Welcome to the Thursday prospect ramblings. They say “it takes five years to know if a team won the draft or not” and well it has been five and change years since the 2014. Well here is me re-drafting the first round of the 2014 draft. I am drafting on player and no team need.
But First! Here is my #GoodTweet of the week:
{source}<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Am I the only one thinking this isn't a long term thing? <a href=”https://t.co/a9zrYGDy7m”>https://t.co/a9zrYGDy7m</a></p>— Pat Quinn (not that one) (@FHPQuinn) <a href=”https://twitter.com/FHPQuinn/status/1196480785215188992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 18, 2019</a></blockquote>{/source}
*********************
Florida Panthers – 1st overall
Pick: Aaron Ekblad
Who I would choose: Leon Draisaitl (#3)
I mean how can you not choose Draisaitl with his current production. It is tough to really put him at #1 for me though because I want to see him play a long streak carrying his own line, but with 149 points over his last 105 games he has to be #1.
Buffalo Sabres – 2nd overall
Pick: Sam Reinhart
Who I would choose: David Pastrnak (#25)
This could be another case of “really good/perfect line mates” for his game but Pasta is awesome. It is crazy that he went 25th overall.
Edmonton Oilers – 3rd overall
Pick: Leon Draisaitl
Who I would choose: Dylan Larkin (#15)
I mean the choice game between him and Point. Larkin has had a lot less to deal with in Detroit, not to mention a coach that prefers bad vets to good rookies, and still puts up solid numbers across the board. He is a good 1C centre for any team that would need him but would be an even better 2C on a team with a top flight 1C.
Calgary Flames – 4th overall
Pick: Sam Bennett
Who I would choose: Brayden Point (#79)
He is awesome, a perfect pick at #4 for 2014. Remember when he was “too small” to be a top 60 talent?
New York Islanders – 5th overall
Pick: Michael Dal Colle
Who I would choose: Nikolaj Ehlers (#9)
So much skill, just trapped on line 2 and 2PP in Winnipeg. Imagine him on the 1PP and top line with Mat Barzal. $$$
Vancouver Canucks – 6th overall
Pick: Jake Virtanen
Who I would choose: William Nylander (#8)
A top line winger instead of a bottom six banger, who would you chose?
Carolina Hurricanes – 7th overall
Pick: Haydn Fleury
Who I would choose: Sam Reinhart (#2)
An extremely smart player that you never really notice how good he is because he is not great at one thing that stands out. He can help any line he is on
Toronto Maple Leafs – 8th overall
Pick: William Nylander
Who I would choose: Viktor Arvidsson (#112)
This tenacious high-volume shooting forward was somehow selected 112 by Nashville and is a top six winger
Winnipeg Jets – 9th overall
Pick: Nikolaj Ehlers
Who I would choose: Aaron Ekblad (#1)
Take the top three defenseman here. I am one that would take top line forwards before a top three dman.
Now we get to the tougher selections (for me anyway)
Anaheim Ducks – 10th overall
Pick: Nick Ritchie
Who I would choose: Jakub Vrana (#13)
Well the underutilized winger they drafted originally went early, well why not take the underutilized winger on the Capitals
Nashville Predators – 11th overall
Pick: Kevin Fiala
Who I would choose: Alex Tuch (#18)
A big scoring power winger that has had recent injury issues hold back his break out
Phoenix Coyotes (aka Arizona Coyotes) – 12th overall
Pick: Brendan Perlini
Who I would choose: Jared McCann (#24)
I am a huge McCann fan. He can play anywhere in the line up and had he not been rushed to the NHL he would likely be more talked about that he is
Washington Capitals – 13th overall
Pick: Jakub Vrana
Who I would choose: Kevin Labanc (#171)
The Sharks got him in the 6th round with pick 171 and looking at this draft, he really should have been a top 60 pick
Dallas Stars – 14th overall
Pick: Julius Honka
Who I would choose: Nick Schmaltz (#20)
The next three players are all very close for me so it is just preference, but Schmaltz shows himself to be a good top six player that just never shoots.
Detroit Red Wings – 15th overall
Pick: Dylan Larkin
Who I would choose: Travis Sanheim (#17)
He would be another great building block for a team that has a few young dmen, remind you of the team he went to originally
Columbus Blue Jackets – 16th overall
Pick: Sonny Milano
Who I would choose: Kevin Fiala (#11)
Still a very good player but he needs to hit the confidence level that seems to allude him for long stretches of time
Philadelphia Flyers – 17th overall
Pick: Travis Sanheim
Who I would choose: Robby Fabbri (#21)
Take away the knee injuries and he is probably higher on my list, but because that has brought everyone down on him
Minnesota Wild – 18th overall
Pick: Alex Tuch
Who I would choose: Kasperi Kapanen (#22)
A solid middle six forward who would be a smart get for any team
Tampa Bay Lightning – 19th overall
Pick: Tony DeAngelo
Who I would choose: Brandon Montour (#55)
He might be better at offence than defense but he is still a solid top four defenseman
Chicago Blackhawks – 20th overall
Pick: Nick Schmaltz
Who I would choose: Christian Dvorak (#58)
Injuries also took a chuck of time away from Dvorak, and I think had those not been a factor he would be a more prolific scorer than he is now. Also being on Arizona where no one line is a top line really holds his production down
St. Louis Blues – 21st overall
Pick: Robby Fabbri
Who I would choose: Igor Shestyorkin (#118)
Thankfully I have the power of hindsight now because I would rarely pick a goalie in the first round, but Shestyorkin is going to be one of the best goalies in the NHL soon
Pittsburgh Penguins – 22nd overall
Pick: Kasperi Kapanen
Who I would choose: Oskar Lindblom (#138)
He is a solid two-way middle-six winger that can score and play defense. A great pick
Colorado Avalanche – 23rd overall
Pick: Conner Bleackley
Who I would choose: Ondrej Kase (#205)
If not for injuries Kase would be a household name at draft, instead of a name in the “sleeper” category and who you pick in hopes he does not get injured this season
Vancouver Canucks – 24th overall
Pick: Jared McCann
Who I would choose: Thatcher Demko (#36)
Demko looks fantastic but just cannot get in to full time duty because Markstrom is also fantastic. Same goaltending rule from above applies
Boston Bruins – 25th overall
Pick: David Pastrnak
Who I would choose: Danton Heinen (#116)
Heinen is a solid middle six winger, he is no Pastrnak but he is still a Bruin
Montreal Canucks – 26th overall
Pick: Nikita Scherbak
Who I would choose: Ilya Sorokin (#78)
He is only this low because he has not come over yet. Sorokin will be a top goalie when he is in North America, we all just hope the wait is not and longer than the end of this season.
San Jose Sharks – 27th overall
Pick: Nikolay Goldobin (If given an opportunity on an NHL squad he would make my list)
Who I would choose: Sam Bennett (#4)
I mean he is an NHLer and with better development might have been a top six player instead of a bottom six winger
New York Islanders – 28th overall
Pick: Josh Ho-Sang (see Goldobin)
Who I would choose: Marcus Pettersson (#38)
He has turned in to quite a solid defenseman. Now I will search for tweets saying Anaheim won this trade to “like” and “retweet” because there is no way I could be wrong about this in four years. Nope. None
Los Angeles Kings – 29th overall
Pick: Adrian Kempe
Who I would choose: Nick Ritchie (#10)
He is a solid player that is slowly developing and eventually may see himself become a top power forward in the NHL
New Jersey Devils – 30th overall
Pick: John Quenneville
Who I would choose: Victor Olofsson (#181)
A scorer through and through. How much of it is being on the Sabres top powerplay though is the question that will come out over the long term
Just missing the cut (in this order):
- Adrian Kempe (#29)
- Samuel Blais (#176)
- Elvis Merzlikins (#76)
- Ivan Barbashev (#33)
- Tony DeAngelo (#19)
- Anders Bjork (#146)
- Devon Toews (#108)
- Ryan Donato (#56)
- Ville Husso (#94)
- Alex Nedeljkovic (#37)
- Lucas Wallmark (#97)
- Brendan Perlini (#12)
- Vitek Vanecek (#39)
- Kaapo Kähkönen (#109)
*************
Thanks for reading! Follow my twitter: @FHPQuinn
Also put Mogilny in Hall of Fame already!!!!
{source}<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”in” dir=”ltr”>Mogilny dammit <a href=”https://t.co/yMqWWxD9wG”>https://t.co/yMqWWxD9wG</a></p>— Pat Quinn (not that one) (@FHPQuinn) <a href=”https://twitter.com/FHPQuinn/status/1196609633948856320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November 19, 2019</a></blockquote>{/source}