Draft and UDFA Thread 2017-18

[Savant]

Several early season thoughts:

Brady Tkachuk hasn't quite come out of the gate running like I thought he would. I'll be the first to say I liked/still like Matthew Tkachuk better, but I really like Brady's potential as well. It'll be interesting to see how he responds as the season progresses and whether going the college route was the best approach for him.

Joe Veleno reminds me a lot of Mike Ricci, and I mean that both as a compliment and as a bit of warning for people who keep waiting for the offense to explode. I just don't think it's going to be there on a higher level.

I might argue that Zadina has actually been the most eye-catching/exciting forward at the top of this year's draft class.

Ryan McLeod is growing on me a lot.

I am very high on Zadina.

Is Ryan McLeod related to the guy on the Devils? Is he better?

 

[Mac n Gs]

I am very high on Zadina.

Is Ryan McLeod related to the guy on the Devils? Is he better?

I’m with you on Zadina. Yeah they’re brothers and I like Ryan better. Not as big, but smarter and has more skill

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

I'm with ya'll on Zadina, he's so good.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

No changes to the top 5. This seems a rather straight forward top of the draft to me.

1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Andrei Svechnikov
3. Adam Boqvist
4. Joe Veleno
5. Bode Wilde
6. Ty Smith
7. Filip Zadina
8. Jesperi Kotkaniemi
9. Rasmus Kupari
10. Joel Farabee
11. Jared McIsaac
12. Brady Tkachuk
13. Jacob Olofsson
14. Jett Woo
15. Filip Hallander
16. Quinn Hughes
17. Jack McBain
18. Alex Khovanov
19. Jake Wise
20. Jakub Lauko
21. Oliver Wahlstrom
22. Noah Dobson
23. Anderson MacDonald
24. Akil Thomas
25. Grigori Denisenko
26. Ryan Merkley
27. Vitali Kravtsov
28. Dominik Bokk
29. Evan Bouchard
30. Barrett Hayton
31. Ryan McLeod

1st round comments: For me, the top of this draft is excellent. I think the 1-3 all go 1OA in a draft like last year. Maybe not Boqvist, but its close between him and Pettersson last season. The next 10 is where I think the first round levels off to about average. Some first round risers I like are skilled forwards Olofsson and Hallander who play for the same organization, same organization that Pettersson rose from last season, along with Noah Dobson who flashes a very complete game on D. Oliver Wahlstrom is putting up elite numbers, I don't like his game all that much compared to some people, but he definitely has a lot of potential, so he's been moved up. Some fallers include Jared McIsaac who's had an uneven season, Alex Khovanov battling hepatitis, Jake Wise who is either injured or just not playing, and Ryan Merkley who continues to be unable to defend.

32. K'Andre Miller
33. Mattias Samuelsson
34. Isac Lundestrom
35. Danila Galenyuk
36. Jakub Skarek
37. Jesse Ylonen
38. Calen Addison
39. Dmitri Zavgorodniy
40. Milos Roman
41. Alexander Alexeyev
42. Nando Eggenberger
43. Ty Emberson
44. Lukas Dostal
45. Serron Noel
46. Xavier Bernard
47. Allan McShane
48. Adam Samuelsson
49. Amir Miftakhov
50. Jacob Ingham
51. Ty Dellandrea
52. Martin Ferhervary
53. Lenni Killinen
54. Filip Kral
55. Benoit Olivier Groulx
56. Adam Ginning
57. Philipp Kurashev
58. Jonathan Berggren
59. David Gustafsson
60. Jan Jenik
61. Blake McLaughlin
62. Danila Zhuravlyov

2nd Round Comments: I really like the depth of this draft, and I think it starts with the second round. I could've named another 10 players I thought were second rounders, it was hard to come up with only 62 names for this list. Miller's game is so projectable, but he just doesn't do enough presently for me to have him in the first round. Samuelsson and Lundestrom might be higher on some lists and I think they are good players, two of the more NHL ready players in this draft, but I think both have limited upside, so I couldn't place them in the first round. The goalie crop is really average, maybe even bad this year. I have the two best as Czech's, Skarek and Dostal. No sure things as far as I'm concerned with the goalies. Xavier Bouchard a shutdown defenseman with tools is very promising, Lenni Killinen a speedy power forward who can score out of Finland is a big riser, two very underrated Russian defensemen named Danila, Galenyuk and Zhuravlyov are ones to watch. Jonathan Berggren and Blake McLaughlin are two smaller highly skilled forwards who could go in the first two rounds.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Can't say i agree much with that one, Hållander WAAAAY too high, i've seen him quite a bit he's not close to Olofsson. Zadina and Hughes clear top 5 players for me AINEC.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Can't say i agree much with that one, Hållander WAAAAY too high, i've seen him quite a bit he's not close to Olofsson. Zadina and Hughes clear top 5 players for me AINEC.

Hallander leads the 1st place Allsvenskan team in scoring, has good size, and is young for this draft. I don't think 15th is all that high, actually. I had Timra's second leading scorer last season as 1OA, and he was considerably older than Hallander is now. He also was more talented, but 15th for Hallander isn't all that high. Hallander also showed well at the Hlinka.

As for Zadina, I'm not sure where I'm supposed to put him. He's a very good player, but he's nothing flashy, very productive. He'll be a good top 6 forward, but besides Svechnikov who is a wing, I think all the others above him project to play big roles at premium positions. I like Hughes game, but I regard him similarly to Makar from last year. Older birthday player who is small and can't defend. I just can't project that guy all that high, there's way too high of a chance that he ends up as Murphy or DeAngelo. I also downgraded Merkley for his inability to defend, who's admittedly considerably worse defensively than Hughes. I have no problem with smaller defensemen, like Boqvist or Smith, but they gotta be able to defend for me to rank them high. There are very few defensemen in the NHL at Hughes size who are good NHL'ers, despite being bad defenders.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

I think you need more viewings on Hughes, he can defend well actually. I view him as very similar to Brännström just with that extra level offensively.

I like Hållander, he's quick and has good hands, but i've seen quite a bit of Timrå and Olofsson is definitely the far more complete player of the two, i think both are a bit high for you, i'd say Olofsson in that 20-35 range and Hållander in the 2nd right now, both can rise though.

But hey, we're like 8 months out and draft rankings aren't suppose to match up so it's all good

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Also, i think your top 62 is severely lacking a Rasmus Sandin sighting, i like him a lot.

 

[Mac n Gs]

Still don’t know how you don’t like Wahlstrom @Pavel Buchnevich. Think Lundestrom is too low on your list too, he’s a 15-20 guy for me

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Also, i think your top 62 is severely lacking a Rasmus Sandin sighting, i like him a lot.

I don't, at all. Small, weak skater, not good defensively. 3rd-4th round. Same reason I disliked Westerlund last year. There seems to be a Swedish defenseman with this exact profile every year, and I never seem to like this player. I think offensively inclined defensemen who can't skate are very few and far between in the NHL.

Still don’t know how you don’t like Wahlstrom @Pavel Buchnevich. Think Lundestrom is too low on your list too, he’s a 15-20 guy for me

Wahlstrom needs to improve defensively, its questionable whether he can stick at center, and I think his hockey IQ and passing are very questionable. Essentially, a poor man's Zibanejad. If he shows improvements, he could maybe be Zibanejad, but I don't think he's there yet. He's shown improvements though, so he is trending in the right direction. Thats why I moved him up, I had him as a borderline 1st rounder at the start of the season.

Lundestrom fits the Asplund and Grundstrom profiles. They were second rounders in a similarly strong draft. Andersson was well over-drafted in a bad draft. I know we picked him so we gotta act like he's worth 7OA, but he's looking more like a 25-30 range player in the most recent draft, which is probably where someone like Lundestrom goes in the 2017 draft, but he's in a stronger draft with a lot of high upside players, so his ranking is that of a second rounder for me.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The premier 2019 draft tournament for this season begins today, the WHC17.

These are some of the players I'm going to be watching for. I'm going to try to put up a preliminary 2019 rankings after this tournament. Bold denotes 2020 draft eligible. Two younger brothers of recent Ranger draft picks are included, and should be high picks in their drafts.

USA: Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Alex Turcotte, Alex Vlasic, Spencer Knight, Marshall Warren
Sweden: Victor Soderstrom, Tobias Bjornfot, Albin Grewe, Noel Gunler, Oscar Bjerselius
Russia: Artemi Knyazev, Yegor Spiridonov, Oleg Zaitsev, Daniil Guschin, Matvei Guskov, Vasili Podkolzin
Finland: Leevi Aaltonen, Ville Heinola, Ilvari Rasanen, Antti Saarela, Henri Nikkanen, Patrik Puistola
Canada 3 teams: Tag Bertuzzi, Kirby Dach, Blake Murray, Alex Newhook, Sasha Mutala, Massimo Rizzo, Peyton Krebs, Alexis Lafreniere, Dylan Cozens, Justin Barron, Xavier Parent, Ryan Suzuki, Jakob Pelletier, Samuel Poulin, Bowen Byram
Czech Republic: Filip Prikryl, Michal Teply, Matej Toman, Jan Mlcak, Martin Hugo Has, Marcel Barinka

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Lafreniere and Barron are definitely amazing from the highlights i've seen.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Lafreniere and Barron are definitely amazing from the highlights i've seen.

I wish Holtz was playing at this tournament instead of TV-Pucken, the 2020 battle for 1OA should be between him and Lafreniere. Sweden's team this year seems weak, got beat badly by the Czech's in an exhibition. Soderstrom might be a very high pick in 2019, but that might be it.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

Aight, i know very little about these draft classes except for the few CHL standouts like Lafreniere, Barron, Suzuki and Byram along with the Swedish Holtz.

Is Byram not playing? He's off to a great start in his WHL career, i like him a lot from the little i've seen.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I thought I had listed Byram, my mistake. He looks like Canada's top defender for 2019, and maybe the best player from Canada for 2019.

 

[Mac n Gs]

@Pavel Buchnevich you and I must see a completely different Wahlstrom on the ice because I do not agree with your assessment except for that he’s gonna be a W not a C. Kid is very intelligent, great hands, and a sneaky shot. Like you said, his numbers are very good this year and he’s only getting better.

I also don’t agree with your Lias assessment. He was going top-10, and it’s way too early to say he was overdrafted. I bet his scoring takes off once Frolunda finally settles into a groove.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Numerous times I've seen Wahlstrom try to spam shots instead of find teammates wide open for better scoring chances. I think the main improvement is that he looks way more assertive. Last season, he only showed small sequences of his considerable talent, and the rest of the game he would do absolutely nothing. I think he's starting to take over shifts. Just my opinion, of course where he goes in the draft. He's going up for I think everyone. How much? Its up to interpretation.

There were rumors Andersson would've went 11th to LA, if we didn't pick him, so I'm not sure he goes top 10, but I think you might be right. OTOH, his father is LA's European scout, so I'm not so sure they are the best judge of where he should go. I don't think I once had Andersson in my top 10, I saw very few people have him in the top 10, if any at all. I remember most assessments had him 11-20 range, some even in the 21-25 range, at times. He also greatly benefited from being one of the older players in the 2017 draft, and playing a game that could see a player play pro hockey earlier than some others. Maybe its my mistake, but just like with Westerlund's and Sandin type Swedish defensemen, I see this type of Swedish forward every year who isn't particularly skilled, they play a good two way game, very smart, I'm just not sure I want my team picking that player in the first round. People don't want their team picking 6'4-6'8 defensemen, I don't want my team picking an "intangibles, hockey IQ" forward over someone with top 6 skill. Lundestrom, like Andersson, Grundstrom, Asplud, is a late birthday in 1999, so he's one of the older players in this draft.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

I thought Detroit really liked Lias at 9?

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

I thought Detroit really liked Lias at 9?

They did, Custance tweeted about it to confirm aswell.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

Like many others here, I'm a Zadina fan.

 

[LaffyTaffy]

Correct me if i sound like a maniac but i am 100% down to trade zucc at the draft for the pick that gets us Zadina, and rollout the Chytil Zadina duo next season

 

[Mac n Gs]

Correct me if i sound like a maniac but i am 100% down to trade zucc at the draft for the pick that gets us Zadina, and rollout the Chytil Zadina duo next season

He’s gonna be going top-5 probably. 16 goals and 29 points in 19 games. His numbers are gonna be ridiculous in his draft year

 

[LaffyTaffy]

He’s gonna be going top-5 probably. 16 goals and 29 points in 19 games. His numbers are gonna be ridiculous in his draft year

Honestly i'd offer Zucc + our 1st if it gets us Zadina or Svechnikov, we need scorers/shooters in our system.

 

[Ori]

Kreider 1st + as well - I don`t see the KZB line as our lord and savior in this league.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Jack Hughes is very good, looks like the next great American center. Should be the 1OA in 2019.