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Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt
I want to touch on something else though in another post above. People comparing size/skill vs BPA.
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What I'm saying is that size is one factor that factors into your best player available list. For some teams its a bigger factor than others. Given both Burke and Treliving's comments its clear they see a need to get bigger. Size is a factor in our best player list and because of that Nylander may not be in our top 5. He has top 5 skill but skill is only one factor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt
Say we take a small player in the top end of this draft who has off the charts skill. Can we not cover these players up with bigger bodies every where else? Or do we need to apply that get bigger philosophy to the top of the 1st round.
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Where do we get these big, skilled players? Almost nobody is trading them. The best way to get them is through the draft and the most skilled big players are going to be picked at the very top end. We're drafting high in a good draft year so its a rare opportunity to get a guy with the ideal combination of size, skill, skating, and heart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crumpy-Gunt
I think in 5 years people will look at what marner, gaudreau, nylander, drouin, etc do and will draft differently.
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Small skilled players are great. Almost as great as big, skilled players
The draft has been going similarly for as long as I remember, the smaller guys will slide unless they are truly the most elite talent out there (see Kane).
Imagine there's an amazing small guy available like a Zach Parise. Would we be thrilled to take him? Absolutely. But if there's a Getzlaf and a Perry available as well, would you rather have them or Parise? That question was asked in 2003 and Parise went ahead of both players. He was touted as a top 10 talent but slipped to the teens. Nylander is a top 5 talent that will probably slide to the 6-10 range. But that's only natural when there's so many big, skilled guys available. Teams would rather have the Getzlaf/Perry than the Parise. You'd rather have a big, strong, sublimely skilled guy than an average or below average sized sublimely skilled guy.
It's a tough call, that's what the scouts are paid for. If they think Nylander's skill trumps the size/skill combo that Tkachuk or Dubois offers then they'll have him very high. Personally with this rare chance to draft (hopefully) top 5 in a draft that features a lot of big, skilled players I'd be slightly disappointed if we ended up with an average sized one but if they feel Nylander is the best player available I will support the pick 100%. I think if they have Nylander top 5 and we end up drafting 4th or 5th that Treliving should try to move up to get one of the Finns.
It'll be interesting to continue to watch. How Nylander, Tkachuk and Dubois play in the playoffs may be a tiebreaker for some scouts.