Prospect Info: 2023 Draft Thread (Yotes picking #6 & #12)

[Dead Coyote]

I think they both project as centers too. I just like Fantilli more because of his speed, flash, and swagger. I agree that Carlsson is much more “solid”. Fantilli is more like a 6’2 Cooley.

I didn’t have Slafkovsky ahead of Wright this time last year. There’s a good chance Carlsson eclipses Fantilli for me within the next six months. But right now, I’m having to much fun envisioning our two top centers being high flying, flashy skill types, who are both absolute pricks on the ice that other teams hate. Then with Geekie and McBain in the 3rd and 4th C slots? It’s just too much entertainment.

Fantilli-Cooley-Geekie-McBain would be miserable to match up against.

But I’d be very nearly as pumped if it were Carlsson-Cooley-Geekie-McBain.

I think they're both great choices. Wouldn't be disappointed in either. Ultimately I'd prefer we work out a deal for MIchkov to come over if we don't get Bedard, but failing that one of the two would be more than fine. I just really have a hard on for Carlsson. Although I really like Fantilli too.

 

[lanky]

 

[hbk]

A+ piece on Barlow, by Brock Otten.

He just scores goals. In tight. Ovi spot. Goals. What i want to see that I haven’t seen yet are signs he can be a power forward. If he’s just a goal scoring winger i’m less interested in top 10.

 

[rt]

He just scores goals. In tight. Ovi spot. Goals. What i want to see that I haven’t seen yet are signs he can be a power forward. If he’s just a goal scoring winger i’m less interested in top 10.

I’ve only seen one Owen sound game. He wasn’t very physical in it. Smart and involved but not punishing. Kind of like Crouse when nobody has poked the bear. Good positioning and a good from and decent wheels for his size. Rehkopf was more like what I was expecting from Barlow. But it was just one game. A pre-concussion Mueller mixed with a post-late-bloom Crouse woild be a nice player to add, though. If that’s even really what he’s like.

 

[hbk]

I’ve only seen one Owen sound game. He wasn’t very physical in it. Smart and involved but not punishing. Kind of like Crouse when nobody has poked the bear. Good positioning and a good from and decent wheels for his size. Rehkopf was more like what I was expecting from Barlow. But it was just one game. A pre-concussion Mueller mixed with a post-late-bloom Crouse woild be a nice player to add, though. If that’s even really what he’s like.

Part of it is u just get so excited after watching small skilled players slated to go in That 5-8 range and that you expect the guy with some height and weight is going to bring it physically.

 

[Freddy Sjostrom]

Just listening to Chris Peters podcast and he answered a question we were talking about earlier in this thread, who in the first round are projected to play center?
Bedard- Most likely a winger.
Fantilli- Bonafide center. Size, physicality, and skating to drive play.
Carlsson- Skating and pace may hold him back.
Yager- More productive winger, could go either way. Size is not a concern.
Smith- Center. Some scouts say wing, depends on team.
Ritchie- either way.
Dvorsky- Center. Instincts and defensive play say yes.
Stramel- Tweener.
Moore- Center. Fastest player in this draft.
Brindley- Winger.

 

[rt]

Watching an Oshawa game. I like Calum Ritchie a lot. Puck hound. Long stride. Plays hard. Good passer. Had an absolutely beautiful goal, after a monster shift. Big, right shot C, takes big draws and kills penalties too. Wearing a full cage because he got injured fighting fellow top
Prospect Musty, who’s still out of the line up. Ritchie plays a tough game. I read a wheeler article about what a gym rat he is too and how dedicated he is off ice. A lot to like.

But the real interesting player here is Beckett Sennecke. He’s a 2024 eligible and wow is he impressive. Looks like a top ten pick to me. Really an impressive player for D-1.

Oshawa has a bright future. And I’m a big fan of their head coach Laxdal. If I’m an NHL team, I’m happy to pick an Oshawa kid knowing that they’ve got an NHL caliber head coach behind the bench.

Shane Wright still looks kinda solid but unspectacular.

 

[rt]

The fight



And when I say he’s a hound who’s always around the puck:



Wish I could find a video of the Ritchie goal that put the Generals up 2-0 in their last game against Windsor. Really a monster shift. Kid was 11/14 on FOs that game too.

Puts him up to 55% FOW% on the season. Pretty sure he’s 1st in the OHL in face off wins among draft eligible players.

 

[SR]

Obviously Bedard is the goal, but I’d be plenty happy with one of Bedard, Fantilli or Carlson. Add in Cooley, this team is starting to look much brighter.

 

[Heldig]

Obviously Bedard is the goal, but I’d be plenty happy with one of Bedard, Fantilli or Carlson. Add in Cooley, this team is starting to look much brighter.

Forrward group is taking shape.

D core needs some work especially if Chychrun and Ghost are traded.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

Forrward group is taking shape.

D core needs some work especially if Chychrun and Ghost are traded.

D core needs big help.

 

[hbk]

Forrward group is taking shape.

D core needs some work especially if Chychrun and Ghost are traded.

2023 doesn't appear to be a draft where especially in the 1st you are going to find someone who isn't a long-term project. I do think some D will go in that 15-30 range ahead of where they are slotted because of this shortage and if a team does like a player they will take him and take him early.

 

[rt]

2023 doesn't appear to be a draft where especially in the 1st you are going to find someone who isn't a long-term project. I do think some D will go in that 15-30 range ahead of where they are slotted because of this shortage and if a team does like a player they will take him and take him early.

I really liked what I saw from Strbak in the WJC and I’m a big Dragicevic fan, as well. I expect Dragicevic will have a Korchinski style surge in the rankings over the next few months. But I don’t think Strbak will. He’ll likely still be there with the Chychrun pick or maybe even our 2nd.

I’m really fine with just going BPA and then trading some of those 24 & 25 2nds and 3rds for young NHL RFA D.

I’d hate to pass on a forward I really like just because they’re a forward. I don’t want to reach for Reinbacher when I could have Benson. Or reach for Price or Bonk when I could have Stramel or Ritchie.

As an example, last summer we could’ve reached into our warchest and cashed in picks for Nils Lundkvist and Nic Hague. It’s just it was 1-2 years too soon. In 18 months, I think it makes sense to do that.

 

[rt]

Watched the Tri City v Kamloops game.

Dragicevic is underrated, I think. I may be catching good games. Or maybe he’s improved as the season as gone on and I’m catching recent games. I really liked him last season and he’s impressive this year.

I don’t get the criticisms at all. I think he can sometimes have his instincts take control and make hurried decisions that outpace his actual processing by a split second. This definitely leads to some questionable decisions with the puck. But much more often his extremely quick decisions with the puck are a tremendous benefit to his team. He really moves it up the ice and to teammate with great precision and incredibly quick.

He’s really creative with the puck and does some really cool things with banking off the boards to teammates or dumping in ahead of them or into corners or little unexpected quiet areas. Smart player. Fun to watch. He’s got a really nice shot at gets into good position to use it.

His positioning is also good defensively which is important for him because he does have heavy feet in the D zone. Not the quickest at gapping up. And if he’s out of position he’s slow to get back into it. He’s also too often too upright with his stick at waist level. Can look disengaged, for sure. That’s gotta get fixed.

But he isn’t exactly lacking in intensity. His stands his ground and is sturdy in front of the net and along the boards. He took a couple of pretty nasty and pretty stupid roughing penalties in this game. He’s no pushover. He’s strong for this level. But he can look a bit like a loafer in the D zone.

He played Forward until his WHL draft year and I think it shows a bit. But I think the upside here is huge and from what I’ve seen the negatives are vastly overrated. This kid had a 27 game point streak earlier this season as a 6’2 RHD. And I’m really NOT seeing glaring weaknesses, here. There aren’t major deal breakers or red flags.

I’ll keep an eye on him this season to make sure I’m not just catching lucky viewings. But he looks like the top blueliner in this draft to me. And someone I’m going to end up ranking top 15, or so.

I’d be fine with him as the centerpiece of a Chychrun package.

 

[rt]

Just realized the two most recent Oshawa games i selected to watch were Ritchie’s only two 3pt games since before thanksgiving. Haha.

I chose based on matchups not production. Whoops! Maybe it’s the same with Dragicevic. I’ll have to pick out some games where I know they didn’t get a point and see what I think.

 

[MIGs Dog]

Remember when we were 12 points up on the hawks and were closer to the playoffs than the basement?

We were overachieving, but eventually, our talent caught up to us.

 

[MIGs Dog]

D core needs big help.

Is this what you meant?

All 2022 draft class. How many make the show? History says maybe only one.

Lamoureux - 6'7"
Morden - 6'4"
Szuber - 6'3"

 

[Freddy Sjostrom]

Some test results

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

Is this what you meant?

All 2022 draft class. How many make the show? History says maybe only one.

Lamoureux - 6'7"
Morden - 6'4"
Szuber - 6'3"

Would be great if those guys panned out for sure. We know Maveric will get a shot...and his skating is top notch, but not sure about Morden and especially Szuber, every time I see him he always looks overwhelmed to me...

 

[rt]

Nice to see Yager, Brzustewicz, and Price cracking the top five on multiple lists. Supports the eye test, for sure. They play that way.

 

[Nagatoarek]

What's all this about Leo Carlsson having an issue with skating? I've seen almost every game he's played this year, and other than a few games during the junior championships (when he was ill) has the skating looked good, even better for a guy his size.
He has quick feet, but this almost clumsy looking style when generating speed which may look like he's skating slowly, but he's still blazing past players in SHL. Most times he doesn't need to go full blast however due to excellent positioning.
My biggest worry with Carlsson - and the reason I regard Fantilli slightly higher - is his physical play still needs to be worked on. Of course he plays with mainly adults, but he could still be a lot better at it than he has been. He doesn't lack strength, but he seems to avoid the physical play at times. He's not a 'prick' on the ice like Fantilli (and I mean that in a good way for Fantilli). All coachable things.

I do expect things to slow down with him quite a bit now. His team, Örebro HK, is going through an absolute shit show outside the ice which has seemingly given a bad effect on the ice.

 

[rt]

What's all this about Leo Carlsson having an issue with skating? I've seen almost every game he's played this year, and other than a few games during the junior championships (when he was ill) has the skating looked good, even better for a guy his size.
He has quick feet, but this almost clumsy looking style when generating speed which may look like he's skating slowly, but he's still blazing past players in SHL. Most times he doesn't need to go full blast however due to excellent positioning.
My biggest worry with Carlsson - and the reason I regard Fantilli slightly higher - is his physical play still needs to be worked on. Of course he plays with mainly adults, but he could still be a lot better at it than he has been. He doesn't lack strength, but he seems to avoid the physical play at times. He's not a 'prick' on the ice like Fantilli (and I mean that in a good way for Fantilli). All coachable things.

I do expect things to slow down with him quite a bit now. His team, Örebro HK, is going through an absolute shit show outside the ice which has seemingly given a bad effect on the ice.

Yep. That’s it. That’s what it is for me. Kinda clunky out the gate. But it doesn’t seem to hurt his game. And should be even less of an issue over on NA ice.

 

[Freddy Sjostrom]

1 Connor Bedard
2 Adam Fantilli
3 Matvei Michkov
4 Leo Carlsson
5 Zach Benson
6 Andrew Cristall
7 Will Smith
8 Eduard Sale
9 Oliver Moore
10 Axel Sandin-Pellikka

 

[Freddy Sjostrom]

Seems like _most_ independent scouts have the same top 4. Benson and Smith seem to be solidly in the next to go, but are these the type of players Coyotes scouting staff would lobby for? Still a lot of hockey to play, maybe Leo quiets down and Benson, Smith, or someone else rise.

 

[Llewzaher]

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