2024 NHL Draft Thread - Upd: Draft Lottery is May 7th

[Kevin Musto]

Positioning comes down to hockey sense which is the single most unteachable skill in the game of ice hockey. Full stop.

Um, actually, you can't teach size

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Um, actually, you can't teach size

You can't teach reach, you can actually become thicker/leaner if we're going for the pedant argument.

 

[Taze em]

Duncan Keith's gap control was elite. Josi and Doughty are both incredibly cerebral players with excellent positioning. Karlsson is a tremendous defenseman that cheats defensively to create offense but he absolutely has hockey sense out the wazoo.

Saying Levshunov is a risk worth taking isn't a crazy statement. Saying positioning doesn't matter is pants on hand goofy.

I think you are equating positioning to hockey sense and I am not. My simple statement was positioning is a dumb weakness to care about. In my mind “positioning” means something different than the way you’re using it so it’s a dumb argument.

You watch film to correct positioning. You don’t watch film to grow 4 inches or skate faster. One is coachable one isn’t. That’s the point of the tomlin thing.

 

[ello]

Yeah size, speed, skill, handedness are things you cant teach and certainly id prefer to coach things like awareness/positiiong into a player with the tools already

However this pick is absolutely huge for the future of our franchise so I think being concerned about flaws that may hold him back from being a number 1 guy is a very important conversation to have. Especially since we'd be passing on some VERY good forwards to draft him

I mean we have a guy on our team in Seth Jones who's kind of the perfect example of a big RHD who was in contention for 1OA but has a limited toolbox

 

[ClydeLee]

The question to why his defensive positioning or decision making is poor I've seen brought to being poorly coached or little time coached to adjust to things.

That he was in Belarus until 16 and now 1 ushl and 1 college year without a ton of time still adjusting to being coached up on north American rinks in the dzone.

 

[Taze em]

Yeah size, speed, skill, handedness are things you cant teach and certainly id prefer to coach things like awareness/positiiong into a player with the tools already

However this pick is absolutely huge for the future of our franchise so I think being concerned about flaws that may hold him back from being a number 1 guy is a very important conversation to have. Especially since we'd be passing on some VERY good forwards to draft him

I mean we have a guy on our team in Seth Jones who's kind of the perfect example of a big RHD who was in contention for 1OA but has a limited toolbox

those forwards have just as much or more risks attached to them. And you can find forwards. Even difference making forwards. You will not find many if any RHD available who are truly difference makers.

I genuinely dont get how position and draft value matters for goalies (they go low) and Centers (they go high) but doesn’t apply to RHD. The most scarce things to the point MTL reached badly last year for reinbacher when they squinted hard enough.

Lev is 2-4 on boards. Then he plays the scarcest position. Then he’s a need.

I hope we get 1 and make it moot.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

I think you are equating positioning to hockey sense and I am not. My simple statement was positioning is a dumb weakness to care about. In my mind “positioning” means something different than the way you’re using it so it’s a dumb argument.

You watch film to correct positioning. You don’t watch film to grow 4 inches or skate faster. One is coachable one isn’t. That’s the point of the Tomlin thing.

I genuinely don't understand how you can separate the two. Your positioning is good because you have hockey sense. You can teach it in football because it's a bunch of stops with full resets. That's not a thing in hockey.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

those forwards have just as much or more risks attached to them. And you can find forwards. Even difference making forwards. You will not find many if any RHD available who are truly difference makers.

I genuinely dont get how position and draft value matters for goalies (they go low) and Centers (they go high) but doesn’t apply to RHD. The most scarce things to the point MTL reached badly last year for reinbacher when they squinted hard enough.

Lev is 2-4 on boards. Then he plays the scarcest position. Then he’s a need.

I hope we get 1 and make it moot.

This is a straw man argument. I can see taking Levshunov at two for all the reasons you've listed. The hockey sense positioning thing is just incorrect.

 

[HawksDub89]

I'd say the freedom to activiate in the Michigan State system has worked well for Levshunov from a production standpoint. It's not just off the rush as he has the freedom to move down low during in zone play. I've seen him tap his right winger on the shoulder as if to say I'm done playing your position and will now man the point again.

Pronman's most recent ranking touched upon this when he wrote "He is too aggressive at times, and plays like a forward too much for some scouts' liking".

I'm guessing that does not play nearly as well in the NHL as it does in the NCAA and will be dialed back.

The article basically says the same thing. It allows him to showcase his offensive abilities but also showcase his shortcomings. (The decision making)

I think (hope) with more development those mistakes can be corrected.

 

[ploppsdman]

Can’t see Chicago keeping all of their second rounders - I assume they will package a few to move up, kick the can to another draft year, or acquire NHL help.

 

[ChiHawks10]

I think you are equating positioning to hockey sense and I am not. My simple statement was positioning is a dumb weakness to care about. In my mind “positioning” means something different than the way you’re using it so it’s a dumb argument.

You watch film to correct positioning. You don’t watch film to grow 4 inches or skate faster. One is coachable one isn’t. That’s the point of the tomlin thing.

You're not serious, right? Having a high hockey IQ is what allows the elite players to be in the proper position regularly. It allows them to anticipate, react, and adjust on the fly, which is... uhhhh... critical in the game of hockey. If you can't think the game well, you can't be taught to just "always be in the proper position" because the sport is so fluid, constantly changing, and you have to constantly adjust and adapt. If someone doesn't think the game well, and see the ice well, there's no way they're going to regularly be where they need to be, or are supposed to be. The idea that you can teach something like this is ridiculous.

 

[TLEH]

I can understand chasing a guy like Levshunov for the tools obviously but my personal thoughts are that he doesn’t process the game at a level that is going to allow him to maximize his tools. I don’t think the offensive instincts are even that good either and I really don’t like the defensive ones.

I know I’ve said I see Bogosian. I’ve seen others say Risto too. That’s just where I’m at.

 

[Kevin Musto]

If you're going to chase a defenseman with tools, Silayev is the guy.

He dwarfs Levshunov, literally.

 

[TLEH]

I actually think I like Buium the most at this point.

 

[dj Mahoney]

I'm not sure that a future #1 D Isnt here already . I think people are sleeping On Kaiser .,How good can Korchinski be ? DelMastro ? Vlasic ? The other guys Rinzel , Allan , look like solid NHlers . Phillips has the tools , hopefully he finally get's it soon and Crevier looks like a top 6 NHLer. An impact forward might be the way to go with the 1st pick?

 

[hawksrule]

I actually think I like Buium the most at this point.

#teambuium

 

[Kevin Musto]

Buium isn't in my top 10.

I'm just not seeing what everyone else is seeing.

He plays so small and lets himself get bullied and trampled on.

 

[Larmer83]

I actually think I like Buium the most at this point.

I'm kinda there. After Demidov.

 

[TLEH]

Buium isn't in my top 10.

I'm just not seeing what everyone else is seeing.

He plays so small and lets himself get bullied and trampled on.

He played linebacker in football. He’s built. I really didn’t see him playing small. I thought he played big. Scouting is weird that we could see opposites.

I'm kinda there. After Demidov.

Was just talking defenders. I’d still take a few players before Buium. But Buium is my #1 D at this point

 

[Kevin Musto]

He played linebacker in football. He’s built. I really didn’t see him playing small. I thought he played big. Scouting is weird that we could see opposites.

I have no idea. Every time I watch him, I'm like why does he keep getting mashed along the boards and separated from the puck? It's consistently one of my biggest takeaways.

It's almost like how Kirby Dach couldn't dodge contact to save his life.

 

[hawksrule]

Buium isn't in my top 10.

I'm just not seeing what everyone else is seeing.

He plays so small and lets himself get bullied and trampled on.

Not saying this to be snarky, but how much have you seen him play? He doesn’t play small at all.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Not saying this to be snarky, but how much have you seen him play? He doesn’t play small at all.

Fair bit throughout the season, and then double backed again to watch him in the playoffs when everyone was raving about him. I was ready to be proven wrong, and then it just reconfirmed how I already felt.

I'm very clearly in the minority on this one, so I'm not claiming to be right.

 

[TLEH]

My one hope for this draft is that they draft much better in round 2 and 3. None of these.. “we have a lot of picks so we can take a luxury guy” like Felcman. Take good players.

 

[bwanajamba]

I would personally take the risk that Levshunov is much more raw than he is dumb and pick him as high as 2 or 3. There are worse things than a guy who could be Pronger but ends up Bogosian or Ristolainen. I think I prefer Demidov at this point, but I'm in favor of hunting upside in general in the top 4 and this year you aren't getting upside without some risk after #1.

 

[HawksDub89]

I actually think I like Buium the most at this point.

Like him a lot too

What are the Buium comps?