My favorite pick this year. I think he could be a steal.
Here's Madden talking about picking Luneau (
source):
"If you went back to last year, he grew up in Quebec as the top prospect all the way up, from the time he was ten up until last season," Madden said. "Then, he hurt his knee and had to go through surgery [last] offseason and missed training for most of the summer. It took him three months to get back to the confidence to use his mobility and his agility the way he had in the past. It affected his play early in the year.
"In the second half, now the strength was back. You could see a jump in his step, and he started to proactively take charge with the puck. He's a really smart defenseman. He can move the puck. He can defend well. That's what he brings."
Here's THW (the hockey writer)
profile on Luneau and his draft projection. Reading his profile makes it feel like he's like Korchinski in the offensive end by staying at the blue line than activating to pinch down.
Luneau should hear his name in the first round. However, his projection is all over the map as to whether it will be in the middle or near the end of the round. Some projections show him slipping into the second round, which would be an enormous steal for any team that lands him then. Expect him to go somewhere between the mid-to-late 20s of the first round.
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Here's a player whose stock dropped significantly because of injury to his knee that required surgery. This is a gamble on a player in hopes the knee surgery will remain a success and build upon it. Luneau lost significant time training during the summer and there could still be improvement in his skating.
Here is Central Scouting's 2021-2022 Pre-lim evaluation, breaking down talents into tiers than specific ranking:
Source. Luneau was classified as an A prospect, a 1st round grade. At CS'
North American skaters mid-term rankings, Luneau was ranked 10th, which is weird since he didn't play well to start off the season. For CS' (NA) final rankings, Luneau was ranked 24th overall - again, weird, since his play improved, according to Madden.
I have to remind myself that we picked DFD Warren over two-way Luneau to show Luneau is a gamble pick. The gamble I thought the Ducks would have went after was AJHL C Rieger Lorenz, selected three picks after Luneau. If the org feels Luneau is fully healed, then taking a gamble on a player once projected to being one of the top defensemen in the pre-lim ranking carries more value.
It'll be interesting how Luneau will produce next year healthy and compare his production with Korchinski, Minty, and Matey, since all of them play in the CHL.