I woke up, got outta bed, and was in a good mood until I saw the two draft genisuses at the Athletic decide to compose a Blackhawk draft yield of basically nothing falling their Blackhawks way after pick #1 (Yeah, poor poor 'hawks...)

I guess I understand the strategy of taking Daniil But at #19.
you get a different starting date on his deal and second deal.
And you all Pronman always knocking guys are their skating (and I know Wheeler chose But) no one has brought up his upright skating style...I have seen on more than one occasion how smaller players can throw Daniil But off his path while in stride, because he isn't strong on his pins. Granted, he is pretty fast and he wants to be the guy letting loose of his big time shot. And the kid is far from a finished product.
But he really is more Daze than Secord in terms of aggression cioppiness and use of that size.

Furthermore, they tailored their board to where all the slip throughs I had coming the Chicago way, are GONE before #35.

Maybe this is reality check that signaled my brain that I am still a homer at heart.

They show 4 defenders off the board before the hawks pick at #19. (Wasn't that the chubby JD was looking for? You think it was a Rookie-related one? I do not.)

I look at the choices for teams at #11 through 15 at forward and want up, b/c Wheeler and Pronman are frightening me.
It is SO funny, many of you want the Hawks to try and get in the Michkov fall zone are of picks but now I am backing off from a giant But at #19.

I am just thinking of what my eyers saw in RW Matthew Wood, C David Edstrom, Eduard Sale, Otto Stenberg, Callum Ritchie....I just am thrown off by the only scrap left at #35 is Bradley Nadeau, who I mentioned before HAS to play top six or he is a determent as a bottom 6 "defender."

These two gamokes have managed to scoop up every guy I like at #35...

and I mean no disrespect at #44 for the prospect or family of Kalan Lind. I actually sat very near his brother and family when his brother was taken in the Chicago UC draft, but I have flipped and flopped on Kalan Lind. He is a guy I like parts of but in general, he isn't what helps me fill out my Hake pro line-up. he is very thin, and does see Power play time but he aggressive as a forechecker, but he has large deficits in his stride and skating in general. And he is quite nasty, not always within the necessary retaliation situation. I try and evaluate and stress the positives, but on him I am 50/50.
And it is a bother when I see the draft boys at Athletic have the Dead wings adding Anton Wahlberg and Theo Lindstein right before.

Ok, trade all the 2nd rounders for a higher than #19, lol!


To make myself "whole" again I just look at Craig Button's list:
https://www.tsn.ca/draftc...oves-into-top-5-1.1960662
- wiz1901

I have a feeling we will end up with the Canucks pick at 11.

I have a feeling we will end up with the Canucks pick at 11.
- BetweenTheDots

That would be nice, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The Canucks prospect pool is shallow, outside of Raty (of course) they don’t have much. Vancouver needs to draft as high as they can.

Yeah, Vancouver was just a 3C and #4 D away from winning lol.
- rpeters01

Hell, I wasn't even getting into players. They are already over the cap for next season. I don't think many GMs are going to be bending over backwards to help them out of cap hell unless the Canucks make it worth their wiles.

That would be nice, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The Canucks prospect pool is shallow, outside of Raty (of course) they don’t have much. Vancouver needs to draft as high as they can.
- DarthKane

I have a trade that will make everyone happy.

Murph and 19 to the Sabres for 13 and 2024 2nd.

Hell, I wasn't even getting into players. They are already over the cap for next season. I don't think many GMs are going to be bending over backwards to help them out of cap hell unless the Canucks make it worth their wiles.
- Elbows15

Vancouver has two LTIR candidates with a cap hit totaling $5.75 mill. That would leave about $5 mill for 5 roster spots. If they have to move someone, probably Myers or Beauvillier.

The Hawks have 10 roster spots open, with just over $20 mill needed to reach the salary floor. As much as we say get rid of Murphy, they still need to find a way to get back to the floor. How do they balance giving the prospects a shot when it's called for versus taking on bad contracts with sweeteners?

I have a trade that will make everyone happy.

Murph and 19 to the Sabres for 13 and 2024 2nd.
- Elbows15

via GIPHY

(and Craig Button's list has him coming at pick #51.




https://www.tsn.ca/draftc...oves-into-top-5-1.1960662
- wiz1901

Ahoy ahoy Wiz!
Quick question about Honzek. Your summary about him says he is agile, yet has a clunky skating style. Not sure how those 2 go together
Would he fall under the Doneghey group to avoid(if you can't skate you won't be a Blackhawk)?

Ahoy ahoy Wiz!
Quick question about Honzek. Your summary about him says he is agile, yet has a clunky skating style. Not sure how those 2 go together
Would he fall under the Doneghey group to avoid(if you can't skate you won't be a Blackhawk)?
- captainserious

Not IMO. In fact I think the Hawks probably covet Honzek if they are looking for size. This kid has excellent size/speed/skating/skill combo and skates quite well. As an 18 yr old played 1st line, PP and PK........ Very much doubt he lasts until #19.

A kid who I think who's skating will scare the Hawks away is Wood.

Frank Seravalli (with help) created a list of expected contracts for the upcoming batch of UFAs (top 50). This was done last year too, they were accurate within $348,000 and 0.61 years.

https://www.dailyfaceoff....-among-top-50-free-agents

Some interesting situation include:

JT Compher 5 years x $5.3 million
Ryan Killorn 4 x $5.25 million
Patrick Kane 3 x $5.75 million
Ryan O'Reilly 3 x $5.5 million
Jordan Staal 2 x $3.2 million
Max Domi 5 x $4.75 million

Frank Seravalli (with help) created a list of expected contracts for the upcoming batch of UFAs (top 50). This was done last year too, they were accurate within $348,000 and 0.61 years.

https://www.dailyfaceoff....-among-top-50-free-agents

Some interesting situation include:

JT Compher 5 years x $5.3 million
Ryan Killorn 4 x $5.25 million
Patrick Kane 3 x $5.75 million
Ryan O'Reilly 3 x $5.5 million
Jordan Staal 2 x $3.2 million
Max Domi 5 x $4.75 million
- DarthKane

Couldn't have imagined this a year ago
45 Erik Gustafsson LD 31 TOR 3 x $3.4m

Final WHL stats for Blackhawks prosects:

Name Ht Wt Pos Team (RS)G-G-A-TP (PO)G-G-A-TP
Luypen, Jalen 5-10 157 LW Tri-Cities 38-18-21-39 6-3-3-6
Korchinski, Kevin 6-3 185 LD Seattle 54-11-62-73 19-3-11-14
Dach, Colton 6-4 205 LW Seattle 23-12-15-27 19-3-11-14
Allan, Nolan 6-2 193 LD Seattle 57-11-16-27 19-2-8-10

Luypen went to Rockford but did not play after completing playoffs with Tri-Cities. Dach had only 23 RS games total due to injury, WJC, and suspensions; still more than a point a game.

Here is a preliminary 2023 Draft WHL cheat sheet:

I put in bold some favorites from my admittedly microscopic sample from viewed games (a few Seattle guys as you might expect).

Wiz CS-NA Name Ht Wt Pos Team (RS)G-G-A-TP (PO)G-G-A-TP
1 1 Bedard, Connor 5-10 185 C Regina 57-71-72-143 7-10-10-20
1 BLACKHAWKS
6 6 Benson, Zach 5-10 159 C Winnipeg 60-36-62-98 15-9-14-23
13 15 Cristall, Andrew 5-10 165 LW Kelowna 54-39-56-95 4-1-0-1
14 7 Danielson, Nate 6-1 185 C Brandon 68-33-45-78 0-0-0-0
15 9 Honzek, Samuel 6-3 186 LW Vancouver 43-23-33-56 4-1-3-4
19 11 Yager, Brayden 6-0 166 C Moose Jaw 67-28-50-78 10-6-10-16
19 BLACKHAWKS
24 21 Heidt, Riley 5-11 178 C Prince George 68-25-72-97 9-2-6-8
25 18 Dragicevic, Lukas 6-2 181 RD Tri-Cities 68-15-60-75 6-0-4-4
35 BLACKHAWKS
38 25 Ziemmer, Koehn 6-0 195 RW Prince George 68-41-48-89 10-3-4-7
41 28 Molendyk, Tanner 5-11 183 LD Saskatoon 67-9-28-37 18-3-5-8
44 BLACKHAWKS
48 35 Cagnoni, Luca 5-10 179 LD Portland 67-17-47-64 9-1-6-7
49 39 Lind, Kailan 6-1 155 LW Red Deer 43-16-28-44 10-2-3-5
50 24 Sawchyn, Gracyn 5-11 165 C Seattle 58-18-40-58 17-3-8-11
51 BLACKHAWKS
53 47 Price, Caden 6-1 180 LD Kelowna 65-5-35-40 4-1-1-2
54 G-1 Bjarnason, Carson 6-4 180 G Brandon 47-3.08-0.900 0-0.00-0.000
55 BLACKHAWKS
67 BLACKHAWKS
83 G-4 Ratzlaff, Scott 6-2 171 G Seattle 34-2.15-0.918 0-0-0-0
93 26 Myatovic, Nico 6-3 180 LW Seattle 68-30-30-60 19-4-3-7
95 75 Levis, Connor 6-2 193 C Kamloops 68-27-40-67 14-1-5-6
94 BLACKHAWKS
99 BLACKHAWKS
104 125 Leslie, Mazden 6-1 193 RD Vancouver 66-12-38-50 4-0-2-2
122 158 De Luca, Tommasso 6-0 180 C Spokane 65-16-33-49 0-0-0-0
126 156 Wormald, Logan 5-9 150 RW Lethbridge 66-22-22-44 4-0-0-0
127 93 Parker, Kalem 6-0 189 RD Victoria 68-6-32-38 0-0-0-0
130 62 Mynio, Sawyer 6-1 173 LD Seattle 68-5-26-31 19-2-0-2
131 BLACKHAWKS
140 220 Szturc, Gabriel 5-10 176 C Kelowna 56-24-55-79 4-0-0-0
182 NR Oremba, Sam 6-2 196 LW Regina 65-10-16-26 7-0-1-1
190 215 Tulk, Oliver 5-8 172 RW Calgary 68-24-36-60 5-1-2-3
195 BLACKHAWKS

NR G-19 Unger, Jackson 6-2 205 G Moose Jaw 38-2.58-0.925 1-13.04-0.571
NR 115 Uchacz, Kai 6-1 193 C Red Deer 68-50-35-85 12-9-5-14
NR 172 Port, Vojtech 6-2 173 RD Edmonton 48-4-13-17 0-0-0-0
NR NR Gizowski, Cooper 5-10 172 LW Spokane 65-11-15-26 0-0-0-0
NR NR Edwards, Brayden 6-1 175 LW Lethbridge 68-10-18-28 4-1-3-4

That would be nice, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The Canucks prospect pool is shallow, outside of Raty (of course) they don’t have much. Vancouver needs to draft as high as they can.
- DarthKane

Doesn't matter, Canucks have no direction, and are pressed up against the cap. I still believe Myers Garland will be part of the deal for the 11th pick.

Couldn't have imagined this a year ago
45 Erik Gustafsson LD 31 TOR 3 x $3.4m
- GreenJeans

With the Hawks.

Here is a preliminary 2023 Draft WHL cheat sheet:

I put in bold some favorites from my admittedly microscopic sample from viewed games (a few Seattle guys as you might expect).
.
.
.

- totem

1. Bedard's stats are just otherworldly.

2. Really liked Ziemmer in the one game that I saw, he was very effective on the attack; in D zone, work in progress.

3. Cagnoni is very effective in moving the puck up the ice, he is very good at stretch passes. Passes don't miss often. Solid in D zone. He is a lefty though, and I think the Blackhawks might prefer a RD if they draft in this area.

4. I will pound the table a bit for Sawchyn. Liked his game all year even when he was not ranked high. Has improved all year and move up in the rotation despite Seattle acquiring some high-ranked forwards. Very well rounded, good speed, carry, passing, shooting, faceoffs, etc. Think he will make a good middle 6 guy.

5. Ratzlaff was solid all year, stays balanced, square to shooter, does not wander. Decent playing the puck as needed. Has good size and movement. No playoff action as Milic played all the games. Should be the starter in Seattle next year.

6. Myatovic is a streaky, opportunistic scorer with good size. Will need to continue improving in all areas, but should be a top 6 forward in Seattle next year.

7. Wormald is a small player but has an impressive shot. Very active, willing to go into the corners and behind the net, and to backcheck also. Could develop into a middle or bottom 6 scorer.

8. I noted that Wiz had moved Mynio up recently on his board. He has good size and has been solid all year, and also showed some offensive potential. Got kind of buried on the depth chart after Seattle got Prokop and Allan.

9. Continuous effort is what is good about Szturc right now. He is not stout and can get rubbed out of plays, but is always moving and trying to get and advance the puck. Did have decent scoring over the year. Possible energy guy if he gets bigger and retains his speed.

10. One other interesting player is Kai Uchacz. Was in Seattle for a while and didn't score much. Offensive production ballooned this year and he has decent size. Is ageing out of the WHL so might be an interesting late pick or undrafted signing.

Couldn't have imagined this a year ago
45 Erik Gustafsson LD 31 TOR 3 x $3.4m
- GreenJeans

via GIPHY

Doesn't matter, Canucks have no direction, and are pressed up against the cap. I still believe Myers Garland will be part of the deal for the 11th pick.
- BetweenTheDots

Myers will need to be a cap dump, but I don’t think Garland or Boeser will be. Those two guys will be traded for less than expected (i.e. 2nd round pick) but they shouldn’t have to add picks/prospects to move them.

I’ve seen online that the Hawks are targeting the Canucks 11th OA pick (swapping with #19). I think this is highly unlikely, but I am hesitant to underestimate KD’s Jedi mind-tricks.

Myers will need to be a cap dump, but I don’t think Garland or Boeser will be. Those two guys will be traded for less than expected (i.e. 2nd round pick) but they shouldn’t have to add picks/prospects to move them.

I’ve seen online that the Hawks are targeting the Canucks 11th OA pick (swapping with #19). I think this is highly unlikely, but I am hesitant to underestimate KD’s Jedi mind-tricks.
- DarthKane

So basically Myers and 11th pick for the 19th pick could happen but not likely.

So basically Myers and 11th pick for the 19th pick could happen but not likely.
- Scott1977

Presumably possible but not probable. Probably.

1. Bedard's stats are just otherworldly.

2. Really liked Ziemmer in the one game that I saw, he was very effective on the attack; in D zone, work in progress.

3. Cagnoni is very effective in moving the puck up the ice, he is very good at stretch passes. Passes don't miss often. Solid in D zone. He is a lefty though, and I think the Blackhawks might prefer a RD if they draft in this area.

4. I will pound the table a bit for Sawchyn. Liked his game all year even when he was not ranked high. Has improved all year and move up in the rotation despite Seattle acquiring some high-ranked forwards. Very well rounded, good speed, carry, passing, shooting, faceoffs, etc. Think he will make a good middle 6 guy.

5. Ratzlaff was solid all year, stays balanced, square to shooter, does not wander. Decent playing the puck as needed. Has good size and movement. No playoff action as Milic played all the games. Should be the starter in Seattle next year.

6. Myatovic is a streaky, opportunistic scorer with good size. Will need to continue improving in all areas, but should be a top 6 forward in Seattle next year.

7. Wormald is a small player but has an impressive shot. Very active, willing to go into the corners and behind the net, and to backcheck also. Could develop into a middle or bottom 6 scorer.

8. I noted that Wiz had moved Mynio up recently on his board. He has good size and has been solid all year, and also showed some offensive potential. Got kind of buried on the depth chart after Seattle got Prokop and Allan.

9. Continuous effort is what is good about Szturc right now. He is not stout and can get rubbed out of plays, but is always moving and trying to get and advance the puck. Did have decent scoring over the year. Possible energy guy if he gets bigger and retains his speed.

10. One other interesting player is Kai Uchacz. Was in Seattle for a while and didn't score much. Offensive production ballooned this year and he has decent size. Is ageing out of the WHL so might be an interesting late pick or undrafted signing.
- totem

Appreciate your insights on the WHL prospects. I wouldn't mind the Hawks draft a couple of those western Canadian guys.

Myers will need to be a cap dump, but I don’t think Garland or Boeser will be. Those two guys will be traded for less than expected (i.e. 2nd round pick) but they shouldn’t have to add picks/prospects to move them.

I’ve seen online that the Hawks are targeting the Canucks 11th OA pick (swapping with #19). I think this is highly unlikely, but I am hesitant to underestimate KD’s Jedi mind-tricks.
- DarthKane

Scott Powers over at the Athletic hearing it will be difficult to move up from 19. But it wouldn't surprise me if the Hawks move up or acquire another 1st round pick somehow. That's based on how KD went from 0 to 3 1st round picks last year (granted he had some assets in play), and what he said recently about not using all his picks this draft (could package some to move up).

Scott Powers over at the Athletic hearing it will be difficult to move up from 19. But it wouldn't surprise me if the Hawks move up or acquire another 1st round pick somehow. That's based on how KD went from 0 to 3 1st round picks last year (granted he had some assets in play), and what he said recently about not using all his picks this draft (could package some to move up).
- boilermaker100

KD could also trade for future picks to spread out the prospects. Something like a 2023 second round pick for a 2024 second and 2025 fourth.

Here's an article on the Canuck/Hawk "trade"

https://www.hockeyfeed.co...OwG3nEs3M4bCNaJdlEaozz0t0

Ah Jamie Benn doing Jamie Benn things. What a wiener.

If you follow the current rankings, seems to me you're going to get a good player at #19, not so sure I'd be parting ways with and 2's.

I know i'm preaching, but let the draft fall to you;


Current Rankings;

Wiz - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Brayden Yager

Elite Prospects - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Jaydon Perron

Bob McKenzie - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Samuel Honzek

Craig Button - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Brayden Yager

Recruit Scouting - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Kasper Halttunan

Draft Prospects - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Reilly Heidt

Dobber Prospects - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Mikhail Gulyayev

Smaht Prospects - #1 - Bedard, #19 - David Reinbacher

FC Hockey - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Reilly Heidt

Daily Faceoff - #1 - Bedard, #19 - Brayden Yager