Post-draft Report Cards (Franchises C)
Oct 7, 2016 17:05:36 GMT -5
bjernagris (PHI) and Ville (SJS) like this
Post by brentdog on Oct 7, 2016 17:05:36 GMT -5
CALGARY FLAMES
Another team who shed a lot of draft picks in pursuit of glory, the Flames came to Philadelphia with just three selections to make, although granted one of these was in the first round.
With regards to said first-round selection, given that GM MacDonald usually drafts well it was no surprise when he picked the excellent Anderson MacDonald (23rd), a goal-scoring power forward with the combination of skill, strength and speed to be a consistent threat at the next level.
The two mid-round picks in the Flames arsenal brought mixed results. Alexis Gravel (71st) is an odd choice given his struggles with positioning and rebounds in the O that led to a save average of just .883% across the last two seasons. In contrast, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (94th) is a shifty Russian forward with quick hands who is used to a North American style of hockey and represents an excellent value pick in the fourth round.
Summary: Two out of three is a decent enough ratio, although of course three out of three would have been better! - B
CAROLINA HURRICANES
The ‘canes usually come to the draft armed with a clutch of picks after trading off a star player or two at the deadline and Philly was certainly no exception to that rule, with picks from the Lindholm and Skinner trades ensuring GM Constantin came armed with five selections in the first three rounds.
Of those picks the most important was undoubtedly Joe Veleno (7th), a skilled playmaker with size who has dominated in the Q for three seasons. The next player to don a ‘canes jersey was Ty Smith (36th), a gifted puckmover who shouldered huge minutes for the Spokane Chiefs this past season. Our favourite pick though is who Constantin selected next – huge two-way forward Tyler Popowich (51st), a kid with a big frame, big shot and an even bigger heart.
Michael Ferrandino (59th) is the only knock I would make on the ‘canes. He’s a blueliner who’s solid enough on the puck and has scored points in the USHL, but was probably selected a couple of rounds too early given the quality still available when he was picked. On the flipside, powerful sniper Benoit Olivier-Groulx (63rd) could prove to be an absolute steal – he was a pre-season first rounder for a lot of pundits but slid due to an unfortunate elbow injury. Provided he recovers ok, Groulx’s mix of strength and skill means he has the potential to be a top-6 goalscorer for an iNHL franchise.
Carolina’s strong haul of picks were rounded out by Carter Robertson (110th) and Calen Kiefiuk (123rd). Robertson is a defence-first blueliner who isn’t afraid to put his body on the line for the team, whilst Illinois born Kiefiuk has shown good speed and stickhandling for Michigan State in the NCAA.
Summary: Some great picks here, particularly Popowich and Groulx, solidifying an already formidable prospect pool down in Raleigh - A-
COLORADO AVALANCHE
Not much to report here after disgraced former GM Ryan Crappa spent all the family silver in a failed chase for Cup Glory. The Avs two picks yielded a fairly skinny return – skilled center Liam Foudy (57th), a kid with all the offensive tools in the world but serious questions marks over his compete level, and two-way winger Zach Pellegrino (207th), a character forward with good hockey IQ who was probably worth a late round gamble given his production in the USHL.
Summary: The Avs came to Philly without a whole lot and didn’t leave with all that much either - D-
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
For someone showing up to his first iNHL draft it’s fair to say that Blue Jackets GM William Leaf had an outstanding weekend in Philadelphia. With almost every pick I could legitimately say “I can see what Leaf is doing here.” In adding tough types with size and strength and augmenting them with skill players of good character, it’s pretty clear the Blue Jackets are looking to make themselves difficult to play against at both ends of the ice.
This clear priority for size and compete-level began with the selection of Jaxon Nelson (20th), a 6’5” power-forward who plays tough Minnesotan hockey with a dash of skill to boot. Next came two-way forward Joel Farabee (32nd), a skilful high-energy winger who doesn’t quit on the puck, and big bodied Swiss forward Nando Eggenberger (54th), a player who loves to crash the net and battle hard infront of the crease. Swedish winger Dennis Finn Olsson (152nd) is a strong, mobile power forward with hockey bloodlines and an impressive points haul in the Swedish junior leagues. Next pick Max Patterson (153rd) makes him look small in comparison though – he’s a 6’7” monster of a winger who certainly has work to do to put it all together, but there’s nothing wrong in our eyes with taking a ‘risk-reward’ project player when you have so many picks at your disposal.
On defence extra snarl was added in the shape of two great late round choices in Kevin Bahl (150th) and Ethan Cap (173rd). They’re both big, mean shutdown types who epitomise the no-nonsense playing style that GM Leaf is opting for, although Bahl strikes us as the better prospect of the two – the noise coming out of the WHL is that his combination of size, mobility and hard-hitting has made him a holy terror for opposing forwards to play against.
Of course, you can’t just go with nothing but physicality in the new iNHL and GM Leaf made some good choices in terms of his more skill-oriented picks, opting for mobile blueliner Evan Bouchard (43rd), creative pivot Nathan Dunkley (127th) and speedy sniper Harrison Roy (186th). Bouchard has the kind of offensive read from the blueline that doesn’t come around very often and he’s more than capable of quarterbacking the Blue Jackets powerplay for years to come. Dunkley is a slick puckhandler who we were much higher on in our mock draft– he went the ‘Matthews route’ in playing against men in the Swiss National Liga and his game has benefited significantly as a result, so he should have been worth a 3rd round pick in our eyes. Harrison Roy, meanwhile, is the type of speedy operator who is adept at ghosting into space to make use of his accurate wrister.
Summary: Once this crop of youngsters are all grown up there will be no more ‘gimme’ games in Columbus - A+
Another team who shed a lot of draft picks in pursuit of glory, the Flames came to Philadelphia with just three selections to make, although granted one of these was in the first round.
With regards to said first-round selection, given that GM MacDonald usually drafts well it was no surprise when he picked the excellent Anderson MacDonald (23rd), a goal-scoring power forward with the combination of skill, strength and speed to be a consistent threat at the next level.
The two mid-round picks in the Flames arsenal brought mixed results. Alexis Gravel (71st) is an odd choice given his struggles with positioning and rebounds in the O that led to a save average of just .883% across the last two seasons. In contrast, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (94th) is a shifty Russian forward with quick hands who is used to a North American style of hockey and represents an excellent value pick in the fourth round.
Summary: Two out of three is a decent enough ratio, although of course three out of three would have been better! - B
CAROLINA HURRICANES
The ‘canes usually come to the draft armed with a clutch of picks after trading off a star player or two at the deadline and Philly was certainly no exception to that rule, with picks from the Lindholm and Skinner trades ensuring GM Constantin came armed with five selections in the first three rounds.
Of those picks the most important was undoubtedly Joe Veleno (7th), a skilled playmaker with size who has dominated in the Q for three seasons. The next player to don a ‘canes jersey was Ty Smith (36th), a gifted puckmover who shouldered huge minutes for the Spokane Chiefs this past season. Our favourite pick though is who Constantin selected next – huge two-way forward Tyler Popowich (51st), a kid with a big frame, big shot and an even bigger heart.
Michael Ferrandino (59th) is the only knock I would make on the ‘canes. He’s a blueliner who’s solid enough on the puck and has scored points in the USHL, but was probably selected a couple of rounds too early given the quality still available when he was picked. On the flipside, powerful sniper Benoit Olivier-Groulx (63rd) could prove to be an absolute steal – he was a pre-season first rounder for a lot of pundits but slid due to an unfortunate elbow injury. Provided he recovers ok, Groulx’s mix of strength and skill means he has the potential to be a top-6 goalscorer for an iNHL franchise.
Carolina’s strong haul of picks were rounded out by Carter Robertson (110th) and Calen Kiefiuk (123rd). Robertson is a defence-first blueliner who isn’t afraid to put his body on the line for the team, whilst Illinois born Kiefiuk has shown good speed and stickhandling for Michigan State in the NCAA.
Summary: Some great picks here, particularly Popowich and Groulx, solidifying an already formidable prospect pool down in Raleigh - A-
COLORADO AVALANCHE
Not much to report here after disgraced former GM Ryan Crappa spent all the family silver in a failed chase for Cup Glory. The Avs two picks yielded a fairly skinny return – skilled center Liam Foudy (57th), a kid with all the offensive tools in the world but serious questions marks over his compete level, and two-way winger Zach Pellegrino (207th), a character forward with good hockey IQ who was probably worth a late round gamble given his production in the USHL.
Summary: The Avs came to Philly without a whole lot and didn’t leave with all that much either - D-
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
For someone showing up to his first iNHL draft it’s fair to say that Blue Jackets GM William Leaf had an outstanding weekend in Philadelphia. With almost every pick I could legitimately say “I can see what Leaf is doing here.” In adding tough types with size and strength and augmenting them with skill players of good character, it’s pretty clear the Blue Jackets are looking to make themselves difficult to play against at both ends of the ice.
This clear priority for size and compete-level began with the selection of Jaxon Nelson (20th), a 6’5” power-forward who plays tough Minnesotan hockey with a dash of skill to boot. Next came two-way forward Joel Farabee (32nd), a skilful high-energy winger who doesn’t quit on the puck, and big bodied Swiss forward Nando Eggenberger (54th), a player who loves to crash the net and battle hard infront of the crease. Swedish winger Dennis Finn Olsson (152nd) is a strong, mobile power forward with hockey bloodlines and an impressive points haul in the Swedish junior leagues. Next pick Max Patterson (153rd) makes him look small in comparison though – he’s a 6’7” monster of a winger who certainly has work to do to put it all together, but there’s nothing wrong in our eyes with taking a ‘risk-reward’ project player when you have so many picks at your disposal.
On defence extra snarl was added in the shape of two great late round choices in Kevin Bahl (150th) and Ethan Cap (173rd). They’re both big, mean shutdown types who epitomise the no-nonsense playing style that GM Leaf is opting for, although Bahl strikes us as the better prospect of the two – the noise coming out of the WHL is that his combination of size, mobility and hard-hitting has made him a holy terror for opposing forwards to play against.
Of course, you can’t just go with nothing but physicality in the new iNHL and GM Leaf made some good choices in terms of his more skill-oriented picks, opting for mobile blueliner Evan Bouchard (43rd), creative pivot Nathan Dunkley (127th) and speedy sniper Harrison Roy (186th). Bouchard has the kind of offensive read from the blueline that doesn’t come around very often and he’s more than capable of quarterbacking the Blue Jackets powerplay for years to come. Dunkley is a slick puckhandler who we were much higher on in our mock draft– he went the ‘Matthews route’ in playing against men in the Swiss National Liga and his game has benefited significantly as a result, so he should have been worth a 3rd round pick in our eyes. Harrison Roy, meanwhile, is the type of speedy operator who is adept at ghosting into space to make use of his accurate wrister.
Summary: Once this crop of youngsters are all grown up there will be no more ‘gimme’ games in Columbus - A+