Prospect Info: - Lukas Dragicevic - RHD (Round 2, Pick #57 - 2023 Draft) | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League
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Prospect Info: Lukas Dragicevic - RHD (Round 2, Pick #57 - 2023 Draft)

RainyCityHockey

RainyCityHockey

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Dec 24, 2019
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Dragicevic, born in Richmond, British Columbia, is a defenseman in the WHL. The right-shot defender played for the Tri-City Americans for parts of the last three seasons. Standing at 6’4” and 181 pounds, his production from the blueline this season was impressive. In 68 games, he managed to produce 15 goals and 60 assists for 75 points. With over a point per game from the back end, Dragicevic has lately been considered a late first-round option or early second-round option for teams.

lastwordonsports.com

2023 NHL Scouting Report #23: Lukas Dragicevic

The 2023 draft has some promising blueliners. But outside of the top-ranked guys, it becomes thin. A boom-or-bust option is Lukas Dragicevic.
lastwordonsports.com
 
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landy92mack29 said:
Biggest steal of the draft and think he'll be your franchise dmen in time, will run PP1 at the very least. Insanely high hockey IQ and moves the puck the best from the blueline of any dman this draft. No clue year after year how nhl teams let these talents fall to the 2nd similar to Weber/Josi/Subban/etc
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As Kraken fans we definitely hope you are right .. :D
 
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Sounds like the offensive chops are certainly there - how's this kid at keeping the other team from scoring?
 
Watched some videos on the kid.

- Holy crap, is he dynamic offensively.
- Skating needs improvement but didn't seem that bad to me.
- Defense, especially net front, needs work, but I think that can be taught. He has the size to clean up the front of the net and is still growing. Some more muscle will help.

I am hoping that him dropping was one of the cases of overscouting where the scouts focused too much on the holes they had than their strengths. I have similar thoughts on Sale but I am a bargain basement scout. Even by HFBoards standards.
 
Fistfullofbeer said:
Watched some videos on the kid.

- Holy crap, is he dynamic offensively.
- Skating needs improvement but didn't seem that bad to me.
- Defense, especially net front, needs work, but I think that can be taught. He has the size to clean up the front of the net and is still growing. Some more muscle will help.

I am hoping that him dropping was one of the cases of overscouting where the scouts focused too much on the holes they had than their strengths. I have similar thoughts on Sale but I am a bargain basement scout. Even by HFBoards standards.
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His passing game is amazing. He can go tape to tape without selling where he's going. Very deceptive.

I can understand some of the bad defense because Lukas is so new to the position (I heard he's only been a D for 3 years). But the skating is legit concerning for me. His stride, his pivots, it all makes it difficult for him to keep up.

There have been some comparisons to the Oilers Bouchard, big offense but slow, except Drag is a passer not a shooter like Bouchard.
 
I live in Vancouver and saw him play from U11 to bantam. You guys got a steal of a pick. I know his dad. My kids went to their summer camps.

What is sad is that his parents are oiler fans and he was picked after the oilers picked.

Fistfullofbeer said:
Watched some videos on the kid.

- Holy crap, is he dynamic offensively.
- Skating needs improvement but didn't seem that bad to me.
- Defense, especially net front, needs work, but I think that can be taught. He has the size to clean up the front of the net and is still growing. Some more muscle will help.

I am hoping that him dropping was one of the cases of overscouting where the scouts focused too much on the holes they had than their strengths. I have similar thoughts on Sale but I am a bargain basement scout. Even by HFBoards standards.
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Scouts have no clue. I know this kid. Your assessment is spot on.
 
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OilerTitanFan said:
I live in Vancouver and saw him play from U11 to bantam. You guys got a steal of a pick. I know his dad. My kids went to their summer camps.

What is sad is that his parents are oiler fans and he was picked after the oilers picked.


Scouts have no clue. I know this kid. Your assessment is spot on.
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I did read that his dad is a coach and am hoping that the urge to learn and get better is there for Lukas.
 
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Fistfullofbeer said:
I did read that his dad is a coach and am hoping that the urge to learn and get better is there for Lukas.
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Lukas helps out his dad during the summer. It is hard to tell whether he has the drive to learn. He is a 2nd round pick so he have been a good learner to come this far. Whenever I see his dad, we talk about the oilers. I guess it will be more about the kraken now.
 
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OilerTitanFan said:
Lukas helps out his dad during the summer. It is hard to tell whether he has the drive to learn. He is a 2nd round pick so he have been a good learner to come this far. Whenever I see his dad, we talk about the oilers. I guess it will be more about the kraken now.
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He will need to learn to make it to the NHL. We all know skill alone won't cut it. I do think, the more he plays D the better he will get, since he has been only playing that position for 3 years.
 
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Really like the Lukas Dragicevic draft pick! He's only going to get better! I bet he puts up similar numbers Offensively even adding to his goal totals while playing a more Solid Defensive game and improving his Skating. Like the fact that he's a RD-man also and together with TNelsen and V Ottavainen the Kraken are getting closer to being set for the Future on the R-Defense
 
Copy/pasting my response in the Dragicevic thread on the main prospects board. Coming from someone who watched every single Americans game this past season.

I think this season was always going to see a step back offensively from Dragicevic. The Americans as a team lost a lot of offensive weapons from the year before and didn't do a lot to replace them. They scored 50 fewer goals this year than in 2022-23. In fact, they were the third-lowest scoring team in the league. You look at his numbers and aside from assists, they're pretty identical to 2022-23. 14 goals vs 15. 4 power play goals in each year, 220 shots this year vs 211 last year.

The big change was assists. 36 this year vs 60 in 2022-23. Power play assists? 18 this year vs 28 in 2022-23. The Americans power play was 27.3% in 22-23, including 32.6% at home (#1 in the WHL). This year? 19.0% (21st in the WHL) and 22.5% at home. He's a talented player, but he can't do it all himself. The team struggled to score goals and his numbers suffered because of it.

Didn't see as much end-to-end or doing laps around the offensive zone from Dragicevic this year as we saw last year. Maybe that was part of the plan? Wanting him to round out his game a little bit and take fewer risks? It was a frustrating year for the Americans, especially from mid-November on when they won 10 games until the end of the season.

I believe the offensive potential is still there for Dragicevic. I'm sure getting this contract is a big weight off his shoulders and hopefully helps him have a strong finish to his WHL career in 2024-25.
 
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