That's....bold. Pastrnak has scored 60+ goals in the NHL. I don't really know what to think about him, but at least he's got interesting potential. We didn't draft a 3rd line winger with a lottery pick like last season.Think this fella will turn into our own Pastrnak.
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Prospect Info: Matvei Gridin - 2024 Draft #28 Overall
- Thread starter Ace Rimmer
- Start date
Flames Fanatic
Mediocre
16th overall for Honzek.... let's keep things in perspective. He wasn't my first choice either for the record, but 16th well after the draft lottery isn't really a lottery pick.
Unless you mean more so in terms of gamble/upside style pick, not the usual meaning of what lottery pick means in the NHL (just triple checking).
No I meant it like a lottery pick as in teams outside the playoffs that were in the lottery. You got my meaning right.
I guess I look and see players like Oliver Moore who is and was clearly a top 6 center or ASP who was clearly a top 4 defenseman and then examine our pick who was clearly worse than Heidt who went at the end of the 2nd round.
I get what you mean, it's not a top 8 pick, it's a mid-1st that is only technically in the lottery, but this was also a draft where there were multiple top 6 C's available well after our pick and we went with the 3rd line winger.
FWIW, I liked this draft and the work done by the scouting staff. 4 of our top 6 picks were guys I had in my top 3 players available when they were picked. Battaglia and the Russian goalie were the 2 who weren't, but I know nothing about the Russian goalie. We even took 2 guys I had as the BPA out of those top 4 in Mews and Basha.
Flames Fanatic
Mediocre
I was all aboard the Perrault train, and still wanted a center failing that too for what it's worth.
Anglesmith
Setting up the play?
This is a bit disingenuous though; I'm guessing a bit tongue in cheek. Obviously the Flames weren't "going with a third line winger," they were going with Honzek over those guys, meaning they expect him to be better than those guys.
Gridin could have a terrible year next season, and that doesn't mean the Flames were going for a bottom six player with him.
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It's probably not tongue in cheeks, DD makes tons of ridiculous statements that make absolutely no sense.
It's not tongue in cheek. It was pretty apparent what he was the year before they drafted him. He doesn't have the hockey IQ to play center.
Tons of right statements. Just because you don't have a solid understanding of what is required to play C in the NHL doesn't mean I don't.
Tkachuk Norris
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JPeeper
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Bro he saw him play 2 games ok, he knows what he's talking about.
Personally I've only ever watched him a couple times and didn't come out impressed personally, still put up points in those games and had good offensive opportunities, but he didn't drive the play at all and didn't impose his will for a big dude (although he destroyed someone which was a BS penalty). Reminded me of Ruzicka's lazy play where he's a huge guy that plays so passively. Guy had a bad year and now everything is coming up bust, just ignorant takes.
Whether there are reasons for it or not, Honzek straight up regressed from 1.3 PPG to .93 PPG. That seems like a pretty large red flag for a prospect taken 16th overall to me.
Plus, a very underwhelming WJC as a 19 year old despite 3 goals.
Seems like things are not trending well for him.
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He had so many injuries this year, it wouldn't be shocking if he was playing tentatively
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You gave to consider injuries too, kid only played half a season with his best linemate graduating from the CHL. Playing 33 games split up by injuries makes it hard to get going, especially on a shiity offensive team
Anglesmith
Setting up the play?
So your conviction is that the Flames saw him as a third line winger and picked him anyway above players that they would have had as top six centres? Genuinely?
Kind of indicates not really grasping how prospect projection, floor/ceiling concepts and drafting work. Which juxtaposes the confidence with which you are speaking with regards to prospects. That's why I assumed you were being ironic.
Yes in person. I said this when we drafted him. He should have been a 2nd round pick and isn't as good as Heidt.
Definitely not saying the Flames projected him as a 3rd line winger. I'm saying that's what he'll be and they got it very, very wrong. 20+ players taken after him would have almost certainly been better picks. This was a Flames throwback pick to the early 2000's, where we over emphasize size. He's more skilled than names like Chucko and Eric Nystrom, but he has no ceiling. There's zero hockey sense and limited skill. He has size and moves fine, but not an elite skater either.
Look, I get it. I'm often in the minority, but I'm also often right when I take those positions. This draft we did well. Our top pick last year was horrible at the time and looks even worse a year later.
All factors, sure. But you’d want a 16th overall pick to go back and be his junior teams offence (or at least a large part of it), not get overshadowed by your 4th round pick from the same year, and a 2025 draft eligible.
Regardless, I’ll give him another year until I pass true judgement. Was always vocal about going ASP, but oh well
Anglesmith
Setting up the play?
Okay, I'm just pointing out that that wasn't what you were saying. You said they had top six centres on the board and they "went with the third line winger," which implies that that was their intent just from the wording.
I think it's one thing to criticize the pick- fair enough, and obviously all we can do is hope for the best- but ultimately you know that they were going for ceiling on that pick, not settling for the safest pick.
To be clear. I think they got neither ceiling or a safe pick. It was a bad pick because we thought the prospect pool was lacking in size. I think they picked a guy in the lottery who should have gone somewhere in the 40s.
That said, I hope I'm wrong.
Ace Rimmer
Stoke me a clipper.
I mean, good for you that you think he's was a bad pick, but the experts, at least at the time, appear to disagree with you.
Central scouting - #9 for North American skaters
NHL Draft Prospects Rankings | NHL.com
Top prospects for the NHL Draft as ranked by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.
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Sportsnet: #12
Recruit Scouting: #30
2023 NHL Draft Rankings: Gabriel Foley's Final Top 100
In his final updated 2023 NHL Draft rankings, Head of North American Scouting Gabriel Foley breaks down his Top 100 players in the class.
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Dobber's Prospects: #18
DP Scouting Team’s Final Rankings for the 2023 NHL Draft
The 2023 NHL Draft Class is a special one for a number of reasons. First, it contains an undoubtedly generational talent. Second, its depth is remarkable, our Top 50 prospects are, in our estimation, first-round talents. Third, it was the first draft class to regain the privilege of a "normal"...
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Eyes on the Prize (Consensus Rankings): #18
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The 2023 NHL Entry Draft begins on Wednesday, and EOTP has been keeping track of most of the rankings to come out ahead of the draft. Some rankings have more correlation to how the draft will unfold…
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This situation often gets compared to the Jankowski pick where the Flames went right off board to pick him. This isn't the same.
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Learned an interesting piece of context on Gridin’s season last year, it can actually be split in to two parts. He would start off the season in a depth role on the team, only adding 5 points in his first 18 games. Then the team underwent a coaching change, with the new coach seeing something in Gridin and elevating his role. Gridin would go on to absolutely wallop the league for the rest of the season, scoring 78 points the remaining 42 games, including 14 in 7 against the USNDTP, and being pointless in 1 game the rest of the season.
Why this is so interesting is that points pace (1.87 p/g) would be the best in the last decade by a draft eligible outside the USNDTP.
Edit: Wasn’t told the truth and wasn’t able to fact check the numbers without access to USHL game logs, the coaching change happened in 2022-23, not 23-24.
Why this is so interesting is that points pace (1.87 p/g) would be the best in the last decade by a draft eligible outside the USNDTP.
Edit: Wasn’t told the truth and wasn’t able to fact check the numbers without access to USHL game logs, the coaching change happened in 2022-23, not 23-24.
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HighLifeMan
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I think you are mixing up his two USHL seasons. His rookie year he started with just 5 points in his first 19 games, and then finished with 16 in 21 down the stretch.
This past year his game logs show him scoring 18 points during hist first 10 games of the season last year.
He had one bad month (late Octobter-late November) where he only had 4 points in 10 games but otherwise he was consistently producing elite offensive totals (79 points in 50 games / 1.58 pts/g)
Yea for once I didn’t double check the numbers myself, didn’t have access to the game logs for the USHL so I believed the source when I heard it. A quick fact check shows the coach stepped was hired in 2022-23, and was promoted to the head coach that season in December, so looks like I was misled. Makes sense, even with how high end of a season he had, that 1.87 p/g would’ve put him in an all time group.
