Wild draft re-cap (so far)
#2 – Michael Misa
This was not much of a decision for me. I knew that Misa or Schaefer would go first and I would pick which one was left. I flirted with the idea of moving down a spot or two, which would have been to take Hagens. I think Hagens will be the highest point producer in this draft and part of me worries this will be a repeat of when I took Dylan Strome over Mitch Marner. If anything I think I perhaps under-rate Misa as a lot of people seem excited by him and I’m not quite sure. But a nice reward for just an putrid season by the Wild
#16 – Carter Bear
I tried to move up a few times to get McQueen and just couldn’t make it happen. After him I had a group of players in this order: Smith, Bear, Carbonneau, Lakovic, Reschny. Even though Smith was the highest, I drafted a lot of D last year and didn’t want to use this pick on a D, but I do really like Smith so it would have been a decision. One taken out of my hands though when Smith goes 13. Bear at 16 was the guy. I think he’s got top 10 talent and hoping the injury doesn’t impact him going forward. This draft is interesting because a lot of the higher skilled guys come with higher risks than usual: character issues, injuries, etc. Just more risk than usual.
#17 - Justin Cabonneau
This was the next guy on my list, though debated with Reschny and really liked the idea of getting him too, so made the move to move up to grab him. I think he’s got some of the highest skill in the draft and I like the family roots.
#24 – Cameron Reid
This was my #3 dman (behind Smith, Mrtka) and I just kept seeing him there and dropping. Paid a steep price to get him, but I think he’s got really high upside and is the type of dman I’ve done well selecting.
#31 – Alexander Zharovsky.
Here in the draft is where I see a glut of high floor, low ceiling players. 3rd/4th liners and what not. I saw very few guys that I think have some dynamic quality to their game. So I took Zharovsky high here because I saw him as one of the remaining high upside pieces. I don’t think he goes this high in the draft, but he’s a guy I will take and hang on to, as I think he will continue to develop. Some risk of him staying in Russia so I may have to be patient. Years ago I took Kaprizov and wasn’t patient and just released him for nothing. I won’t make that mistake here.
#44 – Mason West.
He was another guy I had starred due to the high potential. I have no idea what this guy is and what he ends up being. He’s a totally unique two sport guy with great size and some signs of high end skill. But there is risk here as he continues to play football for one more season. But in a draft lacking high end potential, I made a move to get him.
More to come after other picks.
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