Draft re-caps

[Jiri Hrdina]

Always good to hear a summary from teams.

The Wild entered the draft with fewer picks and less prep work than normal, which was uncomfortable.

We made a late trade to move from 16 to 14, because there was a clear shelf that we wanted in on.

At 14, the guy left from that list was Carter Yakemchuk which is the type of D we look for - all offensive upside. I think he could drop a little in the draft, but really happy he was there.

At 16, our original slot, we were looking at Michael Hage, Stian Solberg or Adam Jiricek. Sure enough, Tampa grabs Hage right in that spot.

But I was happy that Solberg was there at 21. Comparisons to Seider excite me. And then Jiricek, who I was very high on before his injury, was there at 23. So getting those two was great. The only thing is drafting 3 dmen wasn't really the plan. But that speaks to where the strength of this draft is.

We then had a long break until the 3rd.
- Harrison Brunicke at 63. Yet ANOTHER D but he was by far the highest value left on my board. Would have taken Justin Poirier and he goes two slots before. Even tried to acquire 60 to get him.
- We take a couple of forwards with wimpy sounding names later in the 3rd: Herman Traff and Melvin Fernstrom.
- And then we roll the dice on a couple of goalies to round things out: Carter George and Eemil Vinni.

Would have loved to have more picks but just couldn't make it happen. Fun draft and we nearly got through the entire thing without an error.

[Ped]

Ottawa didn't have a lot of picks, and without the asset-poor ones would have been even worse.


Very happy to get Cole Hutson at the end of the 1st. Was hoping for a way to snag Kiviharju, but no such luck. NOt a lot of goalie/blueline prospects so happy to add Saarinen, Fischer, Fischer, and Soini. Missed out on Vinni because I thought he was an overager but oh well.


Traded down with the NYI to add a bunch of picks next year, and grabbed a couple of forwards in Kleber, Pikkarainen, and Spellacy. I will admit I drew from a few lists, and Sandman's was one of them.


Also picked for both WAS and ARI. Dunno how happy they are, but it was a fun way to get more involved at my first draft.

[Ped]

Also, thanks to Jiri and Scorp for keeping the draft entertaining.

[Blaster86]

Y u no discord?!?!

I got my guy in Cole Eiserman which I am particularly ecstatic about

[devo22]

#3 C Cayden Lindstrom | Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL

By far the most difficult draft pick in my time as a CPHL GM. I expected Demidov to go at 2, so that left me with a lot of options at 3. I don't know how often I flip-flopped between Lindstrom and Levshunov today, let alone the past few days. I had some discussions about potentially trading down a spot or two, but it didn't come together and so in the end, I had to make a choice.

I've been Lindstrom fanboy for a very long time, and without his injury concerns, this wouldn't have been a tough call for me. But, the issues are there and you can't ignore them. From what I could gather from the chatter around the combine, teams appear to be comfortable with his medical situation, and so I took the risk. If teams are comfortable with his back, I fully expect him to go in the top 4 or 5 next week.

I'm aware this is a swing for the fences, but I think players who offer such an enticing combination of size, skill, competitiveness and hockey smarts are pretty rare. If he stays healthy, I have zero doubts that this is a good pick. If he doesn't, I'll have to take my lumps.

#25 C Sacha Boisvert | Muskegon Lumberjacks, USHL

I wanted another 1st round pick and I really liked some guys in that 20-25 bracket. simmer2 and I agreed to a conditional deal for 25th overall a few days ago, depending on how the board would fall, and we ultimately ended up making the deal today. And although some of the guys I had circled for this pick (namely Luchanko, admittedly a long-shot, and Jiricek) were gone, I still had two guys to choose from that I had zeroed in on here. I ended up taking Boisvert over Parascak.

There's a lot to like when it comes to Boisvert: good size, great shot, decent speed and a lot of intangibles. 36 goals in the USHL as a 17 year old is nothing to sneeze at, and because of his all-around game, I think it's easy to project him to be a middle-six center when developed correctly. He still has to put on some more weight, but going the college route, he'll have time to do that. He's committed to North Dakota in the fall.

#75 C Raoul Boilard | Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL
#83 C Christian Humphreys | USNTDP, USHL

Another pair of centers in the 3rd and 4th round. I actually wanted to get another defenseman or a goalie here, but the blueliners I liked flew off the board just before I was on the clock at #75. Boilard didn't do a lot in the BCHL last year, but he had a good season in the QMJHL with 22 goals and 62 points. Good size, decent hands, solid all-around game, so I'm happy I got him here. Humphreys was a 2nd rounder in many lists early in the season, but ultimately dropped a bit, also because of an injury (from which he returned and looked fine). He may ultimately end up being a right winger, also because of somewhat limited size. He's another one that will benefit from going the college route, and having committed to a great program in Michigan in the fall, I expect him to be developed correctly.

#85 C Simon Zether | Rögle BK, SHL
#90 D Noel Fransen | Färjestad BK, SHL

Finished things off with two Swedes. Being a bit of an older prospect in this class (October birthday) and having decent size, Zether spent most of the season playing in the SHL already (42 games). Played some U20 hockey for Rögle too, scoring at a 1.5 ppg clip. Probably more of a high floor, 3rd line C profile, but I like what I've read. Wheeler had him at 46, so who knows. And finally a defenseman in Fransen, and he's an interesting one too. He's got great offensive skills (20 goals and 44 points in 45 games in the U20 for Färjestad), but his defense needs some work. Decent size (6'1 187), but not the best skater. There's certainly something there if developed correctly, but it might take some time.

Didn't expect this draft to end up being so center heavy, but that's simply how the board fell for me this time. And you can never have enough centers anyway, right? Ultimately, the Lindstrom pick will obviously define this class for me, and it's going to be interesting for me to see how it all shakes out. Fingers crossed.

[simmer2]

Pick 11- Beckett Sennecke - Draft day riser. Grew from 5'11 to 6'3 in one year. Plays a small man's game in a big body. Figured it would come down to him or Catton...thrilled I got Sennecke. He could go 6 or 7 in the draft.

Pick 30 - Cole Beaudoin - Great play at U18's. One of the fittest guys in the draft, has an NHL body already at 6'2, 208lbs. Upside is 2nd line centre, but a high floor as well. Likely goes early 20's

Pick 32 - Julius Miettenen - 6'3 center with speed and soft hands. Plays a menacing game, loves parking himself in front of the goalie. 30+ goals as a 1st year in North America. He's the guy I really wanted and bet he would still be there dropping down. Glad I snagged him.

Pick 42 - Alfons Freij - 6'1, one of the fastest players in the draft. He's a wildcard, all over draft boards. At this spot I'm happy with him and he is my bonus pick from trading down.

Pick 48 - Dominik Badinka - 6'3 smooth skating dman. Played SHL as an 18yr old for Malmo which is no small feat. We shall see how he develops...upside maybe #4 dman.

Overall very happy with how the draft shook out, all my guys were ranked higher on my list than where I got them.

[Harry Lime]

The Kings of Los Angeles used all of their picks for this year.

#7 Sam Dickenson

High on my personal board, when he was still available, the Kings decided to keep the pick. Zero holes in his game. PPG player and the best defensive D in the draft.

#34 Charlie Elick

Big, mean defensive D with good mobility. The type of player that will play the other side of a top four, with the offensive guy on the other side.

#50 Matvei Shuravin

Smooth skating D that has a good first pass, but has concentrated on defensive play early in his career. Could be a lot of future growth with this player, and a good payoff in the right system.

#54 Nathan Villeneauve

Power forward with a high hockey IQ. At this stage I just wanted to maximize the chance of a player making the NHL, and this guy can play up and down the lineup. High floor, unknown ceiling. His skating improved a lot this last season.

#62 Clarke Caswell

Classic middle six skillset. Nothing explodes off the page, but no glaring weaknesses.

#99 Marcus Gidlof

Big, flashy goalie with all the tools. Definitely a project player, but could really rise in a couple of years.

[TheScorpion]

Pick 37 – EJ Emery
Extremely athletic defenceman who we feel could easily go in the Top 20 of the NHL Draft. Doesn't have great production but is a great skater and not too big. I think he projects to be a surefire top-four guy.

Pick 45 – Teddy Stiga
Wasn't expecting to have him fall into our lap with our second pick. Highly productive, later birthday, ranked well across the board. The type of guy I'd love to see the Flames get.

Pick 60 – Miguel Marques
Grant and I both tried to trade for this pick with the same guy in mind, and then I realized Marques was still there, so I ended up taking him over Justin Poirier, who went at 61. Marques is the slightly safer pick but his numbers aren't quite as eye-popping. Still like him, though.

Pick 68 – Brodie Ziemer
Captained Team USA at the U18s. Put up big numbers with the USTNDP. Going to the University of Minnesota. Need I say more?

Pick 69 – Luca Marrelli
Ranked high by both Bob and Button, which I like. Pretty impressive production with Oshawa in his draft year. Older, but has good size and is a right shot. Checks a lot of boxes.

Pick 70 – Leon Muggli
I'm a big fan of defenders who play big minutes in pro leagues in their draft years. The NL has become pretty underrated in this regard over the last little while. Muggli is pretty young and has a ton of international pedigree.

Pick 71 – Ben Danford
Another right-handed Oshawa D who Bob and Button both like. Had a strong playoff. More of a defensive type.

Pick 78 – Jacob Battaglia
Scored a lot in Kingston without much help. Somehow, he's not related to Bates Battaglia.

Pick 79 – Mac Swanson
Home run swing. Huge numbers in the USHL. Itty bitty, but going to North Dakota and should put up a bunch of points there, too. We'll see. Nickname: "Big Mac"

Took stabs at three guys late in the fourth: Heikki Ruohonen, Jack Pridham, and Timur Kol. We'll see.

[Goffie]

Big day in Montreal

#2 Ivan Demidov- this pick was locked in since I owned the #2 pick after the regular season. Lucky for me I won the lottery because our original #2 pick slipped to #3 and that would have put Demidov out of reach. We feel he is a dynamic winger and we are hopeful he lands in Montreal in the NHL.

#4 Artyom Levshunov - this is the player we were expecting to acquire. I went back and forth with him and Lindstrom multiple times. I was actually hoping Lindstrom would fall and I could load up on forwards early as I knew D would fall.

#5 Tij Iginla- been the pick here for a while for me. I knew that only one of Levshunov and Lindstrom would fall to me. So Iginla was locked in as my #5. Another guy I wouldn’t mind seeing the Habs take.

#12 Anton Silayev - I decided this morning to aim at 3 forwards in the top 5 because I was expecting to take a D here. I honestly didn’t see it being Silayev as I thought he would be off the board. Yakemchuk was my original target. However after I took Levshunov Sennecke became my target. Would have been a tough call if Simmer didn’t take him at #11 as I am not sure I could have let Silayev slip further.

#18 Michael Brandsegg-Nygard - this was a guy who we viewed as a safe pick. I was hoping he would make it to the 18 pick. I think he will be a fan favourite type of player. Very gritty and good two player. We were happy to see him on the board at 18.

#22 Egor Surin - our first home run swing of the day. We see upside in this player and feel that if more scouts could see the Russians live that he would universally be viewed as a top 20 talent. Will be interesting to see where he falls in the NHL.

#28 Dean Letorneau - another guy we took a swing on. We had him in this range on our list and figured he would be an option. Will he be Tage Thompson or Logan Brown? I’m obviously hoping he reaches his potential.

#31 Sam O’Reilly - another safe pick who I think will be an NHLer. We took the advice of our old buddy Cheese on this one and rolled the dice on OReilly

#35 Marek Vanacker - happy to see him fall into our lap. Scorp was not so happy with this pick. A useful multi tool player who I feel would be ranked higher if he wasn’t injured. Looking forward to watching him develop.

#51 Aatos Koivu - sentimental pick. If I am grabbing Iggys son I may as well grab Sakus as well.

All in all we are very happy with how the draft shook out for us and very interested to see where these guys end up next week.

[TheScorpion]

If you hadn't taken Vanacker at 35, I probably would've taken him at 37 and waited to see whether Emery would've lasted until 45.

[Blaster86]

Big day in Montreal as he made every third pick in the draft and was a menace on other people's draft boards.

[Tilley]

Fewer picks for Chicago this draft than the last couple, but also an opportunity to draft earlier than ever in my years in the CPHL.

6 - Berkly Catton - C - As a Spokane Chiefs ticket holder I have watched Catton for two seasons. To say I'm excited to add a dynamic forward of his caliber is an understatement. Although Catton may go a bit later in the NHL draft, the opportunity to draft a player I enjoy was too great. Buium was the other consideration, who I also really like, but had to go with the forward.

33 - Leo Sahlin Wallenius - D - The best Swedish defender in the class, LSW is an offensive dman that I'm excited to add to the prospect pool for the Hawks. He's not huge, but a good skater and very intelligent. I view him as a more offensive Rasmus Andersson. Vanacker was my other option at this pick, but opted for the dman.

89 - Tomas Galvas - D - After a long wait between picks and watching many of the prospects I was hoping would remain slip away, I went with my list and selected another offensive dman in the Czech Galvas. Not big, but very cerebral and a good skater, Galvas will need a NHL team to believe in him and give him a chance.

94 - Javon Moore - LW - With my last pick I went with a forward with size and potential. Moore could go much earlier than anticipated showing good offensive skills and time to mature going to Minnesota. Chose him over a couple other forwards that have a higher floor, but Moore has a much higher ceiling if he develops as hoped.

XX - Jesse Pulkkinen - D - I didn't draft Pulkkinen, but signed him as an overager during the season. An incredible ascension from not being considered last year to the potential of being selected in the top two rounds in this years draft. A bit of a rover from the backline, Pulkkinen shows offensive flair with handles and skating. Defensively a work in progress, he has the potential to be a difference maker.

[JonDuke]

8th overall - Zeev Buium
We had him at #6 so we're obviously happy to snag him at 8.
Thanks to Devo for making the pick for us!

[savemedrzaius]

Wings were happy with how the draft went for us. Our first three picks are players we had on our list and the last two weren't on our list but feel good about the players.

39. Maxim Masse- He was in our Top 3 of players wanted so pumped he was still available.

61. Justin Poirer- Wings always try to get at least one small high-skilled player. Poirer was our guy and our only worry was he would be gone by 61. We look to have maybe hit on Jordan Dumais and hoping Poirer continues to progress.

67. Will Skahan- A huge defensemen who I think has a lot of potential

95. Ondrej Kos- Smart two-way winger with raw skill and physique

105. Oskar Vuollet

[Paulie Walnuts]

Thank you PED for stepping up and doing the draft for me.

[savardandjokinen]

Edmonton

19 - Trevor Connelly: the most controversial pick of the draft, but attitude doesn’t exist in the sim, and we believe he is one of the most talented players in the draft. High risk high reward choice

43 - Henry Mews: offensively puts up the same numbers as a lot of the top dmen in this years draft, but needs to work on his defensive game. We think he could become a 2nd pair PP1 QB down the road

47 - Luke Misa: had good numbers in junior this year, we believe he has a lot of skill and that’s the type of player we wanted to draft around here.

[TheScorpion]

My draft has been nothing short of outstanding so far:

EJ Emery goes pick 30 to NYR. I took him at pick 37.

Ben Danford goes pick 31 to TOR. I took him at pick 71.

Ilya Nabokov goes pick 38 to COL. I signed him for free.

Leon Muggli goes pick 52 to WSH. I took him at pick 70.

Teddy Stiga goes pick 55 to NSH. I took him at pick 45.

Jacob Battaglia goes pick 62 to CGY. I took him at pick 78.

[savardandjokinen]

Connelly pick 19 goes pick 19 to Vegas

Mews pick 43 goes 3rd round to flames

Misa pick 47 goes 5th round to flames

Im very happy with this even tho there were some drops from my 2nd rounders. Flames picks even that out

[devo22]

#3 C Cayden Lindstrom | Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL -1 CBJ
#25 C Sacha Boisvert | Muskegon Lumberjacks, USHL +7 CHI
#75 C Raoul Boilard | Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL -44 NYR
#83 C Christian Humphreys | USNTDP, USHL -132 COL
#85 C Simon Zether | Rögle BK, SHL -44 FLA
#90 D Noel Fransen | Färjestad BK, SHL +21 CAR

ugh. Lindstrom was fine and Boisvert and Fransen went higher than expected, but the rest wasn't pretty. No idea what happened with Humphreys there.

[Goffie]

#2 Demidov - Went 5th to Montreal. Couldn’t be happier! -3

#4 Levshunov - Went 2nd to the hawks. This is what I was expecting when I made the pick. +2

#5 Iginla - Went 6th to Utah. Not a bad landing spot. But was hoping to have him make it to the Flames - -1

#12 Silayev - Went 10th to the devils. Great spot for him. +2

#18 Brandsegg-Nygard - Webt 15th to the wings. This was a predictable landing spot. But he should thrive there. +3

#22 Surin - Went 22 to the Preds. So pretty well in the range I expected him to fall.

#28 Letourneau - went 25th to the Bruins. Yuck! But I think they made a great pick here. +3

#31 O’Reilly - went 32nd to the oilers. Happy to see him go in the first. -1

#35 Vanacker - went 27th to the Hawks. Great landing spot for him and look forward to seeing how he develops after he recovers from injury. +8

#51 Koivu - went 70th to the Habs Was really hoping he would end up in Montreal. Thrilled to see him follow in his father’s footsteps. -19


All in all we are extremely happy with our draft. We turned our 2 late 2nds into NHL 1st rounders giving us 9 first round picks from this draft in our prospect pool.