You have to think William Nylander's stock is rising... 11 points in 4 games at the U18s so far. He's top 5 on more lists than I realised (ISS for one, FC for another) and he should get a boost from his performance in that tourney.
Shame he's so undersized at 5'10", 179lbs, because we could use a pure offensive wizard on the right side. He is still 17 though (May birthday) and to me he looks the youngest physically of all the prospects I've seen. Could be that he is under-developed and has another couple of inches left to grow. Food for thought...
William Nylander
HOMETOWN: CALGARY ALBERTA
And his father was 6'1" maybe he can/we grow a little bc he has a ton of talent.
Shhhhh! I have a secret plan! Mods please make my post members only:
Let's pump up Draisatl, Dal Colle, Nylander and Ritchie as much as possible. Also post about how small and overrated Bennett, Reinhart, and Ekblad are! I'm pretty sure the oiler management are reading this board.
In all honesty, my top 3 are(by far):
Ekblad
Reinhart
Bennett
Past that I'm ok with Draisatl, bet I honestly Burke trades up or down. I don't see Burke drafting either Draisaitl or Dal Colle..
Attn Florida and Buffalo!
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Shhhhh! I have a secret plan! Mods please make my post members only:
Let's pump up Draisatl, Dal Colle, Nylander and Ritchie as much as possible. Also post about how small and overrated Bennett, Reinhart, and Ekblad are! I'm pretty sure the oiler management are reading this board.
In all honesty, my top 3 are(by far):
Ekblad
Reinhart
Bennett
Past that I'm ok with Draisatl, bet I honestly Burke trades up or down. I don't see Burke drafting either Draisaitl or Dal Colle..
Attn Florida and Buffalo!
Burke has already publicly said he likes the top 4 and will draft at that position (very unlikely to draft up or down).
Ekblad/Reinhart/Bennett are all pretty much tied for me. If we had a chance at any of them I'd be stoked. After that Dal Colle ahead of Draisaitl. I personally believe Dal Colle has the highest ceiling out of the 5
Shhhhh! I have a secret plan! Mods please make my post members only:
Let's pump up Draisatl, Dal Colle, Nylander and Ritchie as much as possible. Also post about how small and overrated Bennett, Reinhart, and Ekblad are! I'm pretty sure the oiler management are reading this board.
In all honesty, my top 3 are(by far):
Ekblad
Reinhart
Bennett
Past that I'm ok with Draisatl, bet I honestly Burke trades up or down. I don't see Burke drafting either Draisaitl or Dal Colle..
Attn Florida and Buffalo!
I agree totally on your draft order, except I disagree about Dal Colle and Draisaitl.
I watched a load of Draisaitl and Dal Colle highlights last night and I honestly don't think we can go wrong picking either of them too. They are exactly what we lack: skill players with SIZE.
Dal Colle is a sniper with poise and size; crazy good shot and release. Decent speed and when he fills out he'll have the added ability to play a power game. He doesn't play very physically yet, but there's no reason to believe he can't add that aspect to his game as he develops. #3 on plenty of lists all year long.
Draisaitl is a sick playmaker with poise and size. Can play a power game in the corners already, but lacks a gear or two in speed. Some scouts seem to think his skating issues can be fixed easily enough, which is why he's suddenly entered the conversation in some quarters for 1st overall. His vision and passing are nothing short of exceptional.
I'm holding out hope that, because Reinhart isn't a particularly flashy player, these other bright shining prospects get taken early. ISS and NHL CS had Sam going 4th at different points this year. Reinhart & Monahan is a recipe for a future dynasty in my opinion... Them and Baertschi + Gaudreau would be like having 2 sets of Toews/Kane to throw at the opposition!
I love size as much as the next guy but Ehlers is gonna be amazing player. Adding another 10-20 lbs to his frame in next couple of years would make him lethal.
I'm gonna stop pumping up Ehlers and just hope Button and co. also see him as an elite talent and draft him for us.
Ehlers had 8 more goals and 9 less assists than Drouin did last year, and Drouin had MacKinnon.
Add in his huge near 2 PPG pace in the playoffs (Drouin is at a 2.67 PPG pace what....) and he seems like a really really good player.
Even though he's slightly smaller, I'd prefer him to everyone except Reinhart/Bennett. No offense to Draisaitl, or Dal Colle, but Ehlers looks like he might have star calibre offensive skill, instead of just potential 1st line skill.
Plus Ehlers can play either wing.
Having two blazers like Ehlers and Poirier would make our offense deadly. Speed kills.
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Last edited by Caged Great; 04-23-2014 at 06:00 AM.
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Draisaitl is a sick playmaker with poise and size. Can play a power game in the corners already, but lacks a gear or two in speed. Some scouts seem to think his skating issues can be fixed easily enough, which is why he's suddenly entered the conversation in some quarters for 1st overall. His vision and passing are nothing short of exceptional.
I think this draft is going to be like the 1999 draft and Draisaitl is the Pavel Brendl of this draft. Lots of hype because of his big numbers, but I don't think the warts on his game will allow it to translate to the NHL. He's not a good skater and the NHL has become a speed game. I'm not sure some of his dangles or power moves are going to be effective against bigger, stronger, faster players. Lots of hype surrounding some of these kids, but I'm not certain any will live up to the expectations. I think the best of the bunch will be Reinhart. Anyone else I would temper my enthusiasm. I would not be surprised to see the next best players in the draft be selected outside of the first round. I just think it's going to be one of those drafts.
Ehlers had 8 more goals and 9 less assists than Drouin did last year and hasn't played a ton with JD.
Add in his huge near 2 PPG pace in the playoffs (Drouin is at a 2.67 PPG pace what....) and he seems like a really really good player.
Even though he's slightly smaller, I'd prefer him to everyone except Reinhart/Bennett. No offense to Draisaitl, or Dal Colle, but Ehlers looks like he might have star calibre offensive skill, instead of just potential 1st line skill.
Plus Ehlers can play either wing.
Having two blazers like Ehlers and Poirier would make our offense deadly. Speed kills.
Where have you heard that? Every time I've seen him he's been on Drouin's wing. Ehlers looks sick, but I honestly don't know how much of that is due to the amount of attention given to Drouin (the consensus #1 prospect in the universe ). Ehlers' supporting cast is way better than Draisaitl's and Dal Colle's, and surely the attention defenders give Drouin means Ehlers has much more room to operate out there. I see him as a Hemsky-type player going forward, and to me that is not a Burke-type player.
Where have you heard that? Every time I've seen him he's been on Drouin's wing. Ehlers looks sick, but I honestly don't know how much of that is due to the amount of attention given to Drouin (the consensus #1 prospect in the universe ). Ehlers' supporting cast is way better than Draisaitl's and Dal Colle's, and surely the attention defenders give Drouin means Ehlers has much more room to operate out there. I see him as a Hemsky-type player going forward, and to me that is not a Burke-type player.
That's just my perception anyway...
I edited that out, you just caught my error before I could.
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). Ehlers' supporting cast is way better than Draisaitl's and Dal Colle's, and surely the attention defenders give Drouin means Ehlers has much more room to operate out there. I see him as a Hemsky-type player going forward, and to me that is not a Burke-type player.