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2018 NHL Entry Draft

Are they all justified to be there or do you feel one if benefiting from the others? I'm always suspicious when I see multiple guys from the same team ranked highly.

Two were always going to be ranked highly and came via two very high picks in the QMJHL draft. Halifax made some moves to be able to get both McIsaac and Groulx. The two of them proved their worth as 16 year olds last season.

Then this summer, the Halifax euro scouting machine went to work and they drafted Zadina, who is the best of the three.
 
These kids were born in 2000. 2000. The year starts with a 2. How old am I getting?
 
If Bobby Smith has built a successful junior program in Halifax, why doesn't the team reach out to him to see if he'd join the organization in a similar capacity to what Mark Hunter does with the Leafs?
 
I'm not sure Smith has a whole lot to do with the hockey end. He doesn't live here and his main contribution as owner has been to support GM Cam Russell and let him make the moves. He also at one point made it clear he was not in favour of the boom/bust cycle in junior hockey and preferred to maintain his draft picks rather than going for broke every so many years,and Russell has been following that plan in recent years. Of course, hard to get away from that completely in junior.

Of course, the fact Smith gives the appearance of hands off while surrounding himself with good people is a big plus in itself in some roles.
 
I'm not sure Smith has a whole lot to do with the hockey end. He doesn't live here and his main contribution as owner has been to support GM Cam Russell and let him make the moves. He also at one point made it clear he was not in favour of the boom/bust cycle in junior hockey and preferred to maintain his draft picks rather than going for broke every so many years,and Russell has been following that plan in recent years. Of course, hard to get away from that completely in junior.

Of course, the fact Smith gives the appearance of hands off while surrounding himself with good people is a big plus in itself in some roles.

Smith was also a pathetic failure (copyright Wehave) when in an NHL management role as GM of the coyotes (though that was a long time ago 96-2000)
 
Chris Peters' released his November rankings for ESPN the other day.

http://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/21230869/nhl-ranking-top-31-prospects-2018-nhl-draft

_____

Top 31:
1. Rasmus Dahlin - D
2. Andrei Svechnikov - RW
3. Quinn Hughes - D
4. Adam Boqvist - D
5. Filip Zadina - RW
6. Brady Tkachuk - LW
7. Joe Veleno - C
8. Ty Smith - D
9. Oliver Wahlstrom - RW
10. Rasmus Kupari - C
11. Joel Farabee - LW
12. Jack McBain - C
13. Jared McIsaac - D
14. Akil Thomas - C
15. Ryan McLeod - C
16. Calen Addison - D
17. Bode Wilde - D
18. Jesperi Kotkaniemi - C
19. Jett Woo - D
20. Ryan Merkley - D
21. Mattias Samuelsson - D
22. Isac Lundestrom - C
23. Benoit-Olivier Groulx - LW
24. Barrett Hayton - C
25. Grigori Denisenko - LW
26. Jacob Olofsson - C
27. Serron Noel - RW
28. Evan Bouchard - D
29. K'Andre Miller - D
30. Dmitri Zavgorodny - LW
31. Adam Ginning - D
 
Is Veleno worth the hype ? I don't follow the Q much any more but for exceptional status he hasn't done much .
 
Sportsnet has released their December rankings.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/sportsnets-2018-nhl-draft-prospect-rankings-december/

_____

Top 31:
1. Rasmus Dahlin - D
2. Andrei Svechnikov - RW
3. Adam Boqvist - D
4. Filip Zadina - RW
5. Brady Tkachuk - LW
6. Noah Dobson - D
7. Oliver Wahlstrom - RW
8. Quinn Hughes - D
9. Rasmus Kupari - C
10. Jared McIsaac - D
11. Joel Farabee - LW
12. Ty Smith - D
13. Bode Wilde - D
14. Evan Bouchard - D
15. Grigori Denisenko - LW
16. Joseph Veleno - C
17. Mattias Samuelsson - D
18. Jack McBain - C
19. Vitali Kravtsov - RW
20. Isac Lundestrom - C/LW
21. Barrett Hayton - C
22. Jett Woo - D
23. Ryan McLeod - C
24. Jacob Olofsson - C
25. Serron Noel - RW
26. Ryan Merkley - D
27. Benoit-Olivier Groulx - C
28. Alexander Alexeyev - D
29. Akil Thomas - C
30. K'Andre Miller - D
31. Dominik Bokk - RW
 
Habs are likely to draft in the middle of the pack. Two centres available, McBain and Veleno. Both are much more playmakers than scorers.
 
From what I've seen-maybe a half dozen viewings-McIsaac seems to be ranked a bit high(#10). But junior hockey is funny-both him and teammate Jocktain Chainey seem very much the same player on the ice at this point in their careers. Chainey I believe was a #7 round NHL pick , while McIsaac is quite a bit younger of course. I guess its all about having an eye for projection when scouting junior...... nothing spectacular in McIsaac's game at this point, but I suppose he could be dominating in the league in a year or two.... obviously that's what is expected by his ranking.

Nova?
 
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