JeremyCuddles

True, true. Although that was cause nobody realized he could be drafted. I imagine he would have went sooner if that knowledge was more known. But I concede that point.

I really don't see the problem with Russians going to Russia. It means they aren't good enough for the NHL. If Lind fails to make the NHL are we gonna stop drafting Canadians or players from the WHL? No, cause that'd be dumb. Tryamkin example is weak too, he left for family reasons. I don't blame a guy for putting his family first. Hockey is just a game and we take the game way too seriously. It's part of our charm since it makes the forum so lively but it also sucks cause we take these players for granted. Making the blanket decision to swear off Russians cause they prefer to develop somewhere comfortable is dumb. Or they go back to Russia cause they flat out aren't good enough for the NHL or even leave for family reasons some things are more important than slapping a puck around in a foreign country. There are misses in all areas of the draft from all walks of life. It just so happens we notice the Russians cause when they fizzle out they leave NA. We didn't swear off Swedes after Rodin failed in the AHL then returned to Sweden. We shouldn't swear off Russians cause they do the same. If Benning passes on Podkolzin purely because of him being Russian I'd want him fired tbh. It's a shortminded thing to do. There is too much elite talent with Podkolzin to pass on him at 10 because Tryamkin left to Russia because of his family. With that said, I really wouldn't know Benning's exact reason if he drafted someone else in place of Podkolzin at 10. I doubt Benning would pass on him though. If half of what is said about Podkolzin is true he's a Benning guy. Competes all over the ice, great IQ, very good skater.

Good thing we didn't pass on that guy Bure for being Russian. Such a short sighted reason to pass on a guy. But hey, to each their own. Hopefully management is a bit more open minded about who they take and why.

I like a lot of what I am reading of Seider, this included. Sure would be nice to have two 1st rounders. Not sure Benning goes off the board to grab Seider nor do I think he'd trade down for him. Only way I'd advocate a trade down is if we got two 1st rounders. Not a late 1st and a late 2nd.

If they ate over half his yearly cap hit? Sounds like he is exactly as bad and slow as people say if Edmonton needs to eat more of his contract than they are allowed to for you to take him. Lol.

Referenced a good many Canadian comparables but said no to the Russian. Interesting. Do you actually know anything about him other than his nationality? Cause from what I am reading he's got a good compete level in all areas of the ice. And is even trusted in key defensive assignments by his coaches. He's 6'1 190, good size especially for someone so young. Sounds like the only major downside to him is whether or not he comes to North America sooner rather than later. He is signed with a KHL team until the 20/21 season. Which does kind of stink, I'll give you that. Especially since it sounds like he's pretty close to NHL ready. I'd understand passing on him if you think it's a waste of time to draft a kid that won't be around for 2 years, but even then lets be real these are all teenagers. How many of them will actually be NHL ready in 2 years. Let alone making huge waves as 20 year olds. The lack of patience isn't a good reason to pass on a kid that has a rocket of a shot, good skating, and apparently competes hard in all areas of the ice. His potential is sky high and if he's around at 10 we'd be stupid to say "huge pass" on that kind of talent. But hey, that might just be me.

I don't see Byram dropping past Detroit. And Cozens dropping to 10? That'd have me worried about taking him personally considering most of the experts I see has him as a top 5ish guy. Guy has good size, great skating, great shot, and from what I am reading has great hockey sense. Not to mention is a center, a team will take a shot at him well before us for that reason alone. Centers are a hot commodity at the draft. So much so that a guy that wasn't even in anyone's top 10 was drafted top 5 last summer. We shall see though. Draft day anything can happen.

As much as many of us disliked his work, this is very sad to hear. He was quite young still. Thoughts go out to his family.

Tanev is worth at least a grade A prospect, a 1st and a 2nd. Come on now. He's an ELITE shutdown D-man.

Taylor Hall and their 1st rounder next year for Hughes. With Hall’s lottery luck we could have two top 3 picks next summer.

Taking shots a near point per game guy that is in the NHL playing meaningful playoff games, albeit short playoff run, while the guy we took instead is becoming the next Tanev? We all cope in our own ways I suppose.

Isn't Zegras similar to Boldy with the added benefit of potentially being a center? Or are we assuming Zegras is gone before their pick? Which is perfectly reasonable. The 4-10 range is very unpredictable.

Columbus isn't super big, but they play really big. Their average weight and height is the same as ours. Size is super overrated on this board. It's not about the size of the dog but the size of the fight in the dog. And it's not like Jake is a monster player. He is like an inch taller and 10-15 pounds heavier than Toffoli. Toffoli likely has a very good two way game coming from that LA team. He is playoff proven, having won a cup and all. A 3rd liner that has never hit 30 points is not worth a true to form top 6 player apparently. People have the silliest reasons for it too. "He's too old" "He's not big enough". I am a massive Virtanen fan but I am beginning to wonder if he's in the long term plans as a top 6 player. Why not supplement the players the organization actually believes have top 6 talent with other actual top 6 talent? Especially if the cost is someone the team doesn't 100% believe in as a top 6 player. If Green would play Jake in the top 6 for more than a handful of shifts I am with the "keep Virtanen" camp. But I am doubting the team will ever play him in the top 6 for multiple games in a row.

Size is nice, but you gotta move the puck. Gudbranson is big didn’t hell him get pucks outta our zone. Hell I seen him fumble the puck against the Isles and get scored on. Tired of seeing this team suck at moving the puck. A 6 foot d-man isn’t small and he can move the puck. Sign me up.

This is a faulty way of thinking and why I'll never understand you team tankers. It's okay to have some veteran guys on your team. And since when did 27 become too old? Guy has a cup ring under his belt, in his prime still, has chemistry with another top 6 player on our team. Makes no sense to not want to trade a 3rd liner for a top 6 player in his prime. He'll likely be 30/31 when we start making serious playoff runs, which is roughly the same age that Oshie is for Washington. Team's generally win the cup with older players. Not many teams are winning with a team entirely comprised of 20-25 year olds. I dunno, get all the 20 year old players i guess. Worked wonders for Edmonton.

Toffoli is 27. It’d speed up the timeline without hurting our prospect depth. Organization seems like it sees Jake as a 3rd liner at best. They’d probably jump all over moving him for a legit top 6 forward. He had a down year playing on a team that wins all it’s games on defense. Buying low here. Give him young, mobile linemates, he could have a massive resurgence point wise.

Anybody wondering if Detroit will trade down and draft a goalie, specifically Spencer Knight? Sportsnet had him ranked 19 in March. I say this mostly on the chance that Byram is gone before their pick. If Byram is on the board at 6 there's no way Detroit passes on him. But if he's gone I think they'd be better served trading down, getting a goalie and another pick. Although never hurts to have more centers. One of Turcotte, Zegras or Dach should be available at 6. Just looking at the top 10 teams and wondering who is most likely to trade down. For funsies.

But, but. Crisis. Utica. Cull. Bad bad. Don't ruin this for us.

It’s the Cougars to be fair.

He's had 2, maybe 3, bad games that have largely effected his overall numbers but the other 5 to 6 games he's been stellar. That's pretty good for a rookie that's been dealing with injuries this season. He's faced 30+ shots in 6 of his 8 starts. Buffalo: 36 saves, 39 shots .923% Arizona: 19 saves, 24 shots .792% Edmonton: 31 saves, 34 shots .912% Vegas: 16 saves, 17 shots .941% Chicago: 29 saves, 31 shots .935% Columbus: 28 saves, 33 shots .848% Los Angeles: 37 saves, 39 shots .949%. San Jose: 33 saves, 35 shots .943% For a rookie goalie dealing with injuries while playing behind our porous defense (also dealing with injuries) I'd say that's pretty good if not lights out. The only real blemish is that Arizona game. Every other game he's facing a lot of rubber and/or playing a really tough team. And the European point has been touched on. Those players prefer to develop in their own leagues (Liiga, SHL whatever) or were long shot prospects anyway. People crying about Palmu need to realize he was a 5'7 20 year old when we drafted him in the 6th round. Hardly a prospect that had legit NHL chances. Juolevi would have graduated outta Utica this year very likely if not for another injury setback. Zhukenov was a 4th round longshot. Dahlen wanted out and for all we know he's got character issues (personally don't believe it to be the case but we flat out don't know) and other than that we had no real notable Euro players that had legit NHL chances. Gunnarsson was an overage 5th rounder. Jasek is in the A right now and looks pretty okay, he was a late round pick anyway so him fizzling isn't worth crying about anyway.

Why do we NEED to see players develop through Utica? I mean, is it so wrong players are coming from the SHL, College, etc. straight to the NHL? Do we absolutely need players to come through Utica to prove whatever point you want proven? And even then, we've had a few players go from Utica to the NHL. One being Demko, Biega was a guy that came through Utica. Sautner and Brisebois look solid and very well could be depth pieces on the roster next season. Further back you have Jake Virtanen and Jacob Markstrom. This obsession with Utica developing players is getting a tad out of hand. Not to mention people keep moving the goal posts so those that do develop there don't count. "Well Virtanen and Markstrom don't count cause they only needed one season". Utica has provided prospects for the main roster. People just want to focus on the few that fizzle out. I know people are feeling like the sky is falling cause a bunch of rookies are struggling in the A this season but lets give em a couple seasons at least before we worry about Utica. Players of real quality don't normally go through the AHL anymore. This is the new NHL where kids are ready sooner and sooner and other leagues are catching up at developing NHL ready players.

I don't think any one game rustles my jimmies enough for me to recall it to this day. Although the utter lack of respect we get from DOPS really lights a fire under my panties manly man underwear.

I am an optimist I guess. I love upsetting myself with expectations that Edmonton will stop being terrible long enough for us to draft top 3

They have a game in hand and we have 1 more point. So, I guess I am assuming they'll at least win as many games as we do. If we can win with just Boeser and Petey producing regularly I am hopeful they can at least make something work with McJesus, Draisaitl and Nuge. Lol

I mean, he's got you though. Lol. People are crying about picks that from a certain point of view we got back. And another point about NHL ready Utica players, a 2nd round pick graduated from Utica just this season, may have heard of him. His name is Thatcher Demko. Gaudette also graduated outta Utica to the NHL this season. Could argue Utica also produced Brisebois and Sautner for us. Yeah, they aren't as crisp/flashy but they weren't really expected to be top end players for us even when drafted/acquired. Players drafted outta College, Russia or Sweden generally do all their developing there and never make it to Utica. So the prospects that do go to Utica are long shot prospects or just not as highly touted prospects. And by extension makes Utica look worse than it really is at developing players. Are we having a massive influx of players graduate from Utica to the NHL? No, but it's not cause Utica is bad at developing it's cause our top prospects aren't developing there. They develop where they were drafted out of and rightfully so. They chose that path for a reason. Whether it be because of school or because the league is closer to home.