2016 NHL Draft

[dash_pinched]

Laine has a rocket.

https://twitter.com/Leinonen24/statu...89556345475072

[Da_Chief]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Laine has a rocket.

https://twitter.com/Leinonen24/statu...89556345475072

That's a lightning fast release. Impressive prospect for sure.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Commandant

For those thinking of moving down.

this article is from a leafs perspective, but it shows what the historical value of a 4th, 5th, 6th overall pick is.

http://lastwordonsports.com/2016/04/...de-precedents/

That article is interesting, as it seems that the cost of moving up 3-5 spots isn't that great (perhaps a second rounder and another pick), but then it also shows how rarely those lower picks pan out.

So much will depend on a particular team's "tiers". If the Flames are at 6 and they have a tier of players 4-12, I have no problem for them moving down a few spots to pick up extra picks. Then again, they need to have enough prospects with a first round grade for that to make a real difference.

[Henry Fool]

Laine wins the league championship and gets the Jari Kurri award for the playoff MVP.

He might still play in the world championships.

[Poe969]

Wow that kid is a beast. Whoever gets him is going to be an amazingly lucky team.

[SuperMatt18]

Saw some of those highlights and he looked dominant - been drawing comparisons to a Lemieux/Jagr type.

If he has a great World Championships I wonder if he starts to get some notice for 1st overall actually.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Saw some of those highlights and he looked dominant - been drawing comparisons to a Lemieux/Jagr type.

If he has a great World Championships I wonder if he starts to get some notice for 1st overall actually.

Dream scenario is Flames have first overall and we watch the worlds intently in the Laine v Matthews sweepstakes.

[Ashasx]

playoff MVP seems like a huge accomplishment for somebody who just turned 18

[Poe969]

We know the oilers are going to get a high pick, at this point I think I'd rather them have Matthews over either Finn. Those 2 kids look like exactly the kind of player the oilers don't have and need.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

playoff MVP seems like a huge accomplishment for somebody who just turned 18

That is another thing that is quite interesting. Kid just turned 18 only 7 days ago.

Matthews is "old" for his draft year and was just days away from being eligible for the 2015 draft.

Him being 7 months or so younger than Matthews and still being so dominant in a Men's League is quite impressive.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Bingo

I worry that it's becoming more like ...

Tier1 Mathews
Tier2 Finns x 2
Tier3 Dubois
Tier4 Tkachuk
Tier5 2 defensemen or Nylander
Tier6 rest of top 10 or off the board (hoping that doesn't create 11 pages of argument!)

I don't think it is luckily. Here's what I've gleaned

Redline a month or two ago said the secondary tier was Chychrun, Puljujarji and Tkachuk. But now they've moved Dubois up past Chychrun. So perhaps that tier is from 3-6 for them.

Most seem to think the top 3 are on a different tier.

Bob Mackenzie thinks from having talked to a wide variety of scouts (so he probably has the best sense of it than anybody) that there is a secondary tier from 4-12.

I think from the Flames perspective both Tkachuk and Dubois are super attractive and thus seem to be on a higher tier for us. But I'm sure some teams have d-men or other players ahead of them.

My opinion for the Flames:

Tier 1: Laine/Matthews/Puljujarvi (I think Laine and Matthews are ahead)
Tier 2: Tkachuk/Dubois and at least one or two defensemen if not more players

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I don't think there's any big gap separating the 3 D-men. I thought the way folks were pumping Chychruns tires that he would be more dominant in the U18's but he was kind of a let down. Seeing as Quenville and Fabro had better showings.

Agree on the poise and IQ of Juolevi. He's a big part of that stacked London team. He stands out even amongst all that talent.

Sergachev is the top D man in this class for me though. I believe he has all the traits Juolevi has but is more aggressive. And it's shows in the videos I have available.

All three are about the same size, and all three are great skaters. Don't think teams can go wrong with any of them and I think it just comes down to preference at the end of the day. I cannot find a way to question someone if they want Chychrun over the other two or vice versa. They're a tight grouping.

Bean just kind of came out of nowhere the last couple of weeks too. Not sure where he slts in now.

I struggle to rank the defensemen. Haven't seen enough of Juolevi, Bean, McAvoy and Sergachev to be confident in my assessment. Fabbro does look super appealing though.

Chychrun I think had a decent U18s. But I don't think I see #1 dman potential in him. I'm torn on him. Sounds like some scouts are believers and some aren't. IMO he was not outperformed by Quenneville.

If we draft 6/7 then I'm hoping a defensemen or two goes ahead of our pick so we have a great pick of the forwards. The defensemen are the real wildcard this draft.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

If he has a great World Championships I wonder if he starts to get some notice for 1st overall actually.

I think he's done enough already to merit talk for 1st. I suspect we'll see the final rankings by Bob Mackenzie show that he's closed the gap quite a bit to Matthews. Did he finish as the goalscoring leader of the playoffs? Playoff MVP says a lot.

Dude looks like Jagr with a better shot. Or a combination of Rick Nash and Ovechkin. I dunno. Laine's upside looks massive. 50 goal scorer potential IMO.

[Table 5]

I admittedly haven't seen that much of Mathews, but I have no idea what ungodly level he'd have to play like to make me pick him over Laine right now.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I struggle to rank the defensemen. Haven't seen enough of Juolevi, Bean, McAvoy and Sergachev to be confident in my assessment. Fabbro does look super appealing though.

I feel that ranking defenseman is much more difficult than ranking forwards, but also much less reliable especially for fans, who don't get to meet the players.

Things like character and dedication to improvement become so important when the typical ceiling for a defenseman is easily 6-8 years from the draft.

Unfortunately for fans, it's also stuff we have no first hand knowledge of.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I admittedly haven't seen that much of Mathews, but I have no idea what ungodly level he'd have to play like to make me pick him over Laine right now.

What I'm imagining these two kids as:

Johnny Gaudreau's vision, skating and elusiveness, Sean Monahan's goal scoring sense and shot, Mikael Backlund's 200-foot game, in Rene Bourque's body.

vs

Jarome Iginla's goal scoring sense plus Mike Cammalleri's one-timer release, Kristian Huselius' hands, Daymond Langkow's hockey sense, in Joe Colborne's body,

Just seems like a win-win. Matthews would be the perfect addition to the 05-'10 Flames and Laine the perfect addition to the '16-and-on Flames. However, is Matthews' skillset redundant? Nah, it just means we'd be able to have 40 minutes of onslaught instead of 20.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I struggle to rank the defensemen. Haven't seen enough of Juolevi, Bean, McAvoy and Sergachev to be confident in my assessment. Fabbro does look super appealing though.

Chychrun I think had a decent U18s. But I don't think I see #1 dman potential in him. I'm torn on him. Sounds like some scouts are believers and some aren't. IMO he was not outperformed by Quenneville.

If we draft 6/7 then I'm hoping a defensemen or two goes ahead of our pick so we have a great pick of the forwards. The defensemen are the real wildcard this draft.

From the Canada games I had watched Quenville scored and drove the play more than Chychrun. For such a diminutive D man he sure stood out in a big way. If he had just a couple more inches of height I think he'd be talked about more. He's so tiny for a D man though. Like Jordan Subban small.

[Krynn]

I would have no problem if we picked Laine over Matthews if we won the lottery. I think all three players are going to be studs.Austin & the Fins but I just love Laine's game and think he's the whole package

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

I think from the Flames perspective both Tkachuk and Dubois are super attractive and thus seem to be on a higher tier for us. But I'm sure some teams have d-men or other players ahead of them.

My opinion for the Flames:

Tier 1: Laine/Matthews/Puljujarvi (I think Laine and Matthews are ahead)
Tier 2: Tkachuk/Dubois and at least one or two defensemen if not more players

I don't disagree ...

and that's why it's so key to get a team needing a Dman ahead of them in the draft if they are in the 6th spot.

[bax]

Is there any chance that some teams have Laine ahead of Matthews given the fact that he is 7 months younger and by all accounts just had a beast of a playoff run?