ATD2025 Draft Thread Part II

[Leaf Lander]

Leafs select CUJO G

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Hogsmeade will take our backup too in Roy Worters.

We're gonna skip our second pick for now. Nobody's picking him and I have a bio ready to be put together on my PC that I want to post when I pick him, so once I get home from work I'll do that.

@Leaf Lander

 

[spitsfan24]

Looks like we're now on a four hour clock.

 

[Habsfan18]

Holy run on backups!

Glad to have Hasek lol Still want a competent backup but having him helps soften the blow of missing out on this run.

 

[ImporterExporter]

LL is having problems trying to log in. Trade deadline day makes this site a real pain in the arse.

He wants Colton Parayko, D

 

[tinyzombies]

Starting off the reserve squad with a tenacious forechecker who worked hard to kill penalties and also displayed respectable playmaking capabilities

He would be a luxurious 13th forward under normal circumstances, however, this selection will also drastically reduce the risk of Doug Harvey attempting to finish the job and getting the gate + a lengthy suspension/jail sentence

HC Lugano is proud to select Red Sullivan, C

That's what you get for messing with a Navy man.

 

[Leaf Lander]

Leafs select our 6th dman 6'6 mammoth 10 yr vet Stanley Cup winner
Colton Parayko D

 

[Leaf Lander]

I think we should pause the draft for the day

 

[Hitru]

Sounds good to me

 

[Hockey Stathead]

The Vipers select Jiri Holecek, G

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I think we should pause the draft for the day

This may be what you meant, but I would be in favor of pausing the clock, not the draft. No reason not to make a pick if you can/want.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Dawson City adds Tommy Gorman, coach

 

[Leaf Lander]

Hf board crashed white I was making my pick

 

[BenchBrawl]

I think we should pause the draft for the day

Yes, clock will resume tomorrow at noon EST.

We can continue drafting players though.

 

[Habsfan18]

Dawson City adds Tommy Gorman, coach

Smart play waiting this long for a coach, because Gorman is pretty damn good value here. I like him better than some of the coaches who went awhile back. But I guess it comes down to fit too.

 

[Boreal01]

HC Lugano is proud to select Jonathan Quick, G

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Alright, this player was specifically called out in the first draft thread as being somebody who would not be picked. Let's prove that wrong. Hogsmeade selects the heir apparent to the captaincy of my Capitals, Tom Wilson.

Player Profile

Courtesy of NHL's puck and player tracking data:

Spoiler

Tom Wilson is what you get if you asked a scientist to build the perfect ATD fourth liner in a laboratory. Elite speed and shot, forechecking missile, generating tons pressure on the net, unfavourable defensive zone starts. All of that in a 6'4" 220lbs package, a letter on the jersey, both special teams units, out at the end of games protecting leads.

Stats of Note

- Since being moved full-time into Washington's top-6 in 2018: 27g, 53p pace over 82 games
- Leading all Capitals forwards in time on ice this season by a full minute, on a Cup contending team
- 4th leaguewide in hits since his debut in 2013
- Wilson became a core PKer on Washington in the 2015-2016 season. Since that season, he's first on the team in cumulative shorthanded time on ice, and the team is 3rd in PK% over that span
- Ranked #90 on THN's Top 100 Influential People in Hockey in 2019
- 100+mph slapshot in the 2022 all star game

NHLPA Player Polls

NHLPA Player Polls began asking the question, "Which player do you least enjoy playing against but would like to have on your team?", in 2021-2022. Here are the results in each season it was asked:

2024:
1. Brad Marchand (29.19%)
2. Connor McDavid (17.48%)
3. Matthew Tkachuk (7.57%)
4. Tom Wilson (6.67%)
5. Nathan MacKinnon (5.23%)

2023:
1. Brad Marchand (36.54%)
2. Connor McDavid (15.58%)
3. Tom Wilson (8.08%)
4. Matthew Tkachuk (5.96%)
5. Victor Hedman (3.85%)

2022:
1. Brad Marchand (26.40%)
2. Connor McDavid (18.34%)
3. Tom Wilson (10.74%)
4. Victor Hedman (6.94%)
5. Nathan MacKinnon (5.37%)

Quotes

Many of these quotes were transcribed by me from video interviews.

On his unique skillset...

I think he's as unique, I mean there are some defencemen who are pretty unique in our league, and there's obviously some skaters, but in terms of a skillset that maybe only he possesses in the league... it's really hard to find anybody that has his combination of power, size, physicality, and skill. And I just showed a bunch of clips as we were going through our structure, and everybody thinks about the physicality and the strength and the power, he made three or four touch plays off the wall... it's world class plays, under pressure, off the yellow. So there's a prime example of how unique his skill set is, and frankly, how valuable it is.

He really has the full package. Those are the guys that you want on your team, that you are going to win with. I think that style of play, there is not much of it anymore, but those are the guys you really want on your team when it comes down to the playoffs.

My first year he was more of a 4th line energy guy... he sometimes wouldn't know when to stop, put it that way. But he's just grown. He's grown and he's now a top line player. The unique thing about Tom, and this is why I think Tom is so unique, is he can play on a top line, he's one of the most physical guys in the NHL, and he's playing with a couple of star players. He hits like a truck, he does... some guys, they hit a lot, they hit you and you just go, 'I got hit,' but Tom hits like a truck. He's a big strong man.

There's only one Tom Wilson... thankfully, for other players in the National Hockey League.

On his value to a team...

He plays an amazing game. He plays hard; he is a very good player. You also have to be aware when he is on the ice with his physicality and the way he hits — his speed also. He is a tough player to play against, for sure… I think those types of players, any team would want him.

He is the type of player that every coach wants to have on their team. Hate to go against him. We’ve had some good ones over the years. It’s because really now he has rounded his game. There is nothing he doesn’t do... Obviously, the physical part, you see that every shift. He’s a guy that has earned his way into this game.

Every team wants a Tom Wilson. There's only one in the league, so that's unfortunate. He's a great player.

On his all-around game...

His game has just evolved to so many different layers, he does so many different things from playing in every single situation, plays the right way, physicality, scoring, you name it.

"I think he's had a number of good years now, showing differences in his game and his offensive talent, his upside, more of a facilitator... he commands a lot of space and creates space for others," undrafted WSH defenseman explained. "He's figured out where he needs to be and where he needs to control, and obviously, he works really hard on his game to improve all the time, even though he's a great player. It's paying off."

He's the guy that everyone loves to hate, the one that people want on their team but can't stand playing against. He's the player who loves to get under other players' skins, the one who'll run his mouth, lay the body and drop the gloves when duty calls. His opponents hate playing against him, and he still carries a reputation from critics in the league.

"He's like as advertised. It sucks playing against him, way better to have him on your side," Brandon Duhaime said.

"He does all the little things right, and he gets rewarded... Goes to the net hard, does a lot of selfless things for this hockey team, kills penalties, on the first power play, wins battles constantly," Dylan Strome said. "I've said a bunch of times before, he's a great person, great player to have on your team and not very fun to play against."

"He can do it all out there. He can pass, he can shoot, his presence on the ice has an impact on how you can play and how you play... that's a huge, huge thing that he does without even trying," linemate Pierre-Luc Dubois added. "...He's been one of our pillars."

"He's just an absolute nail gun," Brandon Duhaime added. "He's everything you want in a leader."

On his physicality...

I know how strong he can be... very strong.

I see people disappear in front of my eyes a couple of times. Guy in front of me, he just disappears because Tom hit him. It happens. The way he plays, there’s a lot of people that probably hate him. Once he hits people really hard, obviously you don’t want to play against that guy.

Growing up I always wanted to play hard. I always wanted for the other teams not to like me, I wanted to have that in my game since my first bodycheck in practice when I was 7, 8 years old. I just loved that part of the game.

I think he’s adjusted his game to the way the game is being called. I think he’s figured out how to be physical, how to do it in the right time, how to eliminate the high-risk hits that the Department of Player Safety takes a microscope to, and he’s produced offensively. He’s done everything that we could possibly imagine him doing.

It happens at least once or twice a game, Wilson says... He’ll be skating towards an opposing player who’s carrying the puck with his head mostly down. Wilson could absolutely demolish a guy working with that level of on-ice obliviousness, but instead of finishing his check like he would’ve a year or two ago, Wilson will offer a verbal warning and then go after the puck. He’ll say: “Heads up.”

On his leadership...

There's no question in Alex Ovechkin's mind when it comes to who the next captain of the Washington Capitals will be when he eventually hangs up the skates.

He stood by it last April, expecting Wilson to be the guy that dons the "C" and leads the charge going forward. Besides, he brings just about everything to the table.

"Speed, power, toughness," Ovechkin rattled off with a smile. "What else you want? And skill."

"He's one of the best leaders I've been around. He's a guy that when he speaks, he puts it into action. He's not going to tell someone to do something that he's not willing to do himself. That's the mark of a really good captain or really good leader," Charlie Lindgren said. "He's one of my best buddies on the team, got to know him really well here the last two and a half years. He's just a very competitive guy, but also, just a really, good solid guy as well, really good husband, really good father. He's a guy that we all listen to and look up to on this team.

He's a really good human being. He leads a lot by example in terms of how he trains, how he prepares, how he eats and how he practices. He lives life the right way, so he’s a great role model for our young guys.

Tom’s a guy who brings everybody into the game for us — he brings everybody into the fight, so to speak. I don’t mean actual fighting, I mean competitiveness and battle and being all-in, to try to help our team win. We missed that [when he was suspended]. He’s a special guy in terms of that and his leadership ability. And it’s only going to get better and better.

He wants to take care of new guys that come in, wants to make them feel very welcome. And you want that from a guy that’s as physical as he is, to be a great guy in the locker room, too. He’s a glue guy.

What Al Crawford noticed when he coached an 11-year-old Wilson is that the team’s best player was also its strongest leader. “It’s something I really didn’t believe in, naming captains at that age, but he stood out so much as a team guy in the room, not a guy who tried to make it all about himself, that you had to acknowledge it somehow,” Crawford says. “He was always communicative, always positive. He was very competitive, but in the healthiest possible way. He had something like a 95-per cent average in school as he got older, too."

He thinks of the team before himself in many regards. I think on the ice speaks for itself — he does all the little things, plays in all situations, sticks up for anyone that he has to. But in the room, he always knows things. He knows what guy’s wives’ and kids’ names are. If I have family in town, I would go to Tom to ask him where I should bring them for dinner. He’s very interested in what other guys are doing, not just what he has to do on that given day.

Hogsmeade is thrilled to complete our power 4th line with one of the great power forwards of the modern era. Welcome, Big Tom!

 

[BenchBrawl]

Les Canadiens select Frank Patrick, D

 

[Habsfan18]

Les Canadiens select Frank Patrick, D
View attachment 989559

Damnit BB, he would have looked real nice in Baltimore with his brother as our 7th D.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Damnit BB, he would have looked real nice in Baltimore with his brother as our 7th D.

F. Patrick might be included in the lineup when I want it to be more offense-driven.

An ideal spare or 3rd pairing dman given his short but high-peak type career.

 

[spitsfan24]

F. Patrick might be included in the lineup when I want it to be more offense-driven.

An ideal spare or 3rd pairing dman given his short but high-peak type career.

He was the other defenceman I considered when I picked Hatcher. Ultimately, I felt like I could use Hatcher's penalty killing more since the right side of my defence also includes Park and Burns.

 

[BenchBrawl]

He was the other defenceman I considered when I picked Hatcher. Ultimately, I felt like I could use Hatcher's penalty killing more since the right side of my defence also includes Park and Burns.

There is no doubt that Frank Patrick is a better defenseman than Kevin Hatcher and dozens of already picked defensemen; but he's a complicated case of a short career.

 

[tinyzombies]

Anybody need defensive defenseman who play the right side?

 

[BenchBrawl]

Anybody need defensive defenseman who play the right side?

What the f*** does that mean?

 

[tinyzombies]

What the f*** does that mean?

None of you f business I guess? lol