Pre-Game Talk: 2025 NHL Draft Thread

[LGB]

I think Mrtka is worth a top 10 pick. It’s incredibly difficult to enter the zone on him with his size, reach, fluid skating, and active stick. He isn’t super physical but I think he effectively seals guys off with his body like Parayko. He doesn’t quite have the same speed Parayko does, but I think he will be effective in a lot of the same ways Parayko is just without quite the same ability to match really fast guys. The puck skills are pretty good for any defenseman let alone one that is 6’6. I think he is going to be excellent at breaking the puck out of the zone and be able to effectively move the puck and get shots through in the offensive zone. I expect him to be a top 4 defender and maybe even a top pairing guy.

 

[kimzey59]

I feel there are (much) better options in the top-10, however if we pick around 15-ish I'd be fine with Mrtka.

1- The top 10 is extremely forward dominant at the moment.
But you have Mrtka, Hensler and Smith sitting in that 10-15 range.

It's entirely possible somebody in the top 10 "reaches" for one of those D to fill a need rather than going for "BPA". We see it all the time.
I just hope it isn't us that does it. We need offense every bit as much as we need defense and this years forward crop has a LOT of what we need to round things out.

The question is what happens if we slide into that 10-15 range. I really like Spence and Bear, but it would be hard to pass on Hensler or Mrtka if they're there. RHD is definitely a weak spot in our pipeline.

2- Mrtka is absolutely a "project" but his upside is incredibly appealing. He could be something along the lines of a Dougie Hamilton if he puts it all together. I think somebody is going to take a gamble on him much higher than he's projected. Again, I don't necessarily want it to be us; but that package is extremely tantalizing.

 

[LGB]

1- The top 10 is extremely forward dominant at the moment.
But you have Mrtka, Hensler and Smith sitting in that 10-15 range.

It's entirely possible somebody in the top 10 "reaches" for one of those D to fill a need rather than going for "BPA". We see it all the time.
I just hope it isn't us that does it. We need offense every bit as much as we need defense and this years forward crop has a LOT of what we need to round things out.

The question is what happens if we slide into that 10-15 range. I really like Spence and Bear, but it would be hard to pass on Hensler or Mrtka if they're there. RHD is definitely a weak spot in our pipeline.

2- Mrtka is absolutely a "project" but his upside is incredibly appealing. He could be something along the lines of a Dougie Hamilton if he puts it all together. I think somebody is going to take a gamble on him much higher than he's projected. Again, I don't necessarily want it to be us; but that package is extremely tantalizing.

Why do you view him as a project? IMO he is the safest D in the draft outside Schaefer.

 

[kimzey59]

Why do you view him as a project? IMO he is the safest D in the draft outside Schaefer.

His in zone defensive game still needs a lot of work and he needs to put on a LOT of weight.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

There's just way more left shots compared to right shots. You used to rely on RW being right-shots, but in more recent times, you see RW prefer to be on their off-side to be able to cut into the ice like Tarasenko did. I think wings is less of an issue because it's easier to find a winger that can play both sides, Buchnevich is an example. And how many of our young wingers do we feel are pretty safe bets to be top 6 NHL guys.

Eklund would also project to be our best winger, so similar to I wouldn't pass up a LD that projects to be better than Broberg and Lindstein, just because we have Broberg and Lindstein.

I get it, and for the most part I agree. “Take the best guy and figure it out later” is generally a good strategy, especially when they won’t hit the ice for a few years.

But a team of all southpaws would be at a significant strategic disadvantage. If everyone’s stick is pointing the same way, you just go the other way and boom, forecheck/backcheck complete. It doesn’t really matter when all of these guys are on the junior circuit, because they’re all on different teams. But when they get to Springfield, it’s a problem.

Drafting too many / exclusively lefties means you’re gonna have to play guys out of position. LHD playing the right side have a much harder time keeping the puck in the zone, forwards have a harder time forechecking exits, etc. So the AHL team is worse off overall, and you stunt the development of good players who could grow into something valuable if they weren’t hampered by their stick curving the wrong direction for their position.

It also limits the number of prospects you can “properly” develop at any given time. There’s only (usually) 8 forward positions a leftie can play on a given team, and 3 D slots. Guys that prefer to play their offside are outliers, so let’s ignore that for a second. You’re limiting the depth of your bench on the right side, weakening your ability to win faceoffs wherever, and foregoing any strategic positional advantage that righties give you. If Kyrou goes down, there’s no one in SPR to come up and backfill the position if you’ve just got all lefties.

It does matter, is all I’m saying. Eklund or whoever may be better than what we have now, in which case fine draft the kid. I just think it’s a bad idea in the grand scheme of things to keep doubling down on building depth at positions that everybody already has too much of.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I get it, and for the most part I agree. “Take the best guy and figure it out later” is generally a good strategy, especially when they won’t hit the ice for a few years.

But a team of all southpaws would be at a significant strategic disadvantage. If everyone’s stick is pointing the same way, you just go the other way and boom, forecheck/backcheck complete. It doesn’t really matter when all of these guys are on the junior circuit, because they’re all on different teams. But when they get to Springfield, it’s a problem.

Drafting too many / exclusively lefties means you’re gonna have to play guys out of position. LHD playing the right side have a much harder time keeping the puck in the zone, forwards have a harder time forechecking exits, etc. So the AHL team is worse off overall, and you stunt the development of good players who could grow into something valuable if they weren’t hampered by their stick curving the wrong direction for their position.

It also limits the number of prospects you can “properly” develop at any given time. There’s only (usually) 8 forward positions a leftie can play on a given team, and 3 D slots. Guys that prefer to play their offside are outliers, so let’s ignore that for a second. You’re limiting the depth of your bench on the right side, weakening your ability to win faceoffs wherever, and foregoing any strategic positional advantage that righties give you. If Kyrou goes down, there’s no one in SPR to come up and backfill the position if you’ve just got all lefties.

It does matter, is all I’m saying. Eklund or whoever may be better than what we have now, in which case fine draft the kid. I just think it’s a bad idea in the grand scheme of things to keep doubling down on building depth at positions that everybody already has too much of.

I agree it matters, my view is we'll figure it out at the NHL level once we figure out who develops and who flops.

 

[Mike Liut]

If we fall to 10-12, I’d look hard at Malcolm Spence. He’s a hard nose player who can score. Perfect Blue

 

[Blueswin]

I get it, and for the most part I agree. “Take the best guy and figure it out later” is generally a good strategy, especially when they won’t hit the ice for a few years.

But a team of all southpaws would be at a significant strategic disadvantage. If everyone’s stick is pointing the same way, you just go the other way and boom, forecheck/backcheck complete. It doesn’t really matter when all of these guys are on the junior circuit, because they’re all on different teams. But when they get to Springfield, it’s a problem.

Drafting too many / exclusively lefties means you’re gonna have to play guys out of position. LHD playing the right side have a much harder time keeping the puck in the zone, forwards have a harder time forechecking exits, etc. So the AHL team is worse off overall, and you stunt the development of good players who could grow into something valuable if they weren’t hampered by their stick curving the wrong direction for their position.

It also limits the number of prospects you can “properly” develop at any given time. There’s only (usually) 8 forward positions a leftie can play on a given team, and 3 D slots. Guys that prefer to play their offside are outliers, so let’s ignore that for a second. You’re limiting the depth of your bench on the right side, weakening your ability to win faceoffs wherever, and foregoing any strategic positional advantage that righties give you. If Kyrou goes down, there’s no one in SPR to come up and backfill the position if you’ve just got all lefties.

It does matter, is all I’m saying. Eklund or whoever may be better than what we have now, in which case fine draft the kid. I just think it’s a bad idea in the grand scheme of things to keep doubling down on building depth at positions that everybody already has too much of.

yes the Sabers seem to have this problem with their best defenseman all shooting left & it does seem to be an issue.