2021 NHL Entry Draft

[Junkyard Dog]

1 minute ago, PositionOfPower said:

For guy similar in size to Hoglander he gets knocked off the puck very easily unlike Hogz. In the NHL where space is at a premium with more physical play there is a risk to picking him.

He’s similar in height not weight. Lysell is like 20 pounds lighter. 

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

11 minutes ago, PositionOfPower said:

For guy similar in size to Hoglander he gets knocked off the puck very easily unlike Hogz. In the NHL where space is at a premium with more physical play there is a risk to picking him.

Maybe he just needs to get a little stronger. Yes, Hoglander is built like a fire hydrant, but look at Petey for example. He doesn't get knocked down as easily as he did in his rookie year because he bulked up. Who's to say Lysell couldn't do the same?

Edited June 4, 2021 by Herberts Vasiljevs

[PositionOfPower]

Just now, Isam said:

And you got to watch some full games. The devils in the details can be misleading sometimes. Take a look at mctavish

On side note one problem with Mactavish is he doesn't move his feet regardless of overall speed like Virtanen, you know what I mean like just that wrist flick when shooting but every other body part doesn't move. However he has excellent touch feel and that extra patience to score.

[Isam]

1 minute ago, PositionOfPower said:

On side note one problem with Mactavish is he doesn't move his feet regardless of overall speed like Virtanen, you know what I mean like just that wrist flick when shooting but every other body part doesn't move. However he has excellent touch feel and that extra patience to score.

Yeah. I want him at wing. I think he can develop better and get some of those traits that you mentioned. 

[PositionOfPower]

5 minutes ago, Herberts Vasiljevs said:

Maybe he just needs to get a little stronger. Yes, Hoglander is built like a fire hydrant, but look at Petey for example. He doesn't get knocked down as easily as he did in his rookie year because he bulked up. Who's to say Lysell couldn't do the same?

Johnson is 165 pounds, Lysell is shorter but weighs 172 pounds Johnson is elusive and can protect the puck doesn't get knocked off easily. Rather have him but if we can't even Sillinger, Raty, Chibrikov, even Bolduc I rather have then Lysell, just my opinion. Raty for example is very very shift laterally and quick hands has some Petey in him.

[Isam]

1 minute ago, PositionOfPower said:

Johnson is 165 pounds, Lysell is shorter but weighs 172 pounds Johnson is elusive and can protect the puck doesn't get knocked off easily. Rather have him but if we can't even Sillinger, Raty, Chibrikov, even Bolduc I rather have then Lysell, just my opinion. Raty for example is very very shift laterally and quick hands has some Petey in him.

Johnson biggest problems is footspeed and how he likes to force plays that arent there. His footspeed will improve with size, but he needs some serious coaching in taking the less high risk plays in order to be a more effective player then lysell. He is lightning when he hits though

[Nucker 67]

Got no time to wait for some scrawny kid to grow into a man. Canucks need a player with decent size, skill, speed, who can get in the lineup as soon as possible.  

[Isam]

1 minute ago, NUCKER67 said:

Got no time to wait for some scrawny kid to grow into a man. Canucks need a player with decent size, skill, speed, who can get in the lineup as soon as possible.  

Then you are in trouble in the draft. Most kids need time. But hey, who should have draft. Must have to go with roman schmidt since he is huge and that must mean he is ready to go.

[Isam]

But hey lets go big. Why not

[R.Dahlin26]

Svechkov or McTavish need to be the pick assuming Hughes/Clarke/Eklund are all gone.

 

Pettersson

Horvat

Svechkov/Mctavish

 

Svechkov and Podkolzin together on a line would be a filthy 2-way line built for the playoffs.

[theo5789]

1 hour ago, hammertime said:

I mean he also spat on a guy during a pandemic though. 

Well the poster wanted a comparable to Tkachuk, so that seems to fit the bill!

[HighOnHockey]

3 hours ago, Isam said:

Ugh. Watch scouching on lysell. Lulea was a $&!#show and frolunda while being good at finding talent kind of likes burying their young guns

I do not follow this argument. Lulea finished 5th in SHL standings? And if they were that bad, shouldn't he have had easier time getting minutes?

 

I think you both have points. Yes, weight can be corrected, but only to an extent when you're 5'10 and it depends on genetic factors. But POP's point about him getting knocked off the puck compared to Johnson was quite silly. Big difference between NCAA and SHL.

 

I guess here would be a good time to write about my take on Lysell for a minute. Given the size, skill level, and development paths, I have to make the comparison to Lucas Raymond last year - we knew from Hlinkas and U18s his D-1 year that he was phenomenally talented, but we also had a good idea what a good pro he would be. When he came up to SHL, he quickly proved that point. Some of the best intangibles in that draft - work ethic, compete, responsible with the puck, uses his teammates, defensive IQ, active and deceptive stick, etc. Similarly to Lysell, it was next to impossible for him to be much of an offensive contributor: as guys who like to challenge defenders and attack the inside, they were both easily removed from the puck by adult pro athletes. But because of Raymond's intangibles, he was able to be a key contributor to the 4th line. But he wasn't scoring so many fans and media had plummeting down their draft boards. WJC improved his stock, and afterwards he returned to Frolunda with renewed confidence and started trying to make plays and create offense, and had some success, but also had some bad giveaways and ended up benched a couple times. Even with his elite skill and hockey IQ, the whole season was a struggle to find that balance between being a solid pro and team player on one hand, and being an offensive difference-maker on the other. This season he made major strides in that regard.

 

Lysell's skill level is similar to Raymonds. Different styles and skillsets, but talent level is in the same ballpark. I love Lysell's compete and intensity, but he isn't nearly on Raymond's level as far as those other intangibles that suggest pro-translatability. That said, I love the dedication, as it was clear to me that he's making a concerted effort to learn how to be a pro. But considering how tough it was for Raymond to learn to find that balance, it is that much steeper of a hill to climb for Lysell, who first has to learn to play a team concept and, as John Tortorella likes to put it "respect the league." Not that I don't think he'll get there, but it's just more of a risk and will take him a little longer.

Edited June 4, 2021 by HighOnHockey

[HighOnHockey]

20 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

Alright, it's gonna take me at least a few days (weeks?) to get through my full mock draft, so I'll just post about 5 picks at a time. Once the whole thing is done I may go through and make tweaks, particularly if anyone has helpful comments or critiques, or if Bob McKenzie's final list makes me seriously reconsider what the experts might be thinking.

 

1. Buffalo Sabres - Owen Power. It seems to be fairly consensus from the experts, so regardless of the intricacies of Buffalo's particular scouting staff, I'm guessing it wouldn't have mattered too much who was going to pick first, Power would probably be the pick. Newly promoted DAS (head scout) Jerry Forton was previously their director of collegiate scouting, so it makes sense there too. My only hesitation is that the new ADAS Jason Nightingale is also their director of analytics. I have no idea what the analytics people are saying about Power, but perhaps if analytics don't look favorably upon him, Nightingale could push them to rethink. If anybody follows analytics closely and has any info here, please let me know.

 

2. Seattle Kraken - William Eklund. What an all-star lineup of scouts. Wow. Seems like most of their scouting staff is composed of former head scouts. But the group is headed up by Robert Kron, recently Carolina's director of European scouting. They also snatched up Carolina's longtime DAS Tony MacDonald, who I'm assuming will get a title something like "director of North American scouting". If you look at Carolina's draft just last year, there was absolutely no hesitation to pick small, ultra-skilled forwards, particularly out of Europe and even in the top 10 - Seth Jarvis 9th overall, 5'10. Zion Nybeck 115th, 5'8. Alexander Pashin 199th, 5'7.

 

3. Anaheim Ducks - Brandt Clarke. We know Bob Murray and Martin Madden (former DAS and current AGM) have heavily favored the CHL in the first round since Madden has been there, with a couple first rounders from Sweden mixed in. They did go off script in 2019 picking Trevor Zegras from NTDP, which I'm assuming new head scout Bruce Franklin had a hand in. This one is tough. Hughes, Beniers, Edvinsson could all be in play, plus any of the CHLers (although they mostly didn't really play in the CHL this year). I ended up just having to pretty much guess, but based on their last couple highly successful picks, Zegras and Drysdale, it seems they're putting a premium on offensive skill and elite hockey IQ.

 

4. New Jersey -  Simon Edvinsson. Under DAS Paul Castron and director of European scouting Greg Royce, it seems very likely they'll pick either from Europe or CHL. I've made it no secret I'm not a big fan of the player, but the experts seem to really like him, and under Greg Royce last year they took two players out of Europe in the first round with question marks around decision-making, in Mukhamadullin and Holtz. I was super high on Mukhamadullin, but I know the concerns were there for many. This year I'm one of the ones with concerns on Edvinsson and some really love him. Time will tell, but we know NHL scouts will always lean toward the giant defenseman oozing natural ability - gotta trust that your coaching and development staff can mold him, right?

 

5. Columbus - Mason McTavish. How do you make a prediction when the prediction is "they will go off the board"? Kekalainen is the king of new age; doesn't seem interested in traditional hockey knowledge. Yet with their DAS Ville Siren based in Finland, and their head European scout Josef Boumedienne based in Sweden, as tempting as it is to have them pick out of Europe, they do also have a pretty solid history in N.A., and AGM Basil McRae is also involved in amateur scouting and is based out of Ontario. Unless they're gonna take Wallstedt here (which is very possible), the next few BPAs are all N.A. I just can't get out my mind that the last time they picked this high, they went with the fast-rising, big center in Dubois. Plus, I'm sure they had scouts on him in Olten like nobody else.

Continuing on with my mock draft:

 

6. Detroit - Matthew Beniers. Very tempting to think Hakan Andersson exorcises his demons of picking Thomas McCollum over Jakob Markstrom years ago and picks the Swedish goalie stud. And Yzerman certainly relied heavily on Andersson his first couple years there while he was constructing his own staff. But Ryan Rezmierski and Jesse Wallin are Yzerman's own guys that he brought in, and I expect he's going to want to start leaning on them more. Rezmierski is a former longtime DPP for the USNTDP, and a former coach with MU, so the connections to Beniers are overwhelming. Plus there's just no way Beniers falls any further than this.

 

7. San Jose - Dylan Guenther - Doug Wilson is practically impossible to predict. Very hard to find any discernible pattern to his drafting. One of the things that makes him great - he picks and has success from everywhere. They are in major need of goaltenders in the pipeline, but since Wilson was DPP of the Sharks in '98 they've never picked a goalie higher than 3rd round, so I just can't see it. Guenther and Hughes seem to be the BPA here, and either would make sense, but looking back at the few times Wilson and his team have had top ten picks, they predominately go CHL.

 

8. L.A. Kings - Luke Hughes. Rob Blake and his staff, led by DAS Mark Yanetti and DES Christain Ruuttu, generally lean towards CHL with early picks, but looks like I have the top CHLers off the board already. They've also shown some affinity for Sweden and NTDP early, so Lysell or Hughes would be options. Just can't imagine Hughes falling any further than this.

 

9. Vancouver - Kent Johnson. Benning's two top guys, Thomas Gradin and Ron Delorme, love to draft from Sweden and USHL/NCAA in the early rounds, and interestingly enough, Lysell, Wallstedt and Johnson are the top players left on the board. Maybe even Lucius? I'd be surprised if they took the goalie. Johnson seems to be the consensus BPA here, according to the experts (Bob's list and Central Scouting are the only ones I take seriously as a representation of what NHL teams might be thinking).

 

10. Ottawa Senators - Cole Sillinger. Trent Mann and Mikko Ruutu are the DAS and DES, but there's not really any Finns or QMJHLers within reach here. GM Pierre Dorion has leaned heavily on Bob Janecyk (USHL/NCAA) with their early picks throughout his tenure at the helm. Bobby Strumm (WHL) also seems to be rising up the chain of command. Cole Sillinger played WHL last season and USHL this year, so he falls in both their wheelhouses.

Edited June 4, 2021 by HighOnHockey

[warrchief]

2 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

Got no time to wait for some scrawny kid to grow into a man. Canucks need a player with decent size, skill, speed, who can get in the lineup as soon as possible.  

We needed to win the draft for that to be a reality. A lot of the kids in this drafts are a year or two away.

[PositionOfPower]

3 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

Got no time to wait for some scrawny kid to grow into a man. Canucks need a player with decent size, skill, speed, who can get in the lineup as soon as possible.  

Guess you have no time for Petey but got time for Virt.

[PositionOfPower]

55 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

Continuing on with my mock draft:

 

6. Detroit - Matthew Beniers. Very tempting to think Hakan Andersson exorcises his demons of picking Thomas McCollum over Jakob Markstrom years ago and picks the Swedish goalie stud. And Yzerman certainly relied heavily on Andersson his first couple years there while he was constructing his own staff. But Ryan Rezmierski and Jesse Wallin are Yzerman's own guys that he brought in, and I expect he's going to want to start leaning on them more. Rezmierski is a former longtime DPP for the USNTDP, and a former coach with MU, so the connections to Beniers are overwhelming. Plus there's just no way Beniers falls any further than this.

 

7. San Jose - Dylan Guenther - Doug Wilson is practically impossible to predict. Very hard to find any discernible pattern to his drafting. One of the things that makes him great - he picks and has success from everywhere. They are in major need of goaltenders in the pipeline, but since Wilson was DPP of the Sharks in '98 they've never picked a goalie higher than 3rd round, so I just can't see it. Guenther and Hughes seem to be the BPA here, and either would make sense, but looking back at the few times Wilson and his team have had top ten picks, they predominately go CHL.

 

8. L.A. Kings - Luke Hughes. Rob Blake and his staff, led by DAS Mark Yanetti and DES Christain Ruuttu, generally lean towards CHL with early picks, but looks like I have the top CHLers off the board already. They've also shown some affinity for Sweden and NTDP early, so Lysell or Hughes would be options. Just can't imagine Hughes falling any further than this.

 

9. Vancouver - Kent Johnson. Benning's two top guys, Thomas Gradin and Ron Delorme, love to draft from Sweden and USHL/NCAA in the early rounds, and interestingly enough, Lysell, Wallstedt and Johnson are the top players left on the board. Maybe even Lucius? I'd be surprised if they took the goalie. Johnson seems to be the consensus BPA here, according to the experts (Bob's list and Central Scouting are the only ones I take seriously as a representation of what NHL teams might be thinking).

 

10. Ottawa Senators - Cole Sillinger. Trent Mann and Mikko Ruutu are the DAS and DES, but there's not really any Finns or QMJHLers within reach here. GM Pierre Dorion has leaned heavily on Bob Janecyk (USHL/NCAA) with their early picks throughout his tenure at the helm. Bobby Strumm (WHL) also seems to be rising up the chain of command. Cole Sillinger played WHL last season and USHL this year, so he falls in both their wheelhouses.

Wings analysts fans can agree they say they need D so high chance it's gonna be a dman. Beniers is gone before 6.

[HighOnHockey]

11 minutes ago, PositionOfPower said:

Wings analysts fans can agree they say they need D so high chance it's gonna be a dman. Beniers is gone before 6.

I know I said I would appreciate comments and criticisms, but please do better than that if you're going to.

Edited June 4, 2021 by HighOnHockey

[DeNiro]

Who are the top 3 skaters among forwards in terms of speed?

 

Seems to me our team desperately needs more speed up front.

 

Is Lysell the fastest skater?

[PositionOfPower]

44 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

I know I said I would appreciate comments and criticisms, but please do better than that if you're going to.

It aint a criticism take it as a comment from info I heard from the wings community etc. With my opinion on Beniers in it since he will be picked before 6th which I think is the probability.

[HighOnHockey]

15 minutes ago, PositionOfPower said:

It aint a criticism take it as a comment from info I heard from the wings community etc. With my opinion on Beniers in it since he will be picked before 6th which I think is the probability.

It is my opinion that Beniers should be gone before 6th too. I ranked him 4th. This is a mock draft, not a ranking - our own opinions, internet community opinions, and teams' positional needs have nothing to do with it. It is based on what I speculate NHL teams are thinking. Going into starting this list I never expected to have Beniers fall to 6th, but it's where my research led me. Obviously it's just for fun and shouldn't be taken too seriously, but I do make it a point to try every year to break my own record for how many picks I can correctly predict in the first round (currently 8). So of course you're free to comment however you want, but it would be nice if comments were somehow helpful. Anything about teams' positional needs is not helpful.

Edited June 4, 2021 by HighOnHockey