Prospect Info: 2015 Draft Thread
- Thread starter Ziggy Stardust
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Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
kingsfan
President of the Todd McLellan fan club by default
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
I don't know how much they value Couturier now, I think expectations for him may have cooled down, but he looks to be the ideal #3 center. Would love to have him but I don't think he'd come cheap.
There's also this bit of news that I wasn't sure where to post, but since it deals with junior hockey, I'll post it here.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
Lou still owes us a solid for Brodeur's kid
Can we borrow a 7th rounder to draft his other son this year?
kovacro
Uvijek Vjerni
I think Strome could slide into the top 3. I don't think it's a given Hanifin goes 3rd. Guess we shall see on June 26.
kingsfan
President of the Todd McLellan fan club by default
I don't either. I think he's the best defenseman but I could see him falling quite a bit, especially if some team high up ranks Provorov or Werenski ahead of him. I doubt he falls to 13 like Fowler did but I could see a drop to the 6-8 range.
Coyotes could go any direction at #3 and it would make some sense. Strome to give them a skilled center with size. Marner maybe has the highest offensive ceiling and fits a major need at RW; Marner was also playing center and Arizona already drafted his teammates Max Domi and Christian Dvorak. Hanifin would make sense to replace Yandle. It's too bad for them that Auston Matthews is two days too young for this year's draft.
If Hanifin slips past Carolina, I could only imagine San Jose trying like crazy to move up for him. Hanifin is the (potential) type of D that they haven't had during their run, plus their head scout is stationed in Boston. Sharks seem to draft the New England area guys with a little more regularity than other clubs.
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If anybody's thinking about going to the Draft, the Marlins are also hosting the Dodgers that weekend.
kingsfan
President of the Todd McLellan fan club by default
San Jose needs a scouting department overhaul. not sure if they got one during this 'youth movement' they've been doing but their drafting has been pretty suspect beyond the first round for years now and the prospect cupboard is bare, though that is also Wilson's fault to a degree.
417th
Pacifist Division
Luc owned (part owned) the Olympique years ago. Maybe he is trying to get a piece or all of the team again.
kovacro
Uvijek Vjerni
For what it's worth. Button's final draft ranking.
http://www.tsn.ca/talent/craig-s-list-final-ranking-1.294692
Provorov on the rise on his list. Hanifin rated as 3rd dman to go off the board at 12.
http://www.tsn.ca/talent/craig-s-list-final-ranking-1.294692
Provorov on the rise on his list. Hanifin rated as 3rd dman to go off the board at 12.
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
Craig Button serving a reminder why he remains a former hockey exec who won't get another crack at an NHL gig. Similar to Doug MacLean.
kingsfan
President of the Todd McLellan fan club by default
While I shake my head at the Hanifin ranking, and I am NOT a Craig Button fan, the guy made it to being a GM on back of his scouting efforts within the Dallas Stars ranks and he is an above average eye for talent at the junior level.
He was director of scouting for Dallas from 1992-1998 and produced Jamie Langenbrunner, Marty Turco, Todd Harvey, Jarome Iginla, Jom Sim, Brendan Morrow, John Erskine as draft picks with at least 400 NHL games. Several others with over 200 games as well. He was also a scout in Minnesota with the North Stars from 1988 to 1992 and they drafted guys like Modano, Arturs Irbe, Mike Craig, Doug Zmolek, Roman Turek, Derian Hatcher, Richard Matvichuk and Jere Lehtinen. He had a dramatic impact on the 1999 Stars roster that won the Stanley Cup, and may have won more if they weren't battling the Wings and Avalanche for much of the late 90's.
I always take what Button has to say about prospects with interest. Just like Sutter sucked as a GM but is a good coach, so is Button an idiot as a GM but pretty good as a scout.
417th
Pacifist Division
Happy I read what you wrote before I posted the exact same thing. Oh well yet again his crap tactics worked because it made me click on his garbage and read every word of it. I feel so dirty.
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
I think Bob Gainey did a tremendous job in Dallas, and Button probably gets some credit there, but seeing his work away from Dallas has me convinced that he's not as smart as some thought he was.
Look at how much of a mess Calgary was under his watch, not just on the pro roster side but in terms of drafting talent. They were terrible under his watch with many questionable decisions, same with Doug MacLean. There's s reason these guys don't wind back in the NHL. See Barry Melrose as another example.
Placing Hanifin that far down on the list would be the same foolish mistake other clubs made with Fowler at the 2010 draft.
kingsfan
President of the Todd McLellan fan club by default
Button was GM in Calgary from 2000-2003, but the 2003 draft was actually under Sutter so Button only had three drafts with the Flames, 2000, 2001 and 2002.
2000: Kurtis Foster (405 NHL games), Jarrett Stoll (792), Travis Moen (724)
2001: Chuck Kobasew (601), David Moss (501)
2002: Eric Nystrom (547), Matthew Lombardi (536), Curtis McElhinney (129)
That's 8 guys in 3 drafts that have were/are NHL regulars. He may not have a star pick, but that's the only flaw you can give to his drafts, to walk away with two players per draft that are NHL regulars is batting above the average. Button nearly had three per draft.
One difficult thing for Button is that he's a one man show. It's virtually impossible to fly all around the world to get enough viewings. Plus he's balancing a regular studio job with TSN.
Button does a bi-monthly podcast with TSN's Edmonton radio affiliate and he mentions where he's been/going. I couldn't help but notice a correlation with guys rising based on who he happened to see recently. He did a tour of a handful of USHL games and suddenly a bunch of USHL guys shot up his rankings.
To his credit, he was ahead of the curve on Travis Sanheim last year. Although Sanheim was in Button's home base of Calgary.
Ziggy Stardust said:
In Button's defense, he wasn't in Calgary that long. A lot of people pin their 2000 Draft on him, but Button actually had nothing to do with their draft despite technically being GM.
The Flames hired Button like two weeks before the draft. Part of the agreement was that Button wasn't allowed to join Calgary until after the draft since he was heading up Dallas' draft to that point. The draft was in Calgary that year and I distinctly remember that after Calgary made their first pick, TSN had a camera on Button who was elsewhere in the arena. If anything, Dallas' 2000 Draft is more representative of Button's work than what Calgary did. Dallas got Steve Ott in the late first round (pretty good value) and Dan Ellis in the second.
Calgary's drafts in 2001 and 2002 weren't great, but a majority of teams whiffed in those years. Plus as GM, you don't have nearly as much time to focus on the amateur side of things.
On one of the podcasts, Button did kinda throw Gainey under the bus for their 1998 Draft. According to Button, they were targeting Simon Gagne at #27. Their table was bummed when Philadelphia took him at #22. Then they were surprised that Jiri Fischer was available, so the scouts told Gainey to trade up. But Gainey thought Fischer would slip to #27. He ended up going #25 to Detroit.
Dallas ended up trading #27 for #39 and #57. They'd get John Erskine and Tyler Bouck.
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
- 23,212
- 24,147
I agree with Kingsfan. Button may have unconventional rankings and picks, but I actually appreciate that the guy is willing to go to bat for what he really thinks, instead of rehashing the same list all the other agencies use. Most importantly, he reinforces the FACT that all 30 teams have very drastic differences in their rankings of players.
Though Brodeur is right about him being a one-man show, and there's really only so much a guy can actually see. It's definitely a lot more interesting than McKeens, Central Scouting, Redline, Hockey News, etc. ALL having the same players within 10 spots of each other, with some differentiation.
Though Brodeur is right about him being a one-man show, and there's really only so much a guy can actually see. It's definitely a lot more interesting than McKeens, Central Scouting, Redline, Hockey News, etc. ALL having the same players within 10 spots of each other, with some differentiation.
Ziggy Stardust
Master Debater
Red Line Report had a tendency of making far reaching rankings too. I remember Woodlief had Jessiman in his top 10 for 2003. Try to contain your laughter.
The scary part was that the Kings wanted him at 13. Thank Henrik that the Rangers took him
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