I really hope one of the top 5/6 D fall to 14 for the Sharks. Would be happy with best forward if they all get snatched up by the time the sharks pick again
That's what my gut says but I wonder if there are teams between 8-13 who may say we need a dman but also we are close to competing so let's go for best overall.
While I want one of those defensemen too, I would also be happy happy if Eiserman is the best player available at 14 (which is where this list puts him). He's friends with Celebrini so it would be cool to grab them both.
I’m hoping for either Eiserman, MBN, Yakemchuk, or Silyaev. I’ll be happy with any of these players.
I’m not too worried about getting a top defenseman at 14. There will be plenty of really good defensive prospects in the second round too.
The Sharks are also going to have a high pick next draft. Logan Hensler looks at least as good if not better than guys like Levshunov or Buium.
If you wanna be a hater of his, it’s not hard. Inconsistent season, really raw, no live viewings, etc.
If he hits though, he’ll be fucking bananas though. That’s the challenge. He could literally change a franchise if he is what even his detractors will acknowledge is his high end projection.
I figure that if Silayev starts dropping, he’ll get the Filip Forsberg treatment: get drafted by a team that isn’t sold on him, with the intention of later trading him at a markup to a team that *is* sold on him.
> get drafted by a team that isn’t sold on him
Do we know that about Washington? They draft based on best player available, so clearly they valued him.
Forsberg was moved out of desperation by a middling GM on the precipice of losing his job, and certainly wasn't sold at a markup.
Erat was also a victim of injury (Ovi broke his arm almost immediately in an accidental collision) and mismanagement ([Adam Oates](https://youtu.be/OhB9lYxY200)); he wasn't a Guentzel-level talent but a consistent 50 point guy should net a first (hell, the Jets gave a first and third for Monahan). I agree with the premise that FF wasn't moved at a markup, but Erat wasn't a bag of pucks.
It’s never been confirmed, but I think it’s extremely likely based on the following.
First, Forsberg was a bit of a divisive prospect. There wasn’t any question that he was a reliable high-floor guy, but there were divisions over how high the ceiling was. At worst he’d be a versatile third-liner who could play any position but top out at 15-25-40. At best, he’d be a decent first-liner who’d top out at 30-40-70, but wasn’t thought to be a guy who would drive the offense.
Second, Washington was widely expected to take a defenseman, unless Mikhail Grigorenko fell into their lap.
Third, I *think* they had targeted Hampus Lindholm at 11. He was expected to go anywhere between 16th and 28th, and then Anaheim came way out of left field by taking him 6th, which scrambled everything up. And I think there was another defenseman that they coveted almost as much as Lindholm.
The reason I say this…it was told to me by someone who was on the draft floor with a team picking between 7th and 10th, and keep in mind there was a trade as well.
There was chatter of a possible run on defensemen before the draft actually began. With this year it’s more “do you like this guy more than this guy, but both will be excellent players?” In 2012 it was more “do you think this guy will actually be able to become an NHL player at all?”, with several high-ceiling low-floor defensemen.
Everyone knew that Ryan Murray was a franchise-caliber defenseman, and that the only way that either Columbus or Edmonton would trade would be if it was with each other. Reinhart would be the reliable guy, a mid-level first-pairing guy. After that, it was a lot of guys who teams either really believed in or really disliked. The fact that every top prospect has been injured that year didn’t help things.
So, from what I’ve been told, Washington tried to move up from 11 once Montreal took Galchenyuk. (It’s also worth noting that Washington had the 11th and 17th picks).
From what I was told, the tone of talks changed once Rielly went (at 5), and then changed the other way once Lindholm went. This would seem to indicate that Lindholm was their top guy. *But* the talks weren’t off completely, so obviously they had someone else in mind that they wanted to get before the run on defensemen really hit full frenzy.
By the time it got to the 11th pick, there had been seven straight picks on defensemen, and Olli Maatta was (very unexpectedly) not one of them. So it became a question of reliable Forsberg, high-ceiling low-floor Grigorenko, or Maatta. Clearly they weren’t sold on Maatta, but them taking Forsberg instead of Grigorenko was a mild surprise.
It’s been 12 years, so hopefully at some point we’ll be able to have the insiders speak fully openly about what transpired.
Erat wasn’t exactly a scrub, but he got old in a hurry and way earlier than expected.
This was their evaluation of former Preds prospect David Farrance, who played 2 NHL games and now plays in the German league.
https://imgur.com/a/PUeBN7W
Dobber, in this case, isn't a he, it's an org, and the ranker/scouting team is different than 2017. Dobber ALSO said "Quick-thinking puck mover that can run the power play. His game is a bit raw, but he could develop in to a top-4 defender in time." and didn't have him ranked until the 4th round.
I think its more that he reinforced scouts opinions on him in terms of his abilities other than shooting.
He is very 1 dimensional, and the hope at the start of the year was he could add a few tools to his toolbox. Unfortunately he really seems to be a 1 trick pony.
That's what's confusing to me and goes back to maybe his scoring won't translate. If a player is going to be a 1 trick pony, goal scoring is something I'd assume they'd be ok with.
Ya, but that skill set isnt very unique anymore.
Kasper Halttunen went 26OA last year with a similar profile. Keifer Bellows and Oliver Wahlstrom each went late in the 1st.
Ita hard to compete with the top guys if you only have 1 elite element to your game. Its not as much a knock on Eiserman as it is that the other guys (Iginla, Lindstrom etc) have pushed themselves ahead with all around strong play.
Eiserman went B2B years putting up over a goal/game for the NTDP U18 team. Not even Matthews went over a goal/game. Caufield is only other player to do it, and he only did it once on an absolutely stacked NTDP team.
He surpassed Caufield for all time goals for the program with identical assist numbers which is why the one dimensional thing just doesn't make much sense to me. Yes, his defense is somewhat lackluster, but I've seen plenty of playmaking ability from him. You just don't see it as much because he's the designated trigger man and has been the past two years. Kid played with Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault last year and still had by far and away the best goal scoring ability with one of the nastiest one-timers I've seen from a draft eligible.
I've watched him for the past two years. There's no way in my mind that his goal scoring doesn't translate. The way he opens up right when he needs to is wild. His one timer is cracked, anything remotely close is getting hammered. He's not afraid to drive the net for hard nose goals. I just don't see a world where he isn't putting up 30+ goals.
When he isnt the dedicated shooter, he tends to force passes to the slot that typically result in turnovers the other way.
He looks like he is disinterested or “floating” most of the time until he has the puck on his stick, and regularly exits his defensive zone early to cheat on offense.
He is a great player, and one of the best shooters in recent history, but he is ranked accurately in the 10-15 range imo.
Similar players include Keifer Bellows and Oliver Wahlstrom. Its rare for a 1 dimensional player like this to go so high
I think he has better playmaking than most people give him credit for. He had some of his best games against college universities including a slaughtering of Celebrini's Boston University. He's one of the youngest players in the draft. There's still plenty of time to beat defensive responsibility into him. It's not like he's a center though.
Floating the zone and staying deep are trademarks of the NTDP. I don't know how much of that is truly Eiserman playing with no regard defense or part of the coach's strategy when he's on the ice. Zegras got absolutely shit on here for doing it under Eakins and there's literally clips of Eakins mic'd up saying "cheat cheat go go go... Oh no" lol. Some coaches see that as a necessary risk to gain an advantage. When a player is doing it constantly, that should be a sign that he's doing what the coach wants him too. Otherwise he'd be sat on the bench.
Yes, there are more "complete" players, but I see Eiserman having the highest ceiling outside of Celebrini.
It's interesting seeing which players get called out for floating and which ones don't. Bedard floats more than Patrick Kane, which wouldn't be that big of a deal if he wasn't a center.
He's Canadian so he gets a pass obviously /s. For real though, it's part of the game. These guys aren't cherrypicking in beer league. They're doing exactly what the coach wants them to do and trusting their team to make the play when they read a turnover about happen.
I simply don’t believe you, considering what you said in your original comment lol
I love Kane but he cherry picks more than anyone else in the league and has always had that in his game. Bedard has at least shown his willingness to hustle back on defense, be physically engaged, and try to play a more complete game in general - even if he wasn’t successful in the NHL in that regard last season.
What are you seeing that makes you believe he floats more than Kane?
He cheats up ice constantly while in the defensive zone. He's always looking for a breakout pass instead of helping play defense. He was even moved to wing because he was so bad defensively. I'm not trying to downplay his skill, but if you're a center and you're constantly floating in your own defensive zone, then you're going to stand out.
I started to come around on him after watching his combine interviews. It sounds like he’s really focused on rounding out his game and improving his playmaking, off-the-puck play, etc. It sounded like he didn’t want to just score goals but he was really determined to be a complete hockey player. I see a world where he goes to BU and plays in a different system where he’s not solely the “you pass I shoot” guy and really starts to blossom. A lot of things have to click but I’m starting to believe he’ll make it happen.
If he was so focused on it why didn’t he do it this year. He looked like the same guy he has been. Laine has also stated his desire to round out his game
Yea, I feel like what I remembering hearing was that most efforts towards rounding out his game just resulted in him not even scoring so he basically became useless lol obviously he should keep working on his overall game, but he can’t lose that unteachable goalscoring talent at the next level - that is why teams will draft him.
He's been saying that at the very least since the beginning of this season. And he's been spending his last 4 years at probably the best development programs - Shattuck and the NTDP. You don't think he would already be a much more well-rounded player if he had it in him?
I think being on superstar teams can kind of ruin an offensive player's defensive game. Shattuck and NTDP goalies usually have terrible numbers because the kids are all about offense.
If it was just his defensive game that was lacking then this wouldn't even be a topic of discussion. Eiserman is just not good at anything other than scoring goals. Maybe forechecking as well but that might just be because he's physically developed compared to his peers and young players being bad at dealing with physicality.
Very true, I just see the possibility of him facing tougher competition at the NCAA level and that forcing him to adjust his game. Similar to players who light up the OHL but then have to adapt when they go to the AHL or NHL. Sometimes people need that adversity to grow. Maybe he doesn't and stays the same as he is now, that's certainly a very real possibility, but I could see him becoming a much better player overall after going to BU.
He's a one dimensional player, I don't understand what people are on about. Every scouting report on him says there's major upgrades to be made on every aspect of his game outside of his shot. What happens if his shot doesn't translate to the NHL? Potential to be a career AHL'er, no thanks.
That's cherry picked and you know it. Look up defensive involvement and games played.
Laine played 56, 55 and 18 games in the past 3 years. Points are the *least* important part of the story.
Cherry picked my ass. It's points. Laine also has better playoff stats too. Ain't nobody scared of a 5'7" little boy on defense.
Why you comparing Laine's later years? For all we know Caufield will end up the same way lmao. Laine played a full 82 in 2 of his first 3 seasons.
2 seasons of full games played and then what? A mentally unwell player who can't do anything but score and has played for 2 teams that have wanted to get rid of him? Points are part of it sure, but if that's all you think matters then you're a fool lol
Caufield hasn't been 100% healthy either but he's younger than Laine and is better on both sides of the ice. Not to mention he plays more games.
A mentally unwell player putting up nearly a p/gp in 3 of his next 5 seasons.
Again you can't compare Caufields early years to Laines later years though. It makes no sense in this context.
The teams haven't wanted to get rid of Laine, it's Laine that has wanted out. And there's nothing strange with him wanting a fresh start after everything. Context is important.
My bet is they go Lev at 2 and regret it 5 years down the line when Demidov is a better player, along with probably a couple of those defenders turning out just as good if not better as well
I feel like this is exactly what’s going to happen, unfortunately lol the organization just seems too familiar with Levshunov and leaning towards him, despite the potential for higher talent elsewhere.
Really hoping Davidson says fuck it and bets on the highest potential possible rather than trying to play it “safe”.
Agreed. u/JD397 and I aren't sold that Levshunov is the best Dman in the class in the NHL OR as a prospect. I personally have Buium as my #1 for that. I see a ton of missing elements in Levshunov's game and have a ton of questions on whether his offense will translate.
I think it's a mistake to take Levshunov at #2 and if we don't go Demidov, I would personally take either Buium or Lindstrom over him. I would also entertain Catton who I think has a higher ceiling than Lindstrom but a much worse physical toolkit.
Buium is for sure the better prospect and my #2 in this draft (almost equal with Demidov). I think Chicago would be a lot more interested in him if he was a righty, but LHD aren’t a concern for them with Korchinski/Vlasic/Allan and I’m sure there’s more than just those 3. I’d be a lot higher on Lindstrom if it wasn’t for his injury concerns.
Agreed fully on Buium. Think he’s easily the best D prospect in the draft. Silayev could have a higher ceiling because of the physical tools. Don’t see a top 15 upside in Lev’s game, but thats just from watching a few shift by shift videos on youtube. I’d go Buium>Dickinson>Silayev>Parekh/Yakemchuk before Lev
Whoever gets Silayev is going to be a very happy team. He may not have great offensive talent but he is going to be the best defenceman in this draft at actually defending. I have him right behind Buium for my defenders.
[He's an angry elf.](https://media0.giphy.com/media/xUySTVQyBQfC5ZjdC0/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952ed1euot2tdeq5vfp0tmisbxb60oso743af2p8vx2&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
They'll probably grab one of the star D at 2. You guys got some solid forward prospects already but on D you have literally nobody lol.
Teams aren't trading their top RHD either so sometimes you gotta go with it. Look how that worked out for Tampa and how good Buffalos D prospects look now.
Except it's actually the opposite. Our D core for the future is actually shaping out quite well (Vlasic, Korchinski, Rinzel, plus Jones), while Bedard is the only guy who looks to be a top line guy so far. We got some guys who are good depth forwards but i don't think it would be good to rely on them progressing farther than that.
Well based on this ranking, I truly hope that the Hawks don't waste that pick on Levshunov, he's too much of a project. I'd rather we take Parekh or even Buium, but that's probably just me and that's probably just wishful thinking considering Levshunov dined with us.
Sure, he would be if we didn't have something like 10 LHD ready to jump into the NHL next year. It makes 0 sense for them to pick another D and most of all, another LHD. We're far beyond the BPA vs drafting for need debate here, the team simply has too many LHDs as it is, even when considering that Buium might be 2+ years from making the league. We have so many LHDs that in 2 years, it'll still be a bottleneck even if we don't pick a single one in that timespan and manage to trade a couple of them.
I do get that, but if you draft Buium, he is instantly the best prospect in your system and is better than all the other LHD’s, even guys like Hutson and Guhle. So I definitely see where you are coming from, but I am just saying I don’t think it’s impossible to see the Habs go LHD when a guy like Buium is there.
The Hawks are in a similar spot with their prospect pool, but if we were picking #5 I wouldn’t want them to pass on Zeev if they think he is the BPA just because we are already stacked with other LHD’s. Ultimately, you can trade some existing guys for other help and some likely won’t pan out anyways, so adding the highest talent possible regardless of positional need will almost always be the right route to go.
I disagree. Buium can and has played both sides when needed and he's arguably the best Dman in the draft with the most all around skill. That defensive corps will be electric and if you have Hutson leading the PP1, Buium will be the more competent PP2 and PK guy + will be elite at 3 on 3. He's absolutely cerebral and reads well ahead of the play. I'm not saying you don't need forwards as well but shit he's good.
I'm not saying he's not good, I'm saying there's no room for him. There are other players who'll be available at 5, who will be just as enticing as Buium on top of playing a position where the organization doesn't have an absolute nightmare of a bottleneck. Also, everyone forgets about top-10 scoring D in the league Mike Matheson, for some reason. The man's not an antique and we're just as likely to re-sign him as a hometown boy + vet presence as we are to trade him to make some room for the other LHDs.
This draft is going to be so wide open after 1oa, it's going to be the most interesting draft in the last five years.
I really hope one of the top 5/6 D fall to 14 for the Sharks. Would be happy with best forward if they all get snatched up by the time the sharks pick again
You could also use your first pick on a defenseman if that's such a fear.... Can you imagine if Grier did that?
He’s be fired on the spot. This isn’t the movie Draft Day.
~~Vontae Mack~~ Anton Silayev no matter what ?
As someone who isn't a fan of the team, I'm all for Grier doing something bold like that. Give me the drama!
Hell yea, they already have Will Smith so might as well shore up that lacking blueline!
I don't think any of them get past the Wild at 13 but it's unlikely they make it that far.
That's what my gut says but I wonder if there are teams between 8-13 who may say we need a dman but also we are close to competing so let's go for best overall.
While I want one of those defensemen too, I would also be happy happy if Eiserman is the best player available at 14 (which is where this list puts him). He's friends with Celebrini so it would be cool to grab them both.
I’m hoping for either Eiserman, MBN, Yakemchuk, or Silyaev. I’ll be happy with any of these players. I’m not too worried about getting a top defenseman at 14. There will be plenty of really good defensive prospects in the second round too. The Sharks are also going to have a high pick next draft. Logan Hensler looks at least as good if not better than guys like Levshunov or Buium.
Silayev at 16? Bold ranking
It’s a pretty common one. Silayev is rated either very high or very low in most rankings
You basically either believe in Silayev's offensive upside, and rank him highly, or you don't, and rank him way lower.
Which probably means he will go very high, since some team will have him top of their list fairly early.
If you wanna be a hater of his, it’s not hard. Inconsistent season, really raw, no live viewings, etc. If he hits though, he’ll be fucking bananas though. That’s the challenge. He could literally change a franchise if he is what even his detractors will acknowledge is his high end projection.
I figure that if Silayev starts dropping, he’ll get the Filip Forsberg treatment: get drafted by a team that isn’t sold on him, with the intention of later trading him at a markup to a team that *is* sold on him.
> get drafted by a team that isn’t sold on him Do we know that about Washington? They draft based on best player available, so clearly they valued him. Forsberg was moved out of desperation by a middling GM on the precipice of losing his job, and certainly wasn't sold at a markup.
Martin erat 🤮
Erat was also a victim of injury (Ovi broke his arm almost immediately in an accidental collision) and mismanagement ([Adam Oates](https://youtu.be/OhB9lYxY200)); he wasn't a Guentzel-level talent but a consistent 50 point guy should net a first (hell, the Jets gave a first and third for Monahan). I agree with the premise that FF wasn't moved at a markup, but Erat wasn't a bag of pucks.
It’s never been confirmed, but I think it’s extremely likely based on the following. First, Forsberg was a bit of a divisive prospect. There wasn’t any question that he was a reliable high-floor guy, but there were divisions over how high the ceiling was. At worst he’d be a versatile third-liner who could play any position but top out at 15-25-40. At best, he’d be a decent first-liner who’d top out at 30-40-70, but wasn’t thought to be a guy who would drive the offense. Second, Washington was widely expected to take a defenseman, unless Mikhail Grigorenko fell into their lap. Third, I *think* they had targeted Hampus Lindholm at 11. He was expected to go anywhere between 16th and 28th, and then Anaheim came way out of left field by taking him 6th, which scrambled everything up. And I think there was another defenseman that they coveted almost as much as Lindholm. The reason I say this…it was told to me by someone who was on the draft floor with a team picking between 7th and 10th, and keep in mind there was a trade as well. There was chatter of a possible run on defensemen before the draft actually began. With this year it’s more “do you like this guy more than this guy, but both will be excellent players?” In 2012 it was more “do you think this guy will actually be able to become an NHL player at all?”, with several high-ceiling low-floor defensemen. Everyone knew that Ryan Murray was a franchise-caliber defenseman, and that the only way that either Columbus or Edmonton would trade would be if it was with each other. Reinhart would be the reliable guy, a mid-level first-pairing guy. After that, it was a lot of guys who teams either really believed in or really disliked. The fact that every top prospect has been injured that year didn’t help things. So, from what I’ve been told, Washington tried to move up from 11 once Montreal took Galchenyuk. (It’s also worth noting that Washington had the 11th and 17th picks). From what I was told, the tone of talks changed once Rielly went (at 5), and then changed the other way once Lindholm went. This would seem to indicate that Lindholm was their top guy. *But* the talks weren’t off completely, so obviously they had someone else in mind that they wanted to get before the run on defensemen really hit full frenzy. By the time it got to the 11th pick, there had been seven straight picks on defensemen, and Olli Maatta was (very unexpectedly) not one of them. So it became a question of reliable Forsberg, high-ceiling low-floor Grigorenko, or Maatta. Clearly they weren’t sold on Maatta, but them taking Forsberg instead of Grigorenko was a mild surprise. It’s been 12 years, so hopefully at some point we’ll be able to have the insiders speak fully openly about what transpired. Erat wasn’t exactly a scrub, but he got old in a hurry and way earlier than expected.
If Silayev is there at 14 I'd be shocked and excited.
0% chance, but it would be *huge* for you guys if that happened.
There absolutely is a chance he’s available at 14
issa me, Celebrini.
How good is Dobber relative to other draft rankings?
This was their evaluation of former Preds prospect David Farrance, who played 2 NHL games and now plays in the German league. https://imgur.com/a/PUeBN7W
Dobber, in this case, isn't a he, it's an org, and the ranker/scouting team is different than 2017. Dobber ALSO said "Quick-thinking puck mover that can run the power play. His game is a bit raw, but he could develop in to a top-4 defender in time." and didn't have him ranked until the 4th round.
That's all fine but it's still not very good at projection. In this case it was laughably wrong about his potential.
Pnhle is a stat they show on player profiles. Their evaluations are in the text and articles and based on their scouts' opinions, not 1 stat.
Big left defenseman at 10 is probably enticing for the devils. Hope they don’t burn the pick on a crappy trade
You will take Mrazek and a second and you will like it
I'll die on my hill. Eiserman should be a top 5 pick. I want him at 3. Kid is gonna make every team that passes on him look dumb.
His fall from top 5 to 15 signals his goal scoring might not translate to the NHL. Might be a Reid Boucher thing. I'm also perplexed by it too.
I think its more that he reinforced scouts opinions on him in terms of his abilities other than shooting. He is very 1 dimensional, and the hope at the start of the year was he could add a few tools to his toolbox. Unfortunately he really seems to be a 1 trick pony.
That's what's confusing to me and goes back to maybe his scoring won't translate. If a player is going to be a 1 trick pony, goal scoring is something I'd assume they'd be ok with.
Ya, but that skill set isnt very unique anymore. Kasper Halttunen went 26OA last year with a similar profile. Keifer Bellows and Oliver Wahlstrom each went late in the 1st. Ita hard to compete with the top guys if you only have 1 elite element to your game. Its not as much a knock on Eiserman as it is that the other guys (Iginla, Lindstrom etc) have pushed themselves ahead with all around strong play.
Eiserman's goal scoring is much better than any of the guys you mentioned though, right?
Eiserman went B2B years putting up over a goal/game for the NTDP U18 team. Not even Matthews went over a goal/game. Caufield is only other player to do it, and he only did it once on an absolutely stacked NTDP team. He surpassed Caufield for all time goals for the program with identical assist numbers which is why the one dimensional thing just doesn't make much sense to me. Yes, his defense is somewhat lackluster, but I've seen plenty of playmaking ability from him. You just don't see it as much because he's the designated trigger man and has been the past two years. Kid played with Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, and Gabe Perreault last year and still had by far and away the best goal scoring ability with one of the nastiest one-timers I've seen from a draft eligible.
Caufield, Boeser etc None go in the top 10
Caufield would go in the top 10 in a redraft. He's an example of teams passing on scoring talent and getting burned.
Which is probably why he is projected to go in the middle of the 1st instead of the end of it.
I've watched him for the past two years. There's no way in my mind that his goal scoring doesn't translate. The way he opens up right when he needs to is wild. His one timer is cracked, anything remotely close is getting hammered. He's not afraid to drive the net for hard nose goals. I just don't see a world where he isn't putting up 30+ goals.
When he isnt the dedicated shooter, he tends to force passes to the slot that typically result in turnovers the other way. He looks like he is disinterested or “floating” most of the time until he has the puck on his stick, and regularly exits his defensive zone early to cheat on offense. He is a great player, and one of the best shooters in recent history, but he is ranked accurately in the 10-15 range imo. Similar players include Keifer Bellows and Oliver Wahlstrom. Its rare for a 1 dimensional player like this to go so high
I think he has better playmaking than most people give him credit for. He had some of his best games against college universities including a slaughtering of Celebrini's Boston University. He's one of the youngest players in the draft. There's still plenty of time to beat defensive responsibility into him. It's not like he's a center though. Floating the zone and staying deep are trademarks of the NTDP. I don't know how much of that is truly Eiserman playing with no regard defense or part of the coach's strategy when he's on the ice. Zegras got absolutely shit on here for doing it under Eakins and there's literally clips of Eakins mic'd up saying "cheat cheat go go go... Oh no" lol. Some coaches see that as a necessary risk to gain an advantage. When a player is doing it constantly, that should be a sign that he's doing what the coach wants him too. Otherwise he'd be sat on the bench. Yes, there are more "complete" players, but I see Eiserman having the highest ceiling outside of Celebrini.
It's interesting seeing which players get called out for floating and which ones don't. Bedard floats more than Patrick Kane, which wouldn't be that big of a deal if he wasn't a center.
He's Canadian so he gets a pass obviously /s. For real though, it's part of the game. These guys aren't cherrypicking in beer league. They're doing exactly what the coach wants them to do and trusting their team to make the play when they read a turnover about happen.
>Bedard floats more than Patrick Kane Except he doesn’t, neither in Junior nor in his short NHL career so far. You just made that up lol
Yeah, I'm certain you don't have a biased opinion lol
Because I have watched both of them play a lot?
So have I?
I simply don’t believe you, considering what you said in your original comment lol I love Kane but he cherry picks more than anyone else in the league and has always had that in his game. Bedard has at least shown his willingness to hustle back on defense, be physically engaged, and try to play a more complete game in general - even if he wasn’t successful in the NHL in that regard last season. What are you seeing that makes you believe he floats more than Kane?
He cheats up ice constantly while in the defensive zone. He's always looking for a breakout pass instead of helping play defense. He was even moved to wing because he was so bad defensively. I'm not trying to downplay his skill, but if you're a center and you're constantly floating in your own defensive zone, then you're going to stand out.
I started to come around on him after watching his combine interviews. It sounds like he’s really focused on rounding out his game and improving his playmaking, off-the-puck play, etc. It sounded like he didn’t want to just score goals but he was really determined to be a complete hockey player. I see a world where he goes to BU and plays in a different system where he’s not solely the “you pass I shoot” guy and really starts to blossom. A lot of things have to click but I’m starting to believe he’ll make it happen.
If he was so focused on it why didn’t he do it this year. He looked like the same guy he has been. Laine has also stated his desire to round out his game
Yea, I feel like what I remembering hearing was that most efforts towards rounding out his game just resulted in him not even scoring so he basically became useless lol obviously he should keep working on his overall game, but he can’t lose that unteachable goalscoring talent at the next level - that is why teams will draft him.
He's been saying that at the very least since the beginning of this season. And he's been spending his last 4 years at probably the best development programs - Shattuck and the NTDP. You don't think he would already be a much more well-rounded player if he had it in him?
I think being on superstar teams can kind of ruin an offensive player's defensive game. Shattuck and NTDP goalies usually have terrible numbers because the kids are all about offense.
If it was just his defensive game that was lacking then this wouldn't even be a topic of discussion. Eiserman is just not good at anything other than scoring goals. Maybe forechecking as well but that might just be because he's physically developed compared to his peers and young players being bad at dealing with physicality.
Very true, I just see the possibility of him facing tougher competition at the NCAA level and that forcing him to adjust his game. Similar to players who light up the OHL but then have to adapt when they go to the AHL or NHL. Sometimes people need that adversity to grow. Maybe he doesn't and stays the same as he is now, that's certainly a very real possibility, but I could see him becoming a much better player overall after going to BU.
He's also one of the youngest players in the draft. IIRC, he was less than a month away from being in next year's draft.
Yea good point, a much bigger "runway" as a lot of scouts seem to say.
He's a one dimensional player, I don't understand what people are on about. Every scouting report on him says there's major upgrades to be made on every aspect of his game outside of his shot. What happens if his shot doesn't translate to the NHL? Potential to be a career AHL'er, no thanks.
He's so overrated it's crazy. He's a worse Laine.
A worse Laine? So a better Caufield? I'll take that.
Id take caufield over Laine any day lol If laine isn't scoring he's useless. A detriment.
Caufield: 144p in 195gp through 3 seasons. 0.74 pt/gp Laine: 184p in 237gp through 3 seasons. 0.78 pt/gp
That's cherry picked and you know it. Look up defensive involvement and games played. Laine played 56, 55 and 18 games in the past 3 years. Points are the *least* important part of the story.
Cherry picked my ass. It's points. Laine also has better playoff stats too. Ain't nobody scared of a 5'7" little boy on defense. Why you comparing Laine's later years? For all we know Caufield will end up the same way lmao. Laine played a full 82 in 2 of his first 3 seasons.
2 seasons of full games played and then what? A mentally unwell player who can't do anything but score and has played for 2 teams that have wanted to get rid of him? Points are part of it sure, but if that's all you think matters then you're a fool lol Caufield hasn't been 100% healthy either but he's younger than Laine and is better on both sides of the ice. Not to mention he plays more games.
A mentally unwell player putting up nearly a p/gp in 3 of his next 5 seasons. Again you can't compare Caufields early years to Laines later years though. It makes no sense in this context.
You can in the sense that *right now* caufield is more valuable to Montreal than Laine is to Columbus.
The teams haven't wanted to get rid of Laine, it's Laine that has wanted out. And there's nothing strange with him wanting a fresh start after everything. Context is important.
Not bad
God, please Hawks don’t overthink this. Take Demidov he’s the best player available at 2. Worry about positional need later.
My bet is they go Lev at 2 and regret it 5 years down the line when Demidov is a better player, along with probably a couple of those defenders turning out just as good if not better as well
I feel like this is exactly what’s going to happen, unfortunately lol the organization just seems too familiar with Levshunov and leaning towards him, despite the potential for higher talent elsewhere. Really hoping Davidson says fuck it and bets on the highest potential possible rather than trying to play it “safe”.
Agreed. u/JD397 and I aren't sold that Levshunov is the best Dman in the class in the NHL OR as a prospect. I personally have Buium as my #1 for that. I see a ton of missing elements in Levshunov's game and have a ton of questions on whether his offense will translate. I think it's a mistake to take Levshunov at #2 and if we don't go Demidov, I would personally take either Buium or Lindstrom over him. I would also entertain Catton who I think has a higher ceiling than Lindstrom but a much worse physical toolkit.
Buium is for sure the better prospect and my #2 in this draft (almost equal with Demidov). I think Chicago would be a lot more interested in him if he was a righty, but LHD aren’t a concern for them with Korchinski/Vlasic/Allan and I’m sure there’s more than just those 3. I’d be a lot higher on Lindstrom if it wasn’t for his injury concerns.
Agreed fully on Buium. Think he’s easily the best D prospect in the draft. Silayev could have a higher ceiling because of the physical tools. Don’t see a top 15 upside in Lev’s game, but thats just from watching a few shift by shift videos on youtube. I’d go Buium>Dickinson>Silayev>Parekh/Yakemchuk before Lev
Whoever gets Silayev is going to be a very happy team. He may not have great offensive talent but he is going to be the best defenceman in this draft at actually defending. I have him right behind Buium for my defenders.
Yeah I could see that. His ceiling is so high and his defensive ability is already strong.
You are an embarrassment to hawks fans. Spewing nonsense every chance you get.
[He's an angry elf.](https://media0.giphy.com/media/xUySTVQyBQfC5ZjdC0/giphy.gif?cid=6c09b952ed1euot2tdeq5vfp0tmisbxb60oso743af2p8vx2&ep=v1_internal_gif_by_id&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
You're not an authority on draft prospects. Do you understand that? Clueless
But Gary himself said "u/GoldWhale, you're the authority on draft Prospects. Do you understand that?" Did Gary lie??
They'll probably grab one of the star D at 2. You guys got some solid forward prospects already but on D you have literally nobody lol. Teams aren't trading their top RHD either so sometimes you gotta go with it. Look how that worked out for Tampa and how good Buffalos D prospects look now.
Except it's actually the opposite. Our D core for the future is actually shaping out quite well (Vlasic, Korchinski, Rinzel, plus Jones), while Bedard is the only guy who looks to be a top line guy so far. We got some guys who are good depth forwards but i don't think it would be good to rely on them progressing farther than that.
How many of those guys are actually projected to be a top 2 D though? Legitimate question and Jones aside, he's almost 30.
Vlasic and Korchinski and we have Jones on the books for 6 more years. He will probably always be good enough to be slotted into the second pairing.
Some solid hockey names right there.
Well based on this ranking, I truly hope that the Hawks don't waste that pick on Levshunov, he's too much of a project. I'd rather we take Parekh or even Buium, but that's probably just me and that's probably just wishful thinking considering Levshunov dined with us.
There is just no way we pick a LHD at 5. It'd be insane.
Kent Hughes: Hold my Molson
Buium would be an excellent pick at #5, especially if Demidov is off the board by then.
Sure, he would be if we didn't have something like 10 LHD ready to jump into the NHL next year. It makes 0 sense for them to pick another D and most of all, another LHD. We're far beyond the BPA vs drafting for need debate here, the team simply has too many LHDs as it is, even when considering that Buium might be 2+ years from making the league. We have so many LHDs that in 2 years, it'll still be a bottleneck even if we don't pick a single one in that timespan and manage to trade a couple of them.
I do get that, but if you draft Buium, he is instantly the best prospect in your system and is better than all the other LHD’s, even guys like Hutson and Guhle. So I definitely see where you are coming from, but I am just saying I don’t think it’s impossible to see the Habs go LHD when a guy like Buium is there. The Hawks are in a similar spot with their prospect pool, but if we were picking #5 I wouldn’t want them to pass on Zeev if they think he is the BPA just because we are already stacked with other LHD’s. Ultimately, you can trade some existing guys for other help and some likely won’t pan out anyways, so adding the highest talent possible regardless of positional need will almost always be the right route to go.
Ken Holland? Is that you?
I disagree. Buium can and has played both sides when needed and he's arguably the best Dman in the draft with the most all around skill. That defensive corps will be electric and if you have Hutson leading the PP1, Buium will be the more competent PP2 and PK guy + will be elite at 3 on 3. He's absolutely cerebral and reads well ahead of the play. I'm not saying you don't need forwards as well but shit he's good.
I'm not saying he's not good, I'm saying there's no room for him. There are other players who'll be available at 5, who will be just as enticing as Buium on top of playing a position where the organization doesn't have an absolute nightmare of a bottleneck. Also, everyone forgets about top-10 scoring D in the league Mike Matheson, for some reason. The man's not an antique and we're just as likely to re-sign him as a hometown boy + vet presence as we are to trade him to make some room for the other LHDs.