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

[Korpse]

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.

I'm not against criticism, however at the time of the draft we are so far from a point of actually making an informative opinion on the pick it's seems unnecessary. Discussion can go beyond praise or criticism.

 

[BK201]

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.

Trent Mann said that they have a certain philosophy on drafting goalies and because they think they can get an all star all over the place they have started drafting goalies more.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

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.

Ya, that's true. They have depth, but you can't assume all will pan out. Like you said, if its 3 or 4 years out, hard to predict the environment at that time.

 

[operasen]

Prokop and Foudy, etc, sitting right there. Leevi could have been taken later. Not a fan with this pick. Take him later if you need a G.

 

[Xspyrit]

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.

I see the rationale but kinda unfair to say in Cowen's case. I don't know if you were following NHL drafts closely back then but Cowen at the beginning of the season was considered in the same sentence as Victor Hedman... and only dropped to #9 because of his draft year injury (unfortunately for us in hindsight). Even after his injuries, he was still considered among the best D-men of the draft (just after Hedman and OEL)

Maybe scouting wasn't as good as it is today but it's "only"11 years ago, it was still already pretty good

https://thehockeywriters.com/11-jared-cowen-–-the-hockey-spy’s-2009-nhl-entry-draft-rankings/

Risk-Reward Analysis: Risk = 2.5/5 Reward = 5/5
NHL Potential: Top 2 shutdown defensive defenseman with offensive upside
Fantasy Hockey Potential: Offensive = 6.5/10 Defensive = 9/10
Other Rankings:

• ISS: 7
• CSB: 9-NA
• TSN: 11
• THN: 4

Injuries easily derail player careers, could happen to anybody. Mental and physical ability to recover from injuries is almost impossible to scout unless it just happened.

I agree on principle though, but I don't think it would be accurate to say for this draft. Still have a lot of research to do but don't see Stuetzle, Sanderson, Greig and Jarventie fitting that bill. Even Sokolov

Really don't see the rationale behind this goalie pick though... I mean, there isn't that many jobs at that position. Yes you can develop them longer but it sounds like overkill

- Matt Murray
- Joey Daccord
- Mads Sogaard
- Kevin Mandolese
- Filip Gustvasson
- Marcus Hogberg

I'm high on Daccord and Sogaard. Mandolese as well, I think he will get there. Not as high on Gustavsson but it wouldn't be surprising to see him make it with his skillset and pedigree. Hogberg looks like a back-up at the very least and Matt Murray is only 26 y/o, well accomplished goalie already

So what is the plan, there is only 2 jobs at the NHL level. Do we plan to change our goalies every 3-4 years max?

 

[Cosmix]

Once you get to the third round, the odds of drafting an NHL player are so low that I don’t get worked up over whomever the Senators pick. And if you want to raise the issue of great picks taken in later rounds of the draft, then it could be argued that those great picks should probably have been made sooner. I won’t lose any sleep or make much negative noise about them.

 

[Sting]

I think the financial constraints on our scouting department is starting to become increasingly apparent.

 

[Korpse]

Once you get to the third round, the odds of drafting an NHL player are so low that I don’t get worked up over whomever the Senators pick. And if you want to raise the issue of great picks taken in later rounds of the draft, then it could be argued that those great picks should probably have been made sooner. I won’t lose any sleep or make much negative noise about them.

I think people forget how few draftees become regular NHL players. A first round pick is far from a slam dunk, especially when you get past the top half. But they see a guy in the third round who was good in the CHL and assume it will translate, so anyone they have never heard of is a bad pick.

 

[aragorn]

The cream rises to the top & the other guys become trading assets. Teams always need goalie depth so they don't have to dress a Zanboni driver. lol

 

[Micklebot]

I'm not against criticism, however at the time of the draft we are so far from a point of actually making an informative opinion on the pick it's seems unnecessary. Discussion can go beyond praise or criticism.

And i think it did. We discussed the logic of using a 3rd when we have a deep pool of goalies, just acquired a young starter, and it seemed like an off the board pick. Honestly, i don't know what your looking for in a draft thread if people aren't able to judge the merits of the selection. Draft strategy seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to debate. I don't see the value however in people being dismissive of even having the conversation. Maybe thia turns out to be a great pick, and maybe somebody else would have taken him if we even moved back a single spot, who knows, but this all started off with somebody being critical of people even discussing the potential missed opportunity of moving back.

 

[BatherSeason]

Discussion can go beyond praise or criticism

Then we are we only allowed to praise?

 

[Korpse]

Then we are we only allowed to praise?

Did you read the 7 words you quoted?

 

[BatherSeason]

Did you read the 7 words you quoted?

Yep, seems like every poster that has criticized has been called out and even in some cases belittled?

 

[armani]

This pick is a head scratcher, did we really need yet another goalie prospect? Was he really that sought after that he couldn't be picked with a latter round pick.

Welcome to Ottawa Leevi, whoever you are! Obviously Mann, Ruutu, and Dorion know more than this Roody-Poo poster.

 

[Korpse]

And i think it did. We discussed the logic of using a 3rd when we have a deep pool of goalies, just acquired a young starter, and it seemed like an off the board pick. Honestly, i don't know what your looking for in a draft thread if people aren't able to judge the merits of the selection. Draft strategy seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to debate. I don't see the value however in people being dismissive of even having the conversation. Maybe thia turns out to be a great pick, and maybe somebody else would have taken him if we even moved back a single spot, who knows, but this all started off with somebody being critical of people even discussing the potential missed opportunity of moving back.

I don't see anyone being dismissive of the discussion in this thread. Hell, the post you quoted was discussing draft strategy, as was mine. Perhaps I went for the bait here, but the general attitude towards picks made in the draft I find perplexing. The reaction to this pick has been a little more subdued than the three prior picks.

 

[Micklebot]

I don't see anyone being dismissive of the discussion in this thread. Hell, the post you quoted was discussing draft strategy, as was mine. Perhaps I went for the bait here, but the general attitude towards picks made in the draft I find perplexing. The reaction to this pick has been a little more subdued than the three prior picks.

The post i was referencing as dismisive was the one that said " I don't get the obsession with aSsEt MaNaGeMeNt and nickel and diming over where you pick players later in the draft"

If you dont find that dismissive, idk what to tell you other than we disagree and can move on.

 

[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.

and just like that his twitter no longer exists :/
https://twitter.com/nuubieduubiex?lang=en

 

[Cosmix]

I think the financial constraints on our scouting department is starting to become increasingly apparent.

That applies to the entire Senators organization.

 

[Korpse]

and just like that his twitter no longer exists :/
https://twitter.com/nuubieduubiex?lang=en

I bet there was an overwhelming amount of heartfelt tweets directed his way.

 

[Zorf]

Meh. Sens scouts liked him so they took him. I'm not reading any more into why they took him when they did, because this is the only reason anyone will ever get.


Also, let's not overvalue 3rd round picks here. On average maybe 10% of players picked in the 3rd round have NHL careers of over 100 games. After the 2nd round, you're lucky to hit on any of your remaining picks.

Like many, I'd prefer if they took these shots in the dark picks on skilled players, but goalies are weird, and maybe they hit on an uncut gem here.

 

[APVJ]

Not a great value for a 3rd round pick.

 

[Laphroaig]

I couldn't have been more confused by this pick had the Sens decided to select one of my dogs.

 

[Tuna99]

This player is intriguing.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Have to wonder how far down in the draft this goalie would have been available at.

 

[Tuna99]

Have to wonder how far down in the draft this goalie would have been available at.

you have to figure Sens had inside that another team had scouted him to not move down to a 4th and get him and maybe add a 7th.

but his stats line is intriguing. Could be a steak