Post-draft Report Cards (Franchises L to M)
Oct 26, 2016 11:31:24 GMT -5
bjernagris (PHI) and mattgough60 like this
Post by brentdog on Oct 26, 2016 11:31:24 GMT -5
LOS ANGELES KINGS
If there’s a franchise more desperately in need of an injection of talent into their prospect pool then you’ll be hard-pressed to find it. Kings GM Markiss has been ‘all-in’ on getting to the playoffs the last couple of seasons, taking on a host of veteran talent and trading away all manner of picks and prospects in the process, the worst of which was probably moving what ultimately proved to be the 2nd overall pick for a bundle of fairly average roster players. Ask yourself this: which would you prefer, a future franchise player or Marcus’s Foligno and Johansson?
All of this left the Kings with just three picks this draft, although granted one of these was a high second rounder. And as with their first pick last year, LA drafted out of the QMJHL in the shape of Edouard St. Laurent (34th), a gifted, agile sniper with a quick release who potted 20 goals for the Gatineau Olympiques this year – they’ll no doubt be hoping for some strong chemistry between him and last year’s first round selection Maxime Comtois.
Kings fans then had to wait until deep into the second day to next see a player pull on their distinctive black jersey, with first Parker Foo (180th) and then Will MacKinnon (187th) being selected in the last two rounds of the draft. The best that can probably be said about Foo is that he’s a strong kid who isn’t afraid to drop the gloves, but he’ll need to develop well beyond what appears to be his natural ceiling if he’s to even make it as an AHL-er. MacKinnon meanwhile is a shutdown defenceman with a big shot from the point who has performed well in the NCAA and represents a smart seventh round pickup.
Summary: A sniper like St. Laurent alongside a playmaker like Comtois should work well, but this draft still leaves the Kings with one of the weakest prospect pools in the iNHL - C-
MINNESOTA WILD
It’s hard not to be impressed with the way the Wild have conducted themselves over the last couple of years. Where some franchises go for big trade after big trade, or others mortgage off all their picks and prospects in a chase for glory, the canny Minnesotans have built slowly and steadily, relying on smart drafting and good player development to move them forward. Moreover it’s a recipe that seems to work, with consistent playoff appearances and a strong prospect pool backed up by canny veteran leadership. Even after the upheaval of losing long-standing former GM Danny Smith and seeing replacement Egan Franke poached by Winnipeg, this draft represented a strong opening act for rookie GM Caiden Teague - albeit with one or two minor missteps.
Funnily enough, the first of these missteps was actually with their first round pick. Christopher Dedeyan (16th) is a reliable defenseman with good smarts and an active stick that enables him to break up plays before they reach his blueline, but there were better defensive options available when he was picked and he was probably selected a round or two too early on that basis.
Now usually going wrong with your first rounder would represent a disastrous draft, but not so for Minnesota, who bounced back with two second round picks that would have been first round talents in any other year. Aidan Dudas (46th) is a speedy skiller full of dekes and moves who put up nearly a point per game for a weak Kitchener Rangers team, whilst Brady Tkachuk (50th), brother of Matt, is a versatile two-way forward with an aggressive and fearless style of play.
Four of the Wild’s next seven picks were American, starting with Phil Kemp (106th), a steady blueline presence with a defense first mentality. Will Lockwood (136th) is a classic grinder-type who makes his money in the trenches, but also has a decent enough wrist-shot to be an offensive threat as well. Matt Cameron (196th) is fairly unremarkable, a guy who put up points in the USHL but doesn’t have any next-level attributes. He stands in stark contrast to big-bodied defenseman Tyler Inamoto (206th), a standout performer for Team USA at the WJC and an excellent selection in the seventh round.
Among this flurry of red, white and blue the Wild showed they were equally happy drafting players from more exotic hockey nations, picking Danish forward Lucas Andersen (76th) and French blueliner Enzo Gueby (166th). Andersen is a former KHL first-round selection with deft puck-handling skills and Gueby is a two-way defenceman with an intriguing combination of strength and skating ability.
The final knock on Minnesota would be that they only drafted the one goalie in Amir Miftakhov (176th), a curious move given that Kaapo Kahkonen was allowed to drift out of their prospect pool shortly after the draft. Miftakhov himself is a solid enough goalie with decent reflexes and recovery skills, although slightly behind his peers in terms of overall development at this point.
Summary: Some mistakes balanced out by some absolute gems. This represents a good first showing for rookie GM Caiden Teague - B
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Is there a GM seemingly more averse to picking in the first round than Matt Gough? After not even showing up to the previous draft Montreal at least came to the party this year, although as is tradition they did so without a first rounder, leaving Habs fans to question whether or not they would ever see another potential first line talent drafted by their franchise.
Fortunately for long-suffering Canadiens fans Gough knocked it out of the park with his first pick, selecting the offensive dynamo that is Mathias Emilio Pettersen (37th), a speedy puckhandler who is hands down the best prospect to come out of Norway since Mats Zuccarello. This was followed up with another good pick in Brady Hinz (39th), a nippy playmaking winger with excellent energy levels.
As you would expect, the Canadiens drafted three Quebec-born players with their remaining five picks: two-way blueliner Mathieu Charlebois (87th), a smart and simple player with good checking ability; shot-blocking defensive D Guillame Beck (163rd); and pick of the bunch Alex Olivier-Voyer (191st), a slick scorer who was inexplicably passed over last year and made BCHL goalies pay for it with 60 points in 54 games. To add to this Quebec-oriented bias Gough also selected fellow PEI native Thomas Casey (193rd) out of the QMJHL, a big two-way center with good faceoff ability who performed well on the PK for Sherbrooke Phoenix this year.
Meanwhile Nathan Torchia (133rd) of the OHL’s Owen Sound was the Habs sole goalie selection. Torchia has a strong blocker and good positioning and will vie with Evan Fitzpatrick for the chance to be the long-term successor to Corey Schneider, although it’s highly doubtful he’ll ever reach such a rarefied level.
Summary: For a team that never seems to draft in the first round, the depth in this draft meant the Habs actually managed to snag themselves the equivalent of a first round talent - and back that up with further solid selections to boot – B+
If there’s a franchise more desperately in need of an injection of talent into their prospect pool then you’ll be hard-pressed to find it. Kings GM Markiss has been ‘all-in’ on getting to the playoffs the last couple of seasons, taking on a host of veteran talent and trading away all manner of picks and prospects in the process, the worst of which was probably moving what ultimately proved to be the 2nd overall pick for a bundle of fairly average roster players. Ask yourself this: which would you prefer, a future franchise player or Marcus’s Foligno and Johansson?
All of this left the Kings with just three picks this draft, although granted one of these was a high second rounder. And as with their first pick last year, LA drafted out of the QMJHL in the shape of Edouard St. Laurent (34th), a gifted, agile sniper with a quick release who potted 20 goals for the Gatineau Olympiques this year – they’ll no doubt be hoping for some strong chemistry between him and last year’s first round selection Maxime Comtois.
Kings fans then had to wait until deep into the second day to next see a player pull on their distinctive black jersey, with first Parker Foo (180th) and then Will MacKinnon (187th) being selected in the last two rounds of the draft. The best that can probably be said about Foo is that he’s a strong kid who isn’t afraid to drop the gloves, but he’ll need to develop well beyond what appears to be his natural ceiling if he’s to even make it as an AHL-er. MacKinnon meanwhile is a shutdown defenceman with a big shot from the point who has performed well in the NCAA and represents a smart seventh round pickup.
Summary: A sniper like St. Laurent alongside a playmaker like Comtois should work well, but this draft still leaves the Kings with one of the weakest prospect pools in the iNHL - C-
MINNESOTA WILD
It’s hard not to be impressed with the way the Wild have conducted themselves over the last couple of years. Where some franchises go for big trade after big trade, or others mortgage off all their picks and prospects in a chase for glory, the canny Minnesotans have built slowly and steadily, relying on smart drafting and good player development to move them forward. Moreover it’s a recipe that seems to work, with consistent playoff appearances and a strong prospect pool backed up by canny veteran leadership. Even after the upheaval of losing long-standing former GM Danny Smith and seeing replacement Egan Franke poached by Winnipeg, this draft represented a strong opening act for rookie GM Caiden Teague - albeit with one or two minor missteps.
Funnily enough, the first of these missteps was actually with their first round pick. Christopher Dedeyan (16th) is a reliable defenseman with good smarts and an active stick that enables him to break up plays before they reach his blueline, but there were better defensive options available when he was picked and he was probably selected a round or two too early on that basis.
Now usually going wrong with your first rounder would represent a disastrous draft, but not so for Minnesota, who bounced back with two second round picks that would have been first round talents in any other year. Aidan Dudas (46th) is a speedy skiller full of dekes and moves who put up nearly a point per game for a weak Kitchener Rangers team, whilst Brady Tkachuk (50th), brother of Matt, is a versatile two-way forward with an aggressive and fearless style of play.
Four of the Wild’s next seven picks were American, starting with Phil Kemp (106th), a steady blueline presence with a defense first mentality. Will Lockwood (136th) is a classic grinder-type who makes his money in the trenches, but also has a decent enough wrist-shot to be an offensive threat as well. Matt Cameron (196th) is fairly unremarkable, a guy who put up points in the USHL but doesn’t have any next-level attributes. He stands in stark contrast to big-bodied defenseman Tyler Inamoto (206th), a standout performer for Team USA at the WJC and an excellent selection in the seventh round.
Among this flurry of red, white and blue the Wild showed they were equally happy drafting players from more exotic hockey nations, picking Danish forward Lucas Andersen (76th) and French blueliner Enzo Gueby (166th). Andersen is a former KHL first-round selection with deft puck-handling skills and Gueby is a two-way defenceman with an intriguing combination of strength and skating ability.
The final knock on Minnesota would be that they only drafted the one goalie in Amir Miftakhov (176th), a curious move given that Kaapo Kahkonen was allowed to drift out of their prospect pool shortly after the draft. Miftakhov himself is a solid enough goalie with decent reflexes and recovery skills, although slightly behind his peers in terms of overall development at this point.
Summary: Some mistakes balanced out by some absolute gems. This represents a good first showing for rookie GM Caiden Teague - B
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Is there a GM seemingly more averse to picking in the first round than Matt Gough? After not even showing up to the previous draft Montreal at least came to the party this year, although as is tradition they did so without a first rounder, leaving Habs fans to question whether or not they would ever see another potential first line talent drafted by their franchise.
Fortunately for long-suffering Canadiens fans Gough knocked it out of the park with his first pick, selecting the offensive dynamo that is Mathias Emilio Pettersen (37th), a speedy puckhandler who is hands down the best prospect to come out of Norway since Mats Zuccarello. This was followed up with another good pick in Brady Hinz (39th), a nippy playmaking winger with excellent energy levels.
As you would expect, the Canadiens drafted three Quebec-born players with their remaining five picks: two-way blueliner Mathieu Charlebois (87th), a smart and simple player with good checking ability; shot-blocking defensive D Guillame Beck (163rd); and pick of the bunch Alex Olivier-Voyer (191st), a slick scorer who was inexplicably passed over last year and made BCHL goalies pay for it with 60 points in 54 games. To add to this Quebec-oriented bias Gough also selected fellow PEI native Thomas Casey (193rd) out of the QMJHL, a big two-way center with good faceoff ability who performed well on the PK for Sherbrooke Phoenix this year.
Meanwhile Nathan Torchia (133rd) of the OHL’s Owen Sound was the Habs sole goalie selection. Torchia has a strong blocker and good positioning and will vie with Evan Fitzpatrick for the chance to be the long-term successor to Corey Schneider, although it’s highly doubtful he’ll ever reach such a rarefied level.
Summary: For a team that never seems to draft in the first round, the depth in this draft meant the Habs actually managed to snag themselves the equivalent of a first round talent - and back that up with further solid selections to boot – B+