Prospect Info: The 2016 Draft Thread [Draft Lottery April 30th]

[CornKicker]

Especially after the 1st round. In the 2nd round guys like Benson, Abramov and Bean have huge upside if they fall that far.

exactly, you have to go with the most skilled players, we desperately need to find a 2nd round pick the turns into subban, weber, keith etc. those guys are there we just have to find them and develop them.

 

[McDNicks17]

I think the key is finding players with evident hockey sense.

They don't necessarily have to be the most skilled.

 

[CornKicker]

perfect draft assuming we pick 3rd

1st. 1 of the finns
2nd. Benson
3rd. Sawchenko
3rd Day

 

[Zaddy]

I think the key is finding players with evident hockey sense.

They don't necessarily have to be the most skilled.

Personally the things I prefer the most in a prospect is hockey IQ and skating. While you can improve skating, not many players make drastic development in that area after being drafted. If they're bad/average skaters they have to be really good prospects like Draisaitl, Strome etc. Taking guys with skating issues in the 2nd round and beyond is not very smart. Guys with hockey IQ generally find a way to make it to the NHL in some capacity. Work ethic is obviously very important too.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

exactly, you have to go with the most skilled players, we desperately need to find a 2nd round pick the turns into subban, weber, keith etc. those guys are there we just have to find them and develop them.

Hell I'd be happy with a Gibson/Jenner type.

I posted this elsewhere but Montour - a RHD in the Ducks system, 2nd rounder - has as many points as all 4 of our 2nd rounders combined playing in Bakersfield - Moroz, Pitlick, Musil, and Roy.

That's inexcusably poor drafting.

 

[CornKicker]

Hell I'd be happy with a Gibson/Jenner type.

I posted this elsewhere but Montour - a RHD in the Ducks system, 2nd rounder - has as many points as all 4 of our 2nd rounders combined playing in Bakersfield - Moroz, Pitlick, Musil, and Roy.

That's inexcusably poor drafting.

or development.......but thats an arguement for another day lol

 

[CornKicker]

also we need to lose the mentality of "if we trade eberle then im ok drafting xxxx"

the last 5 years are an anomoly to how an org should be run, we should never draft based on positional need because by the time the players we draft now are ready the team should be drastically different.

 

[Aceboogie]

or development.......but thats an arguement for another day lol

Its poor drafting. The 3rd round and beyond from 2008-2012 was a nightmare. Most of all the picks were coke machines or guys with severely limited upside (low IQ, couldnt skate).

Most of the picks either fizzled out in the CHL/junior or AHL. Cant really put blame on Oilers development for that. Thats on the player as Oilers dont really have a big say in junior development. You can criticize development when player makes it to NHL.

Of the guys that made it to NHL, MPS and Lander were really mishandled. Kept to struggle in NHL on bottom lines.

But after that, Klefbom/Eberle/Davidson all make it and succeeded. Pitlick is 99% on injuries.

The rest (Musil, Hamilton, etc etc) were all poor picks or fizzled out on their own

 

[Aceboogie]

also we need to lose the mentality of "if we trade eberle then im ok drafting xxxx"

the last 5 years are an anomoly to how an org should be run, we should never draft based on positional need because by the time the players we draft now are ready the team should be drastically different.

I agree. Pick BPA in later rounds. No matter the size. So much can happen to the team in 5 years

 

[Aceboogie]

Personally the things I prefer the most in a prospect is hockey IQ and skating. While you can improve skating, not many players make drastic development in that area after being drafted. If they're bad/average skaters they have to be really good prospects like Draisaitl, Strome etc. Taking guys with skating issues in the 2nd round and beyond is not very smart. Guys with hockey IQ generally find a way to make it to the NHL in some capacity. Work ethic is obviously very important too.

Hit the nail on the head. Skating and low hockey IQ is the 2 biggest reasons players fail. You could have size and tools like MPS, but if you have no IQ you wont get far. Similarly, you can have good hockey IQ like Musil, but if you cant skate, you wont make it

Tools like "Shot, release, truculene, dekeing" are all nice things to have. But players build on them (Schremp) will fail more often

Smart players always find a way to succeed

 

[CornKicker]

I agree. Pick BPA in later rounds. No matter the size. So much can happen to the team in 5 years

im a huge booster of BPA always. its not the NFL where a rookie is expected to come in and make a difference.

this years draft for example. tons of people saying we dont need barzal we dont need another small skill winger/player.....fast forward 3 years when realistically we could expect him to compete for a spot and weve traded yakupov, eberle and whoever else and then we say we dont have room for a skilled forward on an ELC?

the board is obsessed with plugging players into the current line up but the reality is the team changes alot in 2-3 years.....just look at our 2012 team to now?

 

[Zaddy]

It's not a bad year to have many picks in the 2nd and 3rd round. Hard to tell which of these guys will become good NHLers so having a lot of picks is not a bad idea. I bet we're going to move most of them but if I'd take a stab at it it would be something like this:

2nd. Pascal Laberge or Jonathan Dahlén
3rd. Victor Mete or Max Lajoie
3rd. Mikhail Berdin or Zach Sawchenko
3rd. Sean Day or Jacob Moverare

There's lots more options obviously. Cam Dineen and Kale Clague could be good 2nd round picks. Same goes for Dillon Dube and Libor Hajek should they still be there. Jordan Kyrou and Boris Katchouk could be good 3rd rounders. As the year goes on I'm starting to slightly like the depth a bit more, but most of these guys are still longshots to become impact guys at the NHL level.

Btw, I actually haven't seen Lajoie play, could anyone give me a good scouting report on him? I know he was highly regarded going into the year but had a rough start. Strengths/weaknesses?

 

[McDNicks17]

Not a fan of Mete(and not just because he refused to sign with the Attack ).

I don't think he's dynamic enough to overcome his size.

 

[Zaddy]

Hit the nail on the head. Skating and low hockey IQ is the 2 biggest reasons players fail. You could have size and tools like MPS, but if you have no IQ you wont get far. Similarly, you can have good hockey IQ like Musil, but if you cant skate, you wont make it

Tools like "Shot, release, truculene, dekeing" are all nice things to have. But players build on them (Schremp) will fail more often

Smart players always find a way to succeed

Exactly. It's why I was so high on Thomas Chabot last year. He's an effortless skater with high hockey IQ. That's a deadly combination. Having those two attributes gives the player a really solid foundation to make it to the NHL. Most other stuff you can work on but skating and IQ is really hard to come by.

 

[Aceboogie]

im a huge booster of BPA always. its not the NFL where a rookie is expected to come in and make a difference.

this years draft for example. tons of people saying we dont need barzal we dont need another small skill winger/player.....fast forward 3 years when realistically we could expect him to compete for a spot and weve traded yakupov, eberle and whoever else and then we say we dont have room for a skilled forward on an ELC?

the board is obsessed with plugging players into the current line up but the reality is the team changes alot in 2-3 years.....just look at our 2012 team to now?

Yup. And alot of people want big bodies in later rounds. But these guys rarely work out and take a while to do so. Look at Pat Maroon, took like 6 years to get where he is.

And these guys can be had for cheaper if you are smart. Maroon was just had for 4th. Id rather trade my 4th for an NHL PWF vs trying to pick one in 4th round and take 6 years to come to fruition (if at all)

We should be looking for Kucherovs/Gaudreaus or just any high upside player in later rounds. No matter the size

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

looking at Lowetide's top 20 prospects...we are in desperate need of re-stocking the shelves

slim pickings at forward

 

[Zaddy]

Not a fan of Mete(and not just because he refused to sign with the Attack ).

I don't think he's dynamic enough to overcome his size.

I've cooled off significantly on him as well but I think he's worth a 3rd round pick. I can agree that he is not that dynamic in the offensive zone but he is still a very good puck mover and skater and I think that is what will give him a good chance at making it to the NHL. He could maybe be a Brian Campbell type.

 

[CornKicker]

i really wish they would either change or add to the combine some on ice drills. like over a weekend run the prospects though a series of skating drills. its way more valuable than wingspan and grip strength lol.

 

[Aceboogie]

If we pick 4th-6th id be in favour of keeping the pick unless we get a pretty great D. Dubios is a very intriguing prospect who compares to Benn, people are saying he has top 3 talent. Chychrun would be great too

If we somehow had to trade Nurse for Hamonic, he would be a good upgrade in 2 years

 

[Aceboogie]

i really wish they would either change or add to the combine some on ice drills. like over a weekend run the prospects though a series of skating drills. its way more valuable than wingspan and grip strength lol.

The whole draft combine is a farce. Grip strength? bench press? neither are useful. Teams who rely on the draft combine are stupid and trying to be like the NFL

Id like to see drills too. To really put them to the test for agility/smarts

Or just play a tourny for the top 100 eligible players. Each team playing 4-5 20 minute games

 

[CornKicker]

The whole draft combine is a farce. Grip strength? bench press? neither are useful. Teams who rely on the draft combine are stupid and trying to be like the NFL

Id like to see drills too. To really put them to the test for agility/smarts

Or just play a tourny for the top 100 eligible players. Each team playing 4-5 20 minute games

if i own a agency im paying for and setting up a NFL proday type week where all my clients are on ice doing 5-8 specific skating/IQ type drills. I guarantee the draft stock of each kid goes up 1/2 a round (after the top grouping).

 

[CornKicker]

we should set it up and charge each kid $250-$350 to participate.

 

[Aceboogie]

if i own a agency im paying for and setting up a NFL proday type week where all my clients are on ice doing 5-8 specific skating/IQ type drills. I guarantee the draft stock of each kid goes up 1/2 a round (after the top grouping).

Thatd be really smart. Could probably stream it online too and people would watch

 

[CornKicker]

Thatd be really smart. Could probably stream it online too and people would watch

if im a kid going into junior and looking for an agent im taking the agency that has a proday for all nhl teams to attend and see me 100%. good or bad they will see me.

 

[CornKicker]

imma delete all these posts and call allan walsh