Looking for thoughts on Vilardi as the 2nd or 3rd pick in the NHL Entry Draft

[mpt]

Don't get me wrong, but i think there is a clear #1 in the draft and a clear #2.  There still is talent under #2 but I'll be disappointed if we don't land Patrick, the only clear #1 centre.

[captainhorvat]

I havent seen patrick, hischier or villardi play but are any of these 3 players ready for nhl next season??

[billabong]

Based on the little I know so far. Won't start hearing more on these guys till closer to draft 

 

1. patrick

2. Hischier 

3. Valardi

4. Mittelstadt 

5. Tippett/Necas

 

[Warhippy]

I like Vilardi.  I like his potential.  People keep looking at numbers and thinking he's got no offense without ever seeing what Windsor went through this year or remembering he's 3 weeks away from not being old enough for this year's draft.

 

I'd draft him without hesitating at 3 or 4.  But only if I was positive at the end if next season that I could get him to play in Europe as a 19 year old on the big ice.  Which would help his skating immensely 

 

Draft year + 1 OHL

Draft year + 2 Europe

Draft year + 3 AHL

[mpt]

18 minutes ago, captainhorvat said:

I havent seen patrick, hischier or villardi play but are any of these 3 players ready for nhl next season??

Patrick is NHL ready, the other two are possible with Hischier likely being a bit more NHL ready but will really need to prove themselves at training camp.  I'll be shocked if Patrick is not playing in the NHL next year with whatever team is lucky enough to draft him.  He isn't a Matthews type player but he'd likely be drafted 3rd if this was last year.

[ruilin96]

Vilardi seems like Horvat 2.0, if he has the work ethnic of Bo, it would be a great pick. The reason why Bo keeps improving is because how much he cares and dedicated towards his workout and work on the weaknesses. If Vilardi has the same work ethnic, it would be a great 1A and 1B set up for the Canucks.

[WeneedLumme]

10 hours ago, khay said:

If JB did something like pick Vilardi with 2nd OA or 3rd OA when he isn't ranked top 3 in the consensus, then CDC will ask for JB's head.

 

We are going insane over picking Juolevi at #5 over Tkachuk when Tkachuk was ranked ahead of Juolevi in the consensus ranking by like one spot. Can't imagine what would happen if Vilardi is picked when Hischier/Patrick is available.

 

So NO.

Actually, even if the Canucks win the lottery, pick first overall and take the consensus pick, a very vocal minority of haters here will still be calling for JB's head. There will be an endless string of posts about wasting the Canucks only first overall pick ever on a damaged injury prone player.

[Adarsh Sant]

11 hours ago, Sweathog said:

I'd be over the moon if we land any of Patrick, Hischier, or Vilardi. 

 

Vilardi is not only big, he's also very mature for his age and according to some scouts is always looking for (and working on) ways to improve his game. There are concerns about his skating but apparently he's well aware of it and is working on it. Vilardi would be a great pick for the Canucks. 

Sounds like Horvat.  But now Horvat is the fastest guy on our team. Vilardi should work with him

[oldnews]

I'd have Vilardi after Patrick, Hischier and Mittelstadt.

 

I'd also consider Cody Glass an under-rated option that I might trade down a few spots to take if we were unfortunate enough to drop to the 5 spot.  The problem with this option is the obvious risk of what happens in the interim picks.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised if they wind up in the 5 spot if they take the top defenseman in the draft if the above top 4 C are gone....

[Sweathog]

9 minutes ago, Adarsh Sant said:

Sounds like Horvat.  But now Horvat is the fastest guy on our team. Vilardi should work with him

I was thinking the same thing. With Vilardi's work ethic and training with Bo, the concerns over skating would be rectified fairly quickly. 

[kenhodgejr]

The order that I would pick for the Canucks is.

 

1. Patrick - The Centre that our team needs 

2. Hischier - Better fit on wing. Offensively gifted, great skater, but lacks size. Reminds be of Beartchi but better. I would prefer to get a player with size in our top 6

3. Mittlestadt - Shifty creative, great skater, C or LW. Would round out a great top line of Mittlestadt Horvat Boesser. Take pressure off Horvat in case he gets hurt. 

4. Liljegren - Offensive skilled, great skater,  RD that we need

5. Vilardi - most likely a winger, average skater, big body. Still worth picking in top 5 

[Scruffy05]

1 hour ago, captainhorvat said:

I havent seen patrick, hischier or villardi play but are any of these 3 players ready for nhl next season??

Villardi is young... Very young. He's almost next year's draft class age. 

 

If we draft either Mittelatadt (college) or Villardi (completing bloody puberty...) we probably won't see them for a few years yet.

 

Patrick or Liljegren could likely make the jump.

[Scruffy05]

10 minutes ago, kenhodgejr said:

The order that I would pick for the Canucks is.

 

1. Patrick - The Centre that our team needs 

2. Hischier - Better fit on wing. Offensively gifted, great skater, but lacks size. Reminds be of Beartchi but better. I would prefer to get a player with size in our top 6

3. Mittlestadt - Shifty creative, great skater, C or LW. Would round out a great top line of Mittlestadt Horvat Boesser. Take pressure off Horvat in case he gets hurt. 

4. Liljegren - Offensive skilled, great skater,  RD that we need

5. Vilardi - most likely a winger, average skater, big body. Still worth picking in top 5 

Hischier isn't really that small, just more slight and missing some muscle mass which is fairly common for European born players for whatever reason.

 

The way Hischier skates I think he can remain at center, but I admit he's probably less likely to than say a Patrick or a Mittelatadt.

[Hectic]

24 minutes ago, kenhodgejr said:

The order that I would pick for the Canucks is.

 

1. Patrick - The Centre that our team needs 

2. Hischier - Better fit on wing. Offensively gifted, great skater, but lacks size. Reminds be of Beartchi but better. I would prefer to get a player with size in our top 6

3. Mittlestadt - Shifty creative, great skater, C or LW. Would round out a great top line of Mittlestadt Horvat Boesser. Take pressure off Horvat in case he gets hurt. 

4. Liljegren - Offensive skilled, great skater,  RD that we need

5. Vilardi - most likely a winger, average skater, big body. Still worth picking in top 5 

agreed

[sockeye]

2 hours ago, Chris12345 said:

I think we slip to 4th. I'd be taking Timmy.

 

My order is Nico or Timmy. I ain't drafting wingers or broken centers.

 

Speaking about broken centres.  I think it will be very interesting to see how these top 5 or 6 players do in the combine before the Draft.  Let's see how bad they want it and what kind of shape they can get in by the time the combine rolls around.

[sockeye]

5 hours ago, Boeser6 said:

Interestingly Tippett seems to be ranked up there in a number of rankings as well - i think after #2 this draft is going to be very wonky relative to central scouting draft rankings

Yes, Owen Tippett is also intriguing.  Don't know much about him.  His stats skyrocketed this year.  I can't help myself from leaning towards Canadian players (esp CHL players) with the exception of HIschier who looks like a lock. Here are the stats for Tippett:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=180592

[AK_19]

My ranking is:

1. Patrick

2. Hischier

3. Vilardi

4. Tippett

5. Necas (I'm a big fan of players you can plop into the AHL immediately after the draft. I thought it did wonders for Nylander)

[GB5]

I really like Vilardi and would be very happy to see him picked. He was top 5 in the draft rankings at the start of the season and remains there through to the end.

He is a consistent work hard game in and game out player and I have a great feeling that he is a guy who would find that little bit extra to step it up in the playoffs.

 

He isn't a superstar but I would put him in a similar category as Scheifele. Both are about the same size and similar junior points levels. Scheifele has scored greater than a point a game this year in his draft + 6 year so who wouldn't want that except to see it come a couple years sooner.

[captainhorvat]

2 hours ago, Scruffy05 said:

Villardi is young... Very young. He's almost next year's draft class age. 

 

If we draft either Mittelatadt (college) or Villardi (completing bloody puberty...) we probably won't see them for a few years yet.

 

Patrick or Liljegren could likely make the jump.

Would be nice to draft patrick and have him plugged into next seasons lineup. Maybe colorado takes our 2nd (if we get it) packaged with one of our d's for first overall...

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, AK_19 said:

My ranking is:

1. Patrick

2. Hischier

3. Vilardi

4. Tippett

5. Necas (I'm a big fan of players you can plop into the AHL immediately after the draft. I thought it did wonders for Nylander)

Will Necas be a playoff guy, or stay on the perimeter doing nothing like Nylander does?  I've seen Necas play, and love his skill, but we don't want a Nylander - hide on the side boards - player, do we?