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Way Too Early 2025 26 NHL DRAFT Discussion

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kihei said:
It might be a weak, not very deep draft, but if we draft in the top five or six we are going to get a very good player, a building block.
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We have a lot of Forwards and the temptation is to take a Forward but maybe its time to fill the RD cupboard a bit more with a Potential top 4 Dman? I think all the RD the Kraken have drafted are 3rd pairing types so...
 
RayMartyniukTotems said:
We have a lot of Forwards and the temptation is to take a Forward but maybe its time to fill the RD cupboard a bit more with a Potential top 4 Dman? I think all the RD the Kraken have drafted are 3rd pairing types so...
Click to expand...

If we stay in the top five it seems like only Schaefer would be worth that pick and we'd need at least a top 2 pick to get that done.

Though, of course there's still the U-18 tournament in May/June that shakes things up.

Still, you gotta take BPA no matter what.
 
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RayMartyniukTotems said:
We have a lot of Forwards and the temptation is to take a Forward but maybe its time to fill the RD cupboard a bit more with a Potential top 4 Dman? I think all the RD the Kraken have drafted are 3rd pairing types so...
Click to expand...

Mrtka is right there (hat tip to @deadcoyote). A "local" boy who's taken a liking to the area according to interviews and settled in very nicely with the WHL Thunderbirds.

Big smooth skating RHD rated towards the top of a draft are rare. The last one was Moritz Seider in 2019 (6th OA) and that worked out well for the Red Wings.
 
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Like to see the Kraken take Hensler,Mrtka and Fiddler with our 1st rounder then the other 2 2nd rounders but that's maybe a pipe dream

CLW said:
Mrtka is right there (hat tip to @deadcoyote). A "local" boy who's taken a liking to the area according to interviews and settled in very nicely with the WHL Thunderbirds.

Big smooth skating RHD rated towards the top of a draft are rare. The last one was Moritz Seider in 2019 (6th OA) and that worked out well for the Red Wings.
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Maybe the Kraken can take Mrtka and swing a deal to get Hensler too with the 2 second rounders?
 
As the regular season winds to an end across most leagues, I am starting to feel like the "tiers" in the prospects are starting to level out a bit.

Schaefer and Misa are still in the top-tier but I think there is a much smaller gap not between the tier-2 and tier-3.

Tier-2
------
Martone
Hagens

Tier-3
------
Frondell
Eklund
McQueen

Tier-4
------
Desnoyers (border-line Tier-3)
Mrtka (border-line Tier-3)
Smith
Bear

I think if you are not drafting top-2, anywhere between 3-7 (or even 8) could end up with a very very good prospect.
 
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Fistfullofbeer said:
As the regular season winds to an end across most leagues, I am starting to feel like the "tiers" in the prospects are starting to level out a bit.

Schaefer and Misa are still in the top-tier but I think there is a much smaller gap not between the tier-2 and tier-3.

Tier-2
------
Martone
Hagens

Tier-3
------
Frondell
Eklund
McQueen

Tier-4
------
Desnoyers (border-line Tier-3)
Mrtka (border-line Tier-3)
Smith
Bear

I think if you are not drafting top-2, anywhere between 3-7 (or even 8) could end up with a very very good prospect.
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I'd put Mrtka up with tier 2 honestly. Hagens up in tier 1. Still not a huge fan of Martone.
 
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Fistfullofbeer said:
The main concern with Martone seems to be his bad skating. It's certainly a risk but he has so much skill and size that it would be pretty hard for him to fail. Lack of effort does not appear to be an issue with him either.
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I've heard this story before. Give me the 5'10 guy who skates like wind and is competitive and willing to be coached and learn the game over the 6'5 guy who is big and skates like he's in molasses. Skating is the biggest problem and hardest thing to learn for a lot of players, and being effective without it is increasingly difficult in this fast paced game. It's the single biggest thing I look for in prospects. You can teach how to shoot and puck handle and play defense a lot easier than you can skating. I even watched years of Dylan Strome getting taught by arguably the best skating coach in the game, former figure skater Dawn Braid, and still look like shit out there. It wasn't until he was set up in the right role and given tons of leeway to maximize his strengths that he looked even remotely good.

And I'd much rather have someone who doesn't need that and be placed anywhere, especially with coaches like ours playing in the system we currently have.

Plus Mrtka is right there as a d-man who has size, skating, and offensive talent.
 
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Dead Coyote said:
I've heard this story before. Give me the 5'10 guy who skates like wind and is competitive and willing to be coached and learn the game over the 6'5 guy who is big and skates like he's in molasses. Skating is the biggest problem and hardest thing to learn for a lot of players, and being effective without it is increasingly difficult in this fast paced game. It's the single biggest thing I look for in prospects. You can teach how to shoot and puck handle and play defense a lot easier than you can skating. I even watched years of Dylan Strome getting taught by arguably the best skating coach in the game, former figure skater Dawn Braid, and still look like shit out there. It wasn't until he was set up in the right role and given tons of leeway to maximize his strengths that he looked even remotely good.

And I'd much rather have someone who doesn't need that and be placed anywhere, especially with coaches like ours playing in the system we currently have.

Plus Mrtka is right there as a d-man who has size, skating, and offensive talent.
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I get your concerns. To be honest, I am not sure if Martone makes it to us anyway. That plus, I would think our scouting group may like McQueen more than they like Martone.

Personally, I am starting to like Frondell more and more. Outside of the top-3, I would be more than happy to grab him, even if it is at 4 OA.
 
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I think Porter Martone (the one guy no one seems to like) is going to be a bit annoying to root for, but kind of in between Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen. Like not super athletic, not going as hard as you like, and he'll still score 100 pts a year. The quick thinking and the hands are just too good. Guys who can one-touch like him translate really well.
 
majormajor said:
I think Porter Martone (the one guy no one seems to like) is going to be a bit annoying to root for, but kind of in between Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen. Like not super athletic, not going as hard as you like, and he'll still score 100 pts a year. The quick thinking and the hands are just too good. Guys who can one-touch like him translate really well.
Click to expand...

Yeah if he hits he'll be really, really good. He does have very nice hands.
 
I agree with those that say this is a weak draft unfortunately. It would really help if the Great Lottery Fairy Uncle waived his wand favourably this year.

Outside of the top two (Schaefer and Misa) all the rest of the top prospects are projects and have clear question marks or holes in their game (e.g Martone - pace, Frondell - playmaking, Desnoyers - upside, McQueen - health, Smith - hockey sense, Mrtka - upside, O'Brien - strength). Then there's the somewhat smaller competitive types that while nice complementary players (Eklund, Bear, Martin) are not really the high ceiling players you want to draft at the very top end.

I'd be higher on Hagens if he'd shown exceptional offensive ability this year, but he simply hasn't even when playing with elite prospects like Leonard and Perrault. Hagens has good skating, smooth hands and exceptional innate physical coordination (the trait I like best about him as a prospect) but he's also smallish and I don't see that extra gear that will make him an elite threat at the NHL level. I see him as a watered-down Makar which is a strange player as a top end C. I don't think Hagens will be strong enough physically to play two-way C at the NHL level and the one-way play isn't strong enough. People point at Gourde, but Gourde is an outlier, he is extremely strong for his size with a stocky build that plays with a low centre of gravity, much like Marchand, or even Crosby. Hagens doesn't. There's a strong possibility Hagens falls out of the top 5 imo. That said, if the *It* factor ignites in Hagens he could be the best player out of this draft, but that seems a loooooong shot to me right now.

If he actually had skating (speed) like real deal Makar or this draft's Schaefer I'd have no hesitation picking him, but it remains to be seen if he will. If he doesn't you are looking at a weakish winger in your top 6. The Kraken also have Beniers, Wright and Catton already projected as top 6 players. The Kraken has to become bigger and stronger. When bigger teams get serious the Kraken struggle to compete, we've seen this time and time again this season. The big teams are the playoff teams, so there's that. Maybe Colorado is the exception, but they are built around MacKinnon's and Makar's speed.
 
CLW said:
I agree with those that say this is a weak draft unfortunately. It would really help if the Great Lottery Fairy Uncle waived his wand favourably this year.

Outside of the top two (Schaefer and Misa) all the rest of the top prospects are projects and have clear question marks or holes in their game (e.g Martone - pace, Frondell - playmaking, Desnoyers - upside, McQueen - health, Smith - hockey sense, Mrtka - upside, O'Brien - strength). Then there's the somewhat smaller competitive types that while nice complementary players (Eklund, Bear, Martin) are not really the high ceiling players you want to draft at the very top end.

I'd be higher on Hagens if he'd shown exceptional offensive ability this year, but he simply hasn't even when playing with elite prospects like Leonard and Perrault. Hagens has good skating, smooth hands and exceptional innate physical coordination (the trait I like best about him as a prospect) but he's also smallish and I don't see that extra gear that will make him an elite threat at the NHL level. I see him as a watered-down Makar which is a strange player as a top end C. I don't think Hagens will be strong enough physically to play two-way C at the NHL level and the one-way play isn't strong enough. People point at Gourde, but Gourde is an outlier, he is extremely strong for his size with a stocky build that plays with a low centre of gravity, much like Marchand, or even Crosby. Hagens doesn't. There's a strong possibility Hagens falls out of the top 5 imo. That said, if the *It* factor ignites in Hagens he could be the best player out of this draft, but that seems a loooooong shot to me right now.

If he actually had skating (speed) like real deal Makar or this draft's Schaefer I'd have no hesitation picking him, but it remains to be seen if he will. If he doesn't you are looking at a weakish winger in your top 6. The Kraken also have Beniers, Wright and Catton already projected as top 6 players. The Kraken has to become bigger and stronger. When bigger teams get serious the Kraken struggle to compete, we've seen this time and time again this season. The big teams are the playoff teams, so there's that. Maybe Colorado is the exception, but they are built around MacKinnon's and Makar's speed.
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Couldn't disagree more on Hagens, I see the exact opposite. Most highly talented offensive player in the draft by far IMO. I agree that he might not be able to handle two way play in the corners exceptionally well but he could easily put on weight and strength in his 20s like most people will. And I think his offensive talent is exceptional. He doesn't rely on anything that makes his talent non transferable to the NHL like Misa/Martone do and is at minimum an exceptional playmaker with a high IQ and good skating.

I know we want to get bigger and stronger and I agree that that's a good plan but I also think you should always pick BPA first and foremost in those situations. I don't think it's a long shot at all that Hagens could be the best in the draft.

As for Mrtka, he's the other guy I disagree with- his questions about upside have disappeared for me watching him in Seattle. He plays like a Hughes or Makar does. He's a cerebral PPQB who is very good defensively and has a good shot. You can tell he's trying new things constantly and is able to adjust on the fly when something doesn't work, and he's the definition of a shutdown D already. But when I see him stickhandle around 3 players and drive to net that's when my eyes light up and I know that he could be something special.

I also think Eklund and Frondell are extremely close and similar, they just play differently. But they have similar upside. I want to stay far away from McQueen and Martone. Yes they're big but they're classic examples of players who succeed in junior but their game doesn't suit the NHL well. Martone at least has his shot but his skating is so horrendous I want nothing to do with him.

I think the draft is a little weak in the sense that it's not a generational draft but it's still a pretty solid one IMO.
 
majormajor said:
I think Porter Martone (the one guy no one seems to like) is going to be a bit annoying to root for, but kind of in between Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen. Like not super athletic, not going as hard as you like, and he'll still score 100 pts a year. The quick thinking and the hands are just too good. Guys who can one-touch like him translate really well.
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I don't see the IQ or hands that you do with him. He could definitely succeed like those guys though. Just not sure that's worth the risk in the top 5.
 
I like the processing speed on Martone more than Hagens. A lot more one touch passes on the teammates tape and a lot less passing to the other team.

One of these players moves faster than he thinks, and the other thinks and acts often without moving.
 
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I have no preference at the moment as I haven't looked into this year's draft prospects yet. But, yeah, BPA still makes sense to me as we have so many areas that need to be strengthened. While it looks like we will draft high enough to get a very good prospect, a lot can happen to current draft predictions by the time late June comes around. I mean, no one had Beckett Sennecke on their dance card anywhere near this high at this stage last year, and he eventually was the third overall pick. So I suspect that if we draft in the top eight we will be in good shape.
 
Fistfullofbeer said:
As the regular season winds to an end across most leagues, I am starting to feel like the "tiers" in the prospects are starting to level out a bit.

Schaefer and Misa are still in the top-tier but I think there is a much smaller gap not between the tier-2 and tier-3.

Tier-2
------
Martone
Hagens

Tier-3
------
Frondell
Eklund
McQueen

Tier-4
------
Desnoyers (border-line Tier-3)
Mrtka (border-line Tier-3)
Smith
Bear

I think if you are not drafting top-2, anywhere between 3-7 (or even 8) could end up with a very very good prospect.
Click to expand...
Seattle have to steer the hell away from "Steve"MacQueen he's been injured so much that I think that has to be a Huge Red Flag!!! Cayden Lindstrom injured almost but kind of like that...
 
RayMartyniukTotems said:
Seattle have to steer the hell away from "Steve"MacQueen he's been injured so much that I think that has to be a Huge Red Flag!!! Cayden Lindstrom injured almost but kind of like that...
Click to expand...

McQueen's back injury is pretty common in boys that have a huge growth spurt. Lindstrom's seems more serious since it was an overload injury to a disk in his spine iirc.
 
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CLW said:
McQueen's back injury is pretty common in boys that have a huge growth spurt. Lindstrom's seems more serious since it was an overload injury to a disk in his spine iirc.
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Regardless if I'm the Kraken I stay the fkc away from him like Light years away...the Seattle franchise needs more top flight D-men for the Future...Not injury prone Forwards with Size
 
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