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Draft Spotlight : Leafs (Flyers, Oilers and Sabres next) |
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At the request of some of my buddies around the boards I’ve decided to do a few personal ideas on who teams in their current positions might want to draft, or at the very least take a little look at. Now I know that these are rather meaningless in the scheme of things as I have no influence over any hockey operations, but it’s fun and well…I have little better to talk about as the playoffs continue to chug along in rather exciting fashion. I’m planning on doing this with a few teams to start and see how it works out; so if the popularity is there I’ll keep doing them or do requests.
As a preface, just remember this is my personal analysis and belief so feel free to challenge them and ask critical questions because this isn’t as much a science as it is a Rob Ford smoking crack video.
The Leafs per Dave Nonis are picking 21…now I’m no expert on the newest CBA nor have I thoroughly read it so I won’t dispute this as he is a professional. The old way would have the Leafs picking in 17th as per the old draft rules of first round playoff eliminations, but this appears to be a whole new ballgame…or Nonis just looked up at the old MyNHLDraft.com website and said “Screw it whatever we just lost in a nasty way I don’t care right now.” Regardless the Leafs will be picking in that mid-late first area where you must make a key decision, do you go for the NHL for certain player (Mark Stuart and Trevor Lewis) or play it dangerous and go for the homerun (Claude Giroux and Jordan Eberle come to mind). Now the Leafs have assembled a good solid group of defense prospects in the forms of Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly, Matt Finn, Jesse Blacker and Stuart Percy just to name a few (Nilsson and Granberg are also interesting low radar players). The issue is that the forward prospects have been fairly lacking, especially high skill players. Kadri was the last real high skill player drafted by the Leafs and one of the few that has developed with the team in a decade (Tlusty and Steen notables for being jettisoned early). The latest crop of forward prospects are primarily grinders (Brad Ross, Tyler Biggs, Carter Ashton, Kenny Ryan and David Broll) or longshots (Greg McKegg, Tony Cameranesi, Connor Brown, Dominic Toninato and Jerry D’Amigo) so it’s quite apparent that they need to draft a forward or at least be assured that the defenseman/goalie they pick is THE BEST available player as you can always deal a strength for weakness. With this in mind I made my choices around where and whom I think might be available for the Leafs.
Jacob De La Rose : He’s an intriguing player as he brings a power forward game with the right mix of grit and skill to be a threat from the second line. He’s a natural leader and is always talked about having a great work ethic. He’s succeeded in both a grinder and top-6 role and is considered a coach’s dream. Essentially he has been given a lot of the same qualities that Gabriel Landeskog had, except there is an obvious drop off in talent between the two. He plays both centre (internationally) and wing (Allsvenskan) and has shown his determination and forechecking strength. He’s physical, smart and defensively excellent. The big questions are his offensive upside. Is he a 20-20 player? One you can use at all times and never worry about like a Dustin Brown/Ryan Callahan or does he have more? His all-around game is very enticing and he has excellent speed and hands. He has yet to “put it all together” though, which is why he would fall so far and perhaps beyond.
Anthony Mantha : Big, strong and skilled but average skating. Mantha has shot up the rankings after leading the QMJHL in goal scoring and showing very well in the playoffs. He’s a puck possession player primarily and has a very strong shot. He has a knack for scoring and is offensively very gifted. His issues are that his game isn’t very evolved, he can be lazy on the backcheck and he can be uninterested when the puck isn’t going forward. It’s a switch that you can see in some very skilled guys where he’s the best player on the ice in the offensive zone and then he’s nonchalant for whatever reason. He’s a bit of a gamble, but at 6’4 206 and the raw ability he has he is a worthwhile pick. The worries are that he has a lot of similarities to Andrei Kostitsyn when he was drafted, big, strong, average skating on the upswing that had the ability to be a top-6 scoring, hitting threat, but lacked consistency. Luckily despite some of the holes in Mantha’s game the one consistent thing he has done is score goals…all the bloody time.
Bo Horvat : I must admit I’ve done a bit of a 360 on him. I’ve liked his game and his attitude, but I wondered at his upside. I still do, but he’s just such a hard working player that you would love to have. He never quits and always gives 100% on every shift. He goes to the net and he is a pest everywhere around the ice. His playoff heroics for London were fantastic and might have raised him past this point in the draft for teams looking for a specific type of player. Is he a 3rd line centre who will shutdown and pest the living hell out of the opponent and score big goals like David Bolland at his best? Or can he evolve into a power forward top-6 player like Andrew Ladd? It’s hard to tell at the moment, but you can’t count him out as he’s a fan favourite.
André Burakovsky : The Austrian/Polish Swede, gotta love how hockey is moving towards such diversity as kids of hockey players globally grow up and play. Burakosvky is highly hyped for his absolutely nasty top-end speed and sniping ability. He rushes in off the wing like a bullet and can pull a quick wrister off. The issues are simple to his game, can he translate this speed/shoot combo into the NHL game and can his only above-average offensive instincts when not at full speed work? There are several players to look at when thinking of Burakovsky, Grabner/Cogliano/Hagelin/Stalberg/Raymond, now each has had their own level of success with Grabner having the most. At 6’1 he has the nice size to go with that elite level speed. One shot scorers with elite speed have mixed success in the NHL and a lot of development would be needed for Burakovsky to become an impact scorer.
Max Domi : The fan favourite everybody wants to think is Tie, yet is nothing like him at all in gamestyle. I have a bittersweet feeling about a pick like this. Yes it would bring the son of the most glorified and celebrated goon turned semi-competent player to a market still proverbially jerking it to his memory (If you heard some of the random “leaf fans” they found on the street during the playoffs you’d realize they know 5 buzz names), yet how would they receive his high skill, small and not goonish son when they realize he isn’t Tie 2.0? Well I can’t answer that, all I know is Steve Simmons and Mr. Cox will find a way to whine and moan. Domi brings high-end skill and amazing offensive prowess that is up there near the top of the draft. He has been an absolute monster for the Knight’s both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He does bring some grit and peskiness, but it more of a Marchand/Gallagher kind of grit aka determination and passion….or douchieness if you’re playing against them. He has amazing vision and hands with great poise, yet he lacks that explosive speed you often find in players of his size (5’9). He relies on his smarts, his skills and his determination to make plays and get ahead. It’s not exactly sure whether he can deal with being a centre in the NHL, though like Danny Briere, Nazem Kadri and Sam Gagner who are similar players, he is much better in the middle than on the wing and his game can suffer.
Valentin Zykov : Zykov burst onto the scene and up the rankings by showing not only his excellent two-way ability, but his goal scoring prowess. He’s not a typical Russian style player and plays more of a North-South game. He saw time in all situations and provided both puck protection and grit. He has a very heavy yet quick shot and he has a really nice turn on a dime and fire move that caught my eye. Overall he’s a very safe player to pick due to his all-around game who also possesses high upside as a goal scorer with his nose for the net. He does need to work on his speed however as he has solid top-flight speed, but he’s a slow starter which is the exact opposite of what most NHL teams want.
Kerby Rychel : A ref on HockeyBuzz by the name of Dozzer is the cousin of Rychel so I wanted to include him. He’s fallen a bit as he is an older player in the draft and did not take any new steps in development many expected…though with that abysmal team it’s hard to blame him. A bad start has masked what was an extremely impressive year. He began playing more physical and continued to impress with his net presence. Like several others mentioned, he’s a goal scorer first and foremost that has that knack for making it happen in a variety of ways (net, shot, tips etc.). He dragged the offensively challenged Spitfires tooth and nail before Khoklachev arrived to help provide some help. For two years in a row he’s ended up being one of the top goal scorers in the OHL added to his impressive U18 tournament last year.
Others that could be expected are Goalie Zachary Fucale of the Halifax Mooseheads, Defenseman Robert Hägg of MODO in the Elitserien, Forward Ryan Hartman of the Plymouth Whalers or Centre JT Compher of the USNTDP to name a few.
Thanks for reading. Who should I do next?
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