Draft 2021 NHL Draft and Undrafted Free Agent Thread

[huerter]

Surely you have examples to back up this brilliance.

This is HFBoards. Where the unsubstantiated becomes the narrative.

Just take my word, champ.

 

[True Blue]

John Hoven is incredibly well connected and respected.

So too is Larry Brooks

 

[True Blue]

This is HFBoards. Where the unsubstantiated becomes the narrative.

Just take my word, champ.

Ok, tiger. Think that it is safe to say that your word holds about as much water as the Iraqi navy.

 

[Joey Bones]

if you do 2013 to now you get exactly 4 goalies and only one of them has had any significant NHL time, Samsonov, who has a career sv% of .908.

you need to use extended sample windows cause goalies might not show up in the league for 6-7 years.

This further shows the point, though. It’s a small group to draw from. And from those keepers taken, their current trajectory is looking quite good, including Samsonov's.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

So too is Larry Brooks

Not really but keep trying

 

[Edge]

Wrong Thread.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Anyone have any intel on Minnesota HS player Brody Lamb? Kid has some eye popping numbers. Seems worthy of a late round flier at least.

There's another high school kid, whose name I've forgotten, that I feel has gotten more interest as a potential steal. Something Jackson, I believe; I'll find him shortly.

I'd be fine taking one or a couple kids out of USHS though; we have a pretty good track record.

edit - Jackson Blake

 

[Bluenote13]

There's another high school kid, whose name I've forgotten, that I feel has gotten more interest as a potential steal. Something Jackson, I believe; I'll find him shortly.

I'd be fine taking one or a couple kids out of USHS though; we have a pretty good track record.

edit - Jackson Blake

Former Isle Jason Blake's son.

Small player but has skills, going to a good North Dakota team. Late round pick for me.

 

[One Winged Angel]

No, but as we have seen from reading Uncle Larry's columns, at times they tend to work on their own narrative.

Uncle Larry is a special breed, we all know this.

 

[Raspewtin]

This further shows the point, though. It’s a small group to draw from. And from those keepers taken, their current trajectory is looking quite good, including Samsonov's.

Samsonov lost the starting job to a rookie a year older than him lol, not that it's entirely meaningful but still

goalies in the 1st round will always be a small group to draw from because goalies are the most interchangeable position at the NHL level, and there's nothing more inherently good about goalies in the 1st round. Price had two spectacular seasons and was slightly above average to mediocre every other year. Varlamov has no individual hardware and benefits a lot from the way the Isles play. Fleury has never played on a bad team in his NHL career (except like the 06 Penguins). Vasilevisky is good but wasn't even the best goalie in his draft and, again, has never played on a bad team in his life. I guess my point is you're really not more likely to get a great goalie in round 1 than you are in rounds 3-7. I'll admit I don't know much of anything about Wallstedt though

 

[Overcast]

Samsonov lost the starting job to a rookie a year older than him lol, not that it's entirely meaningful but still

goalies in the 1st round will always be a small group to draw from because goalies are the most interchangeable position at the NHL level, and there's nothing more inherently good about goalies in the 1st round. Price had two spectacular seasons and was slightly above average to mediocre every other year. Varlamov has no individual hardware and benefits a lot from the way the Isles play. Fleury has never played on a bad team in his NHL career (except like the 06 Penguins). Vasilevisky is good but wasn't even the best goalie in his draft and, again, has never played on a bad team in his life. I guess my point is you're really not more likely to get a great goalie in round 1 than you are in rounds 3-7. I'll admit I don't know much of anything about Wallstedt though

This looks like it's shaping up to be a weird draft. Any other year and people would be crucifying the FO for even considering taking a goalie before the 4th round, and now the consensus is that Wallstedt is or should be *the* target. Is he really head and shoulders above the potential that any of the forwards/defensemen project to? Is it more that confidence in Shesterkin is wavering/Shesty's age is suddenly a factor/we don't have a solid potential starter in the system after him? Someone had mentioned that even if we do make the decision to stick with Shesty for the next ~5-7 years, that Wallstedt is 6 or 7 years younger and would hopefully be at the point where he could start moving to take the starting spot.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

This looks like it's shaping up to be a weird draft. Any other year and people would be crucifying the FO for even considering taking a goalie before the 4th round, and now the consensus is that Wallstedt is or should be *the* target. Is he really head and shoulders above the potential that any of the forwards/defensemen project to? Is it more that confidence in Shesterkin is wavering/Shesty's age is suddenly a factor/we don't have a solid potential starter in the system after him? Someone had mentioned that even if we do make the decision to stick with Shesty for the next ~5-7 years, that Wallstedt is 6 or 7 years younger and would hopefully be at the point where he could start moving to take the starting spot.

Goalies have gone in the 1st round in each of the last 2 drafts.

 

[Synergy27]

This looks like it's shaping up to be a weird draft. Any other year and people would be crucifying the FO for even considering taking a goalie before the 4th round, and now the consensus is that Wallstedt is or should be *the* target. Is he really head and shoulders above the potential that any of the forwards/defensemen project to? Is it more that confidence in Shesterkin is wavering/Shesty's age is suddenly a factor/we don't have a solid potential starter in the system after him? Someone had mentioned that even if we do make the decision to stick with Shesty for the next ~5-7 years, that Wallstedt is 6 or 7 years younger and would hopefully be at the point where he could start moving to take the starting spot.

He’s not really the target, he’s just the obvious choice on a board that falls this way because of his pedigree. He will be taken before 15 in the real draft.

This draft is definitely going to be weird. Every draft is, but this one will be special because the uncertainty associated with all of the players is even higher than it usually is. I think a redraft 5-7 years from now is going to look wildly different, much more so than your typical redraft.

Unless McTavish (or Wallstedt in this case) makes it to us at 15, I look to trade the pick. This seems to be a great year to trade down and stack lottery tickets. But, I’d be fine if they moved the pick in a package for an established player as well given the status of our prospect pool and first team.

 

[Overcast]

Goalies have gone in the 1st round in each of the last 2 drafts.

That means..what exactly, in relation to what I posted? Nashville fans seemed to be split 50/50 on Askarov from looking through the original draft/prospect thread on him, and sounded hesitant about the upside. Florida's thread on Knight sounded a bit more optimistic with some less-than-enthused posts sprinkled in. The thread on Knight's signing this year has more excitement than the original draft thread. The thread on Askarov is still pretty luke warm at best.

 

[True Blue]

Uncle Larry is a special breed, we all know this.

Right. But he is in the HOF. So his type of a special breed is not that much different than another.

 

[True Blue]

This looks like it's shaping up to be a weird draft. Any other year and people would be crucifying the FO for even considering taking a goalie before the 4th round, and now the consensus is that Wallstedt is or should be *the* target. Is he really head and shoulders above the potential that any of the forwards/defensemen project to? Is it more that confidence in Shesterkin is wavering/Shesty's age is suddenly a factor/we don't have a solid potential starter in the system after him? Someone had mentioned that even if we do make the decision to stick with Shesty for the next ~5-7 years, that Wallstedt is 6 or 7 years younger and would hopefully be at the point where he could start moving to take the starting spot.

Wallstedt is the best goalie prospect in 25 years. In THIS draft, he represents the best chances of all draftees to reach the "elite" status.

This has nothing to do with wavering on Shesterkin. Knight is going to be a pretty good goalie. Askarov is better than him. Wallstedt is better than Askarov. Wallstedt will not be around at 15. On talent alone, he should be the 1OA pick. But that is not how NHL drafts are conducted. He will go top-10 fairly easily. He should not make it past Columbus and their 3 first round picks.

 

[TheBloodyNine]

That means..what exactly, in relation to what I posted? Nashville fans seemed to be split 50/50 on Askarov from looking through the original draft/prospect thread on him, and sounded hesitant about the upside. Florida's thread on Knight sounded a bit more optimistic with some less-than-enthused posts sprinkled in. The thread on Knight's signing this year has more excitement than the original draft thread. The thread on Askarov is still pretty luke warm at best.

It means that times are changing

 

[Joey Bones]

Samsonov lost the starting job to a rookie a year older than him lol, not that it's entirely meaningful but still

goalies in the 1st round will always be a small group to draw from because goalies are the most interchangeable position at the NHL level, and there's nothing more inherently good about goalies in the 1st round. Price had two spectacular seasons and was slightly above average to mediocre every other year. Varlamov has no individual hardware and benefits a lot from the way the Isles play. Fleury has never played on a bad team in his NHL career (except like the 06 Penguins). Vasilevisky is good but wasn't even the best goalie in his draft and, again, has never played on a bad team in his life. I guess my point is you're really not more likely to get a great goalie in round 1 than you are in rounds 3-7. I'll admit I don't know much of anything about Wallstedt though

Well, yeah, I agree that you can find a goalie in the later rounds and potentially still come away with a starting keeper. I'm just saying that Wallstedt has been the best (and the most hyped) goalie prospect in the past few years, possibly a decade. I understand that most are questioning why there are continuous drafts that have "the next best keeper", but the truth is that there are. Knight is projected to be a well-capable starter that could become an All-Star, Askarov being slightly better than him on projection (albeit with a different style comparison). But Wallstedt is projected to be a game-changing keeper who could win multiple Veznas. He was playing pro hockey in his 16/17-year-old season. No other keeper in their draft year (even Vasilevskiy) was doing that at their age. This year, you saw Wallstedt take over the starting gig for Lulea over an experienced vet in David Rautio. It's not like at No. 15 the Rangers are taking just a keeper, they could be taking the legit next best goalie in the league. So, yeah, it would be a tough pill to swallow to give up on that chance if he's there at No. 15. And to make matters a little more drastic (or dramatic), the next year's goalie crop looks quite mediocre.

With all this being said, I do think a team will take Wallstedt before that pick...

And Samsonov was injured most of the shortened year. They were lucky Vanacek was able to compete as he did. They're still going to have them battle it out, but I'm sure Samsonov (barring any other injuries and contract issues) will take over.

 

[Joey Bones]

This looks like it's shaping up to be a weird draft. Any other year and people would be crucifying the FO for even considering taking a goalie before the 4th round, and now the consensus is that Wallstedt is or should be *the* target. Is he really head and shoulders above the potential that any of the forwards/defensemen project to? Is it more that confidence in Shesterkin is wavering/Shesty's age is suddenly a factor/we don't have a solid potential starter in the system after him? Someone had mentioned that even if we do make the decision to stick with Shesty for the next ~5-7 years, that Wallstedt is 6 or 7 years younger and would hopefully be at the point where he could start moving to take the starting spot.

Well, it's not the target, per se, but if he's available the Rangers should think hard about selecting him. What he has accomplished already is quite spectacular given how young he is. Given the uncertainty with Shesty and his groin/potential contract, it makes sense for NYR to grab him if he's there. Like most have mentioned, though, Wallstedt on the day of the draft will most likely be taken before No. 15.

And, yes, by the time Shesty is well into his 30's Wallstedt would be around 23/24 years old.

 

[Joey Bones]

He’s not really the target, he’s just the obvious choice on a board that falls this way because of his pedigree. He will be taken before 15 in the real draft.

This draft is definitely going to be weird. Every draft is, but this one will be special because the uncertainty associated with all of the players is even higher than it usually is. I think a redraft 5-7 years from now is going to look wildly different, much more so than your typical redraft.

Unless McTavish (or Wallstedt in this case) makes it to us at 15, I look to trade the pick. This seems to be a great year to trade down and stack lottery tickets. But, I’d be fine if they moved the pick in a package for an established player as well given the status of our prospect pool and first team.

This is my thought process to a T.

 

[eco's bones]

Wallstedt is the best goalie prospect in 25 years. In THIS draft, he represents the best chances of all draftees to reach the "elite" status.

This has nothing to do with wavering on Shesterkin. Knight is going to be a pretty good goalie. Askarov is better than him. Wallstedt is better than Askarov. Wallstedt will not be around at 15. On talent alone, he should be the 1OA pick. But that is not how NHL drafts are conducted. He will go top-10 fairly easily. He should not make it past Columbus and their 3 first round picks.

FWIW there is almost no chance Wallstedt is on the board at 15. He’s really a top 3 pick in this draft at the moment. If by some miracle he does make it to 15 you absolutely take him.

 

[Joey Bones]

Wallstedt is the best goalie prospect in 25 years. In THIS draft, he represents the best chances of all draftees to reach the "elite" status.

This has nothing to do with wavering on Shesterkin. Knight is going to be a pretty good goalie. Askarov is better than him. Wallstedt is better than Askarov. Wallstedt will not be around at 15. On talent alone, he should be the 1OA pick. But that is not how NHL drafts are conducted. He will go top-10 fairly easily. He should not make it past Columbus and their 3 first round picks.

Although I do agree with the potential "elite" status Wallstedt can be in the NHL, it is hard not to think about long-term Shesty plans.

And although I think Wallstedt is a good candidate to push for No. 1, I don't think he will go that early...

With that said, I would hate for a team in NYR's division to select Wallstedt.

 

[Synergy27]

This is my thought process to a T.

Speaking of this thought process, I’d be pretty happy walking away with this after multiple trade downs:

 

[Joey Bones]

Speaking of this thought process, I’d be pretty happy walking away with this after multiple trade downs:

Yeah, I would be quite impressed with this haul. I do think, though, that most of these guys in the early part will go earlier. I don't think Svechkov will last to No. 30.

 

[One Winged Angel]

Right. But he is in the HOF. So his type of a special breed is not that much different than another.

Can Hoven be sending smoke signals? Sure. If I think it’s more than possible, as a ploy to get Adams to lower his price for Eichel.

With that said, I have a good feeling that Adams is refusing to move from Byfield and that’s why LA said they’re out. All of the GM’s know about Eichel’s NMC. They know Adams is on the clock. It’s a game of chicken.