Colorado needs defense. Possibly Klefbom, this years first, and next years first.
- Bryant44

Colorado needs defense. Possibly Seth Jones, this year's first overall pick.

Colorado needs defense. Possibly Seth Jones, this year's first overall pick.
- TheNugeIsHuge

Yeah don't see them trading this year first

Yeah don't see them trading this year first
- Yeti1181

not sure I buy Seth Jones as a future top 10 D man in the league, but there's no way Colorado let's him slip

not sure I buy Seth Jones as a future top 10 D man in the league, but there's no way Colorado let's him slip
- TheNugeIsHuge

Why do you think that?

Why do you think that?
- Yeti1181

that he won't be a top 10 d man in the league?

I've seen him play about 6-7 times and never been really impressed. He plays a solid defensive game but nothing that wows you and I think his production benefitted from being on the best team in the CHL.

Only time'll tell. D men are hard to predict

that he won't be a top 10 d man in the league?

I've seen him play about 6-7 times and never been really impressed. He plays a solid defensive game but nothing that wows you and I think his production benefitted from being on the best team in the CHL.

Only time'll tell. D men are hard to predict
- TheNugeIsHuge

I dont know what games you watched. Seth Jones is a (frank)ing stud. Anyone suggesting (and I'm not saying you did) Colorado will pick anyone other than Seth Jones is nuts. He is far and away the best player available in this draft.

Anyone who saw the entire WJC knows. Seth Jones was an absolute beast throughout the entire tournament. I've probably watched 20+ games of him in just the CHL. It's not that he's not impressive, he's just bored.

that he won't be a top 10 d man in the league?

I've seen him play about 6-7 times and never been really impressed. He plays a solid defensive game but nothing that wows you and I think his production benefitted from being on the best team in the CHL.

Only time'll tell. D men are hard to predict
- TheNugeIsHuge

I dont know what games you watched. Seth Jones is a (frank)ing stud. Anyone suggesting (and I'm not saying you did) Colorado will pick anyone other than Seth Jones is nuts. He is far and away the best player available in this draft.

Anyone who saw the entire WJC knows. Seth Jones was an absolute beast throughout the entire tournament. I've probably watched 20+ games of him in just the CHL. It's not that he's not impressive, he's just bored.

Dansk is terrible. He had an .888SV%. Albeit on the worst team(second worst?) team in the OHL
- TheNugeIsHuge

You have no idea what your talking about

If 'm the oilers i'm going after backstrom f only for the reason that he's a noted oilers kller. Get him and we don't have to worry about him beating us everytime we play a team. That lneup clouts is gong to get knocked around like a beachball. Need some size man we need some size.The top two lines to need to be huge but the bottom two needs to be able to paste people into the sixteenth row. We need some BEASTS. That'll be the reason the hawks and pens don't make it to the cup finals. No mean tuff as nails fourth line. It'll be boston and the kings in the finals and that'll be fun as we will get to watch two teams pound each other into next week. Oilers are too soft we need to get mean.

I dont know what games you watched. Seth Jones is a (frank)ing stud. Anyone suggesting (and I'm not saying you did) Colorado will pick anyone other than Seth Jones is nuts. He is far and away the best player available in this draft.

Anyone who saw the entire WJC knows. Seth Jones was an absolute beast throughout the entire tournament. I've probably watched 20+ games of him in just the CHL. It's not that he's not impressive, he's just bored.
- mochoson

I'd say Mackinnon'll be the best player from the draft simply because D men are harder to predict. Look at the classic example of Erik Johnson

You have no idea what your talking about
- mochoson

you can't be picked at 31 and not have an above .900SV%

I'd take Stolarz before Dansk

I'd say Mackinnon'll be the best player from the draft simply because D men are harder to predict. Look at the classic example of Erik Johnson
- TheNugeIsHuge

I'd modify that to the "safest" player in the draft.

- The Oilers farm team, the Oklahoma City Barons, have tied up their conference final playoff battle against the Grand Rapids Griffins. A couple of Fins, Teemu Hartikainen and Toni Rajala, are leading the charge for the Barons. Going back to MacT's comments about players needing a high level of compete, I wonder if Hartikainen + Barkov + Rajala = the Oilers 3rd line next season. It would be Fintastic. That little Rajala guy has got skills.

If you are honestly confident with that being your teams third line, thats pathetic.

Maybe we'll see the Oilers go with Smid/Petry, Nick Schultz/Justin Schultz and Klefbom/Fedun as their defensive pairings next season? Stranger things have happened. Three out of six are newbies? It could be a painful year to watch.

Again, pathetic

- It's not a healthy thing for the Oilers to become a team that doesn't make opportunities to move up from the minors available to their prospects. If anything, the Oilers have done a poor job moving most of their prospects along, due in large part to the refusal of coaches to play those players. Talk to Magnus Paajarvi about that one...Remember his second season, when he sat on the bench while watching a stack of 3rd and 4th line guys playing ahead of him? And then he got sent down and his entire season was a disaster. That's the type of situation the Oilers need to get away from.

Theres a difference between letting guys who've earned it play NHL minutes and giving spots away to players just to "make room for them". The (frank)? I want players who are going to help win games and have EARNED the right to play.

My roster design spells "rotten" for the Oilers in 2013/2014. So what? This team is going to become unbelievable really, really soon.

L1: Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Eberle
L2: Paajarvi - Gagner - Yakupov
L3: Hartikainen - Barkov - Rajala
L4: Some combination of Lander, Smyth, Brown, Petrell, or someone else new

D1: Smid/Petry
D2: Schultz/Schultz
D3: Klefbom/Fedun

G1: Dubnyk
G2: 1-800-Rent-a-Goalie

Yes, everything about this roster is most certainly rotten.

- Speaking of goalies, can people please stop suggesting to me that the Oilers should give up a pile of assets for either Jonathan Bernier or Cory Schneider? Bernier hasn't proven a thing to me, and I think the point is, the Oilers need to go get a goalie who will push Dubnyk for the starter's job.

As far as Schneider goes, Canucks GM Mike Gillis has ego issues and he'll likely ask for Eberle + Nugent-Hopkins for him. No one is going to deal for Luongo, so the Canucks are stuck with him...unless they use a compliance buyout, which would cost them $20 billion Euros. They're not going to do it. So Schneider will be the one who goes, and some idiot GM is going to completely overpay for him just because. Last few times I saw Schneider play I wasn't at all impressed.

I'll take Bernier or Schneider over Dubnyk 7 days of the week. You will literally say anything.

There is an appropriate price for both. Idk what your referring to in terms of "pile of assets", but neither of those guys would be "cheap". They wouldn't be ridiculous to acquire, but they wont just be given away.

The only way you can literally sit there and tell me Schneider and Bernier aren't good is if you've never seen them play and your just saying anything, which is your m.o

- If the Oilers deal for a goalie, maybe they look at a player from a team like Washington, Ottawa, Toronto or Anaheim. Maybe Anaheim makes Jonas Hiller available? Well, they'd be idiots if they dealt Fasth, and sooner or later, John Gibson will need a chance to play. How much would you give up for the final season of Hiller's contract?

Why would they be idiots for dealing a goalie they signed for nothing out of Europe and then traded him away to a team who's clearly going to overpay for him? His sample of work in the NHL is so small. If the Ducks got a fair trade for him, theyd be idiots to say no.

John Gibson is easily another year if not two or maybe even 3 away from consistent NHL work.

- It's likely a mute discussion, the whole Hiller/Fasth/Gibson thing. Why? Because the Oilers will have around 10 decent UFA options to pursue. Can Jussi Rynnas from Toronto play? Is Anton Khudobin sticking around the NHL? Someone told me he was going back to the KHL. That would suck if he did. Mike Smith is a UFA; what will his price tag be? Ditto Niklas Backstrom from Minnie. Evgeni Nabokov's stats didn't stink this season. What about him?

Khudobin would be an excellent add. There's a plethora of guys that would be available.

I'd say Mackinnon'll be the best player from the draft simply because D men are harder to predict. Look at the classic example of Erik Johnson
- TheNugeIsHuge

Erik Johnson shouldn't have been picked first. That's a terrible example that get's used by casual hockey fans.

D-men that play the way Seth Jones does in the CHL at his age are the real deal. He is a no brainer pick.

You can't just class every player by position in determining "how they will develop". Every one of these players is an individual. They are all unique. Not every defensemen is "hard to predict". That's another lame cliche too many online armchair GM's use.

you can't be picked at 31 and not have an above .900SV%

I'd take Stolarz before Dansk
- TheNugeIsHuge

This is so stupid it makes my head hurt.

If you would take Stolarz over Dansk than you only know them from playing NHL13. That's just insane to me that you'd say that.

And this is coming from a Flyers fan.

I'd say Mackinnon'll be the best player from the draft simply because D men are harder to predict. Look at the classic example of Erik Johnson
- TheNugeIsHuge

Mackinnon, Drouin, and Jones are going to be supserstars. All 3 are literally that good.

Erik Johnson shouldn't have been picked first. That's a terrible example that get's used by casual hockey fans.

D-men that play the way Seth Jones does in the CHL at his age are the real deal. He is a no brainer pick.

You can't just class every player by position in determining "how they will develop". Every one of these players is an individual. They are all unique. Not every defensemen is "hard to predict". That's another lame cliche too many online armchair GM's use.
- mochoson

Well maybe you're seeing something the rest of us don't. Didn't realize we had a chief scout here on hockey buzz but that's great.

Yes, D men and goalies are harder to predict.

best forwards in the league:
Crosby-1st overall
Stamkos-1st overall
Malkin-2nd overall
Ovechkin-1st overall

best D men in the league:
-Weber-49th overall
-Subban-43rd overall
-Suter-7th overall
-Letang-62nd overall
-Keith-54th overall
-Karlsson-15th overall

best goalies in the league:
-Lundqvist-205th overall
-Quick-72nd overall
-rask-21st overall
-schneider-26th

I think it's safe to say it's easier to predict elite forwards over D men and goalies

Mackinnon, Drouin, and Jones are going to be supserstars. All 3 are literally that good.
- mochoson

"are going to" to "all could be" and I agree with you. These players aren't Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin who were both all but guaranteed to be great players. They all have the chance to be perennial all stars but you can't ever put the superstar mark on a player unless they do something spectacular. They all have done great things for sure but none of them have done enough to gain certain superstar credit.

Well maybe you're seeing something the rest of us don't. Didn't realize we had a chief scout here on hockey buzz but that's great.

Yes, D men and goalies are harder to predict.

best forwards in the league:
Crosby-1st overall
Stamkos-1st overall
Malkin-2nd overall
Ovechkin-1st overall

best D men in the league:
-Weber-49th overall
-Subban-43rd overall
-Suter-7th overall
-Letang-62nd overall
-Keith-54th overall
-Karlsson-15th overall

best goalies in the league:
-Lundqvist-205th overall
-Quick-72nd overall
-rask-21st overall
-schneider-26th

I think it's safe to say it's easier to predict elite forwards over D men and goalies
- TheNugeIsHuge

I agree with most of this but there are some good young defenseman that were taken early (doughty, pietrangelo), that said for every doughty you usually see one or 2 Luke schenn's. btw looking back at the 2008 draft how many current or future allstar dmen came out of the draft? Damn, don't get me wrong I'm glad we got eberle especially given our draft position, but it would have been sweet to have had our own pick that year too.

With what feels like a solid draft for defencemen, I would really love to see us make a move to get a second first rd pick between say 10-22 to take one, assuming we pick a center with our first. Am I alone in this thought process?

Erik Johnson shouldn't have been picked first. That's a terrible example that get's used by casual hockey fans.

D-men that play the way Seth Jones does in the CHL at his age are the real deal. He is a no brainer pick.

You can't just class every player by position in determining "how they will develop". Every one of these players is an individual. They are all unique. Not every defensemen is "hard to predict". That's another lame cliche too many online armchair GM's use.
- mochoson

hindsights 20/20

erik johnson was an absolute beast coming into the draft. he deserved that 1 pick. big fuker, brilliant skater, physical was solid at both ends. him and the other johnson were easily two of the best players in that WJC.

it's still mystifying how he hasnt turned into a stud. maybe he's got a low hockey IQ. tough to guage that i guess...

If you are honestly confident with that being your teams third line, thats pathetic.



Again, pathetic



Theres a difference between letting guys who've earned it play NHL minutes and giving spots away to players just to "make room for them". The (frank)? I want players who are going to help win games and have EARNED the right to play.


Yes, everything about this roster is most certainly rotten.



I'll take Bernier or Schneider over Dubnyk 7 days of the week. You will literally say anything.

There is an appropriate price for both. Idk what your referring to in terms of "pile of assets", but neither of those guys would be "cheap". They wouldn't be ridiculous to acquire, but they wont just be given away.

The only way you can literally sit there and tell me Schneider and Bernier aren't good is if you've never seen them play and your just saying anything, which is your m.o



Why would they be idiots for dealing a goalie they signed for nothing out of Europe and then traded him away to a team who's clearly going to overpay for him? His sample of work in the NHL is so small. If the Ducks got a fair trade for him, theyd be idiots to say no.

John Gibson is easily another year if not two or maybe even 3 away from consistent NHL work.



Khudobin would be an excellent add. There's a plethora of guys that would be available.
- mochoson

oh snap!

Well maybe you're seeing something the rest of us don't. Didn't realize we had a chief scout here on hockey buzz but that's great.

Yes, D men and goalies are harder to predict.

best forwards in the league:
Crosby-1st overall
Stamkos-1st overall
Malkin-2nd overall
Ovechkin-1st overall

best D men in the league:
-Weber-49th overall
-Subban-43rd overall
-Suter-7th overall
-Letang-62nd overall
-Keith-54th overall
-Karlsson-15th overall

best goalies in the league:
-Lundqvist-205th overall
-Quick-72nd overall
-rask-21st overall
-schneider-26th

I think it's safe to say it's easier to predict elite forwards over D men and goalies
- TheNugeIsHuge

Anddddd you missed my point completely

No way Barkov is going to the Oilers because A) Nashville loves the player & needs a centre so he's gone at 4 & Monahan isn't slipping past the Flames at 6 so if the Oilers, as you suggest, want either player, they'll have to move up but because the talent level is so high in the top 6 picks, there's no way it's happening unless a GM gets the Oilers to overpay.

Best scenario that can happen is the Oilers deal the pick for a team that wants to move up from the middle of the first round & is prepared to part with a roster player who can step right in a help the Oilers. Enough of worrying about draft picks, next year Cloutier, you'll be saying the same thing instead of adding to the team with proven players.

It's time the Oilers move their next 2 first rounders and bring in immediate help, not players who can't play or contribute for 2 or 3yrs.

Now that I've cleared that up for you, stop talking about Barkov because he isn't ending up in Edmonton.
- newmy

Flames will take lindholm. Oil will take monahan.

hindsights 20/20

erik johnson was an absolute beast coming into the draft. he deserved that 1 pick. big fuker, brilliant skater, physical was solid at both ends. him and the other johnson were easily two of the best players in that WJC.

it's still mystifying how he hasnt turned into a stud. maybe he's got a low hockey IQ. tough to guage that i guess...
- hugefemale dog77

His hockey sense is excellent, he just hasn't been able to string together consecutive seasons of solid play because of various injuries. He's still incredibly young.

He also isn't producing insane offensive numbers, something many thought he would have been doing by this point in his NHL career.

He's still one of the better young dmen in the NHL who's had quite an interesting career already between all the time he's missed and being traded.

The 2006 draft has always been very odd to me.

-Johnson goes first after only 47 games with the NTDP and while his numbers were over a PPG, its not CHL hockey and it was a huge spike from his numbers the year prior.

-John Toews is an almost PPG freshman at UND and the year prior to that he was an almost 2PPG at Shattuck St. Marys

-Jordan Staal goes 68 for 68 in OHL, a huge spike in points from previous year.

-Yet Phil Kessel scores 51 points in 39 games with the Golden Gophers, and goes the lowest of these 4

Had I been scouting that draft, I would have had 1. Johnson 2. Toews 3. Kessel 4. Staal based strictly on stats.

Flames will take lindholm. Oil will take monahan.
- allen_gamble

I have a feeling this draft is going to be all over the place. This is truly a draft you have to actually watch the players play in order to really gauge who could go where.

Outside of maybe the first 7-10, I think this draft is gonna be all over the place. For example, my own personal list has Horvat, Domi, and Zadorov in the first round and I don't have Monahan going until 14. Most drafts I see have none of the 3 aforementioned in the top 10 and Monahan is in most peoples top 10.

For the record, I don't understand all the love for Monahan. I truly think he's a reach in this draft any higher than 10. So many more impact players available IMO.

edit: Another one is Freddy Gauthier. He, IMO, is rated far to low on a lot of scouts boards