Prospect Info: All-Purpose Prospect Thread v16.0

[Kevin Musto]

Mintyukov> KK was another one I had going into the draft, so frustrating

Yeah same. I was high on Minty as well. 7th.

 

[WarriorofTime]

With Cristall, he's not our prospect and also not one of a rival, so I don't need to go out of my way to harp on the kid, but he did go 40th for a reason. Perhaps he can battle against it, he's playing great in the WHL, like he did last year, but that's still just a junior league.

The only thing holding Cristall back from being a complete offensive player is his physical strength and breakaway speed.
With all that said, what he lacks to reach his next level is his breakaway speed. While he can change direction without any issues due to his edgework, he lacks the power and speed to fully get open. This, combined with the smaller frame, makes him susceptible to getting caught or losing the puck when up against defenders. His edges help him get around the physical defenders, but he is wrestled off the puck too easily. Therefore, Cristall has to work a lot on his speed or his power if he is to have a smooth transition into the NHL....

...

Like a few of the other players at the junior hockey level, Andrew Cristall has yet to fully develop his defensive game. His primary abilities are in the offensive zone, and it’s not often he is tested. He is often the last forward back and then his primary job is to cover the point or take away cross-ice passes. It’s something he does relatively well due to his great vision and hockey IQ.

At times this can cause him to look disinterested or not fully engaged in the defense duties, especially on the backcheck and at the boards. Especially due to his smaller frame, he often struggles to win the puck battles that would allow his team to clear the zone. Overall, there is a bit of coaching to be done to make Cristall a better player off the puck. A thing that should be relatively easy to learn to make him a better player in all three zones.

There's enough there that caused teams to pass on him in the Draft, and I'm not sure to what extent those concerns are now erased and probably won't get a clearer sense until further on.

 

[Putt Pirate]

I mean, people losing it after one poor game. We all knew this year was going to be rough. I think taking a breath before saying things like our prospect pool sucks (though rated top 5 by people who actually, know something) would be a good start.

 

[Chelios]

Late night rant ahead. Hate to say it, but I'm not sold on KD's drafting (especially in the second). No ones drafted after the first projects as having top6F or top 4 D upside as of this point and he seems to target lower upside/higher floor and trying to fill specific roles down the line.

Ludwinski was drafted for speed and motor alone, leaving guys like Seamus Casey and Poitras on the board. Ryan Greene looks solid, could be a 3C down the road but man Hutson has top pairing potential.

Goaltenders are voodoo enough to begin with, plus the last 2 cup winners were Kuemper and freaking Adin Hill. Dont use a high second on one unless there is high end pedigree. Like aside from Vasy no cup winning goaltenders since 2015 were picked higher than the third round. Poor asset management, imo.

Regardless, leaving Cristall on the board here is just so strange, especially drafting an even smaller russian winger right afterwards. Cristall is absolutely shredding the WHL right now and honestly looks like he could be last years Alex Debrincat. Misiak is solid but again, projects as more of a 3C than a top 6 forward.

I just feel like so many teams have mid-late round picks who are putting up big numbers in juniors with exciting upside while Davidson has seemed to err on the side of caution and picking safer player to fill specific roles, and I honestly don't like it.

Musto Burner account.

 

[Pez68]

Anyone who tries to judge draft picks, aside from top 5 picks, before year 3, should just be ignored. Full stop.

Talking about "not getting top six forwards and top 4 defensemen in the 2nd round" is just straight up nonsense.

 

[ClydeLee]

Praising draft picks still in juniors who fell specifically because they have limited potential NHL growth and ability despite gaudy number... because they continue to put up the numbers is something premature

 

[kmwtrucks]

Ludwinski probably would not have been my pick. we have so many picks I would go with upside. I think there second draft Gajan, Kantersov, misiak and lardis looks really solid. you can always cherry pick 1-2 players that went after a pick but the better way to look at is if they redrafted the next year were would they go and from the early returns I would say most of KD's picks end up going higher. IMO.

 

[TLEH]

They didn't pick who I would have picked in certain situations but no one can tell a thing from 2022 or 2023 yet for almost all of the guys.

I certainly wouldn't have taken a goalie in the 2nd and I am not of the philosophy that you just draft a bunch of guys that can skate really fast, but thats more philosophical than just saying Ludwinski sucks. He's atleast had a better start than last year.

 

[Pez68]

Ludwinski probably would not have been my pick. we have so many picks I would go with upside. I think there second draft Gajan, Kantersov, misiak and lardis looks really solid. you can always cherry pick 1-2 players that went after a pick but the better way to look at is if they redrafted the next year were would they go and from the early returns I would say most of KD's picks end up going higher. IMO.

The point is, anyone who thinks they can judge a draft pick a year after they were picked is huffing their own farts. It's just nonsense.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

They didn't pick who I would have picked in certain situations but no one can tell a thing from 2022 or 2023 yet for almost all of the guys.

I certainly wouldn't have taken a goalie in the 2nd and I am not of the philosophy that you just draft a bunch of guys that can skate really fast, but thats more philosophical than just saying Ludwinski sucks. He's atleast had a better start than last year.

The goalie thing this year was weird. I don’t believe they wanted to necessarily do it either. But they clearly got word that a run on goalies was about to happen, and they picked their guy. And sure enough, like 8 goalies went right after, so I’m fine with it ultimately.

 

[Northernhawk]

Man I wish we would got Seth Jarvis in 2020

Blackhawks picked 17, Lukas Reichel, I had Noel Gunler ranked there

If they were to trade up I wanted Jarvis, he went 13

If they were going to trade down I wanted JJ Peterka…who’s also awesome!

Gunler went at 41 btw, what do I know

 

[ello]

The goalie thing this year was weird. I don’t believe they wanted to necessarily do it either. But they clearly got word that a run on goalies was about to happen, and they picked their guy. And sure enough, like 8 goalies went right after, so I’m fine with it ultimately.

I get what happened, but unless the goalies a top end prospect (like Askarov) there seems to be little correlation between draft slot and how the goalie pans out (in the same draft as Askarov the ONLY other notable goalie is Levi - drafted in the 7th).

We could've loaded up on 4 talented, boom-bust type forwards in the second round then thrown darts at goalies for the rest of the draft and probably had as good a shot at finding a goalie but a much better chance of finding one or 2 top six forwards to spend 10+ years as Blackhawks

Imagine how our prospect pool looks right now with just for example 4 guys like Cristall, Heidt, Sawchyn and maybe say Lardis, guys all projected to go higher than they did. Then add like Fowler as the goalie.

 

[WarriorofTime]

For what it’s worth, Celebrini and Wood were the only Canadians that stood out to me at the last Under-18s. I think you’re a bit too in love with junior stat guys. Reality is only a small number of guys prove themselves to be play-driving first line forwards in the NHL and they seldom dont get drafted inside the top 20, which means everyone else is going to need to figure out how to be a complementary guy instead of the guy the offense flows through like on their junior teams. The share of Major Juniors players that make the nhl is declining as more Americans make the league and it’s becoming especially rarer for those to go NCAA and even more Canadians going NCAA (Power, Fantilli and Celebrini being major examples) and the Russians/Swedes/Finns that rarely go over as CHL imports.

Just being a good junior scorer is nice but it’s not much of a guarantee of anything.

 

[HawksDub89]

Talking about "not getting top six forwards and top 4 defensemen in the 2nd round" is just straight up nonsense.

As if they grow on trees and are readily available in the 2nd round.

Just silliness around here after one bad loss.

(And there will be more bad losses…)

 

[hawksfan50]

Marcel Marcel medically cleared to pkay forc Icehogs..

And since they sent downl Dach, do they both enter the Hogs' lineup on tgeir next game on Nov.4th in Winnipeg vs.the Moose?

 

[ello]

For what it’s worth, Celebrini and Wood were the only Canadians that stood out to me at the last Under-18s. I think you’re a bit too in love with junior stat guys. Reality is only a small number of guys prove themselves to be play-driving first line forwards in the NHL and they seldom dont get drafted inside the top 20, which means everyone else is going to need to figure out how to be a complementary guy instead of the guy the offense flows through like on their junior teams. The share of Major Juniors players that make the nhl is declining as more Americans make the league and it’s becoming especially rarer for those to go NCAA and even more Canadians going NCAA (Power, Fantilli and Celebrini being major examples) and the Russians/Swedes/Finns that rarely go over as CHL imports.

Just being a good junior scorer is nice but it’s not much of a guarantee of anything.

Valid points and second round picks are low percentage-ish picks anyways so in the grand scheme there's a chance that none of the players I brought up make a big impact. Filling roles is important but also only one of the four picks really does that anyways (Misiak).

I just feel like a guy like Cristall for example put up such extreme numbers that he's worth taking a shot at in the second round where the real crapshoot picks begin anyways? Id say at where was picked he probably had the highest raw scoring upside by a fair amount of any players left in the draft and who really cares if a second round pick busts, it happens all the time. Could be Petan, yes. Could also be Debrincat. Risk absolutely worth taking at 35 or whatever with how high the upside is. Im honestly not really big on a guy like Heidt, but again the Hawks need so much talent at this point and with so many second round picks in such a forward heavy draft I feel quite underwhelmed leaving with only 2 forwards, with one projecting as a third-liner.

Who's everyone's favorite pick from this draft outside of Moore/Bedard? Lardis, and there's a reason for that.

We're in a reallyyy pivotal of our rebuild where our scouting past the first round will provide us with a lot of high end talent/depth like our Cup winning teams (Tampa's another one), or we can end up in hockey purgatory like Edmonton with a generational talent and couple of other high firsts contributing with very little organizational depth. Lots of pressure on these drafts since KD is rebuilding from scratch

 

[barriers]

 

[clydesdale line]

Hayes has been on fire lately. Very streaky player. When he's on, he's scorching hot.

 

[kmwtrucks]

Valid points and second round picks are low percentage-ish picks anyways so in the grand scheme there's a chance that none of the players I brought up make a big impact. Filling roles is important but also only one of the four picks really does that anyways (Misiak).

I just feel like a guy like Cristall for example put up such extreme numbers that he's worth taking a shot at in the second round where the real crapshoot picks begin anyways? Id say at where was picked he probably had the highest raw scoring upside by a fair amount of any players left in the draft and who really cares if a second round pick busts, it happens all the time. Could be Petan, yes. Could also be Debrincat. Risk absolutely worth taking at 35 or whatever with how high the upside is. Im honestly not really big on a guy like Heidt, but again the Hawks need so much talent at this point and with so many second round picks in such a forward heavy draft I feel quite underwhelmed leaving with only 2 forwards, with one projecting as a third-liner.

Who's everyone's favorite pick from this draft outside of Moore/Bedard? Lardis, and there's a reason for that.

We're in a reallyyy pivotal of our rebuild where our scouting past the first round will provide us with a lot of high end talent/depth like our Cup winning teams (Tampa's another one), or we can end up in hockey purgatory like Edmonton with a generational talent and couple of other high firsts contributing with very little organizational depth. Lots of pressure on these drafts since KD is rebuilding from scratch

I really like all the top 6 picks from the last draft. I think all will play NHL games. they are all great athletes. IE skating is really strong on all of them and they all have at least one NHL level skill after that.

 

[clydesdale line]

Blackhawks prospects roundup: Goalie Adam Gajan staying busy in USHL

Gajan, who was drafted in the second round by the Blackhawks last June, has faced a league-high 341 shots so far this season.

theathletic.com

Nice little tidbits from Powers on Gajan and Rinzel.

 

[Hawkster]

Misiak has 3 points (2g+1a) in the first period, tonight.

 

[belfour30]

I know it's kinda early, but how long do you think Moore stays at Minnesota?

Also highly annoyed that Nazar is on the 3rd line at Michigan.

 

[dreadpirateroberts]

Misiak has 3 points (2g+1a) in the first period, tonight.

 

[Kevin Musto]

I know it's kinda early, but how long do you think Moore stays at Minnesota?

Also highly annoyed that Nazar is on the 3rd line at Michigan.

In theory Moore could be a one and done, but I just don't see the need to rush any of our prospects.

A second year could only be beneficial. He doesn't need to be in the NHL next season.

 

[TLEH]

In theory Moore could be a one and done, but I just don't see the need to rush any of our prospects.

A second year could only be beneficial. He doesn't need to be in the NHL next season.

He will show us. I think its likely he goes back. If he puts up 45 points this year and develops on a long run? Maybe 1 and done.