Quote:
Originally Posted by Fan69
Completely agree with this take sandman. No i dont see many stars but i do see a lot of good to very good nhl’rs.
I see a lot of well he only projects to a borderline top pair guy? You mean like the guy we just traded? Seems fairly valuable to me. Well he projects to maybe a top six center? Like the top six centers we could have used for years and are currently a premium on the trade market?
Yes we need top tier talent but you also have to fill out a team. If a team pulled a good 2 defencemen or a borderline top line center by all accounts most would consider it a good draft. If we picked Malhotra and he became a lower end first line center i wouldnt complain. I think all lot of people think draft star or its a failure.
|
All valid points. However, the premise for tanking is to obtain elite talent, not solid nhlers. Solid nhlers are available every draft, and most often in the first half of the first round. We’ve drafted players who project to be solid nhlers already. Elite talent isn’t often available, and when it is, it’s usually only at the top of the draft.
2025 seemed to be an off year draft wise. So there was so much hype over McKenna. Probably too much hype. But everyone is looking for the next biggest thing, and those don’t come around every year, or every other year. As we get closer to draft time, reality sets in and maybe the field isn’t as good as it first appeared.
Yes, you need defensemen who can play hard minutes but I don’t consider the d (outside of verhoeff) elite. D take longer to develop which adds to the mix. But for a fans of team bereft of offensive talent to be told to get excited about a 2 way dman who won’t fix the glaring offensive need (especially after enduring a tough season), it sucks. No other way to say it.
Hope we win the lottery or be put in a position where we walk away with McKenna/stenberg/malhotra/lawrence (and even verhoeff as he seems like he could be that game changer). Anything else, it seems like a lost season with minimal reward.