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2018 NHL Entry Draft Thread (Less then 24 Hours Edition)

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My list:
Svechnikov
Wahlstrom
Zadina
Kotkaniemi
Dobson
Tkachuk
Bouchard

(I’m biased against small defenseman, too many of them bust that it’s too scary to select one this high IMO)
 
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habsterr said:
1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Andrei Svechnikov
3. Filip Zadina
4. Adam Boqvist
5. Noah Dobson
6. Oliver Wahlstrom
7. Quinn Hughes
8. Brady Tkachuk
9. Evan Bouchard
10. Jesperi Kotkaniemi
11. Ty Smith
12. Joel Farabee
13. Joe Veleno
14. Grigori Denisenko
15. Barrett Hayton
Click to expand...


NICE!!! but keep going! Do you have a top 50?
 
Kotkaniemi skating is more than fine. He is very strong, balanced and agile. He lacks explosiveness and top gear but other than that he is top skater. His skating is actually more advanced than Kopitar at the same age.
 
We're witnessing the rise of Kotakniemi in terms on this forum. From just outside the top 7 not so long ago, he's getting into the conversation between 3rd and 7th picks.

Does he have enough to oust Zadina, the player most posters here seem to favor as the Habs' first round pick?
 
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Andrei79 said:
Apparently, Button said Kotkaniemi would be no later than 5th on his next list.
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He also said that he will impact the game in every aspect. His style is similar to Kopitar.
It seems like the Kotkaniemi train is getting more and more people on. At the end of the day, they will have to get that high upside young C of the future. And there are two realistic ways of doing so at this point: get one out of Pacio's trade or draft one now. Yes,next years draft has good centers available but there is too much uncertainty there - we don't know where we'll be drafting and who will be available in our range.

We don't have all the info on the trade talks, but the three high upside prospects MB has reportedly been interested - Borgstrom, Thomas and Vilardi - are not available according to Bob Mac.
We don't know other center prospects MB is interested in acquiring, but it seems that it is not easy - teams are reluctant to part with them.
 
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Runner77 said:
We're witnessing the rise of Kotakniemi in terms on this forum. From just outside the top 7 not so long ago, he's getting into the conversation between 3rd and 7th picks.

Do he have enough to oust Zadina, the player most posters here seem to favor as the Habs' first round pick?
Click to expand...
I always had Kotkaniemi in my personal top 10 and his game seem to always evolve everytime I watch him. I prefer player than constantly improve every time I see them over players that stagnated.
 
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Although I wasn't overly impressed by Tkachuk's season at BU, I can't shake this feeling that he's got a much higher ceiling than Zadina.

College players tend to be undervalued at draft time and Tkachuk's stock has definitely dipped since he started playing college hockey.

Looking through Mock Drafts from late 2017, Brady was often more highly ranked than Zadina and there was lots of talk of him playing Center in the NHL. (You don't hear it much these days.)

Everything about Tkachuk says "big-time NHL player". Zadina is a safer choice but he's a sharpshooter, not someone who's going to drag the Habs into relevancy.

I'm being Devil's advocate here—but for years now, people on this forum have been begging management for players who are tougher, bigger, and more physical. Now here's a guy who seems to be all those things and more—and he's sitting there for the Canadiens to draft—but everyone (including me) has been ragging on him. ;)

Regardless what happens, I want to see Montreal get creative. Would Ottawa swap their #4 and #25 picks for Montreal's #3? Do the Canucks want that pick badly enough to include Brock Boeser in a trade? Could the #3 pick be part of a package that might pry Pierre Luc-Dubois loose from Columbus?

Just riffing here, but there's a lot leverage in a pick that high. I want MB to use this pick to make the team better on several fronts.
 
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I’d draft zadina third then try to trade Pacioretty to either the Oilers,Rangers or Islanders for their first round pick. With that pick I would ideally go for a defenceman. My order would be Dobson,Hughes and then Boqvist. If none of them are available I would go for Kotkaniemi or Veleno(underrated). I would also go for Olivier Rodrigue with one of our second round picks.
 
I really like Kotkaniemi's compete and hockey IQ but his play is very messy which worries me a bit. By messy i mean he's just a bit all over the place, his passes aren't crisp (he makes a lot of those hot potato passes which are hard to handle), his skating is weird because his turns aren't clean (his skating technique needs A LOT of work), there's a lot of pushing/shoving when he has the puck (a bit like Gallagher which isn't necessarily a bad thing) etc.

His shot is good and his puck handling is good, he just seems very raw right now. Of course that could mean he still has a lot of room for growth (very young player) but there's always that risk of a player not developing how you want him to. The thing he really needs to work on the most is definitely his skating, his speed is ok but his technique needs way more refinement.

He's a very intriguing prospect tho, right now he's a smart/high compete/good puck-handling player with a good release who needs to work on his passing and skating technique.
 
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Runner77 said:
We're witnessing the rise of Kotakniemi in terms on this forum. From just outside the top 7 not so long ago, he's getting into the conversation between 3rd and 7th picks.

Does he have enough to oust Zadina, the player most posters here seem to favor as the Habs' first round pick?
Click to expand...

He’s a top-8 pick for me. I think top-5 is too much, but I suppose I will be ok if we took him. Depends if the Habs have him in their top-5.

Just saying, if their top-5 is Dahlin, Svechnikov, Dobson, Kotkaniemi, Zadina... I would chance it and trade down to no further than #5. This would ensure if somebody takes Kotkaniemi, we still can reach for a guy we wanted.

Of course, I’d wait and see who Carolina takes first because end of the day, Svechnikov > any forward prospect.
 
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sandviper said:
He’s a top-8 pick for me. I think top-5 is too much, but I suppose I will be ok if we took him. Depends if the Habs have him in their top-5.

Just saying, if their top-5 is Dahlin, Svechnikov, Dobson, Kotkaniemi, Zadina... I would chance it and trade down to no further than #5. This would ensure if somebody takes Kotkaniemi, we still can reach for a guy we wanted.

Of course, I’d wait and see who Carolina takes first because end of the day, Svechnikov > any forward prospect.
Click to expand...
What are you really going to get to trade down those spots? A 2nd round pick? At our spot we have the luxury of taking whoever we want, why risk it.
 
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tooji said:
What are you really going to get to trade down those spots? A 2nd round pick? At our spot we have the luxury of taking whoever we want, why risk it.
Click to expand...

Well, not saying I’d do it, or Arizona, but a scenario I saw was maybe Patches + 3rd for OEL + 5th.

Anyhow, I agree at #3 we can take who we want. That said, we also have a couple options we didn’t have before. I’m of the opinion Bergevin is in retool mode so a possible swap of picks I think would involve a package of players.

Also, who is to say the Habs don’t have Veleno first on their list? I freaking hope to God they don’t, but picking Veleno 3rd overall is unacceptable, so in this case, they’d better trade down.

Again, not saying I want this (original lower pick swap discussion) and I certainly don’t want to trade down outside the top-7.
 
TT1 said:
I really like Kotkaniemi's compete and hockey IQ but his play is very messy which worries me a bit. By messy i mean he's just a bit all over the place, his passes aren't crisp (he makes a lot of those hot potato passes which are hard to handle), his skating is weird because his turns aren't clean (his skating technique needs A LOT of work), there's a lot of pushing/shoving when he has the puck (a bit like Gallagher which isn't necessarily a bad thing) etc.

His shot is good and his puck handling is good, he just seems very raw right now. Of course that could mean he still has a lot of room for growth (very young player) but there's always that risk of a player not developing how you want him to. The thing he really needs to work on the most is definitely his skating, his speed is ok but his technique needs way more refinement.

He's a very intriguing prospect tho, right now he's a smart/high compete/good puck-handling player with a good release who needs to work on his passing and skating technique.
Click to expand...
I can't disagree. I think the reason I'm less concerned about his projection at such a young age is that he continues to trend upwards. The parts of his game that were thought to be weaknesses at the start of the year have improved immensely over the season. Now there is always a gamble trying to project 17 year olds no doubt. But he's ten months younger than Tkachuk and eight months younger than Zadina, what will he look like at their age if he continues to progress at this rate?
 
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NoQuinn said:
I can't disagree. I think the reason I'm less concerned about his projection at such a young age is that he continues to trend upwards. The parts of his game that were thought to be weaknesses at the start of the year have improved immensely over the season. Now there is always a gamble trying to project 17 year olds no doubt. But he's ten months younger than Tkachuk and eight months younger than Zadina, what will he look like at their age if he continues to progress at this rate?
Click to expand...

And that is ultimately where the rankings get thrown out the window.. If you've seen a clear progression in a younger player, in a big body, no less.. then it's natural he's going to float up draft lists.

That extra amount of time between him and Tkachuk is a world of difference.
 
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WeThreeKings said:
And that is ultimately where the rankings get thrown out the window.. If you've seen a clear progression in a younger player, in a big body, no less.. then it's natural he's going to float up draft lists.

That extra amount of time between him and Tkachuk is a world of difference.
Click to expand...
The extra amount of time matters less, in my opinion. It's the difference in play for the two players from point A to point B. Tkachuk seemed like a clear cut top 3 pick early in the year or in 2016, and now Kotkaniemi has risen up the rankings because of his play. These players usually tend to be the better players historically, I'd gamble on the kid having all the tools and showing signs of progression rather than the stagnating (Strong word, I know.) player. Another reason why I love Alexeyev too.
 
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