2023 NHL Entry Draft

[Isam]

4 minutes ago, hammertime said:

Of the players, you mentioned only Ritchie, Smith, and Devorski are bonafide C's outside of the top 3. I'm not a big Devorski fan and I think it's pretty debatable that he is to be considered a top 10 pick most rankings have dropped him 10-20 I think his passive play will continue to see him fall. Regardless of the fact that I still have Ritchie high on my board, his mediocre production has him ranked in the mid to late 1st. 

 

That leaves us with Smith sure he meets the 6' measuring stick. Lets be real though he ain't a bulldozer and aside from that I think it's pretty unlikely he will be there at 6/7th

 

So I am curious in your opinion are there any 200ft C's with some nasty to their game that you would consider worthy of that 6/7th pick consideration?    

Bite. Then you have to go with moore. You can make the case for danielson

[hammertime]

1 hour ago, R3aL said:

I know some guys on here like Ritchie but I am not a fan. I like Nate Danielson over him for that tier of C. 

There is certainly a good discussion to be had there. They both play on terrible teams are fantastic in the dot and take on much of the defensive workload for their respective clubs it will be interesting to see in a few years which of the 2 if either becomes a dominant 2/3c or better. 

 

36 minutes ago, Isam said:

Bite. Then you have to go with moore. You can make the case for danielson

I think I go Moore too. And he doesn't quite meet the 6'0 measuring stick. But he's got some ants in his pants and more impressive offensive prowess to give him that higher upside. 

Edited February 15, 2023 by hammertime

[R3aL]

1 hour ago, hammertime said:

Of the players, you mentioned only Ritchie, Smith, and Devorski are bonafide C's outside of the top 3. I'm not a big Devorski fan and I think it's pretty debatable that he is to be considered a top 10 pick most rankings have dropped him 10-20 I think his passive play will continue to see him fall. Regardless of the fact that I still have Ritchie high on my board, his mediocre production has him ranked in the mid to late 1st. 

 

That leaves us with Smith sure he meets the 6' measuring stick. Lets be real though he ain't a bulldozer and aside from that I think it's pretty unlikely he will be there at 6/7th

 

So I am curious in your opinion are there any 200ft C's with some nasty to their game that you would consider worthy of that 6/7th pick consideration?    

Will Smith like benson could also end up being an nhl winger 

 

for different reasons 
 

I honestly don’t think there is other than moore who I’d go as high as 7

[hammertime]

9 minutes ago, R3aL said:

Will Smith like benson could also end up being an nhl winger 

 

for different reasons 
 

I honestly don’t think there is other than moore who I’d go as high as 7

Like Bichsel Pickering last year we can have Ritchie Danielson debate for that 14th OA pick this year.  And of course, end up with neither as always. Keep it rollin from the Krebs Newhook debates of 2019. 

[R3aL]

3 minutes ago, hammertime said:

Like Bichsel Pickering last year we can have Ritchie Danielson debate for that 14th OA pick this year.  And of course, end up with neither as always. Keep it rollin from the Krebs Newhook debates of 2019. 

Haha 100% my guy! 

 

I do really like Moore though. 
 

And if we end up winning some games with demko or getting push up in draft order from the lottery. If we got Moore at 7-9 I wouldn’t be upset at all. 
 

since benson due to his size, and faceoff ability he might not translate as an NHL C and will Smith is pure offence with not much of a defensive conscience like Kent Johnson so he may not be a C either. So it makes me think I should be ranking them as Wingers and basket them with Barlow as my elite winger tier under Michkov. 

[HighOnHockey]

2 hours ago, hammertime said:

Of the players, you mentioned only Ritchie, Smith, and Devorski are bonafide C's outside of the top 3. I'm not a big Devorski fan and I think it's pretty debatable that he is to be considered a top 10 pick most rankings have dropped him 10-20 I think his passive play will continue to see him fall. Regardless of the fact that I still have Ritchie high on my board, his mediocre production has him ranked in the mid to late 1st. 

 

That leaves us with Smith sure he meets the 6' measuring stick. Lets be real though he ain't a bulldozer and aside from that I think it's pretty unlikely he will be there at 6/7th

 

So I am curious in your opinion are there any 200ft C's with some nasty to their game that you would consider worthy of that 6/7th pick consideration?    

Well, going by the original discussion, I would obviously take Michkov. Just thought it was misleading to say it's mostly small forwards in the top 10.

 

To answer your question, Leonard more or less fits your criteria and could be worth consideration in that range, but I would prefer Ritchie or Dvorsky.

 

[Alflives]

Just now, HighOnHockey said:

Well, going by the original discussion, I would obviously take Michkov. Just thought it was misleading to say it's mostly small forwards in the top 10.

 

To answer your question, Leonard more or less fits your criteria and could be worth consideration in that range, but I would prefer Ritchie or Dvorsky.

 

Michkov is likely to be a star when he comes in 4 years. But will we draft a guy we have to wait that long for if there are others available, where we pick, who are one or two years away? 

[HighOnHockey]

1 minute ago, Alflives said:

Michkov is likely to be a star when he comes in 4 years. But will we draft a guy we have to wait that long for if there are others available, where we pick, who are one or two years away? 

No idea what the organization will do, just talking about what I would do.

[Ilunga]

48 minutes ago, R3aL said:

Haha 100% my guy! 

 

I do really like Moore though. 
 

And if we end up winning some games with demko or getting push up in draft order from the lottery. If we got Moore at 7-9 I wouldn’t be upset at all. 
 

since benson due to his size, and faceoff ability he might not translate as an NHL C and will Smith is pure offence with not much of a defensive conscience like Kent Johnson so he may not be a C either. So it makes me think I should be ranking them as Wingers and basket them with Barlow as my elite winger tier under Michkov. 

Guess who was a purely offence guy, that wasn't that big either, who after his coach encouraged him to play defense turned into one of the best players of all time ? 

Steve Yzerman. 

 

He is one of the many examples of why coaching and development is nearly as important as talent itself.

[R3aL]

4 minutes ago, Ilunga said:

Guess who was a purely offence guy, that wasn't that big either, who after his coach encouraged him to play defense turned into one of the best players of all time ? 

Steve Yzerman. 

 

He is one of the many examples of why coaching and development is nearly as important as talent itself.

100% and dont get me wrong I still want a Benson or a Smith first!

 

I really do think Defence is effort/heart and coaching and that any athlete can be good defensively if they commit to it.

[Alflives]

56 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

No idea what the organization will do, just talking about what I would do.

I hope we take Michkov if he’s there when we pick. He’s going to be a star player who makes a difference every night. 

If we move up to (let’s say) the three spit and both Michkov and Carlsson are still available, which should we take? Is Carlsson’s ceiling (of contribution to winning) close enough to Michkov’s to take him? Or is it still better to go BPA?

[Ilunga]

5 minutes ago, R3aL said:

100% and dont get me wrong I still want a Benson or a Smith first!

 

I really do think Defence is effort/heart and coaching and that any athlete can be good defensively if they commit to it.

You can see the evolution in Petey's game since he joined our team defence wise. 

 

I am not privy to what goes on in regards to his training/coaching, however he strikes me as the type of guy that really wants to improve all facets of his game.

[hammertime]

25 minutes ago, R3aL said:

 

since benson due to his size, and faceoff ability he might not translate as an NHL C and will Smith is pure offence with not much of a defensive conscience like Kent Johnson so he may not be a C either. So it makes me think I should be ranking them as Wingers and basket them with Barlow as my elite winger tier under Michkov. 

This^^^ Right here. Truthyness. 

 

Maybe Moore is Zetterberg to Pete's Datsyuk would that make Raty Franzen? 

 

What's the word Hippy used Insulate. Gonna need a lot.

 

 

 

 

[Ilunga]

2 minutes ago, Alflives said:

I hope we take Michkov if he’s there when we pick. He’s going to be a star player who makes a difference every night. 

If we move up to (let’s say) the three spit and both Michkov and Carlsson are still available, which should we take? Is Carlsson’s ceiling (of contribution to winning) close enough to Michkov’s to take him? Or is it still better to go BPA?

If it was between Michkov and Carlsson I would take Carlsson. 

His ceiling is not that much lower, a bigger body, we have control of his development sooner, and with Petey as a mentor/ friend ?

Lot of little intangibles in building a cohesive/ winning environment/ team.

[J.I.A.H.N]

In regards to Smith...........

 

If he is an elite Offensive center, then play him as a #1 center, and play Pettersson as a #2 center.........then play them both together on the PP

 

I don't see the issue?

[HighOnHockey]

47 minutes ago, Alflives said:

I hope we take Michkov if he’s there when we pick. He’s going to be a star player who makes a difference every night. 

If we move up to (let’s say) the three spit and both Michkov and Carlsson are still available, which should we take? Is Carlsson’s ceiling (of contribution to winning) close enough to Michkov’s to take him? Or is it still better to go BPA?

 

40 minutes ago, Ilunga said:

If it was between Michkov and Carlsson I would take Carlsson. 

His ceiling is not that much lower, a bigger body, we have control of his development sooner, and with Petey as a mentor/ friend ?

Lot of little intangibles in building a cohesive/ winning environment/ team.

Such a tough call. I'd probably lean Carlsson too. I forget who it was but someone here made a good point the other day that it might depend on the situation of the team drafting. Teams looking to compete in the near future might lean towards Carlsson (who is pretty much NHL-ready). For teams like Chicago or San Jose, who are still early in their rebuilds, it might make more sense to roll the dice on Michkov.

[Ilunga]

2 minutes ago, HighOnHockey said:

 

Such a tough call. I'd probably lean Carlsson too. I forget who it was but someone here made a good point the other day that it might depend on the situation of the team drafting. Teams looking to compete in the near future might lean towards Carlsson (who is pretty much NHL-ready). For teams like Chicago or San Jose, who are still early in their rebuilds, it might make more sense to roll the dice on Michkov.

One can only hope the lottery puts us in the position to have to make that call.

[Kobayashi Maru]

7 hours ago, R3aL said:

Exactly I think this tier of 2023 draft >>> the 2024 and we get the kid a year sooner.

 

Honestly if ASP is there I think we take him. 

 

But could be wrong!

 

And I just really hope with 2 / 3 picks we at least get a great C prospect and at least 1 RHD prospect preferably 2 in the top 60. Hope we add a second round pick at least before the deadline.

 

What I want most:

 

our first pick, 1 of:

 

Bedard / Fantili / Michkov / Carlsson / Smith / Benson

 

NYI Pick, 1 of:

 

ASP / Dragicevic / Reinbacher / Danielson (But if a Moore / Barlow / Leonard slipped to here that would be hard to ignore)

 

Our Second Pick, 1 of:

 

Willander / Bonk / Akey / Brzustewicz / Asplund 

 

-

 

So the dream for me would be:

 

Bedard / Dragicevic / Willander

 

That would be amazing. And I am really high on Lukas now. But drafting 2 hometown kids high together wonder if it would be too much pressure distraction for them.

 

I know some guys on here like Ritchie but I am not a fan. I like Nate Danielson over him for that tier of C. 

Good summary.  I think my picks would be (Assuming we won the lottery as you highlight): Bedard, Reinbacher, Strbak

 

Generational player along with two strong two way RDs.

[HighOnHockey]

Dvorsky seems to be getting slept on hard lately. Big mistake.

 

I'm seeing the same type of criticisms I saw of Holtz late in his draft year. Never seems to have the puck on his stick at the pro level, not a play-driver or a puck-carrier. Well it's true they never seem to have the puck, but they only need it on their sticks for a fraction of a second.

 

The way they skate routes off the puck that open multiple play options for the puck carrier. The way they are continuously reading the play so that they always have passing options in mind to immediately get rid of the puck once they get it - the rapid puck movement creates chaos for defenders. The way they can get lost floating high in the offensive zone only to suddenly jump up into open spaces in the slot at just the right times.

 

Dvorsky may not be as purely skilled as Holtz, particularly in terms of skating, but Dvorsky is more physically engaged, particularly in the offensive paint, he's much better defensively, and he's arguably the better playmaker with the puck on his stick.

 

Aside from Bedard and Michkov, Dvorsky may very well be the best pure goal-scorer in the draft. And last I checked scoring goals is still pretty important. So he's not going to carry the puck through the neutral zone a lot. I don't buy that he's not an offensive play-driver. Plays are made as much by the players off the puck as by the player with the puck.

[R3aL]

1 hour ago, Kobayashi Maru said:

Good summary.  I think my picks would be (Assuming we won the lottery as you highlight): Bedard, Reinbacher, Strbak

 

Generational player along with two strong two way RDs.

Strbak I’m not that high on but bedard Reinbacher would be a very nice first round outcome

 

one that we’d all go crazy about