Wild draft review
Another fun draft. Here are the highlights
#3 - Dylan Strome: This was my guy here since I acquired the 3rd overall pick in the McDavid deal. I briefly considered Marner but ultimately went with the centre. Having both Strome brothers is kinda cool too.
#5 - Noah Hanifin: The best dman in the draft. I would have been happy to take Marner here as well, but was hoping for the blueliner
#15 - Nick Merkley: I had 3 guys here that I figured I would be able to choose from: Merkley, Konecny and Zboril. I had decided if I got Hanifin instead of Marner at 5 I wouldn't take another dman in the 1st - so that left it between Merkley and Konecny. Ultimately I went with the Calgary kid in Merkley. It looked briefly like Werenski would perhaps dropped to 15, but NJ took care of that one spot ahead.
#25 - Joel Eriksson Ek: This is exactly the guy I wanted here, and he started to fall to me. But I figured the Preds might grab him right before me at 24. With them going for the home run swing with Kylington - I get my guy. Typical 2-way Swede that will take some time, but I really like him.
As I looked at my list heading in - I realized I like a lot of guys I figured would be in the 30-40 range, so I made a move to package two mid 2nds and get a higher one. I think I paid a stiff price here, but it worked as I got 3 guys I wanted:
#35: Brandon Carlo: Big, nasty with comparisons to Braydon Coburn. I think he could go in the 1st in the draft. A safe pick, but a good one I think
#37: Jeremy Bracco: This is why I like having multiple picks close like this. Because I took a safe pick at 35, I take a big cut here and go for Bracco - who could really drop in the NHL draft due to attitude and size concerns. But pure skill wise - he is good value here.
#38: Vince Dunn: I've had good success drafting offensive dman and had my on 3 of them that I figured would be available in the 2nd round. Dunn was my first choice of that trio so I grab him here, knowing I don't get another pick until the 3rd.
At this point I made efforts to grab another 2nd: Travis Dermott was my target - couldn't make it happen.
#70: Erik Cernak - Long wait until this pick, and I bold Cernak's name on my list as a guy to keep an eye on to see if he's there. I have him ranked as a late 2nd on my list, so I think grabbing him at 70 is good value.
#82: Dennis Malgin - Took him right where I had him ranked, but a guy that some lists have much higher. We will see.
I won't comment on 4th and 5th round guys as they are just shots in the dark.
Overall happy with the draft: really pleased to get Ek, Dunn and Bracco in particular.
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