

This makes this draft so interesting in that some of these players are essentially getting another 1/4 to 1/3 of a season of development prior to the draft. Could shake things up potentially if someone comes out hot/cold.

I’ve always thought the draft should be for 19 year olds and just do it by birth year. Kids can have a big development curve from 18 to 19. It’s why the NFL draft in my opinion is easier to project. You’re drafting players at 21-23ish years old who are now young men not kids anymore.

The thing is that this has been talked about for years now in NHL circles and now with the pandemic and postponed draft this was THE perfect time to do it. All they had to do was move the draft to next year instead of October. It would've made so much sense. It's honestly so stupid that they have a cutoff date of September 15th, and as you say drafting 19 year olds is a hell of a lot easier than 18 year olds, and it would also mean kids get an additional year in juniors to develop and won't be rushed to the NHL to the same degree. It's a win-win for everyone, CHL, the players themselves (although I guess the truly elite guys could feel cheated on a year of NHL salary, but that kinda happened with someone like Tavares already since he was a late birthday, wouldn't be a big deal IMO) and the NHL.

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Watching Lavoie and Broberg play right now and Lucas Raymond just scored on a rocket of a one-timer. My 2nd pick in the HFOil Mock Draft looking gooood.

 

[Zaddy]

Raymond is going to make a lot of people who were down on him this year look silly. I mean, we just saw Jack Hughes have a terrible rookie season in the NHL. It's really difficult to adapt playing against men as a physically underdeveloped kid. No matter how talented you are you will struggle initially but that doesn't mean that they're suddenly not elite prospects anymore. The talent is still there. It's just an adjustment period. Frankly I'm really quite disappointed in the scouting community. The guy is 6th on McKenzie's list and Button has him #9. Even HockeyProspect dropped him to #8. Like come on, what did you expect from his rookie year in the SHL?

 

[McTonyBrar]

Edmonton should really keep quiet. I remember when we did that for Monahan + Phaneuf and Calgary came in 1 pick before us lol

This is giving me a sigh of relief. Even the Boob knows we should take Jarvis

 

[McDNicks17]

Saw this guy pop up on the Eliteprospects feed.

Fabian Alm Westling at eliteprospects.com

Can we draft him just because I assume his name is pronounced like how a toddler would say arm wrestling?

 

[Stoneman89]

Saw this guy pop up on the Eliteprospects feed.

Fabian Alm Westling at eliteprospects.com

Can we draft him just because I assume his name is pronounced like how a toddler would say arm wrestling?

What a gweat name!

 

[McDNicks17]

It's here!

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Raymond is going to make a lot of people who were down on him this year look silly. I mean, we just saw Jack Hughes have a terrible rookie season in the NHL. It's really difficult to adapt playing against men as a physically underdeveloped kid. No matter how talented you are you will struggle initially but that doesn't mean that they're suddenly not elite prospects anymore. The talent is still there. It's just an adjustment period. Frankly I'm really quite disappointed in the scouting community. The guy is 6th on McKenzie's list and Button has him #9. Even HockeyProspect dropped him to #8. Like come on, what did you expect from his rookie year in the SHL?

Here's a shift by shift of his game yesterday. Raymond scored the team's opening goal as well as a goal in overtime that was disallowed, both on wicked one-timers. His shot—and overall offensive game—looks much more dangerous than last season. Definitely needs to get stronger but his play this preseason should quiet some of his doubters.