I watched a couple of shift-by-shift games on Iginla and Helenius.
Offensively Iginla seems to be a very promising player with a good shot and hands. Defensively I wasn't as impressed, because he looks too passive without the puck and many times he is just standing still. I also expected to see more hustle and physicality from him, but perhaps his last name has just created a false expectations for me. It's possible that those two games weren't a good sample size of what he can do, but I was a little bit underwhelmed on him.
I liked Helenius more. He is smaller than Iginla, but he seems to have more compete in his game. Or as Pronman has wrote: "Helenius isn't a big center, but he gives strong efforts off the puck, doesn't shy from going to the net and has an edge to his game." Helenius has a high hockey IQ and some skill and creativity. Downside is his size (5' 10.75") and his skating could be better though I wouldn't say it's weakness for him. He reminds me of Zach Benson. I don't know if it is good or bad player comparison.
Just my two cents on these players.
@Guadana Now that we know the Devils pick is 10OA (unless a team behind them wins a lotto ball), what are the respective chances of Buium, Dickinson and Iginla being on the board? Curious how you’d handicap the odds.
I’m fairly certain Brandsegg-Nygard and Helenius will be available at that spot.
With this said, I think there is a very real chance Fitz trades this pick for Saros. I’d rather have Markstrom due to the acquisition cost being cheaper.
Hm… if everything will stay the same
SJ will draft Celebrini.
Chaciago can do anything - D, Demidov or Lindstrom
Ducks should draft Levshunov(may be other RD but I think Levshunov is their guy). Let’s hope they will not draft Lindstrom.
Jackets have huge need in centers, so if Lindstrom is available, he is their pick. If not, they will draft forward - Catton or Demidov, their defensive pool is very good.
Arizona can do anything, less likely Catton. I think they can draft Silayev, they will draft
Demidov if he is available, or Dickinson if Chicago will draft other big LD and Demidov isn’t available. They don’t afraid to draft Russians. But, Simashev and Demidov would be a great “Bad company”. They need defenseman more.
And Montreal needs center very hard. I believe they will draft Catton if Jackets will draft other forward. Or Demidov, if Celebrini is number 1, Lindstrom 2, Levshunov 3, Catton 4, Silayev/Dickinson 5. They already said many times they like Demidov. May be they will be the first team who can draft Iginla in specific situation.
So at this moment Celebrini, Lindstrom, Demidov, Catton should go away. Jackets and Montreal have huge need in offensive talent, especially from center. Levshunov as a high profile RD should be picked too. Ducks are good at everything besides RD.
Ottawa need RD, so I beLiege they can be the first team who can draft Yakemchuk. Or Parekh. Or they will draft Dickinson if he is available. At this moment I think the chance of Dickinson availability is lower. They don’t like to draft small players, reason why I think they will prefer Yakemchuk over Parekh if they want RD, but Parekh is projected as Karlsson if everything will be good, so who knows. They can draft Buium too.
Seattle should not draft Helenius. Other that that I really don’t know. They have need in defensemen, they have need in offensive talents. They are very stats oriented, reason why I don’t think they will draft players like Eiserman. Parekh? I don’t know. May they will draft Iginla, but they need more driving talent. It’s really hard for me to predict.
I don’t know what Calgary and Conroy think about Iginla. They need center, they need talented defensemen. They need driving talent. Iginla is a good pick to sell rebuild around him. They should like Russian players now, because even with the trade of Zadorov there were no scandal, he wanted to sign with them, he just asked more than they were ready to pay. So may be they will draft Silayev if he is available.
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So I think Dickinson most likely will be drafted before us. Chicago, Arizona, Ottawa, Seattle and even Calgary looks like teams who can draft him.
Buium is more tricky.
Same with Iginla.
I see two out of three chances there will be available at least one of Buium or Iginla, Buium less likely. One chance out of three in my mind.
I still would prefer Nygard, Chernyshov or Helenius over Iginla.
Iginla is very good, but he is average skater without good separation speed, he isn’t playmaker with average overall iq and some holes in defensive game.
Helenius has good speed(even with some questions about first step), but very intelligent, Benson is a very good comparison. Much smarter player than Iginla with better positional game.
Same with Nygard - much better all around player, has center potential, he is bigger and better skater in the same time, as good as shooter. Much better two way player with better positional game.
Chernyshov is doing the same with much better separation speed, he is bigger, as good or even better in different aspects of puck handling, as good in offensive passing.
I really hope Fitz will not bite by position and name in case of Iginla. He still very good pick, but Nygard, Chernyshov and Helenius are better. All of them are better defensively, with better skating and speed. Nygard and Chernyshov are bigger, as good as shooters or not so far away, Nygard and Helenius are smarter. Chernyshov is more gifted.
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