Jump to content

2014 NHL Draft


Commandant

Recommended Posts

If you wanted, you could probably amend Ekblad's comment to say he played top pairing minutes last year, not just top-4. He was routinely at 25+ a night, sometimes 30+ as well (and even more in the playoffs with O'Connor's excessively excessive suspension).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My November top 10 is out for the 2014 NHL draft. (will do a full top 30 this week)

http://lastwordonsports.com/2013/11/21/nhl-draft-2014-november-rank-part-1-1-10/

Last year Jake Virtanen was a very impressive and feisty 16 year old, not sure he is top ten guy, but I think would look darn good in a Habs jersey.

Haydn Fleury has size and seems to be developing very well, just not so super in own end (in little bit I have seen of him)

That Kasperi Kapanen is one you haven't much on yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I went to the Barrie-Erie game last night. There's no Hab prospects on either team so I won't have a game report on the site, here are my two cents on a few of the draft eligibles though - I'll skip Ekblad since he's not falling anywhere near the Habs' pick:

Barrie:

Brendan Lemieux: Looked much better than when I saw him last year. He's more comfortable playing an offensive role and isn't lost in the pace of the game like he was when he first joined the Colts. Discipline continues to hold him down, however. He's rated a B prospect in CSB's preliminary rankings (2nd/3rd round pick) and that seems right.

Kevin Labanc: For a guy who got lured out of a strong college commitment, I was hoping for a lot more from him. He looks small and played even smaller last night (though that's not the norm). He's listed as a C prospect (mid-late round or undrafted) and right now he's a late rounder at best in my opinion.

Cordell James: He was the 4th line centre on a 4th line that played one shift in the game. Fortunately, he got slotted in periodically on the 3rd where he scored a goal and did well killing a late 5-on-3. That said, I don't think there's any way he gets drafted despite getting an early C ranking from CSB.

Erie:

Darren Raddysh: He was on Erie's 3rd D pairing (also saw a bit of time on the 4th line wing) and he didn't play all that much, especially when Barrie mounted their 2nd period comeback. I didn't get much of a read on him but he didn't stand out. He's also a C-rated prospect and that seems right.

Devin Williams: Looking at his numbers, I'm calling last night an off-night for him. He got yanked in the 2nd after coughing up 4 in 25 minutes (he left with the lead, mind you thanks to the nightmarish performance from Barrie's backup) and he didn't look good on a couple of them. He's another C prospect and given his success this year and his likely ascension to #1 next year, he's probably worth a late round pick despite yesterday's struggle.

Brian Burke and some of his staff were in the owner's box at the game, I suspect they were getting a good look at Ekblad.

By the way, here is where I'm pulling the CSB letter rankings from: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=690971

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Summary: the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.

Hope the game was entertaining at least.

Not quite, Lemieux could be a half-decent prospect and of course there was Ekblad.

The game was rather entertaining, it would have been nice to see a Barrie win though (I don't know if I've ever seen a worse Barrie goalie than the guy they had last night, he singlehandedly cost them the game).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got a few early favourites that I think may fall into the probable Hab range by June (17-25th);

Jake Virtanen of Hitmen, big physical LWer

2 more good sized Swedes in C Adrian Kemp & RW Oskar Lindblom

And a Timmins staple, 2 big USA d-men in Jack Glover & Joshua Jacobs

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Got a few early favourites that I think may fall into the probable Hab range by June (17-25th);

Jake Virtanen of Hitmen, big physical LWer

From the sounds of it he is probably going to be gone by then, maybe even late in the top 10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the sounds of it he is probably going to be gone by then, maybe even late in the top 10

Yup, even as a 16 year old, he was all-round tough/gritty player. And likely gone by 15th, still 5 more months and many games till draft so still just a wild stab.

Last year couldn't of guessed Shinkaruk & Mantha would be in the 20s.

And Shinkaruk went just before Habs picked, which was a bummer (didn't think Timmins would of ever skipped him at 25 and thought he was gonna be a Hab when still available after 23rd pick)

I see Bergevin's type, ranked 19th by Jughead Bob McKenzie in, 6'4" 213lb RW for USNTDP Alex Tuch.

Jake Glover (44), a big USNTDP d-man is an early favourite of mine, as is Adrian Kemp(27)-LW-Swede and Nick Schmaltz(25)-C-USHL, all who may fall in 20-25th range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see Bergevin's type, ranked 19th by Jughead Bob McKenzie in, 6'4" 213lb RW for USNTDP Alex Tuch.

Jake Glover (44), a big USNTDP d-man is an early favourite of mine, as is Adrian Kemp(27)-LW-Swede and Nick Schmaltz(25)-C-USHL, all who may fall in 20-25th range.

I know we ve drafted some good Americans lately such a mcdonough, patches and chucky but I would much rather see us draft someone who s been playing in the CHL. I think the CHL best prepares players to become nhl pros.

Edited by sim.on
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know we ve drafted some good Americans lately such a mcdonough, patches and chucky but I would much rather see us draft someone who s been playing in the CHL. I think the CHL best prepares players to become nhl pros.

Chucky went the CHL route. College didn't hurt players like Toews and McDonagh. If you have a great player, you just get him good coaching. At this point, maybe McCarron would have been better served going to college.

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know we ve drafted some good Americans lately such a mcdonough, patches and chucky but I would much rather see us draft someone who s been playing in the CHL. I think the CHL best prepares players to become nhl pros.

Not sure what stats are for, say kids picked in first 3 rounds, and how NCAA vs CHL vs SHL vs KHL have panned out, I am sure somewhere that stat can be found?

But, I don't care, lots of solid NHLers come from everywhere and I just sort of singled out a couple I "like", that reports/stats from U18 and other tourny's are favourable and McKenzie has slotted for 15-45 range.

And may actually be BPA in Habrange (14th -24th) in 5 months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know we ve drafted some good Americans lately such a mcdonough, patches and chucky but I would much rather see us draft someone who s been playing in the CHL. I think the CHL best prepares players to become nhl pros.

I don't care about preparation. I care about raw talent and mental toughness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't care about preparation. I care about raw talent and mental toughness.

But a Benoit Pouloit, Andrai Kostitsyn and Rene Bourque have 100% raw talent, but also low% the latter and the "between the ears" aspect of prospects is sometimes hardest part to project to a pro career..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Watched Virtanen and team beat up on Thrower-less Giants.

He would look darn good in a Hab jersey and my opinion was the same last year when he was 16.

He is a big skilled feisty player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some good looking americans this year, that may fall in Habs likely range mid-first round or so; Joshua Jacobs/Jack Glover seem like couple good RH d-men, that may fall in that range eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...