Wild draft review
It was another enjoyable CPHL draft that went very smoothly which speaks to the level of preparation that GMs are now doing. Also special thanks to those GMs who picked for fellow GMs – managing more than one list is not easy.
I’ll focus less on the players I picked and more on the decision making as I think that’s more interesting.
#3 - Jesse Puljujarvi
Not much to say here. Everyone knows who this guy is and no surprise that he was the guy at 3.
I really wanted to move into the 6 spot to reunite the Nylander brothers. I’ve been a fan of Alex all year. Had some pretty serious talks with Ravi and I think we got close, but couldn’t punch the deal into the endzone
#13 – Jake Bean
This was the tough decision. The first 12 went exactly as expected, so the guys available here were exactly who I thought I would have to pick between. Initially I had 4 guys on my short list – McAvoy, Bellows, Macleod and Bean. McAvoy was the first I eliminated deciding if I went D with the pick, it would be Bean. Bellows v. Macleod was tougher as I like Bellows’ bloodlines and goal scoring. But ultimately it came down to Macleod v. Bean. F v. D.
I flipped flopped on this a lot – to the point that I tried to get 14 so I could have both, but got nowhere with Goffie.
Up until Saturday morning my intent was to pick Macleod. I think he is a sure bet to make the NHL so the question is upside. But I like a lot about his game. Bean is a guy that I know better than anyone else in the draft, since he plays in Calgary. But that means I also have more familiarity with his warts. His offensive upside is immense but his decision making in his own zone isn’t great. So again – my lean was Macleod, but Saturday morning I took a slightly different cut of my list based on filtering out some less trusted sources, and that put Bean ahead. That coupled with the fact I have had quite a bit of success drafting offensive minded Dmen made the decision final.
#24/#26 Alex Debrincat and Vitali Abramov
I group these guys together as they were two guys I mainly targeted in the 20s. It seemed to me that the 20s were full of good 2 way guys with some limited upside, but there wasn’t a ton of high end skill to be had apart from a few. The way my list was shaping up, I thought I might be looking at guys like Howden or Stanley – fine prospects but not what I wanted. I wanted one of Debrincat or Abramov which led to the deal to move up to 24 (at a pretty steep price). I thought Debrincat could still go ahead of me so when he was there at 24 I grabbed him – and hoped that Abramov would last one more pick.
Both these guys stand a good chance of slipping to the 2nd or more, due to size, but I’m picking them purely on upside
#43 Samuel Girard
Had him 32 on my list, so was happy to see him still here. Lots of good choices around here and saw a couple guys I was targeting (Pu and Cholowski) go earlier in the round. Came down between Girard and Dineen – but had Girard slightly ahead.
#46 Carter Hart
I wanted to re-stock my goalie pipline a bit in this draft, but didn’t anticipate picking the first goalie. However, with Hart slipping, and slotted at #34 on my list, I chose to package two late 2nds to make sure I got him. Not sure if he or Gustavsson will go as the first goalie in the NHL draft, but either way I think this is good value at this pick.
#65 Viictor Mete
Starting to get a little D heavy in this draft, but Mete is by far the highest guy on my list when 65 comes around. Had him at 56 on my list, but the best option here
#70 Artur Kayumov
Went off the list a little here passing by some more D to grab the highest forward I had on my board still – which was Kayumov at 61. Could be a big dropper in the draft
Rounded out the 3rd with 3 guys that were still highest on my board
Of the group, was happies to get Quenville. The other two (Jesper Bratt and JD Greenway) I know little about as at this point it really started to become a crap shoot. Won’t go into the rest of the rounds.
|
