6th Pick: 2014 NHL Entry Draft

[Ihatetomatoes]

Where did his hate for the Canucks come from, you would think any junior would be open to get drafted period. Sounds like a bit of entitlement to me with a big red flag

Some poster on here met him and Dal Colle said he hated the Canucks or something of the sort. Just like any fan has teams they like or hate in the NHL, I'm sure his hate isn't strong enought to pull a Lindros and he'll quickly learn to like the team that will be paying him millions to play in the NHL in one of the best facilities in the NHL and probably one of the nicest cities to live in.

[baumerman77]

So you're one of those dummies who thinks that Ehlers is expendable just because we have Shinkaruk?

Makes no sense.

I don't like Ehlers, but I would have to agree not drafting a player because we have a "similar" prospect is really dumb.

[baumerman77]

Fabbri at 24th in a weak draft? No chance. I bet he goes top 15.

I will take that bet.

[Merci]

Iam giddy we just blew off nylander and ehlers in interviews. Benning is a beaut.

And hearing how virtanen and fleury had long interviews screams to me were trading kesler for the 10th and a prospect.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

Sorry for the long responses....

I appreciate your opinion but I disagree on several fronts.

The team has been in decline before Torts got here . The team won 1 playoff game the previous 2 years. Our depth was for chit.

I wouldn’t put to much emphasis into that stat. We made the playoffs, it means we were in the dance. Put it this way. Canucks were 1 goal away from being knocked out in the first round and we wouldn’t have witnessed that great run. In 2010 Bruins were knocked out after choking on a 3-0 game series lead against the flyers. Bruins were also 1 goal away from being knocked out in round 1 against the Canadian in 2011. 1 goal determined that team winning the Stanley cup and getting knocked out in the first round. LA was one game from being swept in the first round this year. They are now in the conference finals and looking strong to make an advances to the Stanley cup finals. The point is. The playoffs are a crapshoot. One goal (a fluke goal at that) can be the difference between a team winning the cup and a team being knocked out in the first round. If the Bruins would have lost in 2011 that team would have likely been dismantled because of the same mindset you have (to early playoff chokes) and we wouldn’t have the power house bruins we see today. Canucks have proved to be a competitive team. A team that makes the playoffs is a team that can win a cup, whether they are considered media named “contenders” or not. All teams in the playoffs have the same chance. #7 seated Wild knocked off #2 seated AV’s this year.

The twins are not star players. They arent even 80 point players anymore. They werent 80 point players in 2013 and even worse in 2014. They will rebound up to where they should be . 70 point players.

I’ll start this be saying. In 2013 Henrik put up a point pace of 76 points. I would consider that close. Sedins money maker is the power play. In 2014 we had one of the worst PP in the league and that had a number of things going wrong from having zero creative strategy on the PP to not having their third linemate for ¾ of the year. At times last season we saw Hansen playing on the first PP unit. And our big point shot couldn’t hit the net if his life depending on it. I fully expect with a new coach that actually has a strategy our PP will not be in the bottom 5 of the league, an as a result sedin’s production will jump right back to where we expect them to be. Right around the 80 point mark.

Our depth is still for chit. If we have secondary scoring from Kesler we certainly dont have it from the 3rd and 4th lines.Our defense is solid but our goaltending is not. We got 2 kids whom have never played a playoff game before.

Our depth last year definitely was, but in one game when one player knocks out 3 guys on your roster it’s going to hurt. Last year we lost so many of are key players. It forced up to play 3^rd and 4^th line guys in top 6 roles. I like where are depth is personally. A third line of Booth Santo/Matthias Kassian would look pretty good. It’s our top 6 that give me some doubt. Hansen and Higgins are more suits for 3^rd line minutes. We will see if any youth are ready to make that jump and fill that hole.

As for our goalies. They got to start sometime. Every goalie has to go through a defining season to prove they are a number one goalie. People were saying the same thing about Crawford at the start of 2013 season and he proved to world he is. Lack held his own last season and I would expect much of the same this year.

I dont see what your endgame is. What is the point of chugging along . We are competing against Colorado and Minnesota whom both are going to get stronger for the 2 wildcards. What is the point of this? To draft 18th ? 15th? What about next year? The year after that? What is the endgame?

The end game is, you don’t need a rebuild to be a good successful hockey team, a team that can win the cup. Rebuilding guarantees jack squat, it doesn’t even guarantee a team to make playoffs.

Don’t believe me, lets take a look down history lane

EDM- Sure they look good with 3 first round draft picks and Eberle. But, they haven’t got anything to show for it as of yet. In fact it’s been over 8 years since they have made the playoffs. This year was supposed to be their break out year and they finished behind the Flames. Will they really be cup contenders in a few more years? Only time will tell The really sad thing is out of all the #1 picks they had, their best player is the one they picked at #22 (which is not really a rebuild pick).

CLB – CLB have had 11 out of the last 14 years where they have had a top 10 picks (5 in the top 5), and in this time they have only made the playoffs only 2 times. Will they really be cup contenders anytime soon?

NYI- Another team who has had 6 top 10 draft picks (4 of them in the top 5) in the last 8 years. And another top 5 this year. This team barely made the playoffs last year. Yes they gave the penguins a good run right now but are they really cup contenders any time soon? Honestly think, without that one #1 overall draft pick that turned out (Tavares) where would this team be? Has rebuilding really turned out well for the islanders?

WPG – Here’s a team that been in the rebuilding phase for a long while considering back to the days of the thrashers. 12 out of 14 years they have picked in the top 10. (6 of them were #4 or better) Now by rebuilding goes this team should be a cup contender every year. They should be president trophy winners year after year and always be in the hunt for a cup. But wait, they’ve only made the playoffs once in the last 14 years. Are the WPG anywhere close to being cup contenders in the next few years?

FLA – Have made the playoffs twice in the last 17 years. In that time they’ve had 10 top 10 picks, 6 of those were picked in the top 3. And where are they today? Once again picking a top 3 pick in fact this year it’s number one. But as we can see, that doesn’t mean jack squat.

There are two team that have drafted and developed their prospects into high impact players, these two teams did this through all rounds of the draft and not necessarily by rebuilding with top ten draft picks.

STL – The blues look like a good team built from drafting but was that really from a rebuild? In the last 10 years they have only had 2 top 10 picks, Erik Johnson and Alex Pietrangelo. I think It’s safe to say only one of those players turned out in their value, although Johnson did get a nice return. Look who’s all making an impact on their roster TJ Oshie (24 overall), David Backes (62^nd overall), Perron (26^th overall), Berglund (25^th overall). Did STL rebuild, or did they just do a great job at developing their prospects somewhat like the wings have done.

LA – Los Angeles had 6 seasons where they failed to miss the playoffs 03-09. In that time they had 3 top 10 draft picks. Drew Doughty (2^nd overall), Thomas Hickey (4^th overall), Brayden Schenn (5^th overall). Hickey was picked up off waivers and Schenn was traded with Simmonds (61^st overall) to bring in Richards. LA, like the Blues, is a team built from drafting and developing but not necessarily from rebuilding with top 10 draft picks.

Teams are either building a contender, or contending or rebuilding. Our time has passed to honestly compete for the cup with this core. Lets take our medicine and rebuild. We only have 2 more years after this.

You’ve missed one. It’s called a competing team. In fact two of these competing teams are competing in the Eastern conference finals, fighting for the chance to win the ultimate prize. No one would have considered NYR and MTL contenders at the start of playoffs, No that was PIT’s and BOS, both teams that got knocked out by these competing teams. A core that can make playoffs without having to give up youth to make that push is a team competing team. SJ, DET, ANH, NYR, MTL, are all competing teams, these teams don’t need a rebuild to go for a cup, they just consistently put out a strong effort and make the playoffs. They also in the back end start to develop the next core for a smooth transition without having to finish dead last. Sure sometimes they have offseason (MTL 2 years ago and Vancouver this year) but they don’t go into rebuild mode. It’s called player development and player development is far more important that high draft picks.

The term rebuild is a media made up word to entice the fans and make them believe that times are low but it will get better. It’s pulling wool over the fans eyes to cover up the fact that management didn’t properly prepare for the future and now don’t have a backup plan, so they need to start over. Sadly fans eat that crap up and think rebuilding is this exciting thing that will guarantee a team a cup in a few years. The end result is if you have a team that can make playoffs, your already miles ahead of a rebuilding team because the goal of a rebuild is…..to make playoffs, just like all those teams mentioned above are trying to do. All this rebuilding, all this promise and yet they’d probably trade it all away just for a shot at a first round seven game series.

[chickenman92]

I saw that too. Its not correct. They didnt interview them today. They plan to interview them tomorrow or Friday. Today they interviewed the ones you mentioned. Its a 4 day long interview.

Edit; It was from yesterday. They ignored Ritchie Ehlers and Nyander to concentrate on Virtanen and especially Fleury. Dont know who they interviewed today but its extremely hard to believe they wont interview Ehlers and Ritchie . Even if they dont want Nylander they might want to spend 10min with him just in case.

I imagine teams interview as many players as they can just to get a little insight on the player if they are ever a UFA or trade bait down the road.

I think last year 28 or 29 teams talked to MacKinnon. Most of it was just a, "Hey, I'm "X" from "y" team. We think you're a great player and we just wanted a 5 minute chat with you...so...umm...tell me about yourself.

The process is 5-10 minutes and generally doesn't mean much, but it's worth doing in case the player becomes trade bait one day.

It's the 20-30 min. interviews that are the guys teams are locked in on and looking to draft.

[Lonny_Bohonos_14]

Sorry for the long responses....

Well said. Can't agree more.

[ice orca]

Iam giddy we just blew off nylander and ehlers in interviews. Benning is a beaut.

And hearing how virtanen and fleury had long interviews screams to me were trading kesler for the 10th and a prospect.

Maybe they interview them later.

[theminister]

Fabbri at 24th in a weak draft? No chance. I bet he goes top 15.

That was essentially my point.

I'm not certain where Fabbri will fall but I agree it's unlikely he falls past 20.

[theminister]

Sorry for the long responses....

Bang on.

[Ossi Vaananen]

Damn! I hope Sanheim falls to 36th, that or we get a mid 20s first. He and Virtanen seem to have some chemistry, I mean as much as can be expected between a D and a forward. Check out his highlights:

Earlier this year he was listed at 6'3" 190, but lists show now he's 6'4" 205. He's growing.. but he's already huge.

[baumerman77]

Damn! I hope Sanheim falls to 36th, that or we get a mid 20s first. He and Virtanen seem to have some chemistry, I mean as much as can be expected between a D and a forward. Check out his highlights:

Earlier this year he was listed at 6'3" 190, but lists show now he's 6'4" 205. He's growing.. but he's already huge.

Very interesting. I am not too sure about the accuracy of his size. Eliteprospects says he is 6'4" 205 and it says his twin brother is 5'10" 174 that seems kind of funny if true.

[zduck14]

I think the 6th pick depends entirely on what the return for Kesler would be. If he is traded to Anaheim, then I think Fleury should be the pick at 6 and then whichever one of Ritchie, Ehlers, Nylander, or Virtanen is still available at 10. I feel that if they don't take Fleury at 6th overall, there's no way he lasts until 10th being the only d-man (besides Ekblad) ranked in the top 10.

1. FLA - Ekblad

2. BUF - Reinhart

3. EDM - Draisaitl

4. CGY - Bennett

5. NYI - Dal Colle

6. VAN - Fleury

7. CAR - Nylander

8. TOR - Ritchie

9. WIN - Ehlers

10. VAN - Virtanen

It just seems like the perfect way to ensure you get a d-man and a forward in the top ten.

[elvis15]

^^ No, I'd say the other way around. If it's true that a team like Carolina really wants him and we actually do too, then maybe we do too, but I'd think we try and draft as much high end forward talent as we can this year. There just isn't enough defensive talent after Ekblad to take one at 6th, and we might even be better off taking a defenceman in the middle of the first round next year.

Iam giddy we just blew off nylander and ehlers in interviews. Benning is a beaut.
...

Maybe they interview them later.

We will and did. The interviews last over several days. Ehlers and Nylander were interviewed on the second day as multiple posters have already noted.

Very interesting. I am not too sure about the accuracy of his size. Eliteprospects says he is 6'4" 205 and it says his twin brother is 5'10" 174 that seems kind of funny if true.

Fraternal twins instead of identical? Even then it's a bit of disparity, but still possible.

[aGENT]

Bang on.

Agreed.

[aGENT]

Fraternal twins instead of identical? Even then it's a bit of disparity, but still possible.

I've got fraternal twin boys and even at just 18 months there's a noticeable height and 3lb weight difference.

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

Although Ehlers isn't a prototypical big north-south type of player like Virtanen, I'm not buying the whole "perimeter player" thing. Do people just say that because he's European, under six feet and under two-hundred pounds?

If you ask me, after watching Bigwhite's highlight reel of Ehlers, I see a lot of Peter Forsberg in him in terms of how well he handles the puck in the corners and then all of a sudden takes it to the net. That is NOT perimeter.

If you are a "smaller" guy but can play a "big" game like Marchand (minus the antics) or Gallagher, it doesn't matter what size you are. Ehlers is almost six feet and almost 180 pounds at 17 years. Plenty of room for him left to grow.

I'm not saying we have to pick him, but this small Euro perimeter player crap has to come to a stop.

[Derp...]

That Sanhiem highlight pack was pretty sick, he is someone that I wouldn't pass up in the second if he's there.

We dont' have anyone with his skillset in the pipeline except maybe Hutton. I like picking a guy who's only improving though, I expect him to get a tryout with WJC next year.

[thad]

Although Ehlers isn't a prototypical big north-south type of player like Virtanen, I'm not buying the whole "perimeter player" thing. Do people just say that because he's European, under six feet and under two-hundred pounds?

If you ask me, after watching Bigwhite's highlight reel of Ehlers, I see a lot of Peter Forsberg in him in terms of how well he handles the puck in the corners and then all of a sudden takes it to the net. That is NOT perimeter.

If you are a "smaller" guy but can play a "big" game like Marchand (minus the antics) or Gallagher, it doesn't matter what size you are. Ehlers is almost six feet and almost 180 pounds at 17 years. Plenty of room for him left to grow.

I'm not saying we have to pick him, but this small Euro perimeter player crap has to come to a stop.

I see more perimeter game in Virtanen, actually. He seems to try and do it all himself and skates around and shoots from the boards a lot. Ehlers cuts to the middle and makes plays all over.

I'm a Ritchie guy but I think I may be more into Ehlers than Virtanen if I don't get my man.

[viking mama]

Its just a rumor but sounds like it could be true. Someone asked him who he wouldnt want to be drafted to and he said the canucks.

Regarding MDC not wanting to be drafted by our 'Nucks....that may be his smarts in recognizing the dysfunction that was the "Tortorella Experiment"...& he just happened to be honest & naive enough to put that out there. A few PR lessons at a Prospects Camp or 2, would help him out with that.

Lesson #1: sometimes a glib quote out of context or time...will continue haunt ya.

If he gets an interview, they should ask him to explain that one...& see how he handles the discomfort of that situation...or not.