[Discussion] Who to target with pick 33?

[ChampStatus]

If the Canucks target a forward in the first round I see them going after a D-Man in the second round and there are a few that stand out for me that are around that 33 pick mark. A player who I see is undervalued is Dennis Cholowski he played for Chilliwack this year and was a big part of that team and a big reason why that team was very successful this year. Lucas Johansen would be another intresting player around that mark but after reading more and more about this player and only seeing him play twice this year I think that it might be a stretch for this Canucks to get him but Kewlona has produced some of the best D-Men in the NHL (Madison Bowey, Tyson Barrie, Alexander Edler, Scott Hannan, Duncan Keith, Tyler Myers, Luke Schenn, Sheldon Souray and Shea Weber) that is one extensive list of D talent that has gone through the Kewlona system. Markus Niemeläinen, Kale Clague, Cam Dineen  and Libor Hajek are the other D-Men on this list of players around the 33 mark.

 

To start my list:

Dennis Cholowski D Shoots: L H/W: 6'1 165lb Born: Feb 15 1998 Team: Chiliwack BCHL

Cholowski has played 106 games in the BCHL getting 16 Goals and 51 assists in the two full seasons he has played. 2015-2016 he lead his team in scoring by defense. He is a mobile D-Man who has one set of wheels on him. Very high compete level. Seeing this kid play live is a treat. The four games I saw him play this year one game really stands out to me was vs Surrey Eagles, Yes i am aware the skill level of Surrey vs Chiliwack Dennis this game moved the puck like no other. Scoring two goals both cannons from the blue line. His last goal was a perfect one timmer in the high boards play on powerplay. They one 5-2 that game and Dennis was +2 in the game. A big reason I like Dennis at 33 is his discounted rate, he is a BCHL stud but NHL teams take that as a lower league. He will be playing Div 1 in the states for St. Cloud University next year where he will play big minits and be able to develop his defensive side of his game.

 

Lucas Johansen D Shoots: L H/W: 6'1 175lb Born: Nov 16 1997 Team: Kelowna WHL

Johansen has played 134 games in the WHL getting 11 Goals and 46 assists in the two full seasons he has played. 2015-2016 he lead his team in scoring by defense. He plays a big game, he uses his size and strength to his advantage. Strong edge control with and speed. Playing a great two way game for a D man who also has a scene of scoring. I compare him to like an Alex Pietrangelo  type player. Very aware in the Defensive end and his compete level is higher then most kids his age. Not being able to see much Kelowna this year. Seeing him play getting 2 points 1g1a vs the Vancouver Giants on Feb 20th in a game they lost 4-2 Johansen was one of the only players that stood out to me as a high impact player. Both points that game came on the power play. Johansen may not be ready to turn pro for two more years but he will be a high impact guy that will be able to crack the lineup after one year in the AHL.

 

Kale Clague D Shoots: L H/W: 6'0 170lb Born: Jun 5 1998 Team: Brandon Wheat Kings WHL

Clague has played 92 games in the WHL getting 10 Goals and 46 assists in the two seasons he has played. Clague is the last player I have seen play live on this list. He seems to always have a cool composure about himself. He stays calm in high stress situations on the ice. He is the type of player I would through out if the goalie is pulled and you are looking for a puck moving Dman to command that high wall in a 6-on-5 situation. Moving the puck is Clagues strongest side of his game. Foot speed and game awareness are also strong asset Calgue brings to the table. I made the trip to see them play two playoff games this year vs Regina. I went more to see Nolan Patrick play, that kids the real deal (Lets start the tank for Nolan now). At the start of the first game I saw Kale gave a huge giveaway almost cost them a goal. After that play he was sat for a shift and just had a look to his game that he was playing mad and he made three nice hits in the first. In the second game he had a much stronger game getting 1a and was +2.

 

Markus Niemeläinen D Shoots: L H/W: 6'6 215lb Born: Jun 8 1998 Team: Saginaw Spirit OHL

Niemelainen has played 65 games in the OHL getting 1 Goal and 26 assists in the only season he has played. Seeing him play a hand full of times in a few of the u18/u17/ivan helinka I was able to watch the only time he stood out to me is in the Ivan Helinka tournament when he was putting kids through the boards. When he connects with a hit you feel it when you are watching. He uses his size to his advantage one of the strongest kids at his age and he uses ever pound to his advantage. With all players his size he looks like he is still growing into his body. Skates a little funny and does not have full command of his shot yet.

 

Libor Hajek D Shoots: L H/W: 6'2 195lbs Born: Feb 4 1998 Team: Saskatoon Blades WHL

Hajek has played in 69 games in the WHL getting 3 Goals and 23 assists in the only season he has played. I was not able to see any Saskatoon games this year. I did not like going to see the Giants play it made me sad with how good that team could have been if they had a proper structure from coaches in the last 2 years. I did not notice Libor at all in the Ivan Helinka games I have watched. This is what Central Scouting had to say about him.

Quote

“Strong skater with very good speed, agility and mobility. Very good at starting the rush and making the first pass out of zone. See the ice well to not put teammates in bad positions and outlets smartly for partner. Good awareness of his defensive responsibilities and solid containment game handling one on one situations. Utilizing size effectively to play the body as well as showing good anticipation to step up in the neutral zone to make a hit.”

Cam Dineen D Shoots: L H/W: 5'11 185lbs Born: Jun 19 1998 Team: North Bay Battalion OHL

Cam has played in 68 games in the OHL getting 13 goals and 46 assists in the only season he has played. He was second in scoring by d-man in the league. He may be 5'11 but he plays like he is 6'2. Uses his body to his advantage. Seeing him play on tv when he was playing in the Ivan Helinka I wondered why he was ranked so low on everyone's list. Sure enough by the end of the season he climbed from 117 north american skater at mid season rankings going to 39th. His offensive side is unmatched in his draft class for D-Men. What he lacks is defensive zone coverage. This is a player who I can see slipping to 49-60th pick.

 

I would like to hear some opinions.

Do the canucks take another Forward at 33

do they take BPA

do they go with a different d-man

 

 

[Ossi Vaananen]

Will Bitten. That is is all sir, that is all.

[ABNuck]

So when the other thread entitled "DISCUSSION - WHO TO PICK AT 33" got locked down as redundant (because this discussion literally would have fit in about a dozen other threads) you thought you'd give it a shot and see that if you titled it different it just might slip through?

[ChampStatus]

1 minute ago, Ossi Vaananen said:

Will Bitten. That is is all sir, that is all.

All -40 of him.

Maybe he will be apart of a walk out on the Aquilini's.
He is a strong offensively minded player. But lacks the Defensive zone coverage that you need.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[ThaManbeast]

As someone who lives in Kelowna... Kewlona lol

[ChampStatus]

2 minutes ago, ThaManbeast said:

As someone who lives in Kelowna... Kewlona lol

English is not my first language. I do apologize.

[-AJ-]

I can't really say I've done much research beyond the top 10 or so of this draft, but I'd like to see a D-man picked with our 2nd.

[Tavrohorvat53]

BPA

[supermanbieksa]

Can't really say much about the players from outside of Europe and especially defencemen. I've never watched college hockey and when on youtube I rarely watch defenceman. 

 

But one player I'd like to see Vancouver select is Sebastian Aho, from Skellefteå. 33rd is too early though, but I think he can become a good top-5 guy. Smallish defenceman but with a lot of upside. Reads the game well and is very mobile, moves the puck good as well. Has already played more than 100 pro hockey games, on the best team in Sweden in recent years. 
 

He can work on his shot and strength.   

 

 http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=67208#ifrndnloc 

[ChampStatus]

20 minutes ago, supermanbieksa said:

Can't really say much about the players from outside of Europe and especially defencemen. I've never watched college hockey and when on youtube I rarely watch defenceman. 

 

But one player I'd like to see Vancouver select is Sebastian Aho, from Skellefteå. 33rd is too early though, but I think he can become a good top-5 guy. Smallish defenceman but with a lot of upside. Reads the game well and is very mobile, moves the puck good as well. Has already played more than 100 pro hockey games, on the best team in Sweden in recent years. 
 

He can work on his shot and strength.   

 

 http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=67208#ifrndnloc 

The problem with Sebastian Aho is that he is a 20 year old. He will be closer to the 4-6th round I bet. I remember him from WJC he is a good puck moving D-Man and if the canucks took a chance on him in the later rounds would not be the worst thing.

 

SEBASTIAN AHO

 

[Ossi Vaananen]

5 hours ago, ChampStatus said:

All -40 of him.

Maybe he will be apart of a walk out on the Aquilini's.
He is a strong offensively minded player. But lacks the Defensive zone coverage that you need.

Pfft, Flint was a gongshow this past year. You can't read too much into +/-. I guess you didn't watch the U18s when Bitten was Canada's best forward most nights. But let's just look at stats.

[supermanbieksa]

2 hours ago, ChampStatus said:

The problem with Sebastian Aho is that he is a 20 year old. He will be closer to the 4-6th round I bet. I remember him from WJC he is a good puck moving D-Man and if the canucks took a chance on him in the later rounds would not be the worst thing.

 

SEBASTIAN AHO

 

I guess you're right. Imo it's odd that he hasn't been drafted yet... And as I said, 2nd round might be a bit early. Perhaps it's more likely that he's picked in the 3rd-6th round. But sometimes a 20 year old is a "safer" pick. Because you can see their development against men (at least in Europe). For example I wanted the Canucks to pick up Viktor Arvidsson(overaged draftee) two years ago, just because his developent curve was consistently upwards. He got drafted by the Preds in the fourth round and is now basically a regular in the Preds lineup.

 

I know drafting isn't a factual science and not saying that it's a "lock" just because of a development curve. But I do think it indicates that it's a player that works hard on his game. And outside of the 1st round I think it's a good pick if he makes the NHL.  

 

I guess this was kinda off topic, because the thread was about our 33rd pick but what ever. I think Aho is an interesting player       

[thejazz97]

Adam Mascherin and Luke Green!!!!!!!1

[smithers joe]

1 hour ago, thejazz97 said:

Adam Mascherin and Luke Green!!!!!!!1

how many picks at 33 do they have?

[thejazz97]

3 minutes ago, smithers joe said:

how many picks at 33 do they have?

One.

 

We get 35 if CBJ gives us theirs IIRC.

[smithers joe]

17 minutes ago, thejazz97 said:

One.

 

We get 35 if CBJ gives us theirs IIRC.

if next year's draft is indeed weaker than this year, i could see columbus give us that pick...

[Squeak]

1 hour ago, thejazz97 said:

One.

 

We get 35 if CBJ gives us theirs IIRC.

It's 34th

 

They won't - they have a choice of 2016,17 or 18... and arguably will have an upward trajectory from here, so they will wait.

[Ghostsof1915]

Knowing Canucks luck they'll trade Jack Johnson to the Stanley Cup winner for a 2nd round, #60 pick, and trade that. 

[FrankieCorrado]

I really like Lucas Johansen at 33, he's big, smart, and smooth with some offensive upside, he has "2nd round steal" written all over him.