Toggle sidebar

Prospect Info: 2025 Draft discussion

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Fingers crossed that with some subtractions via trade (Petts, and ideally one of Bunting/Rakell) and a nice losing streak, the team can luck its way into a top-5 pick. I kinda f***in' hate the idea of a "safe pick you hope finds another gear" tbh. Not because that'd be a bad pick, but I don't think this organization's the one to end up getting more out of a guy.

I dunno. Pessimistic either way. Sullivan cannot be in charge of molding the development of the next chapter, man. :laugh:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jaded-Fan
I want McQueen cuz it's a fun name.

Stay away from Jackson Smith, Jake O'Brien and Cameron Reid. The names are just too boring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Randy Butternubs
Big Friggin Dummy said:
Fingers crossed that with some subtractions via trade (Petts, and ideally one of Bunting/Rakell) and a nice losing streak, the team can luck its way into a top-5 pick. I kinda f***in' hate the idea of a "safe pick you hope finds another gear" tbh. Not because that'd be a bad pick, but I don't think this organization's the one to end up getting more out of a guy.

I dunno. Pessimistic either way. Sullivan cannot be in charge of molding the development of the next chapter, man. :laugh:
Click to expand...

A great 2C/decent 1C upside is a pretty good outcome for a high 1st outside of the top-5. Desnoyers is appealing because he is a fairly safe prospect and has the upside to warrant taking him high. If he had a higher upside, he'd be firmly in the top-5.

You can hit higher upside players with those picks if you draft someone like Nylander or Rantanen, but it's usually guys like Bouchard, Sergachev, Meier, Trouba and Horvat. Which are very good players but not really worse than what Desnoyers projects to be. If you hit on a pick in that range, you're probably getting a fringe 1st/2nd liner or fringe #2/3 D.
 
I'm not saying it'd be the wrong pick, I just read shit like "plays the right way, safe two-way center, strong leadership qualities, high floor" and roll my eyes a bit cuz that almost always translates to Cody Glass v2.0 or some PK nerd. Especially under this coach.

As for McQueen, his size jumps out at you but everything I've read about the dude is like "skating is a major concern, gonna have to dramatically improve to make it at the NHL level" and stuff like that. Huge red flags imo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: The Old Master, Jacob and HandshakeLine
Big Friggin Dummy said:
I'm not saying it'd be the wrong pick, I just read shit like "plays the right way, safe two-way center, strong leadership qualities, high floor" and roll my eyes a bit cuz that almost always translates to Cody Glass v2.0 or some PK nerd. Especially under this coach.

As for McQueen, his size jumps out at you but everything I've read about the dude is like "skating is a major concern, gonna have to dramatically improve to make it at the NHL level" and stuff like that. Huge red flags imo.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I’m bored with two way centers and responsible but useless plugs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dipsy Doodle
Misa is like the best fit for us I think. Winger and center and just a pure goal scorer. Seems like a perfect guy to prop up Malkin and then he slides to C permanently when Malkin retires.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dipsy Doodle and Empoleon8771
Jacob said:
Misa is like the best fit for us I think. Winger and center and just a pure goal scorer. Seems like a perfect guy to prop up Malkin and then he slides to C permanently when Malkin retires.
Click to expand...

I agree but you probably need to win the lottery to move up to pull him off. You don't need #1 but I'd be surprised for Misa to go beyond #3.

It's a "no duh" comment but I'm really hoping this team wins at least the #3 lottery pick. I think the #3 pick is fairly easy to make: whichever one of Misa, Hagens or Schaefer is still available. That said Martone is making it a debate whether he should be on that tier as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Big Friggin Dummy
With the new rule that you’re not allowed to move up more than twice in a 5 year span from the lottery, I want no parts of winning it this year. Save that luck for the upcoming years when there is a #1 with legitimate franchise altering upside.
 
SomeDude said:
With the new rule that you’re not allowed to move up more than twice in a 5 year span from the lottery, I want no parts of winning it this year. Save that luck for the upcoming years when there is a #1 with legitimate franchise altering upside.
Click to expand...

Is a Crosby caliber prospect the only thing you consider "franchise altering"? Because all 3 of Misa, Schaefer and Hagens seem to be obvious franchise pieces.

Those 3 seem to be put on the same tier as Dahlin, Celebrini and Hughes according to Wheeler in August. That said, none of them reached Celebrini's performance in their draft year, so maybe a Hughes caliber #1 pick is more appropriate.
 
Empoleon8771 said:
Is a Crosby caliber prospect the only thing you consider "franchise altering"? Because all 3 of Misa, Schaefer and Hagens seem to be obvious franchise pieces.

Those 3 seem to be put on the same tier as Dahlin, Celebrini and Hughes.
Click to expand...
The chances of all of the top 3/4 of this draft having the same upside as previous #1 overalls is incredibly slim.

There are franchise players and there are franchise changers. McKenna has that upside. It’s still too early to really start looking further than that but DuPont is trending that way.

I just am not overly excited about the top part of this draft. Like I said, I’d rather get lucky later down the road.

This era existed because we sucked at the exact right moment in time. 2026 and 2027 feels like a similar opportunity to me.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Tasty Biscuits, Big Friggin Dummy and HandshakeLine
SomeDude said:
The chances of all of the top 3/4 of this draft having the same upside as previous #1 overalls is incredibly slim.

There are franchise players and there are franchise changers. McKenna has that upside. It’s still too early to really start looking further than that but DuPont is trending that way.

I just am not overly excited about the top part of this draft. Like I said, I’d rather get lucky later down the road.
Click to expand...

From what I've read, this draft doesn't have any true standout #1 picks but 3 great #2 picks. Wheeler put Hagens on the same tier as Celebrini before the year and I think his performance has shown that is not correct, but I think that this draft at the top does have 3 (arguable 4) very firm franchise guys.

I think the 2008 draft that had Stamkos, Doughty and Pietrangelo as 3 of the top-4 picks is comparable to what these guys project to be. Absolutely franchise guys but not Crosby/McDavid/Ovechkin caliber franchise guys. I think that fits the Dahlin/Hughes upside that these guys are compared to.
 
Empoleon8771 said:
From what I've read, this draft doesn't have any true standout #1 picks but 3 great #2 picks. Wheeler put Hagens on the same tier as Celebrini before the year and I think his performance has shown that is not correct, but I think that this draft at the top does have 3 (arguable 4) very firm franchise guys.

I think the 2008 draft that had Stamkos, Doughty and Pietrangelo as 3 of the top-4 picks is comparable to what these guys project to be. Absolutely franchise guys but not Crosby/McDavid/Ovechkin caliber franchise guys. I think that fits the Dahlin/Hughes upside that these guys are compared to.
Click to expand...
I haven’t done my deep dive into this class yet so you could be right. I’d have no qualms ending up with one of those guys the old fashioned way by just sucking the rest of the year and not relying on the lottery.

I’d rather save our winning ticket for the Crosby/McDavid tier prospect. We can all blame the Oilers for sucking for so long and wasting McDavid so the league felt forced to make a rule about how often you can win it.
 
Randy Butternubs said:
I checked tonight. They're there, just not too many of them. I think the first one is at 36. Russia has been caught by other countries in terms of development. Or have started lagging.
Click to expand...
Both, I think. A lot of Russian born players get out and do their juniors for other Euro clubs/leagues now too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom