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Vancouver Canucks hoping for a big draft lottery win, Comets push to Game 5 |
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It's draft lottery day!
The NHL's move to televise the event in two parts today is the right one. This is now one of the biggest days on the hockey calendar—one that can change a franchise for years to come.
What you need to know today:
• The first part of the lottery will run at 4:30 p.m. PT, on Saturday's Hockey Central show before Game 2 of the Sharks/Golden Knights playoff series. The draft positions for picks 15-4 will be announced at that time.
• Once that's over, we'll know how many teams drew the ping-pong balls to move up into the top three. The order of those final three picks will be revealed in the second intermission of the San Jose/Vegas game—I'd guess, around 6:45 p.m. PT.
• This year's draft is believed to be a good one, but Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin stands out from the rest of the pack. It seems like there's already a lovefest in place between Dahlin and the Canucks' prized prospect from the 2017 draft, Elias Pettersson.
Beyond the first pick, TSN's Bob McKenzie released his Top 15 draft rankings earlier this week. This offers an early template for fans of lottery teams.
McKenzie's methodology focuses not on grading talent, but on compiling input from scouts and presenting an early indication of where players will most likely land at the draft in June.
Once again, here's the breakdown of each team's odds of picking at any given position.
The Canucks can't pick lower than ninth, so fans will be able to breathe easy through the reveal of the first six picks. The tense part will come from picks eight through six—the most likely outcomes. If we haven't heard Vancouver's name by the sixth pick, that's the time to celebrate. That'll mean that the Canucks have had their ping-pong ball drawn and moved up into the top three.
Given the odds—and Vancouver's historical lack of puck luck on this day—I'm bracing for the worst while hoping for the best.
The good news is that the Canucks have improved in the area they can control: their scouting. With every passing year, it seems like they're getting better and better at hitting on their picks, no matter where they come in the draft. Dahlin does seem like he belongs in Vancouver, but it's easier now to have faith that the Canucks will find a special player no matter when they ultimately land in the draft order.
If you're looking to stoke the fires of your faith in the scouting team today, spend some time while you're waiting for the big reveal by listening to Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman interview Canucks goaltending prospect Michael DiPietro on this week's '31 Thoughts Podcast.'
The conversation begins at about the 50-minute mark of the podcast, and lasts a good 25 minutes. The 2017 Memorial Cup champion is extremely well spoken, especially for an 18-year-old, as he talks about why he's not worried that his size will impede his chances of reaching the NHL, the trials he has endured in his life off the ice, and how long it took before he finally believed that Team Canada really was inviting him to join their World Championship squad.
Practice has begun today in the pre-tournament camp in Riga, Latvia.
On the podcast, DiPietro seems pretty clear about that fact that he's not expected to be anything more than a practice goalie in Denmark. But he talks about getting a chance to forge relationships with NHLers during this tournament—including his potential future Canucks teammate, Bo Horvat.
He also talks about rooting for Thatcher Demko during his first NHL game last month, and how the two formed a bond when they roomed together through main camp during the Canucks' 2017 preseason. I love the idea that this next generation is already feeling connected, even as the players continue to learn their craft in different leagues and different countries.
Now—speaking of Demko—he was fantastic again on Friday, as the Utica Comets forced Game 5 in their playoff series against the Toronto Marlies with a 5-2 win in front of another pumped-up crowd at the Adirondack Bank Center.
The Comets were outshot 42-20 in the game, but built a 3-0 lead by the end of the second period before Toronto got a couple of goals in what was essentially garbage time.
Once again, Reid Boucher paced the team, opening the scoring just 1:02 into the third period. He would add his third of the playoffs in the second period—a beautiful play by him and his linemate, Nikolay Goldobin.
The other goals were scored by Tanner MacMaster, Michael Carcone and Tyler Motte.
Playing on a line with Boucher and Cam Darcy, Goldobin picked up two more assists on the night. That brings his total to six assists in four games: tied for the AHL playoff lead so far.
Demko's fierce when he's on the ice, but he seems to be able to keep everything in perspective:
The three stars, in order: Boucher, Demko and Goldobin.
After two dominating games on home ice, the Comets will get their chance to complete the upset of the AHL's best regular-season team from 2017-18 on Sunday in Toronto. Game time is 1 p.m. PT.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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