To me D is a bigger need than anything.
Love Guhle and Reinbacher but injury concerns are a thing. If those guys are constantly hurt we’re not going anywhere.
D might be a bigger need than F, but the options that would be available at #16, where Calgary's pick would currently be, that would also be BPA for that pick are IMO guys like Kashawn Aitcheson and Cameron Reid, both lefties.
And we have a LOT of lefties already.
Adam Engstrom looks like he could be a good NHLer one day, Guhle and Hutson are pretty entrenched as our LDs of the future 5-6 years.
We are far less deep on the right side. Reinbacher looks like an awesome defenseman when he can actually play, but his injury has put some serious doubt in my mind about whether or not he could be a long-term option there for us.
And Mailloux has fallen off a cliff development-wise after a massive turnaround in his rookie AHL season. If this trend continues, Mailloux might end up an NHL tweener on D; not strong enough offensively for a top offensive spot, physical and good for some amount of puck-possession but also not strong enough defensively to hold-up a long-time spot in a bottom-of-the-lineup role as a defenseman.
Not all is lost yet on our RDs, and they may yet make something of themselves.
But yeah, organizationally-speaking RD would be the biggest need. But in my opinion we're not yet at that point of our rebuild where we can overdraft a position at the expense of BPA.
Which brings me to the next part of my point and the simple fact that I plainly don't think ANY of the RDs of this draft after Radim Mrtka, who will go top-12 barring a lucky fall for us, have the same kind of upside as Aitcheson and Reid, who are both lefties.
Ergo, at the 16th spot or so it might be that the best we could hope for would be a Lynden Lakovic, Justin Carbonneau, or Braeden Cootes type of forward unless we double-down on upside and LD.
Lakovic I'd be very happy about, he has tons of potential as a possible top-6 option with size.
Braeden Cootes I am higher on than most others, and I'd be happy with too. He's IMO more skilled than people give him credit for, and has definitely elevated his play in the playoffs for Seattle.
Carbonneau I'd be okay with too, he shows some flashes of greatness at times. But is inconsistent and plays like a rover most of the time, which is not my preferred type of offensive game.
Aitcheson and Reid would be great picks though, even if they don't fit our needs at all.
Both have clear top-4 upside, and I like the raw skills of Reid though I think Aitcheson's ruggedness and ability to neuter rushes would be nice to have too.
That's bout it I guess.
