Draft 2023 NHL Draft and Undrafted Free Agents Thread

[RangersFan1994]

McKenzie just released his final draft ranking, he is usually pretty damn close with his rankings to where they are picked, at least in the first round

Intrigue and excitement in the Year of Connor Bedard at the NHL Draft | TSN

The 2023 NHL Draft is about so much more than just the phenom who will go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in Nashville, Bob McKenzie writes. Scouts are very enthused about the depth of this year’s class.

www.tsn.ca

Some notable who are still around after 23:

Mikhail Gulyayev (#23)
Eduard Sale (#24)
Quentin Musty (#25)
Andrew Cristall (#26)
Gavin Brindley (#30)

There will definitely be a few, if not all of them there for the taking when we pick.

Craig Button projects Sale to be an elite first line winger, and compares him to Robertson. I'd be thrilled if we landed him at 23.

Brindley, Musty, Cristall please

 

[GENESISPuck94]

Next week Wed and Thur right. So weird that it's not on a Friday and Saturday.

 

[bhamill]

McKenzie just released his final draft ranking, he is usually pretty damn close with his rankings to where they are picked, at least in the first round

Intrigue and excitement in the Year of Connor Bedard at the NHL Draft | TSN

The 2023 NHL Draft is about so much more than just the phenom who will go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in Nashville, Bob McKenzie writes. Scouts are very enthused about the depth of this year’s class.

www.tsn.ca

Some notable who are still around after 23:

Mikhail Gulyayev (#23)
Eduard Sale (#24)
Quentin Musty (#25)
Andrew Cristall (#26)
Gavin Brindley (#30)

There will definitely be a few, if not all of them there for the taking when we pick.

Craig Button projects Sale to be an elite first line winger, and compares him to Robertson. I'd be thrilled if we landed him at 23.

Some interesting players available. Brindley feels like a Drury pick, high motor, lots of character, and looks like a hell of a skater in clips, but the ceiling on Sale... who knows?

 

[Mugless]

 

[apoptygma]

Detroit have pick 41,42 & 43. Goodrow + a later rounder for one of these?
Or 23 + Goodrow for all 3? From me fast looking trough the last 20 drafts it looks like a better % chance to get a usefull player from 41+42 then from 23 alone.

 

[Daves a mess]

RW whose name starts with a K & ends with an ov? Sign me up

Kantservive. Perfect one for you to hang your next hat on.

 

[mas0764]

McKenzie just released his final draft ranking, he is usually pretty damn close with his rankings to where they are picked, at least in the first round

Intrigue and excitement in the Year of Connor Bedard at the NHL Draft | TSN

The 2023 NHL Draft is about so much more than just the phenom who will go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in Nashville, Bob McKenzie writes. Scouts are very enthused about the depth of this year’s class.

www.tsn.ca

Some notable who are still around after 23:

Mikhail Gulyayev (#23)
Eduard Sale (#24)
Quentin Musty (#25)
Andrew Cristall (#26)
Gavin Brindley (#30)

There will definitely be a few, if not all of them there for the taking when we pick.

Craig Button projects Sale to be an elite first line winger, and compares him to Robertson. I'd be thrilled if we landed him at 23.

Yeah, I'm all about Sale.

 

[duhmetreE]

when was the last time we had a defenseman that could skate like Gulyayev?

 

[RangersFan1994]

when was the last time we had a defenseman that could skate like Gulyayev?

Brady Skjei???


Lets take a dman since its forward heavy draft. Makes no sense at all. Draft best player available regardless of position.

 

[CommaSynapse]

McKenzie just released his final draft ranking, he is usually pretty damn close with his rankings to where they are picked, at least in the first round

Intrigue and excitement in the Year of Connor Bedard at the NHL Draft | TSN

The 2023 NHL Draft is about so much more than just the phenom who will go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in Nashville, Bob McKenzie writes. Scouts are very enthused about the depth of this year’s class.

www.tsn.ca

Some notable who are still around after 23:

Mikhail Gulyayev (#23)
Eduard Sale (#24)
Quentin Musty (#25)
Andrew Cristall (#26)
Gavin Brindley (#30)

There will definitely be a few, if not all of them there for the taking when we pick.

Craig Button projects Sale to be an elite first line winger, and compares him to Robertson. I'd be thrilled if we landed him at 23.

They all look like good picks. Tough call, but it's a good problem to have. I like what I've heard about Sale.

Someone may end up with a real steal in the 30s/early 40s.

 

[duhmetreE]

Brady Skjei???


Lets take a dman since its forward heavy draft. Makes no sense at all. Draft best player available regardless of position.

what does it matter if he's the BPA?

Skjei is a decent-good skater. He's not top of the league elite

 

[Synergy27]

I’d have a very hard time making a pick from that projected available list from Bob.

Sale has elite, top line scoring upside but I have soft, skill first winger PTSD.

Gulyayev skates like Makar but Russia scares the crap out of me and his ability to handle the rigors of a physical NHL has to be considered.

I absolutely love Brindley but how do you justify passing on superstar upside to take a guy that’s going to be a nice complimentary player at best.

Musty is yet another LW with questions about his skating. I am also generally not a big fan of drafting late risers.

This is going to be fun to watch.

 

[Matt Rentfree]

I’d have a very hard time making a pick from that projected available list from Bob.

Sale has elite, top line scoring upside but I have soft, skill first winger PTSD.

Gulyayev skates like Makar but Russia scares the crap out of me and his ability to handle the rigors of a physical NHL has to be considered.

I absolutely love Brindley but how do you justify passing on superstar upside to take a guy that’s going to be a nice complimentary player at best.

Musty is yet another LW with questions about his skating. I am also generally not a big fan of drafting late risers.

This is going to be fun to watch.

I'm still an advocate of trading down with either Detroit or Chicago and choosing 2 or 3 of Edstrom/Cowan/Rykov/Ziemmer/Sawchyn/Lardis. Sale could work out, but he could also be a disaster.

 

[EdJovanovski]

when was the last time we had a defenseman that could skate like Gulyayev?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I’d have a very hard time making a pick from that projected available list from Bob.

Sale has elite, top line scoring upside but I have soft, skill first winger PTSD.

Gulyayev skates like Makar but Russia scares the crap out of me and his ability to handle the rigors of a physical NHL has to be considered.

I absolutely love Brindley but how do you justify passing on superstar upside to take a guy that’s going to be a nice complimentary player at best.

Musty is yet another LW with questions about his skating. I am also generally not a big fan of drafting late risers.

This is going to be fun to watch.

It’s ok, well all know we end up not taking any of those and pick someone projected to go in the 2nd round that we all have to run online right after and see who he is

 

[nsvoyageurs]

Corey Pronman did his annual 7 round Mock Draft (take it fr what it's worth) and had these selections for the Rangers:

New York Rangers
23. Calum Ritchie, C, Oshawa (OHL)
91. Larry Keenan, D, Culver Academy (HIGH-IN)
152. Ivan Anoshko, C, Dinamo-Shinnik Jr. (RUSSIA-JR.)
178. Gavyn Thoreson, RW, Andover (HIGH-MN)
183. Juha Jatkola, G, Kalpa (FINLAND)

Here is the complete draft:

NHL Mock Draft: Corey Pronman picks all seven rounds

Corey Pronman projects every pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

theathletic.com

 

[Daves a mess]

I know you have to pick BPA, but man the NYRs are A$$ weak on RW prospects

 

[RangersFan1994]

I know you have to pick BPA, but man the NYRs are A$$ weak on RW prospects

Why not just pick the best RW available. Wouldn’t that be the smart decision? If Brindley is available, I bet he is the Rangers pick in round 1

 

[duhmetreE]

ADA is has good agility and edge work. Gulyayev is on Makar level of elite skating

A lot of us complain about not having good skaters.... the type of skater Gulyayev is, it's rare..... but lets go get that middle6 winger plug

 

[eco's bones]

Brady Skjei???


Lets take a dman since its forward heavy draft. Makes no sense at all. Draft best player available regardless of position.

There's a good chance that by the 20th pick of the draft the best forwards are gone and of those left there will be any number of defensemen who could be argued amongst the best players left. It looks like a deep draft and it's not a bad draft at all for defensemen or goalies. It's just the top players are forwards but we're not picking between 1. and 15. are we? No....we're not. There are a bunch of defensemen who could be available at 23---kind of think Simashev will be taken before our turn but if he's around he would be a fantastic pick for us. Others deserving of consideration at 23 might be Willander, Gulyayev, Bonk and maybe Lindstein or Dragacevic. I also like Dvorak and Morin a lot.

Simashev might be a guy you even try to move up to get.

Rangers prospect pool is IMO extremely thin on defensemen.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

There is ZERO chance they take a Russian in the first.

The true Kravtsov effect.

 

[UnSandvich]

Tbh i'd be eyeing Simashev in the 1st. I get Miller vibes from him

 

[eco's bones]

The write up in Elite Prospects on Simashev is very interesting. It talks first about his skating and keep in mind he's 6'4 and already over 200 lbs. and he likes to play physical:

'He has perfect posture, sinking deep into his stride, with ample flexibility through his hips, knees and ankles, allowing him to generate power and agility that few can match. He gaps up early in space and can match opponents speed with relative ease, and his considerable defensive range allows him to recover if he's lost a step. He can match opponents footwork with ease in the small area game, taking away time and space before closing with force'.

It's almost unheard of for Elite Prospects to not have some quibble or two or three about a player's skating.

Pretty much sounds like K'Andre Miller only maybe even a better skater with more physical edge. So far the one area of Simashev's game that's kind of lacking is he's not shown as yet to be much of an offensive player. That said even if that doesn't come around he'll be a premier shutdown defenseman. Size, strength and skating are already NHL quality as an 18 year old. He handles the puck and passes pretty well too.

 

[UnSandvich]

The write up in Elite Prospects on Simashev is very interesting. It talks first about his skating and keep in mind he's 6'4 and already over 200 lbs. and he likes to play physical:

'He has perfect posture, sinking deep into his stride, with ample flexibility through his hips, knees and ankles, allowing him to generate power and agility that few can match. He gaps up early in space and can match opponents speed with relative ease, and his considerable defensive range allows him to recover if he's lost a step. He can match opponents footwork with ease in the small area game, taking away time and space before closing with force'.

It's almost unheard of for Elite Prospects to not have some quibble or two or three about a player's skating.

Pretty much sounds like K'Andre Miller only maybe even a better skater with more physical edge. So far the one area of Simashev's game that's kind of lacking is he's not shown as yet to be much of an offensive player. That said even if that doesn't come around he'll be a premier shutdown defenseman. Size, strength and skating are already NHL quality as an 18 year old. He handles the puck and passes pretty well too.

HockeyProspect's Black Book is even higher on him. He's their 5th rated prospect overall.

W/r/t his skating:
"One of many reasons we like Simashev so much is because the toolkit he has is incredible. He’s one of the best skaters in this draft class when you consider his 6’04” and 198-pound frame. He has high-end athletic abilities, great top speed, acceleration, an effortless stride, great recovery skating, and great agility, which helps him defend one-on-one and escape pressure when retrieving pucks. His ability to escape pressure combined with the quality of his skating is amongst the best (if not the best) in this draft class. Everything about his skating is sexy, and it’s very exciting to see what he’s going to look like in 4 to 5 years.

We usually talk about centerline manipulation for skaters so that they can bypass and cut around players quicker, or so that they can sidestep physical contact, but to be able to move effortlessly off one centerline applies to defensemen as well. This doesn’t just apply to skating, but also defending, and that's what is so unique about Simashev’s game. When he does make the wrong read in terms of recognizing the trajectory of a lateral pass into the slot, or when he does fail to identify his positional switch, his centerline manipulation allows a rare level of recovery and allows him to intercept and disrupt plays both off the cycle and transition at an unmatched rate in this class."

 

[GENESISPuck94]

I know next to nothing about this draft, but I'm always excited for drafts. If I have one player I want in the draft from research and someone mentioned here, Carey Terrance. I like what I'm reading and video highlights. Exact kind of player we need.