Prospect Info: Current #2 overall poll and discussion

[Sgt Brylin]

The idea is if Wright falls to #2, we trade the pick over picking him is mind-boggling.

 

[Eggtimer]

The idea is if Wright falls to #2, we trade the pick over picking him is mind-boggling.

It’s not that crazy. We plucked into the spot and are a team not that shitty where we should be picking at #2. We have 2 elite C ‘s as is so moving a spot or two or so down is nkt THAT insane. I think it’s stupid and we should just take Wrifht but I can see Fitz want Gauthier and try to add assets on top of being able to draft him by trading down . It would have to be well worth it to trade down though , not some shitty third round pick or something

 

[Lou Bloom]

The idea is if Wright falls to #2, we trade the pick over picking him is mind-boggling.

That depends on how much you value Wright. I have Cooley, Slafkovsky and Jiricek over him and I think other players like Nemec, Savoie and Lambert are on the same level as prospects also. If the Devils have Wright on the same tier as a bunch of other players than they'll probably get better value in a trade from some team that's higher on Wright.

 

[Merrills Marauders]

FanDuel NJ has Wright listed as a massive -950 favorite (90.5% implied probability) to be taken first. I think everyone should be prepared for Slaf (or a wildcard) if we make the pick at 2. And if you’re a gambler, Slaf at 1OA for +500 would be a nice payout.

 

[severian]

Maybe it's time to stop fearing things that won't come to pass.

Kaako is Kaako.

Poolparty is Poolparty.

They are players who are who they are(although, like you said, Kaako just started his NHL career so he may get better).


Slaf is not going to be either because this is not a cut-and-paste thing. Every player is UNIQUE with how they shape out.

For my part(and from what we've seen and from what @StevenToddIves has pointed out), I see more promise in Slaf than either of the above.

I said it’s a fear. I didn’t say that Slaf is going to have the same trajectory. I’m just saying similar precedents have shown the results that they have shown. It’s a valid concern.

 

[Eggtimer]

I just want to fast forward to the draft and UFA .
I think we go crazy this off-season and make some surprising moves .
This time …. It will result in us making the playoffs lol .
I just have a feeling we add a stud goalie and make a surprising move for a stud forward PLUS add a couple players like Marchment and Neiderrieder.
I’m willing the trade of Hellebuyck to us to happen . I know it’s far fetched but I just have a feeling we add a stud goalie that we all will be pumped about . Then we can argue for the next decade if we overpaid for said goalie and if it was the right move

I’m seeing moves as big as possibly signing Johnny G , offer sheeting Ottenger or Kakko , trading for Puljujarvi,
Borderline PS5 NHL hockey GM mode shit going down .

 

[JimEIV]

Craig Button compares Slafkovsky to Pierre-Luc Dubois.

I am not crazy about Craig's lists...but I really like to listen to him do player evaluations.

 

[Guadana]

Rantanen is playing in a higher scoring era as the 3rd best player on his super stacked team. He has one top 10 PPG finish which where he was 7th and one top 10 pt finish where he was 6th. Tavares had a year where he was 10th in PPG and 8th in pts, 4th in PPG, 2nd in pts where he finished a pt below the Art Ross winner and was 4th in PPG. Tavares was carrying around guys who would've been middling guys without him and giving them into multiple 30 goal years and near PPG seasons. It's not even a question which player's better

Yeah its Rantanen and its not even debatable. Tavares doesn't know how to play second round . And if you will ask Nico and Jack, with whom they wanna play more, they easily will pick Rantanen. Both. Its the most easy thing to answer. Its not even the question of points only. Its a question of 200 foot impact and points.

But who cares, what fan, who likes points per game per league 5 years ago and watch a lot of nhl, or fan, who likes 200 foot game and like to watch a lot of prospects, thinking. Fitz thinking, whats we should care about.

 

[longislanddevil]

There aren’t many trades I would make but if Columbus offers 6OA/12OA and I’m Fitz, I make that deal if Slaf is off the board.

 

[Saint Beaurivage]

Just watch Slafkovsky's videos alone, can't you see this guy has hands, moves, talent, smarts and size? This guy is a beast. How can hockey fans not see this?

 

[Forge]

Just watch Slafkovsky's videos alone, can't you see this guy has hands, moves, talent, smarts and size? This guy is a beast. How can hockey fans not see this?

Incredibly popular "bust" choice in the main board thread

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Incredibly popular "bust" choice in the main board thread

One of them, who shall remain nameless, predicted Jack Hughes would be 60 point player and that the best player in 2019 draft would be Alex Turcotte.

 

[Eggtimer]

Slafkovsky I think will be a very good player but I just can’t see him being “elite “ as in potential all-star every season . What I think he will do though is make whoever is on his line even better buy him doing the dirty work and getting to the net , creating time and space , prolonging time in the O zone .

 

[ninetyeight]

People are making way bigger deal of f this whole C vs Wingers issue than it should be. This isn't the 80s any more, players aren't moving on rails there. The game is much more dynamic and everyone is doing pretty much everything and playing in all kinds of different spots when needed.

Turning wingers into centers is hard. Turning centers into wingers is easy. I know all of you hated Jack on the wing, but it was just few games and he was coming from an injury anyway. Even he would have eventually figured it out, it would be a waste of his skillset but he'd still make it work. Wright, Nico and Mercer all play the kinda game where I could easily see them thrive in the wing.

Elite players make their team mates better, so even slotting Wright or whoever as 3C would give us incredible depth, not to mention injury insurance. I think drafting for need early on is always a mistake. You take the best guy and figure things out later. Try different guys here and there until it clicks.

If two guys have similar potential then go for the need. Like if Montreal takes Cooley, then Slaf could make more sense than Wright (I'd probably still draft Wright).

 

[NJDevs26]

If Wright goes anywhere past one it's gonna be like the Draft Day movie with Kevin Costner and GM's wondering what the hell is wrong with the player that he dropped out of an obvious spot

 

[Clam Jensen]

If Wright goes anywhere past one it's gonna be like the Draft Day movie with Kevin Costner and GM's wondering what the hell is wrong with the player that he dropped out of an obvious spot

Maybe he’ll have his Laremy Tunsil moment lol.

 

[Sgt Brylin]

I feel like all the downtalking Wright going on is kind of like when everyone talked about Hughes' wide turns and Rangers would be lucky if Kakko fell to them, or back when Buffalo fans talked loudly about Edmonton taking Eichel because of McDavid's lack of defensive acumen. Like, cmon.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Yeah I'd say there's close to 0% chance that Wright isn't the pick at #1. And to be honest I feel pretty similarly about Slafkovsky at #2. The fit is just too good for both top teams.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I said it’s a fear. I didn’t say that Slaf is going to have the same trajectory. I’m just saying similar precedents have shown the results that they have shown. It’s a valid concern.

If it's a valid concern that Slafkovsky will be disappointing because Kakko was disappointing, then we can also say that it's a valid concern that Cooley and Wright and Gauthier will be disappointing because Kakko was disappointing.

After all, Wright and Cooley and Gauthier have the same amount in common with Kakko as players as Slafkovsky does. Which is next to nothing, but still.

 

[ninetyeight]

They might not play a like, but being an european playing in Liiga (same team even) is definitely something in common. The adjustment coming from european hockey and culture in general is definitely a real thing. I've seen it happen hundreds of times during my lifetime. For every Barkov Rantanen etc there's 10 guys who looked great in Liiga but never figured out North America for whatever reason.

 

[Guadana]

If it's a valid concern that Slafkovsky will be disappointing because Kakko was disappointing, then we can also say that it's a valid concern that Cooley and Wright and Gauthier will be disappointing because Kakko was disappointing.

After all, Wright and Cooley and Gauthier have the same amount in common with Kakko as players as Slafkovsky does. Which is next to nothing, but still.

They both did walk on the streets of Helsinki.

 

[severian]

They might not play a like, but being an european playing in Liiga (same team even) is definitely something in common. The adjustment coming from european hockey and culture in general is definitely a real thing. I've seen it happen hundreds of times during my lifetime. For every Barkov Rantanen etc there's 10 guys who looked great in Liiga but never figured out North America for whatever reason.

And this also doesn’t taken into account that Slafkovsky didn’t look great in Liga. I understand the issue of usage, ice time, age etc but it doesn’t change the fact that Slafkovsky’s underlying Liga numbers weren’t impressive.

 

[My3Sons]

They might not play a like, but being an european playing in Liiga (same team even) is definitely something in common. The adjustment coming from european hockey and culture in general is definitely a real thing. I've seen it happen hundreds of times during my lifetime. For every Barkov Rantanen etc there's 10 guys who looked great in Liiga but never figured out North America for whatever reason.

I think it’s the cars. They get fun models in Europe we just don’t get over here and they miss them and have to go home.

 

[StevenToddIves]

They both did walk on the streets of Helsinki.

Yeah, but Kakko and Wright are both righties and Slafkovsky is a lefty, so I would say Kakko and Wright are more similar players.

But then we should take into account that Kakko and Cooley both like ketchup on their hot dogs while Wright and Slafkovsky prefer mustard, so maybe the best comparison for Kakko is Cooley.

 

[StevenToddIves]

And this also doesn’t taken into account that Slafkovsky didn’t look great in Liga. I understand the issue of usage, ice time, age etc but it doesn’t change the fact that Slafkovsky’s underlying Liga numbers weren’t impressive.

Actually, Slafkovsky looked quite good at the end of the Liiga and in the playoffs, if you watched him. There was notable improvement.

I'll post this again, because we can split Slafkovsky's season into several parts:

1) Finnish Juniors: Slaf dominated
2) Liiga, Part One: Slaf played a bottom 6 role and struggled
3) Olympics: Slaf dominated to an historic degree
4) Liiga, Part Two: Slaf played well
5) World Championships: Slaf dominated

Why are we focusing on one section of the season, a section which Slafkovsky clearly progressed from? What we should be doing -- instead of picking apart Slaf's play in literally November -- is using our scouting acumen to estimate how many points Slafkovsky would have scored had he played in the CHL or for the US-NTDP.

Does anyone -- anyone -- think he wouldn't have approached Cooley's 78 points for the US-NTDP? I also think most people would agree Slafkovsky would have challenged Wright's 94 points in the CHL, as well. Because I think it's pretty clear he would have been a top-line LW on the US-NTDP or every team in the CHL.