2023 NHL Entry Draft

[Boss Man Hughes]

Relax. I don't think we are shopping Primeau+ for Hart. I guess I should have used the sarcasm emoji for you in particular.

NO, I'm not surprised I didn't ever include Primeau in any Dubois package offers. You may think you have me figured out but you don't

If this is your focus, avoid me. Your post is strictly belittle narrative.



We all hope we get Bedard or Fantilli. But we need to be prepared if we don't. Why is it drama if we don't get Bedard?

Because if the Habs pick is 2nd or lower and they pass in Michkov it will be the reincarnation of last years draft. Only the complaints will go on for 4 years (until Michkov arrives) or their pick puts up a 90+ pt season before that.

 

[River Meadow]

I'm not much of a prospect guy but from what I gather, he definitely doesn't play like he's 5'10". Honestly, I want a C prospect as we haven't had an elite C in my lifetime.

Do you prefer Smith over Benson?

Baring top 4, Reinbacher/Benson/Smith and Wood/Barlow/Leonard would have me very happy.

Im not the biggest Smith fan, but I can't deny the upside.

If they trade a top 20 pick for Dubois, whom I love, I will riot.

2024 picks + Harris should be more than enough.



Geekie is a better skater than Wood. Wood is a better skater than Robertson was in his draft year, and with the emphasis on skills teaching and whatever gospel Adam Nicholas has, I don't see why not.

He has best player in the draft upside.


He is not. He makes a lot of cutbacks, skates around in circles a lot but thats not being dynamic. Its something a lot of new and or bad scouting persons do. Cutbacks are nice, they are not however a sign of dynamism. Neither is circling around the zone with the puck and never finding the inside. (Moore).

His tools are going to limit him, he's not a good shooter, his playmaking is good but somewhat unimaginative and his size is going to limit him for sure. The upside is a Gallagher type of player without the sandpaper, thats not dynamic. Maybe a guy like Zuccarelo if he finds new skills along the way, but were reaching I think.

Moore, Lardis, Sawchyn, Heidt, Perron, Perrault, Molgaard and even Mukhanov all have similar strengths to Brindley.


Benson doesn't have skating concerns.

Its Bensons size vs Smiths passiveness/sawft play.

Strengths are similar, etc. Two high-end offensive players. Do you want the 5'10 Benson or the Sawft as butter Smith?

Smith is too much like Suzuki and Benson is too much like Farrell, IMO. Sucks but it is what it is.

Reading and watching more on Benson...

He seems like the real deal tbh....

 

[Goldenhands]

Here is Brindley's Big 10 final game against Minnesota, 3 assists and it wasnt even one of his best games. Skating, motor, competitiveness, IQ all high end, but yeah, not dynamic...

 

[1909]

if experts are calling him close to generational talent, and we can forget Bedard/Fanitili/Carlsson at this point.... then yes Id be all in for him. Hes 5'10 and and would bulk up to 175, very similar to Panarin.

They have Dach and Slafkovsky as big men too who could play with him.


many rankings have him falling to 5th


says who? 95% of the best Russians come to play here.


but they will eventually sign their first deal after ELC. Trust me the Habs arent winning before that.

have you watched the news lately ?.....

 

[Mrb1p]

Well Benson is a winger no doubt but why so low on Smith?

Smith is most likely a winger. I don't know, he's slow, often uninvolved, doesn't care much on the defensive side or when the puck isn't close to him.

His puckhandling is great, he's an awesome puck distributor and all but he 100% lacks dynamism. His shot isn't great (Its okay), etc. I have trouble coming up with a similar player that had success in the NHL. Whereas I can come up with playstyle/skillwise examples for everyone else.

Suzuki is the closest one I can think of but Nick has that absolute laser beam wrister that Smith just does not have and I also feel like Nick is low-key tough to play against because he's sneaky and so stocky, whereas Smith is just... there ?

 

[amnesiac]

have you watched the news lately ?.....

3 years is a while from now

 

[Gravity]

Do you prefer Smith over Benson?


Reading and watching more on Benson...

He seems like the real deal tbh....

They're pretty interchangeable for me. Benson doesn't have much of a shot as well (neither does Smith really). He gives off Marner vibes.

I'd rather just draft Bedard

 

[1909]

do you think that because of the war? because the best russians all come here to play hockey

Best Russians were drafted and started playing in the NHL BEFORE the war. And, by the way they are acting when they could have to wear a rainbow jersey in a pre-game, they are far from being free.

3 years is a while from now

Could get worse at any moment. It's not looking good at all.

 

[River Meadow]

Here is Brindley's Big 10 final game against Minnesota, 3 assists and it wasnt even one of his best games. Skating, motor, competitiveness, IQ all high end, but yeah, not dynamic...

Do you feel Slafkovsky is dynamic?

 

[Mrb1p]

Do you prefer Smith over Benson?


Reading and watching more on Benson...

He seems like the real deal tbh....

I think there's a clear path to Benson being a Marner/Panarin type winger.

Here is Brindley's Big 10 final game against Minnesota, 3 assists and it wasnt even one of his best games. Skating, motor, competitiveness, IQ all high end, but yeah, not dynamic...

Yeah Brindleys a great prospect, nobodys denying that. He is still not dynamic, lol.

Funny that this is the game you use to prove a point, that's probably the game that made me rank Sawchyn ahead of him lmao. He made a lot of poor plays with the puck, got outmuscled so many times, had 3 secondary assists and was generally not much of a factor. He can be much better, for sure though.

Nothing he showed in this game translate to dynamism. He's a puck retriever, he's a facilitator, his shot isn't good enough to treaten goaltenders by himself, his playmaking isn't good enough to scare defenders and he is just too small for him to be a good puck carrier. His puck handling also isn't where it should be.

Watch Jayden Perron a bit, you will realize that there's not much Brindley has on him, if anything.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Here we go.. 2nd last iteration.

Name​	Position​	League​
Connor Bedard​	C​	WHL​
Leo Carlsson​	C​	SHL​
Adam Fantilli​	C​	NCAA​
Matvei Michkov​	RW​	KHL​
Will Smith​	C​	USHL​
Zach Benson​	LW​	WHL​
David Reinbacher​	RHD​	NL​
Ryan Leonard​	C​	USHL​
Brayden Yager​	C​	WHL​
Oliver Moore​	C​	USHL​
Eduard Sale​	LW​	Cze​
Dalibor Dvorsky​	C​	Allsvenskan​
Matthew Wood​	C​	NCAA​
Samuel Honzek​	C​	WHL​
Riley Heidt​	LW​	WHL​
Jacob Fowler​	G​	USHL​
Mikhail Gulyayev​	LHD​	KHL​
Carson Bjarnason​	G​	WHL​
Lukas Dragicevic​	RHD​	WHL​
Michael Hrabal​	G​	USHL​
Nate Danielson​	C​	WHL​
Quentin Musty​	LW​	OHL​
Axel Sandin-Pellikka​	RHD​	SHL​
Daniil But​	LW​	KHL​
Gracyn Sawchyn​	C​	WHL​
Koehn Ziemmer​	RW​	WHL​
Andrew Cristall​	LW​	WHL​
Colby Barlow​	LW​	OHL​
Dmitri Simashev​	LD​	KHL​
Tom Willander​	RHD​	SHL​
Otto Stenberg​	C​	SHL​
Oskar Fisker Molgaard​	LW​	SHL​
Calum Ritchie​	C​	OHL​
Theo Lindstein​	LHD​	SHL​
Beau Akey​	RHD​	OHL​
Etienne Morin​	LHD​	QMJHL​
Aydar Suniev​	C​	BCHL​
Lenni Haamenaho​	RW​	Liiga​
Adam Gajan​	G​	USHL​
David Edstrom​	C​	SHL​
Carson Rehkopf​	LW​	OHL​
Felix Nilsson​	C​	SHL​
Noah Dower-Nilsson​	C​	J20​
Gabe Perreault​	LW​	USHL​
Ethan Gauthier​	RW​	QMJHL​
Coulson Pitre​	C​	OHL​
Nick Lardis​	RW​	OHL​
Gavin Brindley​	RW​	NCAA​
Kalan Lind​	LW​	WHL​
Alexander Rykov​	LW​	VHL​
Charlie Stramel​	RW​	NCAA​
Luca Cagnoni​	LHD​	WHL​
Kasper Halttunen​	LW​	Liiga​
Bradley Nadeau​	C​	BCHL​
Mathieu Cataford​	RW​	QMJHL​
Caden Price​	LHD​	WHL​
Arttu Karki​	LHD​	U20​
Tanner Molendyk​	LHD​	WHL​
William Whitelaw​	C​	USHL​
Hunter Brzustewicz​	RHD​	OHL​
Connor Levis​	C​	WHL​
Oliver Bonk​	RHD​	OHL​
Matthew Mania​	RHD​	OHL​
Ryan Conmy​	RW​	USHL​
Tanner Ludtke​	LW​	USHL​
Damian Clara​	G​	Allsvenskan​
Alex Ciernik​	LW​	Allsvenskan​
Cameron Allen​	RHD​	OHL​
Maxim Strbak​	RHD​	USHL​
Jordan Tourigny​	RHD​	QMJHL​
Anton Wahlberg​	C​	SHL​
Felix Unger Sorum​	RW​	J20​
Petter Vesterheim​	C​	Allsvenskan​
Emil Jarventie​	LW​	Mestis​
Noel Nordh​	LW​	SHL​
Roman Kantserov​	LW​	MHL​
Jesse Nurmi​	LW​	Liiga​
Jadin Lipinski​	RW​	WHL​
Jakub Stancl​	LW​	SHL​
Timur Mukhanov​	C​	VHL​
Jayden Perron​	RW​	USHL​
Joey Willis​	C​	OHL​
Luca Pinelli​	C​	OHL​
Trey Augustine​	G​	USHL​
Zeb Forsfjall​	C​	SHL​
Tuomas Uronen​	RW​	Liiga​
Tyler Peddle​	C​	QMJHL​
Andrew Strathmann​	LHD​	USHL​
Denver Barkey​	C​	OHL​
Aiden Fink​	RW​	AJHL​
Tommasso De Luca​	C​	WHL​
Gavin Mccarthy​	RHD​	USHL​
Aram Minnetian​	RHD​	USHL​
Jake Fisher​	LW​	USHS​
Rainers Rullers​	C​	Latvia​
Easton Cowan​	C​	OHL​
Vadim Schreiner​	C​	AlpsHL​
Adam Dybal​	G​	CzeU20​
Rasmus Kumpulainen​	LW​	Mestis​
Yegor Klimovich​	LW​	MHL​
Martin Misiak​	C​	USHL​
Beckett Hendrickson​	LW​	USHL​
Scott Ratzlaff​	G​	WHL​
Teodor Forssander​	LW​	J20​
Jan Sprynar​	RW​	QMJHL​
Griffin Erdman​	C​	USHL​
Nikita Susuyev​	LW​	MHL​
Samuel Urban​	G​	SVK-2​
Ignat Lutfullin​	RW​	MHL​
Valentin Zhugin​	LW​	OHL​
Carter Sotheran​	RHD​	WHL​
Gavyn Thoreson​	LW​	USHL​
Ondrej Molnar​	LW​	OHL​
Daniel Alexander Jencko​	C​	J20​
Ian Scherzer​	C​	J20​
Tomas Milic​	G​	WHL​
Hoyt Stanley​	RHD​	BCHL​
Leo Eperjese​	LD​	USHL​
Calle Karlsson​	C​	J20​
Adam Zidlicky​	RW​	OHL​
Luke Coughlin​	LHD​	QMJHL​
Sean McGurn​	C​	OHL​

 

[Mrb1p]

They're pretty interchangeable for me. Benson doesn't have much of a shot as well (neither does Smith really). He gives off Marner vibes.

I'd rather just draft Bedard

I disagree on Bensons shot. I think it's more than good enough to be a 30g scorer in the NHL. It's around where Smiths shot is but Benson is just a naturally better goalscorer because he plays closer to the net.

 

[Goldenhands]

Do you feel Slafkovsky is dynamic?

6'3 238 lbs power foward, obviously, wont have the same dynamism as a smaller player... Do you think Brady Tkachuk is dynamic?

 

[AHShadow]

Here is Brindley's Big 10 final game against Minnesota, 3 assists and it wasnt even one of his best games. Skating, motor, competitiveness, IQ all high end, but yeah, not dynamic...

I haven't watched any other games, but nothing from these highlights really indicates that he's dynamic. Seems to have amazing motor, skating and competitiveness, but didn't show anything really high-end offensively and seemed to play mostly on the perimeter.

Maybe good in transition that could lead to chances in the offensive zone, but that's pretty much it.

Again though, this is just from the highlight video you sent and I don't regularly scout players either.

 

[Gravity]

I disagree on Bensons shot. I think it's more than good enough to be a 30g scorer in the NHL. It's around where Smiths shot is but Benson is just a naturally better goalscorer because he plays closer to the net.

From the little I've seen of him, he's constantly flubbing breakaways and many shot attempts that aren't like 5 ft from the net.

 

[Mrb1p]

Do you feel Slafkovsky is dynamic?

He's certainly more dynamic than Brindley.

6'3 238 lbs power foward, obviously, wont have the same dynamism as a smaller player... Do you think Brady Tkachuk is dynamic?

Tkachuk is certainly more dynamic than Brindley.

I haven't watched any other games, but nothing from these highlights really indicates that he's dynamic. Seems to have amazing motor, skating and competitiveness, but didn't show anything really high-end offensively and seemed to play mostly on the perimeter.

Maybe good in transition that could lead to chances in the offensive zone, but that's pretty much it.

Again though, this is just from the highlight video you sent and I don't regularly scout players either.

Thats Brindley. Some people just fall in love with the back and forth cutbacks on the board to pass it in the slot, but realistically he's not gonna do this in the NHL.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I haven't watched any other games, but nothing from these highlights really indicates that he's dynamic. Seems to have amazing motor, skating and competitiveness, but didn't show anything really high-end offensively and seemed to play mostly on the perimeter.

Maybe good in transition that could lead to chances in the offensive zone, but that's pretty much it.

Again though, this is just from the highlight video you sent and I don't regularly scout players either.

He's a complementary player.. that's basically it, he's competitive, fiesty, he's a good skater and he can support offensively, think the game well.

But I'm not really interested in a smaller support player.

 

[Goldenhands]

I haven't watched any other games, but nothing from these highlights really indicates that he's dynamic. Seems to have amazing motor, skating and competitiveness, but didn't show anything really high-end offensively and seemed to play mostly on the perimeter.

Maybe good in transition that could lead to chances in the offensive zone, but that's pretty much it.

Again though, this is just from the highlight video you sent and I don't regularly scout players either.

It was a shift to shift against a strong Minnesota team, if you want highlights you can always take a look at this.

 

[Mrb1p]

From the little I've seen of him, he's constantly flubbing breakaways and many shot attempts that aren't like 5 ft from the net.

Yeah, he scores in tight because he doesn't have any strength to his shot. Not a strength for sure, but I think he can still be a decent goalscorer in the NHL, kinda like Gallagher was a decent goalscorer.

Smith definetely has the more powerful shot but his aversion to shooting is close to Drouin. So often I see a perfect open lane for a shot and he just goes for a stupid 1-on-1 deke or an outlandish pass. Which is nice, don't get me wrong, I like guys that take chances like that, but I also like them to display high-end goalscoring too, like Carlsson does.

It was a shift to shift against a strong Minnesota team, if you want highlights you can always take a look at this.

You just posted the same video.

 

[River Meadow]

6'3 238 lbs power foward, obviously, wont have the same dynamism as a smaller player... Do you think Brady Tkachuk is dynamic?

I wasn't trying to take a dig at you I was legit curious

 

[Goldenhands]

His tools are going to limit him, he's not a good shooter,

 

[bcv]

it's gonna take more than one clip where he shoots from the H marks to convince people that he has a good shot.

From that clip, it sure does not seem like a weakness but can't say if it's a weapon of his or not. Pezzetta scored like this in the show just this year and it's definitely not a strength of his.

 

[beowulf]

key word: CONSISTENT

You edited your post after I replied on top of it lowering your threshold to 85 pts etc. So in your mind who are the elite centers in the league?

 

[Mrb1p]

Great goal on Dobes for sure and I love how he cuts inside, do you see him doing this in the NHL a lot? How do you explain his 12 goals in the NCAA ? How do you explain that he's never been a goalscorer ?

It's fine, not every player needs to be an offensive dynamo.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Agreed, Michkov is a beauty