Draft Pick Watch - WE PICKED NYLANDER!!1!!

[Kin]

I'd agree with you, but this is a pretty poor year for centres where we're drafting. It basically goes from Bennett/Reinhart/Draisaitl in the top-5 to McCann/Kempe/Tuch who are all slated to go outside the top-10. And nobody in that 2nd group has that high offensive upside that you're looking for.

What about someone like Nylander? I've seen him rated as being pretty offensively gifted and a possibility to stick at centre.

 

[hap_leaf]

I'd go all in trying to get this guy:

@Hope_Smoke 

Pronman "Sam Bennett is an incredible all around talent. Speed, skill, hockey sense and his intangibles."

@Hope_Smoke

Pronman "I think Bennett still has a lot more room to grow. This is still only his second CHL season"

From around the league, something like 80% of teams have drafted their #1 C and a couple of the teams who haven't will see their picks supplant that #1 C.  Maybe Kadri will here, but sure would be nice to draft a high-end C this year.

Moving for a top 4 pick would be incredibly costly.
Picking 8th will have a very good chance to land a future NHL caliber player.  Any from 5 through 16 have some real upside.  After that it seems the talent drops to potential 3rd liners.  So I am really satisfied with 8th and hope Nick Ritchie is available.

Here is a nice scouting report on a specific game from Feb.  I liked it because it gave a real feel as if you were watching the game.

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/02/15/is-nhl-prospect-nick-ritchie-the-big-tough-skilled-forward-the-oilers-need/ 

 

[Redleaf]

I'd go all in trying to get this guy:

@Hope_Smoke 

Pronman "Sam Bennett is an incredible all around talent. Speed, skill, hockey sense and his intangibles."

@Hope_Smoke

Pronman "I think Bennett still has a lot more room to grow. This is still only his second CHL season"

From around the league, something like 80% of teams have drafted their #1 C and a couple of the teams who haven't will see their picks supplant that #1 C.  Maybe Kadri will here, but sure would be nice to draft a high-end C this year.

I'd pick Reinhart over Bennett, at least going from what I've read and seen on YouTube. Have you seen Bennett play before?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I'd go all in trying to get this guy:

@Hope_Smoke 

Pronman "Sam Bennett is an incredible all around talent. Speed, skill, hockey sense and his intangibles."

@Hope_Smoke

Pronman "I think Bennett still has a lot more room to grow. This is still only his second CHL season"

From around the league, something like 80% of teams have drafted their #1 C and a couple of the teams who haven't will see their picks supplant that #1 C.  Maybe Kadri will here, but sure would be nice to draft a high-end C this year.

I'd pick Reinhart over Bennett, at least going from what I've read and seen on YouTube. Have you seen Bennett play before?

Nope, and from what I've seen they're close so it comes down to basically personal preference of the scout.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

What about someone like Nylander? I've seen him rated as being pretty offensively gifted and a possibility to stick at centre.

I read somewhere that he hasn't played centre in years, but maybe he can make the transition back. Nylander would be just about at the top of my draft list though, centre or not.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I read somewhere that he hasn't played centre in years, but maybe he can make the transition back. Nylander would be just about at the top of my draft list though, centre or not.

Yeah in that Corey Pronman interview I just quoted above he raves about Nylander.

 

[Redleaf]

I'd go all in trying to get this guy:

@Hope_Smoke 

Pronman "Sam Bennett is an incredible all around talent. Speed, skill, hockey sense and his intangibles."

@Hope_Smoke

Pronman "I think Bennett still has a lot more room to grow. This is still only his second CHL season"

From around the league, something like 80% of teams have drafted their #1 C and a couple of the teams who haven't will see their picks supplant that #1 C.  Maybe Kadri will here, but sure would be nice to draft a high-end C this year.

I'd pick Reinhart over Bennett, at least going from what I've read and seen on YouTube. Have you seen Bennett play before?

Nope, and from what I've seen they're close so it comes down to basically personal preference of the scout.

Isn't Pronman just a sportswriter? Was he an NHL scout at one time?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

He scouts prospects.

 

[Redleaf]

He scouts prospects.

A lot of us fans do as well. I'm just asking what qualifications, other than being a sportswriter, does he have?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

He scouts prospects.

A lot of us fans do as well. I'm just asking what qualifications, other than being a sportswriter, does he have?

So you watch hundreds and hundreds of junior games and track specific players and take notes on them?  Including European games too of course.  Writes for ESPN, wrote for Hockey Prospectus.  Who cares if he was an NHL scout?  That wouldn't automatically make his opinion more or less legitimate.  Ignore his opinion if you want, I don't care.

 

[Redleaf]

He scouts prospects.

A lot of us fans do as well. I'm just asking what qualifications, other than being a sportswriter, does he have?

So you watch hundreds and hundreds of junior games and track specific players and take notes on them?  Including European games too of course.  Writes for ESPN, wrote for Hockey Prospectus.  Who cares if he was an NHL scout?  That wouldn't automatically make his opinion more or less legitimate.  Ignore his opinion if you want, I don't care.

I was just wondering why you think so highly of his opinion. I thought maybe he had a really good record of draft picking or something, but I couldn't find anything that made him standout among the hundreds of other writers out there.

 

[slapshot]

I sure hope they get it right. Wouldn't it be something to see the Leafs actual come out of the draft with the biggest steal for once, like the Hawks getting Toews after Johnson and Staal went ahead of him. I know the Leafs pick is lower, but it would be cool if they could get someone who ends up being under-estimated. I don't know how good Gauthier is going to be, but it really burned me that Anthony Mantha went one pick ahead to Detroit. Maybe Shanahan needs to use some of Wings connections to nab a few scouts from them.

 

[Rebel_1812]

I sure hope they get it right. Wouldn't it be something to see the Leafs actual come out of the draft with the biggest steal for once, like the Hawks getting Toews after Johnson and Staal went ahead of him. I know the Leafs pick is lower, but it would be cool if they could get someone who ends up being under-estimated. I don't know how good Gauthier is going to be, but it really burned me that Anthony Mantha went one pick ahead to Detroit. Maybe Shanahan needs to use some of Wings connections to nab a few scouts from them.

Yeah that gauthier pick sucked.  You try to get first liners in the first round.  Try to pick 3rd liners with your 7th round picks.

 

[bustaheims]

Yeah that gauthier pick sucked.  You try to get first liners in the first round.  Try to pick 3rd liners with your 7th round picks.

You seriously need to re-evaluate the way you look at the draft.

 

[Rebel_1812]

Yeah that gauthier pick sucked.  You try to get first liners in the first round.  Try to pick 3rd liners with your 7th round picks.

You seriously need to re-evaluate the way you look at the draft.

no you need to evaluate rarity and limited resources.  You don't waste something rare, like a first round pick; on something common, like a 3rd line grinder.  That's just common sense.

 

[bustaheims]

no you need to evaluate rarity and limited resources.  You don't waste something rare, like a first round pick; on something common, like a 3rd line grinder.  That's just common sense.

It's not that simple. 1st line type players available per draft are an even more limited resource. I'd suggest you back through a number of drafts and take a look to see what kind of players were drafted in the last 8-10 picks of the 1st round. There's an occasional 1st liner there, yeah, but, there's a lot more 2nd/3rd liners, 2nd/3rd pairing defencemen and a bunch of guys that never made much of an impact in the NHL. It's nice to say that you should get 1st liners out of 1st round picks, but, a lot of the time, those type of players aren't available by the time a team gets to make their selection. Sometimes, the 3rd liner with 2nd line upside is the best player left on the board.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I was just wondering why you think so highly of his opinion. I thought maybe he had a really good record of draft picking or something, but I couldn't find anything that made him standout among the hundreds of other writers out there.

There's very few people as open and accommodating with their rankings or thoughts on prospects. Nobody is saying to take his word as gospel, but when it comes to prospects it's good for fans to hear as many voices as possible since we obviously don't have the time to watch as many games as these guys do. Pronman just has one of the loudest voices because of how active he is on twitter, how often TSN 1050 has him on the radio, and how large his readership is on his articles (formerly on hockeyprospectus, now on ESPN).

 

[Sudafederov]

They had an interesting item on the TSN Dave Naylor show the other day...just in case we needed a reminder that picks shouldn't be thrown around like candy.

2007 Draft

Montreal

12 Ryan McDonagh
22 Max Pacioretty
43 P. K. Subban

Toronto

0 picks in the first two rounds (draft day trade: 1st & 2nd-round picks in 2007 and a 4th in 2009 to the Sharks for Toskala and Bell).

 

[Redleaf]

I was just wondering why you think so highly of his opinion. I thought maybe he had a really good record of draft picking or something, but I couldn't find anything that made him standout among the hundreds of other writers out there.

There's very few people as open and accommodating with their rankings or thoughts on prospects. Nobody is saying to take his word as gospel, but when it comes to prospects it's good for fans to hear as many voices as possible since we obviously don't have the time to watch as many games as these guys do. Pronman just has one of the loudest voices because of how active he is on twitter, how often TSN 1050 has him on the radio, and how large his readership is on his articles (formerly on hockeyprospectus, now on ESPN).

Oh. Ok. I just didnt know anything about this guy.

 

[Britishbulldog]

They had an interesting item on the TSN Dave Naylor show the other day...just in case we needed a reminder that picks shouldn't be thrown around like candy.

2007 Draft

Montreal

12 Ryan McDonagh
22 Max Pacioretty
43 P. K. Subban

Toronto

0 picks in the first two rounds (draft day trade: 1st & 2nd-round picks in 2007 and a 4th in 2009 to the Sharks for Toskala and Bell).

Shea Weber at 49th
Lucic at 50th
Chara at 56th

Some teams have luck and some seem to pick carefully.