Tank Nation UNITE!!!

[Madferret]

Is it same to assume this draft lottery is going to be the most watched since it's been televised?  Half of Toronto is going to tune in hoping to see the Leafs win the right to bring the Golden Child home.

What date is the lottery supposed to take place?

I read a tweet that said it would likely be April 18th but it wasn't confirmed.

Ok. Thanks.  Just put a 'D' in that date on my iPhone calender. The D is for Dont watch. It could also stand for Dissapointment. Of course if they win It'll stand for McDavid.

"Save the team we stupidly stuck in the Desert"

 

[moon111]

Carolina wins McDavid.  Nobody talks about Carolina winning the pick, so it'll happen because it's out of the blue.

 

[cw]

McKenzie: In other years Strome would be no. 1 pick

I think dman Hanifin is 3rd

Leafs have a shot at getting this guy. Might take a little sting out of this season if he's as good as McKenzie thinks

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Arizona won a game.

 

[pmrules]

Columbus is 12 points ahead of the Leafs.  Wow.

 

[AvroArrow]

Columbus is 12 points ahead of the Leafs.  Wow.

Now we just need Carolina to rack up some points to ensure the worst we pick is 5th.

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

McKenzie: In other years Strome would be no. 1 pick

I think dman Hanifin is 3rd

Leafs have a shot at getting this guy. Might take a little sting out of this season if he's as good as McKenzie thinks

I have this feeling that Hanifin will not go top 3. Leafs will pick Hanifin over Marner and it won't turn out well.

Saw comparisons to Bouwmeester the other day which is good and all but we have enough of that skill set on our team (Rielly, and the ghost of Jake Gardiner).

Hope I'm wrong!

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

McKenzie: In other years Strome would be no. 1 pick

I think dman Hanifin is 3rd

Leafs have a shot at getting this guy. Might take a little sting out of this season if he's as good as McKenzie thinks

I have this feeling that Hanifin will not go top 3. Leafs will pick Hanifin over Marner and it won't turn out well.

Saw comparisons to Bouwmeester the other day which is good and all but we have enough of that skill set on our team (Rielly, and the ghost of Jake Gardiner).

Hope I'm wrong!

Hey Brendan, this guy has a "feeling" it won't work out!

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It looks like the only two people to compare Hanifin to Bouwmeester are Craig Button and Dave "Emonton's Steve Simmons" Staples. So yeah, I wouldn't put much stock in that.

 

[pmrules]

McKenzie: In other years Strome would be no. 1 pick

I think dman Hanifin is 3rd

Leafs have a shot at getting this guy. Might take a little sting out of this season if he's as good as McKenzie thinks

I have this feeling that Hanifin will not go top 3. Leafs will pick Hanifin over Marner and it won't turn out well.

Saw comparisons to Bouwmeester the other day which is good and all but we have enough of that skill set on our team (Rielly, and the ghost of Jake Gardiner).

Hope I'm wrong!

I don't see how Edmonton could pass up on Hanifin if they are drafting 3rd.  If Edmonton is drafting 1st or 2nd - then there is a possibility of Hanifin falling to 4 or 5 and Strome rising. 

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

McKenzie: In other years Strome would be no. 1 pick

I think dman Hanifin is 3rd

Leafs have a shot at getting this guy. Might take a little sting out of this season if he's as good as McKenzie thinks

I have this feeling that Hanifin will not go top 3. Leafs will pick Hanifin over Marner and it won't turn out well.

Saw comparisons to Bouwmeester the other day which is good and all but we have enough of that skill set on our team (Rielly, and the ghost of Jake Gardiner).

Hope I'm wrong!

I don't see how Edmonton could pass up on Hanifin if they are drafting 3rd.  If Edmonton is drafting 1st or 2nd - then there is a possibility of Hanifin falling to 4 or 5 and Strome rising.

I can't remember if I commented about it here, but in a recent ESPN Insiders column, Corey Pronman argued that Marner/Strome should go before Hanifin.  The argument wasn't that Strome/Marner were necessarily more skilled than Hanifin (in fact, he argues Hanifin is equal or better than those two on talent alone) but that star forwards have a greater impact on the game than star D do and that investing in a top forward is better than in a top D (if it comes down to that choice).

 

[Kin]

Saw comparisons to Bouwmeester the other day which is good and all but we have enough of that skill set on our team (Rielly, and the ghost of Jake Gardiner).

I'm not sure what you mean by "that skillset" but Bouwmeester isn't really an offensive defenseman. A great skating defenseman, sure, but skating well isn't really a skill set so much as it is a necessity among defensemen in the modern NHL.

What Bouwmeester is and has been throughout his career, in stark contrast to Gardiner and as of yet Rielly, is someone his teams have relied upon in defensive situations and to kill penalties. Over the last two seasons he's been the #2 penalty killer for a St. Louis team that's ranked 9th and 2nd on the penalty kill. He killed penalties in Sochi for Team Canada. Sure, he doesn't throw a lot of hits but neither do a bunch of great defenders.

Bouwmeester is primarily a defensive defenseman. He's just the kind who does it while being able to score 35-40 points a year and is terrific at advancing the puck. To me that reads like the perfect type of player to pair up long-term with someone like Rielly.

 

[Redleaf]

Saw comparisons to Bouwmeester the other day which is good and all but we have enough of that skill set on our team (Rielly, and the ghost of Jake Gardiner).

I'm not sure what you mean by "that skillset" but Bouwmeester isn't really an offensive defenseman. A great skating defenseman, sure, but skating well isn't really a skill set so much as it is a necessity among defensemen in the modern NHL.

What Bouwmeester is and has been throughout his career, in stark contrast to Gardiner and as of yet Rielly, is someone his teams have relied upon in defensive situations and to kill penalties. Over the last two seasons he's been the #2 penalty killer for a St. Louis team that's ranked 9th and 2nd on the penalty kill. He killed penalties in Sochi for Team Canada.Sure, he doesn't throw a lot of hits but neither did Nik Lidstrom.

Bouwmeester is primarily a defensive defenseman. He's just the kind who does it while being able to score 35-40 points a year and is terrific at advancing the puck. To me that reads like the perfect type of player to pair up long-term with someone like Rielly.

While that's probably true, defensive defensemen tend to get traded more often than top line forwards, at least that's my take on it. You could probably trade for someone with that skillset, but it may be a lot harder and costly to trade for an explosive top line centreman.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict the Leafs will NOT pick a defenseman with their first round pick at this years draft.

 

[Kin]

It looks like the only two people to compare Hanifin to Bouwmeester are Craig Button and Dave "Emonton's Steve Simmons" Staples. So yeah, I wouldn't put much stock in that.

Seriously, am I missing something? What's wrong with Jay Bouwmeester?

 

[Kin]

While that's probably true, defensive defensemen tend to get traded more often than top line forwards, at least that's my take on it. You could probably trade for someone with that skillset, but it may be a lot harder and costly to trade for an explosive top line centreman.

I'm not saying I'd advocate taking Hanifin over Strome, I'm saying there's no "skill set" overlap with the young defensemen on the roster(if a Bouwmeester comparison is accurate) and that if the top tier forwards they want are taken before the Leafs draft Hanifin seems like a pretty good consolation prize.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It looks like the only two people to compare Hanifin to Bouwmeester are Craig Button and Dave "Emonton's Steve Simmons" Staples. So yeah, I wouldn't put much stock in that.

Seriously, am I missing something? What's wrong with Jay Bouwmeester?

Don't get me wrong, I really like J-Bo, and think that you nailed the description of him. He's probably as good of a #2 defenceman as there is in the league. But when Button and Staples bring that comparison out they're also saying that they feel that Hanifin is limited offensively, which pretty much everybody else disagrees with them about.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

It looks like the only two people to compare Hanifin to Bouwmeester are Craig Button and Dave "Emonton's Steve Simmons" Staples. So yeah, I wouldn't put much stock in that.

Seriously, am I missing something? What's wrong with Jay Bouwmeester?

Well, for one, he perpetuates the stereotype of people of Dutch descent being tall.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

It looks like the only two people to compare Hanifin to Bouwmeester are Craig Button and Dave "Emonton's Steve Simmons" Staples. So yeah, I wouldn't put much stock in that.

Speaking of Button, saw a ranking of his from 2009 of his Top 10 for that draft - had Tim Erixon 10th overall, had Jacob Joseffson 6th (he went 20th) and didn't even have Evander Kane in the top 10 at all.

I'm pretty much at the point of ignoring anything he says.

 

[Kin]

Don't get me wrong, I really like J-Bo, and think that you nailed the description of him. He's probably as good of a #2 defenceman as there is in the league. But when Button and Staples bring that comparison out they're also saying that they feel that Hanifin is limited offensively, which pretty much everybody else disagrees with them about.

Ah, fair enough.

 

[Kin]

Well, for one, he perpetuates the stereotype of people of Dutch descent being tall.

See, if it were some sort of Ginger-based prejudice, that I could get behind.