What happened at the top of the 2018 draft

[BruinsBtn]

The Athletic has some great detail in a story about how Quinn Hughes fell to the Canucks:

• The Habs were drafting for position and seriously considered Hayton, but not Zadina or Tkachuk
• The Sens were focused on Tkachuk from the start
• Arizona scouts were torn and had Hughes, Tkachuk and Hayton as their three targets. Then Kotkaniemi and Noah Dobson a tier below. Zadina was further down
• Chyka was prepared to overrule scouts and take Hayton over Hughes
• The Yotes wanted to trade down but sniffed out that Vancouver or Chicago might take him
  
• Vancouver was also considering Hayton over Hughes and wasn't surprised when Arizona took Hayton
• Detroit didn't expect Zadina to be there and had Bouchard and Dobson ahead of Hughes. Bourchard likely would have been their pick if Zadina wasn't there
• The Canucks loved Hughes and had him at #3
• One Eastern Conference team had Hughes at #2 ahead of Svechnikov

It's a great article: 'That was a home run': The inside story of how Quinn Hughes...

Click to read more...

 

[PuckLife]

The Athletic has some great detail in a story about how Quinn Hughes fell to the Canucks:

• The Habs were drafting for position and seriously considered Hayton, but not Zadina or Tkachuk
• The Sens were focused on Tkachuk from the start
• Arizona scouts were torn and had Hughes, Tkachuk and Hayton as their three targets. Then Kotkaniemi and Noah Dobson a tier below. Zadina was further down
• Chyka was prepared to overrule scouts and take Hayton over Hughes
• The Yotes wanted to trade down but sniffed out that Vancouver or Chicago might take him
  
• Vancouver was also considering Hayton over Hughes and wasn't surprised when Arizona took Hayton
• Detroit didn't expect Zadina to be there and had Bouchard and Dobson ahead of Hughes. Bourchard likely would have been their pick if Zadina wasn't there
• The Canucks loved Hughes and had him at #3
• One Eastern Conference team had Hughes at #2 ahead of Svechnikov

It's a great article: 'That was a home run': The inside story of how Quinn Hughes...

Great summary! splitting hairs here, but the article said the Chayka was prepared to take Hayton over Tkachuk. Not Hughes. Assume they all agreed on Hayton over Hughes.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

In 2017 Vancouver had EP and Makar 1 and 2... Hughes ranked 3rd in 2018. Stole Boeser in 2015. What do the scouts in Vancouver know that we don’t?

 

[rt]

Great summary! splitting hairs here, but the article said the Chayka was prepared to take Hayton over Tkachuk. Not Hughes. Assume they all agreed on Hayton over Hughes.

I read it the same way.

Arizona scouts had it:
1. Dahlin
2. Svechnikov
3. Tkachuk/Hayton
4. Hayton/Tkachuk
5. Hughes

Chayka had it:
1. Dahlin
2. Svechnikov
3. Hayton
4. Tkachuk
5. Hughes

And Chayka was willing to overrule his staff to take Hayton.

Though not in this article, Chayka also confirmed directly last summer that he had Soderstrom rated 3rd overall in 2019. So he got his 3rd ranked player in two consecutive drafts. Will be interesting to see how this turns out.

Another interesting tidbit (maybe to some) was that there was some debate in 2016 among Chayka and his staff whether to take Keller or Chychrun with the 7th overall pick. They decided on Keller and immediately started trying to trade up for Chychrun until they finally got him at 16th.

 

[Breakers]

• Vancouver was also considering Hayton over Hughes and wasn't surprised when Arizona took Hayton

That's a big sigh of relief for me
I've said this before, Vancouver's CHL scouting just isnt good.
Hayton may turn out to be good & I'm not judging him, but I would take the word of their American scouts 10x out of 10 over the CHL scouts.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

That's a big sigh of relief for me
I've said this before, Vancouver's CHL scouting just isnt good.
Hayton may turn out to be good & I'm not judging him, but I would take the word of their American scouts 10x out of 10 over the CHL scouts.

I think Vancouver still takes Hughes over Hayton. From the article it's sounds like they had Hughes at #3 and Hayton at #4. Also Hughes fit a massive organisational need so even if they had them ranked equal they go with Hughes

 

[Killerjas]

So apparently no one liked Zadina? I find that odd. Oh well, he is doing fine in Detroit.

 

[Panthaz89]

Yeah every prospect from the 2018 draft's career is now over. They should probably retire and hang up their skates at this point.

 

[93LEAFS]

In 2017 Vancouver had EP and Makar 1 and 2... Hughes ranked 3rd in 2018. Stole Boeser in 2015. What do the scouts in Vancouver know that we don’t?

They also took Olli Juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk and Virtanen over Nylander and Ehlers under the same management.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Bit early to call Hughes a franchise d-man imo..

In 2017 Vancouver had EP and Makar 1 and 2... Hughes ranked 3rd in 2018. Stole Boeser in 2015. What do the scouts in Vancouver know that we don’t?

Given the Virtanen and Juolevi picks, apparently not much.
Draft top 10 often enough and you will have both wins and losses though.

The Canucks general manager leaned back in his seat and gave a huge thumbs-up: “That was a home run,” he said with a big grin

I wonder how many times GMs have felt like this and ended up with bad/mediocre/disappointing players?

 

[PuckLife]

That's a big sigh of relief for me
I've said this before, Vancouver's CHL scouting just isnt good.
Hayton may turn out to be good & I'm not judging him, but I would take the word of their American scouts 10x out of 10 over the CHL scouts.

What you are not factoring is that we are only D+1.5. Hughes is one of the oldest in the draft, while Hayton is one of the youngest. Hughes (1999) has a full extra year of playing over Hayton (2000). We need another 2 years to judge the ‘18 draft.

 

[Number 57]

So apparently no one liked Zadina? I find that odd. Oh well, he is doing fine in Detroit.

It's not odd in the sense that some GMs had centers and Dmen ahead of a winger (Hayton, Kotkaniemi, Hughes, Dobson, Bouchard). They probably all had Zadina in the 7-10 range, which isn't that bad. There were concerns about his skating and compete level. Another Czech winger who played in the QMJHL is Jakub Voracek, who went 7th overall. So about par for the course for Zadina

 

[Wooren]

Yeah every prospect from the 2018 draft's career is now over. They should probably retire and hang up their skates at this point.

Not kidding, not even two years since the draft. As if all players develop at the same pace.

It's not odd in the sense that some GMs had centers and Dmen ahead of a winger (Hayton, Kotkaniemi, Hughes, Dobson, Bouchard). They probably all had Zadina in the 7-10 range, which isn't that bad. There were concerns about his skating and compete level. Another Czech winger who played in the QMJHL is Jakub Voracek, who went 7th overall. So about par for the course for Zadina

I understand skating issues, but compete? I don't recall a single game on the international scene/in the NHL in which he would be a non-factor due to not trying. In fact, his compete level is the reason why I think he will overcome his average speed and eventually turn out to be the projected top line forward. Last year he didn't look great in his short NHL stint, adjusted during Summer and early in the season and now he's one of the few noteworthy players on absolutely anemic Detroit team. It's probably for better he got passed over by Montreal, Ottawa and Arizona though.

 

[Lays]

In 2017 Vancouver had EP and Makar 1 and 2... Hughes ranked 3rd in 2018. Stole Boeser in 2015. What do the scouts in Vancouver know that we don’t?

Rangers had Pettersson #1 in 2017 as well and tried hard to trade up to get him, their backup plan was Cody Glass. Both went right before and now we have Lias...

In 2018 I also thought it was pretty interesting that the Rangers reportedly had Kravtsov at 3/4, when they said that he was the 2nd best forward of the draft

 

[Sticktape]

Yeah every prospect from the 2018 draft's career is now over. They should probably retire and hang up their skates at this point.

Did you read the OP?

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Rangers had Pettersson #1 in 2017 as well and tried hard to trade up to get him, their backup plan was Cody Glass. Both went right before and now we have Lias...

In 2018 I also thought it was pretty interesting that the Rangers reportedly had Kravtsov at 3/4, when they said that he was the 2nd best forward of the draft

I think these team lists would be so interesting to see. I do wonder how often teams say “oh we had the guy we got a lot higher than where we got him at” just to boost morale

 

[Bonham]

Yeah every prospect from the 2018 draft's career is now over. They should probably retire and hang up their skates at this point.

Yeah, because that is what this thread is about...

 

[M2Beezy]

Yeah, because that is what this thread is about...

I think that poor misguided poster read the thread title and the first sentence of the OP about Quinn Hughes and made conclusions at that point

 

[M2Beezy]

Bit early to call Hughes a franchise d-man imo..


Given the Virtanen and Juolevi picks, apparently not much.
Draft top 10 often enough and you will have both wins and losses though.


I wonder how many times GMs have felt like this and ended up with bad/mediocre/disappointing players?

A balanced response imo. As a Canucks fan I can only hope that because picking Virtanen and the Juolevi disaster were in Bennings earlier years that there has been proper changes to their picks. Podz is still a question mark and the pick will be analyzed crazy close for Canucks fans for a while with Soderstrom going a spot after him

 

[WetcoastOrca]

The lists just really do emphasize how much variation there is between various teams lists. Mackenzies lists just compile and average the various rankings but hide the variation between different teams rankings. I find this type of information when it becomes public like this fascinating. I wish we had more of it although I can understand why teams wouldn’t want to reveal their rankings.

 

[Tuggy]

I wish the Habs had drafted Hughes

 

[Perratrooper]

In 2017 Vancouver had EP and Makar 1 and 2... Hughes ranked 3rd in 2018. Stole Boeser in 2015. What do the scouts in Vancouver know that we don’t?

I'm not sure I'd say they "stole" Boeser, he's likely still outside the top 10 in a re-draft. None the less they seem to be doing well with scouting and if they can keep it up should become a power house.

 

[Jacob]

Does anyone besides the Habs draft for position?

 

[Szechwan]

Bit early to call Hughes a franchise d-man imo..

Maybe, but he's playing like one thus far, so it's not like it it's some crazy leap to make.

Given the Virtanen and Juolevi picks, apparently not much.
Draft top 10 often enough and you will have both wins and losses though.
?

I've been a big Benning detractor during his time in Van; but I will say this, he seems to be learning on the job. I think those two picks were a big eye opener for him, and it's clear he's prioritized skills over physical attributes since then.

Juolevi, to his credit actually looks quite good in the AHL of late; it'd be interesting to see where he'd be at without all those season ending knee injuries he's sustained. Still not better than Tkachuk obviously, but the pick likely wouldn't appear so egregious.

So apparently no one liked Zadina? I find that odd. Oh well, he is doing fine in Detroit.

Most of those teams could have had him at 3/4, it only takes one guy being available to make them skip him.

 

[Hale The Villain]

In 2017 Vancouver had EP and Makar 1 and 2... Hughes ranked 3rd in 2018. Stole Boeser in 2015. What do the scouts in Vancouver know that we don’t?

Their scouts also selected Virtanen 6th in 2014. Juolevi 5th in 2016, and (while it's very early) I'd argue there were better options than Podkolzin at 10th in 2019. Also had a dismal track record before that too with notable busts like Hodgson, Schroeder, Shinkaruk, Jensen, Gaunce, etc...

I wouldn't be too quick to praise them.