NHL Thread

[Thom Yorke]

Kane has been "rumoured" to go to Boston ever since he knocked Cooke out. I don't buy it at all. Same with Boychuk. This isn't the first time he's been rumoured to go to Edmonton. No question Boston likes big-bodied wingers, but I don't think they take a chance on him with what happened to Seguin.

I agree with players on good teams to bad teams, although I do think there's something to be said for defensemen looking good in Boston's system. I think on average Bruins forwards get underrated and Bruins defensemen get overrated.

Edmonton is still in a bad situation IMO. They thought they'd be fine going with an offensive skill overload in their top 6, and now they're starting to realize they need more grit/toughness and are overloading their depth players with that type of player. It reminds me of what Burke tried to do in Toronto and it just didn't work. IMO by far their biggest issue is that their top 6 is unbelievably easy to play against. It's just pure offensive skill with no toughness or defensive responsibility. I think they really need to part with one of Eberle or Yakupov (maybe even RNH) to try to fix that, despite their value being at a low right now.

[Ninetales]

hm well the reason that the oilers suck is certainly not that we have "too much skill". People keep saying that, but really if you look at the top 6, it's not even strong. Hall is a star. Nuge was shoved into playing against the best centers in the league from the start, and while I think he's very good, id rather him have been eased into it but its trial by fire in edmonton. Eberle is good, but i have my doubts of him getting 70+ points again unless hes surrounded by stars. Gagner was a tire fire in his own zone last year and seems like another player that relies on his linemates to dictate how good he can be (ie he'll get traded to chicago and play well haha). Yak is similar to gags last year in his d play, but if he can figure out how to use the ice around him he'll be great. And Perron is a very good second liner. So I mean that's not that great tbh. Couple that with 3rd and 4th lines that are also terrible and bang you got a giant mess. Going off what MacT has said recently hes looking to add 2 or 3 forwards this offseason, including a second line center. Brad Richards would be an interesting one, but im not sure hed want to come here. Or they could try and get someone like Grabovski too. Retooling the third line has also got to be a priotity. Depending on how the draft goes, we basically have 0 third liners (assuming Gordon gets moved down to the 4th to have a "tough minutes" line). Guys id be looking for would be Goc, Pouilot, Kulemin, Moss, Penner. A combination of two of those even would be great. Worst comes to worst, Arcobello could fill a third line role and id be happy with that.

Hall-Nuge-Eberle
Perron-Richards-Yakupov
Kulemin-Goc-Arcobello(or player traded for Gags, draft pick perhaps)
Hendricks-Gordon-Joensuu

Not terrible.

Defense is just as dire. We have no first pairing guys really. MacT says he wants to add 2 dmen. One offensively talented top line guys. and one lower level stay at home type player. I was really hoping they could get Stralman for cheap, but since the playoffs it looks like he will get seriously paid. Brian Campbell wants out in Florida and id love if we could get him here, but hes got a no trade clause and what are the odds hed come here. 0% tops. If Stralman is off the table, i wonder what it would take to get someone like Ehrhoff out of Buffalo or Byfuglien out of Winnipeg. Probably a lot. Im curious how theyll swing this offensive dman as they dont exactly grow on trees. oh and Tom Gilbert is great we should get him back exactly what we need and cheap booo. I hear Brayden Coburn is on the oilers radar but i have no idea what wed give up and im guessing it would be too much. Signing someone like Nikitin or Fayne might make more sense

Let's just say we make no trades and this is how itll end up haha

Stralman-Petry
Marincin-Nikitin
Ference-Schultz

not terrible. its going to be very difficult to completely fix this though.

[Thom Yorke]

Who do you want in the draft assuming Ekblad goes before #3? I think Reinhart would be a great fit, although it's tough to imagine he'll get past Buffalo. He has an extremely polished overall game for his age and looks nearly bust-proof. Maybe bringing him along in a third line role to start him off (provided they can trade for that #2 center) could do wonders for the Oilers in the future with RNH/Reinhart as a 1-2 punch (RNH getting the favourable offensive role, Reinhart with the more complete game as a 1A/1B situation).

I'd strongly consider trying to trade up to a top 2 spot if possible. While there's a clear top 5 (Ekblad, Reinhart, Draisaitl, Bennett and Dal Colle), I only see those top 2 guys as being true franchise players and perfect fits for Edmonton.

[Ninetales]

Yep I am hoping for Reinhart. For basically the reasons you said. I read a thing on him recently comparing his junior production with other players and he is in very good company (i think hes scoring at a similar pace to Stamkos??) Apparently the Oilers are big on Draisaitl so Im guessing thats who we end up getting, even if Reinhart is on the table. But this draft is crazy and i have no idea whos going where. Reinhart could go 4th!

Id probably rather have Bennett over Draisaitl too, but some are comparing him to Nichushkin and having watched a ton of Stars games down the stretch that really excites me.

[Thom Yorke]

I'm actually a really big fan of Draisaitl, and have been since I saw him at the 2013 World Juniors. Wouldn't put him over Reinhart, but I definitely like him more than Bennett (although most would disagree with that).

I don't really see the comparison to Nichushkin though TBH. I guess they're similar in that they're tough to contain 1-on-1 and are bigger bodies, but outside of that, I don't see too many similarities. By far Draisaitl's best attribute is his offensive hockey sense. It's so apparent when you watch him. His vision is pretty remarkable and you can tell he thinks the game very well. By far his weakest attribute is his skating. He's not fast and is not a particularly good skater either. Nichushkin on the other hand is a great skater. I personally don't think his skating is that big of a deal as it can be improved. The biggest asset a prospect can have is hockey sense, and he has a ton of it. He does need to work on his defense though. He kind of reminds me of a poor man's Tavares coming out of junior actually. Tavares was way more of a goal scorer and Draisaitl is more of a playmaker, but they both had big questions about their skating, but were good in 1-on-1 battles and had a better understanding of the offensive side of the game than anyone in their draft class.

Also, it can't be overstated how weak of a team he was on. The quality of his teammates was really poor. Kind of reminds me of Seguin coming out of junior, where he was a one-man show in his draft year.

[The Ascension]

Draisitl seems to be built in the Kopitar mold to me. I believe there have been questions about his effort level, though.

This draft could be all over the place. Especially the top 5 or so.

[Ninetales]

Originally Posted by The Ascension

I believe there have been questions about his effort level, though.

ah good another european scapegoat.

But I think most prospects coming out of junior (or atleast the top end ones) need to work on their defense the most. I kind of get worried when the "2-way player" gets thrown around for a top 10 draftee because i just think that theyre going to end up being third liners. So im not really worried about Draisaitl in that regard. Having good hockey sense is great though. Wonder how him and Yak would do together. Wowza. Unlike previous years im not really leaning towards one player. Id be pretty content with any of the top 4 guys. Or even if we traded the pick. Anything goes.

[Thom Yorke]

I think the top 4 are pretty cut and dry with Ekblad, Reinhart, Draisaitl and Bennett, although they could definitely be all over the place in the order they go. It's actually kind of similar to last year with Mackinnon, Barkov, Drouin and Jones. No one's cracking that group, but there's a lot of debate as to where they'd all land.

Dal Colle should most likely go #5 as well, especially considering the Islanders are actively shopping that pick. I have seen him dropping in a lot of people's mock drafts for some reason, but I still think he's the BPA. There will be a massive run of wingers between 5-15 (and really, the entire first round TBH), and he's the best of the bunch, so I think the most likely scenario is that someone trades up to try to secure him at 5.

Haydn Fleury is also going to be a really hot commodity. This is such a weak draft for defensemen, so someone might want to jump up higher than they need to to get him.

[The Ascension]

One of Dal Colle or Ehlers should be expected to go at 5. Isles could use one more winger and the #5 slots them in the PERFECT spot to pick one up. Unless they trade the pick, which I doubt happens. No one will give up what Snow is asking for in return.

I could see the Panthers picking Reinhart over Ekblad, and then they trade assets for help on D. That's a team that, while bad, needs to kick the tires and improve their roster now. Having Barkov-Bjugstad-Reinhart down the middle will almost certainly lead the Panthers to the playoffs in the near future.

[Thom Yorke]

I wonder if that Gudbranson pick that hasn't quite panned out yet will plant a seed of doubt in Tallon. His history of high picks is very heavy on forwards when there were some opportunities to go with D:

2005 - Skille at 7 (Bourdon, Staal and Lee were on the board)
2006 - Toews at 3 (no debate about this one)
2007 - Kane at 1 (no debate in terms of defensemen worth taking at #1)
2008 - Beach at 11 (Myers, Teubert, Karlsson, Del Zotto all options)
2010 - Bjugstad at 15 after Gudbranson at 3 (Pysyk dropped, although it's understandable to not want to draft 2 D in the first)
2011 - Huberdeau at 3 (could have gone with Larsson)
2013 - Barkov at 2 (could have gone with Jones)

You have to hit on this pick if you're a team like Florida, and Reinhart is like the ultimate safe pick at #1. Do-it-all right-handed centerman with great NHL bloodlines; if there's a safe pick in an NHL draft, this is it. I've never believed in picking for need, especially so high in the draft. You should go for the BPA every time.