Prospect Info: With the 6th pick in the 2020 draft, the Ducks select Jamie Drysdale

[lwvs84]

I think comparisons to fowler sells drysdale short in a way. Fowler while a good player in his own right would be held in much higher regard if he imposed himself more and was less timid (offensively and in puck battles) which I dont think we can really scout as fans for drysdale.

We also don't know what Fowler would have been if he wasn't rushed at 18. He was good, but he might have been better if he got to develop against peers rather than in the NHL. Hopefully Drysdale is brought along slower.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Hopefully we don’t rush him. He’s not quite ready for the NHL, keep him down in juniors and let him dominate another year.

With what GM Murray had done this past year, Drysdale will unlikely be rushed to the NHL, at least this season.

The Ducks have their top-5 out of 7 set on the blue line.

Lindholm-Manson
Fowler-Gudz
Djoos - ???
Hankanpaa​

Curran may take that 6th spot and is probably the most likely to take it between him, Larsson, and Guhle. Djoos' contract ends after this season, but he's still a RFA. Gudz' contract ends this season, but he's a very fit with Fowler. We might be set for the next two years at a minimum at the NHL level.

In the AHL, we have Larsson, Guhle, Mahura, Benoit, and Andersson (who's playing in Allsvenskan right now).

In the NCAA/Juniors level, we have LaCombe and Thrun.

Granted, Drysdale becomes our top defensive prospect, but Murray put a lot of barriers for Drysdale to overcome to play in the NHL this coming season or the next season. I view Drysdale as the nest egg for the next era of defensemen after Lindholm, Manson, and Fowler. Jamie was the safest pick between #4-12 and Murray ensured the Ducks will remain strong on the blue line for years to come. Although we might have a problem scoring, we can make it very difficult to be scored upon. In three years, Drysdale can be playing on the 3rd line being sheltered by Lindholm on the top pairing and Fowler on the 2nd pairing. That's the most prudent way to develop a defenseman.

While I would have preferred a high-end talented forward, drafting Drysdale was a chess move for the organization. G Dostal solidifies the goalie prospect. RHD Drysdale solidifies the a top-end defensive prospect. Murray keeps working from the net out.

 

[MMC]

The more I think about us having Jamie Drysdale the more excited it makes me. When was the last time we had D prospect like him? Even Hampus wasn't as highly regarded. How amazing will it be to have a future top pairing of Lindholm-Drysdale for the next 8-10 years?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

The more I think about us having Jamie Drysdale the more excited it makes me. When was the last time we had D prospect like him? Even Hampus wasn't as highly regarded. How amazing will it be to have a future top pairing of Lindholm-Drysdale for the next 8-10 years?

Oh no. Drysdale needs to be paired with someone else. Lindholm works best with a stay-at-home defenseman first. I've seen Lindholm-Fowler and didn't like it at all because both shared the same role and it was confusing for them. They've jumped into the play at the same time, leaving no one to defend quite a few times when they played together. I think we'll be more dangerous with all three pairings having separated Lindholm, Fowler, and Drysdale.

 

[ScarTroy]

Have never seen him play, any good comparables?

 

[bsu]

Have never seen him play, any good comparables?

On our team it's definitely Fowler.

 

[flyerslducks]

great draft this year. love to see it

 

[flyerslducks]

Would have preferred a forward. Feel like that’s where we really need help.

perrault is a nice add though. He easily could've gone 15-20

 

[Paul4587]

The more I think about us having Jamie Drysdale the more excited it makes me. When was the last time we had D prospect like him? Even Hampus wasn't as highly regarded. How amazing will it be to have a future top pairing of Lindholm-Drysdale for the next 8-10 years?

Fowler. He was ranked no lower than 5 in most pre draft rankings and most had him at 3.

 

[NOA]

On our team it's definitely Fowler.

I see a ton of legit scouts compare him to Makar. That’s a bit of a tough sell because of where Makar is right now.

I will say though, Drysdale was a bit hidden due to Erie’s talent around him. If the team around him was better, he probably puts up a bigger chunk of points and maybe gets more recognition. He doesn’t have the same flair that Makar plays with but I do think Drysdale has that “risk” in his game where he certainly is not afraid to show his skating ability and use his confidence

There is a big difference between style, skill, and potential though.

Drysdale has a ton of skill to work with and improve on to become that type of special player

 

[KaseMeOutside]

They've got to develop him right. If he doesn't turn into a good OFD then our player development staff has to be changed

Some players are so good that they can overcome it but we have never had a home grown elite OFD as a duck.

 

[Static]

Murray says he and madden wanted Drysdale/sanderson no matter what and decided that awhile ago.

 

[Boo Boo]

Murray says he and madden wanted Drysdale/sanderson no matter what and decided that awhile ago.

wow thats literally the one thing he could have said to make me uncomfortable with our first round right now

 

[Static]

wow thats literally the one thing he could have said to make me uncomfortable with our first round right now

Eh, maybe if they went off the board. I think it was more of a tie goes to the dman mentality.

 

[Boo Boo]

Eh, maybe if they went off the board. I think it was more of a tie goes to the dman mentality.

True I think we made two amazing picks today. Im excited to get to the bottom of Fowler vs Drysdale in a skating competition. It probably goes to Drysdale

 

[bsu]

Obviously I'm not the biggest Fowler fan in the world but you guys are underrating his skating big time.

 

[Paul4587]

Fowler is a top 10 skater in the league. Drysdale is a great skater but Cam is on a tier above, especially when factoring edge work and strength on his skates.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Cam is a ballerina on ice

 

[Duck Off]

Murray says he and madden wanted Drysdale/sanderson no matter what and decided that awhile ago.

where did you see/hear this? Anything else said?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Murray says he and madden wanted Drysdale/sanderson no matter what and decided that awhile ago.

He took the safe route. After the top-3, they probably had Drysdale and Sanderson as #4 and #5 on their list. They both look very good too!

 

[Static]

where did you see/hear this? Anything else said?

OCregister. Nothing much was said.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

With the way Covid effected scouting, the draft combine and in person interviews, going with their strength of finding good Dmen was a wise and safe choice and not gamble on drafting a small player with mediocre skating, a type that Murray has never drafted anywhere that high. Highest small guy that Murray has drafted was Palmieri and he was a 5'10 speedster who likes to shoot and then the 5'11 Steel at #30.
Seems alot of teams were scared of small guys who skate average to mediocre when they dont have as much scouting, in person interviews and combine due to Covid.

 

[Paul4587]

We should now have a new top prospect when it comes to the annual rankings now too. At the very least it will be much closer than last year.

 

[duxfan1101]

Post-draft Q&A
NHL Draft 2020: Q&A With Jamie Drysdale | San Diego Gulls

 

[MMC]

BM on Drysdale

Ducks GM Murray, AGM Madden Recap First-Round Selections

What led to the decision to take Jamie Drysdale with the sixth overall pick?

Murray: We only had a choice of one [defenseman] by the time we picked. Martin and I decided a while back, if at all possible, we were going to get a defenseman with that pick. We had the two defensemen go [side by side]. We had them [side by side]. Once Ottawa took [Jake] Sanderson, we weren't playing around with that draft spot anymore. We were going to get the defenseman we wanted. It worked out very well for us today. We were hoping both didn't go in front of us, and they didn't. Lucky for us today.

Did you expect Ottawa to go with Sanderson with the fifth overall pick? If he were still on the board, would that have made the decision tougher?

Murray: Not really. I'm an old right-shot defenseman. What the heck. [Laughs]. We expected one of them to go before us. We were hoping they didn't, and maybe we could've finagled a little bit there, but they're both really good hockey players. The right-shot D is right up our alley right now.

Drysdale is being described as a 'new-age defenseman.' What does that term mean to you?

Murray: They're talking about the game changing. I think that's what they're talking about. Players like Jamie can play at any age. He could've played in my day and probably could've played before my day. The modern defenseman is up the ice, passes and joins the play - which Jamie does really well - is thinking offense. It's not as if the guys in the old days didn't think that way. He can play the game. He can always play the game. He's a very intelligent young man.

How much of a factor is his skating ability?

Murray: For his size, he has to be elusive. He's very smooth. What he's working on, from the three or four times we've talked to him, is his power and his stride so he can get away from people. That's what we've heard he's working on, and when we talked to him way back in April or May, we talked about getting that explosive power so he can separate from people. He skates just fine.

When did you start scouting Drysdale?

Madden: He was a high pick in the OHL, so he stood out as a 16-year-old last year. He was one of the top-three players for Canada at the [Hlinka Gretzky Cup] this summer. He stood out as a leader. He ran the power play and was an overall extremely smart defenseman at both ends of the ice. At that stage, we knew he was a top-10 pick. I remember one game in particular coming back from our training camp, I was heading to the first tournament in the USHL. I stopped by Erie for a game and he just dominated that particular game. He reinforced how we felt about him in the summer.

Murray: Don't forget, any 17-year-old defenseman who could play in the World Junior…he started off slowly and wasn't a regular, but Canada had a couple injuries. He finished playing a whole bunch. He actually finished [the tournament] killing penalties, which tells you his hockey intelligence because he's mostly an offensive guy. Anybody that's 17 years old and could play in the World Juniors, they're really good hockey players.

Did you get a lot of offers for the sixth overall pick?

Murray: There was lots of activity around our pick, but we were getting a defenseman. There was no action in the end, but there was leading up to it. People were inquiring. Martin and I made a decision and it played out how it did.