So 2014 happened. Some fun moments, some cool moments, some “man this draft blows… moments. Overagers and lack of talent really were the story after about the mid-second just like most predicted. The Islanders seemed determined to pick every 20 year old they could. You know it’s a weird day in hockey when the first ever Australian is drafted. Spencer Watson is probably wondering why the heck he got the Nick Ebert treatment, he was the second last selection in the draft, and in fact the last selection was the 8th overall selection in the OHL bantam draft back in 2012. Weird draft. In the end though, the first was fairly fun so there’s that. My mockable mock draft was right about everything…16% of the time. Oh well, it wasn’t really about accuracy, Fiala and Vrana rose, Kapanen fell, Schmaltz went in the first, I’m fine with that. McKeown probably feels robbed; his fall was relentless, yikes.
Russians
So Russians got some love this draft. Most were part of North American hockey but hey! Some love. Was extremely surprised that Barbashev was the one to fall out of the first. He, Scherbak and Goldobin were the hopes for first round selection (Kamenev was wistful thinking at best), yet Barbashev went in the early second to the Blues who got a really good value selection to make up for their lack of picks this go around. I wonder what the reasoning was for him falling. He had a very good season despite a small injury, was the only Russian draft eligible to make the U20 squad and had his coach commenting on his maturity over his two-way game development despite playing centre for the first time in his life. Well, regardless, some fall, he did, good luck to him and the Blues.
Scherbak is probably the most interesting of the lot. Before moving to Saskatoon he was basically an unknown. He had only played one season in the MHL, on a team that had been recently promoted to the league. Before that, the team was some sort of lower competition level I’ve never heard of called the Vysshaya Liga, but it sounds like a beer league for youngsters. That’s some crazy stuff if you ask me. He wasn’t even that memorable in the MHL or anything. Then goes to the WHL, kills it, goes from a guy not even listed by Central or International Scouting to a first round selection in the space of a year. Absolutely nuts.
Canadian Flavour
So TSN likes to talk up the Canadian teams, so I guess I will too.
Toronto : Loved the Nylander pick. I was afraid they would go safe like they have outside of Rielly (Kadri was the consensus at 7 that year anyways). I see people already making fun of the pick, attitude problems, no defensive awareness, tiny, blah blah blah. I’ll give the last two some credence, but attitude problems…seriously? Way to Toronto Media, you’ve extrapolated that the kid has issues because he played for 3 different teams in 5 different leagues in one season. Well guess what, MODO has every right to send him down to their U20 affiliate and U18 affiliate when eliminated from the post season and in between their own games, they sent him on loan as a favour to get him more games and ice-time, and this was a plan by his father who knows that the rougher 82 game schedule in North America is rough to deal with when the average Elitserien player only plays 55 games. Nylander played a total of…guess what? 82 games. That’s not attitude, that’s a calculated move to get Nylander ready as soon as possible. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he played in the AHL next year as another calculated move has left his contract with MODO in need of re-upping for next season, so he has no obligations to anybody at the moment. Well there ends my rant.
As for the other picks, well I liked the Pierre Engvall pick. Probably won’t become anything, but it’s the seventh round and they’ve had some luck with Swedes there. Big guy (6’4) who likes to shoot. Was the fifth highest U18 scorer in the SuperElit, though quite a few of the first rounders who played stints in there had vastly superior PPG. That being said he was 12th in PPG anyways and 9th if you don’t count the three players who played less than 3 games ahead of him. I like it.
The only pick that looks simply odd is Nolan Vesey who wasn’t listed by any scouting agency and plays in a new league I’ve never heard of called the “USPHL Premier League,… which sounds a lot more like a soccer team to be honest. The overager is set to go to the University of Maine next year. So that one was a bit of a head scratcher, but hell, it’s the sixth round.
They also traded The Gun for a Polak. Seems like a sideways move at best, but hey, CULTURE CHANGE. Polak brings more physicality and a right handed shot, Gunnar brings a lefty to the fold for St. Louis and hope that the surgery on his knee will bring him back to his old self.
Montreal : The Habs go to the WHL for their first pick for the first time since 2005 with Carey Price, then again the other last time was 2004 with Chipchura. As mentioned above, I liked the Scherbak pick, I still have a sneaking suspicion that Schmaltz was their guy, but Chicago swooped in for him. Not a bad consolation prize to be sure. Lernout the big tough defender seems like a safe choice in the third. Expected bottom-pairing physical defenseman that can fight.
Audette, another smurf in the late rounds. Seems to work for them so why not right? It’s only a fifth. The former 1st overall pick in the QMJHL Bantam Draft played for the woeful Phoenix and had a strong year. He was good at the U18’s as well, very feisty. He needs to watch where he puts that stick though, or somebody is going to knock his block off. Good value for getting the second highest PPG in the Q for draft eligibles.
Vancouver : Went local with Virtanen, had a sneaking suspicion they might lean that way. In my Mockable Mock Draft I had something stupid happening so he wasn’t their pick, but as I wrote in it, if he isn’t on the table they’ll go local. Plus this isn’t just about being a BC boy (If it was, they’d have kept BC Boy Garrison); he’s a really good player and brings a style they need. They need speed. The Canucks are slow as hell at forward; Virtanen is one of the better skaters in the draft, a guy with explosive speed and the tenacity to becoming a scoring power forward. This was a good draft for them in my opinion. They went risky with Virtanen early, went safe with the falling McCann, went safe with the top ranked goalie in the draft (Demko) and risky again with the hulking Tryamkin. Loved the Tryamkin pick, had a monster year in the KHL against men, he’s had a major growth spurt in the past three years and at 6’7 226lbs at 19 he’s a big one. He was solid for Russia at the U20’s. Skating and getting him to come over will make or break him as a prospect.
Edmonton : They wanted size and they meant it. They picked Draisaitl the biggest forward in that top-5 cluster, and then jettisoned long time smallman Gagner for Purcell. Seemed like a decent day for them, though one has to wonder what their plans are at free agency. I can’t believe that they would have Draisaitl centre the second line or that Eakins wants Arcobello to be the guy in that slot. If they are serious about fighting for a playoff spot, they’ll need to make a move to bring in a temporary solution to that hole.
Calgary : Come on Bennett, let’s party. A lot of guys seemed to fall into their laps. Hunter Smith the massive behemoth who is very boom/bust was expected, who else but Burke right? Adam Ollas Mattsson the big 6’4 defender who was expected to be a late-first round selection at the start of the year fell all the way to the sixth, like this pick, he’s only 17 and in his brief stint in the Allsvenskan did well. He was solid at the U18’s as well. They also were the first to pick a goalie in a draft where everybody seemed to be throwing darts at them. He beat out the consensus top goalie Demko by two picks, McDonald is riding high after that elite performance at the U18’s and he’s still big and raw. Lots of time to develop.
Unofficial Winners
So everybody does this every year, it’s always too early, but always too fun. Maybe it’s the glamour of the winning pedigree, but I’m going to go with the LA Kings. I really liked their draft this time around. They took some gambles and I like it. They got one of the youngest guys in the draft that slipped to them at 29 in Adrian Kempe, I’m really high on him. They also caught free falling Roland McKeown all the way at 50; I don’t think anybody saw that one coming. The Frontenacs number one will probably playing with something to prove next season. The next pick they gambled on defenseman Alex Lintuniemi from the 67’s, he played for one of the most garbage teams in the OHL. He’s big and strong with some upside.
Lastly with their final three picks they took the big fallers. Matt Mistele, a guy expected to go in the first round last year, he had a terrible season after a strong second year campaign. Could be a good selection if he can find consistency as he has the size and the tools. Then they took Spencer Watson, Bennett’s right hand man who just kept falling. How many Ivan Hlinka scoring leaders tumble to the seventh round? The answer is one, him. A slow end in the playoffs might have hurt him, though all the way to the seventh is punishing. His 33 goals were good for fifth among OHL eligibles. Lastly they took Middleton who will definitely want that season back, the 8th overall selection in the OHL Bantam Draft didn’t seem to get it down. Strong mobility and a two-way game could translate into a safe style player for the NHL.
Thanks for reading.