GDT: Bob McKenzie's List Live Show

[Junohockeyfan]

LOL. I would probably draft him at 5 if he's there but the only thing that is a "foregone conclusion" is that we will all croak, Plenty of supposed "can't miss" prospects, in all sports, have busted.

Death, taxes and Michkov becoming a star NHL player.

 

[Kaladin]

I'm not sure why people are so adamant we need star power immediately. We don't even have the vestiges of a decent core yet.
Build something good manage the cap and grab the star power at the opportune moment. We messed up our tank but that is water under the bridge now.
If we can't get a star this season the least we can do is ensure the ones we do have are supported properly.

I can't speak for anyone else but why I think it's necessary is because logically we are (barring injuries) not going to be as bad as we have been in the past two years moving forward. So we've already picked the highest in the draft we will in this tank. Typically, contenders pick their stars with these high draft picks. So THIS draft may be our last chance, again barring amazing drafting at unlikely spots, to get that star. That player that will be better than a Suzuki or a caufield or a Dach. I love those guys and hope and expect them to continue to develop but they aren't comparable to the best player on other contenders. THIS draft may be our last shot because I'd be shocked if we picked top 5 again next year or the year after. If we get Dubois we might even be in playoff contention.

The current roadmap the team is on, as currently constructed, I don't see a stanley cup contender. We're missing pieces and obtaining the guy that will help Caufield and suzuki be better on their line (Leonard) is missing the complete point. We shouldn't need to waste a 5th overall pick to make 2 8M/year players better. They should be able to do that on their own. We should use a 5th overall pick to find a player better than them. Especially if based on all historical data in front of us Michkov is that guy and he's available. That's why I am so adamant about this because I genuinely feel two years of watching the absolute worst games will go to waste if we exit them without any true stars. We'll be back in Habs Mediocrity. The place we shine.

 

[Runner77]

10 teams are telling you the best player is in that top 5. I think that’s the point. Hughes and a handful of anti Russian fans on here are saying the best player is outside the top 5. I’ll take the word of the 10 nhl teams thanks.

(Yes, michkov has risks. But those Russia related risks are the only reason he’s even available at 5th overall potentially.)

I doubt anyone is “anti-Russian” in here. Those who are not opting for Michkov see too much downside risk.

It has never been about Michkov’s talent. Regardless, from my reading of this thread and others on this forum, it looks to me that a majority of the fan base wants Michkov.

This is a tough proposition no matter which side of the equation one is at. As ex-Anaheim Ducks head scout Alain Chainey put it, Michkov is a scout killer — you can risk regretting it if you don’t select him and you can risk regretting it if you do.

 

[morhilane]

No, Michkov MAY be smaller and MAY be slower than he needs to be to be successful in the NHL.

And just because Michkov outproduced Ovechkin in the KHL, doesn't mean he will in the NHL. His KHL stats are his KHL stats. What happens in the NHL is what will happen in the NHL.

There is quite a gap between the NHL and the KHL. One recent example of that is Chris Wideman. He had 41 pts in 59 games in his 2020-2021 season in the KHL and was named KHL Defenseman of the Year. But he was barely a NHL caliber dmen the year after with the Habs and got outclassed by 5 rookies last year.

 

[Naslundforever]

Bob McKenzie's List Live Show - can anyone provide updates for those of us not able to watch it?

Intrigue and excitement in the Year of Connor Bedard at the NHL Draft | TSN

The 2023 NHL Draft is about so much more than just the phenom who will go first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in Nashville, Bob McKenzie writes. Scouts are very enthused about the depth of this year’s class.

www.tsn.ca

BOB MCKENZIE'S FINAL DRAFT RANKING​

RK	PLAYER	TEAM	POS	HT	WT	GP	G	P
1​	Connor Bedard	Regina (WHL)	C	5'9 ¾	185​	57​	71​	143​
2​	Adam Fantilli	Michigan (NCAA)	C	6'2	195​	36​	30​	65​
3​	Leo Carlsson	Örebro (SHL)	C	6'2 ½	194​	44​	10​	25​
4​	Will Smith	USA NTDP (USHL)	C	5'11 ¾	180​	60​	51​	127​
5​	Matvei Michkov	St. Petersburg (KHL)	RW	5'10	172​	30​	9​	20​
6​	Ryan Leonard	USA NTDP (USHL)	RW	5'11 ¾	190​	57​	51​	94​
7​	Dalibor Dvorsky	AIK (SWE-Als)	C	6'1	200​	38​	6​	14​
8​	David Reinbacher	Kloten (SUI)	D	6'2 ¼	194​	46​	3​	22​
9​	Zach Benson	Winnipeg (WHL)	LW	5'9 ¾	170​	60​	36​	98​
10​	Gabe Perreault	USA NTDP (USHL)	LW	5'10 ¾	163​	63​	53​	132​
11​	Matthew Wood	Connecticut (NCAA)	RW	6'4	197​	35​	11​	34​
12​	Colby Barlow	Owen Sound (OHL)	LW	6'0 ½	195​	59​	46​	79​
13​	Oliver Moore	USA NTDP (USHL)	C	5'11	195​	61​	31​	75​
14​	Axel Sandin Pellikka	Skelleftea (SWE J20)	D	5'11	180​	31​	16​	36​
15​	Brayden Yager	Moose Jaw (WHL)	C	5'11	170​	67​	28​	78​
16​	Nate Danielson	Brandon (WHL)	C	6'1 ½	186​	68​	33​	78​
17​	Samuel Honzek	Vancouver (WHL)	LW	6'3 ¼	195​	43​	23​	56​
18​	Otto Stenberg	Frölunda (SWE J20)	LW	5'11 ¼	180​	29​	11​	26​
19​	Dmitri Simashev	Yaroslavl (MHL)	D	6'4	200​	29​	1​	10​
20​	Tom Willander	Rogle (SWE J20)	D	6'1	180​	39​	4​	25​
21​	Calum Ritchie	Oshawa (OHL)	C/RW	6'2	184​	59​	24​	59​
22​	Daniil But	Yaroslavl (MHL)	LW	6'5	203​	26​	15​	26​
23​	Mikhail Gulyayev	Omsk (MHL)	D	5'11	172​	22​	2​	25​
24​	Eduard Sale	Brno (CZE)	LW	6'1 ¾	175​	43​	7​	14​
25​	Quentin Musty	Sudbury (OHL)	C/LW	6'1 ½	200​	53​	26​	78​
26​	Theo Lindstein	Brynäs (SWE J20)	D	6'0	185​	32​	1​	2​
27​	Andrew Cristall	Kelowna (WHL)	LW/RW	5'9 ½	175​	54​	39​	95​
28​	Oliver Bonk	London (OHL)	D	6'1 ½	180​	67​	10​	40​
29​	Ethan Gauthier	Drummondville (QMJHL)	C/RW	5'11 ½	183​	66​	30​	69​
30​	Gavin Brindley	Michigan (NCAA)	C/RW	5'8	168​	40​	12​	38​
31​	Bradly Nadeau	Penticton (BCHL)	RW/LW	5'10 ¼	160​	54​	45​	113​
32​	Riley Heidt	Prince George (WHL)	C	5'10 ½	180​	68​	25​	97​
33​	Maxim Strbak	Sioux Falls (USHL)	D	6'1 ¼	198​	42​	5​	19​
34​	Charlie Stramel	Wisconsin (NCAA)	C/RW	6'3	222​	33​	5​	12​
35​	Lukas Dragicevic	Tri-City (WHL)	D	6'1	194​	68​	15​	75​
36​	Tanner Moldendyk	Saskatoon (WHL)	D	5'11	181​	67​	9​	37​
37​	David Edstrom	Frölunda (SWE J20)	C	6'3	185​	28​	15​	28​
38​	Kasper Halttunen	HIFK (SM Liiga)	RW	6'3 ¼	215​	18​	18​	24​
39​	Michael Hrabal	Omaha (USHL)	G	6'6 ¾	215​	29​	3.00​	.907​
40​	Anton Wahlberg	Malmo (SWE J20)	C/LW	6'3 ¼	192​	32​	14​	27​
41​	Carson Rehkopf	Kitchener (OHL)	LW	6'2 ½	195​	68​	30​	59​
42​	Koehn Ziemmer	Prince George (WHL)	RW	6'0 ¼	204​	68​	41​	89​
43​	Jakub Dvorak	Liberec (CZE)	D	6'5	210​	24​	0​	2​
44​	Lenni Hameenaho	Pori (SM Liiga)	RW	6'1	185​	51​	9​	21​
45​	Danny Nelson	USA NTDP (USHL)	LW	6'3	212​	62​	21​	47​
46​	Etienne Morin	Moncton (QMJHL)	D	6'0	180​	67​	21​	72​
47​	Kalan Lind	Red Deer (WHL)	LW	6'0 ½	158​	43​	16​	44​
48​	Jesse Kiiskanen	Pelicans (SM Liiga Jr)	RW	6'0 ¼	190​	31​	20​	43​
49​	Gracyn Sawchyn	Seattle (WHL)	C	5'10 ¾	155​	58​	18​	58​
50​	Nick Lardis	Hamilton (OHL)	LW	5'11	168​	69​	37​	65​
51​	Oscar Fisker Molgaard	HV71 (SWE J20)	C	5'11 ¾	166​	21​	6​	23​
52​	Hunter Brzustewicz	Kitchener (OHL)	D	5'11 ¾	190​	68​	6​	57​
53​	Easton Cowan	London (OHL)	RW	5'10 ½	170​	68​	20​	53​
54​	Felix Nilsson	Rogle (SWE J20)	C	6'0	187​	36​	19​	41​
55​	Andrew Gibson	S.S. Marie (OHL)	D	6'2 ¾	202​	45​	7​	21​
56​	Nico Myatovic	Seattle (WHL)	LW	6'2 ½	180​	68​	30​	60​
57​	Mathieu Cataford	Halifax (QMJHL)	C/RW	5'11	190​	68​	31​	75​
58​	Jayden Perron	Chicago (USHL)	RW	5'9	166​	54​	21​	63​
59​	Carson Bjarnason	Brandon (WHL)	G	6'3 ¼	190​	47​	3.08​	.900​
60​	Adam Gajan	Chippewa (NAHL)	G	6'2 ¾	180​	30​	2.51​	.920​
61​	Beau Akey	Barrie (OHL)	D	6'0	175​	66​	11​	47​
62​	Rasmus Kumpulainen	Pelicans (SM Liiga Jr)	C	6'2 ¾	190​	41​	11​	34​
63​	Trey Augustine	USA NTDP (USHL)	G	6'1 ¼	190​	33​	2.13​	.926​
64​	Coulson Pitre	Flint (OHL)	RW	6'0 ¾	170​	59​	25​	60​
65​	Will Whitelaw	Youngstown (USHL)	C/RW	5'8 ¾	175​	62​	36​	61​
66​	Aydar Suniev	Penticton (BCHL)	LW	6'1 ½	192​	50​	45​	90​
67​	Caden Price	Kelowna (WHL)	D	6'0 ½	190​	65​	5​	40​
68​	Quinton Burns	Kingston (OHL)	D	6'1 ¼	185​	54​	2​	29​
69​	Roman Kantserov	Magnitogorsk (MHL)	RW	5'9	176​	45​	27​	54​
70​	Noah Dower-Nilsson	Frölunda (SWE J20)	LW	5'11 ¾	185​	37​	26​	54​
71​	Juraj Pekarcik	Nitra (SVK)	LW	6'0 ¾	183​	16​	9​	20​
72​	Martin Misiak	Youngstown (USHL)	RW	6'2	200​	27​	6​	17​
73​	Carey Terrance	Erie (OHL)	C	6'0 ¼	178​	67​	30​	47​
74​	Aram Minnetian	USA NTDP (USHL)	D	5'11	195​	62​	7​	31​
75​	Alex Ciernik	Sodertalje (SWE J20)	RW	5'10 ¼	174​	18​	9​	21​
76​	Cameron Allen	Guelph (OHL)	D	6'0	192​	62​	5​	25​
77​	Noel Nordh	Brynäs (SWE J20)	LW	6'1 ½	200​	38​	13​	27​
78​	Luca Cagnoni	Portland (WHL)	D	5'9	182​	67​	17​	64​
79​	Andrew Strathmann	Tri-City (USHL)	D	5'11	185​	48​	3​	36​
80​	Denver Barkey	London (OHL)	C/LW	5'8 ¾	155​	61​	22​	59​
81​	Luca Pinelli	Ottawa (OHL)	C	5'8 ¾	167​	67​	29​	63​
82​	Tristan Bertucci	Flint (OHL)	D	6'1 ¾	175​	63​	11​	50​
83​	Damian Clara	Farjestad (SWE J20)	G	6'6	214​	35​	2.79​	.903​
84​	Ethan Miedema	Windsor (OHL)	LW	6'4	208​	68​	20​	52​
85​	Felix Unger Sorum	Leksand (SWE J20)	RW	5'11 ¼	170​	42​	10​	46​
86​	Gavin McCarthy	Muskegon (USHL)	D	6'2	186​	42​	8​	27​
87​	Arttu Karki	Tappara (SM-sarja)	D	6'2	176​	36​	13​	39​
88​	Yegor Sidorov	Saskatoon (WHL)	RW	6'0	182​	53​	40​	76​
89​	Jaden Lipinski	Vancouver (WHL)	C	6'3 ¾	210​	66​	19​	51​
90​	Brady Cleveland	USA NTDP (USHL)	D	6'5	210​	55​	0​	6​
91​	Larry Keenan	Culver (USHS)	D	6'3	186​	49​	11​	37​
92​	Jacob Fowler	Youngstown (USHL)	G	6'1	222​	40​	2.28​	.921​
93​	Drew Fortescue	USA NTDP (USHL)	D	6'1	176​	62​	1​	26​
94​	Zach Nehring	Shattuck St. Mary's (USHS)	RW	6'3	182​	54​	39​	85​
95​	Brad Gardiner	Ottawa (OHL)	C	6'1	184​	68​	19​	39​
96​	Scott Ratzlaff	Seattle (WHL)	G	6'0 ½	175​	34​	2.15​	.918​
HM	Aiden Fink	Brooks (AJHL)	RW	5'9	153​	54​	41​	97​
HM	Emil Jarventie	Ilves (SM Liiga)	LW	5'10	167​	21​	8​	19​
HM	Connor Levis	Kamloops (WHL)	C	6'1	187​	68​	27​	67​
HM	Dylan MacKinnon	Halifax (QMJHL)	D	6'2	190​	61​	6​	23​
HM	Jesse Nurmi	KooKoo (SM Liiga Jr.)	LW	5'11	168​	41​	21​	50​
HM	Tyler Peddle	Drummondville (QMJHL)	LW	6'1	204​	64​	24​	41​
HM	Alex Pharand	Sudbury (OHL)	C	6'2	205​	67​	18​	39​
HM	Emil Pieniniemi	Karpat (SM Liiga Jr.)	D	6'2	175​	31​	1​	13​
HM	Yegor Rimashevskiy	Moskva (MHL)	RW	6'2	197​	29​	13​	26​
HM	Alexander Rykov	Chelmet (VHL)	RW	6'0	176​	20​	4​	11​
HM	Zachary Schulz	USA NTDP (USHL)	D	6'1	197​	52​	1​	10​
HM	Jason Shaugabay	Warroad High (USHS)	RW	5'9	165​	31​	33​	96​
HM	Jakub Stancl	Vaxjo (SWE J20)	C	6'3	202​	35​	11​	17​
HM	Brandon Svoboda	Youngstown (USHL)	C	6'3	209​	59​	16​	26​

I’d trade down for Benson or Wood edit - I just realized causality makes what I just wrote stupid.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

He's small and not that fast. I still have to see how his game translates to the North American ice surface. But I'm no expert.

And by the way, I'm a huge Michkov fan. I would go berserk if we drafted him - at 5 or moved up to 3 or 4 to grab him, all of which I'm in favor of.

Even if he busts or stays in Russia, I'll be happy we went for it.

Many arenas in the KHL and MHL have NA sized rinks, including Michkov's home ice... KHL had decided in 18-19 to transition towards NA rink.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

There is quite a gap between the NHL and the KHL. One recent example of that is Chris Wideman. He had 41 pts in 59 games in his 2020-2021 season in the KHL and was named KHL Defenseman of the Year. But he was barely a NHL caliber dmen the year after with the Habs and got outclassed by 5 rookies last year.

It's still the smallest gap. All other leagues have an even wider chasm.

 

[morhilane]

It's still the smallest gap. All other leagues have an even wider chasm.

I think the NHL-AHL have the smallest gap now, especially in term of speed of execution and robustness.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I think the NHL-AHL have the smallest gap now, especially in term of speed of execution and robustness.

I disagree, but it's irrelevant to the present conversation since no draftee hails from the AHL. Like, ever.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

I disagree, but it's irrelevant to the present conversation since no draftee hails from the AHL. Like, ever.

Can't believe the KHL is better than SEL.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Can't believe the KHL is better than SEL.

Bigger system, more exNHL talent than any other non NHL affiliated league. SEL is probably the closest, than it's Liiga

 

[dcyhabs]

That's a total cop-out take on the draft.

I am saying you draft Michkov at 5OA because he's the BPA based on talent, skills and his unprecedented production in the KHL as a draftee. Its data points that you can standby.

Is there risk? yes, but the worst case in my view is you have to wait 3 years. But the Habs have financial backing and reach to negotiate an agreement with SKA on an earlier release.

Any pick past 5 will take at least 2 years before having any kind of impact in the NHL.

So at 5OA, you take BPA. If i am Molson, i call Hughes up and tell him you must draft him if he's available at 5.

Worst case is you get another Corey Locke who destroys lower leagues but can’t hack the NHL.

 

[NORiculous]

Bob has Matvei at 5.

Praise the lord.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Worst case is you get another Corey Locke who destroys lower leagues but can’t hack the NHL.

Or another Fran Huck.

 

[Frank Drebin]

May as well add Bedard and Fantili to the list then. What you are saying is anyone can bust.

Sure. Laf and yak were as highly regarded, if not higher than fantilli. Bedard falls into the Lindros/Daigle/Crosby/Ovechkin/McDavid tier

 

[Andrei79]

I suppose you can make the same argument about Bedard. May be too small to produce superstar numbers at the NHL level. Doesn't have blazing speed to make up for his stature. Has only produced in junior leagues. Bedard's junior stats are his junior stats. What happens in he NHL is what will happen in the NHL.

The message i am getting is nothing is guaranteed. Whether you are Bedard, Michkov or Strbak.... NHL success is not guaranteed. They are all question marks!

So where does that leave us?

I think that's a pretty reasonable stance regarding Bedard and his potential for being generational vs McDavid, who has both the size and generational speed. Would be surprised if he isn't a Kane like superstar though. Michkov is playing in a weak iteration of the KHL where 40% of his production came against the second worst team in the league, and a portion of those against a Chinese goalie. People comparing him to a physical anomaly like Ovechkin are either setting themselves up for disappointment or putting way too high expectations for him. If he's Kaprizov or Panarin level that's already fantastic.