2021 NHL Draft

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Sillinger remains my top choice in our slot unless guenther falls.

No way Guenther falls to 12.

[Sandman]

LHD Graham Sward,6'2"176lbs (Spokane,WHL): 11gp/1g/0a/1pt. 17th overall pick in the 2018 WHL Bantam draft, Sward's reputation with scouts is based a lot on his performance in 2019-20, where he had 17pts in 55 games-including 6pts in the final 13 games, flashing greater confidence offensively than he did this year. There was also more talent to work with on last year's team, than on this year's edition. Good news is that he's still very young, having a Sept.12th Birthday-thereby missing the cut-off for next year's draft by 3 days. He's a quality shutdown D, but much more was expected of him this season.

Sward has long legs with an efficient, powerful stride that gives him great 4-way mobility. He shows nice lateral agility to mirror the opposition's movements, and force them to the outside. He uses exceptional stickwork to disrupt plays, and has a great poke-check. Sward is very difficult to play against-he owns fantastic defensive awareness, and plays physically. He battles in tough areas, and keeps his crease clear. Sward is a defensive stalwart-he applies smothering pressure on puck-carriers, and imposes himself physically to cause turnovers. He's proficient at denying entries-he closes gaps and angles attackers to the wall. Defensively aware of his surroundings, he closes in quickly to separate man from puck. He supports his D partner well, and knows when to help out in battle. Plays 1-on-1s well, with skillful gap control. Sward's puck movement often gets his team out from under the forecheck, and headed up-ice. He's sneakily effective at breakouts-he shoulder checks, then executes when the puck is on his stick. He can retrieve and make the necessary space to breakout, even under immense forechecking pressure. Transition is one of the pillars of his game, and he makes sound passes to exit, or enter the zone. He exhibits a calm demeanor in all facets of his game, and is like a pressure release for the team, with no panic-and the ability to slow things down when needed. Subtle and controlled in possession, he makes simple, smart, shorter-range plays, and doesn't make too many mistakes.

Sward's offensive game appears limited, and he doesn't venture too far from his blueline in the o-zone. It's mostly the standard fare-getting pucks deep, and shooting low and hard for rebounds. I still believe there's plenty of potential for greater numbers, as he has reasonable puck skill-he doesn't take the time to navigate for open spaces, or lanes. He sometimes doesn't look too confident carrying the puck, instead deferring to his partner. He often uses his stick-work to break up plays, but he could do better if he would engage physically more consistently. His decision-making is sometimes criticized, as he doesn't seem to have a plan"B", as his plan "A" is usually the smart play-his default is to get it off the glass and out, which is fine, but he could do more to maintain possession in those scenarios. He reminds me of a poor man's Brandon Carlo, with size, skating, defensive acumen, and a good first-pass. He's still very young, with plenty of potential, and is far from a finished product. Rounds 4-6.

[1qqaaz]

Looks like there is some decent European depth in the mid-to-late part of the draft.
Some of these guys could conceivably have upside.

Of course for whatever reason the Flames are good at drafting for the 4th and 6th rounds.

[FCAV]

Originally Posted by FCAV

We've JUST dropped our 2021 NHL Draft Guide, and it is available for immediate download. With some trickery, you can get it for a price drop, too!

The regular price is $17.99 (USD) but Tier 1 members get it for $12.99 and Tier 2 members get it at $9.99. The trickery comes in with signing up there. The 'calgarypuck' discount code is still active, so you can get a Tier 2 membership, for example, for $2.50 (doesn't matter if it's month-to-month or yearly), then the guide at $9.99. This route also gives you full access to all our single-game scouting reports (over 4,000), and rumour has it we're dumping our database in shortly which will have an additional 10,000 or so dating back to 2011!

We rank 300 prospects. We have full profiles on those 300 (plus a few honorable mentions). We've expanded our profiles on 1-100 and 101-200 as well, beefing them up from previous years. Some written features in there too, as well as a look at the 2022 class!

Any questions and I'll try to tackle them!

https://nhlentrydraft.com/sign-up/

Just wanted to drop a quick thanks to all the CPers who have purchased! Hope you've enjoyed!

[Nelson]

Trade down and draft Matthew Coronato!

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Trade down and draft Matthew Coronato!

Or just take sillinger and get equal or better offensive potential/size without the college/USA flight risk.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Or just take sillinger and get equal or better offensive potential/size without the college/USA flight risk.

Haha Yup. I wasn't necessarily saying I definitely wanted the Flames to do it, more just floating it as an idea. I guess it depends what they could get in return for trading down? It would need to be quite a lot if there truly is a ledge at 12, although many seem to think the ledge is at 9 or 10.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Or just take sillinger and get equal or better offensive potential/size without the college/USA flight risk.

There's something to be said about a guy that scores lots of goals wherever he plays whether it be the WHL, WHC-17, USHL, etc. Seems like a player that has the goal scoring touch that should translate to the pros.

[stemit14]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

There's something to be said about a guy that scores lots of goals wherever he plays whether it be the WHL, WHC-17, USHL, etc. Seems like a player that has the goal scoring touch that should translate to the pros.

Just watched a few highlights from Sillinger. Obviously the majority of them were goals. If I had to compare those highlights to someone in the NHL, I think it would be toffoli. Opportunistic scorer with a great shot who is strong on his stick/hard to take the puck from. Does not seem to generate as many chances for teammates but always seems to be in the right place at the right time and has the shot to capitalize on it. Just my opinion from viewings limited to highlight videos that rarely show the whole picture of a player.


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[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Trade down and draft Matthew Coronato!

How far are we trading down though? Coronato could very well be taken at 12 if we traded our pick to another team trying to move up to grab him.

I think he is either a Blackhawk or a Star, so we have to make a choice if he is still there at 12.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

How far are we trading down though? Coronato could very well be taken at 12 if we traded our pick to another team trying to move up to grab him.

I think he is either a Blackhawk or a Star, so we have to make a choice if he is still there at 12.

I think one of two situations could result in the Flames moving down:

(1) A player (ex: Edvinsson) drops to 12, the Flames are not fans, but another team is and is willing to give significant assets to move up and take him. In this case, they wouldn't necessarily move down very far but would obviously just be able to demand more the further someone wanted to move up; and

(2) The Flames like a broader range of players than another team at 12. For example, maybe the other team sees a serious drop off at 13 after the top 9 (including Wallstedt) and Lucius, Sillinger, McTavish and Lysell are gone. Conversely, the Flames feel Coronato, Chibrikov, Lambos, Raty, Cossa, etc. are similarly good. So, then someone moves up to 12 to get in on one of those four forwards and then Flames drop to picks 14-?? to pick someone else and receive an extra 2nd or something.

[stemit14]

Another comparison I’ve heard for Sillinger is James Neal. I know that name is a trigger for a lot of us here but, in his prime, he was a guy that could score 20+ goals a season in his sleep. Frustrating thing is that was the only thing he could do. Very little play-making, defensive awareness or positional awareness but could shoot the puck and had a nose for the net.

If the flames could get Sillinger at 12 and turn him into young James Neal, would we be happy with the pick?


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[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by stemit14

Another comparison I’ve heard for Sillinger is James Neal. I know that name is a trigger for a lot of us here but, in his prime, he was a guy that could score 20+ goals a season in his sleep. Frustrating thing is that was the only thing he could do. Very little play-making, defensive awareness or positional awareness but could shoot the puck and had a nose for the net.

If the flames could get Sillinger at 12 and turn him into young James Neal, would we be happy with the pick?


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That would be a major win. Anytime you can get a goal producer like that outside the top 10 of any draft it's a success.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Nelson

I think one of two situations could result in the Flames moving down:

(1) A player (ex: Edvinsson) drops to 12, the Flames are not fans, but another team is and is willing to give significant assets to move up and take him. In this case, they wouldn't necessarily move down very far but would obviously just be able to demand more the further someone wanted to move up; and

(2) The Flames like a broader range of players than another team at 12. For example, maybe the other team sees a serious drop off at 13 after the top 9 (including Wallstedt) and Lucius, Sillinger, McTavish and Lysell are gone. Conversely, the Flames feel Coronato, Chibrikov, Lambos, Raty, Cossa, etc. are similarly good. So, then someone moves up to 12 to get in on one of those four forwards and then Flames drop to picks 14-?? to pick someone else and receive an extra 2nd or something.

I think #2 was what happened last year with Zary. He was one of an acceptable grouping.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Trade down and draft Matthew Coronato!

Out of all the top 20 players, Coronato screams bust the most to me.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Out of all the top 20 players, Coronato screams bust the most to me.

Oh, interesting. Why is that?

[Lanny_McDonald]

This whole draft seems kind of sketchy, and I'm talking 2012 sketchy. This was acknowledged as being a weak draft for two years building up to this one. Things have changed because of hype and recency bias. I'm not sure I see anyone here that we should be getting overly excited about. A lot of middle six talent if they hit their potential.

[Monahammer]

Imagine James Neal without the attitude problems and pro mentality/ bloodline (father played over 1000 games in the nhl)... that could be an amazing player. James Neal had a 40 goal peak. A better conditioned and attitude James Neal could have sustained that longer.

Plus imo sillinger can be a center in the NHL. He's played center everywhere else, not really sure why he's a winger in many eyes.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Nelson

Oh, interesting. Why is that?

Because he was a mediocre prospect up until this year. Everything points to an above average year where everything went right. Some rankings still have him at the end of the 1st/early 2nd. If we are trading down for him we better get a damn good return.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Because he was a mediocre prospect up until this year. Everything points to an above average year where everything went right. Some rankings still have him at the end of the 1st/early 2nd. If we are trading down for him we better get a damn good return.

I have similar concerns about Sillinger. Jumping from major junior to the USHL is step backwards to me. It would be like going from the WHL to the BCHL. You should see some improved numbers and some dominance at the new level. Not sure there is enough there considering the change in competition. I would stay away from a guy who made that move IMO. There may be larger translation problems. To me, players should always be pressing forward to find success, not going backwards.