Prospect Info: NHL Draft 2018 - Friday...Friday...

[Matias Maccete]

My preferences assuming the top 2 are locks:
Zadina
Hughes
Kotka (pretty sure he's going to the habs though)
Wahlstrom
Bouchard
Tkachuk
Dobson
Other players I haven't even watched
Boqvist

Boqvist has talent, but his concussions at that age are terrifying. Unless he falls big time and we trade up to get him, or trade back quite a bit, I want nothing to do with him.

 

[rt]

My preferences assuming the top 2 are locks:
Zadina
Hughes
Kotka (pretty sure he's going to the habs though)
Wahlstrom
Bouchard
Tkachuk
Dobson
Other players I haven't even watched
Boqvist

Boqvist has talent, but his concussions at that age are terrifying. Unless he falls big time and we trade up to get him, or trade back quite a bit, I want nothing to do with him.

Reverse Wahlstrom and Kotkaniemi and that’s my list.

 

[mouser]

The 2018 annual Moderator Mock Draft results have been posted.

I didn’t focus on “positional” needs and instead picked the players with imo the highest upsides at those spots, willing to accept a little more risk in return for potential ceiling. As a result, I ended up picking a LHD and a LW. Feel free to savage my choices.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/thre...ft-results-two-rounds.2504979/#post-147037877

p.s. I am very curious to hear the responses on my 2nd round pick. Have a feeling this player is going to be picked a lot higher then most consensus draft lists have him due to his intriguing combo of size, skill and age.

 

[rt]

The 2018 annual Moderator Mock Draft results have been posted.

I didn’t focus on “positional” needs and instead picked the players with imo the highest upsides at those spots, willing to accept a little more risk in return for potential ceiling. As a result, I ended up picking a LHD and a LW. Feel free to savage my choices.

https://hfboards.mandatory.com/thre...ft-results-two-rounds.2504979/#post-147037877

p.s. I am very curious to hear the responses on my 2nd round pick. Have a feeling this player is going to be picked a lot higher then most consensus draft lists have him due to his intriguing combo of size, skill and age.

Good job!

 

[rt]

I don't know if this is allowed. I think I'm posting just a little snip of the total article and I'm okay, as a result. If the mods want me to trim just down to the Coyotes pick, I'd be happy to:

Corey Pronman's 2018 NHL Mock Draft: Who's selected after...

1. Buffalo: Rasmus Dahlin, D, Frolunda-SHL
Not much intrigue at No. 1. He’s their pick, he’s their franchise defenseman. I don’t ever want to say something is 100 percent guaranteed in the draft, but this is a 98 percent likely pick.

2. Carolina: Andrei Svechnikov, LW, Barrie-OHL
Not much intrigue here either. From Carolina’s own public statements to what NHL sources believe, he’s their pick, too. He steps in right away and could make a decent impact for a team looking for a quick turnaround.

3. Montreal: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, Assat-Liiga
Finally, intrigue! The Habs interest in Kotkaniemi has gotten around a lot already, probably more than they’d like it to. They’ve tried approaching teams to trade down, but there’s only so far they can trade down without risking losing their guy, and given that the industry has an idea of who they want, they lose value on the trade up. I don’t think Kotkaniemi is a 100 percent guarantee to Montreal, but this seems to be the safe bet.

4. Ottawa: Filip Zadina, RW, Halifax-QMJHL
Ottawa has shown interest in Zadina, Brady Tkachuk, Evan Bouchard and Quinn Hughes, but I believe they are looking to add skill and scoring to their org, and while passing up a guy like Bouchard or Hughes would hurt given they will likely lose Erik Karlsson, Zadina will be too much talent and goal-scoring potential for them to pass on.

5. Arizona: Quinn Hughes, D, Michigan-Big 10
Arizona has been a hard team to nail down. I’ve heard them linked to Hughes, Tkachuk and Oliver Wahlstrom, and I bounced between all three in my mock draft iterations. Hughes’ great end to the season, his elite skill set and given what Arizona management typically values leads me to think he will be the pick. Hughes’ ability to fill an organizational need for a top-end puck mover doesn’t hurt either, but the reported Oliver Ekman-Larsson extension, I hear, won’t affect who they pick.

 

[Jagged Ice]

I'll be happy with Hughes. That addition would solidify our future top four by the time he's ready. We'll learn a lot about our forwards this season, especially down the middle, so going D over F isn't as painful to me despite the holes we still have on offense. Hughes is probably three seasons away though right? Where's this franchise going to be in three years? Is this a draft pick for Houston? Not that we draft based on that, but I can't help but selfishly consider that and if we're going for a defenseman we should take Bouchard.
I'm starting to think the team is going to find a way to stay, and that the NHL wants them to stay, but I can't help but feel we should go with the most NHL ready player.
Pronman could be right on this one, Hughes is probably the BPA at five. I'll even put him above Kotkaniemi as BPA after the obvious three.

 

[Jagged Ice]

After saying that, I want Wahlstrom or Tkachuk. Ha!

 

[mouser]

The gist I’ve gotten from scouting reports is Dobson is most likely the furthest away, with most guessing 3 years. Have seen a lot of Hughes projections he could be capable of playing in the NHL in as soon as a year. That doesn’t mean he’d be fully developed, just that his skating and positional ability may be good enough that he could fill a bottom pairing role while learning on the job in the NHL.

 

[AZviaNJ]

My 2018 Mock/guess. Hughes to AZ at 5, McLaughlin at 55, Hillis at 65, Johansson at 73, Back at 74

Where they'll go:			Player Ranking
1	Buffalo	Dahlin/D		1
2	Carolina	Svechnikov/RW		2
3	Montreal	Kotkaniemi/C		9
4	Ottawa/Col	Zadina/RW		3
5	Arizona	Hughes/D		4
6	Detroit	Bouchard/D		8
7	Vancouver	Dobson/D		6
8	Chicago	Tkachuk/LW		7
9	NYR	Walhstrom/RW		5
10	Edmonton	Bovqist/D		10
11	NYI	Hayton/C		11
12	NYI	Ty Smith/D		14
13	Dallas	Veleno/C		12
14	Philly	Farabee/LW		13
15	Florida	Kravtsov/RW		15
16	Colorado	Kupari/C		16
17	New Jersey	Wilde/D		17
18	Columbus	Berggren/C-W		18
19	Philly	Lundestrom/C		19
20	Los Angeles	Noel/RW		21
21	San Jose	Merkley/D		20
22	Ottawa	Wise/C		23
23	Anaheim	McIssac/D		24
24	Minnesota	Denisenko/LW		25
25	Toronto	Sandin/D		22
26	NYR	Miller/D		26
27	Chicago	Dellandrea/C		27
28	NYR	Lunkqvist D		28
29	St Louis	Thomas/C		29
30	Detroit	McLeod/C		30
31	Washington	Bokk/RW		31
55	Arizona	McLaughlin/C (possible move up for Foudy)
65	Arizona	Hillis/C
73	Arizona	Johansson/RD
74	Arizona	Back/C-W

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Mosby]

If we go Tkachuk, I'd like to give him the 10 game look (or at least a few games) then assign him to London. I think his offense would really come out in the OHL. At the same time, I'm a little skeptical of BU now with Quinn gone.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

I'd kill to see Chayka's/Barnhardt & Crews draft rankings.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

There should be a rule that all the teams must release there draft rankings after the draft...everyone would spend eons of time discussing the order and such...it would be great.

 

[Jormungandr]

If we go Tkachuk, I'd like to give him the 10 game look (or at least a few games) then assign him to London. I think his offense would really come out in the OHL. At the same time, I'm a little skeptical of BU now with Quinn gone.

I agree with this. Normally I favor the NCAA over the CHL but with Quinn gone, I’d have to agree.

 

[rt]

@AZviaNJ - I’ll take it!

 

[BUX7PHX]

Referring to this article??

http://arizonasports.com/story/1565...-tim-bernhardt/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

So did anyone else catch the little nugget about Galchenyuk and where he may also fit?

Paraphrasing the quote here but, "John goes out and gets a C/RW."

I just found that a little more than interesting, b/c if the problem of too many centers is that all of them are playing to their potential and we need to move someone, maybe Galchenyuk becomes an easier option to slide to RW than say, Dvorak/Strome to LW.

Anyhow, if the idea is to maximize the tangible skill and talent within the organization, the order is probably:

Zadina
Hughes
Wahlstrom
Boqvist
Tkachuk
Bouchard
Dobson
Smith

If Zadina is there, we take him. Otherwise, I think we have some really interesting options. I could see many possibilities and my preference would be in this order, assuming that Dahlin, Svechnikov, and Kotkaniemi are the first 3 off the board:

Zadina
Wahlstrom
Bouchard
Tkachuk
Dobson
Hughes
Smith
Boqvist

 

[IPreferPi]

Galchenyuk is a goal scorer, so perhaps putting him on his offhand/offwing maximizes that.

 

[Mosby]

Saw today that the Habs as well took Tkachuk to dinner. Kotkaniemi to Montreal still seems like the best bet, but it's not 100%.

Still haven't seen anything about the Coyotes and dinners. Considering our budget, it was probably just a walk down to the vending machines at the combine.

 

[TheLegend]

Saw today that the Habs as well took Tkachuk to dinner. Kotkaniemi to Montreal still seems like the best bet, but it's not 100%.

Still haven't seen anything about the Coyotes and dinners. Considering our budget, it was probably just a walk down to the vending machines at the combine.

Today was Taco Tuesday.

 

[TheLegend]

BTW..... we need a new ECHL affiliate.

We've parted ways with Fort Wayne (Komets).

 

[Ebb]

BTW..... we need a new ECHL affiliate.

We've parted ways with Fort Wayne (Komets).

Well, we only really supply 1-3 players, so I guess it doesn't matter too much who we go with. Looks like Swamp Rabbits or Solar Bears unless the Admirals opt to no longer be independent.

Personally, I wonder if we even need an ECHL affiliate, but I suppose Tucson wouldn't mind it.

I say go with the Swamp Rabbits; small arena, small market, decent in the standings last season (#9). Of course with our hands off approach as an affiliate, we'll probably end up in Orlando (#19 last season).

 

[Ebb]

The 2018 annual Moderator Mock Draft results have been posted.

p.s. I am very curious to hear the responses on my 2nd round pick. Have a feeling this player is going to be picked a lot higher then most consensus draft lists have him due to his intriguing combo of size, skill and age.

I'm in favor (he's in my initial list at #55). Of course I haven't done much in the way of research or anything

My picks (for what they're worth):

#55 RW | Albin Eriksson (6'4, 207 lbs, RHS)
#65 D | Xavier Bouchard (6'4, 190 lbs, RHS)
#73 D | Adam Samuelsson ( 6'6, 240 lbs, LHS) [3rd time's a charm?]
#74 RW | Adam Klapka (6'7, 236 lbs, RHS)
#158 C | Nathan Dunkley (5'11, 192, LHS)
#189 G | Justus Annunen (6'4, 217 lbs, L) [kind of doubt he'll be there, but how many goalies usually get drafted and is this draft a weak one?]

#73 or #74 (Alternative) C | Curtis Douglas (6'8, 248 lbs, LHS)
#189 (Alternative) RW |Justin Brazeau (6'7, 221 lbs, RHS)​

 

[rt]

If Zadina is there, we take him.

I wouldn’t be so sure. Most scouts have Tkachuk ahead and many have Zadina out of the top five. If Montreal takes Kotkaniemi and Ottawa takes a D, it would be my expectation that we pass on Zadina and take Tkachuk instead. I would HOPE for Zadina and I would expect Tkachuk.

 

[moosemeister]

I wouldn’t be so sure. Most scouts have Tkachuk ahead and many have Zadina out of the top five. If Montreal takes Kotkaniemi and Ottawa takes a D, it would be my expectation that we pass on Zadina and take Tkachuk instead. I would HOPE for Zadina and I would expect Tkachuk.

You just ruined my night

 

[XX]

I don't get the obsession with Brady.

A lot of scrubs have the "drive" that he does, and in some cases the measurables. I feel like he's getting by on name alone at this point.

 

[rt]

Saw today that the Habs as well took Tkachuk to dinner. Kotkaniemi to Montreal still seems like the best bet, but it's not 100%.

Still haven't seen anything about the Coyotes and dinners. Considering our budget, it was probably just a walk down to the vending machines at the combine.

There’s a video on the Sens site I haven’t watched yet but mean to that has Tkachuk and Zadina touring their arena together.

Gun to my head prediction of our board is:
1. Dahlin
2. Svechnikov
3. Tkachuk
4. Zadina

Gun to my head prediction of the top three:
BUF Dahlin
CAR Svechnikov
MTL Kotkaniemi

Which means I’d bet money that we take whichever of Tkachuk or Zadina are left after the Ottawa pick. If both are on the board, I’m guessing we take Tkachuk.

I hope Montreal takes Kotkaniemi and I hope Ottawa takes Tkachuk. I think both of those things have to happen to give us a real shot at Zadina.