Wild draft re-cap

[Jiri Hrdina]

Fun draft this year with things wide open after the first few picks.
Here are the key Minny picks:

#3 - MICHKOV, MATVEI
This is who I thought I would take as soon as I drew 3rd in the lottery. I understand the risks but in my view, he's got just as much talent as Bedard, and is worth the swing.

#5 - Willl Smith
Also a no-brainer. I saw him as the clear #5. Supremely skilled with a ton of upside.

#6 - Ryan Leonard
Was also pretty firm on him after acquiring #6. I like his combination of skill and grit and comparisons to the Tkachuks

#8 - Gabe Perreault
This is where things got interesting. I had been debating between Moore and Perreault for weeks. 2 opposite players. Perreault has the offense but the skating needs work. Moore has elite skating but his offense is a question. Ultimately I decided it would be cool to complete the set and draft the full line. Was interested in seeing that Moore went right after at #9

#23 - Cal Ritchie
I had a group here I was looking, that included Musty, But, the 2 Russian dmen, Willander, Honzek and Ritchie. Ultimately Ritchie was 23 on my list, but even though Sale and Yager were ranked higher on my list, I had no interest in either. Ritchie is interesting because he entered the year as a consensus top 10 pick but fell, however I think a labrum injury really held him back and he could have a big D+1 year.

#29 - Riley Heidt
#28 on my list right in the range. Here I was hoping for names such as David Enstrom, Otto Stenberg, Heidt or Bradly Nadeau (who was #29 on my list). So it came down to Nadeau or Heidt which really was a toss up for me.

51. - STRBAK, MAXIM
52. - NELSON, DANNY

Strbak isn't a guy I had specifically targeted, but seemed like the best value pick here. Nelson was a guy I was targeting in this year. A project pick who was a D recently converted to F. I don't think anyone really knows what this guy is, except that he's got tremendous physical traits.

60. HAMEENAHO, LENNI
72. AUGUSTINE, TREY

Again in the 3rd just looking for value. Didn't intend to draft a goalie but I think Trey could go in the 2nd, so took him here.

I won't bore you with the late picks.

[TheScorpion]

I like how you cut it off at the late picks, when my first pick was #88.

[Hanna Sniper]

One of the rare times that you didn’t get in my way during the draft. Not sure if that’s really good for me or its really really bad

[simmer2]

Great work as usual at the draft Jiri, both running it and selecting picks.

I always get nervous with you picking near me, which always seems to be the case.

Michkov will be fascinating to watch unfold.

And personally, will be interesting to see Leonard Vs Dvorsky, Heidt Vs Nadeau and Carlsson Vs Mitchkov & Smith over the coming yrs.

[Goffie]

Given my lack of picks and the position of the ones I had. This is the first draft that I can remember where you didn’t take multiple players I had ready to select.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Mixed bag for sure. I knew Perreault would drop but not that much. But he's a guy with oodles of upside that I will hang on to. Same thing happened a few years ago when I took Caufield and I didn't have the mental strength to hang on to him. So I'll wait with Gabe. The other big miss was on Heidt who slipped to the late 2nd. But I got a lot of good value in the middle rounds.

But for me that's what makes this so fun. The fact that our draft and the NHL draft differs a lot, makes this an absolute blast!

Full list:
3. Minnesota (from NYI) - MICHKOV, MATVEI, NHL 7 (-4)
5. Minnesota (from Edmonton) - Willl Smith, NHL 4 (+1)
6. Minnesota (from NYR) - Ryan Leonard, NHL 8 (-2)
8. Minnesota (from Ottawa) - PERREAULT, GABRIE, NHL 23 (-15)
23. Minnesota - Cal Ritchie, NHL 27 (-4)
29. Minnesota (from NYI) - HEIDT, RILEY NHL 64 (-35!)
51. Minnesota - STRBAK, MAXIM, NHL 45 (+6)
52. Minnesota (from New Jersey) - NELSON, DANNY NHL 45 (+7)
60. Minnesota (from Edmonton) - HAMEENAHO, LENNI NHL 58 (+2)
72. Minny - AUGUSTINE, TREY NHL 41 (+31)
103. Minnesota (from Calgary) - MISIAK, MARTIN NHL 55 (+48)
105. Minnesota (from Dallas) - KARPOVICH, DANIIL NHL 186 (too hard to do the math)
107. Minnesota - NORDH, NOEL NHL 72 (+25)
115. Minnesota (from Colorado) - WIKMAN, ALBERT NHL 127 (-12)
127. Minnesota (from Columbus) - SPRYNAR, JAN (not drafted)
133. Minnesota (from Dallas) - RIMASHEVSKIY, YEGOR NHL 203 (-70)
134. Minnesota (from Chicago)- PIENINIEMI, EMIL NHL 90 (+44)
135. Minnesota - STANLEY, HOYT NHL 108 (+27)

Free agent: Adam Gajan drafted 32nd.
Free agent: Rodwin Dionicio, drafted 129th
Free agent: William Proos: not drafted