Prospect Info: Devil-Centric Mock 3.0 for May

[Stephen Gionta]

Agreed. Outside of Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram might be my favorite defense draft-eligible since Seth Jones in 2013 (whom I had ranked #1 overall). Byram's development curve over the span of 2018-19 was larger than any other prospect in the entire draft. He began the season as a terrific, speedy, physical and two-way D and ended the season as perhaps the best player in the entire CHL. His Memorial Cup playoffs were as good as any CHL defenseman I have ever seen, draft-eligible or otherwise.

Byram simply has it all. His skating is absolutely elite. He checks off every box in the tool kit: hockey IQ, compete level, shot, vision, defensive play, physicality, you name it. If his development trajectory continues with such a steep incline, we could be talking about a perennial Norris candidate. I can't wait to see him in the NHL with Chicago or Colorado.

I would be shocked if Chicago doesn't select him. I know the Turcotte local kid connection, but you just can't pass on Bowen Byram. Hell, a part of me is pissed the Devils are passing on Byram! If Byram does fall to Colorado though, my goodness. Landeskog - Mackinnon - Ratanen; Byram - Makar. Look out.

 

[BurntToast]

Agreed. Outside of Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram might be my favorite defense draft-eligible since Seth Jones in 2013 (whom I had ranked #1 overall). Byram's development curve over the span of 2018-19 was larger than any other prospect in the entire draft. He began the season as a terrific, speedy, physical and two-way D and ended the season as perhaps the best player in the entire CHL. His Memorial Cup playoffs were as good as any CHL defenseman I have ever seen, draft-eligible or otherwise.

Byram simply has it all. His skating is absolutely elite. He checks off every box in the tool kit: hockey IQ, compete level, shot, vision, defensive play, physicality, you name it. If his development trajectory continues with such a steep incline, we could be talking about a perennial Norris candidate. I can't wait to see him in the NHL with Chicago or Colorado.

#1D vs 1RW if you truly believe that wouldn’t most teams take the defenseman? Honestly, I hope he goes to the Kings. He can learn frow their aging Defenseman and they should suck for a while so the Devils won’t see him in the playoffs. Worst, case he goes to Colorado. Makar and Byram is gross. I hate the Sens management.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I would be shocked if Chicago doesn't select him. I know the Turcotte local kid connection, but you just can't pass on Bowen Byram. Hell, a part of me is pissed the Devils are passing on Byram! If Byram does fall to Colorado though, my goodness. Landeskog - Mackinnon - Ratanen; Byram - Makar. Look out.

I could not agree with you more on how scary Colorado would be with the addition of Byram. That's a team with an extremely promising future.

We do need to keep alive the possibility that Chicago takes Turcotte, because (in my estimation, anyway) it's real. Chicago has drafted D with 5 of their past 6 top-2 picks. That's a lot of high draft positions to spend on the blueline. Though the Dylan Strome deal really helped their center depth behind Toews, they can really use a future #1 C. The Hawks best center prospects are Jake Wise and Evan Barratt, who both project more to the middle six.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Blackhawks taking Byram -- to me he's just too good to pass up at #3. But Alex Turcotte is also a brilliant prospect -- he's an elite skater and the best two-way forward in the 2019 draft. He also has an absolutely sick compete level, maybe the best in the draft. And all of these qualities make people forget how huge his offensive upside is. Add in that Turcotte is a Chicago-area native and it's tough to completely rule him out at #3 overall.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I could not agree with you more on how scary Colorado would be with the addition of Byram. That's a team with an extremely promising future.

We do need to keep alive the possibility that Chicago takes Turcotte, because (in my estimation, anyway) it's real. Chicago has drafted D with 5 of their past 6 top-2 picks. That's a lot of high draft positions to spend on the blueline. Though the Dylan Strome deal really helped their center depth behind Toews, they can really use a future #1 C. The Hawks best center prospects are Jake Wise and Evan Barratt, who both project more to the middle six.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the Blackhawks taking Byram -- to me he's just too good to pass up at #3. But Alex Turcotte is also a brilliant prospect -- he's an elite skater and the best two-way forward in the 2019 draft. He also has an absolutely sick compete level, maybe the best in the draft. And all of these qualities make people forget how huge his offensive upside is. Add in that Turcotte is a Chicago-area native and it's tough to completely rule him out at #3 overall.

Yeah I could see Chicago taking Turcotte too, I just think it would be silly to pass on Byram. Who would you compare Turcotte to? My closest comparison for Turcotte is Hischier.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Yeah I could see Chicago taking Turcotte too, I just think it would be silly to pass on Byram. Who would you compare Turcotte to? My closest comparison for Turcotte is Hischier.

Nico is a very good comparison for Turcotte. I also see elements of Kopitar in Turcotte's game.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Byram is going to be a superstar defenseman. I was more happy to see Bill Daly turn over the LA Kings card at #5 overall than I was when he turned over the Devils card for #1 overall. Because turning over the Kings card meant the Devils landed Hughes, Kakko, or Byram and I was ecstatic about that. I honestly didn't even care if we were 1, 2, or 3 I was just so happy we got one of those 3. Jack Hughes was just icing on the cake.

Same here, only thing I was thinking of was Byram. I'm bummed about not taking Byram too honestly lol. I wanted the devils to pick him so much.

 

[Goptor]

Would Parise be a good comparison to Kakko in terms of style with Parise being faster against players 10 years ago and Kakko being taller?

 

[StevenToddIves]

Would Parise be a good comparison to Kakko in terms of style with Parise being faster against players 10 years ago and Kakko being taller?

No.

The problem with players as good as Hughes, Kakko and Byram is that they defy comparison; they tend to be unique. Certain elements of Kakko's game remind me of certain players, but as a whole he's is very difficult to pinpoint. His combination of plus-tools across the board is extremely rare, and combined with his elite puck protection skills and ability to beat you in so many ways -- well, he's just a phenomenal prospect. The comparable I have seen for him most often, though imperfect, is "Peter Forsberg but on the wing".

 

[StevenToddIves]

Okay, folks: help me with my next (final, June) mock draft. Say you're Chicago. You have spent 5 of your last 6 1st/2nd round picks on D, but you have a chance at #3 overall to draft a rare, electrifying two-way potential #1 D in Bowen Byram. But you have to decide between him and Alex Turcotte, a potential Kopitar-like two-way #1C who has incredible speed/vision and perhaps the most ferocious compete level in the entire draft -- and he's also a Chicago-area native.

Who do you pick and why?

 

[devilsblood]

No.

The problem with players as good as Hughes, Kakko and Byram is that they defy comparison; they tend to be unique. Certain elements of Kakko's game remind me of certain players, but as a whole he's is very difficult to pinpoint. His combination of plus-tools across the board is extremely rare, and combined with his elite puck protection skills and ability to beat you in so many ways -- well, he's just a phenomenal prospect. The comparable I have seen for him most often, though imperfect, is "Peter Forsberg but on the wing".

I don't think Kakko is all that difficult to find a comparison, he's a skilled power fwd, if you want to go crazy and say Jagr, sure why not, there are certainly elements to their games that are similar.

Hughes is different though in that there are not any centers like him. Some wingers, but centers of his ilk are a rare bird.

Now we always need to put the note on these comparisons that no 2 players are exactly alike, so is Kakko a Jagr clone, no, but again elements are similar.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Okay, folks: help me with my next (final, June) mock draft. Say you're Chicago. You have spent 5 of your last 6 1st/2nd round picks on D, but you have a chance at #3 overall to draft a rare, electrifying two-way potential #1 D in Bowen Byram. But you have to decide between him and Alex Turcotte, a potential Kopitar-like two-way #1C who has incredible speed/vision and perhaps the most ferocious compete level in the entire draft -- and he's also a Chicago-area native.

Who do you pick and why?

If that's who you're convinced Turcotte could very well be, you take him over any defense prospect that isn't Rasmus Dahlin or Scott Niedermayer (who I consider to have been the best player in hockey for a couple of years and was Erik Karlsson if he could also shut down forwards in his own end).

You don't need Nashville's defense group to be successful and Nashville's defense at its peak has come up a day late and a dollar short. You can go very far though with two true number one centers, and Chicago will have more than that if they go with Turcotte.

 

[Brodeur]

Okay, folks: help me with my next (final, June) mock draft. Say you're Chicago. You have spent 5 of your last 6 1st/2nd round picks on D, but you have a chance at #3 overall to draft a rare, electrifying two-way potential #1 D in Bowen Byram. But you have to decide between him and Alex Turcotte, a potential Kopitar-like two-way #1C who has incredible speed/vision and perhaps the most ferocious compete level in the entire draft -- and he's also a Chicago-area native.

Who do you pick and why?

The situation reminded me of something similar, but it took me awhile to think of it. Colorado at the 2013 Draft seemingly had a choice between Nathan MacKinnon and hometown kid Seth Jones. Positionally Jones made sense. Colorado was stacked down the middle, Paul Stastny was the "veteran" at 27, Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly were 22, plus they had used recent high picks on forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Joey Hishon. I remember one fan tweet equating Duchene/Landeskog/Jones to being this decade's Sakic/Forsberg/Foote.

But eventually they decided MacKinnon was simply the better prospect. I recall that they went out of their way to tell Jones ahead of time of their decision, just so he didn't have his hopes up on draft day. Within a few years, Stastny left via free agency, O'Reilly priced himself out, and Duchene forced a trade.

Of Chicago's recent D picks, none of them are surefire top pairing guys. Especially with Boqvist/Jokiharju being RHD, so that shouldn't preclude them from taking Byram. Early word has them being one of the interested parties in Kevin Hayes as well (ironically they originally drafted Hayes and he declined to sign) which would fill a middle six center spot for a few years.

I haven't seen enough of Byram or Turcotte, but if I'm Chicago I take BPA. That or at least kick the tires to see how much Colorado might give up to trade up a spot.

 

[Brodeur]

Grant McCagg had an interesting tweet saying that Matthew Boldy had always been a center until he got the NTDP. At least in my mock / bad fan fiction, I have a couple scenarios where Boldy is the guy who drops a little further than expected to Minnesota at #12.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Grant McCagg had an interesting tweet saying that Matthew Boldy had always been a center until he got the NTDP. At least in my mock / bad fan fiction, I have a couple scenarios where Boldy is the guy who drops a little further than expected to Minnesota at #12.

I also see Boldy as an extremely possible target to the Sabres at #7 or Oilers at #8 -- both teams are in need of complimentary wingers for their elite centers, and Boldy has proven extremely capable of this at both LW and RW.

 

[Brodeur]

I also see Boldy as an extremely possible target to the Sabres at #7 or Oilers at #8 -- both teams are in need of complimentary wingers for their elite centers, and Boldy has proven extremely capable of this at both LW and RW.

Yeah, for sure. That grouping from 5-11 could go in any order and I really wouldn't be too surprised. Assuming the top 4 goes, I had it as:

5. Los Angeles - C Dylan Cozens [flip flopped between him and Zegras here]
6. Detroit - C Kirby Dach [Detroit could use center depth and a RH shot. Dach's pass first mentality could mesh with Zadina's shoot first style.]
7. Buffalo - C/LW Trevor Zegras [Zegras was forced to play wing at times, so maybe they like him as a prospect a little more than Boldy?]
8. Edmonton - RW Cole Caufield [Boldy/Podkolzin certain could be fits here as well.]
9. Anaheim - C/LW Peyton Krebs [Maybe looking to fortify center ice even with Steel/Lundestrom]
10. Vancouver - LD Philip Broberg [I would take Boldy here, but just going with that rumor I read.]
11. Philadelphia - RW Vasili Podkolzin [Boldy could fit here as well.]
12. Minnesota - LW/C Matthew Boldy

 

[StevenToddIves]

Yeah, for sure. That grouping from 5-11 could go in any order and I really wouldn't be too surprised. Assuming the top 4 goes, I had it as:

5. Los Angeles - C Dylan Cozens [flip flopped between him and Zegras here]
6. Detroit - C Kirby Dach [Detroit could use center depth and a RH shot. Dach's pass first mentality could mesh with Zadina's shoot first style.]
7. Buffalo - C/LW Trevor Zegras [Zegras was forced to play wing at times, so maybe they like him as a prospect a little more than Boldy?]
8. Edmonton - RW Cole Caufield [Boldy/Podkolzin certain could be fits here as well.]
9. Anaheim - C/LW Peyton Krebs [Maybe looking to fortify center ice even with Steel/Lundestrom]
10. Vancouver - LD Philip Broberg [I would take Boldy here, but just going with that rumor I read.]
11. Philadelphia - RW Vasili Podkolzin [Boldy could fit here as well.]
12. Minnesota - LW/C Matthew Boldy

Very well thought out and yes, I am having the same struggles you are with my final mock draft. Here are some notes:

5. I'm having the exact same debate between Cozens/Zegras. The Kings still value size, which makes me lean towards Cozens.
6. Yzerman is too good to pass on Zegras if he is available here. Zegras' vision/passing are second best in the draft after Hughes, and so is his hockey sense.
7. If Zegras were still available, I agree Buffalo would take him. Boldy and Krebs are also considerations.
8. Edmonton's front office is still filled with many remnants of the toxic "old boys network" which brought this team down for years. These guys would flip out if they took a 5'7 winger in the top 10. But Ken Holland does have final say now, and Caulfield would be an absolutely perfect winger for McDavid.
9. I think Krebs projects to the wing, but if Anaheim thinks he will remain a center, he is a far, far superior prospect to Steel and Lundestrom. I think Steel is a future second-line C and Lundestrom likely bottom 6 C.
10. This is the most interesting debate. To me, there is no way on earth someone can justify Broberg as even in the same tier with Boldy or Podkolzin. He has ridiculous athleticism, but there are legitimate questions surrounding literally every other aspect of his game. If Vancouver were to draft for positional need rather than BPA, they would be better off taking Seider, Soderstrom or even Harley in my mind. But Boldy or Podkolzin would have to be the pick here -- Broberg in the top 10 is the kind of high-risk pick which can cost a scout or GM their job.