2023 NHL Draft Thread

[fotze2]

Which player do you think plays like a, just for example, a giant wall of text?

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Royle9

I really hope the flames stay away from Honzek @ 16.
It would be a stereotypical flames "draft big, big = good" pick and that's what worries me.

Honzek likely tops out as a bottom 6 forward, hes not really strong at one particular thing but a solid depth guy who can get in front of the net and make things happen. He has good hands for a big guy, but he's more a playmaker than a shooter.

Flames need high end skill, and Honzek isnt that.

Just my humble opinion, but I think you may be selling him short. His game isn't "flashy", but he's certainly not devoid of high-end skill. This year, he played for the second-worst offensive team in the WHL, and put up 56 points in 43 games- which when pro-rated to 65 games, would give him 85 points. The year before, he put up big numbers for a 16 year old in the men's league in Europe. I like certain other players more, but I wouldn't be upset if we chose him.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Sandman is like a draft chatpgt just type a name and you shall receive.

Thanks Paulie, I'm happy that I have somewhere to discuss this stuff. For 30+ years, I've been the go-to hockey/draft guy in my circle of family/friends/co-workers/fellow hockey nerds, but when I start talking about my opinions of players in the upcoming draft, I can see people's eyes start to glaze over. Most people just want a thumbs up/thumbs down-type evaluation....

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Just my humble opinion, but I think you may be selling him short. His game isn't "flashy", but he's certainly not devoid of high-end skill. This year, he played for the second-worst offensive team in the WHL, and put up 56 points in 43 games- which when pro-rated to 65 games, would give him 85 points. The year before, he put up big numbers for a 16 year old in the men's league in Europe. I like certain other players more, but I wouldn't be upset if we chose him.

Totally respect your opinion, I'm just not sure in translates.
I think he's ranked where he's at because of his size, not neccessarily his skill.

If he was 5'9/5'10 I dont think people are talking about him in the same light.
When I heard the Flames could be looking at him I've watched quite of few of his highlights/shifts and when compared to the other players ranked around the Flames pick like Barlow, Wood, Yager etc I wouldn't view him in the same light personally. I think he's a step below those guys, so if we're talking "shelves" like the scouts look at I'd put him lower than those 4.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Royle9

Totally respect your opinion, I'm just not sure in translates.
I think he's ranked where he's at because of his size, not neccessarily his skill.

If he was 5'9/5'10 I dont think people are talking about him in the same light.
When I heard the Flames could be looking at him I've watched quite of few of his highlights/shifts and when compared to the other players ranked around the Flames pick like Barlow, Wood, Yager etc I wouldn't view him in the same light personally. I think he's a step below those guys, so if we're talking "shelves" like the scouts look at I'd put him lower than those 4.

Totally respect your opinion, Royle!

[FlamesAddiction]

Hypothetically, is this the kind draft that you would think about trading down to get additional picks in the first round? It seems like once you get out of the top 12 or so, there is a lot of splitting hairs among a lot of the scouting reports and the quality seems pretty consistent through to the end of the 1st round.

Putting on my fantasy GM hat, I wonder if it would be worth it and if St. Louis were willing, we could trade the 16th OA for the 29th and 30th OA picks. One draft pick value chart of looked up showed the value would be close.

Just looking at various rankings, it seems like one or two guys like Stenberg, But, Dragicevic, Heidt, Honzek, and Musty could fall that far. Not all of them of course, but it wouldn't be shocking to see couple slip through depending on how other teams value them. If you could get 2 of those guys, it would probably go along way to restocking the cupboard. And if those guys aren't there, it would just mean that some other intriguing players slipped though instead.

The more I read about Stenberg, the more he kind of intrigues me. He seems to be a player that is moving up and has a great trajectory at the moment. I always think that because you draft players for what you think they will be and not on what they are now, those are good ones to target. I just don't know if I would take him at 16 because he seems to be flying under the radar a little.

[TheScorpion]

Stenberg? We're drafting radio guys now?

[Sandman]

More Draft Thoughts:

Quentin Musty. I love this kid, and I want you to as well. 78 points in 53 games for the middling Sudbury Wolves, who drafted the American-born LW first overall in the 2021 Priority Draft. Pro-rated to 65 games, would give him 95 points. 78.6% of his points came at 5 vs 5. Musty is a supremely skilled offensive player, but some aspects of his play in the other 2 zones have scouts very divided. Musty is listed at 6'2" (some say 6'3"), and plays a power-forward style- he doesn't often throw big hits, but he bulls his way around the ice, using his size and strength to impose his will, be it along the boards, or attacking the net. Coming in to the year, Musty was known as a goal-scorer, with an NHL-calibre wrister and one-timer that he needs no time or space to get off, but he's added a top-tier playmaking dimension to his repertoire that rivals most of his contemporaries in this draft. Makes high quality plays off the rush. He has the gift of finding the open space in any situation, for shots, passes through traffic, or a lane to maneuver, and has a deft arsenal of stick moves, toe drags, jukes, dekes and fakes to get around in traffic. Supreme puck skills, puck protection, and stickhandling. Here's where it gets muddy. Musty is knocked in most scouting reports for his off-puck game, some aspects of his defense, and often his effort and engagement when not in the offensive zone. Much of his problem is that while he possesses a good straight-away power stride, his lateral movement is very lacking. He loses power in his crossovers, and his acceleration needs work. I believe that due to this, he tries to avoid overextending himself. It can hurt him when defending the rush, and he sometimes has to defer to teammates to do some of the dirty work. Many believe that if he can fix his speed, he will be an imposing force who will dominate games with his playmaking and power game, and some have questioned his hockey sense. I think he will be considered a steal in a few years.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Stenberg? We're drafting radio guys now?

Ha! They have similar last names lmao

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by FCAV

If we're in that list, we'll be updating our Midterm ranking (from February) relatively shortly. We're working on our final list for our 2023 NHL Draft Guide (details/discount coming soon).

In the meantime...I ran our post-Lottery mock. I'm sure a few will appreciate. Also worth noting we've got a pile of free content on our site, in addition to some behind-the-paywall stuff I know a few of you have been digging into (including over 100 reports logged from the U18s, plus some bonus free coverage)!

https://nhlentrydraft.com/news/fchoc...023-nhl-draft/

EDIT: Shoot. Forgot to mention our Mock Draft Builder is live and updated with all your post-lottery fun: https://nhlentrydraft.com/mock-draft/

You guys are on the list for sure. I'll look for the update!

Did your mock and ended up with Reinbacher and Willander in the first two rounds.

That would fix the D cupboard.

[iloveicedhockey]

Pronman had those at 6 and 10 respectively I think.....
Mocks so far:

Pronman - Colby Barlow
Wheeler - Tom Willander
NHL.com (two authors) - Stenberg/Honzek
FC hockey - Matthew Wood
Daily faceoff (Steven Ellis) - Andrew Cristall
Button - Nate Danielson
Sportsnet - Eduard Sale

I think I saw one with Yager as well.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Stenberg? We're drafting radio guys now?

That’s comedy Gould right there.

[Always Earned Never Given]

Tried the mock draft builder and these were the 5 Flames picks.

Man it's tough to be a GM for 5 minutes!

16- DANIELSON NATE C
48- ALLEN CAMERON D
112- FINK AIDEN RW
176- KIISKINEN JESSE RW
208- LESLIE MAZDEN D

[Royle9]

Given the various shelves in this draft, I'd hope the flames dont really explore a trade down scenario unless all the big names are off the board. It's one of those unique drafts where you could see a guy taken anywhere from 5-20 start in the NHL right away.

There's a number of guys that are definitely NHL ready, what impact they would make is yet to be seen. But most years you're looking at a few guys taken 1-6th might make it, sometimes maybe only 1 guy gets a long look.

I think the Flames play should be keeping the 16th pick an using some UFA's to shore up either more 1sts or more depth picks in the 2nd and 3rd round. Based on all the mocks being all over the place, the Flames are poised to potentially pick a TOP prospect even at 16 and that's pretty rare.

[Monahammer]

It is, IMO, very possible that either of Honzek or Wallinder (or both) will be available by our 2nd pick. I would take them with the 2nd.

[bdubbs]

I ran the FC Mock 3 times and all 3 times Honzek was available when the Flames pick came up in the 2nd round...

[dustygoon]

Thanks Sandman!!

So Reinbecher is better than Tim Ramholt, right? How did we draft that guy. 4 points in 12 games in B league in draft year. How did they even see the guy enough?

[dammage79]

I like the FC draft tool but it's not complete. Anything beyond round 3 doesn't account for expanded draft rank9ngs.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I like the FC draft tool but it's not complete. Anything beyond round 3 doesn't account for expanded draft rank9ngs.

I am sure they will be back to discuss this themselves, but I remember it got sharper as the draft approached and they added more ratings last year. I anticipate that will be the same this year.

[1qqaaz]

Just a friendly reminder that in 2005, the Flames drafted OHL forward Matt Pelech in the first round after he only had 6 points (1 goal) in 31 games.