Quote:
Originally Posted by cral12
Hey Sandman,
Absolutely no obligation to field any of these comments and questions, but some we've got since posting on Substack and thought I'd post in here for interest sake (and if others have thoughts):
1. How close are you, if at all, to replacing Hagens as # 1 ?
2. from a Czech hockey fan
The Good: Lots of Czechs and feels optmistic for us.
The Weird: I think it goes Mrtka and then Cihar and I didn't see his name. Did I miss it?
3. Osmanis seems to be buried in the lower rounds.
Can you elaborate on why he ranks lower than Klingsell or Ekberg?
Osmanis is one of <5 players globally to have succesfully transitioned into pro hockey at his age. Seems weird he's still ranked so low.
Players scoring at that rate in Allsvenskan usually go in the 2nd round.
4. Both (Moore & Tretheway) have fallen in most of the better draft profiles ive seen . Moore i see because of the upside potential but hes late first round . trethaway i dont see in any first round mock picks and ive watched 6 games i dont see it at all so whats your scout reasoning on it ?
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1) Very close, to be honest. If I'm an NHL GM right now, it would be very hard to pass up the likes of Mike Misa and/or Porter Martone (and even perhaps D Matt Shaefer) in order to draft a 5'10" forward- even though that forward has world-class skill and talent. When Jack Hughes was taken 1st-overall in 2019, he didn't have the same level of competition breathing down his neck (no disrespect to Kaapo Kakko, who put forth one of the best U-18 seasons in Finnish Liiga history). Misa and Martone are #1, and #2 respectively atop the OHL scoring race, each producing at 2 ppg- and that doesn't happen often with players in their draft year. Misa has breathtaking speed and vision, to go with a competitive two-way game, and Martone is a "unicorn"- a physical power-forward with skill and speed who will help your team win in the playoffs. All three are top-line talents though, and all three are sure to top 100 points in the NHL when they hit their stride.
2) No disrespect to Cihar, he's an excellent player with some grit and physicality, but there are questions about his offensive ceiling- some say he projects to bottom-6 duty at best, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. His skating is good, but not great, and his overall hockey sense has been questioned, along with his defensive game. In this summer's Hlinka, his offensive contributions were overshadowed by fellow draft-eligibles Adam Benak, Vit Zahejsky, Adam Novotny, Tomas Poletin, and Dominik Pavlik- although he performed well by all accounts in the most recent U-20 5 Nations. I think some of his countrymen may have higher ceilings, but Cihar might just have a higher floor.
3) Osmanis had some eye-popping numbers in 2023-24 in the J20 Region, but that's Sweden's second-tier junior league. His numbers this year in the J20 Nationell (2 goals and 13 points in 17 games) are a bit mediocre, even though the team he plays for isn't good. In the Allsvenskan, he has managed to produce 6 points in 12 games, despite limited minutes and the occasional benching. He's a smaller forward who works hard- but not consistently, and he lacks high-end skill and skating. His defensive efforts are spotty at best, as well. I've read that some expect him to go later in the draft, if at all.
4) Simply put, I love Will Moore- even if his production is not where it was expected to be. He's a stud, with excellent skill, skating, and hockey sense, and he plays with power. Trethewey is ranked 13th by Craig Button, 15th by Bob McKenzie, 14th by Jason Bukala, and 13th by Daily Faceoff- there are questions about his decision-making under pressure at times, but he's otherwise a physical two-way presence with good mobility and skill who plays a pro-style game. This year's edition of the NTDP looks pretty weak, which has affected his numbers, but his production from 2023-24 (in his D-minus-1) makes me think there's much more in his arsenal offensively than he's been able to show thus far.