2020 NHL Entry Draft

[Sandman]

Seth Jarvis seems to be a very popular guy with scouts, media, and fans. There's a lot to like with this kid. 98 pts in 58 games for the Winterhawks-28 pts more than the next highest scorer on the team. Plays with a ton of heart.

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Seth Jarvis seems to be a very popular guy with scouts, media, and fans. There's a lot to like with this kid. 98 pts in 58 games for the Winterhawks-28 pts more than the next highest scorer on the team. Plays with a ton of heart.

Makes me nervous when I look at the Winterhawks success in the NHL. There are a lot of Ty Ratties and Sven Bertchie's on their alumni list. I don't know if I trust that team for developing top NHLers.

https://winterhawks.com/alumni/

They have a few, but a lot of misses.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Makes me nervous when I look at the Winterhawks success in the NHL. There are a lot of Ty Ratties and Sven Bertchie's on their alumni list. I don't know if I trust that team for developing top NHLers.

https://winterhawks.com/alumni/

They have a few, but a lot of misses.

The team is still coached by Mike Johnston, the same coach that was there in the Baertschi/Rattie days, too. I was going to try to alleviate your concerns, but I failed.....

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Sandman

The team is still coached by Mike Johnston, the same coach that was there in the Baertschi/Rattie days, too. I was going to try to alleviate your concerns, but I failed.....

LOL so true.. god this organization seems to struggle so bad its odd.
How can so many put up huge numbers in the CHL and not translate at all to the NHL.

[yourbestfriend]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Makes me nervous when I look at the Winterhawks success in the NHL. There are a lot of Ty Ratties and Sven Bertchie's on their alumni list. I don't know if I trust that team for developing top NHLers.

https://winterhawks.com/alumni/

They have a few, but a lot of misses.

Well, if you formulated an equation of a players ability to reach their "potential", what weighting would you assign to their junior team, NHL/AHL team or themselves?

Obviously that's an open question and every team will have a different philosophy on player development and the weighting of those variables - but IMO, i would place the most emphasize on the NHL/AHL aspect of player development and the players own ability to get better.
There may be a positive relationship (ie. London Knights have produced a ton of high quality NHL talent for decades) but I would hesitate to say that just because someone came from junior team X that they would have a better or worse chance at making it in the NHL.

[AustinL_NHL]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Makes me nervous when I look at the Winterhawks success in the NHL. There are a lot of Ty Ratties and Sven Bertchie's on their alumni list. I don't know if I trust that team for developing top NHLers.

https://winterhawks.com/alumni/

They have a few, but a lot of misses.

Out of 339 of the NHL players this season that came from the CHL, the Portland Winterhawks have developed the 6th most graduates with a total of 9, including studs like Cody Glass, Ryan Johansen, Matt Dumba, Dennis Cholowski, Seth Jones, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nino Niederreiter, all of whom have significant roles on their teams.

For reference, there are 60 teams in the CHL, which makes the Portland Winterhawks better than exactly 90% of the CHL teams when it comes to developing future NHL players.

Zero reason to have any issue drafting players from them.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL

Out of 339 of the NHL players this season that came from the CHL, the Portland Winterhawks have developed the 6th most graduates with a total of 9, including studs like Cody Glass, Ryan Johansen, Matt Dumba, Dennis Cholowski, Seth Jones, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nino Niederreiter, all of whom have significant roles on their teams.

For reference, there are 60 teams in the CHL, which makes the Portland Winterhawks better than exactly 90% of the CHL teams when it comes to developing future NHL players.

Zero reason to have any issue drafting players from them.

The math checks out, its the Sven factor that scares the #### out of me honestly lol.

Heck even in Sven's "Turbo Time" draft video he looked pretty silky and good.

[dammage79]

Doing some more reading on prospects I stumble across some disappointing information. Noel Gunler wants to be an Oiler. Therefore he is no longer my favorite prospect, welcome Jack Quinn to the top slot.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Doing some more reading on prospects I stumble across some disappointing information. Noah Gunler wants to be an Oiler. Therefore he is no longer my favorite prospect, welcome Jack Quinn to the top slot.

Noah Gunler? More like Noah Gooder ... AMIRITE?!?!

[Sandman]

I like Gunler too, but the criticism with him is that many don't think his ceiling is high, and he won't put up numbers in the NHL. Maybe we should HOPE the Oilers get him?

[sureLoss]

edit: here is his top 93 with 7 honourable mentions
https://www.tsn.ca/bob-mckenzie-s-fi...year-1.1488272

McKenzie's final rankings :

1. Lafreniere
2. Stutzle
3. Byfield
4. Drysdale
5. Perfetti
6. Raymond
7. Rossi
8. Sanderson
9. Holtz
10. Quinn
11. Askarov
12. Lundell
13. Mercer
14. Guhle
15. Lapierre
16. Holloway
17. Schneider
18. Jarvis
19. Amirov
20. Reichel
21. Perreault
22. Zary
23. Peterka
24. Greig
25. Barron
26. Bourque
27. Wallinder
28. Gunler
29. Foerster
30. Brisson
31. Neighbours

Just to note that McKenzie says Jarvis is a threat to be taken in the top 10 even though he has him ranked at 18. I assume that means that a few of the teams that McKenzie polls and talks to for his rankings are very high on him. Mentioning it as he has been discussed a lot as a potential Flames target.

[Vinny01]

If Ottawa can get 2-3 they may just draft their next 1-2C combo for several years.

If the Flames can’t beat the Jets I would love to sneak into that top 3.

I also really like Rossi who could be a target if the Flames are looking to move Johnny for a high pick. Most of the Mocks I have read have Holtz and Raymond over Perfetti

[kyuss275]

So flames will pick Neighbours with the 31st pick? I could live with that.

[Sandman]

This is going to be a fun draft to watch. As a guy who follows the Draft very closely every year, I can honestly say that this is possibly the most unpredictable one I've seen. There's so many players that wildly fluctuate between the first and third rounds. One mock draft will have a guy near the end of the second, another will have that same player in the middle of the first. The only concensus is that Lafreniere will go first.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Sandman

This is going to be a fun draft to watch. As a guy who follows the Draft very closely every year, I can honestly say that this is possibly the most unpredictable one I've seen. There's so many players that wildly fluctuate between the first and third rounds. One mock draft will have a guy near the end of the second, another will have that same player in the middle of the first. The only concensus is that Lafreniere will go first.

I have been very happy with the Flames scouting staff the last couple of drafts. They are very good at identifying talent. This is the kind of draft that can alter the path of a franchise. Weak amateur scouting staffs are going to rely heavily on statistics and not underlying factors, leaving a lot of gems to pick through.

This is one reason why I'm enjoying the "trades" thread more this year. Calgary can get very inventive with the return on Gaudreau, knowing that they have a superior drafting record with this group.

Calgary can literally have this entire board up in arms over a (example : Montreal Cole Caufield/Joni Ikonen/3 second rounders) trade and then crush the selection process.

This has the potential to be the most fun off-season as a Flames fan, that I can remember.

[Sandman]

I definitely agree, although I am always afraid of being too positive when it comes to this franchise,as I'm too often let down....

I also really like the way our scouting has changed in recent years- we draft for skill and character these days, rather than size and grit in previous years. By all accounts, this team leads the charge in terms of metrics and all other underlying quantifiable numbers in our scouting as well. We have the third largest scouting staff in the NHL.

The potential for a Johnny trade is exciting as well, and I pray that if it goes down, it will be for a fruitful return.

[CliffFletcher]

After the first 5 or 6 picks this draft will be all over the board. Will be fun to watch.

[BigErnSalute_16]

Originally Posted by Sandman

This is going to be a fun draft to watch. As a guy who follows the Draft very closely every year, I can honestly say that this is possibly the most unpredictable one I've seen. There's so many players that wildly fluctuate between the first and third rounds. One mock draft will have a guy near the end of the second, another will have that same player in the middle of the first. The only concensus is that Lafreniere will go first.

While I know it is a 99.9% chance that Lafreniere goes first to whoever wins the lottery, I brought it up with my buddies the other day that i can't shake the feeling that in 3-5 years Byfield will be more valuable than him. 6'5 215 already but has success due to skill not due to size which is important. Plays a far more valuable position and is almost a full year younger than Lafreniere. He put up nearly 2ppg this year vs Lafreniere's well over 2ppg but who's to say next season he wouldn't put up the same points as Laf at the same age?

If I was on the clock it wouldn't be an automatic Lafreniere pick, at least.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by BigErnSalute_16

While I know it is a 99.9% chance that Lafreniere goes first to whoever wins the lottery, I brought it up with my buddies the other day that i can't shake the feeling that in 3-5 years Byfield will be more valuable than him. 6'5 215 already but has success due to skill not due to size which is important. Plays a far more valuable position and is almost a full year younger than Lafreniere. He put up nearly 2ppg this year vs Lafreniere's well over 2ppg but who's to say next season he wouldn't put up the same points as Laf at the same age?

If I was on the clock it wouldn't be an automatic Lafreniere pick, at least.

The reflection I keep seeing on Byfield is that consistency could be an issue. That has never been an issue with Laf, and given his eye popping production this season I think it has secured him as the first pick. Byfield would be #1 without the consistency question, no doubt in my mind.

[Jiri Hrdina]

For me Lafreniere is the clear #1. Who goes #2 is the more intriguing question between Byfield and Stutzle. Stutzle has been the rocket up the rankings this season, and seems more dynamic.
But the appeal of Byfield is the physical attributes - including the combination of skill, size and skating. And the fact that he is one of the youngest members of the draft (Lafreniere is one of the oldest, I think miss the draft cut off by mere days).

At that age, that's a big difference.

I've had Byfield #2 all season, but it's hard not to pay attention to Stutzle as someone that could displace him.