2022 NHL Entry Draft

[hammertime]

B Mac's list is out.

https://www.tsn.ca/2022-nhl-draft-shane-wright-bob-mckenzie-1.1748254

 

Few items of interest. 

Casey gets slammed again. 

Simon Forsmark in the Sarlacc pit 

Still sweet on Geekie and and Gauthier 10,11,12,13 is a lil spicy imo. 

Giving my favorite long term project Kirill Dolzhenkov some 3rd round love. Love to see it! 

Edited January 21, 2022 by hammertime

[stawns]

right now the Canucks would be sitting at #11 I think.......Lambert or Geekie maybe?

[HighOnHockey]

9 hours ago, HKSR said:

I haven't researched this year's group yet, how does the draft depth look?

 

Just on names alone and what players I've watched, is it fair to say the top half of the 1st round looks very good, then it drops off?

It looked like a very deep draft a year ago. But now suddenly a lot of folks are saying it's a bit on the weak side. I believe this has everything to do with the lost season to covid. The draft still looks great out of Europe and USA, but the Canadian group looks underwhelming, and since Canadians always make up at least a third of the draft, that brings the overall depth down substantially. The thing is, everyone seems to have forgotten that many of the Canadian players lost an entire season of development to the shutdown. A great example of what's going on is Kevin Korchinski of WHL Seattle. This is a player I've yet to see play myself, but one of my most trusted scouting sources thinks he should be close to a top ten pick. Says kid is oozing hockey sense and raw talent, but is just a little behind in his development compared to the Euros and Americans; apparently he's made massive strides in recent months.

 

Wright is another great example. With McKenzie's list just coming out and a lot of scouts questioning or at least wavering on Wright's spot at number one. He didn't play a single league game last year... For me he's still number one with a bullet.

 

Savoie made the jump to USHL last year so he's doing fine.

 

Personally, I have 4 Russians in my top 15 currently. I can't imagine that would be the case if Canadians had played last year. OHL was obviously hit the hardest, and I believe any of Pavel Mintyukov, Daniil Zhilkin, Luca Belluz and Owen Beck could still end up in consideration for the top 15-20 by the time of the draft.

Edited January 21, 2022 by HighOnHockey

[HighOnHockey]

Here's some clips on Trikozov's (#71 in red) power game:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by HighOnHockey

[HighOnHockey]

And a couple nice backchecks from Trikozov.

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by HighOnHockey

[KKnight]

I expect if we start selling players like Miller, we might see a decline. Would love an opportunity to get Juraj Slafkovsky. We need some more size in our top 9. 

[Nave]

In this early stage, I think we should target Jericek or Nemec. We need a right shot defenseman.

[hammertime]

12 hours ago, Nave said:

In this early stage, I think we should target Jericek or Nemec. We need a right shot defenseman.

if we somehow walked away from the draft with Nemec and Lamoureux that would be a huge step in the right direction.

 

If Miller/Boeser are traded with picks involved. I would also prioritize Owen Beck as an elite face-off man with 2nd/3rd line chops as well as Gaucher as probably the best defensive C with size and solid all round abilities. 

[Bure_Pavel]

13 hours ago, Nave said:

In this early stage, I think we should target Jericek or Nemec. We need a right shot defenseman.

Both are studs and most likely gone before we pick but who knows. 

[Guest]

We are probably picking 14th to 18th overall. 

[HighOnHockey]

7 hours ago, Bure_Pavel said:

Both are studs and most likely gone before we pick but who knows. 

If I had to guess at this point, I would say both go top five. Neither is overly exciting, but on one side you have guys like Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, Cooley who are ridiculously good, but all smaller guys. On the other side you have some bigger and talented forwards with various flaws and question marks - some question Miroshnichenko's hockey IQ, I have doubts about his commitment to playing a hard-nosed power game consistently at the highest level, he also falls down an awful lot for a power forward who's supposed to be sturdy on his skates; Slafkovsky is huge and has a ton of positives, but there seems to be a lot of question marks around his skating; and then with Yurov and Geekie there is room for doubt about their high-end offensive upside.

 

We know NHL GMs love big defensemen, especially right-handed shooting ones. Nemec and Jiricek both have NHL frames, highly pro-translatable games, and no glaring weaknesses. Seems like a pretty safe bet right now that both will go top five.

Edited January 28, 2022 by HighOnHockey

[Bure_Pavel]

12 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

If I had to guess at this point, I would say both go top five. Neither is overly exciting, but on one side you have guys like Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, Cooley who are ridiculously good, but all smaller guys. On the other side you have some bigger and talented forwards with various flaws and question marks - some question Miroshnichenko's hockey IQ, I have doubts about his commitment to playing a hard-nosed power game consistently at the highest level, he also falls down an awful lot for a power forward who's supposed to be sturdy on his skates; Slafkovsky is huge and has a ton of positives, but there seems to be a lot of question marks around his skating; and then with Yurov and Geekie there is room for doubt about their high-end offensive upside.

 

We know NHL GMs love big defensemen, especially right-handed shooting ones. Nemec and Jiricek both have NHL frames, highly pro-translatable games, and no glaring weaknesses. Seems like a pretty safe bet right now that both will go top five.

I think Jiricek could drop out of the top 5 only due to his recent injury, which can tend to scare some teams. I kinda like Jiricek more for the Canucks than Nemec, he is a bit more physical and people underestimate how good that Czech top league is.  

[flickyoursedin]

In the likelihood that Jiricek and Nemec are gone how are people feeling about LHD Mintyukov in the early teens? or do you reach for the next best RHD? There is also a ton of center prospects that we shouldn’t need to reach but of course you’d love for the stars to align on a RHD.
 

I’m not one for reaching I always felt like Benning did that with Juolevi over Tkachuk. Talked pre draft how our d prospect pool was very weak and it needed to be upgraded. 

[Gawdzukes]

21 hours ago, VancouverHabitant said:

We are probably picking 14th to 18th overall. 

12th right now in points percentage so good guesstimation. However Miller and/or Boeser get traded 7-12 becomes a probability.

[Googlie]

Good read on possible late-round picks .......

 

https://canucksarmy.com/2022/01/28/3-late-finnish-prospects-canucks-draftong-scouting-faber/

[flickyoursedin]

7 hours ago, Googlie said:

Good read on possible late-round picks .......

 

https://canucksarmy.com/2022/01/28/3-late-finnish-prospects-canucks-draftong-scouting-faber/

They all sound intriguing to me.

[hammertime]

Kirill Dolzhenkov from FC Hockey.

 

Dolzhenkov is a hulking power forward with a wicked shot. He is definitely one of the fastest guys that I have seen in this draft class, even at his size. He is very coordinated and under control which is very rare for players of this size at this age. He isn’t afraid to use his body to protect the puck and punish the opposing defenders. The release on his shot is lightning quick and deceiving

 

Dude is 6'7 235 and can skate really well. I'm personally incredibly hopeful he is there for our 3rd rd pick. We need this guy in our system. 

 

 

[N4ZZY]

On 1/28/2022 at 11:53 AM, flickyoursedin said:

In the likelihood that Jiricek and Nemec are gone how are people feeling about LHD Mintyukov in the early teens? or do you reach for the next best RHD? There is also a ton of center prospects that we shouldn’t need to reach but of course you’d love for the stars to align on a RHD.
 

I’m not one for reaching I always felt like Benning did that with Juolevi over Tkachuk. Talked pre draft how our d prospect pool was very weak and it needed to be upgraded. 

I say this all the time. With a 1st round pick, you always go BPA. You can always move the prospect later in a deal. But if you select for need, and that’s a player that isn’t the best at the time, you get into trouble. I guess Juolevi is the most recent example of that. 

[N4ZZY]

On 1/27/2022 at 8:46 PM, HighOnHockey said:

If I had to guess at this point, I would say both go top five. Neither is overly exciting, but on one side you have guys like Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, Cooley who are ridiculously good, but all smaller guys. On the other side you have some bigger and talented forwards with various flaws and question marks - some question Miroshnichenko's hockey IQ, I have doubts about his commitment to playing a hard-nosed power game consistently at the highest level, he also falls down an awful lot for a power forward who's supposed to be sturdy on his skates; Slafkovsky is huge and has a ton of positives, but there seems to be a lot of question marks around his skating; and then with Yurov and Geekie there is room for doubt about their high-end offensive upside.

 

We know NHL GMs love big defensemen, especially right-handed shooting ones. Nemec and Jiricek both have NHL frames, highly pro-translatable games, and no glaring weaknesses. Seems like a pretty safe bet right now that both will go top five.

I think the lessons are learned by now, that if you select a smaller player, they better have some elite level skills that they’re offering. Does Savoie, Kemell, Nazar, Cooley offer high end elite level skills despite their size? If they do, and they’re available, then we choose that player. I also think Nemec and Jiricek both are gone, if not within the top five, then for sure in the top ten. They’ll definitely be gone by the time we pick. 

 

[appleboy]

If they decide to move out a top player or two we may be looking at a higher pick .