Prospect Info: 2023 NHL Draft (mod warning 1st post)

[Anaheim4ever]

Yeah i know its early but 2022 draft discussion started pretty quickly too last year.
So far its #1 Bedard and #2 Mitchkov but after that what are players you are interested in for the Ducks ?
I don't see Bedard falling like Wright did at all. Who will be this years Slaf and Cooley ?

Blanket warning to everyone - the season is over, the active tanking is over, and everyone needs to remember how to get along.

Polite discussions of different viewpoints is fine. Assertions as to who is a good fan, who is a bad fan, and most particularly trolling behavior is going to result in thread bans and warnings. The vast majority of posters here are great about this. There are a few of you, on both sides of this issue, who are trying to start things, and I would advise you to carefully consider if that snarky comment you just made is worth being your last post in a thread. I would advise the folks who think that making an even snarkier response to make that same assessment. Neither of your posts will be seen by anyone else for long regardless.

It is perfectly fine to not understand how anyone could root for the team to lose. It is perfectly fine to not understand how losing has strong benefits to the franchise king term. There are gaping holes in BOTH positions, that may be discussed and debated…POLITELY.

We are all Ducks fans. Time to remember that and stop being at each other’s throats.

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[DavidBL]

Click the tweet for the full list.

Anything pop out at you?

 

[bsu]

Anything pop out at you?

Dylan MacKinnon was a late add to the game and did well. Alex Pharand finished top 3 in forward skating with AND without the puck.... but I don't take much from these tests (Bedard didn't even show on any top 5) but thought I'd share since the game is today.

 

[DavidBL]

Dylan MacKinnon was a late add to the game and did well. Alex Pharand finished top 3 in forward skating with AND without the puck.... but I don't take much from these tests (Bedard didn't even show on any top 5) but thought I'd share since the game is today.

Cool. Thanks.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I'd love if that was true though, I like the prospect a lot. That'd be amazing.

You’re probably right, to be honest, but I still thought it was mildly interesting.

Just need Bedard and Reinbacher this year... the dream.

Like i said earlier, i expect PV to be aggressive on draft day and at the deadline... and wouldnt be shocked if we end up going in with 2 1sts and 4 2nds, and are willing to move those 2nds to get players we like a lot.

Reinbacher i think will end up going a lot higher than where most mock drafts have him.... so idk that we really will get a shot at him even with a 2nd 1st, but i imagine PV will try if thats his guy.

 

[bsu]

CHL top prospect game starting soon

 

[cheesymc]

I’d be in favor of using as high of a pick as a second rounder on a goalie this year, with Dostal graduating, we could use another goalie with high upside. Down year for Clang unfortunately

I think it makes sense to add to the depth queue. There seems to be many interesting goalies available this year. I don’t think we need to use a 2nd, someone should be available with a 3rd. So far I’m liking Clara. He would be a giant goalie and give a different look than Dostal.

Just need Bedard and Reinbacher this year... the dream.

Like i said earlier, i expect PV to be aggressive on draft day and at the deadline... and wouldnt be shocked if we end up going in with 2 1sts and 4 2nds, and are willing to move those 2nds to get players we like a lot.

Reinbacher i think will end up going a lot higher than where most mock drafts have him.... so idk that we really will get a shot at him even with a 2nd 1st, but i imagine PV will try if thats his guy.

Most rankings don’t have a defensemen in the top 10-12. But I’m thinking Ottawa and Montreal will be picking one… ASP for Ottawa and Reinbacher with their 2nd 1st.

 

[FlyingV09]

Just need Bedard and Reinbacher this year... the dream.

Like i said earlier, i expect PV to be aggressive on draft day and at the deadline... and wouldnt be shocked if we end up going in with 2 1sts and 4 2nds, and are willing to move those 2nds to get players we like a lot.

Reinbacher i think will end up going a lot higher than where most mock drafts have him.... so idk that we really will get a shot at him even with a 2nd 1st, but i imagine PV will try if thats his guy.

If we end up with two firsts, I think we should pick 2 forwards. Our D prospect list is long with lots of promising players in there. Our forward group is a different story. Ultimately BPA, but we need the help up front IMO

 

[bsu]

If we end up with two firsts, I think we should pick 2 forwards. Our D prospect list is long with lots of promising players in there. Our forward group is a different story. Ultimately BPA, but we need the help up front IMO

We need big physical defensemen that can actually play defense..with puck skills as much as we need forwards. We cannot get the pick out of our zone and most the defensemen we have coming don't help that. Warren is a total wild card at this point, same with Thrun and LaCombe. Need a higher end guy.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

If we end up with two firsts, I think we should pick 2 forwards. Our D prospect list is long with lots of promising players in there. Our forward group is a different story. Ultimately BPA, but we need the help up front IMO

I think we can find forwards to add to terry/zegras/mctavish and our 1st pick in draft through FA or trades.

Defense needs a lot of help…. There is potential there… but if the right type of dmen is there you take him 100%.

Reinbacher falls under that category for me

 

[FlyingV09]

We need big physical defensemen that can actually play defense..with puck skills as much as we need forwards. We cannot get the pick out of our zone and most the defensemen we have coming don't help that. Warren is a total wild card at this point, same with Thrun and LaCombe. Need a higher end guy.

We need D men who can skate. They have to be good skaters. How many teams have big bruisers anymore? The game is all about speed now. We have Drysdale with Mintyukov, Zellweger, Warren, Luneau, Hinds all in the pipeline. That’s not including Thrun or LaCombe given they might not end up here. Moore, Andersson…..Good mix of size and skill/skating in that group.

Our forward cupboard is bare. Gaucher is the only semi promising prospect. I’m doubtful Perreault/Tracey amount to much. We need more guys that can put the puck in the net and create plays. We have a good start with McT, Terry and Zegras but that’s just a start. If we pick up another first, I’d like it to be a forward.

I think we can find forwards to add to terry/zegras/mctavish and our 1st pick in draft through FA or trades.

Defense needs a lot of help…. There is potential there… but if the right type of dmen is there you take him 100%.

Reinbacher falls under that category for me

If there’s a D man that’s a clear cut above the forwards available, you take him for sure. But IMO, our forward group needs a lot of help.

 

[bsu]

We need D men who can skate. They have to be good skaters. How many teams have big bruisers anymore? The game is all about speed now. We have Drysdale with Mintyukov, Zellweger, Warren, Luneau, Hinds all in the pipeline. That’s not including Thrun or LaCombe given they might not end up here. Moore, Axelsson…..Good mix of size and skill/skating in that group.

Our forward cupboard is bare. Gaucher is the only semi promising prospect. I’m doubtful Perreault/Tracey amount to much. We need more guys that can put the puck in the net and create plays. We have a good start with McT, Terry and Zegras but that’s just a start. If we pick up another first, I’d like it to be a forward.


If there’s a D man that’s a clear cut above the forwards available, you take him for sure. But IMO, our forward group needs a lot of help.

Drysdale, Minty, Zellweger all bring things we have, none of them are particularly good defensively and none of them are intimating at all. Hinds and Warren were late picks if they pan out good, I'm not holding my breath it's funny how you talk about Tracey and Perreault when in reality both players could easily already be more productive at the pro level than Warren and Hinds end up.

We need Hampus Lindholm types... like 2 or 3 of them honestly and all the players you mentioned are more like Fowler and Klingberg. That being said I'd definitely take a forward with our first pick.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

We need big physical defensemen that can actually play defense..with puck skills as much as we need forwards. We cannot get the pick out of our zone and most the defensemen we have coming don't help that. Warren is a total wild card at this point, same with Thrun and LaCombe. Need a higher end guy.

"big physical defensemen that can actually play defense..with puck skills" are usually top-5 selections. There are none in this draft. Also, we should know if we have Thrun and LaCombe onboard before the draft. I don't really care too much about having high puck skills if we're looking for shutdown D since they'll be paired with a talented offensive defenseman with pucks skills in Drysdale, Mintyukov, Zellweger, Luneau, or LaCombe.

A shutdown D in the draft that could be had with our 2nd round pick is 6'2 and 198 lbs Maxim Strbak. He's in the same mold as Thrun such that they both have skating concerns and he's NCAA bound to Michigan State. I love defensemen going to the NCAA because they get to properly build their physique, learn how to play defense, and play against older competition. It's possible that Strbak can improve his skating while improving his physique.

We have three 2nd round picks: our own, Boston's, and the Avs'. I don't know how far Strbak will fall because of his skating concerns. Thrun was projected to go in the late in the first round and he dropped to the 4th round because of his skating. I wanted Thrun with our 2019 late, first round pick.

I'll keep digging on shutdown D, but signing Thrun will go a long with because we also have Hinds in our system. OTOH, with so many offensive D, we could use one or two in a trade to acquire a top-4 shutdown D since we're too young on defense.

 

[FlyingV09]

Drysdale, Minty, Zellweger all bring things we have, none of them are particularly good defensively and none of them are intimating at all. Hinds and Warren were late picks if they pan out good, I'm not holding my breath it's funny how you talk about Tracey and Perreault when in reality both players could easily already be more productive at the pro level than Warren and Hinds end up.

We need Hampus Lindholm types... like 2 or 3 of them honestly and all the players you mentioned are more like Fowler and Klingberg. That being said I'd definitely take a forward with our first pick.

Perreault and Tracey are struggling in the A and are nowhere near ready for the NHL. They have literally produced nothing at the pro level, so there’s really nothing to compare to. Hinds are Warren are both big shutdown D men….the exact type you say(and I agree) we need. The hope is that they can become Hampus types. Comparing them to Tracey/Perreault is just….odd.

I haven’t watched a lot of Warren, but Hinds has been showing great improvement since he was drafted. I disagree about Mintyukov and Zellweger defensively….Mintyukov has a high IQ and Zellwegers skating and smarts will bode well for him in the pros. All those players bring things to our D core that we do not have, and desperately need, and I haven’t even touched on the other 5-6 D we have in the pipeline. We have some semblance of hope in our D prospect pool. I don’t see much to have faith when it comes to the forwards.

 

[bsu]

Perreault and Tracey are struggling in the A and are nowhere near ready for the NHL. They have literally produced nothing at the pro level, so there’s really nothing to compare to. Hinds are Warren are both big shutdown D men….the exact type you say(and I agree) we need. The hope is that they can become Hampus types. Comparing them to Tracey/Perreault is just….odd.

I haven’t watched a lot of Warren, but Hinds has been showing great improvement since he was drafted. I disagree about Mintyukov and Zellweger defensively….Mintyukov has a high IQ and Zellwegers skating and smarts will bode well for him in the pros. All those players bring things to our D core that we do not have, and desperately need, and I haven’t even touched on the other 5-6 D we have in the pipeline. We have some semblance of hope in our D prospect pool. I don’t see much to have faith when it comes to the forwards.

Zellweger will be one of the smallest players in the NHL. I'm sure he will struggle when teams are set up in our zone on that fact alone. He'll be a transition defender just like the rest of our defensemen. The hope is he turns into a Girard type.... which unfortunately isn't close to top 5 of team needs at this time.

 

[FlyingV09]

Zellweger will be one of the smallest players in the NHL. I'm sure he will struggle when teams are set up in our zone on that fact alone. He'll be a transition defender just like the rest of our defensemen. The hope is he turns into a Girard type.... which unfortunately isn't close to top 5 of team needs at this time.

I’m hopeful he can turn into a Niedermayer type. On the small side but smart and could skate their way out of trouble.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Drysdale, Minty, Zellweger all bring things we have, none of them are particularly good defensively and none of them are intimating at all. Hinds and Warren were late picks if they pan out good, I'm not holding my breath it's funny how you talk about Tracey and Perreault when in reality both players could easily already be more productive at the pro level than Warren and Hinds end up.

We need Hampus Lindholm types... like 2 or 3 of them honestly and all the players you mentioned are more like Fowler and Klingberg. That being said I'd definitely take a forward with our first pick.

Warren was selected 45th in the 2nd round, our first 2nd round pick. We traded back into the 3rd round to draft Hinds at pick 76. Both aren't "late round picks".

Warren was the last of the top tier group of shutdown D: Bichsel (18th), Pickering (21st), Lamoureux (29th), Chesley (37th), and Warren (42nd). He will be a long term project, but he does has size, at 6'5 and 225 lbs, and speed, one of the fastest forward skating players in the Q for his draft. I can see Warren spending two to three years in the AHL refining his skills.

Hinds is very Lindholm-esque on defense. He isn't violent a hitter, but he does hit, win puck battles often along the boards, and safely efficiently passes the puck out of the d-zone as fast as possible. His offense took a huge jump when Hinds was traded to Rimouski in 2020-21 season. Then his defense took a huge jump when Hinds got traded to Sherbrooke in 2021-22. Everyone witness that defensive play on display at our rookie tourney, especially PV who raved about Hinds and offered him an ELC!

We then find out Hinds got invited to the WJC-20 and he worked his way onto the final roster, from 7D, to playing top-4 for team Canada. Hinds finished tied for 7th in plus/minus with +9 while boasting an emphatic 0.29 ppg rate. Like I said, very Lindholm-esque, but I think Hinds has more offense to his game as a younging.

With three 2nd round picks, the org will probably grab a D to have a balanced draft.

 

[goonsaredumb]

Zellweger will be one of the smallest players in the NHL. I'm sure he will struggle when teams are set up in our zone on that fact alone. He'll be a transition defender just like the rest of our defensemen. The hope is he turns into a Girard type.... which unfortunately isn't close to top 5 of team needs at this time.

Spurgeon would be the player I'd hope he turns into but with higher offensive production, he's even smaller than Zellweger and he is an absolute stud defensively and pretty solid offensively

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Spurgeon would be the player I'd hope he turns into but with higher offensive production, he's even smaller than Zellweger and he is an absolute stud defensively and pretty solid offensively

That was the player GM Murray compared Zellweger with, Spurgeon. Zell is probably getting more swole with each passing off-season. The one aspect of Zell that he needs to work on is environment anticipation (spatial awareness) to avoid getting lined up for a backbreaking hit. If Zell can become that elusive and the book is out on him being that elusive, then players won't be too aggressive or Zell will make them pay the price with a counter odd-man rush.

Zellweger will bring more value on the PP and 3v3 OT. That skating and scoring ability will be difficult to play against.

 

[bsu]

Spurgeon would be the player I'd hope he turns into but with higher offensive production, he's even smaller than Zellweger and he is an absolute stud defensively and pretty solid offensively

That'd be amazing but I don't see that defensive awareness/IQ... that being said he's way too good to be playing junior so who knows how hard he is playing on either end.

 

[Deuce22]

I'm not as concerned with size with defensemen. I've seen plenty of big pylons that were horrible in their own zone. I want D that can move the puck quickly and accurately out of their zone. Not to mention skate the puck out and be a threat on offense. I would like to see Verbeek build a team with fast, dangerous D that keep the puck in the offensive zone the majority of the game.

 

[bsu]

I'm not as concerned with size with defensemen. I've seen plenty of big pylons that were horrible in their own zone. I want D that can move the puck quickly and accurately out of their zone. Not to mention skate the puck out and be a threat on offense. I would like to see Verbeek build a team with fast, dangerous D that keep the puck in the offensive zone the majority of the game.

To get to the offensive zone you have to get the puck back... and this team has few (if any) defensemen that are any good at that especially when a team is set up in the zone.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I'm not as concerned with size with defensemen. I've seen plenty of big pylons that were horrible in their own zone. I want D that can move the puck quickly and accurately out of their zone. Not to mention skate the puck out and be a threat on offense. I would like to see Verbeek build a team with fast, dangerous D that keep the puck in the offensive zone the majority of the game.

I'd prefer to pass the puck out (Lindholm) than carry the puck out (Fowler). Passing it out is faster. Our problem is winning puck battles to get the puck out. We need stronger D who don't mind physicality to do that.

 

[Dirk316]

We need D men who can skate. They have to be good skaters. How many teams have big bruisers anymore? The game is all about speed now. We have Drysdale with Mintyukov, Zellweger, Warren, Luneau, Hinds all in the pipeline. That’s not including Thrun or LaCombe given they might not end up here. Moore, Andersson…..Good mix of size and skill/skating in that group.

Our forward cupboard is bare. Gaucher is the only semi promising prospect. I’m doubtful Perreault/Tracey amount to much. We need more guys that can put the puck in the net and create plays. We have a good start with McT, Terry and Zegras but that’s just a start. If we pick up another first, I’d like it to be a forward.


If there’s a D man that’s a clear cut above the forwards available, you take him for sure. But IMO, our forward group needs a lot of help.

How after this pathetic season do you still have the viewpoint that we don't need good bruisers on D? I mean the Stanley Cup Champions went aquired exactly that in Manson and have also added Englund who is basically an enforcer.
How about Tampa Bay? Bogosian, Cernak, Cole, Foote. Gtfo who after this season has the nerve to say toughness doesn't help. Embarrassing post

 

[Hockey Duckie]

We need D men who can skate. They have to be good skaters. How many teams have big bruisers anymore? The game is all about speed now. We have Drysdale with Mintyukov, Zellweger, Warren, Luneau, Hinds all in the pipeline. That’s not including Thrun or LaCombe given they might not end up here. Moore, Andersson…..Good mix of size and skill/skating in that group.

Our forward cupboard is bare. Gaucher is the only semi promising prospect. I’m doubtful Perreault/Tracey amount to much. We need more guys that can put the puck in the net and create plays. We have a good start with McT, Terry and Zegras but that’s just a start. If we pick up another first, I’d like it to be a forward.


If there’s a D man that’s a clear cut above the forwards available, you take him for sure. But IMO, our forward group needs a lot of help.

Our top-6 forward prospects looks suss because we already hit jackpot a few times. Already in the NHL are RW Terry (2015), C Lundy (2018), C Zegras (2019), and C McTavish (2021). Our three centers looks like a formidable group that will be around a decade plus. We do have top-6 potential in our system, but it's taking some time to develop. Look at 5th round pick Terry, he didn't make a huge break until seven years after he was drafted. LW Tracey (2019), RW Perreault (2020), and RW Pastujov (2021) are still making their ways.

Our D has only one youth (okay... two if you count Benoit) in the NHL in Drysdale, but he's injured for the season.
I would place more value on players that have made the NHL than not. With that said, we do need more top-6 scoring options. Last year was the year to do it with a later first round pick.

 

[FlyingV09]

How after this pathetic season do you still have the viewpoint that we don't need good bruisers on D? I mean the Stanley Cup Champions went aquired exactly that in Manson and have also added Englund who is basically an enforcer.
How about Tampa Bay? Bogosian, Cernak, Cole, Foote. Gtfo who after this season has the nerve to say toughness doesn't help. Embarrassing post

You’re missing my point completely. Those guys can all skate well enough to play in todays NHL. What I’m saying is they need to be good skaters to handle the increased speed of the game. Of course size is awesome to have on the back end, but it’s useless if they can’t move around well.

I’d pick a 5’11 180 lb d man who can skate over a 6’4 220 lb pilon. Put it that way.

How after this pathetic season do you still have the viewpoint that we don't need good bruisers on D? I mean the Stanley Cup Champions went aquired exactly that in Manson and have also added Englund who is basically an enforcer.
How about Tampa Bay? Bogosian, Cernak, Cole, Foote. Gtfo who after this season has the nerve to say toughness doesn't help. Embarrassing post

And just because a guy is big doesn’t mean he is tough.