The Never Too Early 2021 NHL Entry Draft Discussion

[SeaOfBlue]

Well, I think they basically finished the Kaskisuo experiment this last offseason but he was a Cal Petersen project that didn’t pan out.

Peterson was more highly touted.

Kaskisuo pretty much reached his potential; solid #3. We can definitely use him right now though... How we are still icing D'Agostini on a nightly basis is beyond me.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Owen Bartoszkiewicz at eliteprospects.com

Anyone know anything about this guy? He's playing in the NAHL, and I have been keeping tabs on him for a few months, but I don't know much about what a good goalie looks like.

At this point it is looking like he and Braden Holt are USA's best shot at 03' goalies for international tournaments. Kaiden Mbereko, Gibson Homer, and Hobie Hedquist were probably their first choices originally but all are struggling hard right now. Braden Holt and Bartozkiewicz seem like they have the best upside.

 

[Fogelhund]

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I think that is fair. I don't think there is anything wrong with having 3 lotteries though.

The worst teams should have a better chance of getting the top pick than they currently do. I know it is a way to deter tanking but let teams tank. It is already bad enough for the fans so at least let them benefit somewhat from it.

 

[hockeywiz542]

NHL proposes changes to draft lottery format in memo to clubs - Sportsnet.ca

The NHL has proposed multiple changes to its draft lottery format, presenting them to the league's 31 clubs via a memo circulated Monday, Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reports.

Per Johnston, the changes would be as follows:

• Teams would be limited to no more than two lottery wins in a five-year period
• Teams would only be allowed to jump 10 spots with a lottery win
• There would be a reduction in the number of picks decided by the lottery, from three to two

Any changes to the draft lottery format would be subject to approval by the NHL's Board of Governors. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman added that the first two potential changes listed above would not take effect until 2022 if approved, while the third would take effect this year. As well, previous lottery results would not count towards teams' totals, in regards to changes such as the first listed above.

The draft lottery was first introduced in 1995, but a version resembling the current format was put in place since 2016. That format allows for any team that misses the playoffs to move up into the top three picks of the first round, using a draw of random number combinations.

The 2021 NHL Draft is tentatively scheduled for July 23-24, although there have been some discussions about delaying it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Monday that a final decision on whether to postpone or not could come in the next few days.

 

[Knies iT]

Selfishly hoping they don't postpone. If the tentative July date remains, this will be a really interesting case study of a draft with the limited games played.

Almost forgot that Kevin Engvall, Pierre's brother, is draft eligible this year. That family has a lot of pro sport history in their bloodline. Always pulling to see brother duos on the same club.

 

[Fogelhund]

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Good. You have had almost a full season with the QMJHL, US, and Europe. The WHL is starting up everywhere soon, meaning the OHL is the only one which is TBD. However, it is not even possible to catch all of those games anyways so you just need to allocate a ton of resources to OHL and WHL when the other leagues are done.

 

[corrupted]

Hopefully we pick a sleeper in this wild draft. We need a TOP 6 LW. Hoglander on the Canucks is a puck possession freak and he was picked #40.

I have a good feeling we’re next.

 

[Fogelhund]

Good. You have had almost a full season with the QMJHL, US, and Europe. The WHL is starting up everywhere soon, meaning the OHL is the only one which is TBD. However, it is not even possible to catch all of those games anyways so you just need to allocate a ton of resources to OHL and WHL when the other leagues are done.

I really don't know the truth here, but you would think that good scouting departments will have been watching players for more than just their draft year. Sure, some later round guys, perhaps not as much, but certainly a good number of players. It will be interesting to see if there is a bias away from the OHL this year, given they've played so little... it could be one of those inefficiencies that Dubas is good at identifying.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Bill Daly: NHL Draft 'more likely than not' to remain in July - Sportsnet.ca

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said during a press conference Thursday the 2021 NHL Draft will “more likely than not” go on as scheduled in July.

It had previously been reported that while the NHL and the Players' Association continued discussing the logistics of staging the draft, a number of teams indicated a desire to push it back to a later date and possibly even into 2022.

“There’s no shortage of opinions certainly among our constituents and certainly on the players side — whether it be the agents or the Players’ Association — with respect to the 2021 draft,” Daly said.

Due to various COVID-related restrictions around the world, it has been a unique start to the season both on the player development side and on the scouting front with some leagues currently still on hiatus.

“It’s certainly an imperfect situation but we’ve been dealing with imperfect situations since at least March 12 of last year,” Daly said. “In that respect it’s not a lot different than some of the other things we’ve had to do. It’s a complicated issue. It implicates a lot of different provisions of our collective bargaining agreement and it’s difficult to work through those issues.”

 

[Maplebeasts]

I'm glad the draft is likely going forward as scheduled. Scouts have been able to keep tabs on the majority of leagues this season and have a chance to pour lots of resources into the WHL and OHL when they start up. There was no reason to bail out teams that didn't prepare

 

[Fogelhund]

 

[cookie]

 

[SeaOfBlue]

He would still go top 15.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Prominence]

Jake martin is what people thought braden schneider was last draft.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Jake martin is what people thought braden schneider was last draft.

He doesn't have the size, physicality, or the offensive game that Schneider has.

He may attract some interest in the middle rounds, but he is a fairly vanilla prospect with good defensive upside. Since he struggled to put up offense and doesn't really bring anything besides defense, I do not even have him on my board right now. I may add him at the end, but he's a fringe top 125 prospect at best right now.

 

[cupcrazyman]

Focus on the blueline & a goalie or 2

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Focus on the blueline & a goalie or 2

Great year to get a goalie. Not sure we need two though. Great year to get centers and defensemen too, but we don't need defense. Definitely need centers though.

We are stacked at LW in our pool (Amirov, Robertson, Abruzzese, Hallander) but RW is pretty shallow (Miettinen and Anderson with a bunch of wildcards like Ovchinnikov beyond them).

 

[kb]

Focus on the blueline & a goalie or 2

3 of the top-5 prospects are Dmen, and they have Woll, Scott, Akhtyamov, coming for goalies. Leaf fans kinda need to get over this perception.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

3 of the top-5 prospects are Dmen, and they have Woll, Scott, Akhtyamov, coming for goalies. Leaf fans kinda need to get over this perception.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to add another CHL goalie this year, since Scott and Woll will require waivers in 2 years when a CHL goalie may be coming up to the AHL. Russian goalies don't usually come to go through the AHL ranks so Akhtyamov is likely not coming over for a while. Wouldn't be a bad idea to add a guy we can develop once Woll and Scott lose their waiver exemption.

You've got some good CHL goalies this year. Cossa is a definite top 50 talent. Gaudreau and Lennox could be top 75-100 guys, and then you still have Vrbetic as a potential top 125 guy. Kari Piiroinen is playing in Finland this year but he is a D+2 guy who may have figured out a little bit this year.

Holt, Serheyenko, and Boyko could all be solid later round picks, and then we can get into some longer term options if those guys are not available: Koskenvuo, Korhonen, Jupiter, Bartosciewicz, Gerasimyuk (top ranked Russian goalie this year IMO), etc.

 

[Fogelhund]

U-M Removed from NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament Due to COVID Protocols - University of Michigan Athletics

 

[LeafChief]

I'd like to see the Leafs grab a centre with one of their first two picks. We have Abramov and SDA coming to the Marlies next year but we don't really have a high end centre prospect in the organization right now.

 

[cupcrazyman]

I would like to see a little more size with our draft picks.