2022 NHL Entry Draft

[HighOnHockey]

10 hours ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

So does anyone think we should take Miroshnichenko instead of Wright ?

 

 

I seem to have been just about the biggest Miroshnichenko fan on the internet for quite a while now, but even I don't think he should go ahead of Shane Wright.

[HighOnHockey]

21 hours ago, hammertime said:

Rutger McGroarty C- I think he will be a big riser this year NHL GM's will salivate over his bullish play. By no means a speedster but he's an absolute freight train when he gets going. Can make plays in tight.

 

Interesting you have McGroarty as rising. For me he's been ever so gradually falling. I had him top 5 a couple years ago, but as he moved up to higher levels he seemed to have some trouble adapting quickly. Still in my top 15 for now but a lot of guys are pushing. He looked excellent at the recent 5 Nations though, so maybe he'll work his way back into my top 10.

[HighOnHockey]

On 11/22/2021 at 8:04 PM, J.I.A.H.N said:

Well, since I declared I have lost my mind..

 

"IF" we are trading players, and Boeser and Miller are on the block

 

Lets get some picks, and prospects

 

It would be Minus 11 or 12 million off of next years Cap, and as long as Benning is not allowed to touch it, we can pick up a few cap casualties 

 

But going into this draft with 3 -1st plus would be incredible

 

Canucks would be a top 5..........................Nemec or Juricek............both RHD and big, they both are sitting in the 5 to 7 range, so that is promising

 

then there are great prospects throughout the entire 1st and into the 2nd

 

Who are you watching  @HighOnHockey ?

 

Just for $hit and giggles............say we have 3 picks in the first.......and they are

 

2022-1st (5th OA)

2022-1st (16th OA)

2022-1st (22nd OA)

 

Who interests you with these picks?

Oh I missed this one until I saw Hammertime's reply. I guess I'll play:

 

5th - Danila Yurov - Simply one of my favourite players in the draft. Anyone who has followed my posts knows I love players like this - mature, responsible, pro-style players (Raymond, Sanderson, Eklund, Svechkov, Sillinger). Players that have skills but don't have these other attributes can always learn them later, but maybe they will, maybe they won't. Hockey is a game when you're a kid; 82 games is a goddamn long schedule, plus travel, practices and playoffs, and to show up ready to put in work and play and practice the right way every single day, a lot of players are just never going to be able to do it, so when you already have a kid with that kind of character, plus some skills to go along, that's an easy pick in my books.

 

16th - Tristan Luneau - Another one of my personal favorites. Nothing too flashy, but skating, hockey sense and decent size are three of the most important attributes to look for in defensemen, and he checks all the boxes. I still think he'll probably go a little earlier than this, but seems to be about where the rankings have him for now.

 

22nd - These later picks are hard to predict so early in the season because usually whenever there's a player I really like and think is going to be a hidden gem, other people end up seeing it too and they move up the charts. Or else occasionally I end up being dead wrong and the player falls off a cliff (Antonio Stranges, Daniil Lazutin). Here I'll hedge my bets with 3 players: Frank Nazar, Alexander Perevalov, Jonathan Lekkerimaki. Personally I believe Nazar is easily a top 10 talent and I'd be ecstatic if we got him at 22, but for whatever reason he seems to be mostly ranked in the back half of the first round. Mind-boggling to me. Lekkerimaki is one of those guys I mentioned that I thought might be a gem, but is finding his way up people's lists. Kid's quickness is off the charts, he just darts around the offensive zone like a pinball; opposing defenders will leave the ice swearing there was three of him. Perevalov is just a good all-round forward; decent size, highly skilled but also has some work ethic and takes care of the defensive zone.

[MaxVerstappen33]

51 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

I seem to have been just about the biggest Miroshnichenko fan on the internet for quite a while now, but even I don't think he should go ahead of Shane Wright.

Ok. Just checking. 

[hammertime]

2 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

Interesting you have McGroarty as rising. For me he's been ever so gradually falling. I had him top 5 a couple years ago, but as he moved up to higher levels he seemed to have some trouble adapting quickly. Still in my top 15 for now but a lot of guys are pushing. He looked excellent at the recent 5 Nations though, so maybe he'll work his way back into my top 10.

Just a prediction not really based on anything other than his play style. He just put up 8 points in 4 games at the u18 tournie in Switzerland. I think he will follow it up with a dominant WJC u18 where he should be able to flaunt his skill set and plow his way around the ice unfettered. We saw what the u18 did for Mctavish's draft stock. 

 

of course its just pure speculation at this point. 

 

 

 

But I think if were looking at NHL transferrable skills, abilities, attributes. There is a lot to like about Rutger.   

[HighOnHockey]

8 minutes ago, hammertime said:

Just a prediction not really based on anything other than his play style. He just put up 8 points in 4 games at the u18 tournie in Switzerland. I think he will follow it up with a dominant WJC u18 where he should be able to flaunt his skill set and plow his way around the ice unfettered. We saw what the u18 did for Mctavish's draft stock. 

 

of course its just pure speculation at this point. 

 

 

 

But I think if were looking at NHL transferrable skills, abilities, attributes. There is a lot to like about Rutger.   

 

Yes, that would be the 5 Nations I mentioned. And this is the thing, he always looks great among his own age group, once he's in his comfort zone. You always like to see when kids can make the jump to new levels seamlessly, but it is very rare to see, and seems to tie in to hockey sense more than anything. Of course it's not a binary and there are levels to it. I'm not saying McGroarty is a slow learner, but he's not a William Eklund, for instance.

 

There are some similarities between McTavish and McGroarty for sure. But whereas McTavish was something of a mystery to me by this time last year, I've seen quite a lot of McGroarty already. Both excel in tight spaces down low. McTavish is a better playmaker, McGroarty has better puck skills. The biggest difference in terms of draft stock may be the quality of draft classes. McGroarty would have been among the top 7 or 8 in last year's draft. I seriously doubt McTavish would have gone top 5 in this year's draft.

[hammertime]

4 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

Yes, that would be the 5 Nations I mentioned. And this is the thing, he always looks great among his own age group, once he's in his comfort zone. You always like to see when kids can make the jump to new levels seamlessly, but it is very rare to see, and seems to tie in to hockey sense more than anything. Of course it's not a binary and there are levels to it. I'm not saying McGroarty is a slow learner, but he's not a William Eklund, for instance.

 

There are some similarities between McTavish and McGroarty for sure. But whereas McTavish was something of a mystery to me by this time last year, I've seen quite a lot of McGroarty already. Both excel in tight spaces down low. McTavish is a better playmaker, McGroarty has better puck skills. The biggest difference in terms of draft stock may be the quality of draft classes. McGroarty would have been among the top 7 or 8 in last year's draft. I seriously doubt McTavish would have gone top 5 in this year's draft.

That's a very good point. It's all pretty early at this point. I don't necessarily see him as a guy who processes the game slowly though.  To be fair I haven't really seen enough of him at this point to be convinced one way or another. Just that I have identified him as a player I'm going to keep my eye on this year.  

[hammertime]

This kid's an absolute unit who skates really well for 6'7 watch the 2nd goal. 

 

May want to mute the sound on this. 

 

 

Does he creep up into the 1st round. 6'7 235 currently 6g 6a in 16 MHL games. and skates like waaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!????????

 

 

[hammertime]

Something to keep an eye on. keep in mind this is a kid mostly known for his defensive game.....Until this year.

 

Artyom Duda putting up 10 goals and 29 points in 32 games so far as a 17 year old in the MHL is not really a common thing let alone for a defenseman.  He looks good quarter backing their PP too.

 

 

 

 

[MaxVerstappen33]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:13 AM, HighOnHockey said:

I seem to have been just about the biggest Miroshnichenko fan on the internet for quite a while now, but even I don't think he should go ahead of Shane Wright.

Wright is actually struggling lately. This will make it interesting if he doesnt pick it up 

[HighOnHockey]

6 hours ago, hammertime said:

Something to keep an eye on. keep in mind this is a kid mostly known for his defensive game.....Until this year.

 

Artyom Duda putting up 10 goals and 29 points in 32 games so far as a 17 year old in the MHL is not really a common thing let alone for a defenseman.  He looks good quarter backing their PP too.

 

 

 

 

Yeah I've always been a fan of Duda. He was the go-to guy on the powerplay point with Miro-Michkov at YOGs (not that he had to do much) and played under-aged at U18s last year where he didn't look at all out of place.

 

I've been noticing a few young players putting up some ridiculous numbers in MHL this year. VHL just dropped 6 or 7 teams recently, leaving a bunch of 19 and 20 year olds stuck in MHL who would have otherwise been turning pro, which in theory should significantly improve the overall quality of the MHL, and you would expect to make things harder for 17 year olds. So I think what is actually going on is, you're getting a handful of young players like Duda, Perevalov, Kuzmin, Buchelnikov, Grudinin, maybe even Gulyayev and Kvochko, who should have been in VHL by now when it was a talent-thinned 34 team league, but are now stuck in MHL due to a talent-condensed 27 team VHL.

 

I've said a couple times now I think this is the best Russian class since at least 2010. It's one of their best I've ever seen. And this is becoming more and more clear as the season moves along. There are almost certain to be two Russians picked in the top ten (Miro and Yurov) and another handful who could or should be first rounders (Duda, Koromyslov, Perevalov, Trikozov, Kvochko) and then a few more who should be in the mix to go in the first few rounds (Gazizov, Rogovsky, Sinyatkin, Dolzhenkov, Grudinin, Mintyukov).

[HighOnHockey]

29 minutes ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

Wright is actually struggling lately. This will make it interesting if he doesnt pick it up 

 

He's picked up a little bit after a very slow start, and had three points last night so maybe he's getting ready to bust out. But yeah you're right - he's been the unanimous, uncontested favorite for a very long time so he gets, and deserves, a lot of leeway, but sooner or later if he doesn't get going things are going to open up.

[MaxVerstappen33]

Some commentray from HF on Wright. It sure makes the draft more interesting when the surefire #1 starts stalling out. If we get #1 OA, I am not sold on Wright. Not at all. He sounds like a hyped "2 way" player like Bergeron or Horvat. Skating is average. Offensive upside is questionable. Everyone needs players like Horvat. But they shouldn't be drafted so high. To be in the top 3 of the draft, you have to ooze skill or skating or something. When you draft #1 OA, you want a rare player. Not an average one.

 

-Another miserable showing from Wright. No way he goes 1st OV if he keeps playing that bad. Im not even sure he cracks TCJ, he is showing no improvement at all.

 

-It just gets more disappointing each game clicking on this thread. After that invincible U-18, expected extreme dominance this season. But that player must've been an aberration to his current version. Does he even make the World Junior team?

 

-Wright playing like doodoo so that bad teams won't draft him so high up? Genius.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by MaxVerstappen33

[hammertime]

5 minutes ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

Some commentray from HF on Wright. It sure makes the draft more interesting when the surefire #1 starts stalling out.

 

-Another miserable showing from Wright. No way he goes 1st OV if he keeps playing that bad. Im not even sure he cracks TCJ, he is showing no improvement at all.

 

-It just gets more disappointing each game clicking on this thread. After that invincible U-18, expected extreme dominance this season. But that player must've been an aberration to his current version. Does he even make the World Junior team?

 

-Wright playing like doodoo so that bad teams won't draft him so high up? Genius.

 

 

Pretty sure no player plays to be drafted lower ever. But ya when you're comparing stat sheets.

 

Wright 9g 13a 22pts in 18 games. In the OHL 

VS 

Kemell 12g 6a  18 points in 16 games playing against men in the top Finnish league. 

 

That top spot won't be safe long if Kemell maintains anywhere near this pace. 

 

 

 

[MaxVerstappen33]

Craig Button has

Ivan Miroshnichenko (LW) at #8. Bob Mckenzie has him at #2 ! This is gonna be a difficult draft to get right if you are picking in top 10

[hammertime]

1 hour ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

Craig Button has

Ivan Miroshnichenko (LW) at #8. Bob Mckenzie has him at #2 ! This is gonna be a difficult draft to get right if you are picking in top 10

It's a tight race for 1st right now between.

Wright

Kemell

 

I think its wide open for that 3 spot between

Miroshnichenko

Savoie

Nemec

Slafkovsky 

Cooley

 

I'm coming around on Cooley I think he will struggle to do the things he does at the NHL level. But I underestimated Zegras for this same reason and he looks pretty good.  

Edited November 28, 2021 by hammertime

[HighOnHockey]

1 hour ago, hammertime said:

Pretty sure no player plays to be drafted lower ever. But ya when you're comparing stat sheets.

 

Wright 9g 13a 22pts in 18 games. In the OHL 

VS 

Kemell 12g 6a  18 points in 16 games playing against men in the top Finnish league. 

 

That top spot won't be safe long if Kemell maintains anywhere near this pace. 

 

I do not see Kemell as the primary threat for first overall at this point. His numbers look pretty special right now, yes, but in such a small sample size it would only take a few games to bring him back down to earth. Mikael Granlund put up 0.93 p/g at 5'9/5'10 and went 9th overall. Barkov put up .91 p/g at 6'2 and went 2nd overall. If Wright was performing as expected and as he's shown he could at U18s, it wouldn't really matter what Kemell or anyone else was doing - nobody in this draft class could touch him. As things stand currently, I still see Miroshnichenko as the primary threat to Wright. But Savoie and Cooley have been on fire lately.

 

As I talked about recently, I'm still putting more emphasis in player's total bodies of work, not just a 16 or 22 game sample set from this season. Prior to this season, I didn't consider Kemell as a serious challenger for the top 5, and saw him as a fringe top 10 option. Of course, players have different development paths and some don't start to come into their own until 17 (or much later), so "what have you done for me lately" is a crucial aspect of scouting, but the sample size is still just too small at this point. World Juniors will be another crucial data set, and after that the picture slowly starts to crystallize.

 

Sometime over the next couple weeks (hopefully before WJCs) I plan to do some in-depth video scouting on a few players in consideration for top 5 spots - primarily Nemec, Slafkovsky and Kemell. Based on that and then World Juniors, my post WJC list should start to look a lot closer to what my final list will look like.

[Sp3nny]

I've been loving Miroschnichenko for quite a while now (going back to early last yr in my viewings of him). I would be ecstatic to get him. I see alot of Kovlachuk in his game; very explosive style of skating, and an absolute laser of a shot that he loves to use. Sort of the new age powerforward. Wright is awesome, but I have them neck and neck right now.

[hammertime]

36 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

I do not see Kemell as the primary threat for first overall at this point.

If GM's were putting stock in past seasons Aatu Raty wouldn't have been drafted 52OA. I don't think you're wrong that Kemell's currently over hyped but the hype train has left the station. If he continues to put up PTPG numbers and Wright continues to struggle I don't think Wright is untouchable. 

 

I am a bigger fan of Miro than I am of Kemell I've also been paying attention to him longer. But I would be shocked if Miroschnichenko went top 3. The last player to be drafted top 3 out of Russia was Alex Ovechkin let that marinate. Both Svechnikov and Yakupov were drafted out of the CHL Sarnia and I think the Colts.... 

 

 

[HighOnHockey]

6 hours ago, hammertime said:

If GM's were putting stock in past seasons Aatu Raty wouldn't have been drafted 52OA. I don't think you're wrong that Kemell's currently over hyped but the hype train has left the station. If he continues to put up PTPG numbers and Wright continues to struggle I don't think Wright is untouchable. 

 

I am a bigger fan of Miro than I am of Kemell I've also been paying attention to him longer. But I would be shocked if Miroschnichenko went top 3. The last player to be drafted top 3 out of Russia was Alex Ovechkin let that marinate. Both Svechnikov and Yakupov were drafted out of the CHL Sarnia and I think the Colts.... 

 

 

Not sure where you think I said he's over-hyped. The only place I've read this level of hype about him is from you. I've talked about the Raty situation before. A year before the draft, it was only a certain select few media personnel who were espousing this idea that Raty was first overall. Word I was hearing (2nd hand) from real scouts was that people were going to be shocked at how far he would fall. Scouts don't have such short memories as media and fans do. The regional scouts are watching these players from a very young age and have a pretty good idea of how good players are long before the draft. The drastic changes in lists over the course of the draft season are as much or more about information being leaked than about NHL scouts actually changing their minds.

Edited November 29, 2021 by HighOnHockey