2021 NHL Entry Draft

[DeNiro]

15 minutes ago, KariyaSakicAnderson said:

Probably doing their due diligence on which player they would take with there possible 2nd top 10 pick. With all the rumours of Eichel and Reinhart being traded and Buffalo hoping to have one if not both done prior to draft. Come to think of it maybe they are close to finalizing a deal. Would be fun if it's Eichel to Anaheim with the 3oa as part of the package. 1oa Powers, 3oa Eklund

Would love to see Anaheim trade the 3rd and Zegras.

 

Would be such a bad move for them.

[KariyaSakicAnderson]

With all the talk about 1st round pick what about the 2nd and 3rd round picks or what I'm really excited about are the two 5th round picks Canucks seem to have good luck drafting players in the 5th round. 

Could one of Svechkov, Rosen or Olausson drop to 41? Doubt it but never know there usually is a player or 2 that everyone thinks will be a first pick that drop to the 2nd round. I think Zach Dean will be there he'd be a great C pick up. Scott Morrow? Don't know much about him. Maybe add another Schmidt to the D? Big C like Helenius or Why not on D Whynot?  I think that could get confusing so maybe not. In a selfish world for me it be 9oa Clarke, 41oa Dean, 73oa Heimosalmi/Stromgren. 

[KariyaSakicAnderson]

2 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

Would love to see Anaheim trade the 3rd and Zegras.

 

Would be such a bad move for them.

I'd love that lol, it be so much better for us Canucks fans. I'd hate having to see us face Zegras and Eklund every year 5 times then playoffs. To much work 

[HighOnHockey]

1 hour ago, DeNiro said:

Probably doesn’t mean much.

 

Its a forgone conclusion they’re gonna take one of those two. Likely just doing their due diligence on their third ranked player.

I get why you would assume Power is their top ranked guy, but why Beniers 2nd? Just personal opinion? Or are you going off internet/media scouts? Cusmost credible rankings, McKenzie, Button and NHLCS have Beniers ranked 4th, 5th and 6th (N.A.) respectively.

 

Say what you will about Button, I'm not a big fan personally, but he was an actual GM and scouting director in the NHL.

 

Also worth noting that Buffalo's recently promoted assistant director of amateur scouting was promoted to that position from director of analytics. And guess who is the darling of the analytics community in this year's draft? William Eklund.

 

Edit: I have a feeling this will end up turning into a whole thing about Button. I should have said the two most credible sources, plus another pretty credible source.

Edited July 3, 2021 by HighOnHockey

[R3aL]

34 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

I get why you would assume Power is their top ranked guy, but why Beniers 2nd? Just personal opinion? Or are you going off internet/media scouts? Cusmost credible rankings, McKenzie, Button and NHLCS have Beniers ranked 4th, 5th and 6th (N.A.) respectively.

 

Say what you will about Button, I'm not a big fan personally, but he was an actual GM and scouting director in the NHL.

 

Also worth noting that Buffalo's recently promoted assistant director of amateur scouting was promoted to that position from director of analytics. And guess who is the darling of the analytics community in this year's draft? William Eklund.

 

Edit: I have a feeling this will end up turning into a whole thing about Button. I should have said the two most credible sources, plus another pretty credible source.

What do you think the odds are that Eklund goes 1st overall?

 

[HighOnHockey]

1 hour ago, R3aL said:

What do you think the odds are that Eklund goes 1st overall?

 

Well, I said for some time before the lottery that if a team with a heavy European scouting presence (particularly CBJ or DET) won the lottery, there would be a pretty good chance of Eklund going first. Buffalo is much less likely (I'd give it less than 25%), but I'm curious what the analytics say about Power, because as the number two guy, if Nightingale has reservations, they would have to at least seriously consider other options. And yes, in my opinion if the unlikely happened and Power were to slip, Eklund would be the most realistic option to go first overall. If he hadn't missed U18s and U20s I believe he would be the consensus number two by now.

[Bertuzzipunch]

I 

[appleboy]

What if the best player available is a goal tender?

The two big goal tenders at the top of the list are considered number one caliber.

 

If I was the Kraken I would draft the Swedish kid at number two. The best way to start building a team is in the net.

[UKNuck96]

31 minutes ago, appleboy said:

What if the best player available is a goal tender?

The two big goal tenders at the top of the list are considered number one caliber.

 

If I was the Kraken I would draft the Swedish kid at number two. The best way to start building a team is in the net.

It’s a possibility, if they select a stud goalie it means at the entry draft they could pick one to hold the fort until the youth comes in.

 

From what I have seen about Seattle and the staff they have put together I have a feeling they will be picking youth from team or if there is no decent youth looking at other teams needs and making some deals to draft from one team to flip to another for some more youth assets, 

 

having an okay team now and then a youth wave coming through with a stud goalie may give them a very long window to operate in,

[FaninMex]

14 hours ago, theo5789 said:

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this thread already, but could potentially increase the likelihood of Wallstedt going to Detroit if available still.

 

 

Do they have anything that we want? We have Dipietro and Silvos

[appleboy]

There is two goal tenders that could go high. 

You can't win anything without goal tending. 

 

Look how far Price took the Habs and bubble Demko made our squad look ten times better than they were.

I wouldn't blame Jim for taking one at ninth .

You can trade an elite goal tender.

Edited July 3, 2021 by appleboy

[Gawdzukes]

12 hours ago, Alflives said:

If Luke is there at nine Benning will run (okay waddle) to the stage to pick him.  Quinn and Luke are both great young players.  Love to have them both.  After watch Caufield get exposed for his poor skating and tiny size by TBay, I think I’m off if Eklund.  

If Luke is there I'm driving Jim to the podium in a Bugatti. I think Luke is going to be better than Quinn. He can impact the game the same way offensively but he's a full grown man who can play both ends and skates beautifully.

 

And yeah, I got 3 Bugatti's. I'll take the old one in case it gets scratched.

[Gawdzukes]

11 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

I get why you would assume Power is their top ranked guy, but why Beniers 2nd? Just personal opinion? Or are you going off internet/media scouts? Cusmost credible rankings, McKenzie, Button and NHLCS have Beniers ranked 4th, 5th and 6th (N.A.) respectively.

 

Say what you will about Button, I'm not a big fan personally, but he was an actual GM and scouting director in the NHL.

 

Also worth noting that Buffalo's recently promoted assistant director of amateur scouting was promoted to that position from director of analytics. And guess who is the darling of the analytics community in this year's draft? William Eklund.

 

Edit: I have a feeling this will end up turning into a whole thing about Button. I should have said the two most credible sources, plus another pretty credible source.

Well, Button isn't a GM anymore for a reason but he knows his stuff. Just because you believe in analytics doesn't mean you just go draft a guy with a high fensi or corsi, or horki, . I think it would be quite weird to draft a winger in their situation when you have the high caliber Center right there. Unless they're keeping Eichel maybe that's incentive for him if they draft Eklund to ride shotgun. Otherwise Franchise D and Center are far more important than a winger, especially on a weaker team.

 

11 hours ago, R3aL said:

What do you think the odds are that Eklund goes 1st overall?

 

<1%

[nergish]

I think we’re getting one of Clarke, Hughes, Eklund, Johnson, or McTavish. I’m happy with them, in essentially that order.

 

Otherwise, look to trade the 9th and Schmidt for a big ticket NHL defender.

[Gawdzukes]

4 hours ago, appleboy said:

There is two goal tenders that could go high. 

You can't win anything without goal tending. 

 

Look how far Price took the Habs and bubble Demko made our squad look ten times better than they were.

I wouldn't blame Jim for taking one at ninth .

You can trade an elite goal tender.

I would, you can't trade a goaltender that's going to be elite for anything worthwhile. And if he's actually elite you aren't trading him. Just the absolute worst time for us to be selecting a goalie. It's a shot in the dark for something we don't need or have no clue will pan out. Unless he feels this pool has no talent whatsoever than take a shot at a goalie. To me that's giving up. He might as well fire himself or trade the pick then.

[Dazzle]

35 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

I would, you can't trade a goaltender that's going to be elite for anything worthwhile. And if he's actually elite you aren't trading him. Just the absolute worst time for us to be selecting a goalie. It's a shot in the dark for something we don't need or have no clue will pan out. Unless he feels this pool has no talent whatsoever than take a shot at a goalie. To me that's giving up. He might as well fire himself or trade the pick then.

I disagree. Drafting a goalie will mean that we will no longer have any goalie question marks and can focus entirely on defense + forwards.

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Dazzle said:

I disagree. Drafting a goalie will mean that we will no longer have any goalie question marks and can focus entirely on defense + forwards.

I can see using our top pick to draft Walkstadt providing we have a deal in place where DiPietro is moving for a young top 

D man.  

[Sbriggs]

1 hour ago, Gawdzukes said:

I would, you can't trade a goaltender that's going to be elite for anything worthwhile. And if he's actually elite you aren't trading him. Just the absolute worst time for us to be selecting a goalie. It's a shot in the dark for something we don't need or have no clue will pan out. Unless he feels this pool has no talent whatsoever than take a shot at a goalie. To me that's giving up. He might as well fire himself or trade the pick then.

Didn't we trade Cory Schneider for 9th OA which turned into Bo? I would say thats trading a goalie who was supposed to be elite for something worthwhile.

[HighOnHockey]

50 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

Well, Button isn't a GM anymore for a reason but he knows his stuff. Just because you believe in analytics doesn't mean you just go draft a guy with a high fensi or corsi, or horki, .I think it would be quite weird to draft a winger in their situation when you have the high caliber Center right there. Unless they're keeping Eichel maybe that's incentive for him if they draft Eklund to ride shotgun. Otherwise Franchise D and Center are far more important than a winger, especially on a weaker team.

 

<1%

 

https://www.chatsports.com/calgary-flames/a/source/burke-flames-halted-trade-talks-on-ristolainen-based-on-analytics-15700885

This is just the most glaring example but we're seeing all over the NHL the past couple years how dead seriously teams are taking anaytics. There was a good article last year about how big a factor they have become in contract negotiations even.

 

I competely agree that C and D are more valuable, if all things equal. But I don't think all things are equal here, at least not regarding Eklund vs. Beniers. I completely understand where people are coming from who still have him ranked 2nd. He put himself right in the middle of the conversation with his U20s performance. , where he showed the ability to read and react in tight spaces and the dynamic skating to be a gamebreaker at the level. But when he went back to NCAA against much older players and closer scrutiny that comes with top two pick consideration, his lack of high-end technical skills have stood out. I've seen him blow a tire trying to cut back on defenders in the corner on multiple occasions, or trying to shift his feet to deke defenders one on one, and his stickhandling just isn't nearly tight enough to keep up with his ability to process the game at high speeds. He has all the hockey sense, compete, tenacity, defensive commitment, etc. to ensure that he'll be a good NHL player, but the offensive upside is a big question mark.

 

Eklund, on the other hand, is one of the best I've ever seen at this age at manipulating the corners. With his lower body strength, balance, edgework and ability to be deceptive, he is already twisting pro defenders in the SHL into pretzels on a regular basis. Such an important skill in the NHL. His creativity and deceptiveness carrying the puck into the offensive zone are also second to none in this draft. Very few weaknesses with the player, and there is some room to question his offensive upside since he isn't a guy who likes to attack the inside much, but it's not unreasonable to think he could be a regular 75 or 80 point guy with the potential for 90 or 100 points in the right situation.

[Gawdzukes]

1 hour ago, Sbriggs said:

Didn't we trade Cory Schneider for 9th OA which turned into Bo? I would say thats trading a goalie who was supposed to be elite for something worthwhile.

I stand corrected I guess although I would argue Cory was already elite and the only reason we traded him was that we had another elite goalie. Either way I'm wrong, lol.

 

If you feel that would work in this situation then I would say go ahead.  To me it seems like a complete waste of a pick to store it as a trade chip, especially in our situation. We're not exactly in the casual wait and see period.

 

To be honest, even getting a Marc Andre Fleury out of it doesn't excite me. If we do I guess we can trade him in 10 years for a ninth overall and then hopefully Bo's kid grows up and we draft him. Seems counter intuitive to me but what do I know.

 

We also have the hindsight to know that Bo is a homerun! And yes I know Gunnar will only be 12! Mid year birthday though. Kids a bust! 

 

I will also point out what we did with Schnieder is as a far away from a plan as you can get. On top of that we're talking about NJ drafting in their hometown making a splash and replacing Brodeur. This stuff doesn't happen often.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Gawdzukes