2021 NHL Draft Thread

[lawrence]

first 3 forwards most likely gone if we draft 7 or 8th

Guether
Beniers
Eklund probably gone by 7 or 8


Powers, Clarke and Evidsson probably gone also. Evidsson is higher then Hughes on virtually all lists. Hes apparently 6'3 version of Quinn Hughes, which will leave us with Johnson, or..... Luke Hughes available....

If Jersey wants to reach for Hughes than it will leave us with one of the big 6 available to us, peronally I think Johnson will be the 4th foward picked in this draft, and I will have no issues with him if we are drafting 7 or 8th. Of course who knows, maybe the Canucks might like a player that is not mentioned much in the top 10?

 

[JiffyPB]

The league should have just taken the opportunity to move the draft to 19 year old players and defer all picks by a year.

You're looking at a bunch of 18 year olds who will only play ~30 games this year and are trying to decide which are going to be the best by 26. It's a total joke.

The NFL and NBA do that with mostly 20-22 year olds in college playing against men with prodigies like Kobe and Lebron occasionally being drafted out of high school. What do you think is the better system? It's a lot easier to judge who's the best at 26 by looking at 20-22 year old men playing against other men rather than 18 year olds against 15-20 year olds.

The draft was only moved to 18 because of Gretzky going to the WHA. Very few actual 18 year olds (as in not late birthdays like Kane or Tavares) actually make a reasonable enough impact to be in the league anyways at that age (Crosby and McDavid). It's totally pointless to have the draft at that age. They can wait a year and teams are more able to invest picks into players they are more sure about.

 

[Raistlin]

A reasonable expectation is that barring a lottery win the Canucks finish around 7-8th. So most of the top guys like Power, Beniers, Clarke, Eklund will be off the board. Realistically think Lambos, Johnson, Guenther, Are you most likely options. I like Ceulmans and Lysell as well, but Ceulmans not in the top 10, maybe mid teens like 15-17. Lysell, seen him in different mocks be around 10th and Others in the teens or twenties.

At 7/8 we should have one of Lambos or Hughes available. It's only those two for me. No thanks to Edvinsson, one QH is enough. The glaring hole at the first pairing cannot be filled otherwise. D also takes longer to develop so they need to be filled asap to peak within our window. Is Lambos really a top ten guy though? Is it insane to think Benning will learn to trade down if LH is off the board? Draft capital draft capital draft capital.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

If the Nucks are drafting 7 or 8, then a dman might not be BPA.

At that position, I’d be open to drafting a center as well. Someone like Johnson or Raty.

Would then look to move back into the 1st round and try and draft Ceulemans.

 

[lawrence]

Wouldn’t mind cole sillinger either. Dude is pacing at 87 points. Boeser had 67 in his draft year.

 

[StreetHawk]

If the Nucks are drafting 7 or 8, then a dman might not be BPA.

At that position, I’d be open to drafting a center as well. Someone like Johnson or Raty.

Would then look to move back into the 1st round and try and draft Ceulemans.

Ceulmans is a wildcard depending on how the AJHL season goes. BCHL has the Greenlight to proceed. I would expect him to play 2 years at Wisconsin after he gets drafted.

really depends where the Canucks finish and the lottery. The teams behind the Canucks in the standings Aren’t really doing much which is why I expect them to sit at 7/8 before the lottery is held.

Lambos is a legit prospect. Projects to impact the game like Provorov playing 23-25 minutes a game in all situations. Point totals probably max out at 40 or so.

 

[Fatass]

Ceulmans is a wildcard depending on how the AJHL season goes. BCHL has the Greenlight to proceed. I would expect him to play 2 years at Wisconsin after he gets drafted.

really depends where the Canucks finish and the lottery. The teams behind the Canucks in the standings Aren’t really doing much which is why I expect them to sit at 7/8 before the lottery is held.

Lambos is a legit prospect. Projects to impact the game like Provorov playing 23-25 minutes a game in all situations. Point totals probably max out at 40 or so.

Would you say Lambos could become an Edler level player? That would be good. I don’t see a guy like that in our system.

 

[Bitz and Bites]

Lambos is exactly the type of D we need, an all situations minute muncher who can excel in PK/shutdown roles while being a good complementary offensive guy.

I preferred Dobson over Hughes because he had that skill set but now that we have Hughes, we badly need to fill that void.

 

[StreetHawk]

Would you say Lambos could become an Edler level player? That would be good. I don’t see a guy like that in our system.

He would fill that role of matchup Dman. Like Ohlund, Mitchell, Edler. More offensive upside than those 3. Solidly built guy at 6’1 and 200 lbs now. So should play between 210-215 lbs.

 

[StreetHawk]

Lambos is exactly the type of D we need, an all situations minute muncher who can excel in PK/shutdown roles while being a good complementary offensive guy.

I preferred Dobson over Hughes because he had that skill set but now that we have Hughes, we badly need to fill that void.

Always expected either AZ or Det to grab Hughes. Hayton was the surprise pick. Preferred Dobson over Bouchard and Borvuist. Better skater than Bouchard and bigger than Borqvuist without any injury history.

 

[Fatass]

He would fill that role of matchup Dman. Like Ohlund, Mitchell, Edler. More offensive upside than those 3. Solidly built guy at 6’1 and 200 lbs now. So should play between 210-215 lbs.

Sounds like an important piece to a winning team. How many years would he be away from contributing - 3?

 

[StreetHawk]

Sounds like an important piece to a winning team. How many years would he be away from contributing - 3?

Hard to say given how this year has unfolded development wise for the entire 2021 D class. Look at the 2018 draft.
Dahlin at 18 played right away and was excellent as a rookie. But, Buffalo being what they are he's regressed a bit the past 2 seasons.
Hughes, late birthday, played basically in his draft+1 year. Struggled defensively at various points in the season.
Boqvist - figured he would have been better offensively.
Bouchard - up with the big club
Dobson - brought along slowly last season. Better than going back to play another year over 30 minutes a game again. Had done everything with back to back Memorial titles. No Boychuk or Toews on the Isles this season, so playing more.

I expect all of the Dmen to return to their amateur clubs for 21-22 season. Power, when Michigan's season ends in 2022 should join his NHL team. Clarke and Lambos to play all of next season in the CHL. Both would have a shot to make their team in 22-23 season, though they are both junior eligible in 22-23. Hughes, hard to say whether he would be ready for the NHL after only 1 year at Michigan. Evindsson, he's more raw so I think he spends 2 more seasons in Sweden. But, if it's a good D core like Dallas/Anaheim that gets him, he could be more insulated and thus play at 19.

 

[4Twenty]

Seems people are just locking into what list consensus’ are. Isn’t anyone worried about confirmation bias?

 

[Bitz and Bites]

Always expected either AZ or Det to grab Hughes. Hayton was the surprise pick. Preferred Dobson over Bouchard and Borvuist. Better skater than Bouchard and bigger than Borqvuist without any injury history.

Same here, I didn't think Hughes would be available but I was fine with picking him over the rest of the available D-men and still am. My dream scenario in that draft was trading up into the top 10 and getting both Hughes and Dobson but knew that wasn't going to happen. I think Woo will eventually be Hughes D partner but that's still a couple years away now.

Lambos could basically take on Edler's role when he's NHL ready.

 

[Catamarca Livin]

The league should have just taken the opportunity to move the draft to 19 year old players and defer all picks by a year.

You're looking at a bunch of 18 year olds who will only play ~30 games this year and are trying to decide which are going to be the best by 26. It's a total joke.

The NFL and NBA do that with mostly 20-22 year olds in college playing against men with prodigies like Kobe and Lebron occasionally being drafted out of high school. What do you think is the better system? It's a lot easier to judge who's the best at 26 by looking at 20-22 year old men playing against other men rather than 18 year olds against 15-20 year olds.

The draft was only moved to 18 because of Gretzky going to the WHA. Very few actual 18 year olds (as in not late birthdays like Kane or Tavares) actually make a reasonable enough impact to be in the league anyways at that age (Crosby and McDavid). It's totally pointless to have the draft at that age. They can wait a year and teams are more able to invest picks into players they are more sure about.

Your history is a bit off. The league was taken to court. I believe by Ken Linesmen. They can wait is bs. Why should a 18 who can make huge wages wait? Just to make it easier to know who is a better player? Why stop at 18 to 19? At age 21 or 22 you really know who is the best players, they can wait right? after all many people and players are at university at that age. 18 is a great age as it is high school graduation age. Start players are ready at that age. why should they be held back.

 

[JiffyPB]

Your history is a bit off. The league was taken to court. I believe by Ken Linesmen. They can wait is bs. Why should a 18 who can make huge wages wait? Just to make it easier to know who is a better player? Why stop at 18 to 19? At age 21 or 22 you really know who is the best players, they can wait right? after all many people and players are at university at that age. 18 is a great age as it is high school graduation age. Start players are ready at that age. why should they be held back.

"Some players"? How many players make a legitimate impact at 18? Maybe 1 per year at most. More 19 year olds do play and make an impact. The early drafting of these players at 18 is pointless.

The NHL is the only major professional sport that has a decisive majority of draftees be 18 years old. No other league does this. Not the NBA. Not the NFL. Not even the MLB even with how many levels of minor leagues they have for development. The first overall pick for the MLB was a 21 year old.

Millions are spent every year scouting 18 year olds as if they're even remotely ready to play and the majority of them are playing against boys with a measly 2 years under their belt at that level. Then you have to guess which guy rode a high shooting percentage into the sunset, which guy was buried in the lineup or if good a guy on a sucky is team actually good. More years of viewing = more reliability at what you are getting when you draft a guy. Should be 3 years of service in the CHL. If the league wants to make an exceptional status for the Crosby's or McDavid's of the world, then do so as a compromise. However, the majority are not even close to those guys.

If Pettersson wasn't a late 1998 birthday, he would have been eligible in 2016. Could you have remotely predicted what he could have been at that time? The extra year is useful.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Might be useful to the teams, the league would still be sued by the next Mcdavid. Just like they were sued by Kenny the rat. The NBA was sued even earlier by Willoughby, and they're 100% getting sued by the next Lebron.

 

[Breakers]

Sounds like Brandt clarke is heating up
3 points today.

 

[Brock Boeser Laser Show]

Sounds like Brandt clarke is heating up
3 points today.

 

[VanJack]

What's going to make or break this draft, aren't the kids who will be drafted with the first 10-15 picks. It's from the second round on where teams that have done their homework will fill their boots.

There's always a group of players who are lights out in their draft years, and rocket up the board. But of course this year, with no games played, they'll still be out there lying in the weeds. Hopefully the Canucks have a book on some of these kids, based on viewings before their seasons were shut down last March.

I know one thing. There's bound to be an NHL team or two, that literally knocks it out of the park in this draft, and will be set up for years.

 

[Raistlin]

What's going to make or break this draft, aren't the kids who will be drafted with the first 10-15 picks. It's from the second round on where teams that have done their homework will fill their boots.

There's always a group of players who are lights out in their draft years, and rocket up the board. But of course this year, with no games played, they'll still be out there lying in the weeds. Hopefully the Canucks have a book on some of these kids, based on viewings before their seasons were shut down last March.

I know one thing. There's bound to be an NHL team or two, that literally knocks it out of the park in this draft, and will be set up for years.

It's going to be montreal, TB, carolina, L.A. or chicago. It's always the same teams finding the late gems.

The way Demko is playing, Lambos is the only legit target on D at our range.

 

[StreetHawk]

It's going to be montreal, TB, carolina, L.A. or chicago. It's always the same teams finding the late gems.

The way Demko is playing, Lambos is the only legit target on D at our range.

Lambos got hurt and sent to Winnipeg for further evaluation. With only so many games injuries will play a big factor. If this is a 6 week injury, almost takes him out for the entire WHL season. Could fall in the draft.

Jayden Grubbe, projected 2nd round pick hurt his knee, out for the season for the Red Deer Rebels. Big C, probably either a 2nd or 3rd C depending on his offensive upside.

 

[docbenton]

I don't think Lambos is that good. Wouldn't take him in the top 15 if it were up to me. If Clarke is available he's very talented and defends well when he's not caught up the ice; dynamic and seems to make good plays constantly.

Otherwise there some very interesting forwards that I'd take over Lambos, and probably some defensemen too like Svozil, Morrow and Ceulemans.

 

[Raistlin]

Im guessing you have to be top 5 to pick a top RHD like Clarke.

 

[canuckking1]

Lambos seems like a Juolevi type pick. Where you're looking at need and a guy who's projected to be good at everything but elite at nothing.