Trouba. Look at my avatar. I've been lobbying for him since the World Juniors. We need a Kronwall on this team. He can be that guy. Other comparisons include Jack Johnson, who would be a great asset on this team as well.
If not Trouba, I would lean towards TT and trying to package our Wash 2nd + a prospect to move into the late 1st to take a defender.
Reading around though, I see possible defenders in the 2nd round that stick out, like Nick Ebert and Hampus Lindholm. Ebert is one of the biggest fallers of the draft, while Lindholm has really raised his stock recently.
To the point of being in the middle of the first, it seems. I keep editing this post as I find out more. Turns out I found an old list that had Lindholm in the middle of the second. That's disappointing.
Trouba. Look at my avatar. I've been lobbying for him since the World Juniors. We need a Kronwall on this team. He can be that guy. Other comparisons include Jack Johnson, who would be a great asset on this team as well.
If not Trouba, I would lean towards TT and trying to package our Wash 2nd + a prospect to move into the late 1st to take a defender.
Reading around though, I see possible defenders in the 2nd round that stick out, like Nick Ebert and Hampus Lindholm. Ebert is one of the biggest fallers of the draft, while Lindholm has really raised his stock recently.
hell no to TT, last thing we need is another short fin who might be something.
Also if Hampus linholm is in the 2nd round around the WSH pick i'll give a real shot to trying to suck my own sausage.
went with Rielly tho its a toss up for me, him or trouba would be fantastic.
or my dream scenario WAS trades us their two firsts for our 1st with Griogorenko left there for them to take and we walk away with say
It is hard to say exactly who has the higher impact potential to the Wild but basically Rielly is an elite puckmoving prospect who is mobile but has questions of his defensive play. Trouba is a mixture of size, skating, and skill. Trouba's offensive upside is as high as anyone elses but there are questions of him because he is quite raw.
I say Trouba because his upside is huge, has the tools to become an elite defenseman with size, skating, a huge shot, and defensive awareness. He is a prospect who's development is on an upward curve. Rielly is good but he lacks the size that Trouba has.
In addition, he'll most likely represent USA for two more times, which is great for his development playing against the top junior players in the world, while Rielly may not have that chance.
Thanks for the information. I looked up your articles about Reilly and Trouba on Hockey Wilderness and after comparing those two, I went with Trouba.
had to go Rielly, probably wouldn't complain about trouba though.
No to TT, just because we need to start incorporating size with speed with skill into our prospect pool. I think that Rielly or Trouba would be a great start (unless Gal or Grigs falls).
It is hard to say exactly who has the higher impact potential to the Wild but basically Rielly is an elite puckmoving prospect who is mobile but has questions of his defensive play. Trouba is a mixture of size, skating, and skill. Trouba's offensive upside is as high as anyone elses but there are questions of him because he is quite raw.
I say Trouba because his upside is huge, has the tools to become an elite defenseman with size, skating, a huge shot, and defensive awareness. He is a prospect who's development is on an upward curve. Rielly is good but he lacks the size that Trouba has.
In addition, he'll most likely represent USA for two more times, which is great for his development playing against the top junior players in the world, while Rielly may not have that chance.
I don't think I'd agree with this at all.
Rielly's more of a puck rusher than a puck mover. He's willing to take the offensive game into his own hands. He's much more of a Burns than a Lidstrom. There's not really much concern about his play in his own end either. While he's known far more for his offensive play, that's because of how good his offensive play is, and not because of a deficiency on defense. The only real knocks on Rielly are his average size (6' 170lbs) and concerns about his recovery from injury. He showed in his short playoffs that he's ready to pick up where he left off, so those injury concerns are largely gone. Other than the average size, the only remaining serious knock is the little question about whether his small sample size is accurate or not. Had he played a full season exactly like he had in the partial season, he'd be challenging for 2nd overall without question.
Trouba is your typical meh defensive prospect. I don't think anyone's going to complain about him being drafted, but he just doesn't show that same high end flash that some of the others do. He could develop into it, but he's very much a raw prospect that needs to develop into his game. Also, he hasn't shown the same vision and aggressiveness on the puck that a prospect like Rielly has. Trouba (if all goes well) should develop into an average 2-3 defenseman. Rielly has strong potential to be a star defenseman. There's the typical "safe/risky" dichotomy where Trouba is safer to actually play in the NHL, but more risky to ever truly excel. Rielly is more risky to ever play in the NHL, but if he does make it, has the greater likelihood of high end play.
Of course these are all prospects, and at least 50% of all predictions we can make about them will end up being wrong. Personally, I consider a "Trouba-like" defenseman to be something more frequently available later in the draft. A player like Rielly just isn't going to be available at other spots, and probably shouldn't even be available where he is (though I suspect he will be in this draft). We already have our "Trouba" on the team in Scandella.
I think the odds are at least as good, if not better, of Trouba becoming another Scandella rather than a Ryan Suter. I.e. top four two-way defenseman rather than top pairing shutdown guy with offensive upside.
I just saw he was born in Minnesota though, so I'm guessing Wild will draft him if he's there.
I voted for Teuvo. The games I've seen him play this year he's been amazing. I was all for the D on the list before I saw his potential. I'm happy with anyone on the list though.
P.S. I noticed that one of the writers of my swedish schoolbook is named Olli Määttä. This can't be coinsidence!!!
Yeah, Trouba is from Rochester, Michigan. Not Rochester, Minnesota. A lot of sites have it mixed up but he's from Mich. Hence his loyalty to that terrible university. Should have committed to UND instead, he would become one of the best NCAA defenders ever.
But really though, if he were to go NCAA I'd almost want him at Wisconsin, they just develop defenders well.
Also, looking around, that Jake McCabe fellow is projected to go around #46, our second rounder. Anybody interested in taking him there? Two defenders with our first two picks?
The more I read about Olli Määttä, the more I could see the Wild grabbing him. If he continues to excel in the Memorial Cup, 7 wouldn't really be a reach.
Good size, hockey IQ, first pass, skating, it's all there.
I edited my post. Seems I was looking at a two month old list when I said that. He's now projected much higher and out of our 2nd rounder price range.
