6th Pick: 2014 NHL Entry Draft

[Nicklas Bo Hunter]

Linden said something interesting. He talked about how he would love to get a player who was born in vancouver and specifically mentioned the vancouver giants. This leads me to think that linden really has kane in mind. So lets say we do this. The asking price for kane is our 6th overall plus a top prospect. Thats before negotiation. I could see a deal ending up like this. 6th overall+gaunce+ hansen for kane. Now this makes sense. Kane is young, scoring machine and plays with grit. Thats exactly what van needs. So at this point our second line can be kane kesler kassian. Now linden will go up to kesler and see where he stands. If kane seems like a winger fit for kes then kes will stay if not he will be shipped off to ana for the 10th overall ++ and we will take nylander as a future top center. Take kanes attitude problems out of the equation because I believe a player with as much respect as linden can get through to kane. With all these considerations I would do this deal as a proven kane is better for this team than a risky ritchie who might only have the potential to reach kanes level if lucky. I think linden will think about this long and hard.

[Warhippy]

Linden said something interesting. He talked about how he would love to get a player who was born in vancouver and specifically mentioned the vancouver giants. This leads me to think that linden really has kane in mind. So lets say we do this. The asking price for kane is our 6th overall plus a top prospect. Thats before negotiation. I could see a deal ending up like this. 6th overall+gaunce+ hansen for kane. Now this makes sense. Kane is young, scoring machine and plays with grit. Thats exactly what van needs. So at this point our second line can be kane kesler kassian. Now linden will go up to kesler and see where he stands. If kane seems like a winger fit for kes then kes will stay if not he will be shipped off to ana for the 10th overall ++ and we will take nylander as a future top center. Take kanes attitude problems out of the equation because I believe a player with as much respect as linden can get through to kane. With all these considerations I would do this deal as a proven kane is better for this team than a risky ritchie who might only have the potential to reach kanes level if lucky. I think linden will think about this long and hard.

Nope, not worth it.

The whole league knows there is issues with Kane now. Be it coach, dressing room or personal issues. His value is maybe the 6th overall but not 3 solid pieces going one way for him.

Besides, we could draft Virtanen or Perlini and they could turn out to be as good or better than Kane without the Vegas money shot photo.

[Blömqvist]

Although I still believe we should draft pure offensive talent instead of the size and skill combo, I think we should take Ritchie at the 6 spot and add another top 10 pick (Ottawa/Anaheim's pick) to draft Nylander. According to McKenzie's list, which is pretty accurate in draft day results minus the shakers and the movers, Ritchie would go around 6th and Nylander around 10th. Take the guy according to our needs and the BPA.

After reading more on Ritchie, we can't pass up on him. His skill, size, excellent skating ability, and a mean streak would be perfect for us in being in the tough Pacific division. Obviously if one of the top 5 falls to 6 then we take that player, but if not Ritchie is the guy at the number spot.

In response to Ritchie vs Virtanen, I think both will be excellent professional players. Virtanen strikes me as more of a complementary scoring winger, whereas Ritchie is more of a do-it-all kind of player, equally adept at scoring goals and creating chances. Ritchie can carry a line whereas Virtanen can only help pull it along, if that makes sense.

That being said, Nylander's 1st line scoring centre potential can not be overlooked as well. Yes, as a 17 year old he is currently undersized but can still grow to something more respectable. His potential is too great to pass up on. Taking him at 6 may be a bit risky, but if we add that second top 10 pick then having an initial "safe pick" in Ritchie or one of the top 5 guys will allow us to take more of a risk by picking Nylander.

I would be happy with either Ritchie or Nylander, but would orgasm with both.

[TOMapleLaughs]

If we're trading for Kane, we better be all in then. Trading Kesler after that would be asinine.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Although I still believe we should draft pure offensive talent instead of the size and skill combo, I think we should take Ritchie at the 6 spot and add another top 10 pick (Ottawa/Anaheim's pick) to draft Nylander. According to McKenzie's list, which is pretty accurate in draft day results minus the shakers and the movers, Ritchie would go around 6th and Nylander around 10th. Take the guy according to our needs and the BPA.

After reading more on Ritchie, we can't pass up on him. His skill, size, excellent skating ability, and a mean streak would be perfect for us in being in the tough Pacific division. Obviously if one of the top 5 falls to 6 then we take that player, but if not Ritchie is the guy at the number spot.

In response to Ritchie vs Virtanen, I think both will be excellent professional players. Virtanen strikes me as more of a complementary scoring winger, whereas Ritchie is more of a do-it-all kind of player, equally adept at scoring goals and creating chances. Ritchie can carry a line whereas Virtanen can only help pull it along, if that makes sense.

That being said, Nylander's 1st line scoring centre potential can not be overlooked as well. Yes, as a 17 year old he is currently undersized but can still grow to something more respectable. His potential is too great to pass up on. Taking him at 6 may be a bit risky, but if we add that second top 10 pick then having an initial "safe pick" in Ritchie or one of the top 5 guys will allow us to take more of a risk by picking Nylander.

I would be happy with either Ritchie or Nylander, but would orgasm with both.

How many power LWers carry their line? Not even Lucic can carry a line.

[Merci]

Ritchie's superior physicality is gone in the NHL and you're left with his underwhelming speed. Then what?

It's not all about size. Speed helps a ton. The NHL is all about speed. And Virtanen, who is a big body himself, has elite-level speed and a great shot. If Linden and the Canucks wants an up-tempo style again, then the choice between these two is a no-brainer.

Ritchie isn't relying on his physicality at all.

It's a compliment to an already smart player that finds the open ice and has a quick release. His speed is fine, he already has shown glimpses of it. He's by no means a pylon.

[Merci]

The argument is mute, the best Kesler trade plausible is for Etem and Anaheim's 2 1sts

with the 10th overall we can draft Virtanen, or Perlini, or Nylander, or Ehlers

Get er done Linden

[R3aL]

In the context of what I was saying, so what?

In the context of what you were saying, I meant we picked him because he was much higher than 22 on our scouting board, I remember they were surprised we even got him. They did not care about an attitude concern at all because they felt he was a steal at 22.

I've seen cycle offense from him, so I doubt these reports are accurate. And not hitting while having the puck will not translate into NHL success? I guess if the NHL was a league we haven't been watching over the past few decades or so.

Meanwhile, you make the big body argument against Virtanen, but Ritchie the junior league bully gets a free pass? Your analysis seems flawed.

I think Virtanen will more likely be able to translate success to the NHL than Ritchie because of his A-level speed. The question on Ritchie is his speed and his overall ability to stay in shape.

I have watched him his best plays come off the rush, I do not think cycling the puck is a strength of his.

Zero big body argument at all, it is just a pointer that it is a bad habit to develop in JR trying to make contact in the form of full hits while carrying the puck. Ritchie does not do this like Virtanen does, he will fight through checks when needed while carrying the puck but that is very different. It was not about bullying players with their size, both do this of course, Ritchie even more so on the boards, but I think that is a better habit of engaging contact on the boards without the puck, then almost looking for contact while carrying the puck. Maybe I am not explaining what I think well..

Either way I see Ritchies game translating better to the NHL, based off many things I have listed in other past posts. Do not get me wrong, I really like Virtanen, I agree his speed is very attractive, physicality and I love his shot. I just personally prefer Ritchies overall game to Virtanens.

I really do not see speed as an issue for Ritchie, his skating is rather explosive and agile as well. I am not hating on Virtanen, perhaps you should stop hating on Ritchie as 1 day you could come to be his biggest fan!

[R3aL]

How many power LWers carry their line? Not even Lucic can carry a line.

Parise, Kovalchuk, Nash, Ovechkin, St Louis, Perry, Hossa, Iginla, Kessel, Elias, Vanek, Jagr, Ladd, Bure, Steen did earlier this year, Pominville, Alfredsson, Ray whitney, Kariya, Tkachuck, Bossy, Andreychuk, Shanahan, Selanne, Hull and Hull, Howe,,,, ETC

Bolded are "Power" wingers who def can carry a line, let alone a team. Rest are wingers who did or can carry a line.

Arguable that Lucic has carried his line in the playoffs.

[Goal:thecup]

I want Richie at #6 but I fear Burke will take him and we will not have a chance.

Really, if Burke does this, and another team chooses outside the big five, it is only good news for us.

Ok, here's the dream #6 pick: Reinhart.

How? Like this:

Some team picks Nylander because they think he is as good as some here on CDC say he is.

Some team picks Ehlers for the same reason.

Burke takes Richie for his toughness with skill.

NYI take a goalie like Ville Husso or Thatcher Demko because Snow used to be a goalie and NYI management are a bunch of fruit-cakes.

Ekblad goes to the other top five team.

We get to pick from Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle.

[R3aL]

How many power LWers carry their line? Not even Lucic can carry a line.

And why argue Ritchie DID carry his line and team 2 years in a row. Without him they = nothing.

[TOMapleLaughs]

In the context of what you were saying, I meant we picked him because he was much higher than 22 on our scouting board, I remember they were surprised we even got him. They did not care about an attitude concern at all because they felt he was a steal at 22.

I have watched him his best plays come off the rush, I do not think cycling the puck is a strength of his.

Zero big body argument at all, it is just a pointer that it is a bad habit to develop in JR trying to make contact in the form of full hits while carrying the puck. Ritchie does not do this like Virtanen does, he will fight through checks when needed while carrying the puck but that is very different. It was not about bullying players with their size, both do this of course, Ritchie even more so on the boards, but I think that is a better habit of engaging contact on the boards without the puck, then almost looking for contact while carrying the puck. Maybe I am not explaining what I think well..

Either way I see Ritchies game translating better to the NHL, based off many things I have listed in other past posts. Do not get me wrong, I really like Virtanen, I agree his speed is very attractive, physicality and I love his shot. I just personally prefer Ritchies overall game to Virtanens.

I really do not see speed as an issue for Ritchie, his skating is rather explosive and agile as well. I am not hating on Virtanen, perhaps you should stop hating on Ritchie as 1 day you could come to be his biggest fan!

Oh. Still so what, but whatever.

Ritchie's speed has concerned me from day one, and people here were also saying Hodgson's speed wasn't an issue when it clearly was, so pardon me if I question the wisdom now and then.

I don't hate Ritchie at all though. I just see Virtanen as a player with a better upside and a better fit. Again, we lack right-shooting forwards. Esp. ones with speed and shooting ability. Kassian and Grenier will never be snipers or quick. With Ritchie we'd be adding a pretty much redundant player to our pool, as we have several left-siders with similar upside already. Perhaps explain to me how Ritchie is a better fit with this group and I can see your side a bit more clearly.

And why argue Ritchie DID carry his line and team 2 years in a row. Without him they = nothing.

Again, context. Point out NHL-level power LWers with Ritchie's offensive potential who carry their line. Answer = Zero.

But if you think Ritchie will somehow be the next Gordie Howe or Rick Nash, I cannot counter that. He won't. If he was, he'd be the consensus 1st overall pick this year, not 5th-10th in a weak draft. Think Dustin Penner.

[R3aL]

Oh. Still so what, but whatever.

Ritchie's speed has concerned me from day one, and people here were also saying Hodgson's speed wasn't an issue when it clearly was, so pardon me if I question the wisdom now and then.

I don't hate Ritchie at all though. I just see Virtanen as a player with a better upside and a better fit. Again, we lack right-shooting forwards. Esp. ones with speed and shooting ability. Kassian and Grenier will never be snipers or quick. With Ritchie we'd be adding a pretty much redundant player to our pool, as we have several left-siders with similar upside already. Perhaps explain to me how Ritchie is a better fit with this group and I can see your side a bit more clearly.

Again, context. Point out NHL-level power LWers who carry their line. Answer = Zero.

Ritchie is left handed sure, but he prefers playing on the right side, but will play both sides comfortably, his handedness is not an issue. I agree a blend of RHS and LHS forwards is ideal but it is not necessary to success. SEDIN SEDIN BURROWS have found years of success and all of them are LHS?

I believe both Getzlaf and Perry are RHS I could be wrong not 100% sure, but I do not see that slwing that duo down?

Choosing the BPA will not have Shot handedness as a tie breaker, I feel shot handedness is more important to D pairings then forward combinations.

And I already have, on the page before, I listed a bunch of wingers, Ritchie is W not a LW he can play both LW and RW and their are many wingers historically who have carried their lines and Power wingers, I have a list at the end of page 75 and it only took me a second to do.

Stop being ridiculous, Ritchie is an awesome prospect and how can you limit his potential, all these kids potential = sky the limit. Can we just agree to respect each others preference then? I prefer Ritchie over Virtanen, you prefer Virtanen over Ritchie.

[theminister]

Oh. Still so what, but whatever.

Ritchie's speed has concerned me from day one, and people here were also saying Hodgson's speed wasn't an issue when it clearly was, so pardon me if I question the wisdom now and then.

I don't hate Ritchie at all though. I just see Virtanen as a player with a better upside and a better fit. Again, we lack right-shooting forwards. Esp. ones with speed and shooting ability. Kassian and Grenier will never be snipers or quick. With Ritchie we'd be adding a pretty much redundant player to our pool, as we have several left-siders with similar upside already. Perhaps explain to me how Ritchie is a better fit with this group and I can see your side a bit more clearly.

Again, context. Point out NHL-level power LWers with Ritchie's offensive potential who carry their line. Answer = Zero.

You just made the argument as to why Ritchie could be such a special player.

And again……. there is no issue with Ritchie's speed. He's a good skater, period. It has nothing to do with his size. If anything he could become an even better skater.

Players like Ritchie are never redundant in a system because there are so few players that come along like Ritchie. He's a much better fit for the Canucks than Virtanen because he can balance the size on the wings and is more likely to play a true power game at the NHL level. Virtanen is stocky and powerful but he will never bully his way around the NHL. Ritchie very well might be able to.

Complimentary players to play with PWF are much easier to come by than true PWFs themselves. They are almost never available in FA or in trade without a severe overpayment. You need to just look at the UFA class his year, a poor one, to see that a guy like Stastny could be added to the roster. Ritchie-Stastny-Kassian could be just as or even more dominant as Lucic-Krejci-Horton, for an example.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Ritchie is left handed sure, but he prefers playing on the right side, but will play both sides comfortably, his handedness is not an issue. I agree a blend of RHS and LHS forwards is ideal but it is not necessary to success. SEDIN SEDIN BURROWS have found years of success and all of them are LHS?

I believe both Getzlaf and Perry are RHS I could be wrong not 100% sure, but I do not see that slwing that duo down?

Choosing the BPA will not have Shot handedness as a tie breaker, I feel shot handedness is more important to D pairings then forward combinations.

A ton of junior players play on their off-wing. It doesn't translate to the NHL at all unless the guy is Ovechkin.

To me Virtanen's elite speed is more of a tie-breaker though. Is he has size and strength to go with it, then that to me is more translatable to the NHL.

[Langdon Algur]

The team desperately needs a playmaker, lucky for us Dal Colle and Drastill are pretty good playmakers. I'd be happy with either one but voted for the winger as we are already pretty deep at centre with our prospect pool.

[Junkyard Dog]

A ton of junior players play on their off-wing. It doesn't translate to the NHL at all unless the guy is Ovechkin.

To me Virtanen's elite speed is more of a tie-breaker though. Is he has size and strength to go with it, then that to me is more translatable to the NHL.

I highly doubt that.

[theminister]

A ton of junior players play on their off-wing. It doesn't translate to the NHL at all unless the guy is Ovechkin.

To me Virtanen's elite speed is more of a tie-breaker though. Is he has size and strength to go with it, then that to me is more translatable to the NHL.

Straight ahead speed is the only thing that Virtanen beats Ritchie in, and it isn't a huge difference. Ritchie has good two-step quickness and can get where he needs to be every time.

Ritchie has him beat, or tied, in every other category including shot, physicality, creativeness, passing, and defensive awareness.

[R3aL]

Oh. Still so what, but whatever.

Ritchie's speed has concerned me from day one, and people here were also saying Hodgson's speed wasn't an issue when it clearly was, so pardon me if I question the wisdom now and then.

I don't hate Ritchie at all though. I just see Virtanen as a player with a better upside and a better fit. Again, we lack right-shooting forwards. Esp. ones with speed and shooting ability. Kassian and Grenier will never be snipers or quick. With Ritchie we'd be adding a pretty much redundant player to our pool, as we have several left-siders with similar upside already. Perhaps explain to me how Ritchie is a better fit with this group and I can see your side a bit more clearly.

Again, context. Point out NHL-level power LWers with Ritchie's offensive potential who carry their line. Answer = Zero.

But if you think Ritchie will somehow be the next Gordie Howe or Rick Nash, I cannot counter that. He won't. If he was, he'd be the consensus 1st overall pick this year, not 5th-10th in a weak draft. Think Dustin Penner.

Rick Nashs draft year was really not that impressive his playoff performance was, but he also had a few good players on his team, including dennis wideman and a young Corey perry on an always deep and well coached Knights team, and his plus minus was still terrible.

And look at Nashs draft year,,, top talent was much weaker then this years.

His draft was so different and Fs were poop!!! This draft is not weak, it is just weak in comparison to last years and next years in depth, the top 5 are as solid as they come. And the top 10 in this year is F heavy whereas 2002 it was D heavy.

This is become an argument not a discussion/conversation, you feel the way you feel and it is your choice to be stubborn, I respect your opinion just not the way you are delivering it.

[Prison Bull]

I want Richie at #6 but I fear Burke will take him and we will not have a chance.

Really, if Burke does this, and another team chooses outside the big five, it is only good news for us.

Ok, here's the dream #6 pick: Reinhart.

How? Like this:

Some team picks Nylander because they think he is as good as some here on CDC say he is.

Some team picks Ehlers for the same reason.

Burke takes Richie for his toughness with skill.

NYI take a goalie like Ville Husso or Thatcher Demko because Snow used to be a goalie and NYI management are a bunch of fruit-cakes.

Ekblad goes to the other top five team.

We get to pick from Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle.

Step away from the crack pipe.