2015 NHL Draft

[MaxV]

I realize that it is too early to view this draft class from a historic perspective, but what a pace this class is setting.

Elite Prospects - NHL Entry Draft 2015

- Obviously, having a generational talent like McDavid helps a lot, but he isn't the only reason. This class looks really deep also.

- 1st Round is excellent, far more hits then misses and even some of the misses could still turn into players. This isn't typical if you look at draft history.

- Not a lot of late round steals, but there are some NHL regulars and some guys that have potential for more.

- There are still a few breakout candidates, so this class might be even deeper.

- Not a great goalie class so far, but Samsonov, Hill and maybe Vladar could still turn that around.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Not a fond memory for Bruins fans.

Those 3 successive first round picks are lamented daily on the Bruins HF site.

 

[Big Phil]

Wow that is actually a really good draft looking back. That first round is incredible. Even in the 2nd round you have MacKenzie Blackwood in net.

Here is the question, if you know what you know how, and while it is still somewhat early, how do you re-do that draft?

McDavid is #1, but is Eichel #2? You have Rantanen and Marner who are both candidates to be a re-engineered #2 pick in hindsight.

I am not sure what will come with Dylan Strome. I remember being glad the Leafs got Marner, but I also figured we'd be just as good with Strome had we got him. Had a lousy year though, I am just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

 

[gotyournose]

Wow that is actually a really good draft looking back. That first round is incredible. Even in the 2nd round you have MacKenzie Blackwood in net.

Here is the question, if you know what you know how, and while it is still somewhat early, how do you re-do that draft?

McDavid is #1, but is Eichel #2? You have Rantanen and Marner who are both candidates to be a re-engineered #2 pick in hindsight.

I am not sure what will come with Dylan Strome. I remember being glad the Leafs got Marner, but I also figured we'd be just as good with Strome had we got him. Had a lousy year though, I am just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

I definitely would have Eichel at number 2. The circus show that is Buffalo has definitely ruined his early years. If Eichel wants out, Buffalo has only themselves to blame. In terms of redraft, hard to make an argument for anyone else at 2 when Eichel is still the better player

 

[MaxV]

I don't think you can go wrong with either Eichel or Marner.

Kaprizov and Garland are awesome 5th round picks.

 

[DieSendungmitderMaus]

Not a fond memory for Bruins fans.

Those 3 successive first round picks are lamented daily on the Bruins HF site.

Rightly so. That draft could've provided the transition between the Bergeron-Marchand and Pastrnak-McAvoy eras. As is, it's murky.

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

You could randomly pick 3 players that were drafted #16 to #60 in the first two rounds and you'd likely do better than what Boston did with #13, #14 and #15.
Example:
20 - Joel Eriksson Ek
40 - Nicolas Meloche
17 - Kyle Connor

 

[Bruins4Lifer]

Rightly so. That draft could've provided the transition between the Bergeron-Marchand and Pastrnak-McAvoy eras. As is, it's murky.

Most likely win the Cup in 2019 and definitely set themselves up better to compete from 2020-2030 than how they currently are.

 

[Thenameless]

Not a fond memory for Bruins fans.

Those 3 successive first round picks are lamented daily on the Bruins HF site.

You guys have won a Cup in the last 10 years, stop complaining, lol.

 

[Big Phil]

I definitely would have Eichel at number 2. The circus show that is Buffalo has definitely ruined his early years. If Eichel wants out, Buffalo has only themselves to blame. In terms of redraft, hard to make an argument for anyone else at 2 when Eichel is still the better player

Yeah what a mess. It has been really hard to gauge Eichel so far in his career. I can remember when he foolishly said he'd be the best player of the draft. Yeah, that won't happen. But this team is just an example of even when you tank you can still remain bad. It is just hard to imagine Eichel playing on a good team and picturing how he'd do. I think he'd be good.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

That fact that the next 3 picks following Boston’s trifecta of picks all hit is amazing. Can’t make it up.

 

[gotyournose]

Yeah what a mess. It has been really hard to gauge Eichel so far in his career. I can remember when he foolishly said he'd be the best player of the draft. Yeah, that won't happen. But this team is just an example of even when you tank you can still remain bad. It is just hard to imagine Eichel playing on a good team and picturing how he'd do. I think he'd be good.

Eichel had that full of himself unlikeable arrogant a-hole vibe during 2015 draft. It’s okay to be cocky and smug but he was just blatant unlikeable during 2015 draft. If I remember correctly, if McDavid was supposed to be the next Crosby, wasn’t Eichel supposed to be the next Malkin?

As long as Mackinnon is doing his thing, along with Drai and Matthews, Eichel has a long ways to go to catching up to his peers.

 

[The Panther]

Eichel had that full of himself unlikeable arrogant a-hole vibe during 2015 draft.

Oh, has he lost that?

 

[gotyournose]

Oh, has he lost that?

Not necessarily, you can tell however that the losing and the Buffalo losing culture has really gotten to him. I would say humbled him. You can make lots of money, be captain and be an elite player and all that means nothing if a losing culture and the acceptance of losing eats at you and kills you from within.

 

[Brodeur]

The draft class was getting some publicity beforehand, so I used it as an excuse to take some field trips in 2014. Fun to track some of my thoughts at the time:

Prospect Info: - The 2015 Draft Thread -- The day after seeing McDavid, I saw the stacked USNDTP '97s (Matthews/M.Tkachuk/among others). Earlier I visited my friend in Seattle and dragged him to a WHL preseason tournament.

Assorted thoughts.......

I went to a WHL preseason tournament in Everett during Labor Day weekend. Caught five of the six teams playing (Portland/Seattle/Tri-City/Victoria/Spokane).

Paul Bittner (11th on McKenzie's list): Big winger who could skate and had a decent shot. Played a little bit of the point on the PP, although I'm not sure if that's typical or just out of necessity since they didn't dress their full rosters. I shouldn't make NHL comparisons based on two games, but I'd maybe compare him to the good/motivated Dustin Penner. Big, but not necessarily a banger. He did a nice job protecting the puck against a 6'5 Brandon Carlo.

Keoni Teixeira: I believe he's slated to inherit the PPQB duties from Derrick Pouliot. I didn't really like him from the two games. Seemed to be way too eager to carry the puck instead of springing teammates.

Brandon Carlo: Big stay at home RH defender (so probably not somebody we'd be looking at). I liked that he made quick reads/decisions. Seemed like he had limited offensive upside. The first game I saw him, he was forced to play on the left side because Tri-City dressed 4 RH D. Carlo looked better in the second game on his normal side.

Parker Wotherspoon: A little more noticeable than Carlo. Jumped in the play a few times (Tri-City's forwards aren't great) and rang one of the post. Showed a little snarl and started a scrum to wake up the team after they were being dominated.

Ty Comrie: Younger brother of teammate Eric Comrie. Didn't really stand out, but Tri-City was on the losing end of the puck possession battle. Tough to gauge him since he never seemed to have the puck.

Tyler Soy: Smallish offensive center for Victoria. He was getting some hype as a 2nd round guy on the prospects board, but I was left pretty disappointed from that game.

Matt Barzal/Ryan Gropp: Biggest bummer from that trip was Seattle not dressing either guy for any of the three games because they were nursing minor injuries. Barzal is supposed to be a Nugent-Hopkins type player in this year's draft (I believe he was listed at #7 on McKenzie's). Gropp is a big winger who is expected to be somewhere in the 2nd round.

Ethan Bear (32nd on Craig Button's initial list): Small, but stout RH D. Scored one goal with a howitzer on the PP. Next game he got the OT winner by pinching in. Didn't really notice him defensively, which might be a good thing since that means he didn't have any glaring mistakes.

------------

From Erie/Windsor and Youngstown/US U-18 this past weekend.............


Connor McDavid: Brought me out of my chair a couple times. Saw him before warmups and there's definitely room to improve physically. Even without the offense, I was impressed by his defense. His ability to steal the puck away with a quick stick reminded me of John Madden.

Dylan Strome: He got two assists, but I was left a little underwhelmed. He's got size and plays more methodically than his older brother Ryan. But perhaps it's just unfair to watch Strome and have McDavid there at the same time.

Travis Dermott: Wasn't dressed, I think most lists have him as a 2nd round D at the moment.

Assorted: No Josh Ho-Sang for Windsor because of a suspension he incurred from last season. Winsdor has a possible top 5/10 guy for 2016 in Luke Kirwan. I believe Kirwan, from upstate NY, wears #44 in tribute to upstate NY hockey legend Rob Schremp. Big punishing winger, showed some offensive upside. Used his size/strength to beat his defender to the outside on the rush, then dipped his shoulder and bodied off the defender and got a good scoring opportunity. Probably will look better once Ho-Sang comes back.

Windsor has another potential 2016 first rounder in center Logan Brown (son of former NHL D Jeff Brown). But he was scratched that night.

-------------

US Under-18 game was crawling with NHL scouts. Of the ones I could identify for sure, I saw Trevor Timmins (Montreal), Randy Sexton (Pittsburgh), and Ville Siren (Columbus). Former Caps GM George McPhee was also there, but I can't seem to find where he's working now. Warren Rychel (Windsor owner/GM) was also there with a couple other guys. Not unusual for them to try to recuit the under-18 guys to skip college and go the OHL route.

Keith Tkachuk was also there watching his son Matt (2016 eligible). Matt had good speed/hands and wasn't afraid of the dirty spots. He also had some Clarkson-itis early in the game and seemingly was falling down a lot.

The other main guy was Auston Matthews who misses out on 2015 by two days. Currently he's the early favorite to go #1 in 2016. Again, probably a little unfair after seeing McDavid the night before, but Matthews was a nice combination of size/strength/speed.

Kyle Connor was the main attraction on Youngstown (honorable mention on McKenzie's list). Speedy, but super skinny center. Seemed like his wrist shot could use some improvement. Didn't do much for the first two periods of the game, then he pulls out a Matt Duchene-esque goal and blows by a defender/roofs it in tight against the goalie.

Colin White (HM on McKenzie's list) was a little maddening to watch. Reminded me a lot of one of my hockey teammates in that he kept trying the same move entering the offensive zone and turned it over every time. Tried to go one on four during a PP zone entry which was an easy clear for the opposition. But I suppose I shouldn't judge too harshly as a lot of these guys had played in Buffalo a couple nights before.

Jordan Greenway (seen him 20-30 on some lists). Came away not really liking him. He had size (6'4) and could truck some defenders, but didn't create a ton of offensive chances for himself or his linemates.

Jeremy Bracco - Liked him more as the game went on. Small RW, nice zip to his wrist shot. Showed some nice tenacity in his forecheck/PK. I think I've seen preliminary lists have him as a 2nd/3rd rounder.

From a January 2015 Seattle/Portland game: Prospect Info: - The 2015 Draft Thread Part II

Had a quick 36 hour jaunt to visit friends in Seattle. Dragged them down to see the Thunderbirds. From the boxscore, it would appear that Matt Barzal had a terrible game. 0 points and -4, but I came away loving his vision.

Barzal had a number of passes to teammates which could have easily led to goals, but in some cases they didn't even get a shot on goal. Barzal didn't appear to be the fastest guy, albeit this was my first time seeing him live, but I think others have noted this as well.

I only remember him getting one shot on net, which was in close, so I couldn't really gauge what he has going for him in that department. He seemed very much pass first, shoot second in this game. But he did a beautiful job of drawing in defenders and dishing off in the vacated passing lanes. Definitely was impressed with his puck poise and creativity. He was able to thread the needle through passing lanes which I didn't think were there.

He seemed to be getting beat on the draw a majority of the time. Seemed like he was going up against Petan and De Leo in most cases.

Ryan Gropp is a fellow 2015 draft eligible who had a decent game with two goals. We share the same birthday which is semi-important in terms of the NHL Draft. If Gropp were one day older, he would have been eligible last year. He has a nice frame at 6'2, above average skater with decent hands. Both of his goals were within 10 feet of the net. Offhand, he reminded me of another toolsy prospect winger in Boo Nieves (Rangers 2012 2nd rounder) who plays for Michigan. Threw a couple of decent checks and seemed to get in the dirty areas. Almost got a hat trick goal in another goal mouth scrum.

On the flip side, I didn't like Paul Bittner's night for Portland. Like Gropp, he's got size (6'4) and has some tools. But for a big guy, he didn't seem particularly physical. Didn't seem to create any chances for his linemates. One of the friends I brought (who didn't know anything about the prospects going into the game) noted how much Bittner was floating.

Some good takes, some bad.

 

[ESH]

Eichel is still the clear choice for 2nd overall. Very rarely do players come around with his combination of athleticism and skill. His shot is like a slingshot, though he could afford to improve his accuracy; and he's an even better playmaker. He has slicks and he can dangle at speed as well. It's his skating that has always impressed me the most though. The way he skates is reminiscent of Paul Coffey, with such long and powerful strides. There is a very select few players that can boast a combination of skating, stickhandling, shooting, and passing that rivals Eichel's. He has all the tools, he just hasn't quite been able to put together a healthy, consistent season yet; but you know it's coming.

Aside from that, this draft was always considered a strong one at the top, but it's looking like it could rival (or probably even surpass) the 2003 draft now.

Mathew Barzal was actually the 2nd name I ever heard, years before the draft. He was extremely hyped as a young player, so it was surprising he ended up falling as much as he did, though I think he might have had mono his draft year which obviously would have contributed to the drop (as well as questions about his scoring ability).

This draft is also infamous for Boston's 3-in-a-row picks mid-1st round. The funny thing about those picks is that we were questionable even at the time, not just in hindsight. Zboril wasn't necessarily a bad pick at the time. He and Chabot played for the same team in the QMJHL and both were in that kind-of 2nd tier of defense prospects for the draft. Kind-of a pick based on the style you valued more, with Boston deciding they wanted the more physical, defensive defenseman in Zboril over the smooth-skating offense of Chabot. DeBrusk and Senyshyn though were both seen more as late-1st/2nd round picks on most boards. Even on draft day Boston was mocked for going with those 2 over Barzal/Connor, and those choices just look more absurd with time.

 

[Buffalowing1988]

Rightly so. That draft could've provided the transition between the Bergeron-Marchand and Pastrnak-McAvoy eras. As is, it's murky.

Woe is you

 

[MaxV]

Andrew Mangiapane is another member of this class, killing it at the Worlds after a solid NHL season. An excellent 6th round pick.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Horrendous draft for the Bruins. Likely cost them a few cups.

 

[Boxscore]

Eichel is still the clear choice for 2nd overall.

I'd take Rantanen over Eichel and sleep well at night.

 

[bobholly39]

Wow that is actually a really good draft looking back. That first round is incredible. Even in the 2nd round you have MacKenzie Blackwood in net.

Here is the question, if you know what you know how, and while it is still somewhat early, how do you re-do that draft?

McDavid is #1, but is Eichel #2? You have Rantanen and Marner who are both candidates to be a re-engineered #2 pick in hindsight.

I am not sure what will come with Dylan Strome. I remember being glad the Leafs got Marner, but I also figured we'd be just as good with Strome had we got him. Had a lousy year though, I am just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt though.

Eichel definitely goes #2 in my opinion. I feel the sense around the league is that he's the best of the bunch today - but mostly he has the most untapped potential still. He's also a center. Combine all of that, clear (if not huge) gap at #2.

But you're right that there are many players who seem to be in the same tier as him so far - and it's a crapshoot who ends up with best career. I think any/all of Aho/Barzal/Ranta/Marner could conceivably 'outcareer' Eichel - and then you still have guys like Chabot, Connor, etc. So he's still a clear #2 as of today in my opinion - but it doesn't guarantee he finishes #2 for career.

I think this draft could end up #1 all-time. McDavid helps tremendously. The 2003 draft is often looked at as one of the better ones, and this one has a lot of similarities + McDavid. Imagine adding Crosby or Ovechkin to the 2003 draft class? That's what this one may end up being.

 

[Big Phil]

Eichel definitely goes #2 in my opinion. I feel the sense around the league is that he's the best of the bunch today - but mostly he has the most untapped potential still. He's also a center. Combine all of that, clear (if not huge) gap at #2.

But you're right that there are many players who seem to be in the same tier as him so far - and it's a crapshoot who ends up with best career. I think any/all of Aho/Barzal/Ranta/Marner could conceivably 'outcareer' Eichel - and then you still have guys like Chabot, Connor, etc. So he's still a clear #2 as of today in my opinion - but it doesn't guarantee he finishes #2 for career.

I think this draft could end up #1 all-time. McDavid helps tremendously. The 2003 draft is often looked at as one of the better ones, and this one has a lot of similarities + McDavid. Imagine adding Crosby or Ovechkin to the 2003 draft class? That's what this one may end up being.

It could be. The funny thing is, you look back on drafts, even recent ones like 2015, and you forget that Barzal or Chabot or Connor or Rantanen were in this draft. Sort of like looking at the 2015 WJC team for Canada. Wow is that ever stacked and a heck of a lot closer on an all-time level (including results in the tournament) to the 1995 and 2005 teams. 2015 will age well, and like 2003 be very deep.

But does it surpass 1979, which is often thought of as the best draft of all-time?

 

[MaxV]

But does it surpass 1979, which is often thought of as the best draft of all-time?

That will be tough. 7 HOFers (8 if you count undrafted players), 2 of which are all-time greats, just ridiculous class.

 

[Hobnobs]

I'd take Rantanen over Eichel and sleep well at night.

You'd take a winger who's scored less points in a better environment over Eichel? I guess it makes sense when playoffs comes to mind with Eichel being unknown factor but still.

 

[Ivo]

Horrendous draft for the Bruins. Likely cost them a few cups.

It could have been better, but horrendous is too strong a word. 7 players from that draft played for the Bruins this year, that’s hardly horrendous. Carlo-Lauzon in the second round were great picks. Zboril didn’t work out as hoped for, but he was ranked right around where they took him. DeBrusk was a reach, but has been a good player for a few seasons, hopefully he can rebound. Senyshyn was the only really bad pick, both at the time and in hindsight. If they take someone like Connor instead of Senyshyn, it would be seen as an excellent draft (seeing how good they did in the 2nd round).
If you want to see horrendous, check out the 2007 draft for the Bruins.