2021 Draft Recaps

[TheScorpion]

This thread is intended for GMs to post an assessment of their draft hauls. Feel free to brag!

New York Islanders

18 — Logan Stankoven. Really wanted this player, especially after Coronato went at 14 to Minnesota. I love Stankoven's upside and I would have been ok with taking him as high as pick 12. He's undersized but dynamic and a fantastic goal-scorer. Actually outscored Connor Zary at even-strength in 2019–20.

55 — Conner Roulette. Was definitely interested in Daniil Chayka if he fell to us but was super happy to pick up Roulette, who's projected as a high second-rounder by some outlets. Another really great scorer from the Dub.

62 — Samuel Helenius. Towering guy, 6'6". Already pretty productive in the Liiga and moves well for his size. Wouldn't have picked him any higher but thought he was great value in the third round.

69 — Red Savage. Fantastic production with the USNTDP. Really thrilled to get him at 69, wasn't sure if he'd be available that low. Best name in the draft. Undersized but very flashy, extremely high potential.

74 — Colton Dach. Kirby's little brother. Point-per-game with the Blades in the WHL. Another really big guy, which isn't normally what I seek but when you're that productive... hard to pass. Dach is a projected second-rounder by some sources.

79 — Sean Tschigerl. Very promising winger who led the Calgary Hitmen with 13 goals in just 21 games this season. Figured he might be on other people's radars so I took him a little higher than I otherwise might've... but he's also projected by some to go in the second round.

90 — Trevor Wong. Small but very skilled and productive. Elite Prospects projects him as a high second-rounder. Needs to bulk up a bit but has so much to like about his game. I thought he was fantastic value in the fourth round.

96 — Matvei Petrov. Another guy who is projected by some to go in the second round. Very, very productive in the MHL this year. 6'2" with a great shot and offensive instincts.

110 — Robert Orr. September 2003 birthday makes him one of the youngest players in the entire draft. Again, another guy ranked by some to go in the second round. Good production for a young guy in the Q, 32 points in 41 games. 5'11" and relentless.

120 — Justin Janicke. Very young 2003 birthday with impressive production at the USNTDP. Again, another guy ranked by some to go in the second round. Was really happy when he dropped to me in the fifth. He's a tenacious, good-sized forward.

124 — Dmitri Katelevsky. FC Hockey has Katelevsky ranked in the second round. Really good production at a young age in the VHL, Russia's second-tier professional league. Great two-way forward who represented great value for me that low.

128 — Jimi Suomi. First defenseman I took in the draft. Small (5'10") PP QB-type. Most Finnish name imaginable. Terrific production in both the U-20 Liiga and the U-18s. Ranked by some in the third round.

132 — Avery Hayes. Maybe a reach but I had an advisor tell me to pick this guy. Older prospect but good production with the Hamilton Bulldogs as a D-1 in 2019–20, so mildly surprised Doug didn't take him. Smaller right-shot forward.

138 — Tyson Galloway. Another defenseman, this one from the Hitmen. Big left-shot guy who had good production (9 points in 17 games) in the shortened season. 6'4", 214 pounds, solid skater.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Use this thread to post your draft summaries.

Here it is for the Wild.

#3 - William Eklund: This was my guy at 3. I would have taken him at 1 to be honest. And he's the reason I moved Barkov to get 3 - but then became worried that Washington might grab him ahead of me. I love his overall game and hockey IQ.

#6 - Dylan Guenther: This came down to Guenther or Johnson and it really was a coin flip. Ultimately picked Guenther as I think he has slightly less upside but not as much risk at Johnson. Was hoping someone I could get both but figured whoever I picked at 6, the other would go at 7.

#8 - Mason McTavish: Stocking up on forwards continues with a guy who has been shooting up the charts. Would have taken one of the Clarke or Hughes here if they had dropped but had no interest in Evidsson. So the pick was obvious

#10 - Cole Sillinger: perhaps the Flames choice, another skilled forward who could be a top 6 guy.

#11 - Chaz Lucius: Pure goal scorer. I was hoping to get these two guys back to back in these slots so was thrilled that happened. Flirted with Svechkov too - who went right after and I like a ton

#14 - Matthew Coronato: Another guy who has been rising up charts and was the precise guy I had targeted here. If he wasn't available would have gone with the goalie

#16 - Jesper Wallstedt: I'm stacked in net but this was just too good a value to pass up. That being said I think it's 50/50 whether he or Cossa goes #1 in terms of goalies which is why Carolina getting Cossa at 26 is, for my money, the steal of the first round

#17- Brennan Othmann: Was a guy I didn't like based on early research but who I warmed up to. Again - looking for skill up front here to re-build that part of my prospect base

#22: Corson Ceulemans: Seems like a guy that folks love or hate. Intriguing upside. It was either him or Rosen here but Rosen went right before me. Maybe will regret not going with Pastujov here who I was hoping to snag at 30 but would go at 23

#30 - Zachary L'Heureux: A complete dick. But if he ends up being Brad Marchand I'll take that.

#36 - Zach Dean. Had Ollen Zellweger targeted here and he went right before to Washington. Dean isn't a guy that I had specifically in mind but was the best value in the group. Knies was also a consideration.

#40 - Prokhor Polatpov. I've had luck with Russians over the years and at this stage he had amongst the most upside of players still available.

#49 - Danil Chayka. Don't particularly like the player. But he's big and mobile and could go in the first so at #49 the slot value was just too good to pass up.

#67 - Tristan Broz. Seem as a 2nd rounder hopefully, so just a value pic

#82 - Shai Buium. See Tristan Broz. At this stage just picking on the basis of slot value.

And then a bunch of other guys.

[Knut]

When I took over Columbus there was not much in the way of young valuable assets. I basically bricked a season by selling cap for picks and prospects. We ended up with picks 19,20,34,45,46,50 and 51. So 7 picks in the top 51 gave us a chance to restock the cupboards.

Pick 19: Carson Lambos

Pick 20: Nikita Chibrikov

Pick 34: Ayrton Martino

Pick 45: Jack Peart

Pick 46: Alexi Heimosalmi

Pick 50: Ryder Korczak

Pick 51: Evan Nause

Ill be honest... I basically picked based on consensus rankings. I do really like that i got Martino, Peart and Korczak as i think they will be risers on draft day. I drafted for value in future trades not to nurture some prospect for years.

[Harry Lime]

#15 - Aatu Raty - Los Angeles is stuck in the no-mans land of last pick missing the playoffs, so had to take a risk at this pick. I wanted Wallstedt, but instead went with Raty. He had a horrific year, where everything went wrong for him, but all of the tools are still there. Boom or bust pick.

#21 - Isak Rosen - No weaknesses in this player, it's just a question of whether there will be one skill that separates him from his peers. Right now the thing that shines is his first step, and that's not bad.

#65 - Vincent Iorio - RHD with a strong defensive game and high IQ, his offensive game has gotten better every season, and he could end up a solid long term NHLer.

#66 - Liam Dower Nilsson - Captain of the Swedish team, and very passionate player (can be prone to penalties). Average skater, but will do whatever it takes to win. High IQ, and goes to the right places on the ice.

#72 - Joshua Roy - taken #1 in the QMJHL draft. High risk player. Needs to work on his defensive game, which he has been doing, but at the determent of his explosive offensive game, making his NHL draft year a very mixed bag. The working man's Aatu Raty, the tools are there offensively, and if he can add an average defensive game the sky's the limit.

[Swayze11]

#9 - Simon Edvinsson - Was really hoping McTavish or Kent Johnson was available for this pick but still happy. He is a but of a puzzling player. Like Grant said before, he had no interest in drafting him. A lot of lists have him all over the place but I am really struggling to understand why. He has all the tools to become a great d-man. This guy screams Cam Fowler.

#25 - Oskar Olausson - The theme throughout my draft was above average/elite skating ability. Similar to Edvinsson, Oskar has all the tools in the tool box. The difference is he has struggled to put them all together consistently. I thought I had a good chance to grab Sasha Pastujov at this pick but Vancouver sniped him from me 2 picks before.

#27 - Simon Robertsson - A fairly safe pick here. He is all around good at everything and already has NHL size. I don't see massive upside here but I think hes a lock to make the NHL in a middle 6 role. He reminds me a lot of a Riley Smith kind of player. Boring but effective.

#29 - Samu Tuomaala - While doing research he seemed to be all over the place in terms of rankings. A ton of rankings that I saw had him in the top 20 so I am hoping to see that in the NHL draft. He has elite speed and an elite shot . I was really impressed with him at the U18s.

#31 - Matthew Samoskevich - I will be honest, I did very little research into him. He was just the next best player in my rankings. Consistency seems to be the biggest issue with him. Reading a bit into him after the draft it seems like one game he looks like a top 15 pick, the next a top 10 pick and then the next a 3rd round pick. At this point of the draft my targets were high risk/high reward.

#37 - Scott Morrow - May have been a bit early of a pick but he was one guy I wanted to get. I considered taking him at #31 because of the massive potential. Labelled as one of the if not the top offensive d-man in the draft and the comparisons to John Carlson had me wanting to grab him even if I had to reach. Again, high risk/high reward.

#39 - Sean Behrens - Undersized d-man who was Luke Hughes d-partner. It sounds like he was a big reason for Luke's success. Behrens allowed Luke to play a little more offensively while he took care of his own end. I am hoping he becomes a bit of a steal here while all the scouts were watching Luke.

#41 - Samu Salminen - He reminds me a ton of a poor mans Anton Lundell. Amazing defensively and one of the best prospects when it comes to winning face offs. He already has NHL size and was a top player for Finland in the U18 tourney. Skating is a bit of a concern but I just see him as being a lock to be an NHLer.

#52 - Alexander Kisakov - Labelled as one of the most skilled players in this years draft. He absolutely exploded playing in Russias top juinor league with 73 points in 61 games. The biggest issue here is he is extremely small when it comes to weight. Johnny Hockey may even weigh more than him. He reminds me of a skinny Kirill Kaprizov. I am hoping he can put on a bunch of weight and become Kirill Kaprizov.

And some other high risk/high reward targets in the later rounds.

[Tilley]

Chicago picked a couple guys late. Don’t have high expectations and already focused on the ‘22 draft.

[simmer2]

74 year old Ducks Head Scout Ronald McCleary had this to say about Anton Olsson, selected 54th overall and was the Ducks only pick:

"With only one pick in the draft, we had to make sure we absolutely nailed it. And I had Owen Power neck and neck with Olsson. I mean, I'm not sure how this guy fell out of the Top 10, let alone to 54th pick. I got to have a nap before we made our selection and was shocked at who was sitting there!

I don't have my reading glasses on but Olsson at 7'1, moves incredibly well and transitions better than most forwards. He's going to be an absolute stud for our team. Hell, I could see him supplanting Provorov as our #1 dman next year."

[Quigz17]

What would you do if he sang out of tune?

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

New York Islanders



69 — Red Savage. Fantastic production with the USNTDP. Really thrilled to get him at 69, wasn't sure if he'd be available that low. Best name in the draft. Undersized but very flashy, extremely high potential.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[CaptainCrunch]

St Louis recap



53. ST. LOUIS (from SAN JOSE) - Chase Stillman - Bit of an outlier, but had a decent first season with Sudbury where he put up 13 goals and 34 points in 58 days. Spent last season overseas with ESBjerg where he scored 9 points and 16 points in 8 games. He also suited up for 2 goals and 4 points in 7 games for Canada's under 18 team. He's not small at 6'1 and 180 pounds. By all reports he has a high motor is fairly fearless of going into the tough areas and see's the ice well.



68. ST. LOUIS - KLIMOVICH, DANILA - A monster right winger from Belarus, he lit it up for Minsk last season scoring 28 goals and 52 points in 37 games. He also played for the Belarus under 18 national team where he was effective. His scouting report is that he likes to play inside of the circles, is tough to get off of his feet, and plays with a hard violent energy. He also had a very good playoff performance with 9 points and 14 points in 12 games.

[Don't Toews Me Bro]

Vancouver draft recap:

4. Matthew Beniers.
I thought I'd be getting one of Clarke/Hughes here, but really happy to get Beniers. He’s been compared to Toews (should fit in on my team then). High level skill and all the scouts mention his work-effort, he may not turn into a bonafide superstar but should be a top centre for a while.

13. Fabian Lysell
This is my boom or bust pick. I've seen him ranked all over the place from late first round to a top 5 pick. He's got tons of skill and lots of highlight reel plays, whether it translates will be the question. Debated between him and Wallstadt here. Might end up regretting not taking the goalie.

23. Sasha Pastujov
He's got tons of skill and has that Tkachuk snarl to his game, I think he's a sleeper pick for this draft. I thought I was reaching a bit by taking Pasta here. However, it’s cool to read that Minny almost took him at 22 and NJ wanted him at 25. I had him rated pretty high on my draft list and had him circled for this pick.

33. Stanislav Svozil
An interesting player for me, lots of stuff written about how he's the best player to come out of Czech in a while. His stats don't exactly jump off the page but seen a few mock drafts with him going in the 1st round. Not sure what he will turn out to be.

38. Matthew Knies
This was another player I projected this pick for, very possible he will go a bit later in the real draft. He’s a 6’3” strong forward with crafty hands. He was supposed to be a first round pick this year unfortunately he had a slow start and bad production to his season which made him drop, he picked it up quite a bit in the last couple months and I’ve seen him sneak into a couple mock drafts as a late 1st rounder.

44. Brett Harrison
IDK, he was on the list.

47. William Stromgren
Another 6’3” power forward, boom/bust pick again. He has a different style of skating which he uses to throw off defenders on the rush which I thought was neat. Can never have too many big wingers that put up points.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Really liked your draft. Had several of those guys on my list
Sasha will haunt me

[devo22]

New York Rangers only had a 2nd and a few late rounders:

#43 - C Dylan Duke - a strong two-way forward with good production in the USNTDP system. Really liked what I read about him, most lists have him in the early to mid 2nd round too and I think he's a solid prospect. Going the NCAA route (Univ. of Michigan).

#126 - D Topias Vilen - really happy to get him at that point, I'd be surprised if he didn't go sooner in the draft. Very solid defenseman, already a Liiga mainstay and only one of two 18 year old defensemen to do so last season (Malinen was the other one).

#136 - D Ty Gallagher - another player coming through the USNTDP system. Offensive minded defenseman with great numbers, who will go the college route to refine his game and get ready for the NHL. Committed to Boston College.

#139 - W Albert Sjöberg - hard-working forward who can play on both wings. Had solid numbers in the U20 league and will hopefully spend the next season full-time with Södertälje in the HockeyAllsvenskan.

we'll see how those guys will do, but I like the haul for now. Also had no picks last year, so that was my first Zoom draft experience and I really liked it. Even with only a few picks, it was still a fun experience.

[BagoPucks]

Washington Capitals waited very patiently for the draft. Draft day arrived and I still didn't know who I liked best. The group of players in the top 7 or 8 were so close that we could have any of them and feel okay.

Finally it began and Cheese kicked it off with Power.

#2 - Brandt Clarke - D - Skilled offensive player with size, skating and a right shot. It was a tough decision between Clarke and Eklund and Guenther. I think he can really turn into a top 1-3 D with PP time without being a liability on the ice. Dont like picking D so high but I think his potential is extremely high if he gets there. Capitals need this pick to pan out as the Franchise needs to take many steps towards contenting and I think with Clarke we can do that.

#7 Kent Johnson - C - Will most likely be a winger at the next level but his puck skills and offensive ability makes us happy to get him. He needs to gain some strength and size to get to the pro level. Was hoping for Guenther to fall to us but knew it was unlikely with Minny picking so many times around us.

#28 Xavier Bourgault - C - Offensive playmaker from the Q. Not the biggest player but an offensive player who we think can translate his offence to the NHL level. Hoping he continues to develop and produce. Was super excited to see him still sitting on the board as we thought he might have been drafted by the time it got to us.

#35 Olen Zellweger - D - Undersized offensive skating defenseman who will be a gamble to make an impact the NHL level. We had Ayrton Martino or Francesco Pinelli who we wanted here but since Knut took him 1 pick before us we had to scramble to find another player. We are happy with his upside so we decided to swing for it.

Capitals waited around after this pick to see if anyone wanted to trade a 2021 3rd for a 2022 3rd. It didnt happen as we couldnt find a dance partner. Capitals had a very limited amount of ECHL spots so we decided to stay disciplined and not have a bunch of late picks.

Thanks Scorp, Jiri for running the draft and all else who participated. Super fun times maybe we should do something like this for the trade deadline.

[Hanna Sniper]

Carolina Hurricanes Draft recap



#05 - Luke Hughes: I’ll be honest, I never thought Hughes drops this far, I seem him going to Minnesota the moment that the wild traded for the 3rd overall selection. The ‘Canes fully expected to draft William Eklund or our worst fear being the sucker forced to draft Brandt Clarke. to draft Hughes is a dream come true though, to draft Hughes and Jamie Drysdale in back-to-back years can simply solidify this organization for the next decade. I'm ecstatic as I never thought Hughes would be available




#26 - Sebastian Cossa: Like with Brandt Clarke the ‘Canes were terrified that Francesco Pinelli was still going to be on the board when the 26th pick around. Thankfully the Lightning woke us up from the possible nightmare and the ‘Canes found themselves in an absolute dream scenario with drafting a possible stating goalie in Cossa. The Hurricanes are in desperation for goaltending depth as prospects Tyler Parsons and Michael DiPietro no panning out




#42 - Logan Mailloux: Mailloux is a player that the ‘Canes centred on since December of last year. Earlier in the week, the ‘Canes made two moves to strategically position themselves in the draft in hopes of draft Mailloux. A lesson this organization learnt two years ago bu having targeted players get select3ed by other teams because we failed to position ourselves correctly. I believe that Mailloux will be every bit a better player than Brandt Clarke and expect to see him drafted in the top 20 in the NHL draft. With the London Knights controlling his development, I’m really excited to be adding the rearguard to an already stacked blueline.




#61 - Ryan Winteron: After Chase Stillman was selected by the Blues 9 picks earlier we reached back into the draft and pulled Winteron up. If the OHL was running last season we believe that Winteron would be getting a lot more attention than he is. Thankfully for the Hurricanes, he’s pretty much unknown on most teams' draft sheets and we found it unnecessary to take a risk and leave him exposed in the draft longer than he should be and pulled him up a couple of rounds.




#77 - Artyom Grushnikov: Like with Winteron, the ‘Canes went with who they know and selected the Bulldog's top selection in the 2020 Import draft with Grushnikov. I really enjoyed watching him in the U18’s for Russia after I learned that he would be joining the Bulldogs. Artyom is just a smooth-skating defendant that doesn’t bring a lot of flash that gets noticed but he’s very solid and with the number of defencemen the ‘Canes have been selecting we have a lot of time to let Artyom develop into a solid defensive defender

Other Picks 3rd and 4th Round
#87 - Roman Schmidt
#89 - Stuart Rolofs
#111 - Tucker Robertson
#117 - Ben Roger

Note Hurricanes draft 5 defensemen, 1 goalie, 1 center, 1 right-wing and 1 left wing. 3 London Knights, 2 Hamiton Bulldogs. 6 OHL, 2 USA Top and 1 WHL player

[Knut]

^ you should probably Google Logan Mailloux if you expect him to go top 20.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by Knut

^ you should probably Google Logan Mailloux if you expect him to go top 20.

I knew about it in December, I was surprised it took this long to become a story TBH. I guess that means I'm months ahead of the "insiders"

[Jiri Hrdina]

Doug was not too far off with thinking I would take Hughes. I had a deal worked out to drop down just a touch - if Eklund had gone at 1 or 2 - and the guy I would have been targeting to draft instead would have been Hughes.

I figured Doug would be taking Clarke due to his history in the OHL.

Would have been interested to see how the draft had worked out if #2 had been Eklund. Probably would have been something like

1- Power
2- Eklund
3- Benieres
4 - Hughes
5- ????

[Hanna Sniper]

I would have taken Clarke and traded him the next day. Not a fan

[TheScorpion]

I was surprised Doug didn't take Avery Hayes.

[SportsJunky]

I for sure would have taken Logan Mailloux later in the 2nd had he not been gone by then.