This is going to turn into mostly a mix of "my teams prospects" or high profile prospects who fell for reasons that are probably going to be clear in 5 years when those players are either in the AHL, Europe, or out of hockey completely.
I'll go with the former. Gemel Smith (4) and Brandon Troock (5) look like solid picks with good upside to be NHLers.
Tomas Hyka, LA Kings 6th, 171. Needs some muscle and he is good to score a lot.
It's still mind-blowing the Flyers didn't touch him all draft after trying to sign him to a contract illegally last season. ALL SEASON, Flyers fans were praying he'd fall to the 3rd-4th rounds and we'd be able to snag him....now we're all disappointed as we watched him keep falling further and further. Enjoy.
As for some darkhorses from Philly; Shayne Gostisbehere(3rd) opened a lot of eyes at Flyers camp, and then again at US junior camp. And I think there's distant excitement about Valeri Vasiliev(7th), and high hopes that he makes some noise within a few years in team camps.
This is going to turn into mostly a mix of "my teams prospects" or high profile prospects who fell for reasons that are probably going to be clear in 5 years when those players are either in the AHL, Europe, or out of hockey completely.
I'll go with the former. Gemel Smith (4) and Brandon Troock (5) look like solid picks with good upside to be NHLers.
I hate when people say that. Couturier fell last year for a "reason" too, and it was obviously a pretty crappy one. Tyler Myers was ranked higher than 12th -- 4th, I think, to be exact -- in his draft year, and he fell for "a reason" (because Boychuck, Filatov, Teubert, and Beach are obviously better players??)
If the guys who fell don't pan out, the reasons are only going to be clear in hindsight, because plenty of really really good players have fallen past prospects who can't even crack an NHL roster.
Big difference from someone who stumbles a bit in the first round and someone who was ranked in the first round and slips to the third or later rounds.
Big difference from someone who stumbles a bit in the first round and someone who was ranked in the first round and slips to the third or later rounds.
Ahh, yeah, that's true. Who fit that bill from this year's class though?
I don't know that I'd call him a steal, but I'm amazed that no one looking for a goaltender grabbed Frederik Andersen before we did. I assume it was because of signing concerns.
Joey Laleggia, defence, 5th round, #123 overall in the 2012 draft. a little older at 20 now, he's a long shot, but seems to have a good offensive upside...will have to work on his strength to make up for his lack of size and will likely spend 2 or 3 more years in college.
I hate when people say that. Couturier fell last year for a "reason" too, and it was obviously a pretty crappy one. Tyler Myers was ranked higher than 12th -- 4th, I think, to be exact -- in his draft year, and he fell for "a reason" (because Boychuck, Filatov, Teubert, and Beach are obviously better players??)
If the guys who fell don't pan out, the reasons are only going to be clear in hindsight, because plenty of really really good players have fallen past prospects who can't even crack an NHL roster.
Couturier didn't really fall. He went a couple of spots lower than expected.
I see this reasoning constantly, but is it definitive that Couturier went too low? We've just finished year 1 of development for that draft, and you are already claiming Couturier went lower than he deserved too. Maybe you can make that claim and it will have validity in 5-6 years. As of now, he's simply a 19 yr old player who was given the opportunity to play in the NHL, where some picked above him were not, and he had a solid (and very much unspectacular) season.
Couturier is to me becoming the poster boy of how people misjudge and preconcieve how successful draft day decisions were. Because Couturier made the NHL straight away and had a solid season does not neccessairly mean in the long-run he'll have a more successful career than Huberdeau, Strome or Zibanejad, or other players taken below him.
Mostly because he wasnt drafted at all. He got injured 2 games into the season, was invited to a couple NHL rookie camps this year already. (Tore his ACL, missed remainder of the year)
He looked phenomenal last pre-season and the couple games before getting hurt. Looks phenomenal again thus far.
IMO, I believe he will be drafted 2-3rd round this year, his second go at the draft. If he didnt get hurt, he was on track to becoming a 2nd rounder last year IMO.
Couturier didn't really fall. He went a couple of spots lower than expected.
I see this reasoning constantly, but is it definitive that Couturier went too low? We've just finished year 1 of development for that draft, and you are already claiming Couturier went lower than he deserved too. Maybe you can make that claim and it will have validity in 5-6 years. As of now, he's simply a 19 yr old player who was given the opportunity to play in the NHL, where some picked above him were not, and he had a solid (and very much unspectacular) season.
Couturier is to me becoming the poster boy of how people misjudge and preconcieve how successful draft day decisions were. Because Couturier made the NHL straight away and had a solid season does not neccessairly mean in the long-run he'll have a more successful career than Huberdeau, Strome or Zibanejad, or other players taken below him.
He was a projected 1st - overall before he fell. Falling out of the top-5 is about as precipitous a fall as falling from 20-ish to the 2nd round. RNH, Landeskog, and Larsson have made good cases for why they were picked ahead of him.
The same that is said of Couturier can also be said of Cam Fowler and perhaps Brandon Gormley. In my opinion, there is no reason why Florida, the Islanders, and especially Winnipeg should have passed on him.
Nick Ebert and Andreas Anthanasiou come to mind right away.
Came here to say Ebert.
Ranked 8th by Bob McKenzie in September
Ranked 70th at the Midterm by ISS
Ranked 96th in the Final ISS Rankings for NA skaters
Drafted 211th by the Los Angeles Kings
Lots of chatter about why he fell. Some say attitude, some say inflated stats from the previous year from playing with Ryan Ellis. For a guy who was supposed to be one of the best Americans in the draft, that's a massive fall to be drafted last overall.
For the Flyers Shayne Gostisbehere in the 3rd round looks to be a great pick. Was fantastic at Lake Placid.
These guys are long term college projects but I'm liking Ben Hutton and Matt Beattie, Wes Myron might pull something out of his hat too. Good prospects for the Canucks, who won't be needing players to step up for a few years.
He was a projected 1st - overall before he fell. Falling out of the top-5 is about as precipitous a fall as falling from 20-ish to the 2nd round. RNH, Landeskog, and Larsson have made good cases for why they were picked ahead of him.
The same that is said of Couturier can also be said of Cam Fowler and perhaps Brandon Gormley. In my opinion, there is no reason why Florida, the Islanders, and especially Winnipeg should have passed on him.
Heading into the draft, few outlets seriously considered Couturier a likely Top 3 pick. It was very plausible when nearing draft day that he'd fall outside the Top 5. So falling to #8 wasn't a massive shock.
I'd take Huberdeau over Couturier, because one has elite offensive upside, the other doesn't. Couturier made the NHL, had a solid year and a good playoff series, but the concerns in his draft year wern't that he wouldn't make a good NHL player, but that his offensive upside was perhaps lower than a few others in the draft. Not sure any of this has changed yet in my opinion.
