SEPH's 2019 Winter List
- Thread starter S E P H
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Dominance
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I think one of Dach or Cozens goes too-3, and Byram is the first d-man off the board. Hands down. But in general, I like it a lot. That probably means it is way too NA-centric, though.
FYI this is just my personal list in terms of who will become the best players, not really where I see them going. This draft is going to be super NA I think, all the best birth-year international players either came over to play in USHL/CHL or they're not good enough for the top 62.
MikeC
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From 1 to 10.......12. Seph what a great job!!!!Thanks for sharing and I know you put a lot of work on that list. This is a privilege to be able to have it!!!
theVladiator
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- May 26, 2018
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That's really harsh... I like it! At the same time I have come to see Honka in similar light as Kaliyev - lots of potential but a lot of work. Ultimate boom or bust. I suspect rankings of both players will vary wildly across different rankings - from mid 1st to late 2nd.
Absolutely, I think Josh is a way better player than what his stat line indicates. Zegras is a great prospect, anybody worthy to go in the first round has enough skill to be better than 90% of the rest of the hockey world. However, players like Zegras and Robert Thomas just do not really interest me. Sure they have smarts, talent, and good decision-making with the puck, but there is also a feeling where you're left "meh" watching them.
Williams on the other hand is one of three prospects that I absolutely love for this draft (Nousiainen and Warren are the other two). He's still fairly raw, but holy smokes when he has the puck things happen from him - showing a catalyst ability to make plays happen that I quite like in players. Outside of the top 10 or so, he is definitely one of the most dangerous 1v1 players I have seen this season because he plays with such a good pace and has such underrated hands.One complaint I have is that he's plays majority of the game north to south, where if he's able to showcase more vision in the west to east he will go higher on more NHL teams' lists.
Thanks a lot Mr. Mike! Sounds like you don't agree the rest of my list, huh?
I quite like Honka, I think a lot the hate he gets stems from his brother's lack of success in the NHL and that he has similar strengths and weaknesses to him. However, he has been much superior during his draft year than Julius when he was in the WHL when I've watched Anttoni. He's much calmer with and without the puck and I argue has much better decision making/IQ when he's making a play. He's far from perfect though, I will admit that.
Kaliyev's play away from the puck is absolutely terrible plus he's caught chasing the play since his skating isn't very good either, both are fixable, but both are warning signs that in his current form he should be considered only a wildcard (potentially for a team who have a lot of picks or are able to withstand boom/bust prospects as you alluded to).
MikeC
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Just Linda
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- Feb 24, 2018
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Wowza. Big drop for Suzuki. I had him drop into my 20-23 range but I wouldn't have thought he'd fall further than that. Any reason for that?
This is what I said earlier in the season...
I am starting to have the same concerns about Ryan Suzuki. There are some prospects who I quite like in the OHL, so it isn't a lost year entirely, but I am seeing red flags in a lot of players including Suzuki. One of the biggest is that he is BY FAR one of the worst cherry-picking players I have watched the past five or so drafts. Terrible because he is also a centre so defence is a huge responsibility, but he hangs around the blueline when the puck is in the defencive zone waiting for his team to win the battles and throw it towards his direction. He also has absolutely no defencive ability in his game, but it isn't for a lack of trying (when he isn't cherry-picking that is). His skating is superb and is insanely crafty with the puck, but he tends to stickhandle too much leading to an absurd amount in loss of possession. His vision is also quite good, while his shot is at the muffin level for me. After watching him a couple of times, no way I would want him in the top 20 as he is now. Not sure if he is even a centre in the long run as well.
Just Linda
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- Feb 24, 2018
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Thanks. I have quite a similiar impression of him. Ton of skill and ability, next to no engagement. Incredibly high ceiling with almost no chance of reaching it.
Yeah, the type of game he currently plays will absolutely not help him at all when it comes to reaching the NHL. Every level of hockey beyond juniors is going to be more of best-of-the-best where a ton of bad players will be cut from. Just because he's an impressive stickhandler and skater in juniors doesn't mean anything when the average player in the NHL and AHL are good enough skaters and stickhandlers. He probably will surpass a lot of them in those two categories in his prime, but even with that you're also facing against better IQ players too. That's where I see a limit in his talent and rank him a lot lower compared to other people.
Just Linda
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- Feb 24, 2018
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I agree. I feel that if Suzuki didn't have a vastly superior brother (who overcomes his less frequent tendencies of the same flavours) then he would be considered more of a Merkley/ Ho Sang level of risk reward. I dunno though, if I was someone like the Penguins it would be tempting to take Suzuki with lime a 26th pick.
