The Lottery is tonight, so I figure we can open this thread Roughly rounded off odds Edmonton 48% Colorado 18% FLorida 14% Islanders 10% Senators 8% The rest of the teams can move up four slots if they get the 1% chance of winning the lottery. From everything I've seen it's a 3-4 man elite group. Somehow Central Scouting ranked Couturier #6, which seems odd. So obviously Edmonton and Colorado look good to get an elite player. Florida can only drop to 4 which is the fringe position where, according to the scouts, everything sort of evens out for the next 40 picks.
Bob goes with Nugent-Hopkins Larsson Landeskog Huberdeau Couturier Wow, Couturier really has fallen in the past few months on everybody's rankings
5th pick Islanders That means somebody won the lottery. It looks like the Devils won it. IRONY! That means that it goes Edmonton Colorado Florida New Jersey NY Islanders Ottawa
Nice win for the Devils. Guarantees them a solid player at #4 and the terrible season from hell rewards them with something. I'm going with an early guess Edmonton: Larsson Colorado: Nugent-Hopkins Florida: Landeskog New Jersey: Couturier Islanders: Huberdeau
I have seen both Huberdeau and Couturier play live as I go to a lot of QMJHL games (Screaming Eagles ticket holder) and think Couturier is going to be a stud. Big guy who good skater and play very good in the back end. He didn't rack up the number like many expected but this kid is going to be good. Interesting to see if Oliers go with another forward or take Larson to really fill their need of top prospects on the back end.
I didn't think Couturier was that impressive in the world championships. Never saw him play before that game and i was expecting a phenom of a player based on the hype. He's rally dropped int he ratings the past couple months.
ESPN did a mock draft recently. Post other mock drafts if you guys find them 1. Edmonton: Nugent Hopkins Colorado: Larsson Florida: Couturier Jersey: Huberdeau Islanders: Landeskog Ottawa: Strome Atlanta: Murphy Columbus: Doug Hamilton Boston: Mark McNeill Minnesota: Jamie Oleksiak Colorado: Baertschi Calgary: Boone Jenner Dallas: Matt Puempl Interesting to note from that list: 1 potential American Oleksiak is a dual national and hasn't committed, to my knowledge, to Canada or the US. 3 europeans 2 Swedes 1 Swiss 10 Canadians 6 OHL 2 Qs 3 WHL 1 NCAA 1 Euro
Really interesting story on ESPN about Swiss prospect Gregory Hoffman. Hoffman might have been a top 10 to top 20 pick in this summer's draft, but now likely won't be selected until the later rounds if at all. Why? He might not want to come to the NHL. Some very interesting quotes. for the whole article, behind a pay wall http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/blog?name=nhl_draft&id=6390132
Interesting comments about the Swiss league there. You have to figure he'll be drafted, but won't likely come over to the NHL unless he's offered a shot at making an NHL roster spot and a commensurate bump in salary.
I'm thinking a Kiril Kabanov third round flyer type pick. Still, it's interesting that it's not just Russians who are doing this.
Methinks the risk/reward ratio for coming to North America is viewed as having a bit too much risk for the potential rewards. Even if you're a top tier talent, there are no guarantees, and if you end up in the AHL, it's lots of buses and trips to smaller cities. Whereas in the Swiss league they'd get a large salary, have much better travel, and don't have to make the big club to get this. So, I get why this kid isn't thinking of coming over.
Exactly. I can't blame a player for wanting to make $600K to play in Switzerland, in the top league, rather than play in the AHL, ride buses, and make $40K. The same with young Russian prospects like Filatov, Kuznetsov. Why would you want to come over and either play for $200 a week or something like that in Junior, or $40K in the AHL when the KHL is offering six figures. Plus better accommodations, travel arrangements etc, although in Russian this is more of a question.
Well the KHL travel isn't so hot, but the salary makes that choice easier. If I'm a Swiss or Russian, I'd prefer a NHL camp tryout, and if you don't make the team - head back to Europe. No way I'd come over to play in the AHL.
From the U-18 tournament. Jonathan Miller stock shot up from his performance, some people thinking he went from a 3rd rounder to potential first rounder based on his play for the US. Ryan Murphy was named defenseman of the tournament and while still behind Larsson in the draft, many feel that he has past Dougie Hamilton as the 2nd best. Joel Armia had a disappointing tournament some saying he dropped himself out of the top 10 Nail Yakupov, who is a 2012 player, dominated the tournament and has some scouts saying he would go #1 this year if eligible. The only question is if he stays in the OHL next year with some rumors of returning to Russia for seven figures.
Mock draft from ESPN Edmonton Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Colorado Adam Larsson Florida Panthers Sean Couturier New Jersey Devils Jonathan Huberdeau New York Islanders Ryan Strome Ottawa Senators Gabriel Landeskog Atlanta Thrashers Ryan Murphy Columbus Blue Jackets Dougie Hamilton Boston Bruins (from Toronto) Joel Armia Minnesota Wild Jamieson Oleksiak Colorado Avalanche (from. St. Louis)Mika Zibanejad Carolina Hurricanes Nicklas Jensen Calgary Flames Mark McNeill Dallas Stars Sven Baertschi New York Rangers Phillip Danault Buffalo Sabres Boone Jenner Montreal Canadiens Nathan Beaulieu Chicago Blackhawks Jonathan Miller Edmonton Oilers (from Los Angeles) Jonas Brodin Phoenix Coyotes Matt Puempel Anaheim Ducks Tyler Biggs Pittsburgh Penguins Ty Rattie