Grading the 2019 Draft

[Alflives]

Podkolzin and Keppen are players.  Love those two.  Getting two players in a draft class is an A. 

[Brovat]

16 minutes ago, JRSJ said:

Team is betting on themselves, and trying to ignite our talented core.

 

Their goal is to give them a taste of the off season -- makes sense cause time is ticking on the our new core, and we can't waste multiple seasons during an impactful time for the team gelling.

 

These guys have had success at the lower levels, and it would be a disservice to fail them. I can tell they go to battle for one another, and love playing for Vancouver.

 

I like the picks, Pod is an absolute steal at 10, and extends our timeline if we stumble. Our management made sure to hedge that bet with that pick. Trust them, they have a plan.

 

More to come in the following week/off season. Get pumped fans, I think this year TG will shepherd our young culture into meaningful success.

 

There will be ups and downs, but I know our players have the talent to win any night, as long as they play their guts out.

 

The country club culture that followed our team is being weeded out, finally. 

 

Sorry for the ramble, at a bachelor party and no one cares about hockey. So I'm ready to explode.

 

GoCanucks Go, friends.

Young stars complemented with journeymen role players. 

[ButterBean]

I liked the draft for the most part. Especially the first 3 picks. Felt like we should’ve taken some defensemen at some point in the later rounds but oh well. Also like how we got a good mix of speed, hard workers, and size on the wing. 

[JRSJ]

22 minutes ago, Brovat said:

Young stars complemented with journeymen role players. 

I think the x factor is these players we are adding now have had high level success with their old clubs. Instead of insulating with older veterans, we can now add younger, hungrier players who've gotten farther.

[billabong]

I like the podkolzin pick simply because he was the BPA 

 

if he was Canadian he would have gone top 5 

[captainhorvat]

A

Our first round pick was a home run!

[Trebreh]

I think we stole a top 5 talent in Podkolzin, i really like the Hoglander pick at 40, some scouts had him going in the 1st.

 

I like the Mcdonough and Malone picks as well, that screams Judd Bracket gems to me. 

 

i'd grade it C+ to B

[Sergei Shirokov]

Nailed the first two picks. Drafted BPA and addressed positional needs.  

[Sedinyoureyesontheprize]

5 hours ago, Clock Tower Prison said:

Sits a olid B. High compete level seems to have been the theme of this draft. 

 

Podkolzin was the right pick at 10. Absolutely no doubt that he was the BPA at 10. The modern NHL game is all about speed and puck control. He’s got that plus size and strength. Plus it seems like regardless of where he plays coaches are raving about his attitude. I said it once and I’ll say it again, if he was Swedish we’d all be stoked to have landed him at 10. For all the guys that are lukewarm on him, just imagine his name was Viktor Palsson and he was signed for 2 years in the SHL. 

 

I’m also disappointed that Cozens or Zegras didn’t fall to us. But if I had to guess, Benning likely didn’t want to sacrifice the 40th pick to see if it would have some trade value today. Too bad Tampa didn’t want it. Hoglander seems like a fitness beast. A small guy with filthy hands that already plays against men seems like a great pick at 40. 

 

As for the JT Miller trade, there’s just too much risk attached to this trade to be completely palatable. Especially when I look at the core of our team:

 

1. Core players on our team are still developing. Pettersson, our #1C just finished his first year. Hughes, our #1D is just starting his first year. What will happen with Baertschi's health? How will Virtanen, Gaudette, Goldobin and Joulevi develop are question marks. 
2. Edler, Tanev, Hughes, Hutton, Stetcher and Schenn. Doesn’t exactly say playoff contender. Tryamkin being added to that list doesn’t exactly inspire that much more confidence either. 

 

Pros: Miller is really smart, highly skilled and versatile. He can play anywhere and make a difference. A 40-50 point player signed at a reasonable cap of $5.25 mil. At just 26, he’ll likely be able to fetch a decent return in a few years, should the Canucks wish to move on. 

 

Cons: Hopefully Benning recovers a first round pick in either 2020 or 2021. The Canucks don’t have the prospect depth, especially at defence, to be giving away first round picks in either year. The Canucks need top 4 talent on defence. They need an alternative to Tanev since he just can't seem to stay healthy and someone to play with Hughes. 

 

The only minor disappointment for me was the Canucks going with an overage in Carson Focht at 133 instead of RHD Martin Hugo Has who was taken at 153. 

 

Super weird that Benning feels like untested players at the NHL level in Rafferty, Teves, Eliot, Chatfield and Brisebois counts as depth. 

First of all welcome to the forum and for making a thoughtful contribution to the discussion. You made some interesting points that I wanted to address. 

 

In regards to Poldkolzin, he was clearly one of the best players remaining with maybe one of the most attractive set of skills and NHL tools in the entire draft. There’s belief out there that if he wasn’t signed for the two years he would be moving to Vancouver right away.  

 

According to some reports (if true) he was rated at 8 and one of only three players that Vancouver would have stayed pat at 10 for. If he or two other players were NOT available at 10, Vancouver wanted to move down to the mid first round to garner an extra pick.

 

Obviously when a guy like Poldkozin, with  crazy high ceiling falls to you there’s no other choice but to take him.

 

 

I have to say I wasn’t  shocked when i heard of the JT Miller trade. The Mrazek and 3rd round pick were not a big deal. And in my view neither is the conditional 1st. 

 

JT Miller is a very good player. From the Us national development team he was picked in the first round of the 2011 draft at number 15 by the rangers. He’s only 26, and signed 4 more years to a very attractive  contract. He’s a solid top 6 to add to round out our forming core players. 

 

He is in his prime and going to get a chance to play with either Petey or Bo. His point totals are projected to increase

 

More of a play maker it seems but that’s certainly one of the things our team lacks heavily. 

 

I think this deal is a great one and it signals to our young core that they are being supported in their efforts. That can be a powerful message to these young players. The fact that our players are still developing is exactly the reason why this is a great move.

 

I love this deal. I really hope the players get the message and come back better and more ready to go.

 

And finally I’d rate our picks  as a B+.

Main disappointment was that Brink was taken ahead of our pick and  Mathew Robertson was available but we didn’t take him. Overall a solid draft.

 

[Dixon Ward]

2 hours ago, Alflives said:

Podkolzin and Keppen are players.  Love those two.  Getting two players in a draft class is an A. 

Alf, you don't think Hoglander is a player?

[Tomatoes11]

Solid F. Our picks were fine for the most part but trade was terrible with a capital T.

[Dixon Ward]

There are only 6-7 nhl defencemen jobs on a team.  

 

We Need to add a veteran to the group, but here is what we have so far:

 

NHL players

Edler Tanev

Hughes Stecher

Hutton Biega

 

On the verge

Sautner Rafferty

Brisebois 

Juolevi

 

Top Prospects

Tryamkin Woo

Rathbone Chatfield

Utunen Eliot

Teves

McEneny

 

That is 18 guys plus we all want JB to sign at least 1 free agent and many wanted Schenn back as well.

 

That means 

this year

Edler   FA

Hughes Tanev

Hutton Stecher

Sautner Schenn

Brisebois

Juolevi 

 

There are only so many spots and if the team looked at it and thought that they had already added Teves and Rafferty in FA and have Tryamkin, Woo, Rathbone, etc.. waiting, they should only draft defencemen if the have a strong chance of being better than what they have.  Obviously they didn't.

 

There is 7 spots on the club and 7 on the farm.  

 

For forwards there is 26 so they need a lot more options.

 

 

 

 

[stawns]

6 hours ago, Provost said:

No way we will really know for a while, seems pretty average... some risks, some guys who were projected higher.

 

One thing is that Jim still seems reactive rather than having a vision for the type of team he is building.  This year after the playoffs all the talk was that you need size... so he went with size.  Last year the talk was all about speed and size didn’t matter, so he went with speed.

 

5 years in and I have no idea what identity he wants the team to be, his messaging changes all the time too.

 

The best GMs have a vision and style and build to that.... no matter what the flavour of the day is.  The league trends are circular... they change, if you are always trying to change course with it you will always be behind the curve.

I can see where it looks that way, but I see it differently.  I see he's been methodical in his approach and kept the big picture in mind all along.  Hes built his core with his 2 goalies in Demko and DiP, he's got his top 4 d corp in Hughes, OJ, Try and Breezer, he's got his skilled young guns in Petey and Boes, now he's adding the heavy players in with Podk to go along with Jake and Bo (obviously inherited). 

 

He was candid about adding that element this summer long before the Blues won.

[JamesB]

2 hours ago, Alflives said:

Podkolzin and Keppen are players.  Love those two.  Getting two players in a draft class is an A. 

 

2 hours ago, ButterBean said:

I liked the draft for the most part. Especially the first 3 picks. Felt like we should’ve taken some defensemen at some point in the later rounds but oh well. Also like how we got a good mix of speed, hard workers, and size on the wing. 

 

6 hours ago, Clock Tower Prison said:

Solid B. High compete level seems to have been the theme of this draft. 

 

Podkolzin was the right pick at 10. Absolutely no doubt that he was the BPA at 10. The modern NHL game is all about speed and puck control. He’s got that plus size and strength. Plus it seems like regardless of where he plays coaches are raving about his attitude. I said it once and I’ll say it again, if he was Swedish we’d all be stoked to have landed him at 10. For all the guys that are lukewarm on him, just imagine his name was Viktor Palsson and he was signed for 2 years in the SHL. 

 

I’m also disappointed that Cozens or Zegras didn’t fall to us. ....

....

 

The only minor disappointment for me was the Canucks going with an overage in Carson Focht at 133 instead of RHD Martin Hugo Has who was taken at 153. 

 

Super weird that Benning feels like untested players at the NHL level in Rafferty, Teves, Eliot, Chatfield and Brisebois counts as depth. 

My grade is B+ for the draft. Here are some details.

 

Round 1: I was hoping Zegras would fall to #10, and I would have been happy to trade down and get Krebs or Newhook and an extra second round pick when he went at #9. But Podkolzin was definitely the BPA at #10 and it usually pays to maximize your chances of getting an impact player. And he could turn out to be a steal.

 

Round 2: A lot of people had Hoglander in the first round. He is small, but he looks like an excellent player. Probably the BPA at 40 and could be another steal.

 

Round 4: I did not know anything about the later rounds, but I am very happy with the Keppen pick.

 

Later Rounds: No idea. Drafting overage players rarely works out, but I think the amateur scouting staff has earned a lot of credibility over the last few years.

 

As Alf says, if you can get two quality NHL players in a draft you have had a good draft. If you get three, you have hit a home run. I would bet that the Canucks have two or three NHL players from this draft.

 

So my grade for the draft is B+.

 

My grade for the Miller trade is C- at best. 

 

I did not like the Miller trade. Reminds me of the Gudbranson trade. First round picks are like gold, Miller is a pretty good player signed for 4 years at a "reasonable" cap hit -- reasonable, but not great. Last year he had 13 goals and 47 points. That is pretty good second line performance and he is in his prime now so he is not likely to get better.  Where would the Canucks be if they had traded the picks that landed Boeser or EP for pretty good mid-career 2nd-liners? Benning is obviously pushing hard to "win now" but this trade looks a bit desperate to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2019 by JamesB

[HockeyHarry]

The pick that I’m intrigued by is goalie Arturs Silovs hes Big and sounds solid. Could be the walrus in net.

 

i happy with JB draft picks. 

[Mathew Barzal]

6 hours ago, Provost said:

No way we will really know for a while, seems pretty average... some risks, some guys who were projected higher.

 

One thing is that Jim still seems reactive rather than having a vision for the type of team he is building.  This year after the playoffs all the talk was that you need size... so he went with size.  Last year the talk was all about speed and size didn’t matter, so he went with speed.

 

5 years in and I have no idea what identity he wants the team to be, his messaging changes all the time too.

 

The best GMs have a vision and style and build to that.... no matter what the flavour of the day is.  The league trends are circular... they change, if you are always trying to change course with it you will always be behind the curve.

This is what I worry about a bit as well. I can almost already see him drafting 6 defenseman next year.

[Nave]

A-. Would be an A if we drafted some defensemen, but I love our first three picks. Podkolzin, Hoglander, and Keppen could all be steals. 
The JT Miller trade was a bold move, and I have to commend Benning for making it. He's betting on himself to make a playoff team in the next two years. Miller is a great fit in our top 6, and could help our young players develop by making us a more competitive team. 

[Provost]

29 minutes ago, stawns said:

I can see where it looks that way, but I see it differently.  I see he's been methodical in his approach and kept the big picture in mind all along.  Hes built his core with his 2 goalies in Demko and DiP, he's got his top 4 d corp in Hughes, OJ, Try and Breezer, he's got his skilled young guns in Petey and Boes, now he's adding the heavy players in with Podk to go along with Jake and Bo (obviously inherited). 

 

He was candid about adding that element this summer long before the Blues won.

Except he has never articulated anything like that as a plan, so you are just trying to read into things to fit a narrative.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, JamesB said:

My grade for the Miller trade is C- at best. 

 

I did not like the Miller trade. Reminds me of the Gudbranson trade. First round picks are like gold, Miller is a pretty good player signed for 4 years at a "reasonable" cap hit -- reasonable, but not great. Last year he had 13 goals and 47 points. That is pretty good second line performance and he is in his prime now so he is not likely to get better.  Where would the Canucks be if they had traded the picks that landed Boeser or EP for pretty good mid-career 2nd-liners? Benning is obviously pushing hard to "win now" but this trade looks a bit desperate to me.

 

 

I agree with your picks analysis. 

 

With the Miller trade, if we’re in a position to compete in the next couple years, that first round pick won’t mean much to us. I think we could’ve gotten better for it, but you underestimate him... heavily. Those 47 points are good second line numbers, you are correct, but he played on Tampa’s 4th line all year. 

 

He had a higher Points/60 than bo IIRC and that was with limited O-zone starts. Imagine proper deployment on the top line? He could easily surpass his 58 point career high with Petey and Brock imo. 

 

His style is also very good with Boeser and Petey, since he can shoot, pass, defend and protect them. Not to mention he’s a really good netfront presence or sniper on the right side for our PP. We probably could’ve gotten a better player for our first, but not a better fit for our team. 

[GB5]

Probably a B from me for this draft mind you the first two picks look to be home runs.

 

I like the Keppen pick, maybe a bit under the radar playing in Flint.

 

The Focht pick was a head scratcher for me, he was so far off the radar that it seems off to use a fifth on him

 

The goalie pick was solid...he seems like a great kid.

 

The rest of the pack all have some level of potential but I do not know about most of them.