2014 NHL Draft Discussion

[thedustman]

But coming from that thin atmosphere gives them elite stamina

I wouldn't go so far as to say "elite". Doughty, Pietrangelo have elite stamina. We probably won't be getting that with a late first round selection.

 

[bleedblue1223]

They also have a hard time communicating with the coaches and teammates. You can find some really talented Martians late in drafts because of that.

 

[Majorityof1]

Most Martians picked the game up late in life though, and are still raw. There is not a lot of ice on Mars, so only the richest could afford to play.

And yes, I think at this point we are officially starting to : with this joke

 

[bleedblue1223]

Draft isn't till the 27th, so we have a long way to go. I guess the real question is, is the Martian a puck-moving RHD?

 

[Captain Creampuff]

Well we know if Marty the Martian is available at 21 we still won't take him because of the Martian factor and he plays center which is typically what you will see with our drafting.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Lets draft only centers, maybe we can get lucky on some late-round gems. Finding a Joe Pavelski would be...

 

[Lord Helix]

Most Martians picked the game up late in life though, and are still raw. There is not a lot of ice on Mars, so only the richest could afford to play.

And yes, I think at this point we are officially starting to : with this joke

I'm assuming that emoticon is 3 guys beating a dead horse, but without the animation, all I see is 3 guys laughing at a jackass.

 

[Majorityof1]

I'm assuming that emoticon is 3 guys beating a dead horse, but without the animation, all I see is 3 guys laughing at a jackass.

That would be a useful emoticon on the main boards. But yes, it is beating a dead horse. I went emoticon browsing and wanted to try some new ones out today. I can't wait until I have an opportunity to use the Darth Vader or Pirate ones.

 

[bleedblue1223]

That would be a useful emoticon on the main boards. But yes, it is beating a dead horse. I went emoticon browsing and wanted to try some new ones out today. I can't wait until I have an opportunity to use the Darth Vader or Pirate ones.

Trust me, they come in handy on the trade boards. You can either get in a great back n forth with someone else using them or just really get under someone's skin. Either way, it's hilarious for you.

 

[Lord Helix]

Trust me, they come in handy on the trade boards. You can either get in a great back n forth with someone else using them or just really get under someone's skin. Either way, it's hilarious for you.

One word...Facepalm.

 

[Majorityof1]

One word...Facepalm.

There are two guys arguing that Kadri > Tarasenko on the main boards now. One compared KAdri to Kane and Tarasenko to Mathieu Perreault. I wish I would have thought of the or " for that one

 

[jbron]

http://thehockeywriters.com/2014-nhl-mock-draft-three-round-final-edition/

Here's a good link to a 3 round mock draft for those looking at potential picks for the Blues rounds 2 and 3.

 

[Majorityof1]

http://thehockeywriters.com/2014-nhl-mock-draft-three-round-final-edition/

Here's a good link to a 3 round mock draft for those looking at potential picks for the Blues rounds 2 and 3.

Weird draft. Seems like a lot of reaches before us. If we got McCann, I'd be dancing through the street. Not as much as Nashville sfans hould snagging Nylander at 11, or Calgary that they got Bennett at 4. Draisaitl at 2 isn't a strange pick, it is just a wrong pick. But we did get our RHD so, maybe there is some truth to it.

 

[542365]

Weird draft. Seems like a lot of reaches before us. If we got McCann, I'd be dancing through the street. Not as much as Nashville sfans hould snagging Nylander at 11, or Calgary that they got Bennett at 4. Draisaitl at 2 isn't a strange pick, it is just a wrong pick. But we did get our RHD so, maybe there is some truth to it.

You can't claim a pick is the "wrong pick" until everything has settled and we see what these players have become. Plenty of "reaches" have turned out great. Team boards are drastically different than how the media ranks these players. CSS has Schwartz near the bottom of the first round, while the Blues had him at the absolutely lowest of 14, and Ottawa was after him at 16, and only agreed to trade the pick to us after "their guy", later all but confirmed to be Jaden Schwartz, was taken before their picked.

 

[BlueDream]

You can't claim a pick is the "wrong pick" until everything has settled and we see what these players have become. Plenty of "reaches" have turned out great. Team boards are drastically different than how the media ranks these players. CSS has Schwartz near the bottom of the first round, while the Blues had him at the absolutely lowest of 14, and Ottawa was after him at 16, and only agreed to trade the pick to us after "their guy", later all but confirmed to be Jaden Schwartz, was taken before their picked.

Lol yeah I remember all the experts claiming Schwartz was such a reach.

What a beast of a pick that was. Also funny how Ottawa was after him and now some of their fans are asking for him for Spezza.

I believe Oshie was also considered a reach. I mean, most people just don't know.

 

[Majorityof1]

You can't claim a pick is the "wrong pick" until everything has settled and we see what these players have become. Plenty of "reaches" have turned out great. Team boards are drastically different than how the media ranks these players. CSS has Schwartz near the bottom of the first round, while the Blues had him at the absolutely lowest of 14, and Ottawa was after him at 16, and only agreed to trade the pick to us after "their guy", later all but confirmed to be Jaden Schwartz, was taken before their picked.

You are right. But it is a little different with the top 3 picks. These guys are scouting so much and the tools are so advanced, there are rarely busts in the top picks anymore. When you get into the mid-first, things get a bit hazier. Still maybe "wrong" was the incorrect word. After all, Eric Johnson was the "right" pick according to all the rankings/experts, but it took him longer to develop and Toews is pretty easily a more valuable player. I was just going for a word that was stronger than reach. Maybe "really shocking" would be better. This draft has a strong consensus top 2 and a pretty strong consensus 3rd. Draistl is probably next, but I have seen him as low as 7th. I have never seen Reinhart that low. Reinhart has the same or better hockey IQ, hands, creativity and vision that Draisaitl is praised for but he is a much better skater. Despite being smaller, he is also more willing to play physical. If a team wants size, I can see them drafting Draisaitl over Bennett, but not Reinhart. I would be very, very surprised if Reinhart fell out of the top 2. But wrong was the incorrect term, so thank you for the vocabulary lesson.

 

[rumrokh]

Lol yeah I remember all the experts claiming Schwartz was such a reach.

What a beast of a pick that was. Also funny how Ottawa was after him and now some of their fans are asking for him for Spezza.

I believe Oshie was also considered a reach. I mean, most people just don't know.

I recall somebody being high on Schwartz, maybe MacKenzie, and his rankings/opinions are almost entirely compiled from pro scouts; so I was curious about where Schwartz was actually ranked heading into the draft.

A lazy google search:
Sports Illustrated had him going 30th.
Bleacher Report had him at 27th.
MyNHLDraft had him at 26th.
NBC's Pro Hockey Talk had him at 26th.
MacKenzie's rankings had him at 29th.
NHL's Central Scouting had him as the 28th North American skater.
ISS had him at 23.
The Hockey News at 30.
Out of five NHL.com writers, just ONE had him in the top 30 at all: Jen Raimondi, who had him at 29th (noted he was rapidly rising). These particular rankings are absurd. At least one didn't have Tarasenko at all. Russian factor paranoia peaked back then. Really makes me think NHL writers just read a semi-recent CSS/ISS ranking and make team-specific guesses.

Useless, but fun: HF member wingsfan17 chose Schwartz at 22nd on May 1st (really early considering how much of a late riser he was) in Prussian Blue's mock draft in 2010. HF staff didn't have Schwartz in the first round in their mock a month and a half later. No surprise there.

To be fair, late risers and fallers are the hardest to estimate. I'd say if you see rankings or a mock draft from a source that's somewhat trustworthy, check to see if their apparent reach picks have been quickly climbing other rankings lately. Sometimes lazy, hack writers just copy trends, but sometimes you can also see that a player is legitimately rising.

 

[jbron]

http://twopadstack.net/2014-nhl-mock-mock-draft/

For those that haven't read, some of the comments are hilarious.

 

[SweetyV]

Kempe at 21! Not the first mock I've seen woth us taking him.

 

[BlueDream]

http://twopadstack.net/2014-nhl-mock-mock-draft/

For those that haven't read, some of the comments are hilarious.

Haha pretty funny. I cracked up at Edmonton, San Jose and New Jersey.

 

[Majorityof1]

I laughed at the blues write-up, then I sighed, and a tiny tear escaped my eye.

 

[Captain Creampuff]

Haha what a great write up.

 

[542365]

Lol that is a very funny write up.

 

[542365]

Here's a very....interesting.... article about Joshua Ho-Sang. He certainly does not lack confidence.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/24/the-curious-case-of-controversial-nhl-prospect-joshua-ho-sang

I still like him Maybe the Blues need someone that's a bit cocky and wants the game on his stick? I like our straight laced fellows like Backes, Steen, Schwartz etc, but maybe a splash of arrogance would help a bit.

 

[thedustman]

Here's a very....interesting.... article about Joshua Ho-Sang. He certainly does not lack confidence.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/24/the-curious-case-of-controversial-nhl-prospect-joshua-ho-sang

I still like him Maybe the Blues need someone that's a bit cocky and wants the game on his stick? I like our straight laced fellows like Backes, Steen, Schwartz etc, but maybe a splash of arrogance would help a bit.

I would appreciate a splash of arrogance on this team... and I would hope it pans out differently than Perron.