Offical 2014 NHL Draft Discussion Thread

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wogman56

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Rather than having a thread about each individual pick, I figured we could condense them all into one thread. I am excited for tomorrow as draft day is one of my favorite days of the year. I'm thinking Ekblad will go to Florida #1 overall (if EDM doesn't trade up).
 
As a Sabres fan I'm really excited about all the possibilities in front of us, I don't think there's a player on any top 5 draft board I'd be disappointed in us getting
 
just my thoughts and opinions, which will probably change...lol. Plus this year's draft is going to be all over the place.

I don't think there are any big trades to move up for 1st overall.

Makes sense for Ekblad to be picked by Florida. Don't see anyone overpaying to move up a handful of spots. Although it makes sense for Edm to try, but given how aggressive they are in trying to sign UFA dmen, most likely it's not going to happen.

Buffalo will pick Reinhart or Bennett.

Edmonton will pick whoever Buffalo doesn't pick, with that player to inherit Sam Gagner's spot in a couple of years. Since Bennett plays LW, could they trade down if Reinhart is gone?

Calgary could pick Dal Colle. Or Draisaitl with the intention on converting him to wing. Ritchie does seem more of the Burke type player. Ehlers is the highest ranked RW, which they could be eyeing, but will most likely trade down instead if he is their guy, which I doubt.

NYI will pick best winger available Dal Colle or Ritchie. Virtanen? Maybe.

Canucks will be dancing if Draisaitl drops to them. Although they had their eye on Reinhart. I think they like Virtanen a lot too.

Canes will go for a bit more finesse and pick Ehlers. I do see them strongly considering Nylander too, but maybe a bit too selfish of a player, but Francis could really like his skill. Maybe take a look at Kapanen.

Leafs are going to be really tempted to pick Fleury. Will be a coin flip if Ritchie is available too.

Jets will take whoever is leftover of Virtanen, Ritchie or Kapanen. Think they will pass on Nylander.

Ducks grab Nylander.

Nashville will pick Kapanen if he's around. May take a look at Larkin, but will like Kapanen's versatility.

Yotes choose Perlini. Big hulking winger.

Caps pick RW Tuch.

Stars could go for C Fabbri or Larkin

Wings will be hoping Fiala is still around. Will look at Vrana.
 
Ritchie likely won't be around at the 8th pick. Truth is, Nonuts needs to get the Leafs a franchise type player to build around. Ekblad is that player they need, to turn this franchise in the right direction. If that means swapping picks, and giving them Kadri, or Gardiner, then he needs to do it. Nobody knows what the asking price is, so hard to say what the right move is, but if he fails to move up to get either Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl, or Ritchie, then he needs to go. The Leafs have several young defenseman in their system they don't need a guy like Fleury, they need a stud top guy like Ekblad. Nonuts is gonna due whatever it takes to save his own arse, so giving up any of their young talent is very unlikely. Sometimes you have to let something go to get something good in return. This idiot should have been fired at the end of the year with Carlyle. You are right though, I see Toronto still picking 8th, and another year will go by without improving this team, or moving it towards future success. You can almost assure yourself of that.
 
I think there's still a chance that Ritchie is around.

I had already thought that Leafs might offer Gardiner to move up, but I'm thinking that Florida wants at least a 2nd round pick with that too, so the asking price is too high.

Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle rounding up the top 5. Leave Virtanen, Ritchie, Nylander, Ehlers and Fleury to possibly end up at the Leafs pick.

Now Leafs could move up a few spots, like to the NYI's who could be looking for immediate help. Gardiner could be very attractive to them since they are looking for immediate help, especially since they gave up on their 1st next year too.

I've said the same about the Canucks. If you going to suck one season, suck all the way. Having a late top 10 pick isn't going to turn your team around, unless you get lucky.
 
tiger tiger said:
I think there's still a chance that Ritchie is around.

I had already thought that Leafs might offer Gardiner to move up, but I'm thinking that Florida wants at least a 2nd round pick with that too, so the asking price is too high.

Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle rounding up the top 5. Leave Virtanen, Ritchie, Nylander, Ehlers and Fleury to possibly end up at the Leafs pick.

Now Leafs could move up a few spots, like to the NYI's who could be looking for immediate help. Gardiner could be very attractive to them since they are looking for immediate help, especially since they gave up on their 1st next year too.

I've said the same about the Canucks. If you going to suck one season, suck all the way. Having a late top 10 pick isn't going to turn your team around, unless you get lucky.
Click to expand...

We'll see what happens? I've heard Calgary is pretty high on Ritchie, so they could drop down a couple spots to get him, plus add something extra for doing so? Gardiner is movable, as I don't think Carlyle likes him at all. He was their best defenseman along with Rielly down that horrible 3 week stretch at the end of the season, and has quite a lot of potential. As far as a 2nd goes, Toronto doesn't have one this year, but have 2 4ths, I think. After doing sweet nothing at the trade deadline, when defensive help was an absolute necessity, I'm not gonna be surprised if Nonuts pulls a Pat Gillick tomorrow night. :rolleyes:
 
I'm guessing Tallon is asking for 1st round pick from 2015 + a prospect.

I don't understand why Carlyle doesn't like Gardiner. He has shown he can play in the NHL. Groom him to be a better dman then. Nonis should have looked to trade him last year, before it became obvious that Gardiner was in the dog house, and his numbers start to plummet along with his value.

I think the draft could go totally wild, and teams drafting for position rather than BPA. Obviously Florida holds the key. If Ekblad goes 1st, Edmonton will have to decide between Draisaitl or Bennett. I think Buffalo will take Reinhart. Edmonton is in need of a future #2C more than a LW. If Bennett drops to 4th, no way Calgary passes on him. NYI are the wildcard as usual. Dal Colle seems to be the consensus #5, but they could go off the board and pick Nylander or Ehlers. The question then will the Canucks take a bit of a risky project in Nylander. Sort of makes sense too as he's a couple years away, and there's time to groom him properly. But they like Virtanen too. I'm guessing Francis is going to look for skill over size, sort of like him. So Ehlers could be their guy. Thus leaving Ritchie at 8th!! :)
 
I don't see the Nucks passing on Ritchie - if, as you suggested Nylander of Ehlers jumps then maybe but from all I have seen/heard - they are pretty high on him and it makes sense with their team needs.

We'll see how it all shakes out - I would prefer them to get a centerman if at all possible but a giant physical skilled winger is fine with me as well.
 
I heard they were high on Virtanen, unless they think that Ritchie would be gone by then.

Not bad to have Virtanen at 8th too.

Outside of the top 3, the prospects have some sort of work still. Top 5 are most complete, which includes Draisaitl and Dal Colle. After that the question marks are bigger. Nylander has top 5 skill, but has to bulk up and doesn't use his team mates well. Basically a puck hog. That can be shut down in the NHL easily. Ehlers showed that he could play with skill and put the puck in the net. But is that because he played with Drouin? Needs to bulk up too. There is something to be said about being able to play with top end talent too though. ref. Kunitz, Burrows, etc.

Prosepcts like Ritchie, Virtanen, Tuch, Perlini have filled out already and they dominate their peers b/c they're just much bigger and stronger. So scouts have to determine if they can translate that into the pros.

There are safe picks like Kapanen, but his ceiling is lower. Fleury might not have top pairing potential either, and offence is limited. Fabbri has skill too but is small.

Then there's RH dmen like McKeowen which could be interesting since they are always in demand.
 
My knee jerk reaction here was that we got hosed.

Looking at it further - Bonino outscored Kesler (I know tough to compare but still), can play wing and center, is younger and cheaper. Sbisa is a solid depth add on the blueline and there are going to be some good options at the 24 spot of the draft.

Time will tell but I have a sneaking suspicion that Kesler is now a 50 point third line center whose better days are behind him (see: Mike Richards) - can still contribute but is not the star that he once was. But I do think he can be successful with the Ducks so it't probably a win/win on both sides.
 
timber09 said:
My knee jerk reaction here was that we got hosed.

Looking at it further - Bonino outscored Kesler (I know tough to compare but still), can play wing and center, is younger and cheaper. Sbisa is a solid depth add on the blueline and there are going to be some good options at the 24 spot of the draft.

Time will tell but I have a sneaking suspicion that Kesler is now a 50 point third line center whose better days are behind him (see: Mike Richards) - can still contribute but is not the star that he once was. But I do think he can be successful with the Ducks so it't probably a win/win on both sides.
Click to expand...


I still think Kesler holds more value than that though. He is still a solid two way centre with a GREAT contract.

I've got a feeling that the Canucks aren't nearly done with trading today. They might be trying to bundle the #24 and #6 to move up.
 

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