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2015 Leafs Draft Classs

hockeylover said:
Dzierkals:

Dzierkals is an incredibly quick and energetic forward who plays the game at an unmatched tempo. He has a dynamic, electric skill-set that makes him incredibly tough to contain as a defender. Never stops moving his feet and can burn most defenders on the rush as he cuts down the wing. Quick stick and slick puckhandler gives him versatility to beat defenders down the middle. Size is a big question mark standing at 5’10, but continue to add lower body strength in order to protect the puck in tough situations at the next level. We was a force this season with Riga in the MHL and representing Latvia at the U18s and U20s.

- ISS
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They make Dzierkals sound like second coming off Datsyuk.

As bad as the big club may be next year, it's going to be great fun following the progress of all these draftees.
 
hockeylover said:
Mirtle says Dzierkals will play in the CHL next year and likely for a team of the leafs choosing.
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That'll be interesting to watch.

Is it just me or does it kind of stink Marner has to go back to the OHL? I feel like he'll have to score >2 ppg or people will say he's "taken a step back". Not sure he has a lot to learn playing with that quality of competition.

Would they ever consider moving him to Europe / SEL for a season or is that just crazy talk?
 
Aberdeen said:
That'll be interesting to watch.

Is it just me or does it kind of stink Marner has to go back to the OHL? I feel like he'll have to score >2 ppg or people will say he's "taken a step back". Not sure he has a lot to learn playing with that quality of competition.
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Yeah, it does suck. That rule is all about what's best for CHL owners, and not what's necessarily best for the development of the players themselves. I've always thought that, at the very least, they should have an exemption for players drafted in the top-10. That way, you're not sticking teams with the choice of either rushing a teenage player who may not be quite ready to the NHL, or sending them back to the CHL where they don't really have anything left to prove, and where they won't be challenged to take their game up a notch.

A good argument for this is William Nylander last year. As an 18 year-old, he just put up near-PPG seasons in two seperate high-level professional men's leagues last year. So, how could anyone say it wouldn't be a waste of his time to have spent last year as well as next year playing against teenagers in the CHL? But if Nylander was a North American kid and/or a CHL player, that, or graduating him to the NHL, would be our only choices.

Would they ever consider moving him to Europe / SEL for a season or is that just crazy talk?
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The chance of that happening is pretty much non-existent. No team's done it in normal circumstances, probably because they don't want to risk pissing off CHL owners by finding a creative way to circumvent the CHL/NHL agreement. But in Marner's case, his CHL team is owned and operated by our co-interim GM and his brother, so I don't think they'll be looking to have him play anywhere else. Marner probably wouldn't want to, anyways. You have to figure he's got a lot of loyalty to the Knights and to the Hunters.

Still, in his case, it's probably for the best this year. He's clearly got the skills to play in the NHL right now, but at his present weight of 150-160lbs, it's probably for the best that he spend another year playing against kids. But it'll be tougher for the 2016/17 season. That's where it'll be a real shame we won't have the option of at least starting him in the AHL.
 
All of this emphasis on height is getting annoying.

I think we can expect most of these guys to gain an inch or two in the next couple of years.
 
@MarkSeidel: Jeremy Bracco @dabrams2021
@MarkSeidel Which forward is the Perry of this draft who gets picked in late 1st early 2nd then becomes rock star
 
Wtf. Can a mod snip some of that article? I'm reading on my phone and it literally took me 5 min to scroll thru it to get to the next post. Post a link and a blurb.
 
Metalleaf said:
@MarkSeidel: Jeremy Bracco @dabrams2021
@MarkSeidel Which forward is the Perry of this draft who gets picked in late 1st early 2nd then becomes rock star
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I don't think any of us would've blinked if Hunter had drafted Bracco at #24 overall.
 
I feel we really let one slip away in Merkley though. I was shocked we didn't use the 29th on him. That was a gift horse and we looked it straight in the mouth. Hurts.

If we'd played our cards right with trades, we could've walked away with Marner, Merkley, and Kylington with our first three picks. (Assuming we could've traded to move our third up slightly).

That would've been a much better haul than Marner, Dermott, and Bracco, imo, but what's done is done.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
I feel we really let one slip away in Merkley though. I was shocked we didn't use the 29th on him. That was a gift horse and we looked it straight in the mouth. Hurts.

If we'd played our cards right with trades, we could've walked away with Marner, Merkley, and Kylington with our first three picks. (Assuming we could've traded to move our third up slightly).

That would've been a much better haul than Marner, Dermott, and Bracco, imo, but what's done is done.
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I wanted Merkley and kylington too but I'm not sure Bracco and Dermott is enough of a difference to whine about/not simply trust Hunter and see how it goes.
 
I also liked the small world story about Bracco and Marner being competitors against each other at 6-7 as well.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
I feel we really let one slip away in Merkley though. I was shocked we didn't use the 29th on him. That was a gift horse and we looked it straight in the mouth. Hurts.

If we'd played our cards right with trades, we could've walked away with Marner, Merkley, and Kylington with our first three picks. (Assuming we could've traded to move our third up slightly).

That would've been a much better haul than Marner, Dermott, and Bracco, imo, but what's done is done.
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Says you. We'll find out in due time whether or not that's the case.

From what I've read, I'm not too surprised they passed on Merkley. The gist of the scouting reports I've read on him is that he's not a great skater and not the most skilled, but he's got great "hockey IQ", intangibles and he's a "hard worker". Which isn't really the kind of player I'd expect skill-obsessed Mark Hunter, or advanced stats-guru Kyle Dubas to have serious interest in.

As for Kylington, I wanted us to grab him with that #34 pick too. But I'm sure they got a fair bit of input on him from Thommie Bergman. If Bergman had a lot of great things to say about him, you'd think the Leafs would've grabbed him when he started dropping like a rock.
 
LeafGm said:
Says you. We'll find out in due time whether or not that's the case.

From what I've read, I'm not too surprised they passed on Merkley. The gist of the scouting reports I've read on him is that he's not a great skater and not the most skilled, but he's got great "hockey IQ", intangibles and he's a "hard worker". Which isn't really the kind of player I'd expect skill-obsessed Mark Hunter, or advanced stats-guru Kyle Dubas to have serious interest in.

As for Kylington, I wanted us to grab him with that #34 pick too. But I'm sure they got a fair bit of input on him from Thommie Bergman. If Bergman had a lot of great things to say about him, you'd think the Leafs would've grabbed him when he started dropping like a rock.
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Rumours going around that when fellow Swedes were asked about Kylington they were much less than kind in team interviews.

That's particularly unusual for Swedes who are famous for closing ranks around their countrymen.
 
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