Prospect Info: Current #2 overall poll and discussion

[Eggtimer]

Still think Habs go Wright . Just based off of position . Maybe they think Slaf may be slightly a better forward but not so much better that they pass on a C .
Teams always want to build around C’s and this is their chance to solidify that . They cannot bank on having another chance to do so .
I also think they somewhat value Weight being Canadian born . To me it duesnt matter at all , but some teams have preference .
I’d just still be somewhat shocked if they do not take a C . I really hope we can still end up with Slafkovsky. If we don’t … I guess I would look back a few months , and if I was told we could draft Wright … I would jump for joy and think there is no possible way we could .

 

[My3Sons]

Of course they can. But its not making their life easier. Especially against competent skilled opponents.


I'm in. Slaf is BPA. Interesting what they are asking.

What I get from that is that both teams at the top are hoping they can extract extra value from the pick because nobody in this draft is so clear cut as a top of the draft guy. Similar to NJ saying they’d trade the second pick in thr right deal. Ultimately they probably both make their picks and MTL takes Wright.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

The thing with Montreal and why I would still lean Wright is that they are at home and 95% of there fanbase has been sold on Wright for so long and everyone there will be expecting him to be taken. Like they might actually have a really pissed off crowd if they don’t take him and that might be more of a factor than people think. Management would also look worse if they took Slafkovsky and he didn’t turn out than if they took Wright. Their fans want Wright. Can they complain if he ends up being a bad pick?

Imagine if they take Slafkovsky and everything is quiet?
If they take Wright it will be loud forsure.

 

[Hisch13r]

The thing with Montreal and why I would still lean Wright is that they are at home and 95% of there fanbase has been sold on Wright for so long and everyone there will be expecting him to be taken. Like they might actually have a really pissed off crowd if they don’t take him and that might be more of a factor than people think. Management would also look worse if they took Slafkovsky and he didn’t turn out than if they took Wright. Their fans want Wright. Can they complain if he ends up being a bad pick?

I think it’s sort of similar to Nico. If you take Wright and he’s a good player everyone is going to be satisfied. If it’s Slaf he’s going to need to be much better than Wright to make up for the C vs W difference and if he’s worse than Wright people are going to be f***ing pissed

 

[Eggtimer]

Now I’m all pissed off …. I had myself pumped for Slafkovsky for awhile now . Even before we win pick #2 I was hoping he would slide to pick 4/5/6 . As the season went along it looked like he would go top 3 possibly so I gave up hope on him and focused in Jiricek Nemec and hoped they would slide to the 5/6 spot where the best odds were for us to pick at . When we win the lotto , I thought fur sure we just win Slafkovsky .
I have sirens way too much time reading and watching Slaf stuff and am so pumped for him .
Now with all the talk he goes to Montreal and how awesome and dominant Skaf will be while Wright looks pretty underwhelming ….
It just sucks .

 

[LoktionovMVP]

You're going to lose faith in the staff over one pick who's still developing and ignore picking Nico over Patrick, Jack over Kakko and stealing Mercer, Bratt and Yegor? And I haven't even mentioned Holtz, Muk, Hughes or Gritsuyk. It's insane the amount of young talent this scouting staff has added. Smith is the one who needs to put it together this upcoming season.

And again, I said if they love a player and can't move back, take the guy you love. This isn't a video game where you can force computers to trade back to get your desired player and collect assets.

Not giving Fitz any credit for going Hughes over Kakko - anyone with a brain would have made that pick. Muk is a complete wild card still so I don't think we can really assign praise to that one yet.

My point is that if they want Jiricek - passing on better talent without getting anything for the value of the draft slot - is irresponsible. At that point, you have to go BPA. I should not have phrased it is a "likely" scenario to move back, you're right.

 

[Devs3cups]

Now I’m all pissed off …. I had myself pumped for Slafkovsky for awhile now . Even before we win pick #2 I was hoping he would slide to pick 4/5/6 . As the season went along it looked like he would go top 3 possibly so I gave up hope on him and focused in Jiricek Nemec and hoped they would slide to the 5/6 spot where the best odds were for us to pick at . When we win the lotto , I thought fur sure we just win Slafkovsky .
I have sirens way too much time reading and watching Slaf stuff and am so pumped for him .
Now with all the talk he goes to Montreal and how awesome and dominant Skaf will be while Wright looks pretty underwhelming ….
It just sucks .

Wright and Slaf’s skill level are extremely similar. Wright could very well be the better player and he’s an outstanding player to get regardless. As you said, we’re in a better position than we thought we’d be. It’s all gravy.

 

[Hisch13r]

Now I’m all pissed off …. I had myself pumped for Slafkovsky for awhile now . Even before we win pick #2 I was hoping he would slide to pick 4/5/6 . As the season went along it looked like he would go top 3 possibly so I gave up hope on him and focused in Jiricek Nemec and hoped they would slide to the 5/6 spot where the best odds were for us to pick at . When we win the lotto , I thought fur sure we just win Slafkovsky .
I have sirens way too much time reading and watching Slaf stuff and am so pumped for him .
Now with all the talk he goes to Montreal and how awesome and dominant Skaf will be while Wright looks pretty underwhelming ….
It just sucks .

No it definitely doesn’t suck.

 

[Eggtimer]

I think it’s sort of similar to Nico. If you take Wright and he’s a good player everyone is going to be satisfied. If it’s Slaf he’s going to be much better than Wright to make up for the C vs W difference and if he’s worse than Wright people are going to be f***ing pissed

Yes I see it like that . Habs fans have envisioned and hoped for Wright since their season went to shit . Now if the pass on him , Slafkovsky will have massive amounts of pressure to out produce Wright ir Habs fans will bitch for decades about how they screwed up by not taking Wright or even Cooley .
I just hope that with the draft being in Montreal , They don’t get cute and go with Slaf instead of Wright . I could see a lot of boos in the arena if that happens

 

[StevenToddIves]

You massively overrate prospects. Only 3 defensemen scored 20+ this year. And if he's a shut down defenseman scoring 20+ he would be a top 3-5 defenseman in the game right now.

Pretty impressive for a guy that manages to constantly lose icing races to skaters that won't even make it to the NHL.

Here are my top ranked RD since 2016:
2016 McAvoy
2017 Makar
2018 Bouchard
2019 Seider
2020 Drysdale
2021 Clarke

I'd say that's a pretty good track record, with not much massive overrating going on.

Again, if you watched Jiricek all year, you would not say he is slow. Because he's not slow. In my opinion, he needs a skating coach to lengthen his stride, which is short and choppy. But he has above-average skating altogether, and he's one of those players you'd describe as "skates well for a big man". I realize this is not the most glowing compliment, but we can also apply the same description to a guy like Aaron Ekblad, whom Jiricek has been compared to on more than one occasion.

As far as the 20+ goal upside goes, I'm including a video if you have three minutes to spare. If you don't, skip to the 1:20 mark, where Jiricek -- skating backwards about two feet in front of the blueline -- launches a wrist shot which beats the goalie clean and pops the water bottle. For many NHL defensemen, it is the kind of shot they would need momentum going forwards from closer in with a clean look to even dream of scoring on. Jiricek does this skating backwards at the blueline.

There is a difference, as we know, between a *good* NHL shot and an *elite* shot. We drafted Alexander Holtz at #7 overall because of his elite shot. If Holtz's shot were just simply good? He'd probably have been a 3rd or 4th round pick. Well, Jiricek's shot is absolutely elite. Moreover, even if Jiricek's shot were just simply good, he'd still be a 1st round pick -- although later in the round -- due to the surrounding high-end elements of his overall game.

David Jiricek's passable but not impressive skating is literally the only element of his game which is not high end. I agree that, of all the physical tools an NHL defenseman can have, skating is the most crucial. But several NHL defensemen with stylistic comparison to Jiricek's overall game became all-star defensemen with skating on about Jiricek's level -- Weber, Ekblad, Chara to name a few. Am I saying Jiricek will become as good as those 3? Well, time will tell, but the potential is not far removed.

Now? Yea, I definitely take Seider over Jiricek no question. But at the time of the draft, Jiricek was a little bit better in my opinion and I think better than everyone since Dahlin.

Seider was as good as Jiricek, draft writers just couldn't be bothered to watch the DEL.

 

[Hisch13r]

Seider was as good as Jiricek, draft writers just couldn't be bothered to watch the DEL.

Why are we acting like this is a “draft writers” thing? He was 16th on Bob’s list. That’s NHL scouts having him in the mid teens.

 

[Guadana]

What I get from that is that both teams at the top are hoping they can extract extra value from the pick because nobody in this draft is so clear cut as a top of the draft guy. Similar to NJ saying they’d trade the second pick in thr right deal. Ultimately they probably both make their picks and MTL takes Wright.

Hope they will draft Lambert. And hire Lovejoy to teach him how to play all around game. I really want huge reach there. Something like "we heard Gauthier is look like a center who can play wing, and his hand reminds me Arnott, Arnott was a first nhl player who signed my puck some years ago, so... its a sign". Or something like "I belive drafting Cooley would be so cool". Or "who cares about Europeans, they are strange, his English even doesn't sound like English with French accent". Or "I'm Russian spy and will draft Yurov". Or "we will trade 1oa for a proven nhl talent mister Jack Eichel, and Vegas are proud to select Shane Wright, we need C, sorry Juraj, your English doesn't sound southly".
Or will trade 1oa pick to njd with Josh Anderson for 2oa pick, Pavel Zacha and Ty Smith. Like they said, ty Smith was a core piece.

 

[BananaGenetics]

It probably isnt going to happen but Id love to take one of these RD, even if I prefer Nemec. Would be hard to pass on Wright if he fell...

But a future core of what we have up front plus Hamilton/Luke/Siegenthaler/2022pick on the backend, with all the AHL guys? That sounds like a dynasty-level foundation in NHL22

 

[StevenToddIves]

Why are we acting like this is a “draft writers” thing? He was 16th on Bob’s list. That’s NHL scouts having him in the mid teens.

#16 was far above Seider's consensus ranking, if I recall correctly. Several rankings had him in the 2nd round. The stat guys were very low on him.

Look, I'm a draft writer. I'm on very good terms with some other draft writers. It's not about slagging the industry so much as trying to annihilate the criteria many people use to assess defensemen. I'll bet you a beer a 15 minute google search can find multiple rankings where Seider was ranked below Anttoni f**king Honka.

I recall communicating to Cam Robinson about Seider and joking about how so many people were sleeping on his tremendous talent. I had Seider #11 and Robinson had him #13 -- if I recall correctly those were Seider's two watermark rankings. He was just such an impressive young player.

 

[Lou is God]

When was the last time a 1OA went to the wire like this? Nico's was pretty close

 

[Forge]

When was the last time a 1OA went to the wire like this? Nico's was pretty close

The Nico draft had the same exact bobby Mac distribution as well. 5-4-1 (Nico, Patrick, makar).

 

[Xirik]

If the Habs are dangling 1OA to us like the media says what is the most you would offer before saying "go ahead and pick" to Montreal?

Bahl+ 2022 3rd?

 

[Forge]

If the Habs are dangling 1OA to us like the media says what is the most you would offer before saying "go ahead and pick" to Montreal?

Bahl+ 2022 3rd?

I'd offer 2oa

 

[Hisch13r]

If the Habs are dangling 1OA to us like the media says what is the most you would offer before saying "go ahead and pick" to Montreal?

Bahl+ 2022 3rd?

I wouldn't offer anything.

 

[Forge]

I wouldn't offer anything.

Not even #2? Tough negotiator

 

[Devilsgrl35]

If the Habs are dangling 1OA to us like the media says what is the most you would offer before saying "go ahead and pick" to Montreal?

Bahl+ 2022 3rd?

It's smokescreen season. If this is accurate, it actually makes me think they are taking Wright and are trying to get extra assets and Wright.

 

[Hisch13r]

It's smokescreen season. If this is accurate, it actually makes me think they are taking Wright and are trying to get extra assets and Wright.

Yup. They know we wouldn’t move up for Wright. Either they like Slaf more but only slightly more and would prefer Wright+asset or they like Wright more and are trying to milk us.

 

[Xirik]

Yup. They know we wouldn’t move up for Wright. Either they like Slaf more but only slightly more and would prefer Wright+asset or they like Wright more and are trying to milk us.

Is it really that bad to leak a little bit of milk if that is all it takes to get who we want? Unless the Habs wanted something Obscene for the pick I don't get the rational behind people being so against it. I don't think such an add would set us back years or harm us terribly.

Seems like people are mostly against it based on principal then anything logical.

 

[Hisch13r]

Not even #2? Tough negotiator

Actually I change my mind. If I was in charge I’d move 2+something to get 1 because I like Wright more than Slaf so I’d take him there to get the best player and watch Habs fans riot

Is it really that bad to leak a little bit of milk if that is all it takes to get who we want? Unless the Habs wanted something Obscene for the pick I don't get the rational behind people being so against it. I don't think such an add would set us back years or harm us terribly.

Seems like people are mostly against it based on principal then anything logical.

I mean I think we’d move up to take Slaf. If we’re sticking at 2 that’s who we get anyway and if Montreal does go Slaf then we get Wright anyway which I’d prefer. I’d move up if it meant Wright but it wouldn’t mean Wright

 

[StevenToddIves]

When was the last time a 1OA went to the wire like this? Nico's was pretty close

Since 2015, Nico v Nolan is the only thing we can compare to Wright v Slaf. It's really pretty much a coin flip right now, although I'd say Wright is a slight favorite to go #1 overall still.