www.todaysslapshot.com Flyers draft preview

[StevenToddIves]

A few things:

It's Timonen, not Timmonen. It's also Nicklas Grossmann. Giroux's leadership is far from a problem. I wouldn't call Gudas a "very good young shutdown RD". Palushaj is American.

I'm curious, did you really think Christian Dvorak was a better pick at the time, or are you just saying that in retrospect because he had a great season this year? In their draft years, Dvorak had 14 points in 33 games, and Aube-Kubel had 53 points in 65 games. Aube-Kubel was also ranked 31 spots higher in the final CSS rankings. I doubt it.

Yeah, I had Dvorak as one of the steals of the draft last year. As with Barzal and Colin White this year, an injury-plagued draft year was the only reason he was not considered a first-round pick. I do like Aube-Kubel, though.

 

[Stizzle]

I am not down on Morin, I think he has the upside to be a rock-solid & physical, second-pairing defensive defenseman -- something that extremely valuable to an NHL franchise, especially considering Morin's size.

I am just very high on Zadorov -- he's meaner, a better skater with a superior shot and outlet pass while offering similar size. I do not mean to slag a surefire future NHL-er like Morin, my point was that if Zadorov's name was Nick Smith and Morin's name was Samovich Morinov, there would be no question that the Flyers would have drafted Zadorov with the #11 pick in the 2013 draft. I also had Josh Morrissey (who went #13 to Winnipeg) ranked far higher, so maybe I'm wrong and the Flyers just saw something incredible in Morin.

I do think that Laughton will be a valuable second/third liner at the NHL level with grit and some scoring pop, so there's that.

I think it's very strange that you think those attributes listed are so much in Zadorov's favor. I'd say they are all at the very least comparable. How much have you seen Morin play? He's a really good athlete. It just makes me think you aren't very familiar with Morin and are just going off the uninformed stereotype of how he was portrayed by Pierre on television when he was drafted.

I'd also like to point out that one of Morin's better attributes is his compete level and drive. That is something that has been questioned many times about Zadorov. The London fans almost unanimously say he quit on that team in his post-draft year. You could certainly see his lack of effort on the big stage at the Memorial Cup last year. It was bad. Zadorov was also benched by the Sabres at the beginning of last season for not competing hard enough at the prospect tournament.

I really have to question how familiar you are with Morin. Saying stuff like Zadorov is meaner, a better skater, etc etc is just a real head scratcher. Again, maybe he does have a slight edge in 1 or 2 of those attributes you listed, but suggesting it's a blow away is just incorrect.

The Flyers weren't the only team that had Morin that high, Montreal reportedly tried to trade up with the Flyers to take him:

http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2013/8/21/4645708/samuel-morin-flyers-draft-canadiens

... the Montreal Canadiens tried trading up to take the No. 11 pick. They wanted Morin, and they knew that the Flyers also had interest. We don't know the details of the trade offer, however, so it's impossible to judge Paul Holmgren's decision not to accept the offer or negotiate further.

Columbus was also taking him early. You could see his name listed in there draft documentary as "Priority 1: Quality."

 

[kammy]

Columbus was also taking him early. You could see his name listed in there draft documentary as "Priority 1: Quality."

link ?

 

[Stizzle]

link ?

At the 3:00 minute mark it's on the screen for just a second or 2. You can clearly see the names C. Lazar and S. Morin in the "Priority 1: Quality" column.