Prospect Info: The Second Overall Pick Thread: Part I (Kakko/Hughes Talk)

[Seele]

I think Kakko going to Rangers was pretty much settled last year. Let me tell you why.

My son is a huge Kaapo fan, as you can see. He also picked his first NHL baseball cap last year. It was picked among all the teams and ended up being Rangers cap. So, that pretty much closed the deal in case of where Kaapo was going to go. I should've realized it before.

 

[Jauffre]

Whose man is dis

 

[Larrybiv]

The days after the draft lottery are always "My team was really bad so this is what I deserve." It's pretty pathetic.

And ours' is........."my team has won only one cup in 79 years, and played with integrity through the season, so.... this is what we deserve!

 

[Larrybiv]

We know how Leetch turned out, but an 18 year old Leetch is worse tha Kakko. We are about to grab the best prospect in team history. He may not become the best player ever, but he's certainly the best 18 year old we ever had.

I want him to be the best 32 year old we ever had. Make sense?

 

[Larrybiv]

Forget a top 10 pick next year. This team is going all in for the playoffs now imo. This accelerates the rebuild big time.

Imo, its too early. Lots of decisions to be made prior though.
Who else do we add via draft? Trade up? Trade Kreider? Add Panarin?

Option 1. Adding Panarin probably will take us out of bottom 5, anf become a bubble team. Especially if Geo plays 40-45 games. If you add Panarin then you keep Kreider.

Option 2. Trade Kreider......pass on Panarin.....then this team is at least 3-4 years from even sniffing PO's. No matter how good Kravtsov and Kaako are, our young D needs to be really good in order to have any kind of a shot for PO's,

Option 3. Trade Kreider.......add Panarin. Gets us picks/prospects and will probably keep us somewhere where we ended up this year......but will be costly.

Probably should be a poll.

 

[Larrybiv]

I'm ready to trade him either at the draft or offseason. His next contract scares me.

His contract scares you, but not Panarin's? I'd want both, and if both are not attainable.....I KEEP KREIDS. No one creates havoc on this team like Kreider, and Zbad would be crushed.

 

[Larrybiv]

Do you think, there’s any chance, they go full nuclear and trade Mika to Colorado for the 4? I’m not advocating to do it, I’m just saying, that leaves them with 2 really high end picks, and it also assures they’re going to finish at the bottom next season as well with another high pick coming after that. The logic and reasoning is the Rangers don’t have much more to sell off and flip.

If that happens, we might end up in the twilight zone. There HAS TO BE a happy medium here. Trade Kreids as well?
Too many horses, not enough knights. Or whatever the saying is. Lol.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Whose man is dis

It annoys me how he says "verse" instead of "versus"

Also. What an idiot for being angry about only getting no 2 hahahaha

 

[Larrybiv]

Be hard work. Say Jets pick is 22/23. To move up to 12 it'd probably cost us a late 1st (Tampa or Dallas) and a 2nd.

Tampa and/or Dallas woukd have to get us that 1st, first. Then what if Button is wrong and Zegras is gone? We would have to have a great contingency plan.

 

[Irishguy42]

It annoys me how he says "verse" instead of "versus"

You should hang around the Jersey Shore/Staten Island some more if that annoys you

Also. What an idiot for being angry about only getting no 2 hahahaha

I would think most extremely casual fans would be.

 

[Larrybiv]

I know some of you couldn’t sleep the night before the lottery, but I kept waking up every 30 minutes or so last night and going ‘moving up was just a dream...no it wasn’t, Kaapo Kakko’

Funny you said that. On Draft night, I mentioned I was sure I would wake up with a smile on my face. I did. Yet, was afraid to check to see that it wasn't a dream. This just didn't happen, couldn't happen......to us? To the Rangers? Wow.

 

[Blue Blooded]

Whose man is dis

lmao that's Tony's cousin @Vinny DeAngelo

 

[Larrybiv]

I get excited with the idea of either Hughes or Kakko. Either way we can't lose.

Either you get a high end center or a big, physical winger.

High end centers are overrated. We have 4 already.
I want that huge, physical, talented winger. I talked to Zbad recently......he agreed.

 

[Larrybiv]

Not to mention 23 year old stud DeAngelo, Hajek and Rykov who they gave us

Yeah, i guess Tony D. was a throw in, just to get rid of his psych issues. So was Hayek, was expendable because they had our McD, Stralman and Girardi, and felt bad, so they threw him in. Grabner wasn't "needed" for their PO run, so they GAVE us Rykov, and the possibility of he not coming to the states. (However small) Just trying to be funny here.

 

[darko]

His contract scares you, but not Panarin's? I'd want both, and if both are not attainable.....I KEEP KREIDS. No one creates havoc on this team like Kreider, and Zbad would be crushed.

I don't want Panarin.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

lmao that's Tony's cousin @Vinny DeAngelo

Lol that was my first reaction! It’s hard not to want 1 over 2. But 2 is amazing

 

[Tawnos]

Steve Valiquette said it best on the broadcast.

No GM is risking his job by not taking the consensus no 1 pick.

As much criticism as there is on Yakupov, nobody should be blaming Edmonton for picking him first overall. All the scouts had him 1st overall. All the mock drafts, all the reporters, all the armchair GMs.

I do blame the Oilers for not trading that pick to Columbus and then picking Murray, but that’s a different story.

 

[pld459666]

Tampa and/or Dallas woukd have to get us that 1st, first. Then what if Button is wrong and Zegras is gone? We would have to have a great contingency plan.

You only make the deal if he's still available at 12

Draft pick trades are normally made not with the Hope's that a guy is available at that selection.

Calls are made to gms at 8 thru 11 to get an idea as to who they are after, then you know, have a really good idea, that your guy is available at 12.

These trades are not made without the proper due diligence

 

[TheTakedown]

I will never forget the look on Jack's face. A dagger through his heart then a forced smile.

I must have missed in my fit of rage / excitement, but lmao he looks SO uncomfortable

 

[Larrybiv]

Quinn wasn't very diplomatic.

Article mentions he plays center as well. Anyone here (Kreiderman?) KNOW if that is his preferred position and is just playing wing because of his age and others on a little older and more accomplished?

I know we already have a glut of centers, but what if.....eventually someday we have Zbad, Chytil and Kakko at the center positions. What team rivals that? Premature? Yes, of course.
Oh wow, i suppose that would be a waste having him center 3rd line and pushing Howden or Strome to the wing. I know what i presented is a little crazy, it is best he breaks in at the wing, but if he DOES prefer center......well then. We have some major diversification here......Quinn has to love that!

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Mock drafts are literally a scam. You know how you can tell that none of them are watching most of the players (besides the fact that it's impossible for 1 person or even a group of people in 1 time zone to do)? They all agree, within 2-3 spots on all the draftees.

Imagine ranking the top 31 NHL players. There would be huge fights of who goes where. And there, you're judging players on what they are doing today. In the draft, you're judging how a player will turn out 10 years later when he has played a few seasons in his prime. Yet, no huge disagreements? Who are you kidding?!

Some people put out a list early on that no doubt has huge mistakes because they didnt watch most of these players at all or just barely. Then others copy those lists to seem smart, changing up a few things based on whether you prefer size or speed, ceiling potential or a certain position, etc. Then the mock drafts take a life of their own because people just repeat that crap on forums.

Then a team grabs Kravtsov at #9 or Grachev "slips" to round 3 from round 1, and people go crazy, not understanding what happened. They blame the team as if mock drafts were holy. It is not even discussed that it's possible that the first guy to make a mock draft made a mistake, then all the rest made the same mistake with minor adjustments because basically everyone is cheating by reading and repeating each other in a circle jerk.

Huge demand for them. Gotta give fans what they want. Better to give a garbage mock draft than no mock draft atcall. Look at Kiper — he's always wrong after the first few picks. The most I ever hit is like 4/31. Teams treat their draft strategies like top secret info. Nobody on the outside knows. Still fun to guess.

Just keeps debates going. Same with rankings.

McKenzie is the only one with the resources to do one, but he’d blow up their spot and lose his sources. That’s why he does an anonymous poll and Button does the mock. Button doesn’t have Bob’s scout and agent contacts.

Nobody outside of an NHL team’s inner circle knows how the draft will go.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

This has GOT TO stop. Sussssh!

Its actually fine if the devils take Kakko. I'll take hughes any day of the week and twice on Sunday. That being said, I would also take Kakko! It's an absolute win/win.

 

[Larrybiv]

I`m in playoffs mode now so I`ve the New York shedule +7 hours. I also have the New York clock on my world clock, hehe.

Anyway it`s crazy to think about the Oilers win in the last game decided us to get that #2nd overall pick in the lottery, because 4th & 5th position would be a disaster. So I hope all learn a lesson into next season as long we are in the bottom it does not matter much even though chances increase.

Yesl I did. I didn't groan "too much" when we won. It was those OT games that drove me nuts. Always happy for our players though.
I learned that we should be 6th again, and move 4 spots forward to the 2nd position, just for old times sake.
Or, 11th like the Black Hawks and move up to 3rd.

 

[AlternateSideParking]

Kakko is a waste at center. Just not his thing. His natural position is on the wing. That narrative has been coming from Finland and nobody outside of TPS knows why. His goal scoring and hands are incredibly elite, but I don’t see him being a center who can take over games in all three zones.

They can draft pass-first types after Kakko to exploit his strengths. He always look better on the wing anyways.

 

[patnyrnyg]

I'm keeping myself from watching too many Kaapo Kakko highlight videos in case NJ picks him lol

I am going to watch an equal amount of Hughes and Kakko stuff.

Sam Rothstein: "From now on, I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin. An equal amount."
Chef: "Do you know how long that is going to take?'
Sam Rothstein: "I don't care how long it takes. An equal amount."