No I'm not the ice girl! It's one of the few photos that we have. While I finish my 2016 draft eligible U18 tournament update, I felt that I had some time to answer questions. I haven't done this in a long time, but I always have fun with it.
Basically in the comments send me questions and I'll answer them. Any question will do! I got to watch Canada vs Sweden and am planning on watching Russia vs Switzerland, so hurry up!
1. Who do you think will be the biggest dropper on draft day? My guest is Lawson Crouse but I also think Zacha can drop a bit with their absence of offensive on the season.
- Patjacques
1. I think Oliver Kylington is going to tank. Maybe into the early second round. I've been watching his U18 performance and this was his shot to prove he can play in both ends...he can't. He doesn't seem to know what is going on when opponents bear down on him. He was a potential top-10 guy going into the draft, the consensus second best defender when the season started...now he's an offensive defender with little care to his own zone that is getting outplayed by those around him.
2. Are there any more young free agents in the NCAA or European leagues that the Leafs could target before the start of next season?
- TheMussel
2. Artemi Panarin is the best KHL free agent this year. Panarin is currently engaged in one more season with SKA, but he can leave that deal should an NHL team come knocking. The 23 year old is highly skilled and has been on my radar since 2012 when I began writing about him. He was amazing for the Gagarin Cup winning SKA squad that Kovalchuk won the MVP for despite...well...not being the MVP. Regardless Panarin led them in regular season scoring, he has been a fantastic producer and SKA turned their series around against CSKA when he came back from the flu.
3. How absolutely awesome will McCaron be when he is ready to join the Habs?
- habman75
3. McCarron will not be awesome when he joins the Habs in 2019 as a goon fighter.
4. 16th pick for the oilers?
Chabot, Zboril, Roy, Carlo or trade the pick? And for what realistically....
and
5.
Why is dozzer allowed to give out 3 day bans for using the "r word pertaining to mental disability" yet is allowed to go on for pages in the leafs thread discussing smoking dope, doing coke and other drugs on a family website?
- Iggysbff
4. I would honestly say Zacha. I mentioned this earlier, but I'm starting to warm up to it. Everybody wants the Oilers to pick a defender and I truly get it. They need defense. They need it now though. Zboril, Chabot and Roy are three guys I like no doubt, not a big fan of Carlo. However Zacha is somebody who I think can fall to 16. I think he will be there. The Oilers need functional toughness. They need somebody mean and nasty with skill. All of their skilled draft selections are skilled players with various skill sets. They aren't the same. If you think Hall plays a similar game to Draisaitl or Eberle and Yakupov playing the same game, you're on drugs. Yet none of them offer the purely physical and rough and tumble game of Zacha. I really wanted him to have a big moment at the U18's because he is such a hard worker. He's doing it. I love the power game and I don't care if he ends up a third line centre, he's a player that offers what the Oilers need.
5. One is offensive to a large swath of people, the other gets people to do high fives and laugh.
6. Who will be the biggest bust out of projected first round players? Excluding kylington.
- My Boy Schving
6. Brandon Carlo is my pick. Watching him be used as a turnstile by Barbashev really worried me. Then I saw him play a game in the WHL playoffs where he was outplayed by fellow draft eligible Wotherspoon. Then I saw him battle a 5'10 Merkley in the playoffs and be pushed off the puck...this 6'5 "hulk." I'm starting to get nervous about "big physical defensemen." This is a big group of players and prospects and they just don't seem to be coming out well. Luke Schenn, Jarred Tinordi, Jamie Oleksiak, Keaton Ellerby, Alex Plante, Ty Wishart, Mark Mitera, Sasha Pokulok, Ryan Parent, Matt Pelech...jeez I could go on forever. Let's not forget Boris Valà¡bik. I love the idea of big physical defenders with an attention to their own zone. I'm nervous that almost all of them are coming out of the first round. They're guys that grow into their body and game. So Carlo is my pick.
7. Thinking of Buffalo and Edmonton's line of top prospects down the middle, which teams are in the worst shape for depth at Center, both short and long term?
- WhiteLie
7. If this is between Edmonton and Buffalo, I'd say I like Edmonton's depth down the middle slightly more. McDavid-RNH-Draisaitl (atm) vs Eichel-Reinhart-Girgensons (potentially) is too hard to call without major projections, but you'd have to give the slight edge to Edmonton. Both look really good...and I kind of love the similarities between RNH and Reinhart in terms of style of play, both smart players in all three zones with thin builds. As for around the league? Man the Coyotes are the worst in the centre ice spot. Dvorak is their top centre prospect and he's a player that is riding alongside two superstars in junior with only one great season under his belt. Gagner as their top centre in the NHL. Hanzal is a bandaid. At number three they might take Strome...which would be a good fit, but also holds the worry about being the second fiddle and his PPG dropping from 2.04 to 1.66 when McDavid was out which included the WJC's while fellow top prospect Marner jumped up to a 2.77ppg against the weakened opponents. The Coyotes need a lot of help down the middle.
8. How do you feel about Anthony Beauvillier ?
There has been lots of chatter about undersized guys like Marner and Merkley this year, do you think Beuvillier has the skill to be an impact player in the NHL?
Does he end up going 2nd or squeak into the 1rst?
- belcherbd
8. I really love Beauvillier. I wrote a blog about him awhile back and he's clearly a player that is undervalued. He is a face-off wizard, he competes like a player much larger than him and he has skill. Something you need and want from a guy that is 5'10. His versatility is amazing and he reminds me of Brayden Point from the 2014 draft. A scoring star with amazing face-off abilities and defensive awareness that falls in the draft because he's the wrong side of the six foot barrier. He's gritty too. He just brings it all. He's even playing a shutdown role for Canada since Knott got the jump to the top line so Beauvillier can play centre on the third line. I think he goes in the early second. Teams will likely begin being desperate for defenders near the late first and start grasping.