JeremyCuddles

The fact Podkolzin had to mention his NHL intentions speaks volumes about people's stupidity. "I want to stay in Russia until I am NHL ready" "OH MER GAHD HE DOESN'T WANNA BE IN THE NHL Probably another entitled Russian scumbag." He won't be around at 10 anyway. But it sure was funny seeing all the people hate on the Russian for Russian reasons.

We could have the best goalie tandem in hockey both in the 24-26 age range and if Knight is at our pick in the 2nd round you take him. Guy could go top 15 anywhere through to the mid 20s. He's a mid 1st round talent imo.

They aren't close in May, better trade him for Zucker. Not like RFAs aren't going until late August/early September lately. Hell, Nylander didn't sign until literally the last second in December. We got a long Summer in front of us friends. Lets step off the ledge.

I am too young to remember the vets like Gino and such. But boy was Rypien ever a beast out on the ice. He always seemed to be fighting the giants and whoopin' them. A real David among Goliaths.

Yeah he screams playoff guy if even half of what is said about him is true. I really can't see him dropping to 10.

"We don't pick on immediacy", confirmed we are drafting Podkolzin Always enjoy those little videos. Get an idea of what they are looking for. Benning sounds like he wants a shooter. So it's safe to say, personally, he may be eyeballing a forward. Which isn't super surprising given the forward crop this year being very good.

It's true, I did name some elite players. But with that said Aho was also drafted outta the second round. He was not considered elite when he was drafted. Same with Tryamkin. Even some less talented at their draft players can develop just about anywhere. It really depends on the player and what they need to work on. I won't discount NA pro experience, I just don't hold it in as high regard as others. We can't discount the leagues Euros and Russians are playing in either.

How old was Bo in his first year? Lol. I like Gaudette, but people's perception of him doesn't represent his play. A guy that thinks we should take Seider at 10 is questioning my view of the game, how interesting.

And? What was he doing the other 3-4 years of his life. Boeser was a first year pro once and didn't play that bad. But hey, Gaudette is immune to criticism and is god's gift to hockey.

All kids are unknown. Gaudette is a two way center that is bad at faceoffs and gets nearly 60% ozone starts. Likely cause he's not quite trusted defensively. And even with his 60% ozone starts his numbers are garbage. As a soon to be 23 year old that's not even good. If somebody offers you a 1st rounder for a 23 year old (in October) that has 12 points in 61 games you would be a fool not to take it. Maybe a 26-31 pick you say no, but even then I'd very likely take that pick over Gaudette.

Cause he wouldn’t trade a 22 year old that has done nothing in the NHL for a 1st rounder? Gaudette is the most overrated player in the organization.

That was in February, which is why I never brought it up. It has Caufield in the mid 20s. Lol.

GMs don't really have this bias that the media and fans do. That's why there are so many "surprise" picks every year. When I read Kotkaniemi's scouting report last year I thought "this man is top 5-10 talent. If he's around at our pick I want him. Fans didn't even have him in the early to mid teens.That's why there are so many media guys that say "I don't think Podkolzin is a top 10 guy, but I could see Chicago taking him". Why? Cause they do their due diligence. And I already mentioned that Petey would have went higher if not for his weight. It wasn't that he was under scouted or European or whatever, it's that he was a stick figure at his draft. Dude was 6'3 160. If he's 170-175 he's top 5. People were saying that AT his draft. I think Bob McKenzie even said a scout would have had Pettersson number one overall if he were 15 pounds heavier.

Seider is projected at 20-25 on most lists I have seen, lists from as late as April, the most recent list is Button's list that he did like a week ago and that has him going 25. Nobody but Canuck fans have Seider at 10. All the mocks I see had Petey going as late as 12. And clearly Benning knew more because dropping below the Vegas pick was too risky for him. So it's not really a Pettersson situation. He only seems off the board cause so many of us wanted Vilardi or Glass. Then we go into the logistics of Petey's weight. There was talk at the draft that if he were 10-15 pounds heavier he'd have likely been a consensus top 5 pick or even 1st overall. Seider is very likely at or near his NHL playing weight and still nearly none of the experts have him in the late teens let alone around 10. I just don't see the Seider/Petey comparison holding much weight. Is he under scouted? Maybe, but to the point where we should take him 10-15 spots ahead of where he is expected to go? I dunno about that. Even if management thinks he's better than anything we could get at 10 they should still trade down to get him instead of drafting him at 10.

Hopefully that means Kakko can potentially drop to us at 10.

I don't think it's ice size that is causing fits for Euro and Russian players. It's the 82 game schedule and the level of competition in the NHL that causes problems. Success in the AHL doesn't mean you're better suited to handle the NHL either. Goldy was very good in the A. Hasn't done anything for him at the NHL level. Petey, Aho, Heiskanen, Rantanen all found success in the NHL without AHL experience. If the talent and work ethic is there, any learning curves can be done in the NHL. They practice all summer on smaller ice, they do weeks of preseason on smaller ice, and all their practices during the season are on smaller ice. The transition isn't so difficult that they NEED AHL time or anything or that the benefit is that much greater. Juolevi left North America to get better experience in Liiga, and if not for his season ending injury I would argue he'd have graduated to the NHL without a full AHL season. I dunno, I just don't see the AHL as a must for prospects or even super beneficial to have. Talent and hard work finds a way to succeed in the NHL.

Honestly, I really like your post cause it just goes to show that the demand for players to be in the AHL is a bit overstated. It's nice to have for sure, but other leagues are either on par or ahead of AHL in terms of competition and development.

Yeah I mentioned it too, but deleted it to try limit it to just info about Button's draft. If I am LA I probably target Cozens, Turcotte, Boldy or Podkolzin instead. Cozens has speed and size. One of which they generally like the other they really need. Boldy is a two way guy, fits right into their identity imo. Same with Podkolzin but being committed for sure for two years in the KHL may have them thinking they want someone with the possibility of being in the NHL sooner. Turcotte screams LA guy to me. He has all the tools they like, could be in the NHL as early as next season (after his college season ends), is a center and everyone loves centers.

^ so what you are telling me is in order to become a NHL star you need to average 2 PPG in the AHL. The great CDC meme may actually be true

Seen a recent Mock draft from Button, posted on May 22nd on the TSN website (I'd just link it or whatever but I am tech inept). He's moved Podkolzin back into the top 10. Going to us at 10. I still stand by the opinion that Podkolzin is gone before our pick but if it plays out this way I'd hardly be upset. I know people are hung up on him being Russian and committed to the KHL for 2 more years but I don't think it matters. Anyone we take at 10 is likely 2-3 years from being a legit NHL player anyway. His top 10 is 1: Jack Hughes (NJD) 2: Kaapo Kakko (NYR) 3: Bowen Byram (CHI) 4: Kirby Dach (COL) 5: Cole Caufield (LAK) 6: Dylan Cozens (DET) 7: Alex Turcotte (BUF) 8: Matthew Boldy (EDM) 9: Trevor Zegras (ANA) 10: Vasili Podkolzin (VAN) Notables on the board (based on what I see from a few CDC wishlists) and their rank according to Button's Mock draft: Krebs (11), Newhook (13), Broberg (14), Soderstrom (17), Lavoie (18), Seider (25). Interesting to note that Seider's recent play has not moved him up a whole lot from Button's last Mock draft. He was ranked 26 in the last one, has him going 25 in this one. Same with Lavoie, he actually moved him down his mock draft even after a pretty good playoffs from 15 in his last mock to 18 in this one.

No, we are only counting their top 4 d-men now. So those small guys don't count.

If you change the parameters of course it starts to look a certain way. We can't count Krug and Marchand, now we are only counting their top 4 defenders against other top 4s (not to mention Carlo and Chara barely played more than the 3rd pair anyway). What's next? Only players that have last names that start with C count? There is no one way to build a cup team. Shanahan mentioned it in a interview with Tim and Sid. Every time someone wins a cup THAT'S the way to win a cup. Small team like Pittsburgh, big team like Washington, defense like LA. Maybe we should focus less on size and focus more on the player's abilities and how much dog they have in them.

If Hughes drops to 10 it’s cause he plans on staying in College until free agency where he leaves us to team up with the Golden State Warriors. Hard pass tbh.

Good point, maybe he just hates 6 foot Euros/Russians.

Every d-man 6'0 and under is a bustarino for Alf. Probably knows next to nothing about Soderstrom other than his height, but that's all he really needs to make his judgement.