2023 NHL Entry Draft

[kudla]

Kent Hughes is in the stands at the Slovakia - Sweden Hlinka cup game get ready to have more slovaks drafted

 

[Mrb1p]

pretty crazy to not have Fantilli in a top 5 that kid has the whole package no way hes not a top 5 pick im actually hoping we land him or Bedard of course

Well see but this is my preliminary rankings. I can say with 110% certainty that hes not better than Michkov either tho.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Kent Hughes is in the stands at the Slovakia - Sweden Hlinka cup game get ready to have more slovaks drafted

Habs media in disbelief

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

Well see but this is my preliminary rankings. I can say with 110% certainty that hes not better than Michkov either tho.

Bedard and Michkov are more talented 100% but i woudlnt be surprised if Fantilli goes #2 since Matvei is under contract until 2026 and Adam is a big talented center which gms normally value over the winger,personally i have him at #3 but theres no way he drops outside the top 5

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

I'm not comparing Bedard to Wright, who, as I have often opined here, was one of the more over-hyped prospects in the last draft, but to Fantilli. What I saw of the two when they played for Canada at the last U18 raised some concerns about Bedard's ultimate upside. It was only one tournament. So it may have just been an anomaly. It was, however, the same concerns I had when I watched Wright play at his U18 tournament. So before we anoint Bedard as the next McDavid, Crosby, Perrault, etc. let's all closely watch his play this year with an open mind and try to resist the accumulative force of the consensus: always remembering that any effort to gauge the ultimate potential of most 15 to 17 year old athletes, is, at best, an inexact science.

Everyone wants the next generational player to come along but truth is he probably ain't coming anytime soon. It was rare that you had 2 (Gretzky and Lemieux) relatively close in age playing their primes out in the mid 80s/early 90s. But it took over 20 years before the NHL got to see another generational player get drafted in Crosby. Then 10 years after that, we got McDavid. For all we know it could be at least another 10-20 years before we see the next generational talent get drafted.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Everyone wants the next generational player to come along but truth is he probably ain't coming anytime soon. It was rare that you had 2 (Gretzky and Lemieux) relatively close in age playing their primes out in the mid 80s/early 90s. But it took over 20 years before the NHL got to see another generational player get drafted in Crosby. Then 10 years after that, we got McDavid. For all we know it could be at least another 10-20 years before we see the next generational talent get drafted.

I’ve had the privilege of watching two more sets of generational players play against themselves: Richard and Howe in the 1950s and Hull and Orr in the 1960s. I think the sobriquet: ‘generational player’ is thrown around rather loosely by many pundits. Without watering down the phrase too much I think Coffey could be viewed as a generational defenceman. As was Plante as a goalie. But the line must really be drawn at those few players whose talent level was transformational to the game.

 

[HuGo Burner Acc]

I’ve had the privilege of watching two more sets of generational players play against themselves: Richard and Howe in the 1950s and Hull and Orr in the 1960s. I think the sobriquet: ‘generational player’ is thrown around rather loosely by many pundits. Without watering down the phrase too much I think Coffey could be viewed as a generational defenceman. As was Plante as a goalie. But the line must really be drawn at those few players whose talent level was transformational to the game.

I'd completely agree with you so much so that I actually think you may have used it too loosely yourself haha

 

[jrom]

Bedard and Michkov are more talented 100% but i woudlnt be surprised if Fantilli goes #2 since Matvei is under contract until 2026 and Adam is a big talented center which gms normally value over the winger,personally i have him at #3 but theres no way he drops outside the top 5

Yeah, we’re in the process of building a contending team, I sincerely hope we skip on the Russian player with all the contract/war potential entanglements to “just” pick a great top6 player to add to that momentum.

BPA but can’t ignore those issues either.

 

[le_sean]

Yeah, we’re in the process of building a contending team, I sincerely hope we skip on the Russian player with all the contract/war potential entanglements to “just” pick a great top6 player to add to that momentum.

BPA but can’t ignore those issues either.

I don’t hope we skip on him. Imagine this team being competitive in 2026 and they add a generational 22 year old winger on an ELC that has years of experience playing against adults. You quickly become a Cup favourite.

Look at how Kaprizov changed the fortunes of the Wild all on his own. They were dead in the water as a team. And he was simply joining the likes of Fiala, Zucc, Eriksson Ek. If you add a similar player to Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, maybe a PLD…damn.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Connor Bedard​

Matvei Michkov​

Adam Fantilli​

Leo Carlsson​

Brayden Yager​

Dalibor Dvorsky​

Eduard Sale​

Kasper Halttunen​

Zach Benson​

Theo Lindstein​

Matthew Wood​

Calum Ritchie​

Cameron Allen​

Charlie Stramel​

Otto Stenberg​

Colby Barlow​

Oliver Moore​

Riley Heidt​

Lukas Dragicevic​

Jordan Tourigny​

Mikhail Gulyayev​

William Whitelaw​

Quentin Musty This draft man....​

 

[DougHarvey]

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]

Connor Bedard​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Matvei Michkov​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Adam Fantilli​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Leo Carlsson​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Brayden Yager​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Dalibor Dvorsky​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Eduard Sale​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Kasper Halttunen​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Zach Benson​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Theo Lindstein​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Matthew Wood​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Calum Ritchie​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Cameron Allen​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Charlie Stramel​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Otto Stenberg​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Colby Barlow​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Oliver Moore​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Riley Heidt​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Lukas Dragicevic​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Jordan Tourigny​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Mikhail Gulyayev​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

William Whitelaw​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

Quentin Musty

This draft man....​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

If that's in order, I like where you have Sale. I have a feeling he will be a riser all year.

 

[WeThreeKings]

If that's in order, I like where you have Sale. I have a feeling he will be a riser all year.

Close to an order, yeah.. Whitelaw and Musty aren't in their spots yet and I'm probably gonna move Halttunen down.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Close to an order, yeah.. Whitelaw and Musty aren't in their spots yet and I'm probably gonna move Halttunen down.

Kalan Lind is going to be a great get late 1st. He's a better skater than Kole and is a legit power forward type. We cannot trade Florida's 1st.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Kalan Lind is going to be a great get late 1st. He's a better skater than Kole and is a legit power forward type. We cannot trade Florida's 1st.

Agreed. Under no circumstances can we trade that first. Try to get another one, but at this rate good luck.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Agreed. Under no circumstances can we trade that first. Try to get another one, but at this rate good luck.

Dvorak seems to be the only asset left we can get a 1st out of.. off chance for Allen if someone gets desperate enough.

Edit: forgot Anderson but they seem unlikely to move him.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Kalan Lind is going to be a great get late 1st. He's a better skater than Kole and is a legit power forward type. We cannot trade Florida's 1st.

I agree. The younger Lind was one of the best, if not best, skaters on Team Canada in their first game. He absolutely glides effortlessly on the ice. Unless the Panthers collapse, Lind will not be available for us to draft. I suspect Lind will go in the 10-12 spot, maybe even higher. You pass on drafting that level of skating at your peril.

 

[SOLR]

pretty crazy to not have Fantilli in a top 5 that kid has the whole package no way hes not a top 5 pick im actually hoping we land him or Bedard of course

He's really not ahead of Michkov Dvorsky, Carlsson, or Yager

 

[MarkovsKnee]

I agree. The younger Lind was one of the best, if not best, skaters on Team Canada in their first game. He absolutely glides effortlessly on the ice. Unless the Panthers collapse, Lind will not be available for us to draft. I suspect Lind will go in the 10-12 spot, maybe even higher. You pass on drafting that level of skating at your peril.

Yeah, I expect him to move up especially with his power forward potential. He's a shooter first. We'll see how his season goes, but he scored 20 goals as a 16 year old. If he can get to 40 this season?

He'll move up big time.

 

[jrom]

I don’t hope we skip on him. Imagine this team being competitive in 2026 and they add a generational 22 year old winger on an ELC that has years of experience playing against adults. You quickly become a Cup favourite.

Look at how Kaprizov changed the fortunes of the Wild all on his own. They were dead in the water as a team. And he was simply joining the likes of Fiala, Zucc, Eriksson Ek. If you add a similar player to Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, maybe a PLD…damn.

It is very tempting but if Kaprizov wasn’t able to make it back to the US (like he did) the entire Wild season would have been a waste.

Bobrov has extensive contacts in Russia (his father has been involved for a while with SKA) so if they go for it ok but if they pass on Mitchkov it’s because the risk is too great.

 

[Lavar Ball]

Connor Bedard​

Matvei Michkov​

Adam Fantilli​

Leo Carlsson​

Brayden Yager​

Dalibor Dvorsky​

Eduard Sale​

Kasper Halttunen​

Zach Benson​

Theo Lindstein​

Matthew Wood​

Calum Ritchie​

Cameron Allen​

Charlie Stramel​

Otto Stenberg​

Colby Barlow​

Oliver Moore​

Riley Heidt​

Lukas Dragicevic​

Jordan Tourigny​

Mikhail Gulyayev​

William Whitelaw​

Quentin Musty This draft man....​

Didn't even touch on Will Smith, Alex Ciernik, and Nate Danielson

 

[WeThreeKings]

Didn't even touch on Will Smith, Alex Ciernik, and Nate Danielson

I need to get some more viewings on Will Smith specifically.

 

[Goldenhands]

What do you guys think of Danill But? 6"4 Russian, looks very highly talended...

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Dvorak seems to be the only asset left we can get a 1st out of.. off chance for Allen if someone gets desperate enough.

Edit: forgot Anderson but they seem unlikely to move him.

I would suspect that unless someone inexplicitly hires Bergevin, there will be no one trading a draft choice in the top 20 in the upcoming draft.

 

[SOLR]

I would suspect that unless someone inexplicitly hires Bergevin, there will be no one trading a draft choice in the top 20 in the upcoming draft.

Bergevin can't trade picks, I'm not sure why you would say that.

 

[Schooner Guy]

I need to get some more viewings on Will Smith specifically.

If we get him, that would be a slap in the face.