Aren't all goalies a reach more or less? Thats one of those weird positions where there are a lot of ups and downs and it takes a long time to build consistency. Thats a player I wouldn't expect to see in the NHL for 4 or 5 years anyway so why is this news other than the fact that the team is so dreadful that there's nothing else to obsess about?
- fattybeef

Nothing is black and white in hockey but IMO yes, goalies can be categorized as a reach only because there are so many top prospects that bust and 5th rounders that hit.

But, do you think Vasilevisky or Knight was a reach in rd 1? They're goalies so they gotta be a 1st rd reach? ..... I don't think they were, don't think Hrabal was in rd 2, but due to the volatility of the position some organIzations would say yea, it's a reach.

I think 6ft 7in Cossa was a reach in rd 1, 15th overall, by DET. Not a fan of his tons of motion/movement/activity style. After being drafted he aged out of Jrs in 2 yrs, started at Grand Rapids and stunk so bad sent him down as far as they could, the ECHL, for 46 games!!! Back up to GR this yr and throwing up a .912.... Volitile. 2-3 yrs later Stevie Y drafts Augustine using 2nd rd capital to do so.

And remember KD and his staff was a blank slate to all of us. No idea of his tendencies and my question was would he use valuable early rd capital on a goalie or is he a guy that says you can't know an 18 yr old goalie so I'm gonna draft a 1 or 2 each yr in rd 5.

He answered us drafting Gajan in rd 2, first goalie off the board. He will throw resources at the position .... I'm still ok with Gajan although I like Hrabal better. I'm a foundation guy, a solid foundation is a must for me and Gajan shows that. ....... But, I'll be the first to say the hardest thing to do in all of hockey is identify an 18 yr old that will be an NHL #1.

The Hawks took Gajan with Trey Augustine still on the board who went 41st to Detroit. Wasn't Augustine rated higher?
- LAHawk

Think most places the rating was

Hrabel
Gajan
Augustine

That being said, big difference from when goalies are drafted to start playing #1 goalie games in the NHL.

I wouldn't sweat any differences in any of these goalies at this point

Demidov should be on any of you5 top 5 lists if you watched the lack any ability to control his inside edging.

Too much reading of Wheeler's tastes try and ranking the class.

...because Lindstrom was in turned and only has shown part of one season as as a dominant "wonder" these chickenpoop draft prognosticators have buried him in wait and see the rest of the year lands.

No teams have downgraded Eiserman to the lower depths the way that has been played up either.

IF the hawks pick 5th the best thing might be two defenders off the board.
4th is a cat bird seat in this next draft, so I am not going to stress on it.

Too many good defenders to worry about missing on the first one.

And enough possibles at forward to go a different direction.

Nice to see Wheeler elevating #5Zanye Parekh ahead of but one rearguard.

Demidov should be on any of you5 top 5 lists if you watched the lack any ability to control his inside edging.

Too much reading of Wheeler's tastes try and ranking the class.

...because Lindstrom was in turned and only has shown part of one season as as a dominant "wonder" these chickenpoop draft prognosticators have buried him in wait and see the rest of the year lands.

No teams have downgraded Eiserman to the lower depths the way that has been played up either.

IF the hawks pick 5th the best thing might be two defenders off the board.
4th is a cat bird seat in this next draft, so I am not going to stress on it.

Too many good defenders to worry about missing on the first one.

And enough possibles at forward to go a different direction.

Nice to see Wheeler elevating #5Zanye Parekh ahead of but one rearguard.
- wiz1901

Eiserman is still my 2nd choice in this draft.

I’m 2017 Heiskanen, Makar and Petersson when #3, #4, and #5. That doesn’t happen in every draft, but 3-5 in this draft could be top quality.

Demidov should be on any of you5 top 5 lists if you watched the lack any ability to control his inside edging.

Too much reading of Wheeler's tastes try and ranking the class.

...because Lindstrom was in turned and only has shown part of one season as as a dominant "wonder" these chickenpoop draft prognosticators have buried him in wait and see the rest of the year lands.

No teams have downgraded Eiserman to the lower depths the way that has been played up either.

IF the hawks pick 5th the best thing might be two defenders off the board.
4th is a cat bird seat in this next draft, so I am not going to stress on it.

Too many good defenders to worry about missing on the first one.

And enough possibles at forward to go a different direction.

Nice to see Wheeler elevating #5Zanye Parekh ahead of but one rearguard.
- wiz1901

Geez, Parekh has really flown up the rankings. He almost scored 100 points. I’ve seen him play a number of times and as dynamic as he is, I’d be nervous taking him with the first overall. He has the potential to put up numbers like Karlsson or Makar but what dedication does he have to work on the defensive side?

Geez, Parekh has really flown up the rankings. He almost scored 100 points. I’ve seen him play a number of times and as dynamic as he is, I’d be nervous taking him with the first overall. He has the potential to put up numbers like Karlsson or Makar but what dedication does he have to work on the defensive side?
- paulr

We’ ve seen the scouting reports, that maybe he would work at it - willingness means a lot - and perhaps he turns out not bad defensively. Can we surmise the coaching and teammates could contribute a lot to his surviving and actually eventually maybe is descent defensively.,,,,,… because if he is the same way offensively in pro hockey, you find TOI. I mean how many offensive dmen can find or make plays like him ..,,0bviously it is skill and mentality

The fact is each draft you usually get only one piece of all the great talent at least in a strong draft. After round one whatever wiz said …,,maybe mid to late the talent left is really equivalent to second and later rounds….but oh my how we would love to get us two forwards or even one forward and one dman.

Chase the puck? Lose board battles? Get mauled below the goal line?

Did I see that LR compared Korbustsky to Neidermayer? Puuuhhlllease. Maybe he meant Rob cause KK is not even in the same universe as Scott. Neidermayer was one of the most effortless skaters I have ever seen. He seemed to float above the ice.
- Elbows15

Simmer down big fella. He was careful to say that he moves like Neidermayer and needs poop tons of work.

Context matters: https://thehockeynews.com...oach-luke-richardson-says

Geez, Parekh has really flown up the rankings. He almost scored 100 points. I’ve seen him play a number of times and as dynamic as he is, I’d be nervous taking him with the first overall. He has the potential to put up numbers like Karlsson or Makar but what dedication does he have to work on the defensive side?
- paulr

Hopefully, the Bedard Effect becomes real; and those that follow him to the Hawks are socially "coerced" to become all they can be.

Simmer down big fella. He was careful to say that he moves like Neidermayer and needs poop tons of work.

Context matters: https://thehockeynews.com...oach-luke-richardson-says
- Chunk

I expected he'd already be the Hawks 2nd best defenseman; right behind Mitchell......

Hopefully, the Bedard Effect becomes real; and those that follow him to the Hawks are socially "coerced" to become all they can be.
- mohel

Sounds like a slogan for U.S Army ….

I expected he'd already be the Hawks 2nd best defenseman; right behind Mitchell......
- mohel

I’m really impressed with Korchinski‘s development. I was expecting a defenseman with all offense and limited defensive ability. Instead after a stretch of games where he was all over the ice accomplishing nothing anywhere he’s been playing decent defensively and more importantly improving all the time. And then in the last few games has shown why they drafted him with some offensive production. I think once he follows JJ’s put on 20 lbs of muscle regimen, gets stronger, more confident and gains more experience he’ll be close to surpassing the Great can’t miss prospect Ian Mitchell.

Hopefully, the Bedard Effect becomes real; and those that follow him to the Hawks are socially "coerced" to become all they can be.
- mohel

If the last prospect camp was any indication, it seemed like everyone there was super competitive and were concentrating on how to get better. KD has put a premium on finding players who are motivated to continually improve their game. It's good that the best young guy he drafted is the tip of the iceberg in that regard.

Like others, I'm really interested to see how EDM and Allan push themselves to crack the big club. I think they have drafted so many forwards the last two years (not to mention the upcoming draft) that they will basically sort themselves out. Regardless of size, I'm really interested to see Lardis, Ludwinski, Greene, Moore, and Nazar. I'm still trying to figure out if Hayes is a guy whose game can translate as he moves up or is more suited for lower levels.

I expected he'd already be the Hawks 2nd best defenseman; right behind Mitchell......
- mohel

Man, I was so sure that Mitchell would at least be serviceable. He just ended up so hectic and indecisive. Maybe that was Colliton's doing, or maybe he just couldn't handle the big time.

As much as the Hawks are trying to move on from the Beach incident, appears it will drag on for years, with more future cases.

Wonder how Stan's and Q's interviews with Bettman went?

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/co...second-john-doe-1.2095157

If the last prospect camp was any indication, it seemed like everyone there was super competitive and were concentrating on how to get better. KD has put a premium on finding players who are motivated to continually improve their game. It's good that the best young guy he drafted is the tip of the iceberg in that regard.

Like others, I'm really interested to see how EDM and Allan push themselves to crack the big club. I think they have drafted so many forwards the last two years (not to mention the upcoming draft) that they will basically sort themselves out. Regardless of size, I'm really interested to see Lardis, Ludwinski, Greene, Moore, and Nazar. I'm still trying to figure out if Hayes is a guy whose game can translate as he moves up or is more suited for lower levels.
- Chunk

Hawks also have a lot of leadership among the prospects. Here's an article from Bleacher nation listing several who have been captains or assistants of their teams in recent years.

https://www.bleachernatio...awks-have-a-type-leaders/

Man, I was so sure that Mitchell would at least be serviceable. He just ended up so hectic and indecisive. Maybe that was Colliton's doing, or maybe he just couldn't handle the big time.
- Chunk

He was not a good skater which ended up being a pretty big detriment.

He was not a good skater which ended up being a pretty big detriment.
- fattybeef

I would've thought that poor skating would be something the wisened prognosticators would notice. They really screwed the pooch on that one.

He was not a good skater which ended up being a pretty big detriment.
- fattybeef

Mitchell was a pretty decent skater I thought, that was his strength. As Chunk said he just didn’t have it between the ears.

I would've thought that poor skating would be something the wisened prognosticators would notice. They really screwed the pooch on that one.
- mohel

There’s still time. I’m sure he’ll blossom.

Ben Pope
@BenPopeCST
Jiri Felcman, one of the Blackhawks’ 3rd-round picks last summer, has signed an AHL ATO to finish out the year with Rockford. He had been playing in Switzerland.

Big move!!

https://icehogs.com/news/...-sign-jiri-felcman-to-ato

Ben Pope
@BenPopeCST
Jiri Felcman, one of the Blackhawks’ 3rd-round picks last summer, has signed an AHL ATO to finish out the year with Rockford. He had been playing in Switzerland.
- LAHawk

Beat me to it....

Beat me to it....
- Chunk

You must skate like Korbustsky

You must skate like Korbustsky
- paulr

Apparently, I skate like Mitchell...

Ben Pope
@BenPopeCST
Jiri Felcman, one of the Blackhawks’ 3rd-round picks last summer, has signed an AHL ATO to finish out the year with Rockford. He had been playing in Switzerland.
- LAHawk

Nice. He is about to turn 19. Big kid, 6 foot 4. Will be interesting to see how he fits in.