I have what I believe are interesting questions for the draft-heads out there:
Thinking back to last year, before the Avs drafted Guylayev, would you have taken him there or was there another prospect you liked more?
Now after their D+1 seasons, is there someone else we should have considered at 31?
There are a number of guys I liked more and as we are through the +1 guys who moved up. But it is rather hard to gauge at this point. With the two picks the Avs were clearly splitting center and defense, so they weren't going to consider a goalie or forward with the pick at that point. Guys like Edstrom, Hrabal, Wahlberg, Cristall, Barkey, Nelson, etc were not really a choice. Instead you're looking at Gibson, Morin, Akey, Brzustewicz, etc. Guylayev didn't have the +1 jump of Gibson or Brzustewicz... but he didn't fall like Akey (through no real fault of Akey, he got busted up his shoulder early).
Specifically with Guylayev, you're taking a couple risks. First, he's not likely to be in NA full time prior to his +4. Maybe you get an end of the +3 season, but really +4 is where you are targeting NA. +5 is where you're looking at him in the NHL, at least in an impact role. Then, Russia develops their defensemen completely differently, which is also a huge risk. You can see in his game the talent he possesses, but you also see how neutered he is in impacting the game because of the style in the KHL. You have no control over that, so you have to hope that doesn't neuter his game coming over. It will probably take a full season, at least, to pull that out of his game. So you're facing some headwinds prior to him even stepping foot in NA. By that time you have to hope you can mold him into NA hockey and utilize his skill set here. When you get beyond all of that, you have an undersized, but great skating transition defender who doesn't have elite offense or defensive skills. He's not likely to be a 60 point guy, but he's also not likely to be your top PK defender. Maybe in the right situation he's a 2, but really more of a 3/4 sort (which is good value out of a late 1st).
If I'm labeling one guy they missed from the defensive side, it is Andrew Gibson. His offense won't translate like his +1 might indicate (I think he's more a 25 point guy), but he showed it probably won't be an issue as he moves up. His defense, skating (very, very good for a guy at 6'4"), physicality, etc all point to a top PK 2/3 right shot shutdown D (ideally middle pairing) with decent to good puck movement that you pair with a dynamic puck mover.
