Prospect Info: 2018 NHL Draft

[Rzombo4 prez]

Considering the way the Wings have drafted under him...that sounds about right.

Is anything that he said patently wrong though? I don't have a strong opinion of him one way or another, but I do agree you can't always swing of the fences. For better or worse, what really prevented the whole rebuild-on-the-fly was shanking the McCollum, Kindl and to a lesser degree Smith picks. We cannot miss on any more first round picks for the foreseeable future.

I find the whole "he loves size" thing a bit too simplistic

 

[Frk It]

Perhaps, but who are all of these big swings that we passed on apart from the usual first-round suspects? There are certainly a couple here and there but that was a pretty frumpy draft in terms of depth.

What Vegas did sure looks pretty impressive to me.

Excluding Glass - Suzuki, Brannstrom, Hague, Elvenes, Dugan

McPhee navigated a weak draft beautifully. Ironically enough, McPhee says swinging for the fences is the only way to go. A man after my own heart.

 

[Frk It]

HockeyProspect.com 2018 NHL Draft Rankings Top 62, December Edition - HockeyProspect.com | 2018 NHL Draft

Farabee and Denisenko as top 10 guys is very interesting to me.

Their highest ranked center is Kupari, at 12. They don’t have a North American center in their top 20.

Listened to The Pipeline Show today, they talked a bit about Ryan McLeod, he sounds kind of similar to Larkin as a prospect for whatever it’s worth.

 

[Michael Brand Eggs]

Ty Smith outside of the top 10 would be a steal for somebody. That guy can do it all.

 

[Frk It]

Ty Smith outside of the top 10 would be a steal for somebody. That guy can do it all.

At the current moment, I’m really hoping for one of Ty Smith, Noah Dobson, or Quinn Hughes. Would probably be my “short list”. But it’s early still, a lot can change.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

At the current moment, I’m really hoping for one of Ty Smith, Noah Dobson, or Quinn Hughes. Would probably be my “short list”. But it’s early still, a lot can change.

Really want Dahlin or Quinn. I know the lottery will have to smile on us, but one of those two would be huge. I like Smith and Dobson but I have them below the other two.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

What Vegas did sure looks pretty impressive to me.

Excluding Glass - Suzuki, Brannstrom, Hague, Elvenes, Dugan

McPhee navigated a weak draft beautifully. Ironically enough, McPhee says swinging for the fences is the only way to go. A man after my own heart.

I can't knock their draft class (though I don't find Hague all that skilled notwithstanding his junior production), but all of those guys went about where they were projected to go. Maybe they took Brannstrom a bit early but that was about it. Anyways, I don't consider these to be huge swings.

 

[TheMule93]

You gotta imagine McPhee is a little upset that they wont have a shot at the top of this years draft, if they continue playing the way they have. They need a superstar.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

You gotta imagine McPhee is a little upset that they wont have a shot at the top of this years draft, if they continue playing the way they have. They need a superstar.

And if they win the cup?

 

[Frk It]

I can't knock their draft class (though I don't find Hague all that skilled notwithstanding his junior production), but all of those guys went about where they were projected to go. Maybe they took Brannstrom a bit early but that was about it. Anyways, I don't consider these to be huge swings.

Going where they were projected to go is irrelevant. That’s a skilled group of guys to walk away with in a weaker draft.

Brayden Point and Kucherov went where they were projected to go, too.

Swinging big isn’t about reaching, its about taking skilled guys with high upside.

 

[Frk It]

Really want Dahlin or Quinn. I know the lottery will have to smile on us, but one of those two would be huge. I like Smith and Dobson but I have them below the other two.

Don’t think we will need a ton of luck for Hughes. I know he is your clear cut #3 guy, but I’d be surprised if he went there. I think Boqvist and Zadina are ahead of him for now. Decent shot he should be there.

I like Hughes a lot... Still not sure compared to those other 2 if he will be a guy you can play in all situations, though.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Don’t think we will need a ton of luck for Hughes. I know he is your clear cut #3 guy, but I’d be surprised if he went there. I think Boqvist and Zadina are ahead of him for now. Decent shot he should be there.

Still not sure compared to those other 2 if he will be a guy you can play in all situations, though.

That is true. I do overvalue him. I want him over Boqvist for sure and I was probably the minority, well until he rips up the WJC this week.

But honestly I would be over the moon if we drafted him. Whenever I see him down near six I get excited.

 

[Frk It]

That is true. I do overvalue him. I want him over Boqvist for sure and I was probably the minority, well until he rips up the WJC this week.

But honestly I would be over the moon if we drafted him. Whenever I see him down near six I get excited.

He’s been unreal for USA every time he’s suited up, so I don’t expect that to change.

I’d be very happy with the Hughes pick as well, for what it’s worth. Have this strange feeling we end up with both of them

Haven’t seen much of Boqvist, but seems like a lot of people have him as the #3 guy at the moment. Looking forward to Bob’s mid-season ranking to see if that holds up.

 

[Dotter]

I can gurentee you the 5'9" Hughes drops. His height and size will deter teams from taking him early.

 

[Michael Brand Eggs]

I can gurentee you the 5'9" Hughes drops. His height and size will deter teams from taking him early.

If Cale Makar can go 4th overall, Quinn Hughes will be fine.

 

[Michael Brand Eggs]

That is true. I do overvalue him. I want him over Boqvist for sure and I was probably the minority, well until he rips up the WJC this week.

But honestly I would be over the moon if we drafted him. Whenever I see him down near six I get excited.

The Boqvist thing is getting a little weird to me. Like how is it that such a highly thought of prospect has yet to spend a meaningful amount of time in *any* of Sweden's men's leagues? This is where you defer to your European scouts, I guess, but that factor makes me a little anxious. And now no WJC, too? Damn. I guess I'll have to pay special attention to the U-18s.

 

[Michael Brand Eggs]

How upset would you be if the Wings took Brady Tkachuk? He's probably not a center, but he's a helluva playmaker in tight, and he's overall a darn good stickhandler. He's sort of a big power-playmaker type. If Rasmussen is really going to be a center, I could see Tkachuk as a good guy to play with him.

 

[Dotter]

I think no matter who Ken Holland picks with his 1st pick, there's going to be a group of folks pissed off. Unless that 1st pick is Dahlin.

 

[SantosHalper]

Tkachuk+Rasmussen would be a nice duo and if you add a sniper to the bunch, it would one dangerous line. But this draft is full of very talented D, so draft defence this year and draft top-6 playmaker at the next draft.

 

[Reddwit]

Calen Addison is really something. Would love to see us pick up a late 1st and snag him with it. Reminds me of a young Mike Green with his diverse offensive arsenal on the PP but with much better wheels and more character.

 

[Redder Winger]

I can gurentee you the 5'9" Hughes drops. His height and size will deter teams from taking him early.

If we're drafting at 3 I sure as f*** don't want a 5'9 defenseman

 

[Frk It]

How upset would you be if the Wings took Brady Tkachuk? He's probably not a center, but he's a helluva playmaker in tight, and he's overall a darn good stickhandler. He's sort of a big power-playmaker type. If Rasmussen is really going to be a center, I could see Tkachuk as a good guy to play with him.

Tkachuk could be alright... but the only forwards I really want in the top 10 are named Svechnikov and Wahlstrom. Farabee is a guy who’s name I haven’t seen mentioned at all that I think is actually a pretty talented forward. But all of these guys are wingers, so I’m leaning towards defenseman unless we get lucky and get the #2 spot. Svechnikov is so good he’d be worth it.

Otherwise keep it simple... take whoever the top defenseman on your board is. Should be a bunch of good ones there with our first pick.

 

[Frk It]

WJC kicks off today. Some 2018 draft eligibles in action. If you get NHL network, you can tune in.

12 PM EST - Czech vs Russia - Jakub Lauko (CZE)
4 PM EST - Canada vs Finland - Rasmus Kupari (FIN)
8 PM EST - Denmark vs USA - Quinn Hughes (USA) & Brady Tkachuk (USA)

Also as far as our prospects go, Kotkansalo is playing at 4 PM, and I am assuming Setkov is playing at 8 PM.

 

[newfy]

Brady Tkachuk would be an alright pick depending on where the wings end up. I know a lot of people (myself included) want the wings to draft Dmen but depending on how the draft shakes out that might not make the most sense. If the wings end up picking 7th lets say, the smart pick really could be Tkachuk or Zadina. I know the wings have wingers, but they really just need talent first and foremost at all positions really. D or C are preferable but adding talent should be the start. If you get talent you can trade it for a center or D 3 years from now worst case ontario

 

[Frk It]

Brady Tkachuk would be an alright pick depending on where the wings end up. I know a lot of people (myself included) want the wings to draft Dmen but depending on how the draft shakes out that might not make the most sense. If the wings end up picking 7th lets say, the smart pick really could be Tkachuk or Zadina. I know the wings have wingers, but they really just need talent first and foremost at all positions really. D or C are preferable but adding talent should be the start. If you get talent you can trade it for a center or D 3 years from now worst case ontario

I agree that they do need high end talent...

However, good luck trading a winger for an equal quality center or defenseman. Doesn't really happen. There should be plenty of good options for defenseman with whichever pick we get in the top 10 though, in my opinion. So not too worried.