2017 NHL Draft - Chicago, Illinois June 23-24 2017

[250Integra]

24 minutes ago, Camel Toe Drag said:

I'm texting while driving. Trying to avoid the real police not the grammar police. 

If responding to this forum while driving is a priority of yours, then you should be caught by both the real and grammar police.

[Camel Toe Drag]

Just now, 250Integra said:

If responding to this forum while driving is a priority of yours, then you should be caught by both the real and grammar police.

If sitting on your computer all day and correcting people's grammar is your biggest priority you have bigger problems. Moving on. 

[R3aL]

20 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

With how much the players have moved around the rankings lately, it's easy to say that there is no true bonified 3-7th overall pick set in stone. Because of that, and there not really being a BPA, I think we should take a player who fits our future mould best.

 

1) Pettersson looks sick and to be honest, if this was same time last year or the year before I'd say we should draft him. Very elite puck handling skills and offensive vision is what it takes in today's NHL to score, and this kid has them. Sure he's not big but can get stronger and be complemented by bigger wingers. HOWEVER, in recent transactions the Canucks have acquired several smaller, skilled forwards (Dahlen, Goldobin, Granlund, Baertschi to an extent). 4-5 of their future top-6 are smaller skilled forwards. This is fantastic and exactly what we need, but we have to balance that out with some size, physicality and decent defence, and unfortunately Pettersson is not that guy.

 

2) Vilardi fits the bill to a tee. Big and strong, long reach, fantastic vision and a brilliant playmaker to set up our many north-south style wingers. He's not that physical but his size will really help a relatively small top-6. The fact that he's 17 means we get a bit more time to reach his true potential which he'll have, as we aren't expected to hit the playoffs in 3 years anyway. Let him break into the NHL as a 19-20 year old and hit his prime at 22-23 whereby we're looking to make a Cup run. 

 

3) Mittelstatd is similar to Vilardi, a big and strong center but has dropped a fair bit in recent rankings. Not as large as Vilardi but a gifted playmaker, bit more of a scorer though, so IMO doesn't fit our needs exactly. 

 

4) Glass would be the perfect fit. Bigger and stronger than Mittelstatd, and more of a clever playmaker. These types of centers are what we need right now with so many goalscoring shooters on the wing and a lack of a true playmaker in our future top-6. Glass' defence isn't too bad either.

 

 

Essentially, I think we need a larger center who can play average-to-well defensively but can most importantly pass the puck and play-make first, score second. Goldobin is a shooter. Boeser is a sniper. Dahlen looks like he can do it all. Virtanen will be a scorer. Most of these guys are one-dimensional, north south type players, so they need a smart high hockey IQ playmaker to spread everything out and slow it down or we'll be far too easy to defend (as we've seen in recent years with all-north south lines and all-horizontal lines, ie. the Sedins).

 

Also despite Button placing Makar 3rd overall and Heiskanen 5th overall, I don't think we should take a defenceman. The 2018 will be flush with more elite D-men and less centers, and unless we're getting out top line center somewhere else, the 2017 draft is the perfect chance to get one.

I am pretty sure we will be leaving the draft if we pick at 5 with either Glass or Pettersson.

 

If we get the 3rd maybe a dman 1 of Heiskanen or Makar

[R3aL]

11 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Sure it is. He's already ahead in his development curve and will likely be ready sooner, has a higher floor and is less boom/bust or risk/reward. Those are likely more valuable assets to the teams that are further along in their rebuilds or like PHI/DAL who are actually closer to contenders than lottery teams (not that PHI particularly needs more D, especially LD's).

 

But he also doesn't have the same ceiling and that doesn't mean he'll be the better (or more productive) D in 5 years.

 

Man I want Benning to get another top 10 pick....

Me toooo 

[R3aL]

I am fully on the Pettersson and Glass Train now.

 

whichever C we take of the two I will be very happy with.

 

Hitting on Pettersson would make me feel a lot better about missing on Nylander.

 

Think a Pettersson Horvat  or a Glass Horvat combo for us down the middle would both be fantastic 

 

I think Glass is the safer pick and both have incredibly high ceilings with glass having a higher floor.

[Vinny in Vancouver]

Watching the shift by shift of Pettersson scares me. He is easily pushed off the puck. He is currently not that fast. His turns are quite choppy for that level. People think that he can easily add twenty pounds and also get faster. I hope you're right, but all I know is that when I was 5'4", I can touch the basketball rim and now that I'm close to 6', I can't barely touch the backboard. When is Glass visiting Vancouver?

Vilardi > Mittelstadt > Glass > Pettersson.

[BO_Scorvat]

2 minutes ago, vinny_in_vancouver said:

Watching the shift by shift of Pettersson scares me. He is easily pushed off the puck. He is currently not that fast. His turns are quite choppy for that level. People think that he can easily add twenty pounds and also get faster. I hope you're right, but all I know is that when I was 5'4", I can touch the basketball rim and now that I'm close to 6', I can't barely touch the backboard. When is Glass visiting Vancouver?

Vilardi > Mittelstadt > Glass > Pettersson.

I've never been a huge fan of mittelstadt, I feel like every time I watch his highlights it's never anything physical, he always has so much room to make plays that I fear he'll come to the NHL or NCAA and just get shut down super quick. So maybe the same with Petterson? 

I'd go with

1.Vilardi 2. Glass 3. Peterson 4. Mittelstadt 

[Zfetch]

I support selecting Lias Andersson.

He is my yearly prediction as to exceed expectations in the draft.
He's got that sweet flow and is already putting up great numbers as an eighteen year-old.

So far I haven't been correct with any of my annual selections, but I have not been wrong

Rasmus Andersson - German Rubtsov - Lias Andersson
I like dem Andersson's.

[Canada Hockey Place]

IMO this draft looks similar to 2010. Strong top 2 consensus but hard to gauge the rest.

 

Here's how 2010 went down. 

 

1. Taylor Hall 
2. Tyler Seguin 
3. Erik Gudbranson  
4. Ryan Johansen    
5. Nino Niederreiter   
6. Brett Connolly   
7. Jeff Skinner    
8. Alexander Burmistrov    
9. Mikael Granlund   
10. Dylan McIlrath

Interestingly only Skinner and Granlund are still with the team that drafted them. 

[Phat Fingers]

21 hours ago, R3aL said:

To be honest I was one of the biggest Button haters for years. Thought he was big clown/moron/doofus you name it haha.

 

But over the past 2 years or so he has really grown as a scout and I think he really does put the work into watching and evaluating players and has been doing a fairly good job at it.

 

His rankings are one of the better ones out there for public access and I value his opinion now.

I also like Buttons prespective but do believe there are enough questions around Makar that I cannot choose him over say Liljegren.  Liljegren also has questions, whether his decline is due solely Mono vs stalled development.  

 

 

[Qwags]

This draft, in terms of set rankings, is a mess. Has there ever been a draft with as much inconsistency in the rankings before?

Edited June 9, 2017 by Qwags

[Honky Cat]

On 6/8/2017 at 9:53 AM, R3aL said:

To be honest I was one of the biggest Button haters for years. Thought he was big clown/moron/doofus you name it haha.

 

But over the past 2 years or so he has really grown as a scout and I think he really does put the work into watching and evaluating players and has been doing a fairly good job at it.

 

His rankings are one of the better ones out there for public access and I value his opinion now.

Agreed...I thought the same thing...After hearing him on 1040,I definitely appreciate him a lot more...He sounds like a bit of a blowhard,but when he makes a general statement about a player (positive or negative)..he always takes the time and explains why.

[Alflives]

1 hour ago, Canada Hockey Place said:

IMO this draft looks similar to 2010. Strong top 2 consensus but hard to gauge the rest.

 

Here's how 2010 went down. 

 

1. Taylor Hall 
2. Tyler Seguin 
3. Erik Gudbranson  
4. Ryan Johansen    
5. Nino Niederreiter   
6. Brett Connolly   
7. Jeff Skinner    
8. Alexander Burmistrov    
9. Mikael Granlund   
10. Dylan McIlrath

Interestingly only Skinner and Granlund are still with the team that drafted them. 

And has any player in that top ten really won anything?  

[Honky Cat]

9 minutes ago, Qwags said:

This draft, in terms of set rankings, is a mess. Has there ever been a draft with as much inconsistency in the rankings before?

Its not really a bad thing..remember the 2014 draft..Ekblad,Reinhart,Draisaitl,Bennett,Dal Colle...They were the first tier of players,and there was a drop off after that...Selections #5,6 and 7 have yet to make any impact on the NHL....Some of the better players came after the 9th selection.

[Blömqvist]

Not sure how reputable Steve Kournianos of The Draft Analysis is, but he believes that Makar has a more of a complete game than people think. He is not only impressed with Makar's skating and offensive abilities but also his understanding of how he should defend given his sub 6-foot frame:

 

Dynamic two-way defenseman who torched Canadian Junior “A” by winning every major individual award, including top player in the AJHL and CJHL, plus MVP of the RBC Cup for a second straight year. Makar, who is committed to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, is an explosive skater with a devastating first step. He commands all areas of the ice with or without the puck, and there is a noticeable fear in the way opponents attempt to defend him. Makar is blessed with an acute understanding of his job in any of the three zones, and he uses a variety of methods to beat back pressure. The way he defends is textbook, especially for a player listed under six feet. While he won’t win the proverbial arm-wrestling contest against bigger forwards, he’s highly competitive and relentless in the way he uses his stick. Quite frankly, his offensive skills are so sublime, you forget how painfully sound his defensive play is, even if it wasn’t against the best of North American major junior. He is the quintessential power play quarterback that can beat you with his accurate stretch passes, end-to-end rushes or setting himself up to unleash a monstrous cannon from the point. You can run out of superlatives trying to describe his game, and one can only hope his dominating performances at high-profile events like the RBC Cup and World Junior “A” Challenge quell concerns related to the level of his competition.

 

Source: The Draft Analyst

http://www.thedraftanalyst.com/2017-nhl-draft-headquarters/2017-draft-profiles/rhd-cale-makar/

[R3aL]

1 hour ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

I also like Buttons prespective but do believe there are enough questions around Makar that I cannot choose him over say Liljegren.  Liljegren also has questions, whether his decline is due solely Mono vs stalled development.  

 

 

I cant rate any of them well because I didn't watch any of their regular season games.. 

 

Makar

Heiskanen

Liljegren

 

But I never see Timothy rated over Makar or Heiskanen by any scouts or rankings.

 

Crazy because at the beg. of year drafting Liljegren seemed like the best draft outcome for our team possible.

 

Juolevi-Liljegren top d pairing

 

That seems very distant now - also not even interviewing him says a whole lot of our scouts and managements interest in him 

Edited June 9, 2017 by R3aL

[Fanuck]

3 minutes ago, R3aL said:

I cant rate any of them well because I didn't watch any of their regular season games..

Props to you R3 for acknowledging this - too many people around here (and elsewhere for that matter) seem to think they have some sort of legitimate scouting perspective on these kids without having ever seen any of them play live in reg or playoffs.  I often ask posters if/when they saw 'prospect ___' play live to come to their opinion on the player and they generally shut up quite fast about what they 'think' they know about him.  I realize it's internet and people will express this/that but too many of them express it as fact when it's pure conjecture or hearsay. 

[ashlynnbrookefan]

41 minutes ago, Alflives said:

And has any player in that top ten really won anything?  

Seguin won a pretty valuable ring

[CanuckGAME]

6 hours ago, Creepy Crawler said:

Not sure if Canucks needs anymore softies.

Yeah you're right, the Canucks should pass up on a player who arguably has the highest ceiling in this draft in Pettersson,  we should draft someone who is "hard"  and can throw the body around.

 

Give me a break.  Bruisers and goons are a dime a dozen....

[HomeBrew]

9 minutes ago, CanuckGAME said:

Yeah you're right, the Canucks should pass up on a player who arguably has the highest ceiling in this draft in Pettersson,  we should draft someone who is "hard"  and can throw the body around.

 

Give me a break.  Bruisers and goons are a dime a dozen....

There is a difference between wanting goons and wanting a player that can stay on his feet. I don't know if anyone is really advocating for prospects that have "bruiser" or "goon" qualities to them, just NHL size. Most people don't want Rasmussen for this very reason - because his size covers a lack of true skill. I, along with other people on here, are advocating for players that can play their game without being tossed off the puck by someone who is big by NHL standards.