I'm very comfortable with the reality that every team has their own list, the media hivemind/bubble that forms consensus lists is not reality, never is.
2024
I was nonetheless very surprised that the Flyers traded out of the position to draft Zeev Buium at #12, that was just astonishing to me. I believe they said something about not wanting to crowd out Cam York? Okay.
Demidov going to #5 is a bit of a head scratcher for me. But I'm less surprised at Sennecke and Lindstrom going high (it might not work in hindsight, but the upside is incredibly tantalizing with those two). It's really Levshunov vs Demidov that had me scratching my head. I didn't have Levshunov in the top ten and couldn't believe what the Hawks were doing. I kept thinking the talk of him going second was a smokescreen.
2023
This draft had very little surprise for me. HF is shocked that tiny players like Michkov and Benson slipped, as if that doesn't happen every year. However misguided it may be, it happens every damn time. And of course Simashev and But went higher than the consensus lists had them.
I also thought the public discussion on Leo Carlsson was oddly quiet - his hype should have been much closer to Fantilli and Bedard level, and it was one tenth of that. So I wasn't super surprised when he went second.
2022
I was anti-Wright all year so not surprised at all that he went fourth. Fun to see the reactions though! (I'm now a bit more bullish on Wright, I have flipped vs the consensus)
We were warned that Nemec could go second, but why? I still don't fully know. His tools were never that special. Why force a D pick there?
Korchinski at 7? Why? He was a distant third for me in a comparison group with Mintyukov and Mateychuk, just a more sloppy player with more vulnerable pivots. Korchinski was Chabot if it all works out, so basically not worth picking top ten.
2021
Zach Dean going #30 instead of top twelve is not what I expected based on my viewings, I thought he was going to be a much better player. Oops.
My Scott Morrow fixation has looked better in retrospect.
Everyone here is now saying they were surprised Edvinsson slipped to #6. I was one of like three posters that were crazy about him, and the rest of HF was crickets. There was little media hype. He looked like a potential superstar to me, but given the lack of hype it wasn't surprising that high upside prospects like Luke Hughes or Kent Johnson went ahead of him. Jarmo taking KJ was a tiny bit surprising since he had rarely gone for such a risky creative player type. Regardless, I think the pick looks good for all three of those clubs.
Not that surprised at the Tyler Boucher pick at #10, the upside in that draft falls off a cliff at #9 (there was a clear top 9 in almost everyone's list). And Boucher was a lethal shooter who hit incredibly hard. His value would have become a little more obvious to people if he didn't fall apart physically. I'm not saying high end value - but fine compared to the comparison group of Sillinger and Coronato, in other words not the most valuable group at that point in the draft.
2020
The biggest one - why isn't it obvious that Seth Jarvis is a top 5 pick?? His WHL footage in that second half was jaw dropping for me. He never takes contact that he doesn't initiate so for me he should have been exempt from the small bois always fall rule. HF was also not very high on him, despite usually being the small boi fan club.
I didn't know who Yegor Chinakhov was and be honest, neither did you. If he can get healthy he has superstar upside, and I need to see it happen.
Why Holtz at #7? One dimensional shooters are not that hard to get and this draft is loaded. Take something harder to get.
Shakir Mukhamadullin at #20 is fine. Not a great pick but the public scout freakout was shameful. He's a good player.
I had Reichel and Mercer closer to #10 than #20. Reichel did not become who I thought he would be, he's such a shrinking violet and I thought he would get a lot stronger and outsmart opponents more. Mercer is the crafty whiz kid I expected, he hasn't developed consistency yet but I still think he's going to be a brilliant top six forward in the end.
I'm still in shock we got Matthew Tkachuk at 6th in 2016.
A bunch of us on the CFHF board were at a draft party and I don't recall anyone saying "what if we got Tkachuk at 6th" cause it didn't seem plausible.
#1 - Toronto was picking Matthews, that was a no brainer.
#2 - Winnipeg was picking Laine, also a no brainer.
#3 - Kekalainen has to be picking one of the Finns. He's probably got some inside scoop that nobody else does. Nope, he picks PLD.
#4 - Damn, Oilers are gonna take Tkachuk. Nope, Puljujarvi!
#5 - Okay, then it's no brainer, Vancouver is definitely taking Tkachuk. What?? Juolevi???
#6 - Flames pick Tkachuk!?
I know a lot of people questioned his skating ability, but I don't think any of us at the draft party expected him to drop that low. I was certain he was going to go 3rd or 4th.
You can be in shock, but let's be real most everyone thought Puljujarvi was going top 3. And if not that, then surely 4. Tkachuk going ahead of him would have been much more surprising.
Also not sure what you mean that Kekalainen didn't have the inside scoop, he made the very surprising yet correct decision.