2017 NHL Draft -- General NHL Thread

[LGR4GM]

Draft-watchers, what's your book on Pierre-Olivier Joseph?

Looks like nice skating two-way defenceman somewhere between picks 20-40.

He is described as a raw talent by some reports. Haven't seen much other then highlights. Judging from all the reading he falls below Jokiharju and Timmins for me. He is a decent option for late 1st to mid second as you say. I would say 25-40 is where he may go. His shot is mediocre but his passing looks nice. 

[Crusader1969]

If Heiskanen, Makar, Patrick and Hischier are all taken before 8 is there any top prospect that you would be disappointed in getting? I'm not sure there is for me.

 

Thought it would be Rasmussen for me but the more I read the more I am intrigued about his potential. Seemed originally that he was basically a Power Play specialist but ive read a lot of scouts comments and seems he is a very good skater for his size (6'5) and has really good skill. Could become the Sabres #2 Center in a few years.

He is described as a raw talent by some reports. Haven't seen much other then highlights. Judging from all the reading he falls below Jokiharju and Timmins for me. He is a decent option for late 1st to mid second as you say. I would say 25-40 is where he may go. His shot is mediocre but his passing looks nice. 

 

only thing I would add is that he is 6'2 and skinny. needs to grow into his body, as they say.has a good motor and plays consistently. you know what you are getting with this kid. SOmething you can't say about a lot of the top prospects this year. Probably gone before the Sabres draft in 2nd round

[rakish]

 

Said something stupid, please ignore

Edited June 2, 2017 by rakish

[Rasmus_]

Oliver Kylington from the 2015 draft was highly touted (top 10) if I recall. He ended up going 60th.

 

Kylington was also undersized and scrawny.  Liljegren is built like a near NHL'er.  To me there's a clear difference.  The closest parallel would be Chychrun, where he slid due to illness vs injury and questions about his hockey sense.  I'm still taking him at 8. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I know I'm the biggest basher of TM for decimating our D, but I think we might be best taking the best natural LW we can find with our first pick.

 

I have a feeling that Jbot will further address the D problem with trades, NHL FAs and prospect FAs, but one of those trades might include Kane either this summer or at the deadline. If that happens, we need more natural scorers in the organization especially ones on value contracts. Without Kane, our best scorers are Eichel and the concussed Okposo in the NHL and then Baptiste and Bailey in the minors. Not a lot of depth there. I view Nylander as Jack's playmaker.

 

That still leaves us 2 2nd rd picks to replenish the D pipeline.

Edited June 2, 2017 by GASabresFan

[LGR4GM]

I know I'm the biggest basher of TM for decimating our D, but I think we might be best taking the best natural LW we can find with our first pick.

 

I have a feeling that Jbot will further address the D problem with trades, NHL FAs and prospect FAs, but one of those trades might include Kane either this summer or at the deadline. If that happens, we need more natural scorers in the organization especially ones on value contracts. Without Kane, our best scorers are Eichel and the concussed Okposo in the NHL and then Baptiste and Bailey in the minors. Not a lot of depth there. I view Nylander as Jack's playmaker.

 

That still leaves us 2 2nd rd picks to replenish the D pipeline.

Like Nylander?

[GASabresIUFAN]

Like Nylander?

Here is the difference. Last year heading into the draft our most pressing need heading was defense. We had Kulikov, and Franson with one year left on their contracts and Gorges with 2, but we only had one prospect, Guhle, that was possibly ready to fill one of those three slots. Grabbing a Chychrun or Sergachev, who most scouts thought would be NHL ready this coming season, would have given us 2 prospects ready to step in for Kulikov and Franson. Adding Nylander, despite outstanding talent, was a minimum of two years from making the NHL, and winger wasn't our highest priority.

 

This season, because of the failures of last season, Jbot will have to address 2-3 D slots now with more experienced players. If he goes older, like Qruincey, then D is still a major priority, but if he goes young, say Brodin, or Vatanen, then the priority shifts to replacing Kane. Remember we need two top 6 LW. Without Kane, we only have Nylander.

Edited June 2, 2017 by GASabresFan

[dudacek]

I think GA has a point.

I've touted Nylander as Eichel's running mate for awhile now, and Kane as Sam's.

If Kane is being traded - and I think he will be - somebody needs to replace him on the depth chart.

 

Which kinda sees us looking hard at Tippett (yes, I know he's a RW, but he is the best big, fast scoring winger projected around 8)

Not personally a big fan, but...

[GASabresIUFAN]

To emphasize the point, I look at the top D in this draft and see guys who are 2-3 years out from making an impact, but I look at forwards like Vesalainen and think he might be an NHL player as early as 2018-19. He already has an NHL frame, and is a Kane type phyiscal power forward.

 

Look at the top 3. Makar is 5'10 and is off to college, Miro is 5'11 174 and plays in Finlands Jr league and Liljigren is 6 190 but also only plays in the Swedish Jr League. Vesalainen is already in the Swedish top league and has dominated in international play.

Edited June 2, 2017 by GASabresFan

[TrueBlueGED]

The one player I absolutely do not want is Rasmussen. Yes, it's because of the failure of his previous incarnation. No, that's not a good reason.

[LGR4GM]

Liljegren played half the session in the SHL

To emphasize the point, I look at the top D in this draft and see guys who are 2-3 years out from making an impact, but I look at forwards like Vesalainen and think he might be an NHL player as early as 2018-19. He already has an NHL frame, and is a Kane type phyiscal power forward.

 

Look at the top 3. Makar is 5'10 and is off to college, Miro is 5'11 174 and plays in Finlands Jr league and Liljigren is 6 190 but also only plays in the Swedish Jr League. Vesalainen is already in the Swedish top league and has dominated in international play.

So your criteria is physically ready for the NHL. That's not enough for me.

[thewookie1]

Tippet seems destined to be a bust based on his 5v5 contributions. I'd rather turn Glass into a winger for if there's a run on Dmen

Edited June 2, 2017 by thewookie1

[Derrico]

I can't do an avatar bet.  Josie made this for me so I won't change it.  Charity bet?  Gentlemen's bet?  Those I can do.

Fair enough.  I could do a Charity bet.  How much?  Do we have to convert Canadian to American :P

 

Maybe $50?

Edited June 2, 2017 by Derrico

[ubkev]

Fair enough. I could do a Charity bet. How much? Do we have to convert Canadian to American :P

 

Maybe $50?

That's like 6 bucks, US, right?

 

Do it, Eleven. It's a deal!!

[Sabre fan]

would it not seem that pedigree plays a big part in players and their careers? There are many examples but most recently we see Tkachuk doing just fine on Calgary, which leads me to think that Foote just may the steal of the draft...

[Derrico]

That's like 6 bucks, US, right?

 

Do it, Eleven. It's a deal!!

Lmao

[Brawndo]

Buffalo was Nolan Patrick's First Interview and per him his best one

[GASabresIUFAN]

Buffalo was Nolan Patrick's First Interview and per him his best one

If he drops to 8 I'll take him.

[LGR4GM]

would it not seem that pedigree plays a big part in players and their careers? There are many examples but most recently we see Tkachuk doing just fine on Calgary, which leads me to think that Foote just may the steal of the draft...

No. Paul Reinhart has 3 sons. One of them is good. I give 0 who your daddy was.

[LGR4GM]

A player I wouldn't take in the 2nd and why. 

 

He's ranked 39th on the CSS final rankings and I wouldn't take him before 54th and maybe not until 68th. Jonah Gadjovich, LW 6'2" 201lbs. Plays in the OHL and had 46goals, 28a in 60games for 74pts. Now some of you are probably like, "he seems pretty good getting 46goals in 60 games in the OHL" and most days and prospects I would agree with.

 

Without looking any further into the kid I have 2 problems. First problem is that he was born in October of 1998 making him one of the older players in the draft. This isn't always bad but it raises a caution flag immediately because I have to discount his numbers a hair. The real kicker isn't that October birthday for me. This was his 3rd full OHL season. He has 186 games of OHL experience. Now we are in troubled waters. That 74pts in 60 games is now discounted further because he has more experience then basically everyone else in his draft class (for Canadian junior players).

 

Again this could be fine. Kids can't help when they are born and that stuff. However if you look at his point totals we see something. He went 9pts, 24pts, and 74pts never playing less then 60 games. The issue here as I think Rakish may agree on, is that his 2nd season in the OHL he only had 24pts. If that total were say 64pts followed by 94pts this year, then you see the progress you want.

 

What is the point of my rant? This is a player who took 2 full years of OHL experience and then finally blossomed. That has to be taken into account when ranking him against his peers. Most of them will have 2 CJH years. Nico Hischier only has 1 year in the CJH and he had 86 points. Bottom line is that experience and age matter a ton for these players. Just like we wouldn't compare Reinhart to ROR today because ROR has years more NHL experience which has changed him.

 

Finally, I looked up scouting reports and the kids defensive game is a work in progress and his skating is a knock. That drops him to #68 if one of my prenamed defenders is gone. He also plays on a line with Suzuki who is on of the best OHL forwards for this draft. All of that adds up to a few to many warning flags for my taste. I think he will go in the late 40's early 50's though. Will he make it? idk. 

Edited June 3, 2017 by LGR4GM

[rakish]

It's an odd year for valuation, Button has Gadjovich 37th while Pronman doesn't have him in his top 100 at all. I have him as 22nd best forward, which is very close to Button, and Canucksarmy has him at 40. While I distrust someone who gets a whole lot better at age 18, #####, he scored 46 goals last year, though very little in the playoffs.

 

Where would I draft him? There are players I'm excited about this draft, Jesper Boqvist, Igor Shvyryov, Denis Smirnov, Joshua Brook, so I doubt by the time I'm getting to Gadjovich, he'll still be on the board.

 

What people are speculating about Botterill makes me think the Sabres won't be interested due to Gadjovich's skating. What I love about the draft is that once a year people put their cards on the table and tell you what they think.

[LGR4GM]

totally agree. I like some of those players you have mentioned but for some I think they will be gone in the places we pick.

[bunomatic]

So Casey Mittelstadt did one bench press and zero pull-ups. This years Sam Bennett ?

[Eleven]

Fair enough.  I could do a Charity bet.  How much?  Do we have to convert Canadian to American :P

 

Maybe $50?

 

50, we're on.  Currency of your choice (AMERICAN OR CANADIAN DON'T EURO ME HERE.).

[Derrico]

50, we're on. Currency of your choice (AMERICAN OR CANADIAN DON'T EURO ME HERE.).

I'll go with $50 Canadian if I lose. If I win you go $40 American? I think that's roughly equivalent? Or just go $50 Canadian if possible lol