Prospect Info: 2021 NHL Draft Thread

[ZeHockeyFan]

When your entire off-season improvement plan revolves around winning the draft lottery, this is your reaction.

I can't believe he seriously entertained the thought of winning the lottery at a 1.4% chance. Someone is desperate to keep his job beyond 2023.

 

[Ghost of Kyiv]

I'll guess Dylan Guenther or Fabian Lysell for the biggest faller with slightly underwhelming U18s being the last thing scouts saw of each.

I'll take an even wilder guess and take Fyodor Svechkov for the biggest reach, specifically to Jarmo Kekäläinen at 5th overall.

Expecting this draft to be all over the map.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

I can't believe he seriously entertained the thought of winning the lottery at a 1.4% chance. Someone is desperate to keep his job beyond 2023.

Where was it said (other than in a joke here) that Nill seriously entertained the thought of winning the lottery?

 

[MrHeiskanen]

I can't believe he seriously entertained the thought of winning the lottery at a 1.4% chance. Someone is desperate to keep his job beyond 2023.

1.4% is a chance no? I was watching the stream hoping we won as well.

 

[ZeHockeyFan]

1.4% is a chance no? I was watching the stream hoping we won as well.

Not a realistic one, unless you're really desperate, but you're a fan and delving in fantasies of low probability outcomes makes sense. It makes little sense, IMO, for an experienced management to have such unrealistic expectations, if what Troy said is true.

That miffed expression from Nill was quite chuckleworthy though. No lucky breaks anymore: No top 3 pick, no dumb GMs to exploit, and no real leverage to negotiate with worthy UFAs or RFAs for cheap. Let's see what he does.

 

[LT]

Are we really reading into his reaction this much

 

[Troy McClure]

Are we really reading into his reaction this much

Yes. It’s fun.

 

[Morry83]

I think it’s pretty obvious his reaction was less “damn, I really thought we had it” and more “yep just as I expected”

 

[Zapp]

Yeah it definitely didn’t mean anything.

It was just f***ing hysterical

 

[MrHeiskanen]

This is going to be a very interesting draft, I am sure boards are going to be all over the place.

I think we are in a decent position actually, the variance between 5 and 15 doesn't seem as great in this draft as normal.

There are lots of players I would be fine with at our pick actually.

 

[Unspecified]

Craig Button has us taking Brenna Othmann. Any of you draftniks have any opinions on him?

He was good in the IIHF tourney. He has decent speed and a good size frame so far.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

This is going to be a very interesting draft, I am sure boards are going to be all over the place.

I think we are in a decent position actually, the variance between 5 and 15 doesn't seem as great in this draft as normal.

There are lots of players I would be fine with at our pick actually.

It could go the other way, maybe? With less in person scouting, maybe more teams pick by the final CSS rankings?

 

[WhoahNow]

“There’s uncertainty everywhere, but I truly do believe you need your first-round picks to make it,” Nill said. “We’ve had misses in the first round, and they’ve hurt, but I feel good about our ability in recent drafts to get players to come through, and I do think you see that on our roster.”

I'm glad hes actually acknowledge the misses and that probably sparked the more recent shift to skill and hockey iq

 

[Zapp]

“There’s uncertainty everywhere, but I truly do believe you need your first-round picks to make it,” Nill said. “We’ve had misses in the first round, and they’ve hurt, but I feel good about our ability in recent drafts to get players to come through, and I do think you see that on our roster.”

I'm glad hes actually acknowledge the misses and that probably sparked the more recent shift to skill and hockey iq

Yeah was pretty happy to read this. I’ll give Nill credit.

Last year was definitely indicative of this being true so let’s see how we do in the upcoming draft.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

I was glad to see that, too. I doubt he is just realizing this now, however.

I hope this year's draft will be good, and Nill does tend to be a bit better in the odd number years, with big misses in 2014, '16, and hits in '15, 17, and hopefully '19 and '21. I guess the jury is still out on 2018-2020 but actually guessing those will turn out well. Even in '16, we got Gardiner and Camanno, who fill out a roster cheap as 4th liners, and may have some value yet.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

An article from a Chicago Blackhawks site came up on my Google feed, listing 10 possible picks for the Hawks, just a few picks ahead of us. There were 4-5 forwards known for their goal scoring ability, and a couple known more for "two way play." So, it looks like perhaps a goal scorer might fall the Stars, and I hope they go that direction. They have enough two way prospects at FW, but not as much blue chip scoring talent left in the system. Just MHO.

 

[ZeHockeyFan]

“There’s uncertainty everywhere, but I truly do believe you need your first-round picks to make it,” Nill said. “We’ve had misses in the first round, and they’ve hurt, but I feel good about our ability in recent drafts to get players to come through, and I do think you see that on our roster.”

I'm glad hes actually acknowledge the misses and that probably sparked the more recent shift to skill and hockey iq

Acknowledging that you f***ed up takes courage, and I admire him for admitting to that. I'd have hoped for people in the organization to be held accountable for the earlier draft fiascos, but maybe that's a bridge too far.

Hopefully he can continue to do better in the next 2 drafts and refill the pool that will soon be depleted when players graduate.

 

[WhoahNow]

Acknowledging that you f***ed up takes courage, and I admire him for admitting to that. I'd have hoped for people in the organization to be held accountable for the earlier draft fiascos, but maybe that's a bridge too far.

Hopefully he can continue to do better in the next 2 drafts and refill the pool that will soon be depleted when players graduate.

Thats what always pissed me off about the "I like where we are at". You should always want better and improve, and even though you wouldn't say that publicly, just say something different or don't say anything at all

 

[M88K]

"We've had misses..."
Yeah that's what happens when you reach for the Honkas, Gurianovs, and Dellandreas or draft someone based on size who excelled against HS competition only.
"We've had misses.." what a cop-out.
You had f*** ups.

 

[ZeHockeyFan]

"We've had misses..."
Yeah that's what happens when you reach for the Honkas, Gurianovs, and Dellandreas or draft someone based on size who excelled against HS competition only.
"We've had misses.." what a cop-out.
You had f*** ups.

That he and his fellas did . That said, "We've had misses..." coming from a franchise that

-has neutered a rational and unbiased hockey guy in Razor and made him sound almost Mike Haynes-esque,

-has whinged to local media to give them undeservedly favorable coverage, and

-(my hypothesis) may arguably be employing an army of internet trolls to attack fans on social media whom criticize the organization,

is a big f***ing deal.

Credit where it's due.

 

[ZeHockeyFan]

Thats what always pissed me off about the "I like where we are at". You should always want better and improve, and even though you wouldn't say that publicly, just say something different or don't say anything at all

I always read that as "I couldn't find a GM whose tough situation I couldn't exploit by giving him crap for gems"

Truly, when you look at it, his trades since Sharp are "Meh!" for that very reason

 

[Hinterland]

Craig Button has us taking Brenna Othmann. Any of you draftniks have any opinions on him?

Button is just copying me. I predicted that earlier in this thread
No, it's the obvious pick for the Stars. If he's still there, 99% the Stars are gonna take him. There's obviously the Flint connection and the Stars have had success drafting similar players lately. I used to be pretty sure he's gonna be available for the Stars but after the WJC18 I think there's a chance somebody could take him earlier. We'll see.

 

[BfantZ]

Button is just copying me. I predicted that earlier in this thread
No, it's the obvious pick for the Stars. If he's still there, 99% the Stars are gonna take him. There's obviously the Flint connection and the Stars have had success drafting similar players lately. I used to be pretty sure he's gonna be available for the Stars but after the WJC18 I think there's a chance somebody could take him earlier. We'll see.

Chibrikov

 

[Smelling Salt]

Button is just copying me. I predicted that earlier in this thread
No, it's the obvious pick for the Stars. If he's still there, 99% the Stars are gonna take him. There's obviously the Flint connection and the Stars have had success drafting similar players lately. I used to be pretty sure he's gonna be available for the Stars but after the WJC18 I think there's a chance somebody could take him earlier. We'll see.

Jesus he destroyed the GTHL in 2018-19.

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

BO (what a nickname he could have after bad games!) was rated earlier at 28th by the Draft Prospects Yearbook, and is 8th on the NHL list, so opinions vary on him a bit. From reading the scouting reports, most praise his work ethic, 200 foot play and heavy shot, etc., but he doesn't seem to be as offensively gifted as some other FW in that range. He tore up juniors, and the UC18 last year, but the two years before that, his goal scoring dropped each year.

Button probably used the past typical Stars pick types (i.e., motor runs, 200 ft game) and the Flint connection to make that guess. If we decide we need an offensive forward, I think there are a few others with better skill to take, although I have a hunch that if a defenseman they like is there, they may disappoint me and go in that direction, after drafting six skill forwards last year.

Based on goal production and nickname potential alone, and based on what little I know (so I could be wrong, compared to some of you guys who do admirable amounts of research) I like Stankoven and Lucius, which would turn into goals that were "stankey" and "luscious" to give Razor some new material. (I'm sure that's a factor!)

Stankhoven was compared to Debrincat, Lucius to Kessel, for what that is worth, and Stankhoven was ranked a bit higher and looks a bit more mature.

As always, just an opinion. I always like seeing who they pick.