Draft and UDFA Thread 2017-18

[Lion Hound]

I think you’re misconstruing what was said. I believe what was said was that the Rangers believe a player they like in their top ten will fall to them, meaning someone they have ranked higher than 9 will be there, such as Wahlström or Hughes.

Im Googling for the actual quote now.

Definately agree with Wahlstrom and Hughes, but i just don't think either will fall. I think one of the 3 dmen will be the faller, or fallers.

 

[Lion Hound]

Here's one quote from him from the NYR website.

• On the excitement and the next month, "I think number one is getting our list in order for the draft and talking to the players at the combine and watching them test but it's important to find out who they are and get our 15-20 minutes with them and kind of zone in on a group. We will have a target group of probably five players we will look at real close now and then we will see what happens and see if any teams have interest in letting us move up."

 

[AlternateSideParking]

One guy from NHL.com's mock draft had us taking Kotkaniemi, McIsaac and Groulx with our three first rounders.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

One guy from NHL.com's mock draft had us taking Kotkaniemi, McIsaac and Groulx with our three first rounders.

I would be very upset with the two late picks.

 

[offdacrossbar]

if its not wahlstrom at 9 then to me its boqvist as the next BPA. i go with either of those guys at 9.

if we cant make a move up for farabee- and assuming we take boqvist, then i swing for the fences with merkley. to much boom potential here. top 5 kid in the entire draft skill wise.

with the 3rd pick i take which ever russian is still there like kravtsov, khovanov, denisenko or the above mentioned alexeyev. which ever is there i take without hesitation. too much skill to pass on.

imo, if we can draft 2 players with top 5 skills in the entire draft, thats a win. wahlstrom and boqvist are certainly that and merkley is close. its time to go big. this draft is a chance to add some real depth and talent to the pool. we cant go safe this time. we need to hit some gems. we need talent and speed.

 

[Zibanejbread]

One guy from NHL.com's mock draft had us taking Kotkaniemi, McIsaac and Groulx with our three first rounders.

It's mocks like these that always makes me uncomfortable. I know they have no bearing or impact on what will happen, but it's just a flash of disappointment that I could see happening.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

if its not wahlstrom at 9 then to me its boqvist as the next BPA. i go with either of those guys at 9.

if we cant make a move up for farabee- and assuming we take boqvist, then i swing for the fences with merkley. to much boom potential here. top 5 kid in the entire draft skill wise.

with the 3rd pick i take which ever russian is still there like kravtsov, khovanov, denisenko or the above mentioned alexeyev. which ever is there i take without hesitation. too much skill to pass on.

imo, if we can draft 2 players with top 5 skills in the entire draft, thats a win. wahlstrom and boqvist are certainly that and merkley is close. its time to go big. this draft is change to add some real depth and talent to the pool. we cant go safe this time. we need to hit some gems. we need talent and speed.

Couldn't agree more with this post.

We have a ton of picks and we need players that can "break the system." Wahlstrom and Boqvist are two players that I believe are capable of that, that are also likely to be hanging around at 9.

It's just painfully obvious looking at most of the playoff teams, that their top talent is on a different level than our top talent. That needs to change if we ever want to truly compete. This draft is a big chance to change that if we draft aggressively and get a little lucky.

 

[Lion Hound]

One guy from NHL.com's mock draft had us taking Kotkaniemi, McIsaac and Groulx with our three first rounders.

Don't love it...Thats for sure.

 

[Ghost of jas]

if its not wahlstrom at 9 then to me its boqvist as the next BPA. i go with either of those guys at 9.

if we cant make a move up for farabee- and assuming we take boqvist, then i swing for the fences with merkley. to much boom potential here. top 5 kid in the entire draft skill wise.

with the 3rd pick i take which ever russian is still there like kravtsov, khovanov, denisenko or the above mentioned alexeyev. which ever is there i take without hesitation. too much skill to pass on.

imo, if we can draft 2 players with top 5 skills in the entire draft, thats a win. wahlstrom and boqvist are certainly that and merkley is close. its time to go big. this draft is a chance to add some real depth and talent to the pool. we cant go safe this time. we need to hit some gems. we need talent and speed.

IMO, it’s more likely the Rangers move up for Kravtsov not Farabee.

 

[DutchShamrock]

I think Chicago is a big wild card in terms of who is available for us. They dip into the same type of guys the Rangers like to.

If Hughes is there at 8, I don't see anyway they pass on him. Kane was at the Worlds talking about how great it would be to have him on the team.

I think it'll come down to Wahlstrom or Hughes for them, and I think they lean Hughes. And then the Rangers get the guy they passed on

Couldn't agree more. Exactly how I see it.

Kotkaniemi and Dobson’s respective rises are a part of that...the need for centers, combined with a Dman that won’t take as much time to arrive.

Zadina also dropped...and that was out of the top 3. Should we also be concerned?

Zadina dropped because others rose based on superb play and positional needs, namely defense. Boqvist is in that category of overwhelming need, yet dropped. Boqvist has play and size concerns too. I've heard talking heads wonder if he is good enough in his zone. And his self professed long term development path could have factored into his drop.

It only takes one team to turn the low ranking into a high pick.

 

[NYR Viper]

I feel like, somewhat, the center position has officially become OVERVALUED in terms of draft picks. So many teams seem willing to pass on better talents at wing to bring in a center. Kotkaniemi, Hayton and Veleno are good examples.

 

[DutchShamrock]

I feel like, somewhat, the center position has officially become OVERVALUED in terms of draft picks. So many teams seem willing to pass on better talents at wing to bring in a center. Kotkaniemi, Hayton and Veleno are good examples.

Wing was low key the mvp position this season. Hall during the regular season. Kucherov. Ovie in the playoffs, Backstrom, Kuznetsov and burakovsky were all hurt. Obviously wing isn't more important but the disparity is overplayed.

 

[NYR Viper]

Wing was low key the mvp position this season. Hall during the regular season. Kucherov. Ovie in the playoffs, Backstrom, Kuznetsov and burakovsky were all hurt. Obviously wing isn't more important but the disparity is overplayed.

I agree with this. I am not by any means saying that center is not more important, but I feel like the pendulum has swung too far

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Wing was low key the mvp position this season. Hall during the regular season. Kucherov. Ovie in the playoffs, Backstrom, Kuznetsov and burakovsky were all hurt. Obviously wing isn't more important but the disparity is overplayed.

Kuznetzov had one of the best post seasons of this century, the other two Hart candidates are centers, with the other two Lindsay candidates being centers

 

[offdacrossbar]

IMO, it’s more likely the Rangers move up for Kravtsov not Farabee.

i happen to like farabee more than many here. i think the kids gonna be a stud.

i also believe we can grab a highly skilled russian end of round 1 without moving up.

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

I agree with this. I am not by any means saying that center is not more important, but I feel like the pendulum has swung too far

In terms of this particular draft, I agree, you can’t make players available better than they are. But overall I disagree

 

[Beer League Sniper]

I agree with this. I am not by any means saying that center is not more important, but I feel like the pendulum has swung too far

We need elite talent. BPA all the way.

If it's truly a tie, pick for positional value or organizational need.

I think teams talk themselves into making need picks far too often.

 

[Pizza]

....just my gut feeling that some people around here are gonna need to be peeled off the ceiling after round 1...lol.

 

[Edge]

I think you’re misconstruing what was said. I believe what was said was that the Rangers believe a player they like in their top ten will fall to them, meaning someone they have ranked higher than 9 will be there, such as Wahlström or Hughes.

Food for thought, it could very well be someone we don't have in the top 10.

For example, they could have Kravtsov ranked 5th or 6th in the draft. We might have him in the low teens, other teams outside the top 10. But it would still hold true to what the Rangers previously said.

With that out of the way, I can help but think they're referring to someone whose been widely seen as being top 8 for the most of the year.

 

[Beer League Sniper]

....just my gut feeling that some people around here are gonna need to be peeled off the ceiling after round 1...lol.

There's so much talent available that the only way I see posters flipping out is if we go way off the board and pick someone like Noel at 9. At 26 and 28, they again would have to go way, way off the board with players in the 20-50 range being so close terms of skill.

 

[Ghost of jas]

Don't love it...Thats for sure.

Considering the Rangers have ample depth at the positions those last two players occupy, I’m guessing neither one is on the Rangers’ radar.

 

[Edge]

....just my gut feeling that some people around here are gonna need to be peeled off the ceiling after round 1...lol.

Because of where we're at as a franchise, and because we have three picks, and because this draft is of monumental importance to the next 5-10 years, and because there are certain players and scenarios we've talked to death around here ---

it's going to be an arduous task to match the image or fantasy a lot of us have in our heads.

It's difficult to go from fantasizing about making shrewd moves and leaving Dallas with Zadina, Kravtsov and a haul in tow, to a more plausible reality of leaving with very good, but not nearly as exciting prospects.

 

[bobbop]

If the Rangers have honed in on Boqvist, I am certain they have done significant medical due diligence. These guys are not stupid. If there's a significant medical problem, he will be off their board. And likely others too.

Medical evaluation has changed and gotten much more stringent over the past few years. With a premium pick this high for the first (and perhaps the last time) for a while, they have no margin for error.

Small outside chance he drops like a rock. Then you know something is really up,

 

[offdacrossbar]

Because of where we're at as a franchise, and because we have three picks, and because this draft is of monumental importance to the next 5-10 years, and because there are certain players and scenarios we've talked to death around here ---

it's going to be an arduous task to match the image or fantasy a lot of us have in our heads.

It's difficult to go from fantasizing about making shrewd moves and leaving Dallas with Zadina, Kravtsov and a haul in tow, to a more plausible reality of leaving with very good, but not nearly as exciting prospects.

as long as we dont leave with mcilrath, jessiman and bobby sangunetti

 

[bobbop]

I read that Gorton said Clark has a nice list of players who he thinks they will be available late first, early second. I'll be curious if our musings here end up matching the picks in that range.