Draft 2021 NHL Draft and Undrafted Free Agent Thread

[Bruner4329]

I can see the Rangers packaging their 1st for an established NHL player. Feels about that time in the rebuild.

You know if the right deal comes along why not. We basically stepped in it the last 2 years by getting the 2nd pick and then first pick last year. But the fact is no first rounder is a sure shot. In fact all you need to do is look to 4 years ago. We had 2 first round picks a number 7 and 21. The number 7 bombed out and FC to me still has a lot to prove. By now you would expect these type picks to have a big impact on a team and they haven't.

 

[UnSandvich]

Where will Luke Hughes go?

Can’t see him falling past NJ if they don’t win the lottery

 

[Synergy27]

You know if the right deal comes along why not. We basically stepped in it the last 2 years by getting the 2nd pick and then first pick last year. But the fact is no first rounder is a sure shot. In fact all you need to do is look to 4 years ago. We had 2 first round picks a number 7 and 21. The number 7 bombed out and FC to me still has a lot to prove. By now you would expect these type picks to have a big impact on a team and they haven't.

FC just had a ridiculously good season that is tempered only by the ice time he received. Need to look at rates instead of bottom line stats, particularly on last year’s team given the absurdly lopsided distribution of ice time.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

 

[AIexisLafreniereNYR]

So you’re saying we have a chance

 

[Machinehead]

This draft sucks. If we got Owen Power I wouldn't be any more excited than I am for Schneider.

I'm absolutely down to trade this pick if the opportunity comes along.

 

[RangersFan1994]

2021 NHL Draft Lottery to take place June 2
Sent with @Nhl

 

[Lion Hound]

NYR the real 1%’ers!

 

[bobbop]

Opinions on Chaz Lucius?

 

[Edge]

Opinions on Chaz Lucius?

Dangerous goal scoring winger, one of the more natural shooters in the draft. He can beat you a number of ways, from a number of different angles. He's like a pitcher with large repertoire. He has a nose for goal scoring --- he can anticipate it, he's ahead of the player, and goalies have a hard time guessing what he's going to throw at them.

Not inherently the quickest guy in the draft, but he's so smart I don't think it'll hold him back. His IQ and situational awareness more than makes up for the skating, and I think it will also help him become more of a complete player with time.

 

[egelband]

Rangers win the lottery guaranteed because maximum chaos.

Lottery to be handled by MSG. Three card Monty style. Surely they can find someone on 34th street. Used to be able to, at least.

 

[Savant]

Opinions on Chaz Lucius?

That he won’t be there at 15/16

 

[KrabStuff]

Dangerous goal scoring winger, one of the more natural shooters in the draft. He can beat you a number of ways, from a number of different angles. He's like a pitcher with large repertoire. He has a nose for goal scoring --- he can anticipate it, he's ahead of the player, and goalies have a hard time guessing what he's going to throw at them.

Not inherently the quickest guy in the draft, but he's so smart I don't think it'll hold him back. His IQ and situational awareness more than makes up for the skating, and I think it will also help him become more of a complete player with time.

Do you think he will stick at center?

 

[GAGLine]

You know if the right deal comes along why not. We basically stepped in it the last 2 years by getting the 2nd pick and then first pick last year. But the fact is no first rounder is a sure shot. In fact all you need to do is look to 4 years ago. We had 2 first round picks a number 7 and 21. The number 7 bombed out and FC to me still has a lot to prove. By now you would expect these type picks to have a big impact on a team and they haven't.

If that's what you think, then you need to adjust your expectations, at least in regards to Chytil. Lias certainly didn't live up to expectations, whatever the expectations were, but Chytil has surpassed any reasonable expectations. There are very few players that get drafted outside the top 10 that make an NHL impact early in their careers.

Only 7 players drafted in 2017 have more points than Chytil, and they were all taken ahead of him. Only 3 players drafted in 2017 have played more games and, again, they were all taken ahead of him. All in the top 3, in fact.

There's only 1 player in the 2017 draft that was drafted after Chytil, who we can definitively say is better than Chytil right now, and that's Jason Robertson, taken 39th overall.

Cody Glass, taken 6th overall in 2017 and the guy everyone wanted, has only played 66 games and has a total of 22 points.

Let's look at 21st overall picks over the last 10 years and compare:

[TABLE="class: brtb_item_table"][TBODY][TR][TD]Year[/TD][TD]Player[/TD][TD]Games[/TD][TD]Points[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2011[/TD][TD]Noesen[/TD][TD]205[/TD][TD]54[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2012[/TD][TD]Jankowski[/TD][TD]253[/TD][TD]75[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2013[/TD][TD]F. Gauthier[/TD][TD]170[/TD][TD]31[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2014[/TD][TD]Fabbri[/TD][TD]246[/TD][TD]122[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2015[/TD][TD]White[/TD][TD]200[/TD][TD]88[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2016[/TD][TD]J. Gauthier[/TD][TD]47[/TD][TD]11[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2017[/TD][TD]Chytil[/TD][TD]186[/TD][TD]71[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2018[/TD][TD]Merkley[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]0[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2019[/TD][TD]Poulin[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]0[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]2020[/TD][TD]Chinakhov[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]0[/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]

Chytil already has more points than Noesen and the Gauthier brothers. He will easily surpass both the games played and point totals of the others by the time he is as old as they are.

Chytil has improved every year. He was over .5 points per game this year, and all of his points came at even strength. The only other players on the team to have .5 ppg or more at even strength were Panarin, Mika, Strome and Buch.

If we look at points per 60, Chytil was 3rd behind Panarin and Buch. He was 4th in goals per 60 behind Buch, Laf and Blackwell.

I don't know if Chytil will end up at center or wing, but he's going to be a good player. Hopefully it's for us.

 

[Edge]

Do you think he will stick at center?

Right now I’d say no. Lucius is arguably in the same boat as McTavish in that he’s probably trending toward being a wing.

Beniers is the obvious center choice at the top of the draft - and a hell of a complete player, even if there are some doubts he’s a sure-fire top line center.

Beyond him, there are a lot of guys listed at center who are probably wings at the next levels - including Lucius and McTavish.

Raty seems to be linked to us in a lot of mock drafts, and there was interest from the Rangers.

But a dark horse I would keep an eye on is Pinelli. His name has come up in more and more circles and I know at the very least he was on the Rangers radar. I finally got my hands on some extended footage of him a few weeks back - and there’s a lot to like there.

 

[Joey Bones]

Right now I’d say no. Lucius is arguably in the same boat as McTavish in that he’s probably trending toward being a wing.

Beniers is the obvious center choice at the top of the draft - and a hell of a complete player, even if there are some doubts he’s a sure-fire top line center.

Beyond him, there are a lot of guys listed at center who are probably wings at the next levels - including Lucius and McTavish.

Raty seems to be linked to us in a lot of mock drafts, and there was interest from the Rangers.

But a dark horse I would keep an eye on is Pinelli. His name has come up in more and more circles and I know at the very least he was on the Rangers radar. I finally got my hands on some extended footage of him a few weeks back - and there’s a lot to like there.

I would say the same. Good post, man!!

 

[Joey Bones]

A side note, that 2014 draft goalie crop is bonkers!!

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Apologies if this was already posted on Raty, a bit anecdotal for my liking but not the most flattering portrait and presents the bear case:

Draft to Dev: Aatu Räty

 

[Joey Bones]

Apologies if this was already posted on Raty, a bit anecdotal for my liking but not the most flattering portrait and presents the bear case:

Draft to Dev: Aatu Räty

Raty plays a very pro styled game, unlike Esposito who was quite documented as a risk with his "juniors" play. I think it'll be the skill that may or may not translate. He's got the skill to boom into a 2C role, but 1C might be pushing it. ATM, given what we've seen, it looks more likely as a bottom-6 center.

I do think he is a center in the NHL, though, so hopefully that helps lead him down that path. Think he'll need some time to develop that top line driving skill.

 

[Edge]

Apologies if this was already posted on Raty, a bit anecdotal for my liking but not the most flattering portrait and presents the bear case:

Draft to Dev: Aatu Räty

It's an interesting read, though I think there's probably some context there that can be helpful.

Raty's challenge is that he's not dominating, especially on offense, as people expected. But I tend to feel like his overall game is pretty good.

The question is how much of the offense, and the ability to really impact might translate. In other words, you might not take a nice bottom six forward at 10, but it becomes more of a possibility at 15 or 20, or beyond.

Right now, I see a guy who has a reasonable shot to be third line center, maybe a second line center if he figures things out. But I feel significantly more comfortable projecting a best case ROI as a third line center.

The question is whether you're passing on guys with higher upsides at that slot. For example, I absolutely love Chibrikov's skill level. He's not a center, but he has legit top six offensive upside. He's a prospect who has the potential to turn into a dangerous player.

At center, if I'm doing a "blind taste test" and ignoring expectations or "could/should" conversations, I think Pinelli has looked better overall and has the higher offensive upside. I feel more comfortable projecting his upside into a top six role. I also think, if we're looking more third line center-ish, Svechkov has to be in the conversation as well.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Appreciate the replies @Joey Bones and @Edge. Haven't followed this draft closely at all, so appreciate the additional perspective on Raty who on paper seems like a good fit for the NYR based on where they are as an organization.

I always find it fascinating how much recent "acceleration" of prospects matters with the NHL draft due to drafting 18 year olds who for the most part are a ways out from making an impact at the pro level. Thought that article did a good job highlighting that aspect.

 

[Joey Bones]

It's an interesting read, though I think there's probably some context there that can be helpful.

Raty's challenge is that he's not dominating, especially on offense, as people expected. But I tend to feel like his overall game is pretty good.

The question is how much of the offense, and the ability to really impact might translate. In other words, you might not take a nice bottom six forward at 10, but it becomes more of a possibility at 15 or 20, or beyond.

Right now, I see a guy who has a reasonable shot to be third line center, maybe a second line center if he figures things out. But I feel significantly more comfortable projecting a best case ROI as a third line center.

The question is whether you're passing on guys with higher upsides at that slot. For example, I absolutely love Chibrikov's skill level. He's not a center, but he has legit top six offensive upside. He's a prospect who has the potential to turn into a dangerous player.

At center, if I'm doing a "blind taste test" and ignoring expectations or "could/should" conversations, I think Pinelli has looked better overall and has the higher offensive upside. I feel more comfortable projecting his upside into a top six role. I also think, if we're looking more third line center-ish, Svechkov has to be in the conversation as well.

Well put!!

 

[Joey Bones]

Appreciate the replies @Joey Bones and @Edge. Haven't followed this draft closely at all, so appreciate the additional perspective on Raty who on paper seems like a good fit for the NYR based on where they are as an organization.

I always find it fascinating how much recent "acceleration" of prospects matters with the NHL draft due to drafting 18 year olds who for the most part are a ways out from making an impact at the pro level. Thought that article did a good job highlighting that aspect.

Yeah, no doubt. I do think, too, that Raty just had a bad year. I would love to see how his D+1 will be.

 

[bobbop]

@Joey Bones @Edge

As always, thanks guys!

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

This draft class is seen as pretty weak correct?

Slim chance the Rangers move anywhere in the lottery so who are we realistically looking at around 16?

Someone needs to grab McDonald's badge from Gorts for a shot at Beniers. Getting greedy.