2015 NHL Entry Draft

[Chev-boyar-sky]

Whatever Karma chips I've banked, I'm putting them all in to winning the lottery.

The Lotto Max, right?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The Leafs will either win the lottery, or whatever team that finished one spot higher in the standings will. Those are really the only two possibilities.

 

[ZBBM]

Ah, there we sit, in the sweet spot of eternal frustration ... just south of mediocrity, but nowhere near the tankocracy.

Patience, man;  Rome wasn't destroyed in a day.

You are saddenizing me.

 

[ZBBM]

The Leafs will either win the lottery, or whatever team that finished one stop higher in the standings will. Those are really the only two possibilities.

I hate you and your damnable truth.

 

[L K]

Either that, or they keep Nonis around and draft Lawson Crouse.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Either that, or they keep Nonis around and draft Lawson Crouse.

I joked about that too already, but the fact that they picked Nylander (and apparently would have taken Ehlers next) over Ritchie alleviates that concern for me.

 

[L K]

I'm going to go on my usual pro-Knights rant here, but Mitch Marner (assuming the Leafs manage to snag a top 5 draft slot) would be awesome.  Not the center that we need, but this guy is going to be fantastic.

He started the season with 16 points in 14 games (Crouse has 23 on the season).  Since then he has put up 74 points in 28 games.  He's a guy that might benefit from an additional year of junior hockey for size alone, so if the Leafs are going full-rebuild, that might not be a bad option. 

Rantanen really impressed me at the World Juniors, but I honestly don't know enough about him outside of the tournament if the Leafs are still sitting in the 8-12 spot.  I'm not a big fan of Pavel Zacha.  A lot of good things in his game, he certainly has the size, but I feel like there is something missing in his game that is going to prevent him from being that #1 guy.

 

[Britishbulldog]

As of Sunday morning Jan 18th.  Makes you think the Leafs could drop to 6th place if Columbus stays hot and Toronto trades some of the core.

I am not sure if this table would be easier to update:

Rank  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14​

Current Team    Edmonton Buffalo Carolina Arizona New Jersey Columbus Philadelphia Ottawa Minnesota Toronto Dallas Colorado Florida Calgary

Games Played  46 46 45 44 46 43 46 44 44 46 44 46 43 45​

Points  31 31 35 36 40 41 43 44 45 47 47 48 50 51​

Lottery %  20% 13.5% 11.5% 9.5% 8.5% 7.5% 6.5% 6.0% 5.0% 3.5% 3.0% 2.5% 2.0% 1.0%​

 

[Highlander]

Edmonton should be excluded, there should be a new rule saying you can only have 3 top draft picks in any 10 year cycle.

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

I'm going to go on my usual pro-Knights rant here, but Mitch Marner (assuming the Leafs manage to snag a top 5 draft slot) would be awesome.  Not the center that we need, but this guy is going to be fantastic.

He started the season with 16 points in 14 games (Crouse has 23 on the season).  Since then he has put up 74 points in 28 games.  He's a guy that might benefit from an additional year of junior hockey for size alone, so if the Leafs are going full-rebuild, that might not be a bad option. 

Rantanen really impressed me at the World Juniors, but I honestly don't know enough about him outside of the tournament if the Leafs are still sitting in the 8-12 spot.  I'm not a big fan of Pavel Zacha.  A lot of good things in his game, he certainly has the size, but I feel like there is something missing in his game that is going to prevent him from being that #1 guy.

I mentioned this in the GDT last night, if this continues I think he might go as high as #3 or some team could go crazy and pass over Eichel for him.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Ah, there we sit, in the sweet spot of eternal frustration ... just south of mediocrity, but nowhere near the tankocracy.

Patience, man;  Rome wasn't destroyed in a day.

You are saddenizing me.

Well, as the old saying goes, better saddenizing than sodomizing.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

So, just for discussion's sake, which team or teams (if any) are most likely to be delusional trade deadline "buyers" who are also most likely to miss the playoffs?  And how can we take advantage of them, please and thank you?

 

[Highlander]

Phili is always ripe for some picking.  I would love to add Hartnell (now with another team and not sure how he is doing this year).

 

[Kin]

So, just for discussion's sake, which team or teams (if any) are most likely to be delusional trade deadline "buyers" who are also most likely to miss the playoffs?

This is where a fan of another team would start pointing and laughing.

 

[L K]

My new ornery chart.  It also includes the Leafs magic number...for the Leafs to finish worse than their opponent.

 

[ZBBM]

What's realistic is to hope they get that lottery percentage up to the 5/6 spot.  The flattening of the odds is helpful.  20% is not that high for finishing 30th.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Columbus up 3-1 over Minny right now. Would have been nice to see a 3-point game but that doesn't seem likely anymore. Probably better Columbus wins though, Minny will almost certainly pass Toronto now that they have a goalie.

 

[bustaheims]

Columbus up 3-1 over Minny right now. Would have been nice to see a 3-point game but that doesn't seem likely anymore. Probably better Columbus wins though, Minny will almost certainly pass Toronto now that they have a goalie.

I find it pretty funny that that goalie is Devan Dubnyk.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Columbus up 3-1 over Minny right now. Would have been nice to see a 3-point game but that doesn't seem likely anymore. Probably better Columbus wins though, Minny will almost certainly pass Toronto now that they have a goalie.

I find it pretty funny that that goalie is Devan Dubnyk.

It took about a year but this comment about him doesn't seem so silly now!

I'll be curious to see what he does behind a NHL defence for a change. His last three SA%'s have been .920, .914, .916. I think he can be at least an average starter.

 

[bustaheims]

It took about a year but this comment about him doesn't seem so silly now!

I'll be curious to see what he does behind a NHL defence for a change. His last three SA%'s have been .920, .914, .916. I think he can be at least an average starter.

Yeah. He legitimately looked done as an NHL goalie last season, but, credit where credit is due - he's put himself back together this year and has revived his career.