Prospect Info: 2023 NHL Draft - Part 2 (Who Do You Want To Draft At #2)

[Terry Yake]

don't think there's any chance they're even considering michkov. just way too risky and i wouldn't be surprised if he slips out of the top 10 to a team that can afford to potentially throw away a 1st rounder

it's not how it went down but it's definitely a funny thought lol

i know it wasn't rigged but yeah, still funny to think about

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Lets hope so!

I hope you are joking lol.


If this get even close to confirmed then there is no chance anyone drafts him top 5. He may fall out of the top 10.

Source of the story is the Habs PBP guy who did "some digging around." Not loving the provenance of this one.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Fantilli should be on the Ducks next season. No reason for him to go back to college. Don’t want to hear about rushing players. A consensus 2ndOA who would go 1stOA in other drafts is not going to need to marinate in another league.

This WC will be a big test since he’s playing against men. Every shift is going to be important to watch. Actually am excited now for the WC….

May 12th preliminary round starts?

Fantilli is a Michigan player.

2021
1. D Power, Michigan. Went back to Michigan for another season.
2. C Beniers, Michigan. Went back to Michigan for another season.
3. C McTavish, Petes. Went back to Petes for a season.
4. D Hughes, US NDTP. Stayed with Michigan for two seasons.
5. C Johnson, Michigan. Went back to Michigan for another season.

There's a case for all three Michigan prospects to go straight to the NHL, but they didn't. All three were drafted by rebuilding/expansion teams. Staying with an established program like Michigan is probably a better developmental environment. I think it served all three well.

Of course, there are other reasons for all three Michigan prospects returning. Here's a Beniers quote from Spokesman.com:

Beniers had expressed interest in doing that, namely given the star-studded Michigan team – with three prospects taken with the first five overall picks – had been denied a chance to play in last season’s NCAA tournament due to players being in COVID-19 protocol.​

​

“I think going back for an extra year, you can keep building confidence,” Beniers said the day he was drafted. “The big thing is, not having a real year last year, not having a full schedule. … I want to really try to make a run at the national championship.”​

​

He added: “Those are some of the perks that I kind of want to do.”​

There are two significant factors for Fantilli to remain at Michigan: win an NCAA tournament and spending another year with his brother. The latter might be the more important reason.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Joe Nieuwendyk is another name that comes to my mind on Fantilli

 

[70sSanO]

If McTavish, Terry, and Zegras will be the offensive core that PV will add to.

Does he, or should he, include their options on the pick, even if it is only a courtesy and will not impact the decision?

I have no idea of any player involvement in the NHL.

John

 

[LuckyDucky]

I know this may come off as insensitive, but am I the only one who thinks that Bettman may have Parkinson's? I've noticed that he's had tremors for a little while. That clip looks like they may have gotten worse.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I have yet to revisit the Carlsson highlights and materials but I so, so, so much want Fantilli as a Duck, I'm going insane...

PS
A random fact that might have slipped by...

Fantilli scored a similar pace to Bedard in last year's U18 (I guess they were underaged there?) which, funnily enough, also had Hvidston on the roster. Yet, Fantilli was regarded as ''snakebitten'' in that tournament and could have scored much more points. Even with that, he contributed much more to the team than just points. Without knowing more about how Bedard was regarded in that tournament...

Bedard outscored everyone in the recent WJC and was the Chuck Norris of that tournament. But he got the most points in the group stage. He scored 3 points in 1/4 and then "only" 2 points in the last two games. Fantilli didn't score in 1/4 and scored also 2 points in the last 2 crucial games. Bedard is the better prospect, no doubt, but sometimes looking at just total numbers can be misleading. Fantilli is lauded for his play without the puck as much as he is lauded for his game with it. He's an incredible prospect, contributing to his team's success in so many ways... I have faith Pat will be making the right decision regardless, but I'm

#teamFantilli

Yikes, you're not helping with my thoughts of Fantilli with identifying he was "snakebitten" at the WJC-18 tourney. That's yet another event of his offense getting somewhat muted against tougher competition.

• Fantilli's stunted offense against tougher competition
  • WJC-18 tourney
  • WJC-20 tourney
  • Big-10 Championship
  • NCAA Tournament

And the reason can be identified with Mitch Brown's video breakdown of Fantilli's D-1 season that someone shared earlier in this thread: great speed, great physical tenacity, loves to hit, and great compete level, but his offensive read & recognition is misdiagnosed or couldn't anticipate when a pass should have been delivered.

Here is a scout's take on Fantilli from the Athletic:

Scout 1: For Fantilli, he was above expectations for me this season. And not that I thought his transition wasn’t going to be successful, I just didn’t see a Hobey Baker.​

​

That (disappointing) world juniors was the outlier. The body, the speed, the compete (are excellent). I know he had awesome production but I think that came more from his compete level than his hockey sense, but that’s not going to hurt him. He has a similar game at the same age and probably a little better than (Quinton) Byfield.​

Also, is the WJC-20 an outlier? I'm discovering that it isn't.

Despite this flaw, I still think PV will draft Fantilli. He's got an element that the Ducks could use and have in spades. Tenacity is being built through the draft with players like Gaucher and Hvidston as well as other young prospects like a Wiebe and Caulfied. Anaheim has other players who can score in tougher situations like Zegras, Terry, and McTavish.

 

[Static]

I know this may come off as insensitive, but am I the only one who thinks that Bettman may have Parkinson's? I've noticed that he's had tremors for a little while. That clip looks like they may have gotten worse.

Lots of meds can cause hand tremors. Probably more likely

 

[LuckyDucky]

Lots of meds can cause hand tremors. Probably more likely

That could be it, too. I thought I saw some tremors with his head, too.

 

[Static]

That could be it, too. I thought I saw some tremors with his head, too.

If he had parkinson's the medication he would be put on would cause further symptoms that would be very difficult to hide from the public.

 

[70sSanO]

I know this may come off as insensitive, but am I the only one who thinks that Bettman may have Parkinson's? I've noticed that he's had tremors for a little while. That clip looks like they may have gotten worse.

Maybe too many deals with the devil. Only so many times you can sell your soul… lol

John

 

[Mr Rogers]

that's gotta be a highly-tense environment to be in as well. their every move will be scrutinized and it obviously has massive ramifications for entire franchises.

 

[MMC]

If McTavish, Terry, and Zegras will be the offensive core that PV will add to.

Does he, or should he, include their options on the pick, even if it is only a courtesy and will not impact the decision?

I have no idea of any player involvement in the NHL.

John

Nope, they are absolutely not guys that, at least at this point get to have a say in stuff like that

 

[Terry Yake]

I know this may come off as insensitive, but am I the only one who thinks that Bettman may have Parkinson's? I've noticed that he's had tremors for a little while. That clip looks like they may have gotten worse.

this has been a rumor for years

 

[Gliff]

Source of the story is the Habs PBP guy who did "some digging around." Not loving the provenance of this one.

I have a hard time believing a guy actually employed by an NHL team would make a lie up like that and then say it on live radio like that.

 

[70sSanO]

Nope, they are absolutely not guys that, at least at this point get to have a say in stuff like that

Thanks! I wasn’t implying that any of them have sway in what the organization does.

But it is sad in a way, and I think more so for 20 somethings, for perceived star players not to feel at least a part of it.

John

 

[McDonald19]

Thanks! I wasn’t implying that any of them have sway in what the organization does.

But it is sad in a way, and I think more so for 20 somethings, for perceived star players not to feel at least a part of it.

John

I don’t even think Getzlaf in all his years of captaincy was asked for his thoughts on draft prospects.

 

[duckpuck]

To be fair, McKenzie specifically said that among the scouts whose opinions went into his list, 4 had Fantili at no. 2 and 3 had Carlsson there (another 3 went with Michkov), so it’s hardly a strong consensus or a negligible minority. The final rankings might offer a bit more of a consensus, but I wouldn’t count on that.

Verbeek has said that we are adding size which indicates its between Fantilli and Carlsson. Wait until after the WC and you will see a lot of people swing in Carlsson's direction. Its far closer between the two than most people admit.

It is strange that people seem so invested in demonstrating what the "consensus" is based on lists compiled by people who are not NHL gms/scouts. McKenzie does seem to do a good job surveying consensus, but his early lists regularly change (i.e., players move up and down) and he's been wrong on occasion. And, of course, it could be that 99% of scouts/gms think Fantilli is the best player, but it won't matter if Verbeek and/or Madden are in the 1%. And if he weren't in Russia, it seems clear Michkov would probably be #2.

I think people here need to be open to the possibility that it might not be Fantili (or that it shouldn't be).

 

[McDonald19]

It is strange that people seem so invested in demonstrating what the "consensus" is based on lists compiled by people who are not NHL gms/scouts. McKenzie does seem to do a good job surveying consensus, but his early lists regularly change (i.e., players move up and down) and he's been wrong on occasion. And, of course, it could be that 99% of scouts/gms think Fantilli is the best player, but it won't matter if Verbeek and/or Madden are in the 1%. And if he weren't in Russia, it seems clear Michkov would probably be #2.

I think people here need to be open to the possibility that it might not be Fantili (or that it shouldn't be).

Not really. The media picks the brains of scouts/gms and they use their own eyes to watch these young players as well. When all the mock drafts show Fantilli at #2, it is worth noting…Of course we don’t know what Verbeek and Madden are thinking.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I have a hard time believing a guy actually employed by an NHL team would make a lie up like that and then say it on live radio like that.

You think having a job in the NHL comes a long with some kind of integrity? What's the disincentive here?

Anyway I didn't say he was lying, the point is he's not the source, he's done some unspecified "digging" and is now passing along -whatever it is he heard- from -wherever it is that he heard it-. This is unsourced gossip at best.

 

[duckpuck]

Not really. The media picks the brains of scouts/gms and they use their own eyes to watch these young players as well. When all the mock drafts show Fantilli at #2, it is worth noting…Of course we don’t know what Verbeek and Madden are thinking.

"media" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Which media? When? We're still 6+ weeks out. In past years, early "media" rankings have changed significantly in the weeks leading up to the draft (see e.g., McTavish who was a late riser). And there tends to be a media echo chamber on these types of things. Bottom line - current views are not universal and even if they were, that could change.

 

[McDonald19]

"media" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Which media? When? We're still 6+ weeks out. In past years, early "media" rankings have changed significantly in the weeks leading up to the draft (see e.g., McTavish who was a late riser). And there tends to be a media echo chamber on these types of things. Bottom line - current views are not universal and even if they were, that could change.

Sure, things can change over the next 6 weeks. We are talking about the current consensus. If it bothers you, ignoring the thread for a few weeks until there is new information is an option.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

You think having a job in the NHL comes a long with some kind of integrity? What's the disincentive here?

Anyway I didn't say he was lying, the point is he's not the source, he's done some unspecified "digging" and is now passing along -whatever it is he heard- from -wherever it is that he heard it-. This is unsourced gossip at best.

Could be Habs trying to scare SJ from picking Michkov because Habs pick right next after SJ.

 

[tomd]

Could be Habs trying to scare SJ from picking Michkov because Habs pick right next after SJ.

It's ironic that two of the smallest teams in the league are vying with each other to get even smaller.

 

[McDonald19]

Kopitar with less goal scoring isn’t exactly a good thing. Kopitar peaked with 34 and 35 goal seasons, with an average of 25 per 82 game season.