What about Nikolaj Ehlers. LW for the Mooseheads, 52gp 32g 43a 75p. Not, big - 5'11", 163, and I could see arguing he's redundant with Baertschi and Gaudreau already in our system, but could he be a trade-down-to-grab target?
Unless he's heads and shoulders above the other players left (which I doubt he will be) we will take someone a lot stronger and bigger IMO.
We have a chance to take a big skilled forward or a powerforward this draft (or a big defenseman). This draft seems pretty deep at the top end in big forwards. So pretty much zero chance we take a smaller skilled forward like an Ehlers or Nylander.
Draisaitl with 2 goals, 2 assists today vs the Hitmen. Lot's of conflicting reports on this guy, gonna be interesting to watch his rankings as the season concludes.
Don't look now but much like last season the Hurricanes and Predators are starting to loose games at an alarming rate late into the season. There is going to be a lot of competition to pick top 5 again this season and I'm not convinced the Flames will pick top 5 as the four teams behind them have been much worse of late and are trending down while I expect the Flames to maintain a clip near .500 while the Preds and Hurricanes continue at .350 pace.
Was thinking the same thing - it's like we've seen this movie before. Shameful on these franchises - have some pride!
Don't look now but much like last season the Hurricanes and Predators are starting to loose games at an alarming rate late into the season. There is going to be a lot of competition to pick top 5 again this season and I'm not convinced the Flames will pick top 5
You got it. I've accepted that we'll be picking 7th or 8th at this point. In a way I kind of hope we back into the Virtanen pick and he proves to be the 30 goal, power forward that I hope he will be.
Was thinking the same thing - it's like we've seen this movie before. Shameful on these franchises - have some pride!
What's really shocking about the Hurricanes is that they have veteran players on that team yet just like last season they are packing things up early and checking out before the season is over. Predators you could see coming when they traded Legwand and the fact they pulled the pin after the deadline last year. Both of those teams will finish below the Flames as will the Islanders. I'm hoping to at least stick with the 6th pick again but it appears the 7th pick will likely be what they get as the Flames have a fair bit of winnable games on their schedule and the Predators have a tough schedule to finish the season and may not win more than 3 games the rest of the season and the Hurricanes are just a mess.
Unless he's heads and shoulders above the other players left (which I doubt he will be) we will take someone a lot stronger and bigger IMO.
We have a chance to take a big skilled forward or a powerforward this draft (or a big defenseman). This draft seems pretty deep at the top end in big forwards. So pretty much zero chance we take a smaller skilled forward like an Ehlers or Nylander.
Absolutely, I simply can't see Burke picking Ehlers or Nylander. Not his type of guys, even if they can spell in tent city.
What's really shocking about the Hurricanes is that they have veteran players on that team yet just like last season they are packing things up early and checking out before the season is over. Predators you could see coming when they traded Legwand and the fact they pulled the pin after the deadline last year. Both of those teams will finish below the Flames as will the Islanders. I'm hoping to at least stick with the 6th pick again but it appears the 7th pick will likely be what they get as the Flames have a fair bit of winnable games on their schedule and the Predators have a tough schedule to finish the season and may not win more than 3 games the rest of the season and the Hurricanes are just a mess.
We seemed to manage fine having Monahan drop to us at six last year. So if the other guys want to tank and create a losing culture that's their prerogative.
Looking at this draft it is chock full of pint sizes. I'm wondering if Burke might be looking at packaging our 2nds and 3rds to move up into positions where he can get the 'beef' he is emphasizing.
The islanders are in such a tough spot... They are likely going to finish in the top four picks in the draft this year but they are probably projected to do the same thing next year... Do they surrender this years pick to buffalo knowing that the stronger draft is next year and they will likely have a good lottery pick? Or do they keep this pick knowing its a top five pick and hope they improve next season?
There is very little reason to think they will improve in the offseason this year... They lost MacDonald, Vanek, and Moulson. They are a hard sell to attract free agents cause they don't like to over pay and they are projected to be a bad team.
The only thing they have going for them is Tavares... Both the fact that he is one of the best players in the world and because players might be willing to sign with the islanders for a chance to play with him... The same way players wanted to play with iginla when he was in his prime. Maybe they could attract a guy like cammalleri or gaborik in the offseason. If they are smart, they will fire Garth Snow and have the new GM try to bring Moulson back.
The only thing they have going for them is Tavares... Both the fact that he is one of the best players in the world and because players might be willing to sign with the islanders for a chance to play with him... The same way players wanted to play with iginla when he was in his prime. Maybe they could attract a guy like cammalleri or gaborik in the offseason. If they are smart, they will fire Garth Snow and have the new GM try to bring Moulson back.
You are quite out of the loop...they have quite a few solid young NHL players plus a few high end prospects breaking into the NHL.
What they need is a couple solid veterans to help lead the way.
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The Islanders are in an easy spot. Finish bottom 5 this year, use the Tavares injury as an excuse, pimp the new pick as part of a bright future with Tavares, Reinhart, Strome, Hamonic, Hickey and give up next years pick.
Keeping next years pick and telling your fans/players our plan/expectations are that we will be absolute garbage next year would be an awful choice. The Islanders looked awful since the Olympic break and don't have a ton going for it but with no pick next year they have every reason to go all in and it is hard to imagine they will have worse goaltending than the Nilsson/Poulin/Nabokov poo poo platter.
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The Islanders are in an easy spot. Finish bottom 5 this year, use the Tavares injury as an excuse, pimp the new pick as part of a bright future with Tavares, Reinhart, Strome, Hamonic, Hickey and give up next years pick.
Keeping next years pick and telling your fans/players our plan/expectations are that we will be absolute garbage next year would be an awful choice. The Islanders looked awful since the Olympic break and don't have a ton going for it but with no pick next year they have every reason to go all in and it is hard to imagine they will have worse goaltending than the Nilsson/Poulin/Nabokov poo poo platter.
I suppose that's true and I imagine they will keep this years pick. It's probably the right choice too at this point.
But man, will they get ripped on next year by everyone if they win the draft lottery and let buffalo draft McDavid in their place.
I suppose that's true and I imagine they will keep this years pick. It's probably the right choice too at this point.
But man, will they get ripped on next year by everyone if they win the draft lottery and let buffalo draft McDavid in their place.
They are certainly in a bad spot because their idiot GM made a horrible deal but in terms of choosing which year to keep and which to give up it should be a no brainer for them.
That deal looks bad even without the McDavid factor, if that were to happen this goes down as one of the worst deals in history.
Don't look now but much like last season the Hurricanes and Predators are starting to loose games at an alarming rate late into the season. There is going to be a lot of competition to pick top 5 again this season and I'm not convinced the Flames will pick top 5 as the four teams behind them have been much worse of late and are trending down while I expect the Flames to maintain a clip near .500 while the Preds and Hurricanes continue at .350 pace.
Factor in the current injection of youth and enthusiasm into the Flames lineup & I fear you may be right. Guys like Reinhart & Granlund are the kind of players whose contributions help teams win games. With any luck Joey MacDonald should help counteract that...
If Draisatl & Ehlers slip into the top 5 it means we have a solid shot at Ekblad, Reinhart or Bennett, who sound to me like the players who would help the Flames the most. If we draft 6-10 I hope Fleury & Virtanen are considered. I'm actually pretty excited about all the top 5-to-7 prospects.
You are quite out of the loop...they have quite a few solid young NHL players plus a few high end prospects breaking into the NHL.
What they need is a couple solid veterans to help lead the way.
They have 2 solid NHL players on that team in Taveres and Okposo, outside of them it's an AHL team. De Haan was drafted high and doesn't look good, goaltending is garbage and they are lacking any quality on the 2nd. 3rd and 4th line. That franchise is in shambles, they cycle through prospects and trade them away before the player develops. It has been like that since the late 90's and things haven't changed a bit. How much of a chance did they give Niedereitter? Strome might be fine but he needs someone to play with. It will take more than a few veterans to turn things around and I can't see anyone wanting to play for the owner or the GM. I think that Tavares will be leaving after his contract is up and the rebuild will continue for another 15 years. Worst run franchise in the NHL, makes the Oilers look good.
