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

[GermanRocket7]

Fantilli checks all the boxes for us. It’s not even just BPA, but what fits our team. The Michkov thing really makes no sense for us. Yeah he is a potential top player but he doesn’t fit our needs, And you are waiting potentially 3-4 years? There is also a risk he never even comes over to the NHL.

Well, Michkov can't even be the BPA simply because that abbreviation includes "available", which he just isn't unless you're the Capitals with personal ties to a dictator involved in the whole scenario.

 

[Ducks DVM]

honestly, it’s like every other day I change my mind on the two players. The way I see it, whoever Verbeek chooses basically sets forth the direction for next season. it’s been discussed in the other thread - but he comes across confusing to me with what he says vs what he actually wants to do.

could be my own tin-foil hat conspiracy theory, but Verbeek has two scenarios with the pick:

say if he goes with Fantilli - high motor guy, extremely competitive, great offensive potential, he must have some tricks up his sleeve to make this team look much better come this offseason via trades, draft and free agency.

if I go by his word - over ‘seasoning’ prospects, I could potentially see him taking Carlsson. He could be that play making driving center that plays a responsible 200ft game (that unfortunately none of our center prospects do well)

Gaucher?

 

[Ducks DVM]

I think mctavish is fine defensively, and i dont think zegras is nearly as bad as people say he is.

I think majority of our "defensive" issues came from Eakins system... and the fact that our defense wasnt really capable of transitioning out of the dzone(with exception to fowler).... as the defense gets better and more mobile, i think overall the rest of the teams defense will look better.

What we were doing this year with the defense we had, Bergeron woulda looked bad in.

I think you go Fantilli, and you def make more aggresive moves on drafty day and free agency... to give zegras terry mctavish and fantilli more support, and make the defense a little better.

Best way to do defense i think is via trade tho.... i dont think i want to sign any dmen to long term deals via free agency, we have too many good dmen coming up that need shots (tho i wouldnt mind Graves)

There were only 3 total forwards on ice for more ES goals against than Zegras in the entire league. He’s not as bad as last year, but he’s still bad. Part of that is also unforced defensive zone errors leading to goals against, and part of it is blatantly stupid offensive zoneturnovers leading to goals against, but his 200’ game needs significant work.

 

[lwvs84]

You know, we've all talked a lot about how the top 6 is starting to shape up and the good offense we have... end of the game when Anaheim is trying to protect the lead, there will be options too. Potentially 4 centers that can be thrown out there in McTavish, Lundestrom, Gaucher, and Fantilli. Or a line of Lundestrom, Fantilli, Gaucher. Hopefully throw in Hinds and Luneau or Warren or Drysdale eventually.

 

[terranraida]

It's a new week and I'm still angry at bettman and Chicago

 

[WhatTheDuck]

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

It's a new week and I'm still angry at bettman and Chicago

well...Chi-town, anyway.

 

[Gliff]

I'm sorry but TSN rankings actually just piss me off. They are CLEARLY to get clicks and just flavor of the week in this case.

Imagine a 7 game tournament changing your mind on a player and taking them from 16 to 8, or from 10 to 5.

I like Willander a lot and would have loved him as an early second (where most scouting agencies have him) but ffs. He is not a top 10 guy and one good tournament doesn't change that.

Pellikka has played 90 games this season between all different levels. How in the actual f*** do you take the other 80+ games he has played where you had him at 10 and be like "ya, these 7 games are a better indicator".

 

[Ducks]

I don't think there's a consensus top defenseman in this draft. Could be Pellikka, Reinbacher, or Willander. It's going to depend on which team decides to reach for defense first, which will probably be after Michkov goes off the board.

 

[LiveLaughDucks]

Sorry if it’s been discussed but Michkov’s agent says that Matvei will be in attendance in Nashville for the draft. I just had assumed he was going to stay in Russia.

Does knowing he’ll be in the country and will physically throw on the sweater of the team that drafts him move the needle for anybody?

 

[Gliff]

Sorry if it’s been discussed but Michkov’s agent says that Matvei will be in attendance in Nashville for the draft. I just had assumed he was going to stay in Russia.

Does knowing he’ll be in the country and will physically throw on the sweater of the team that drafts him move the needle for anybody?

Not even a little.

For me the concern is not if he would want to come over. It's if outside factors stop it from happening.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I'd be curious to know but I have a hunch Craig J Button does most, if not all, of his scouting from his couch watching TV or YouTube.

That said I think the scouts that actually watch a zillion games in person tend to make any changes in their rankings at certain points of a season. They aren't going to make changes every 2 weeks but maybe after a big tournament might make sense. The tournament obviously matters but it may just be reinforcing something (in either direction) they had been already noticing.

Or maybe it's all just vodoo and they throw darts at pictures to rank them?

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I'm sorry but TSN rankings actually just piss me off. They are CLEARLY to get clicks and just flavor of the week in this case.

Imagine a 7 game tournament changing your mind on a player and taking them from 16 to 8, or from 10 to 5.

I like Willander a lot and would have loved him as an early second (where most scouting agencies have him) but ffs. He is not a top 10 guy and one good tournament doesn't change that.

Pellikka has played 90 games this season between all different levels. How in the actual f*** do you take the other 80+ games he has played where you had him at 10 and be like "ya, these 7 games are a better indicator".

Button definitely does tend to be reactive. Not all TSN rankings are the same though, this is his personal list. I think Bob McK tends to be more on the money, as he polls NHL scouts rather than relying on his own opinions.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I'm sorry but TSN rankings actually just piss me off. They are CLEARLY to get clicks and just flavor of the week in this case.

Imagine a 7 game tournament changing your mind on a player and taking them from 16 to 8, or from 10 to 5.

I like Willander a lot and would have loved him as an early second (where most scouting agencies have him) but ffs. He is not a top 10 guy and one good tournament doesn't change that.

Pellikka has played 90 games this season between all different levels. How in the actual f*** do you take the other 80+ games he has played where you had him at 10 and be like "ya, these 7 games are a better indicator".

I do think dmen end up going a lot earlier than most pre draft rankings.


I think you’ll see a few of the better known dmen in the draft go higher than expected

 

[Gliff]

Button definitely does tend to be reactive. Not all TSN rankings are the same though, this is his personal list. I think Bob McK tends to be more on the money, as he polls NHL scouts rather than relying on his own opinions.

Bob doesn't actually make a list at all so I don't really include him in that.

I do think dmen end up going a lot earlier than most pre draft rankings.


I think you’ll see a few of the better known dmen in the draft go higher than expected

It always happens. Being "the best defensemen available" is somehow intoxicating enough to ignore the fact that 5 other forwards are still better then them.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I'd be curious to know but I have a hunch Craig J Button does most, if not all, of his scouting from his couch watching TV or YouTube.

That said I think the scouts that actually watch a zillion games in person tend to make any changes in their rankings at certain points of a season. They aren't going to make changes every 2 weeks but maybe after a big tournament might make sense. The tournament obviously matters but it may just be reinforcing something (in either direction) they had been already noticing.

Or maybe it's all just vodoo and they throw darts at pictures to rank them?

Actual scouts don’t rank everyone, they grade who they actually see. And of course those grades are going to change throughout the year as the draft isn’t about who you are now, it’s who you’re going to be. Trajectory is very important.

This kind of change shouldn’t even be surprising. I’m virtually every draft of the cap era there’s been at least one defenseman in the top five and at least two in the top ten. Maybe this year could threaten the top five part but there was always going to be a mirage of at least one or two defensemen climbing the charts.

I wish people would stop calling it click bait when someone has a different list. Real rankings are all over the place, it’s the ones that get deemed “correct” that are the frauds.

 

[70sSanO]

Sorry if it’s been discussed but Michkov’s agent says that Matvei will be in attendance in Nashville for the draft. I just had assumed he was going to stay in Russia.

Does knowing he’ll be in the country and will physically throw on the sweater of the team that drafts him move the needle for anybody?

It doesn’t change my position, but it might impact other teams.

As far as I know, Russian citizens are still allowed to travel outside of Russia.

How that changes in the future is anyone’s guess. But we are probably not back in the 90’s… yet.

But… if he falls to the Red Wings, look out.

John

 

[Gliff]

Actual scouts don’t rank everyone, they grade who they actually see. And of course those grades are going to change throughout the year as the draft isn’t about who you are now, it’s who you’re going to be. Trajectory is very important.

This kind of change shouldn’t even be surprising. I’m virtually every draft of the cap era there’s been at least one defenseman in the top five and at least two in the top ten. Maybe this year could threaten the top five part but there was always going to be a mirage of at least one or two defensemen climbing the charts.

I wish people would stop calling it click bait when someone has a different list. Real rankings are all over the place, it’s the ones that get deemed “correct” that are the frauds.

I have no issue with his ranking being different. I have an issue with him making HUGE jumps between now and his ranking in March and these guys have played less then 10 games since then.

That comes off to me as clickbait.

Especially when it moves him over guys like Smith who also had an incredible u-18 tournament on top of a historic season before it.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Button definitely does tend to be reactive. Not all TSN rankings are the same though, this is his personal list. I think Bob McK tends to be more on the money, as he polls NHL scouts rather than relying on his own opinions.

I do like Bob's nhl scouts consensus but I also enjoy reading all the others. It's kind of funny how so many on HF get fired up and angry when somebody else's rankings don't agree with theirs on such a subjective topic.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

It doesn’t change my position, but it might impact other teams.

As far as I know, Russian citizens are still allowed to travel outside of Russia.

How that changes in the future is anyone’s guess. But we are probably not back in the 90’s… yet.

But… if he falls to the Red Wings, look out.

John

RF diplomats, certain other RF government workers, and RF citizens subject to mobilization orders are barred from leaving the federation at the moment. Otherwise RF citizens can still leave for NA through indirect flights.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I have no issue with his ranking being different. I have an issue with him making HUGE jumps between now and his ranking in March and these guys have played less then 10 games since then.

That comes off to me as clickbait.

Especially when it moves him over guys like Smith who also had an incredible u-18 tournament on top of a historic season before it.

It shouldn’t, though. Think back to 2020 where guys made massive jumps without playing a single game. People called it clickbait then too when Jake Sanderson and Jack Quinn jumped into the top ten but then were quiet after when they got picked there. McTavish was a bit like that too.

The reason for it is because there’s a lot of piggybacking and nows when they get more info about how teams actually feel. It’s not intentionally being provocative, it’s trying not to look silly when the draft actually happens. Scott Wheeler didn’t do this last year and while his rankings weren’t really critiqued they were so off from how it unfolded. Maybe that’s just how he felt but it was pretty bad.

 

[tomd]

Top 28 picks are now set. Ducks have 33, 59, 60 in the 2nd round.

 

[DaGeneral]

I do like Bob's nhl scouts consensus but I also enjoy reading all the others. It's kind of funny how so many on HF get fired up and angry when somebody else's rankings don't agree with theirs on such a subjective topic.

Welcome to the internet.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Top 28 picks are now set. Ducks have 33, 59, 60 in the 2nd round.

I’ll take it, I do hope to use some of those 3rds and 2nds from this year and next to move up the draft to get players we really want.

My dream is to come out of draft with

Fantilli
Musty
Strbak

Wouldn’t mind taking a shot at fowler if he is around for our 3rd

 

[tomd]

I’ll take it, I do hope to use some of those 3rds and 2nds from this year and next to move up the draft to get players we really want.

My dream is to come out of draft with

Fantilli
Musty
Strbak

Wouldn’t mind taking a shot at fowler if he is around for our 3rd

Well they all meet the minimum PV height requirement of 6'2".