GDT: 2023 Caps NHL Draft Thread

[g00n]

Slafkovsky, Reinbacher, Newhook, Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Guhle, Xhekaj.

Pretty good group of young potential core players though. Especially if Slaf and Reinbacher pan out.

But the guy in the twitter video had a point. It's a very offense-heavy draft class. There are potential elite scorers all over the place, and if you don't get one then the competition will. Maybe next season there's surplus of d-men, or the year after that, and you can address a defensive need then. Or some other way. But top scoring prospects don't come along that often and rarely get traded unless they're struggling.

If drafts are judged by game theory principles then the Habs probably lost

 

[trick9]

I don't get why people here are shitting on Reinbacher. He's a good prospect. 22 points in NL season is Roman Josi -level production and he's already playing top-4 minutes in a strong league.

In a decade i'm sure David Reinbacher isn't going to be the most laughed prospect out of this draft class.

 

[g00n]

I don't get why people here are shitting on Reinbacher. He's a good prospect. 22 points in NL season is Roman Josi -level production and he's already playing top-4 minutes in a strong league.

In a decade i'm sure David Reinbacher isn't going to be the most laughed prospect out of this draft class.

It's not that he sucks. It's that there were so many other good forwards

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

I don't get why people here are shitting on Reinbacher. He's a good prospect. 22 points in NL season is Roman Josi -level production and he's already playing top-4 minutes in a strong league.

In a decade i'm sure David Reinbacher isn't going to be the most laughed prospect out of this draft class.

I think Reinbacher is a good player but there were better players available. Montreal hasn’t had a 40 goal scorer in 30 years and instead of taking a generational forward prospect they took a guy who projects to be a second pairing defenseman.

 

[YippieKaey]

But the guy in the twitter video had a point. It's a very offense-heavy draft class. There are potential elite scorers all over the place, and if you don't get one then the competition will. Maybe next season there's surplus of d-men, or the year after that, and you can address a defensive need then. Or some other way. But top scoring prospects don't come along that often and rarely get traded unless they're struggling.

If drafts are judged by game theory principles then the Habs probably lost

Yeah sure, not disagreeing with that. But if Caufield, Slaf and Dach pan out they have good scoring. If their best D is Guhle or Xhekaj they would need a better#1 D. Reinbacher might be that. Then again he might just be a #3-4 D and Slaf and Dach turn into duds and then they would have needed forwards.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Slafkovsky, Reinbacher, Newhook, Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, Guhle, Xhekaj.

Pretty good group of young potential core players though. Especially if Slaf and Reinbacher pan out.

That’s a pretty underwhelming group of players. There’s maybe one or two top line/top pairing players in that group. It is a terrible haul for the assets they had.

They could have had Cooley, Nemec, or Wright last year. They could have had Michkov this year. There were multiple reports that Philly offered 7 and 22 for 5 so they could have traded back and maybe still have gotten Reinbacher + someone like Perrault at 22. And they paid a premium for a player in Alex Newhook who struggled in perhaps the best possible situation you could want a prospect to develop in.

Again maybe they get lucky and it works out but the process seems lacking and it feels like they wasted a golden opportunity.

 

[Fred22406Capsfan]

I'm very much a novice when it comes to the draft. Is this guy someone that can work in right away in Washington or does he get buried in Hershey for the next few years?

 

[Langway]

I think the issue for Montreal is less Reinbacher than the Newhook trade and how it reduced their ability to be more aggressive elsewhere. Even if SJS were not interested in dropping down Montreal could have tried bundling 31+37 to get up to around 23 or just generally used those assets on a bigger swing. Or stayed put and selected Gulyayev or Edstrom, both of whom I'd rather have than Newhook. Instead they bought quite high on a player that hasn't found his footing altogether, doesn't offer much size or plus skating and is due a raise. Puzzling.

Also that's a roster not very close to competing and when you think ahead to next year it's full of defensemen at the top. There are some forwards, notably Celebrini and Eisermann, but early on the distinguishing quality is it being pretty D heavy. Given a need for more breakthrough talent this was a big missed opportunity overall. Reinbacher could be quite good but it's very hard to see where the upside lies with that group overall. I don't think there's nearly enough beyond Suzuki & Caufield.

 

[g00n]

He didn't.

Briere basically confirmed that in the interview after making the pick. Michkov loved the Flyers and wanted to play for them and convinced them to pick him. Which made his job easier because of his talent-level.

Time to move along with him. It would have sucked if he was aiming and working towards being picked by us and still someone picked him before. But loves Philadelphia Flyers? Barf.

On to the next target with top-line scoring potential and red flags all around him. Andrew Cristall.

Briere: Michkov 'a talent' Flyers willing to wait for

The Flyers drafted Matvei Michkov seventh overall Wednesday night despite the possibility that the 18-year-old forward may not debut in the NHL until 2026-27 because he is under contract to play in his native Russia for the next three seasons.

www.espn.com

Right. Caps FO knew this, I'm sure. They weren't going to burn assets to trade up and pick this guy.

The End.

 

[EroCaps]

I hope there’s a reason the Caps didn’t trade up with Montreal or Arizona besides lack of testicular fortitude.

 

[Langway]

Crunched my list a bit and this is my final answer: Hrabal, Wahlberg, Dragicevic, Brindley, Halttunen, Cristall, Heidt, Gauthier.

You'd hope for a fringe first round talent and these are that I'd say.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

View attachment 723359

Briere: Michkov 'a talent' Flyers willing to wait for

The Flyers drafted Matvei Michkov seventh overall Wednesday night despite the possibility that the 18-year-old forward may not debut in the NHL until 2026-27 because he is under contract to play in his native Russia for the next three seasons.

www.espn.com

Right. Caps FO knew this, I'm sure. They weren't going to burn assets to trade up and pick this guy.

The End.

This….sounds like he didn’t want to be here….so he’s forever dead to me as a Flyer.

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

This….sounds like he didn’t want to be here….so he’s forever dead to me as a Flyer.

I’m speculating but maybe the Nikolishin’s comments didn’t sit well with him?

 

[Marshall]

Crunched my list a bit and this is my final answer: Hrabal, Wahlberg, Dragicevic, Brindley, Halttunen, Cristall, Heidt, Gauthier.

You'd hope for a fringe first round talent and these are that I'd say.

I, too, am on the Halttunen Train.

Choo-choo.

 

[twabby]

I hope no one is reading more into that article than "guy who was drafted by the Flyers speaks kindly of the Flyers".

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I’m speculating but maybe the Nikolishin’s comments didn’t sit well with him?

Maybe because true, just speculating….

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I, too, am on the Halttunen Train.

Choo-choo.

Problem is he is from Finland so no way Caps take him. I see them taking a good ole boy from the WHL.

I hope no one is reading more into that article than "guy who was drafted by the Flyers speaks kindly of the Flyers".

Well he met with them before the draft in Philly…so…

 

[RandyHolt]

They won because Kuznetsov had the best 24 games of his life, DSP had the best 24 games of his life, Lars Eller had the best 24 games of his life, etc.

Honestly when you think back on it there’s no real reason it happened other than good fortune! Those guys aren’t exactly the hardest workers and dedicated to their craft. They got perfectly timed hot streaks from some really inconsistent characters!

Orpik was a HUGE cog in our cup securement. He would step up early in game 1s and the opposition would dump pucks in after that. Hitting. Yeah we had timely goals from those 3 but physically destroying the opposition leads to goals. The cup is a battle of attrition more than good fortune. Orpik also covered for our 160lb defensemen beautifully and led the team. Ovi and Nick jointly passed the Cup to him - they knew and showed the world.

Willy clobbering Kunitz led to that backbreaking early goal vs Tampa in game 7 that sucked the life out of that arena & team 1 minute in. Willy destroyed Karlsson arguably their best player in game 2 IIRC who was invisible the rest of the series. Oshie vs Vegas game 4 or 5? trucking players that led directly to 2 goals.

"Lenny" fits the mold of the type of player that won us a cup. That Vegas team needed more Ryan Reeves who got benched after a game 1 GWG IIRC he didn't play after that and they lost every game. Who did he knock over in our crease to score... DJoos maybe.

 

[g00n]

I hope there’s a reason the Caps didn’t trade up with Montreal or Arizona besides lack of testicular fortitude.

TIL you're ignoring me.

Post right above yours, Debbie

 

[SecretaryofDefense5]

I don’t agree with Ian on anything but this is an interesting take. Not sure I completely agree but they do seem more risk adverse at this point which is surprising considering the suck is coming (if it isn’t already here).

 

[g00n]

I don’t agree with Ian on anything but this is an interesting take. Not sure I completely agree but they do seem more risk adverse at this point which is surprising considering the suck is coming (if it isn’t already here).

We currently have a player that doesn't want to be here.
Let's draft another.
Who won't even come over for 3yrs.
And let's pay out the ass for him.
Instead of drafting someone who could also make us better while losing no assets, and who wants to be here.

Yes, this is the kind of risk taking we need. What are we thinking.

 

[Serial_Derecho]

I'm very much a novice when it comes to the draft. Is this guy someone that can work in right away in Washington or does he get buried in Hershey for the next few years?

No, just about all the players drafted (outside of Bedard), will be years away from playing in the NHL.

Specifically, Leonard is set to go play at Boston College. I imagine he'll spend at least 2-3 years there (if not the entire 4 years) before transitioning to professional hockey, likely spending at least a little time in Hershey along the way.

ETA: The NHL draft is VERY different from either the NBA or NFL, who's draftees generally step in somewhat immediately. If I had to compare it to something, Id compare the NHL draft to MLB in that there is years of development time to come for most of these players.

 

[ChaosLord]

Orpik was a HUGE cog in our cup securement. He would step up early in game 1s and the opposition would dump pucks in after that. Hitting. Yeah we had timely goals from those 3 but physically destroying the opposition leads to goals. The cup is a battle of attrition more than good fortune.

Willy clobbering Kunitz led to that backbreaking early goal vs Tampa in game 7 that sucked the life out of that arena & team 1 minute in. Willy destroyed Karlsson arguably their best player in game 2 IIRC who was invisible the rest of the series. Oshie vs Vegas game 4 or 5? trucking players that led directly to goals.

Ryan fits the mold of the type of player that won us a cup.

I dunno, I wasn't as big a fan of Orpik as the rest of you. I still remember him getting burned by Nick Bonino in Game 1 vs the Pens in 2017 in the 3rd period, a game that we absolutely DOMINATED and should have won. Orpik could hit, but he was also as slow as molasses. So did we win BECAUSE of him or DESPITE him in 2018, we'll never truly know.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Orpik was a HUGE cog in our cup securement. He would step up early in game 1s and the opposition would dump pucks in after that. Hitting. Yeah we had timely goals from those 3 but physically destroying the opposition leads to goals. The cup is a battle of attrition more than good fortune. Orpik also covered for our 160lb defensemen beautifully.

Willy clobbering Kunitz led to that backbreaking early goal vs Tampa in game 7 that sucked the life out of that arena & team 1 minute in. Willy destroyed Karlsson arguably their best player in game 2 IIRC who was invisible the rest of the series. Oshie vs Vegas game 4 or 5? trucking players that led directly to goals.

Ryan fits the mold of the type of player that won us a cup. That Vegas team needed more Ryan Reeves who got benched after a game 1 GWG IIRC he didn't play after that and they lost every game. Who did he knock over in our crease to score... DJoos maybe.

Stop I’m getting weepy….beautiful memories….

 

[Corby78]

I don’t agree with Ian on anything but this is an interesting take. Not sure I completely agree but they do seem more risk adverse at this point which is surprising considering the suck is coming (if it isn’t already here).

1- we have no idea what was offered or what was being asked
2- we don’t know yet what prospect will be better
3- the Russian may not ever be in the nhl at the same time as Ovie
4- IMO this is a baseless hot take