Prospect Info: 2021 6th Rd Pick (#185 OA) - Vyacheslav Peksa (G) - Kazan (MHL)

[BertCorbeau]

Drafting goalies is a waste

8 of the last 10 cup winners' starting goalie was drafted/developed internally

 

[BertCorbeau]

Unless the goalie is really good and/or shows alot of promise, why even bother drafting them? Seems like in most cases you're drafting a lotto ticket that has a very low chance of becoming an NHL goalie and even if you do hit, it often takes a number of years for them to get there with the exception of a few goalies who are able to make it to the NHL in their early 20s.

Seems like its better to simply draft forwards and Dmen who generally take less time to develop and to trade for or sign a UFA goalie when you need one instead.

The chances of getting an NHLer out of a late round pick aren't that good. And actually I would imagine the chances of getting a good to great NHL goalie earlier in the draft is far less than landing a good to great forward or d-man.

Nothing wrong with chancing some late round picks on a goalie... It's as important as other positions to have depth in. Relying solely on UFA's can be expensive and ineffective.

 

[PromisedLand]

Don;t mind this pick. Keep throwing darts at goalies eventually we are going to land one that is a gamer.

 

[LaPlante94]

I doubt any of us here know how to scout a goalie so we can't really say if it's a bad pick or not. Goalies are weird and unless you have played goalie and know all the little things to look for when scouting goalies then our opinions probably don't mean much. Akhtyamov is looking like a pretty damn good pick from last year and I'm sure we've seen plenty of this kid the last year to see something that warranted him being drafted.

 

[hockeywiz542]

What are the Toronto Maple Leafs getting in their 2021 NHL Draft picks Matthew Knies, Ty Voit and Vyacheslav Peksa? - The Athletic

Pick No. 3: Vyacheslav Peksa

Drafted: Sixth round, No. 185 | Position: G
Age: 18 | Height: 6-foot-2 | Weight: 163 pounds
2020-21 Stats: 17 GP, .909 sv %, 1 SO (Irbis Kazan, MHL)

The Skinny: Here’s the obligatory goalie pick. Drafting Peksa appears to be a case of the Leafs adapted to a constantly shifting scouting world in which travel was restricted.

Peksa was a teammate of 2020 Leafs pick Artur Akhtyamov, a fact which Lilley admitted factored into the decision to draft Peksa as the team’s development staff would have been heavily monitoring his MHL team already.

Lilley said Toronto Marlies goalie coach Jon Elkin was tasked with studying possible goalie selections and Elkin “went to bat for him at the end of the day.”

“Jon really thinks this kid is athletic and thinks there’s a bright future with a lot of upside,” said Lilley.

Peksa was not ranked by NHL Central Scouting.

“A little bit of an unknown,” said Lilley of Peksa, “but again, with the resources we had in place with the video, Jon was very confident and I was very confident in the pick.”

Given the goalies ahead of him on Kazan’s depth chart, it’s likely Peksa returns to the MHL against next season. Having Peksa and Akhtyamov in the same organization could eventually benefit the Leafs as they can focus in on their development without expending additional resources.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Having Peksa and Akhtyamov in the same organization could eventually benefit the Leafs as they can focus in on their development without expending additional resources.

The Leafs have more resources than anyone. Honestly the fact he's a teammate of another Leafs prospect doesn't make me feel confident in the pick. Like they obviously watched him more than most but it feels like something lazy and bad franchises often do

Having said that goalies are voodoo so whatever, we just need to develop one finally, please.

 

[stickty111]

Don't get this pick. Going to have to trust Dubas here

 

[SeaOfBlue]

To be fair, Pekka Rinne got selected by Nashville and all they saw of him was a warmup because he never got playing time. Who knows with Goalies.

If we were to draft a goalie, I wish we would finally go for a guy thats near the top of the board and not just throwing darts at a guy like Peska or Bouthillier. Would much rather go for another Connor Brown kind of pick.

I have no issues going with a goalie late, but I think it is a really lazy pick. Akhtyamov was bad enough, but now they are getting a guy who is even worse because you have tape on him? At that point just don't draft the guy.

There should be real concerns with our goalies. We have nothing coming through the pipelines for our coaches to develop once Woll and Scott are mature, which will be likely be within the next 2 years (so drafting Vrbetic would have been perfect, because he would be ready to come in once Woll/Scott are more mature). Our Russians are going to stay in Russia until they are fully developed (if they are ever good enough to come over at all, which I doubt).

I don't think you need to draft a ton of goalies, but how our scouts think drafting Peksa, Bouthillier, and Akhtyamov is a good idea is beyond me. None of them were draftable goalies.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

I have no issues going with a goalie late, but I think it is a really lazy pick. Akhtyamov was bad enough, but now they are getting a guy who is even worse because you have tape on him? At that point just don't draft the guy.

There should be real concerns with our goalies. We have nothing coming through the pipelines for our coaches to develop once Woll and Scott are mature, which will be likely be within the next 2 years (so drafting Vrbetic would have been perfect, because he would be ready to come in once Woll/Scott are more mature). Our Russians are going to stay in Russia until they are fully developed (if they are ever good enough to come over at all, which I doubt).

I don't think you need to draft a ton of goalies, but how our scouts think drafting Peksa, Bouthillier, and Akhtyamov is a good idea is beyond me. None of them were draftable goalies.

I just don't understand how our scouting staff can be so good at evaluating forwards and defensemen and then suck so badly at evaluating goaltenders.

Even simple shot metrics could have done a better job at finding a decent goalie prospect.

For example in the CHL if you take SA/60 and adjust SV% to the mean using a standard deviation, it usually identifies a few guys who way outplay their teammates.

So far it seems like we use nothing like this for goaltenders.

 

[aingefan]

Don't get this pick. Going to have to trust Dubas here

Musta made a helluvan impression on Elkin in those very minimal viewings.
It’s like taking a big cut in the 9th when you’re down 7 runs: might as well, not shifting the universe one way or another.
Ps, what happened to the late Swedish special? I miss them.

 

[Subway Schenn]

I know it's pick #185 but c'mon!

 

[Duke16]

I don't have anything against Peksa specifically, and I know very little about him, but in some backwards way these obscure late round picks are more frustrating.

In earlier rounds, the Leafs may not pick the top guy I had in mind, but they are getting a good player (and I trust them too) regardless. When it gets to this point, everyone watching from at home is intensifying their watch on fallers and it's annoying to watch them continue to fall. I wanted James Hardie here, but how mad can one really get over a 6th?

 

[Duke16]

I have no issues going with a goalie late, but I think it is a really lazy pick. Akhtyamov was bad enough, but now they are getting a guy who is even worse because you have tape on him? At that point just don't draft the guy.

There should be real concerns with our goalies. We have nothing coming through the pipelines for our coaches to develop once Woll and Scott are mature, which will be likely be within the next 2 years (so drafting Vrbetic would have been perfect, because he would be ready to come in once Woll/Scott are more mature). Our Russians are going to stay in Russia until they are fully developed (if they are ever good enough to come over at all, which I doubt).

I don't think you need to draft a ton of goalies, but how our scouts think drafting Peksa, Bouthillier, and Akhtyamov is a good idea is beyond me. None of them were draftable goalies.

I'm with you here. I expected Akhtyamov to get drafted in general last year, but the Leafs jumped on him way earlier than I would have. I don't buy the whole "drafting goalies never fails because you just have to hit on one" approach. These obscure picks are most likely to be wasted.

If the Leafs are going to draft a goalie, I'd rather do it in the manner they drafted Woll and Scott, where they are getting one of the upper level goalies in the class, but they weren't the ones kickstarting the run on goalies. Getting one of the better goalies of the class in the 3rd-4th round every couples seasons is way more calculated than a pick like Peksa. Goalies are voodoo, but not this voodoo

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

I doubt any of us here know how to scout a goalie so we can't really say if it's a bad pick or not. Goalies are weird and unless you have played goalie and know all the little things to look for when scouting goalies then our opinions probably don't mean much. Akhtyamov is looking like a pretty damn good pick from last year and I'm sure we've seen plenty of this kid the last year to see something that warranted him being drafted.

If I could find video of him, I would give a quick run down on his technique but I haven't been able to find anything yet.

 

[LaPlante94]

If I could find video of him, I would give a quick run down on his technique but I haven't been able to find anything yet.

The only thing I heard about him is our Lead Scout Lilley said our Goalie coach Elkin vouched for him hard from the videos they had. I guess all we can do now is keep an eye out for when his team plays and watch the stream of the game to see if he's playing or not.

 

[Stephen]

I just don't understand how our scouting staff can be so good at evaluating forwards and defensemen and then suck so badly at evaluating goaltenders.

Even simple shot metrics could have done a better job at finding a decent goalie prospect.

For example in the CHL if you take SA/60 and adjust SV% to the mean using a standard deviation, it usually identifies a few guys who way outplay their teammates.

So far it seems like we use nothing like this for goaltenders.

I think it's important for any organization to invest in specific goalie scouts, especially one with the resources of a Toronto. Kevin Woodley has mentioned this in his In Goal Podcast. Feels like this organization has targeted athleticism over the past 15 years but falls short on finding guys who can read the play well or have great structure and control to their games.

(Without making any judgement on Peksa).

 

[Martin Skoula]

I think it's important for any organization to invest in specific goalie scouts, especially one with the resources of a Toronto. Kevin Woodley has mentioned this in his In Goal Podcast. Feels like this organization has targeted athleticism over the past 15 years but falls short on finding guys who can read the play well or have great structure and control to their games.

(Without making any judgement on Peksa).

Getting old hearing about how the next guy up is a "battler" who'll fight for 2nd and 3rd chances. Call me crazy but maybe look for a guy with the stability to not give up those 2nd and 3rd chances in the first place. The disconnect between drafting for IQ in skaters and athleticism in goalies is strange.

 

[Stephen]

Getting old hearing about how the next guy up is a "battler" who'll fight for 2nd and 3rd chances. Call me crazy but maybe look for a guy with the stability to not give up those 2nd and 3rd chances in the first place. The disconnect between drafting for IQ in skaters and athleticism in goalies is strange.

Yeah, I've heard goalie games being deconstructed into the categories of size/athleticism, technique and then the battler component.

So you want a guy who has the ideal frame to play the position, that Carey Price, Spencer Knight high end technical ability and hockey sense, and then the extra fight to not get beat. From a superficial point of view, it's like the Leafs draft for the athleticism and street hockey component, but they don't exactly seem to know what to look for in that high end technical structure and ability to read plays when it comes to a lot of players they've brought through the system over the years.

One of the reasons why they seemed to value Freddie so much over the years is he had technique and size (but was a little short on the battle component).

 

[Maplebeasts]

One of the few picks over the last 3 years I hate. Peter Reynolds was right there.

 

[paulhiggins]

Hope Dubas isn't making the rookie mistake of drafting for need instead of Best Player Available.

 

[daethfromabove1979]

I don't think people realize how bad this guy's stats were in 2020-21. Pretty much every goalie prospect in the MHL puts up awesome numbers except for this guy. And he will still be in the MHL next year with no path to the VHL or KHL. I find it hard to believe this is best we can do.

 

[Dayjobdave]

Maybe they picked him just to put a little heat on their other guy.

 

[Cams]

The outrage and pessimism over taking a flyer pick in a late round in a draft full of unknowns after a year of covid is lengendary for sure. Didn't realize there were so many Russian league experts or scouts on the Leafs board.

 

[4thline]

Other than being on the same team and Russian, this and the Ahktyamov pick have little in common. AA was a MHL standout and one of the top goalies in Russia in his age group. This guy is a tools based hunch with no track record to speak. Won't begrudge the team that in the 6th round.
I have to say I'm a little disappointed though. This is the kind of pick you'd expect from an over scouted draft that's been picked clean, whereas I was hoping that the lost year would lead to conflicting reads and more "Voit" types - promising U17 but high degree of risk from no U18- that you're gambling would have gone much higher had the season happened, or at least you'd be willing to take much higher this year.

Hopefully this guy proves Elkin right.

 

[Lauro]

It would be really funny if this 'obscure' pick amounted to something.