2023 NHL Entry Draft

[Timråfan]

On 7/4/2023 at 1:00 PM, Phat Fingers said:

I agree….

 

until the 4th round and I think maybe Alvin and Rutherford were so pleased with Willander and our 3rd rounders that they let the staff out early…

 

LOL.

 

Nah…

 

I think they knew more about Willander than most Scouts did.

 

Homework was done on Tom ‘Just converted to Defence’ Willander and got drafted as the most Defensively sound and Best Skating Defender in the Draft…

 

The ‘knock’ of Willander was that his scoring and offence was lower than ASP and Reinbacher.

Looks like the stat watchers and me included and a lot of NA scouts missed a pretty significant detail to Tom Willander and also I did not know he had committed to BU until he was drafted.

 

Huge details missed by many who should be in the know.

 

most of my information talked about Tom Willander going to the SHL with Rogle.

 

Safe to say, that the kid himself feels pretty confident with his path and his ability to defend and I don’t think we have to worry about a converted Forward to Defender being able to contribute to the Offensive Production on the Ice.

 

All I want to know, can he take draws…. We need a Righty and since he can do everything else… LOL.

 

Alien 3.0, Really want to see at least a pre season game in the next few years with Petterson Petterson and Willander on the ice with Hogslander and Linus Karlsson.

 

I think it would be a pretty decent line up of some very interesting Swedes,

 

The Area 51 Line?

 

 

 

If Lekkerimäki is on with Petey 1+2 and Willander you can add wich swede you want. Ok, Hogz take the fifth spot.

Edited July 5, 2023 by Timråfan

[hammertime]

4 hours ago, R3aL said:

watch Bichsel-Minnetian be a force to just drive borh

 

@hammertime+ @HighOnHockey crazy 

 

2 hours ago, spook007 said:

Stirring the pot....

To be fair I think Minnitian was a steal at that spot. 

 

That pick was a tough one for me the next 10 or so players were mostly guys I had been looking at for our 3rd rounders.

 

Seeing as I'm not at all familiar with Muller I am happy to wait and see. It will sting a bit tho if Ciernik Minnitian etc turn into players. 

Edited July 5, 2023 by hammertime

[spook007]

27 minutes ago, hammertime said:

 

To be fair I think Minnitian was a steal at that spot. 

 

That pick was a tough one for me the next 10 or so players were mostly guys I had been looking at for our 3rd rounders.

 

Seeing as I'm not at all familiar with Muller I am happy to wait and see. It will sting a bit tho if Ciernik Minnitian etc turn into players. 

You all spent a lot of time and effort leading up to the draft, so yes it would be a tough one, should they turn into a player. Let hope PAs draft gurus knew, what they were doing and we at least get a player or maybe even two out of the later picks 

 

[HighOnHockey]

Man crazy to think it'll already be Hlinkas again in less than a month. I'm ready to start talking 2024 draft already, but seems too early to start the thread. I'll wait until Hlinkas unless someone else does it first. But for now I'm curious, everyone assuming Celebrini is the clear-cut first overall, have you seen Ivan Demidov?

 

I still think it's a pretty wide open race, but Demidov has the edge for me right now. Kid is absolutely electrifying. Dickinson has me wondering "what could be if it all comes together?" Some ideas for tank taglines:

 

"Play soft for Demidov"

"Take it easy for Celebrini"

"Let them win for Dickinson"

 

Edited July 5, 2023 by HighOnHockey

[R3aL]

3 hours ago, hammertime said:

 

To be fair I think Minnitian was a steal at that spot. 

 

That pick was a tough one for me the next 10 or so players were mostly guys I had been looking at for our 3rd rounders.

 

Seeing as I'm not at all familiar with Muller I am happy to wait and see. It will sting a bit tho if Ciernik Minnitian etc turn into players. 

Tough to pass on Aram and him so many times for overages too.Im with ya on those picks but we will see how it shakes down.

 

I would have loved adding them both too though

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Benson at the Sabres Development Camp.

 

 

 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, HighOnHockey said:

Man crazy to think it'll already be Hlinkas again in less than a month. I'm ready to start talking 2024 draft already, but seems too early to start the thread. I'll wait until Hlinkas unless someone else does it first. But for now I'm curious, everyone assuming Celebrini is the clear-cut first overall, have you seen Ivan Demidov?

 

I still think it's a pretty wide open race, but Demidov has the edge for me right now. Kid is absolutely electrifying. Dickinson has me wondering "what could be if it all comes together?" Some ideas for tank taglines:

 

"Play soft for Demidov"

"Take it easy for Celebrini"

"Let them win for Dickinson"

 

Tank's on for Dickinson 

[HighOnHockey]

30 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Tank's on for Dickinson 

Phone it in for Dickinson. (works for Eiserman too)

 

Lose for Mews rolls off the tongue the best, but not sure he's actually gonna be in the 1st overall conversation.

 

Skip the backcheck for Jiricek.

[nergish]

Eiserman is an early favourite for 2024 for me

[Smashian Kassian]

On 7/5/2023 at 12:54 PM, HighOnHockey said:

Man crazy to think it'll already be Hlinkas again in less than a month. I'm ready to start talking 2024 draft already, but seems too early to start the thread. I'll wait until Hlinkas unless someone else does it first. But for now I'm curious, everyone assuming Celebrini is the clear-cut first overall, have you seen Ivan Demidov?

 

I still think it's a pretty wide open race, but Demidov has the edge for me right now. Kid is absolutely electrifying. Dickinson has me wondering "what could be if it all comes together?" Some ideas for tank taglines:

 

"Play soft for Demidov"

"Take it easy for Celebrini"

"Let them win for Dickinson"

 

 

Not gunna lie I've been checking the prospects thread waiting to see if you've created the 2024 thread  Planning to follow more closely throughout the year.

 

Right now Id have Celebrini #1, followed by Eiserman then Demidov. I'm thinking Celebrini goes post to post as the #1 guy b/c he's a C & the other 2 in this tier are wingers, then not sure how it'll shake out with the wingers but they look like top 5 picks at worst. Plenty of time tho we'll see.  

 

Beyond that there are alot of intriguing defenseman on my radar: Levshunov, Jiricek, Dickinson, Buium, Kiviharju, Hutson, Fischer, exc.

 

Also interested in this Croatian kid Bruno Idzan, looks like a fast 1 shot scorer & potential top 15 pick. 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Smashian Kassian

[Smashian Kassian]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:47 AM, hammertime said:

 

To be fair I think Minnitian was a steal at that spot. 

 

That pick was a tough one for me the next 10 or so players were mostly guys I had been looking at for our 3rd rounders.

 

Seeing as I'm not at all familiar with Muller I am happy to wait and see. It will sting a bit tho if Ciernik Minnitian etc turn into players. 

 

On 7/5/2023 at 2:48 PM, R3aL said:

Tough to pass on Aram and him so many times for overages too.Im with ya on those picks but we will see how it shakes down.

 

I would have loved adding them both too though

 

I'm honestly not sure on Minnietian's NHL upside. I do like him at his level but I'm not sure in his projection.

 

At times he looks like a really good soldier who skates well enough & is average in other areas but competes really hard & you think he could be a bottom 3 guy (on a good team). Other times I've questioned the IQ/decision making entirely & then the average skillset becomes boldened.

 

It was interesting reading Drance's notes on the Dev camp scrimmage & him name checking Mueller as a really smart player that always seemed to be in the right position. That one doesn't seem like a horrible pick.

 

I will say Perkins I'm less sure of, & coming right after a similar pick in Mueller... that one could've been used on a higher swing perhaps. I do like the Alriksson pick (that's an upside swing imo given his size), and Celebrini is probably at Minnietian's level atm. So maybe Minnietian instead of Perkins but I do think guys like him & Allen have their concerns too. 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Smashian Kassian

[HighOnHockey]

10 hours ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

Not gunna lie I've been checking the prospects thread waiting to see if you've created the 2024 thread  Planning to follow more closely throughout the year.

 

Right now Id have Celebrini #1, followed by Eiserman then Demidov. I'm thinking Celebrini goes post to post as the #1 guy b/c he's a C & the other 2 in this tier are wingers, then not sure how it'll shake out with the wingers but they look like top 5 picks at worst. Plenty of time tho we'll see.  

 

Beyond that there are alot of intriguing defenseman on my radar: Levshunov, Jiricek, Dickinson, Buium, Kiviharju, Hutson, Fischer, exc.

 

Also interested in this Croatian kid Bruno Idzan, looks like a fast 1 shot scorer & potential top 15 pick. 

 

 

Lol good idea for all Canucks fans to follow the draft more closely this year. Doesn't look like they're going to be very good. Good to see  the new management maybe not committing to full rebuild, but at least keeping their own firsts and gradually moving out veterans like Horvat and OEL.

 

Also a good point about Celebrini maybe getting the edge due to being a center, although Demidov is dual-listed as a C/LW. He played LW in MHL this year, but I distinctly remember he was 3C for Russia at the 2021 Hlinkas as an under-age-and-a-half (December birthday). Eiserman and Demidov definitely look like the more dynamic offensive threats, but Celebrini's all-around game is pretty special. 6'5 Cayden Lindstrom played both LW and C at U17s but was a full-time center in WHL this year, winning 50.5% of 887 faceoffs as a 16 year-old. I wonder if he's a dark horse out of my birthplace in Chetwynd, BC.

 

Reminds me of the 2006 draft in a lot of ways, with all that high-end talent in the top five but didn't really have the bluechip obvious number one pick at the top. Lots of similarities between Celebrini and Toews, who went 3rd. Some superficial similarities between Eiserman and Kessel, just in terms of being American-born goal-scoring machines, although the difference in athleticism is kind of humorous. But also like 2006, I think a defenseman might end up jumping into top spot over the course of the season. Dickinson would be the obvious guess, probably followed by Levshunov, but I wonder if Jiricek could be a dark horse - kid plays with some hutzpah. gaps up at either blueline like a bat outta hell.

 

Alright, f**k it, since the demand is so overwhelming (.....) I'm gonna go start the thread now. Nice find on Idzan by the way. Playing international tournaments in division 2A for f**k sakes.

[hammertime]

On 7/6/2023 at 8:44 AM, -Vintage Canuck- said:

Benson at the Sabres Development Camp.

 

 

 

[TheQuietQuitter]

3 hours ago, hammertime said:

[DownUndaCanuck]

On 7/6/2023 at 4:44 PM, -Vintage Canuck- said:

Benson at the Sabres Development Camp.

 

 

 

Yikes, he's going to prove so many haters wrong. We had to take a defenceman, if we took a small skilled forward Allvin would be overthrown, but there were a lot of teams who passed on Benson for bigger, stronger centers. Steal of the first round for Buffalo who could use a small, highly skilled guy to complement Tage in a couple of years time. If Bedard wasn't in this draft Benson would have almost lead the league in scoring. Benson and Michkov are really going to end up playing with big chips on their shoulders and luckily for Benson he goes into a pretty decent team.

[Ilunga]

16 hours ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

Yikes, he's going to prove so many haters wrong. We had to take a defenceman, if we took a small skilled forward Allvin would be overthrown, but there were a lot of teams who passed on Benson for bigger, stronger centers. Steal of the first round for Buffalo who could use a small, highly skilled guy to complement Tage in a couple of years time. If Bedard wasn't in this draft Benson would have almost lead the league in scoring. Benson and Michkov are really going to end up playing with big chips on their shoulders and luckily for Benson he goes into a pretty decent team.

And the kid who scored 1 less point than Zach and the same amount of assists as Bedard went 64th.

[hammertime]

9 hours ago, Ilunga said:

And the kid who scored 1 less point than Zach and the same amount of assists as Bedard went 64th.

I really like Heidt that could be an absolute steal and an example of why we need to keep our 2nds. Heidt is beast on the PP and I think far more likely to be a C than Benson still probably a winger tho. 

Edited July 9, 2023 by hammertime

[nergish]

On 7/6/2023 at 8:44 AM, -Vintage Canuck- said:

Benson at the Sabres Development Camp.

 

 

 

Willy is going to be an Edler/Ohlund type boon for our defence for the next decade, but man is Benson a genuine talent.

 

Buffalo has so much size on their roster, that they have no issue drafting the next Johnny Gaudreau. Don’t sleep on Savoie either… 

The Sabres are already the most entertaining team in hockey, but they’re building something special over there imo

Edited July 9, 2023 by nergish

[Alflives]

39 minutes ago, nergish said:

Willy is going to be an Edler/Ohlund type boon for our defence for the next decade, but man is Benson a genuine talent.

 

Buffalo has so much size on their roster, that they have no issue drafting the next Johnny Gaudreau. Don’t sleep on Savoie either… 

The Sabres are already the most entertaining team in hockey, but they’re building something special over there imo

Benso can’t skate like JG. In a straight line Benson struggles with pace. Sabres are craperolla now and will be craperolla tomorrow. 

[DeNiro]

45 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Benso can’t skate like JG. In a straight line Benson struggles with pace. Sabres are craperolla now and will be craperolla tomorrow. 

People have been hyping Buffalo forever lol.

 

Funny how fans keep acting like these teams that suck and draft good players year after year are destined for greatness. It doesn’t equal anything when you never get out of the basement and players leave.