Prospect Info: 71st Overall Leevi Merilainen G, Fin, Karpat Jr

[Taluss]

Definitely the most confusing pick of the draft for me considering what we have in our pipeline goaltender wise.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

The Senators have been very transparent about how they're going to approach the draft. They're taking size, they're taking character and they're taking hard-working safer players. They're avoiding 'risky' skill players and under sized players.

If this current group were the scouts in 2008 I don't think they take Erik Karlsson, for example. I don't think they could stomach the risk.

Sens scouting staff wake up every morning in the summer of 2011. The Bruins just won the Cup and Finland is a goalie hotbed.

 

[BatherSeason]

It's any good organization's prerogative to assess the risk, and the reward, of any player. Tyler Kleven with his poor passing and puck skills presents significant risk. Is his reward worth it? Who knows but is he really safer than a skilled player with smaller size? I'd say not really.

Defaulting to size and character is how you litter your team with Lazars and Cowens. You need to try to get players that COULD end up stars with some picks. And I'm not talking about unrated goalies being picked in the third round. If you're picking players who are going to "safely" be mediocre then you're going to be left behind.

Well said

 

[Micklebot]

When you have 13 picks you can take some risks. Its common sense.

So taking some rando goalie that nobodies heard of isn't a risk? We knocked this one out of the risky pick park!

 

[bert]

So taking some rando goalie that nobodies heard of isn't a risk? We knocked this one out of the risky pick park!

I mean on high skill players, that wasnt a risk that was just dumb. They could have picked him in the later rounds. Goalies are such a crap shoot anyway I dont understand the mentality.

 

[TkachukMyAho]

It's any good organization's prerogative to assess the risk, and the reward, of any player. Tyler Kleven with his poor passing and puck skills presents significant risk. Is his reward worth it? Who knows but is he really safer than a skilled player with smaller size? I'd say not really.

Defaulting to size and character is how you litter your team with Lazars and Cowens. You need to try to get players that COULD end up stars with some picks. And I'm not talking about unrated goalies being picked in the third round. If you're picking players who are going to "safely" be mediocre then you're going to be left behind.

Agree. In my opinion the only reason you default to size is if ALL other things are considered equal.

 

[swiftwin]

You guys are overthinking this.

If you like a player, you draft him. I trust the scouts. I don't get the obsession with aSsEt MaNaGeMeNt and nickel and diming over where you pick players later in the draft.

 

[BK201]

Relax guys he's 18 and gonna be in Liiga if I read that properly.

 

[SlapJack]

Everyone looks at the consensus rankings and dissects the decisions based on who was still available since they dropped so much.

Almost every single case, those players dropped for a reason. A lot of other teams went different directions too. And in almost every case, those teams are proven right but the one example that pops up will be the guy that actually worked out. Nobody looks at everybody else's consensus picks that dropped and never panned out.

I'm not fond of drafting another goalie but it's all a crapshoot from this point on.

 

[Micklebot]

You guys are overthinking this.

If you like a player, you draft him. I trust the scouts. I don't get the obsession with aSsEt MaNaGeMeNt and nickel and diming over where you pick players later in the draft.

Well, when you asset nickel and dime, you have more chances at getting guys like Stone, Dzingel, Hoffman, Batherson, Alfredsson, Pageau, ect later in the draft.

Other teams do it, Cgy traded down twice yesterday for a pair of 3rd round picks and still got the guy they wanted in Zary. If you trust the scouts, you should want to get more picks in their hands and pick guys at least in the same time zone their expected to go in rather than take guys that are way out in left field.

 

[swiftwin]

Well, when you asset nickel and dime, you have more chances at getting guys like Stone, Dzingel, Hoffman, Batherson, Alfredsson, Pageau, ect later in the draft.

Other teams do it, Cgy traded down twice yesterday for a pair of 3rd round picks and still got the guy they wanted in Zary. If you trust the scouts, you should want to get more picks in their hands and pick guys at least in the same time zone their expected to go in rather than take guys that are way out in left field.

Maybe the guy they were looking at with their next pick is further off the board?

 

[Micklebot]

Everyone looks at the consensus rankings and dissects the decisions based on who was still available since they dropped so much.

Almost every single case, those players dropped for a reason. A lot of other teams went different directions too. And in almost every case, those teams are proven right but the one example that pops up will be the guy that actually worked out. Nobody looks at everybody else's consensus picks that dropped and never panned out.

I'm not fond of drafting another goalie but it's all a crapshoot from this point on.

Actually, in most cases at this stage in the draft, both the player the team chose, and the player fans wanted busts. but this is a bit more extreme, how often do unranked guys get drafted in the 3rd and pan out?

Anyways, time will tell, I just personally find it odd to pick a goalie at all this early, we have Soogard, Daccord, Mandolese, Hogberg, Gustavsson, and Murray who are all under 26 and under

 

[HoweHullOrr]

Team decides to invest the 71st OVR pick in a random goalie not even ranked on the CSS list, after they just traded the 52nd pick for a 26YR old starting goalie that has led his team to two cups?

How do you rationalize this pick knowing how cheap it is to acquire a young starting goalie that's already developed? Silly.

Maybe Murray goes to arbitration and gets a 2 year deal and is a stop gap? IDK, just a wild guess & stab in the dark. It does seem odd though given how many other tenders are in the system.

 

[Masked]

Actually, in most cases at this stage in the draft, both the player the team chose, and the player fans wanted busts. but this is a bit more extreme, how often do unranked guys get drafted in the 3rd and pan out?

Anyways, time will tell, I just personally find it odd to pick a goalie at all this early, we have Soogard, Daccord, Mandolese, Hogberg, Gustavsson, and Murray who are all under 26 and under

I think they like to take one goalie per draft. Plus Daccord could be gone in the expansion draft with Murray in the fold now.

 

[Micklebot]

Maybe the guy they were looking at with their next pick is further off the board?

Great, they can trade down a couple times and get even more picks. I'm not seeing how the hypothetical that they only like off the board picks makes selecting guys way higher than they are reasonably expected to go is a strong argument to support your position. I mean, at this point I just assume that no matter what the team does, it must be right in your opinion.

I've liked pretty much everything they've done so far, with some small nitpicking here and there, for the most part I think they've been knocking this draft out of the park. This pick though is questionable, and that's not just coming from sens fans who I'm sure you'll claim are biased towards being negative, it's pretty much universally seen as a reach. It's ok to be critical of things the team does when warranted, and imo, this particular move warrants some criticism.

 

[Micklebot]

I think they like to take one goalie per draft. Plus Daccord could be gone in the expansion draft with Murray in the fold now.

sure, one goalie per draft is fine, the issue isn't that they took a goalie, it's that they reached to take one with a pick that's still considered a reasonable asset (lets not pretend this is the end of the world or anything, but you still get some decent players in the 3rd round and can trade for decent players with those picks too).

 

[swiftwin]

Maybe Murray goes to arbitration and gets a 2 year deal and is a stop gap? IDK, just a wild guess & stab in the dark. It does seem odd though given how many other tenders are in the system.

Goalies are always fickle and hard to predict. Not to mention they are usually on a much much longer timeline than skaters. It's not like this guy is coming over to North America any time soon. Who knows if any of Mandolese, Gustavsson, or D'Accord will be in the organization in 3-4 years. You always gotta keep some options on the back burner.

 

[NyQuil]

Goalies are always fickle and hard to predict. Not to mention they are usually on a much much longer timeline than skaters. It's not like this guy is coming over to North America any time soon. Who knows if any of Mandolese, Gustavsson, or D'Accord will be in the organization in 3-4 years. You always gotta keep some options on the back burner.

The Team 1200 guys were expecting a goalie pick, saying something along the lines of, "We've heard that Ottawa is looking at adding a goalie every year at the draft."

I was driving back from Prince Edward County so I can't specify when they mentioned it, but I thought it was interesting.

 

[Korpse]

Well, when you asset nickel and dime, you have more chances at getting guys like Stone, Dzingel, Hoffman, Batherson, Alfredsson, Pageau, ect later in the draft.

Are we sure we couldn't have gotten these guys later?

 

[swiftwin]

The Team 1200 guys were expecting a goalie pick, saying something along the lines of, "We've heard that Ottawa is looking at adding a goalie every year at the draft."

I was driving back from Prince Edward County so I can't specify when they mentioned it, but I thought it was interesting.

I've heard it before too, and it makes total sense to me. You need a huge stable of goalies to pick from in the organization. If you're drafting a goalie for a near or even medium term need, it's already too late.

 

[Micklebot]

Are we sure we couldn't have gotten these guys later?

Hey. maybe we could have moved back 7 spots to take Dzingel with the last pick of the draft,

Idk man, it's like nobodies allowed to criticize anything without being told they are being unreasonable. Sometimes stuff the team does actually does deserve criticism. Broken clock is right twice a day after all, we can be right about criticizing the team from time to time too.

 

[Sun God Nika]

creeped his twitter i like him politically.

Seems like a big video game fan, and fan of Finnish hockey players and goalies in general. Doesn't look like the kid had any hype for the draft must be surprised and happy.

 

[Micklebot]

A bit off topic, but an interesting read that dovetails into this selection a bit;

Why aren’t NHL goalies drafted like NFL quarterbacks?

 

[BloodRedArmy]

We just traded for a goalie and we have 6 others in the system. Waste. Trade the pick if that’s your thinking. Concerning day.

Holy shit, relax. Maybe there's a plan to trade someone, maybe someone is hurt (other than Nilsson), maybe this guy is just exactly what they want. "Concerning day"... relax!

Well, when you asset nickel and dime, you have more chances at getting guys like Stone, Dzingel, Hoffman, Batherson, Alfredsson, Pageau, ect later in the draft.

For all we know this is the next Rinne or Vasilevsky... to be that upset about a 3rd round pick who is 18 years old. Consensus rankings don't mean anything after about #20. How many guys don't get drafted and turn into legit NHLers? How many guys go 1st round and B-U-S-T hard?

 

[BUCKLE UP]

This kid will be the greatest Finnish goalie of all time.