Craig Button releases his final Craig's List for the 2024 draft

[QJL]

Jesse Pulkkinen at 75 is a huge miss for me. I have him top 10 and I think he goes there.

 

[Kraken Jokes]

Jesse Pulkkinen at 75 is a huge miss for me. I have him top 10 and I think he goes there.

Has an over-ager ever gone in the top 10 in the history of the draft?

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Has an over-ager ever gone in the top 10 in the history of the draft?

Many times but it is less common as the draft has become more structured.

Just clicking on a random draft (1978), Montreal took a 20-year-old named Dan Geoffrion at eighth overall. There are many others through the years.

 

[Brodeur]

Why wait so long?

https://x.com/i/web/status/1804239746270409085

And now pushed back by a day just so it wouldn't be overshadowed by a potential Game 7. It's almost like they want the most attention possible.

 

[majormajor]

Jesse Pulkkinen at 75 is a huge miss for me. I have him top 10 and I think he goes there.

I've also got Jesse Pulkkinen top ten but I don't have any expectation that others will see him remotely close to that.

 

[Brodeur]

Has an over-ager ever gone in the top 10 in the history of the draft?

Different circumstances, but off the top of my head:

1992: Darius Kasparaitis went #5 and had been eligible in 1991. But under the rules in 1991, Kasparaitis had to be taken in the first three rounds and teams were apprehensive about using higher picks on Soviet prospects since they had no idea how quickly they'd come over. Then the USSR collapsed in late 1991, so suddenly taking them in 1992 was more feasible.

1996: Ruslan Salei (RIP) was 21 and went #9 in 1996. Also a perfect storm with it being known to be a terrible draft class. By today's rules, Salei would have been an undrafted free agent.

Trevor Lewis is the highest guy post-lockout (#17 in 2006) who went undrafted his first year. There had been rumblings that Phil Myers would have been a first rounder in 2016 (after being undrafted in 2015) but he signed a contract with the Flyers during the summer time window where teams could ink an undrafted North American prospect with remaining draft eligibility.

 

[Kraken Jokes]

Different circumstances, but off the top of my head:

1992: Darius Kasparaitis went #5 and had been eligible in 1991. But under the rules in 1991, Kasparaitis had to be taken in the first three rounds and teams were apprehensive about using higher picks on Soviet prospects since they had no idea how quickly they'd come over. Then the USSR collapsed in late 1991, so suddenly taking them in 1992 was more feasible.

1996: Ruslan Salei (RIP) was 21 and went #9 in 1996. Also a perfect storm with it being known to be a terrible draft class. By today's rules, Salei would have been an undrafted free agent.

Trevor Lewis is the highest guy post-lockout (#17 in 2006) who went undrafted his first year. There had been rumblings that Phil Myers would have been a first rounder in 2016 (after being undrafted in 2015) but he signed a contract with the Flyers during the summer time window where teams could ink an undrafted North American prospect with remaining draft eligibility.

The Kraken took Ryker Evans at #35 in 2021 which I thought was surprisingly high for an over-ager, and that's working out alright.

 

[Brodeur]

The Kraken took Ryker Evans at #35 in 2021 which I thought was surprisingly high for an over-ager, and that's working out alright.

Tanner Pearson went #30 in 2012 after being passed on twice. Mikko Koskinen went #31 after being passed on three times.

Wayne Simmonds wasn't drafted in 2006 and wasn't among Central Scouting's top 210 North Americans for 2007. Some Kings fans flipped out when LA took him in the second round.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Different circumstances, but off the top of my head:

1992: Darius Kasparaitis went #5 and had been eligible in 1991. But under the rules in 1991, Kasparaitis had to be taken in the first three rounds and teams were apprehensive about using higher picks on Soviet prospects since they had no idea how quickly they'd come over. Then the USSR collapsed in late 1991, so suddenly taking them in 1992 was more feasible.

1996: Ruslan Salei (RIP) was 21 and went #9 in 1996. Also a perfect storm with it being known to be a terrible draft class. By today's rules, Salei would have been an undrafted free agent.

Trevor Lewis is the highest guy post-lockout (#17 in 2006) who went undrafted his first year. There had been rumblings that Phil Myers would have been a first rounder in 2016 (after being undrafted in 2015) but he signed a contract with the Flyers during the summer time window where teams could ink an undrafted North American prospect with remaining draft eligibility.

Chinakhov went 21 to CBJ in 2020. All the talking heads on tv were shocked, many never had heard of him.

 

[Chief]

Echoing some thoughts here but there is very rarely the consensus people want to find. I got to interview Doug MacLean when he was Prez of e BJs and he told me that he only saw the Top 9 players picked in the order his organization had them ranked once in his then-6 seasons as GM. Another head of amateur scouting told me teams' draft boards typically have 100 names on them even though there were over 200 players picked in the draft at the time. So non-consensus is the norm.

All that said, I have no doubt people throw curveballs into their rankings to generate discussion. Why wouldn't they? It works every time.

 

[SI90]

Tanner Pearson went #30 in 2012 after being passed on twice. Mikko Koskinen went #31 after being passed on three times.

Wayne Simmonds wasn't drafted in 2006 and wasn't among Central Scouting's top 210 North Americans for 2007. Some Kings fans flipped out when LA took him in the second round.

Still bothers me the islanders didn’t take O’Reilly at #31

 

[Brodeur]

Still bothers me the islanders didn’t take O’Reilly at #31

I'm sure a lot of teams would like a mulligan on that. Combining a couple stories I've read from Kings bloggers:

Dean Lombardi was hired by LA just prior to the 2006 Draft. He had been a pro scout for the Flyers that season, so Lombardi mostly let the incumbent scouts run the show.

But apparently in the 2nd round, he vetoed their pick of Milan Lucic at #48. Lombardi looked at LA's prospect pool and saw a heavy imbalance of young forwards while being barren on defense. LA pivoted and took defenseman Joe Ryan instead; Ryan didn't pan out.

By 2009, Lucic had a nice 42 point season. I can only imagine Lombardi had some egg on his face for that one. In the 2009 Draft, there was a Lucic-esque prospect in Kyle Clifford who the Kings earmarked to take at #35.

As the first round wrapped up, the Kings scouts were shocked that Ryan O'Reilly was still available. They implored Lombardi to trade up to get him. Apparently they had something on the table but it would have required giving up pick #35 (Clifford) which Lombardi was unwilling to do.

And then fast forward to the 2015 Draft and Lombardi ends up trading for Lucic. Apparently the deal came together quickly after some Kings/Bruins hockey ops folks happened to be at the same bar the night before the draft. I think it was former assistant GM Mike Futa who said he had to call Lombardi to come down from his hotel room when talks suddenly got serious.

Fun with hindsight to see that the Lucic decision in 2006 almost had a ripple effect on LA for the next decade. But I'm sure a couple rings helps ease any regrets.

 

[SI90]

I'm sure a lot of teams would like a mulligan on that. Combining a couple stories I've read from Kings bloggers:

Dean Lombardi was hired by LA just prior to the 2006 Draft. He had been a pro scout for the Flyers that season, so Lombardi mostly let the incumbent scouts run the show.

But apparently in the 2nd round, he vetoed their pick of Milan Lucic at #48. Lombardi looked at LA's prospect pool and saw a heavy imbalance of young forwards while being barren on defense. LA pivoted and took defenseman Joe Ryan instead; Ryan didn't pan out.

By 2009, Lucic had a nice 42 point season. I can only imagine Lombardi had some egg on his face for that one. In the 2009 Draft, there was a Lucic-esque prospect in Kyle Clifford who the Kings earmarked to take at #35.

As the first round wrapped up, the Kings scouts were shocked that Ryan O'Reilly was still available. They implored Lombardi to trade up to get him. Apparently they had something on the table but it would have required giving up pick #35 (Clifford) which Lombardi was unwilling to do.

And then fast forward to the 2015 Draft and Lombardi ends up trading for Lucic. Apparently the deal came together quickly after some Kings/Bruins hockey ops folks happened to be at the same bar the night before the draft. I think it was former assistant GM Mike Futa who said he had to call Lombardi to come down from his hotel room when talks suddenly got serious.

Fun with hindsight to see that the Lucic decision in 2006 almost had a ripple effect on LA for the next decade. But I'm sure a couple rings helps ease any regrets.

I often drive myself crazy with thinking of thr what ifs. It’s amazing how 1 decision one way or the other can shape and change an organization.

Kings went on to 2 cups but still would have been nice to have Orielly and prime Lucic.

 

[viceroy]

For sure you pick the long shot every time you're bound to hit a couple. I'm just saying I doubt he's really building a concrete opinion on more than a few players. Like he's TSN's "head scout" but he probably spends, what, 6-8 hours a week watching or investigating prospects?

Dunno man. I spend more than that on Hockey in general and it's just a hobby for me. If someone was paying a legit decent salary to follow hockey I'd spend 60-80hrs/wk and call myself a lucky man.

Caufield had some of the same knocks. He's in the right situation and is rounding into a complete player. If Eiserman has any work ethic at all, I wouldn't have a problem taking him at 5.

I hear it's a lot about attitude whereas Caufield has a great one and his only knock was size. Too many people saying Eiserman's desire for self-improvement is lacking. He'll probably turn into a uni-dimensional 30goal guy, a Mike Hoffman if you will.

 

[BLNY]

I hear it's a lot about attitude whereas Caufield has a great one and his only knock was size. Too many people saying Eiserman's desire for self-improvement is lacking. He'll probably turn into a uni-dimensional 30goal guy, a Mike Hoffman if you will.

That was certainly an opinion making the rounds over the last year plus to be sure. He certainly wouldn't be the first teenage goal scorer to have some of those traits. I just think the drop from 2 before the season to 15 was always silly.