2023 NHL Entry Draft

[DudePerfect]

16 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

Bold. I like it. I can kinda see your reasoning. I always go back to Lucas Raymond vs. Quentin Byfield in 2020. It was so blatantly obvious to anyone who watched them both for a minute that Raymond was the far superior player - at that level at that time. I felt like Byfield barely deserved to be talked about in the same breath as Raymond. But of course I also understood that it's a 6'5 center vs. a 5'10 winger and we're talking about who's going to be the best NHL player at 25.

 

To me this is a bit of a similar vibe, but not to the same extremes. I do think it is quite clear that Smith is the best player of the three right now, but the difference in talent isn't anywhere on the level of Raymond/Byfield. And on the other side of the coin, the difference in size isn't quite so extreme either. For me, at this time I still have Smith as the 3rd best NHL prospect among them, but it's still very up in the air.

Smith v. Carlsson is closer than anything, but I don't really see the Fantilli hype to be put in the top 3. Gifted playmakers and hockey IQ tend to have more value which is why Smith and Carlsson are a definite tier above Fantilli. Those guys are able to think the game at such a level to anticipate and create spaces for themselves and their linemates, where I don't think Fantilli's power forward game is good enough to carry him at a 1st line elite level. Maybe more at the 2nd line level.

[HighOnHockey]

3 hours ago, DudePerfect said:

Smith v. Carlsson is closer than anything, but I don't really see the Fantilli hype to be put in the top 3. Gifted playmakers and hockey IQ tend to have more value which is why Smith and Carlsson are a definite tier above Fantilli. Those guys are able to think the game at such a level to anticipate and create spaces for themselves and their linemates, where I don't think Fantilli's power forward game is good enough to carry him at a 1st line elite level. Maybe more at the 2nd line level.

 

I partially disagree. Carlsson and Smith have the better offensive hockey IQ and playmaking ability for sure, but Fantilli's 200 foot IQ is off the charts. Constantly disrupting and forcing turnovers in all three zones. I've been comparing his upside to Anze Kopitar with more bite.

 

For what it's worth I also do agree with you to a large extent. I've seen Fantilli comparisons to Eichel and MacKinnon, and while I can sort of understand where they're coming from stylistically, I'm just not convinced Fantilli's play creation is on the same level as those guys. I actually think Eichel is a pretty decent comparison for Leo Carlsson though, where they have the size and a bit of a power element to their games, but they're skilled players first and foremost.

 

Fantilli is a tough player to make comparisons because he's such a unique blend of an old-school, nasty, true power forward, an elite two-way forward, and also a highly skilled offensive player. And it's exactly that rare and unique combination that makes him such a sought after commodity. Carlsson and Smith will very likely score more points in the NHL, but Fantilli is going to player every team dreams about having on their team come playoffs.

Edited February 10, 2023 by HighOnHockey

[Isam]

42 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

I partially disagree. Carlsson and Smith have the better offensive hockey IQ and playmaking ability for sure, but Fantilli's 200 foot IQ is off the charts. Constantly disrupting and forcing turnovers in all three zones. I've been comparing his upside to Anze Kopitar with more bite.

 

For what it's worth I also do agree with you to a large extent. I've seen Fantilli comparisons to Eichel and MacKinnon, and while I can sort of understand where they're coming from stylistically, I'm just not convinced Fantilli's play creation is on the same level as those guys. I actually think Eichel is a pretty decent comparison for Leo Carlsson though, where they have the size and a bit of a power element to their games, but they're skilled players first and foremost.

 

Fantilli is a tough player to make comparisons because he's such a unique blend of an old-school, nasty, true power forward, an elite two-way forward, and also a highly skilled offensive player. And it's exactly that rare and unique combination that makes him such a sought after commodity. Carlsson and Smith will very likely score more points in the NHL, but Fantilli is going to player every team dreams about having on their team come playoffs.

Weird. I see fantilli as more of a comparison to brindamour with a bit more juice on the offense.  Kind of close to your description.

[HighOnHockey]

1 hour ago, Isam said:

Weird. I see fantilli as more of a comparison to brindamour with a bit more juice on the offense.  Kind of close to your description.

Oh damn. That is by far the most apt comparison I've heard for Fantilli. Nice one.

[Fred65]

Scout's Analysis: Top 40 prospects in 2023 and how to build a draft list (sportsnet.ca)

[Bobby_Lu1ngo]

On 2/9/2023 at 2:44 AM, Pure961089 said:

Imagine this guy in our top 6.  His vision and playmaking are best in the draft.  Stay the corse.

Definitely get Kane/Gaudreau vibes from this kid.

[Isam]

39 minutes ago, Bobby_Lu1ngo said:

Definitely get Kane/Gaudreau vibes from this kid.

Love the kid, but he is the pick that either makes you look like a genius or gets you fired. Outside of bedard, he is the best playmaker in the draft.

[hammertime]

Andrew Gibson could be a dark horse target for us in the 2nd/3rd big boi defensive D is his game but he's shown he can also be a threat at both ends. I've been quite impressed with what I have seen of him so far. I think he's ranked a bit lower than he will go.  

https://saultsports.com/blueliner-andrew-gibson-commits-to-soo-greyhound-program/

 

 One of his biggest strengths is on the defensive side of the puck. He’s a skilled skater who uses his physicality and long reach to break up plays and activate the attack. We are really impressed with his efficiency in moving the puck and his ability to add to his teams offensive attack” stated Raftis.

The 6’3″ and 188 lbs rearguard last played with the Windsor AAA Zone Jr. Spitfires U16 club in 2019-20 where he recorded 11 goals and 17 assists (28 points) in 32 regular season games played.

“We believe Andrew is just beginning to show the player he is capable of becoming and we are excited to have him be apart of our program moving forward” concluded GM Kyle Raftis.

[Nucker 67]

Watching how well VAN played against NYI yesterday, and without Schenn. It was a gritty team effort for the Win.

 

Don't really want Schenn traded, but if VAN can get a 2nd back for him, that would be great. It's a deep Draft from what I hear and so some players will drop out of the 1st round, like Raty did a couple of years ago. Should be quite a few good players still available from 33-64.

[hammertime]

2 hours ago, NUCKER67 said:

Watching how well VAN played against NYI yesterday, and without Schenn. It was a gritty team effort for the Win.

 

Don't really want Schenn traded, but if VAN can get a 2nd back for him, that would be great. It's a deep Draft from what I hear and so some players will drop out of the 1st round, like Raty did a couple of years ago. Should be quite a few good players still available from 33-64.

I would only consider it if it's to a team like Toronto who won't win a playoff round. 

[Nucker 67]

Just have this feeling VAN may end up selecting SandinPellikka (with ours or NYI's 1st) Maybe they take a C with the other 1st.

 

Future Top 4D

 

Hughes (offensive Dman) - ?? (defensive Dman)

Pettersson (defensive Dman) - SandinPellikka (offensive Dman)

 

Maybe they also manage to select another good defensive RD in the 2nd Round. 

[HighOnHockey]

Ok so this post is a little bit about the '23 but mostly about the '24 draft. Watching the 4 Nation U18s this morning. The NTDP U18s have been dominant at the international level this year, including a 5-3 win against Finland at the fall 5 Nations. Today they have simply been picked apart by Finland 5-2. The difference? Aron Kiviharju. He's on a different level than everybody else. I've made the comparison to Nicklas Lidstrom before and he's backing it up today. Like a good conductor or general, he controls every aspect of the game, in all three zones, and yet he doesn't try to do everything himself. He constantly puts his teammates in positions to make good plays, and not always just the easiest ones, he trusts them to make good plays for themselves. Often they screw it up, but it's a very good sign for adapting to higher levels.

 

His footwork is so quick and shifty, and he's constantly adjusting his stick angles to various unusual positions - everything he does with the puck is deceptive. I've never seen a prospect this age get shots through and create chaos around the net with his shot placement and timing the way Kiviharju does. And then on defense, pretty well everything was one and done when he was on the ice. Doesn't matter whether it was Smith, Leonard, Moore, Perreault, none of them had an answer for Kiviharju; they just couldn't gather any kind of momentum in the offensive zone, as he steps up and kills plays so quickly and efficiently, and so often he takes the puck away and makes the play out of the zone in almost a single motion.

 

As for everyone else, I thought Minnetian was USA's best player in this one. Kiiskinen had another outstanding game for Finland, and another under-ager Helenius looked pretty good on the top line with him.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[YearoftheNuck]

Based on where we currently sit in the standings, this is my wish list for our first three picks in the draft:

 

6th - Will Smith

13th - either Reinbacher or Sandin Pellikka 

38th - Aram Minnetian

It’s kind of cheating to have two names at the 13th spot there lol, but I’m truly torn between the two. 

[R3aL]

On 2/9/2023 at 1:57 PM, HighOnHockey said:

EP and Smaht going all in on tiny forwards. Both seem to be over-reaching on guys like Jayden Perron, Gavin Brindley, William Whitelaw. Even Cristall I'm not too sure about. A number of online sources are very high on him, but the more legitimate sources like McKenzie, Central Scouting, and Sportsnet have been much more cautious.

Cristall pretty boom or bust kinda kid.

 

[R3aL]

12 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

Ok so this post is a little bit about the '23 but mostly about the '24 draft. Watching the 4 Nation U18s this morning. The NTDP U18s have been dominant at the international level this year, including a 5-3 win against Finland at the fall 5 Nations. Today they have simply been picked apart by Finland 5-2. The difference? Aron Kiviharju. He's on a different level than everybody else. I've made the comparison to Nicklas Lidstrom before and he's backing it up today. Like a good conductor or general, he controls every aspect of the game, in all three zones, and yet he doesn't try to do everything himself. He constantly puts his teammates in positions to make good plays, and not always just the easiest ones, he trusts them to make good plays for themselves. Often they screw it up, but it's a very good sign for adapting to higher levels.

 

His footwork is so quick and shifty, and he's constantly adjusting his stick angles to various unusual positions - everything he does with the puck is deceptive. I've never seen a prospect this age get shots through and create chaos around the net with his shot placement and timing the way Kiviharju does. And then on defense, pretty well everything was one and done when he was on the ice. Doesn't matter whether it was Smith, Leonard, Moore, Perreault, none of them had an answer for Kiviharju; they just couldn't gather any kind of momentum in the offensive zone, as he steps up and kills plays so quickly and efficiently, and so often he takes the puck away and makes the play out of the zone in almost a single motion.

 

As for everyone else, I thought Minnetian was USA's best player in this one. Kiiskinen had another outstanding game for Finland, and another under-ager Helenius looked pretty good on the top line with him.

You’ve got me on the Minnetian KOOLAID

[R3aL]

On 2/10/2023 at 4:56 PM, NUCKER67 said:

Just have this feeling VAN may end up selecting SandinPellikka (with ours or NYI's 1st) Maybe they take a C with the other 1st.

 

Future Top 4D

 

Hughes (offensive Dman) - ?? (defensive Dman)

Pettersson (defensive Dman) - SandinPellikka (offensive Dman)

 

Maybe they also manage to select another good defensive RD in the 2nd Round. 

Him or Reinbacher if they are available feels like the pick for them for sure 

[DownUndaCanuck]

On 2/10/2023 at 9:50 PM, NUCKER67 said:

Watching how well VAN played against NYI yesterday, and without Schenn. It was a gritty team effort for the Win.

 

Don't really want Schenn traded, but if VAN can get a 2nd back for him, that would be great. It's a deep Draft from what I hear and so some players will drop out of the 1st round, like Raty did a couple of years ago. Should be quite a few good players still available from 33-64.

Yep, I can't decide whether it's better for this team and young kids coming in to learn from Schenn (so re-sign him for another year and go year-by-year) or trade him for a 2nd. Problem is, he'll go to a contending team and their 2nd rounder is going to be very late. If we can somehow get a 30-45 overall pick for him, that'd be huge - there's bound to be a top player, especially one of the top defencemen, fall out of the first round. A 2nd in this draft is basically a 1st in others.

 

We've got to look at teams who are doing well, contending for a Cup run, but have a decent 2nd round pick. 

 

Ironically the Flames' 2nd is one of the highest we could get, 48th overall right now. Detroit have two in the 2nd round and Schenn would look good over there, we could snag their top one which is 40th overall (and basically a late first). Someone like Simashev or Cam Allen is surely going to drop that late and that's basically a hidden first rounder.

 

 

[DownUndaCanuck]

Looking at the standings now, we're only 6 points off bottom-3. Even if we sell the team at the TDL (or 2 players at least) I don't see us being as bad as Chicago or Columbus down the stretch, but Anaheim is only 6 points below us. We play each other 3 times this season. I know you don't want to throw games in this league but that's the 6 point swing right there.

 

If we somehow end up 3rd last in the league (which is very possible at this rate) we've got some really juicy odds, but even then, only an 11.5% shot at Bedard, around a 19% shot at Fantilli or Carlsson but then a 40% shot at the 4th overall...

[Boudrias]

1 hour ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Looking at the standings now, we're only 6 points off bottom-3. Even if we sell the team at the TDL (or 2 players at least) I don't see us being as bad as Chicago or Columbus down the stretch, but Anaheim is only 6 points below us. We play each other 3 times this season. I know you don't want to throw games in this league but that's the 6 point swing right there.

 

If we somehow end up 3rd last in the league (which is very possible at this rate) we've got some really juicy odds, but even then, only an 11.5% shot at Bedard, around a 19% shot at Fantilli or Carlsson but then a 40% shot at the 4th overall...

I am happy with #5 and hope the lottery goes well for us for a change. Canucks are at 46 points = #6; ARZ 43, SJ 42 and ANA 40. It will make a big dif on how many deals get done by the TDL. ARZ and ANA have young rosters that likely have some success towards the season end. All that aside Vancouver has the strongest roster of the 4 as they sit now. EP40 could pull the Canucks up just by himself. Hopefully PA moves Boeser, Garland, and hopefully Meyers by the end of the month. Meyers likely doesn't make much sense but one can hope. Outside the box  maybe Miller or even Hughes.