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2014 NHL Draft Thread

Based on talent I want Ehlers or Nylander. They are both little guys but have high end skill. Nylander had the best season ever for a 17 year old in Sweden's 2nd division pro league, and he is just killing it against guys his age at the U18s. Head and shoulders above everyone else there which includes guys like Virtanen, Perlini, McCann, Fleury, Pastrnak and Kapanen. He also did pretty well in the elite league putting up 7 points in 22 games. IMO he is a Kadri type prospect without the edge. Insanely talented playmaker, but small and a lot of bad habits so he is raw at this point.

Ehlers just had an insane season, and if you can get a 17 year old 100 point CHL scorer at 8 you do it. Great, explosive player who isn't getting the credit he is due because of his size (same build as Kadri 6'0 160 pounds), Drouin and the fact he is Danish. The guy scored 50 goals this year and 100 points. Here is the list of other guys who have done that in recent history (last 5 years): Petan, Weal, Huberdeau, Drouin, Strome, Yakupov, Seguin. I'll take a change on that kind of talent any day.

I'm not a huge fan of some of the other guys. Perlini has skill, but taking a winger without high end talent in the top 10 seems like a waste to me. Virtanen has great goal scoring potential, but he is pretty one dimensional and lacks the hockey IQ and playmaking ability to drive a line. The goalscoring ability, and physical play though is a great combination. Ritchie, McCann and Fleury should be solid 2nd/3rd liner/pair guys at the NHL level, they are good, solid players, but again that seems like a waste in the top 10. Kapanen and Pastrnak are also little skilled wingers, but not in the same league as Ehlers and Nylander.

For me if Ehlers is there you take him.
 
If Shanny is looking for high ceiling what about this guy:

[video=youtube;VDYpDxpB5Zw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDYpDxpB5Zw[/video]
 
Virtanen, for me, is Keith Tkachuk. A physically nasty pure goal scorer. In my opinion, he's tied for the 5th best player in the Draft and I think we can still get him at 8.
 
In regards to drafting d-men out of the CHL:

https://twitter.com/mc79hockey/status/468955522121875456

BoIQkAHIgAAUTa-.png:large
 
That list is only CHL players too as they ignored all other 17 year old season scoring. Pretty telling.

I don't think its a matter of the guy who scores the most is the best. But obviously guys who score more at 17 are better hockey players than the guys they are significantly outscoring. Unless there are major character flaws, where you know they won't put in the work required to develop and grow as a player, or they are terrible skaters, why wouldn't that still be the case 10 years later?
 
Hopefully this year the Habs won't draft a McCarron clone and make the mistake of giving him an ELC in the first summer because we lack size.

No idea what Timmins was thinking.

Holy Jesus he's awful. At least we didn't trade up for him because Jesus.
 
Probably.

Drafting McCarron is like when we drafted David Fischer all over again. A very, very glaring organizational need (2006 we needed D, 2013 we needed forwards with size) that we filled by taking the biggest player available (with various reports we tried trading up to get Samuel Morin) instead of the BPA.

And some of us called it from day 1. Complete and utter **** up.
 
Oh, I did. Fell in love with his skating & used his injuries as an excuse. But I use hindsight as a tool. ;)

(And I also never had the chance of watching Fischer play)
 
Aaron Vickers ‏Hitmen announce Jake Virtanen underwent successful shoulder surgery and will be out 4-to-6 months. No fitness testing for him. #NHLDraft

Aaron Vickers ‏Further on Virtanen, PR says he suffered the injury in the regular season, meaning he willed through the injury in the WHL Playoffs and U18.
 
http://www.mynhldraft.com/NHL-Mock-Draft/
7. Kapanen
8: Ehlers
9. Perlini

http://www.draftsite.com/nhl/mock-draft/2014/round1/
7. Ritchie
8. Perlini
9. Ehlers

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-for-top-30-picks-after-1st-round-of-playoffs
7. Ritchie
8. Perlini
9. Virtanen

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=449467
7. Kapenen
8. Ritchie
9. Perlini

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=710956
7. Fleury
8. Nylander
9. Fabbri

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=710656
7. Dal Colle
8. Virtanen
9. Perlini

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/cosentinos-2014-nhl-mock-draft/
7. Kapanen
8. Perlini
9. Ritchie

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=712639
7. Perlini
8. Virtanen
9. Nylander

http://thehockeywriters.com/2014-nhl-mock-draft-playoffs-edition/
7. Nylander
8. Virtanen
9. Perlini

http://thehockeywriters.com/2014-nhl-mock-draft-april-edition/
7. Nylander
8. Virtanen
9. Ehlers

http://nesn.com/2014/04/2014-nhl-mock-draft-analysis-predictions-for-each-lottery-team/
7. Kapanen
8. Nylander
9. Barbashev

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/ryan-kennedys-lottery-mock-draft/
7. Ritchie
8. Perlini
9. Virtanen

http://frozenfutures.com/2014/05/02/2014-nhl-mock-draft-take-1/4/
7. Dal Colle
8. Virtanen
9. Kapanen
 
This is Ehlers comparables..... sweet jeebus where do I sign (being sarcastic as I know they love to embellish this stuff)

Markus Naslund (Skill)
Pavel Bure (Speed)
Peter Forsberg (Seeing the ice)
Click to expand...
 
Ritchie: 61gp, 39g, 74pts, 1.21ppg
Perlini: 58gp, 34g, 71pts, 1.22ppg
Virtanen: 71gp, 45g, 71pts, 1.00ppg
Ehlers: 63gp, 49g, 104pts, 1.65ppg
 
Ritchie sounds like a Lucic type player.. power forward who bowls his way to the net.

Perlini plays with Vaerhaege so that could be a factor of how much he's been scouted.

Skill wise I go for Ehlers, but Ritchie seems interesting if Ehlers is gone. 6,2 230lbs
 
Lots of players where their scouting reports make them sound great. Inny mini myni mo.

We need to get a good player here. Hopefully this is the last time we draft in the top 10.
 
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