C Kirby Dach (2019, 3rd, CHI)

[landy92mack29]

I'd say Hughes is still a better skater, but Dach isn't just good for a big man, he's legitimately a really good skater in the NHL. He definitely put to rest any questions of him being the right pick at #3 last year. I just hope I can say the same about Byram eventually.

Was funny reading how he was a poor skater in his draft year by certain posters on the Avs forum. Kid could always fly the only issue was his tendency to over pass at times which he still has a bit of but hopefully gets better with experience.

Byram is a stud and going to be on the top pairing for us for a long time. He's been very underrated by most Avs fans

 

[93LEAFS]

Was funny reading how he was a poor skater in his draft year by certain posters on the Avs forum. Kid could always fly the only issue was his tendency to over pass at times which he still has a bit of but hopefully gets better with experience.

Byram is a stud and going to be on the top pairing for us for a long time. He's been very underrated by most Avs fans

His issues were more related to the fact his ability or willingness to assert himself came and went for the Blades. Which could lead to small sample issues when looking at his games. He always had the talent to be the best player in the draft. The question was more want to/issues asserting himself, and if you thought it was want to, you might drop him a little too much.

 

[Dominance]

He’s 19 and just went head to head against the Art Ross winner and presumptive MVP and utterly wiped the floor with him.

Just looking at his body, it’s ridiculous to try putting a ceiling on him at this point. I really don’t see how you can rationally have Hughes ahead of him at this specific point in time. What has he really shown so far, that he was better at beating up teenagers who won’t touch the NHL?

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

He’s 19 and just went head to head against the Art Ross winner and presumptive MVP and utterly wiped the floor with him.

Just looking at his body, it’s ridiculous to try putting a ceiling on him at this point. I really don’t see how you can rationally have Hughes ahead of him at this specific point in time. What has he really shown so far, that he was better at beating up teenagers who won’t touch the NHL?

This. People question his talent because he didn't do what guys like Malkin/Kopitar/Toews/Kane did at 19 years old. That's ok, not many do. I think he's due for a huge leap forward next year.

Dach throwing around Drai like he was a small child was hilarious. I can't get over it, it was that funny.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Perhaps this is early, but he was absolutely the correct pick at third overall.

I guess I’ll be the bad guy here. Didn’t want to, but it’s not my call what others say.

I do think it’s too early. In fact, all the teams in the top five should at least be questioning their pick. I think to begin with you aren’t going to know what you have with a player after a full season, but I think we saw that all of the top five had struggles in certain respects this season that you wouldn’t expect out of a player picked that high. I said before the draft that the top was very watered down and these weren’t true top caliber players, and I think it’s looking more like that was correct. I think all of them had disappointing seasons.

Maybe it ends up the right pick. Maybe Dach ends up being the best player from the draft, but it’s too early to know and after the season all of these kids had, not only Dach, their teams should feel more uncertain about their pick than they would usually feel about a top five pick. I think we tend to make too much of how players compare to their peers picked in similar slots from the same draft after the draft. It doesn’t help your team win games to make these comparisons. At this point, it’s really only about if the player fulfills their draft slot and helps the team.

And before someone says, “Watch the game”, I did, and thought Dach played well. I also watched Kakko’s game and thought he played well. Pumping the tires of these guys performance as a response to your question at this point is missing the larger point. I think unfortunately a lot of posts above mine have done that.

 

[BK]

Kakko looked refreshed. I didn’t see all of the Ranger games this year but he looked tired during the season when I saw him. I am still really high on KK.

I think Dach and KK will both end up being great picks.

 

[GOALOFSSON]

Cozens wasn’t even the correct choice at 7 let alone 3 lmao

Not sure about that.

He could be a top 5 player from the draft.

are those people sabres fans? because they are thinking they got a steal. they thought the same about risto, nylander and mitts though lol...


im surprised the hawks didnt take byram but I think both Dach and Turcotte will be good top 6C in this league so will be interesting to see how it shakes out

No one thought Nylander was a steal and the hype train for Mitts was far from limited to Sabres fans.

I don't remember Risto's hype but I don't think any of them looked better than Cozens at the same age.

I'd take him over Turcotte at this point.

 

[Dominance]

Not sure about that.

He could be a top 5 player from the draft.




No one thought Nylander was a steal and the hype train for Mitts was far from limited to Sabres fans.

I don't remember Risto's hype but I don't think any of them looked better than Cozens at the same age.

I'd take him over Turcotte at this point.

Agreed on each point!

 

[Nabrules]

He looks so good. Another reason why I have Byfield 1 this year and trusting my scouting ability is if I have any guts I would have had Dach 2nd last year but put Kakko just because it was concensus. Not saying Dach will for sure be a better player than Kakko but it’s also closer now than it was on draft day.

 

[Fatass]

He looks so good. Another reason why I have Byfield 1 this year and trusting my scouting ability is if I have any guts I would have had Dach 2nd last year but put Kakko just because it was concensus. Not saying Dach will for sure be a better player than Kakko but it’s also closer now than it was on draft day.

Dach might be the best of the top three from his draft. Kid plays the full 200 feet, hard on and off pucks with elite skill, and he’s big.

 

[Hasbro]

True that. His future is looking insanely bright. If he adds more nastiness to his game I could definitely see the Lindros comparisons.

Size Queen.

 

[QJL]

I got a lot of crap last year for saying Dach was in the same tier as JHughes And Kakko but not as much crap as I got for saying QHughes and Makar were top 3 prospects in their draft years.

Right now its looking like it’ll be a battle between Dach and Kakko for best player of the draft.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I got a lot of crap last year or saying Dach was in the same tier as JHughes And Kakko but not as much crap as I got for saying QHughes and Makar were top 3 prospects in their draft years.

Right now its looking like it’ll be a battle between Dach and Kakko for best player of the draft.

... and Hughes. All 3 were pretty similar this season.

 

[bsu]

I got a lot of crap last year or saying Dach was in the same tier as JHughes And Kakko but not as much crap as I got for saying QHughes and Makar were top 3 prospects in their draft years.

Right now its looking like it’ll be a battle between Dach and Kakko for best player of the draft.

Zegras is coming

 

[Dominance]

Zegras is coming

Please. One-way player got 36 points in 33 games. Outscored on his own team by two guys, barely a top-30 scorer in college hockey. The list of top round picks who became nobodies who had equal or better D+1 college seasons is huge. Oh, right, but he made a spin-o-rama pass at the WJC.

Zegras has not, does not, and I will say will not belong in this conversation.

 

[1OApick]

I got a lot of crap last year or saying Dach was in the same tier as JHughes And Kakko but not as much crap as I got for saying QHughes and Makar were top 3 prospects in their draft years.

Right now its looking like it’ll be a battle between Dach and Kakko for best player of the draft.

qHughes and Makar are not both top3 talents. Heiskanen and Pettersson are top2. Then Makar

 

[wetcoast]

I got a lot of crap last year or saying Dach was in the same tier as JHughes And Kakko but not as much crap as I got for saying QHughes and Makar were top 3 prospects in their draft years.

Right now its looking like it’ll be a battle between Dach and Kakko for best player of the draft.

Kakko has to learn to use his team mates better, not really sure what the problem is but perhaps he is too focused on trying to score at times.

 

[Llamamoto]

He’s 19 and just went head to head against the Art Ross winner and presumptive MVP and utterly wiped the floor with him.

Just looking at his body, it’s ridiculous to try putting a ceiling on him at this point. I really don’t see how you can rationally have Hughes ahead of him at this specific point in time. What has he really shown so far, that he was better at beating up teenagers who won’t touch the NHL?

I'm Dach's biggest fan, and Draisaitl was the stylistic comparison I used for him. But how did he wipe the floor with Draisaitl?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Please. One-way player got 36 points in 33 games. Outscored on his own team by two guys, barely a top-30 scorer in college hockey. The list of top round picks who became nobodies who had equal or better D+1 college seasons is huge. Oh, right, but he made a spin-o-rama pass at the WJC.

Zegras has not, does not, and I will say will not belong in this conversation.

He’s not a one way player.

I don’t understand what Dach’s done to carve out territory as undisputedly better now and future seasons. If it’s an opinion on ceilings, that’s entirely subjective. Using their seasons as a barometer, I’m again not seeing what Dach did that was so overly impressive. Even in this one game where there’s 43 posts discussing, he had one point in a game where the team scored 6 goals. You’d hope he was able to get on the scoresheet in a game like this. Also, while he played well, many of his teammates visibly outplayed him. And all of that isn’t an issue. He’s a rookie, but I don’t know why what he’s doing is considered so overly impressive to the point where Zegras can’t even be discussed in the same conversation. He’s a bottom six contributor. He’s far from driving the bus at this point.

 

[JiricekSaveUs]

Please. One-way player got 36 points in 33 games. Outscored on his own team by two guys, barely a top-30 scorer in college hockey. The list of top round picks who became nobodies who had equal or better D+1 college seasons is huge. Oh, right, but he made a spin-o-rama pass at the WJC.

Zegras has not, does not, and I will say will not belong in this conversation.

Zegras is really good. We’ve all on HF proved how utterly bad we are at scouting, so I don’t know how you can effectively say one way or another that a player with superstar level vision won’t break into that tier.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

He’s not a one way player.

I don’t understand what Dach’s done to carve out territory as undisputedly better now and future seasons. If it’s an opinion on ceilings, that’s entirely subjective. Using their seasons as a barometer, I’m again not seeing what Dach did that was so overly impressive. Even in this one game where there’s 43 posts discussing, he had one point in a game where the team scored 6 goals. You’d hope he was able to get on the scoresheet in a game like this. Also, while he played well, many of his teammates visibly outplayed him. And all of that isn’t an issue. He’s a rookie, but I don’t know why what he’s doing is considered so overly impressive to the point where Zegras can’t even be discussed in the same conversation. He’s a bottom six contributor. He’s far from driving the bus at this point.

He was matched up against the presumptive Hart/Ross winner and not only didn't look out of place, but was physically superior. I can't get over how he was bullying Draisaitl physically for most of the game. Draisaitl is a big dude and Dach was dismissing him like an annoying gnat. Also, when watching Dach skate vs Drai it wasn't close, Draisaitl looked slow compared to Dach.

There's more to hockey than just points, and even though he only had one point, he was incredibly impressive. The points will come, it's just a matter of time. I don't think even Dach realizes how good he is at this point.

 

[Dominance]

Zegras is really good. We’ve all on HF proved how utterly bad we are at scouting, so I don’t know how you can effectively say one way or another that a player with superstar level vision won’t break into that tier.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He was matched up against the presumptive Hart/Ross winner and not only didn't look out of place, but was physically superior. I can't get over how he was bullying Draisaitl physically for most of the game. Draisaitl is a big dude and Dach was dismissing him like an annoying gnat. Also, when watching Dach skate vs Drai it wasn't close, Draisaitl looked slow compared to Dach.

There's more to hockey than just points, and even though he only had one point, he was incredibly impressive. The points will come, it's just a matter of time. I don't think even Dach realizes how good he is at this point.

Do you think Zegras is incapable of outplaying Draisaitl for one game? I said he played well. I just think some of you overreact to the big picture. And all fans do it. If Robertson scored on his chance yesterday, we would’ve been hearing that he’s top 10 in a re-draft. Now the discussion shifts to he might not play game two. I think we need to look at the big picture for all of these kids. Dach has very high potential, which all of us knew before the draft. It’s still to be seen if he’ll reach it. He’s done nothing yet to be undisputedly better than Zegras.

 

[Kaners Bald Spot]

Do you think Zegras is incapable of outplaying Draisaitl for one game? I said he played well. I just think some of you overreact to the big picture. And all fans do it. If Robertson scored on his chance yesterday, we would’ve been hearing that he’s top 10 in a re-draft. Now the discussion shifts to he might not play game two. I think we need to look at the big picture for all of these kids. Dach has very high potential, which all of us knew before the draft. It’s still to be seen if he’ll reach it. He’s done nothing yet to be undisputedly better than Zegras.

Dach is playing in the NHL and has shown flashes of greatness, which is more than you can say about Zegras who is in the NCAA playing against kids.

That being said, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Dach and Zegras are the two best players from the 2019 draft. The way I look at it at this point is that Hughes/Kakko have the higher floor but Dach's ceiling is unlimited and Zegras might have a higher ceiling as well.
Zegras was probably my second favorite forward in that draft after Dach.

I mean, they're all pure potential at this point but with Dach you can dream of a top 5 player in hockey where you can't with the other guys. Whether he(or anyone else) actually get there remains to be seen.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

was going through some kirby highlights from the regular season and forgot he pulled off the move @3:18...what an absolute beauty this kid is gonna be...