Would very much like to grab Sammuelsson. He is the son of Ulf, i think? Faska over Gaunce hopefully. Vail sounds pretty good too.
Samuelsson and/or Wilson would be nice near the top of the second round. Henrik's playing center for EOK (not that he will necessarily be there as a pro, but he's looking good at it for the Oil Kings) too.
NHL Central Scouting released its final 2012 rankings this morning. Here are the respective top-20's (more computer-savvy people can embed these):
NA Skaters
1. Nail Yakupov
2. Ryan Murray
3. Mikhail Grigorenko
4. Alex Galchenyuk
5. Morgan Rielly
6. Cody Ceci
7. Radek Faksa
8. Olli Maatta
9. Jacob Trouba
10. Griffin Reinhart
11. Mathew Dumba
12. Derrick Pouliot
13. Brendan Gaunce
14. Colton Sissons
15. Thomas Wilson
16. Matthew Finn
17. Stefan Matteau
18. Zemgus Girgensons
19. Brady Skjei
20. Martin Frk
1. Andrei Vasilevski
2. Oscar Dansk
3. Joonas Korpisalo
4. Jean Auren
5. Marek Langhamer
6. Mathias Israelsson
7. Linus Ullmark
8. Igor Ustinsky
9. Vasili Demchenko
10. Richard Ullberg
Where does Subban the younger go, most likely? If the Sabres stand pat with their top four is he worth one?
Given how dire the goaltending situations are in places Columbus and Tampa, I'd be surprised if he's still around when our 2nd rounders come up. And I'd rather not use the Nashville pick on him.
There are a lot of quality centers that could drop down to 12th. I think we really need to try to draft another player like Armia with high offensive potential. Start looking for Vanek's replacement. Our center position is pretty solid, we can always add some depth guys via FA or trades and go with Ennis and Hodg as our 1/2.
There are a lot of quality centers that could drop down to 12th. I think we really need to try to draft another player like Armia with high offensive potential. Start looking for Vanek's replacement. Our center position is pretty solid, we can always add some depth guys via FA or trades and go with Ennis and Hodg as our 1/2.
I bet Faksa will be off the board, but let me ask a different question:
Why Gaunce over Girgensons? Is it a matter of CHL over NCAA? Gaunce is more of a safe pick? Who has the higher ceiling?
Without going into much detail just yet, I'll add that I prefer Girgensons to Gaunce at this point. Girgensons has yet to fill out his frame, so there's that con in comparison to Gaunce, but I also feel that he is the more physical of the two and is the better skater. However, I must admit I haven't seen much of Gaunce this year outside of Hlinka, so he'll be one of the draft-eligible prospects I'll be focusing in on at the U18s, which start later this week.
The closer we get to the draft, the more and more I'm willing to bet Darcy's going to make a big pitch to move up the board. I don't think he can go another offseason without reeling in a franchise center, and if he can't trade for one outright in the days before, he's going to try like hell to move into position to draft one.
The closer we get to the draft, the more and more I'm willing to bet Darcy's going to make a big pitch to move up the board. I don't think he can go another offseason without reeling in a franchise center, and if he can't trade for one outright in the days before, he's going to try like hell to move into position to draft one.
Regier has never made a big trade up move into the top 5 of the draft.
Regier has never made a big trade up move into the top 5 of the draft.
Why is this year going to be different?
He tried like hell to nab the 1st overall to draft Kane
He tried like hell to nab the 1st overall to draft Nash
I'm pretty sure there's another attempt I'm forgetting about
No center is going to go 1st overall, and given Edmonton's need for a defenseman, it's possible the first center doesn't come off the board until the 3rd pick. Grabbing the 4th overall (Islanders) is a lot more feasible than grabbing the 1st, and Darcy's got the pieces to make it happen.
He tried like hell to nab the 1st overall to draft Kane
He tried like hell to nab the 1st overall to draft Nash
I'm pretty sure there's another attempt I'm forgetting about
No center is going to go 1st overall, and given Edmonton's need for a defenseman, it's possible the first center doesn't come off the board until the 3rd pick. Grabbing the 4th overall (Islanders) is a lot more feasible than grabbing the 1st, and Darcy's got the pieces to make it happen.
Regier has a history of ALMOST pulling off a lot of stuff.
Why is he going to make it happen this year is my question? What is he willing to send to the Islanders to make them give up the 4th pick?
I don't remember the BTG handcuffs being the reason that those other deals didn't happen.
Regier has a history of ALMOST pulling off a lot of stuff.
Why is he going to make it happen this year is my question? What is he willing to send to the Islanders to make them give up the 4th pick?
I don't remember the BTG handcuffs being the reason that those other deals didn't happen.
A few things:
1) Nabbing the 4th overall is a lot different than nabbing the 1st overall
2) Four picks in the first two rounds, Derek Roy is on his way out, and Thomas Vanek may also be on his way out. Expendable assets, and plenty of them.
3) I don't remember mentioning BTG
1) Nabbing the 4th overall is a lot different than nabbing the 1st overall
2) Four picks in the first two rounds, Derek Roy is on his way out, and Thomas Vanek may also be on his way out. Expendable assets, and plenty of them.
3) I don't remember mentioning BTG
Regier has had 4 picks in the first two rounds before and chosen to use those picks as opposed to moving up.
While he does have Roy and Vanek as expendable assets, what makes you believe that he'll use those to acquire draft pick(s) and not in deals for NHL talent?
Regier's track record has me expecting a small move up from 11 (ala the Myers trade) or moving up a few picks from the Nashville pick (ala the Paille deal) or sitting still.
I would be pleasantly surprised if he pulled off a move up to the top 5 to get Galchenyuk.
I'm not putting a guarantee on anything, and you're right, making small moves to jump up a couple places is the more likely scenario. I'm just saying that given the current state of the roster and current needs of the team, this seems like as good and as likely a time as any for a bigger draft move to be made, and I'm anticipating (or perhaps more accurately, I'm hoping) that such a move is made.
I'm not putting a guarantee on anything, and you're right, making small moves to jump up a couple places is the more likely scenario. I'm just saying that given the current state of the roster and current needs of the team, this seems like as good and as likely a time as any for a bigger draft move to be made, and I'm anticipating (or perhaps more accurately, I'm hoping) that such a move is made.
I think most people around here HOPE that he can pull something like that off.
I'm just not expecting it to happen given Regier's track record at the draft.
Regier has had 4 picks in the first two rounds before and chosen to use those picks as opposed to moving up.
While he does have Roy and Vanek as expendable assets, what makes you believe that he'll use those to acquire draft pick(s) and not in deals for NHL talent?
Regier's track record has me expecting a small move up from 11 (ala the Myers trade) or moving up a few picks from the Nashville pick (ala the Paille deal) or sitting still.
I would be pleasantly surprised if he pulled off a move up to the top 5 to get Galchenyuk.
In the past he needed to maintain a deep pipeline, as overall spending was going to be capped in one fashion or another. That is no longer a concern, spending is basically unlimited, so the idea investing multiple assets into 1 player are a lot more plausible today, then in the past
