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GDT: 2023 Caps NHL Draft Thread

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Barring a trade up for Michkov I'm probably all-in on Moore sliding to their pick. It probably won't happen but he's the long-term center option that could in theory be within range. Sort of a Larkin type. Otherwise Barlow, Sale, Leonard or Yager would be fine. Simashev, But, Heidt, Ritchie, Gulyayev, Dragicevic or Ziemmer with the Boston pick.
 
Hey on the second tankathon NHL lottery try.
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And yes the advert spies know my headphone audiophile interest, heh.
 
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Tonight’s L moves us to 10th best odds and 3.5%. I don’t think getting down to the sixth best odds is that unrealistic. That’s about a 7.5% chance
 
I think this pick might end up being a good one. We'll see how we play in March but if i remember correctly there are lots of divisional games against teams battling (with us :laugh:) for the priviledge of getting slaughtered by the Bruins or Canes.
 
Manifesting


We slide down the standings

Michkov slides down due to the Russian factor to end all Russian factors

We meet somewhere at 6 or 7
 
With a mouth-watering surplus of good center prospects in this year's draft, what are the chances the Caps pick a D guy instead?
 
I doubt there's a defenseman worth picking in the top ten aside from maybe Reinbacher. He could get pushed up by virtue of probably being the best D in this class but if you're picking him top ten you're probably thinking he has top pair upside. Tall order. He may be in a tier between, say, 8-15 but in a league with such high scoring they probably ought to go upside forward. Miro won't be enough so I'd put Reinbacher right outside the top ten for them. I could see it over Yager maybe but less so Barlow/Sale/Leonard at the end of the top ten.

I don't know that the depth this year is amazing. The buzz it has earned has a lot to do with the headliners up top I think. I don't know that there's stellar forward depth extending to the end of the first round. Maybe Perreault slides into that territory but otherwise I'm not sure there's a wealth of high upside forward options likely. That area seems stronger in D or G. Barring someone like Simashev sliding largely due to his passport it's hard to say if there will be great value to be had there. But they could also bundle any additional picks added to move up for a primary target. That seems extremely likely given their tendencies, just a matter of when.
 
There should be a clear plan ahead for the draft, even right now ahead of the deadline. The big picture shouldn't get lost and if they do like some of their free agents enough they should try to re-sogn them rather than blindly just moving everything. For me i'd propably look to keep guys that should be good value players going forward. TvR should be one. Possibly one of Sheary/Johansson. Jensen would be nice to keep but his career earnings as of now are 'only ~10m' so i can't see his next contract being good. Propably around ~20m spread around 4-5 years. I would pass on that. Gustafsson depends entirely on offers and his ask. He's a luxury piece when Carlson comes back but i wouldn’t want to be tied to him for several years. His cap hit is also so low that he could bring back a solid pick.

From this draft i feel like the top-45~ is pretty strong. Then there is a somewhat of a drop-off. For me our goal should be to have 4 picks in that range. 5 would be really nice. 4 should be achievable.

#8-12: Our own
#24-32: Boston
#40-44: Our own
#35-45: Pick acquired elsewhere

That 4th one may need some dangling. If Jensen is on the table it's easy. He should alone return somewhere close to late 2nd + 3rd that you can use to move up. If he isn't it's bit trickier. I do think though that Eller with retention should net back 3rd rounder, maybe even 6th rounder too. Gustafsson should be close to 3rd rounder at worst too with that contract, maybe even better. Then there are Smith, Johansson and Sheary. I don't think we should keep all 3. With retention that should net us atleast 3rd rounder for one of them. Sheary/MoJo possibly even more. Those assets could then be used to move up further in the draft.

Or then they dig up an ace from their sleeve and move Kuznetsov in an blockbuster deal. I don't see that happening mid-season but you never know.
 
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The depth through the first two rounds seems solid, esp. if in the market for depth checking types with some upside toward the end that area. As mentioned, there are also a lot of D/G likely to be picked in the second. Three goalies may go fairly early in the second and there are a lot of pretty toolsy but raw D that may define the second. Loading up to either add quite a few or to use as ammo to move up makes sense.

Colorado could really use a player like Eller but they don't have the picks unless maybe the Caps bundle a few players for their first somehow. (Maybe the Caps add a third elsewhere and bundle that along to get their first....) Seattle could be a good trade fit, as they've got three seconds and should load up before their first playoff action. Buffalo also has three seconds and should be sensible buyers for an added boost. I think it may switch over to being a buyer's market before long. The lack of high picks available will suppress returns to some extent unless teams put prospects on the table. There are a lot of pieces still to move. Once you get beyond the top five rentals or so there are a lot of comparable players that could be had at value. JVR with a lot of retention comes to mind as a decent secondary scoring piece.
 
theathletic.com

Wheeler: Ranking the top 64 prospects at the 2023 NHL Draft

The 2023 NHL draft class is rivalled only by 2015 among the talent pools Scott Wheeler has scouted to date.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Wheeler's rankings. I think you more or less see that after six it opens up quite a bit. My back-half of the top ten would differ but it's a matter of taste and also realistically what may best complement this core.

For me after that top six it's Moore pretty easily next from a ceiling/tools standpoint. Then a chunk of Barlow/Leonard/Sale/Reinbacher but YMMV. Cristal and Dvorsky do probably belong as strong considerations at least. Cristal would be a swing for the fences, though you wonder how long they'd wait on his strength/defense coming along. Dvorsky's skating is pretty far from ideal but he does project to be an NHL center and perhaps a pretty balanced two-way one at that. I don't like him as much as Kasper last season but he is probably the most intriguing center otherwise.
 
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895 said:
We will get Michkov, calling it now.
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Its too bad we'd have to wait three years for him to come over... Lets just get Bedard instead.

Also, We're the worst team in the NHL in 2023, we can still slide down the standings.

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