Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospects'14

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Canuck-One
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Canuck-One »

I want a physically proactive team that has the oppositions head on a swivel. We won't get that with little soft players. Either Ritchie or Virtanen should be the first pick. We have some decent young potential but until it's realized that's all it is, potential. So draft for size and skill not simply Mason Raymonds.
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Virtanen might be winning me back with his great U-18 showing. If the consensus top 5 are gone by the time we pick, it's

Ritchie
Virtanen
Perlini
Tuch

All big forwards. No to the wee forwards - Nylander, Ehlers, Kapanen, McCann
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Chef Boi RD »

RD's top 6 mock draft

Florida - Ekblad
Buffalo - Reinhart
Edmonton - Draisaitl
Calgary - Bennett
Islanders - Dal Colle
Vancouver - Ritchie
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by rats19 »

Ritchie should be good hey?
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by olpaddy »

RoyalDude wrote:RD's top 6 mock draft

Florida - Ekblad
Buffalo - Reinhart
Edmonton - Draisaitl
Calgary - Bennett
Islanders - Dal Colle
Vancouver - Ritchie
its a 4 player draft Pacific Blue if Draisaitl or Dal Colle fall u take em if Not its between Ritchie and the Local boy Virtanen...

Stay away from this at all costs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK28r7DxHzo

sidenote Virtanen a late b day doesn`t turn 18 til August
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Chef Boi RD »

I agree Paddy, Ehlers will get brought back down to earth pretty quickly in the big league. Ritchie or Virtanen.
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Island Nucklehead »

olpaddy wrote: Stay away from this at all costs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK28r7DxHzo
Don't see your point. Ritchie already has a history of concussion and shoulder injuries, which is a bit scary for a guy that likes to bang and fight. He's going to have to work on his conditioning before he makes the jump to the NHL, he probably could stand to drop 10-15 pounds and play in that 220 pound range.

Ehlers finished 8th in goals in the entire CHL. What are the odds he winds up putting on 15 pounds of muscle when he physically develops? I'd say pretty good. Obviously there's risk, and Ritchie might be the "safer" pick, but if Ehlers develops into the next Zach Parise we'll be kicking ourselves. 5'11 isn't tiny, it's slightly undersized. Ehlers will probably wind up playing in the NHL at 5'11, 185. Just as examples, in their draft year Teuro Teravainen was the same size. Erik Karlsson was even slighter.

I'd probably prefer Ritchie, because personally I like the big bodied/physical/mean-streak style of hockey players in the Cam Neely mould. But I wouldn't be terribly upset to get a skilled player like Ehlers.
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Diehard1 »

Island Nucklehead wrote:
olpaddy wrote: Stay away from this at all costs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK28r7DxHzo
Don't see your point. Ritchie already has a history of concussion and shoulder injuries, which is a bit scary for a guy that likes to bang and fight. He's going to have to work on his conditioning before he makes the jump to the NHL, he probably could stand to drop 10-15 pounds and play in that 220 pound range.

Ehlers finished 8th in goals in the entire CHL. What are the odds he winds up putting on 15 pounds of muscle when he physically develops? I'd say pretty good. Obviously there's risk, and Ritchie might be the "safer" pick, but if Ehlers develops into the next Zach Parise we'll be kicking ourselves. 5'11 isn't tiny, it's slightly undersized. Ehlers will probably wind up playing in the NHL at 5'11, 185. Just as examples, in their draft year Teuro Teravainen was the same size. Erik Karlsson was even slighter.

I'd probably prefer Ritchie, because personally I like the big bodied/physical/mean-streak style of hockey players in the Cam Neely mould. But I wouldn't be terribly upset to get a skilled player like Ehlers.
When will people stop thinking this? Ritchie had one concussion, two years ago - that's a history? Well the. Every single hockey player has a history. He also had a sinus infection that was initially thought to be a concussion but wasn't. His shoulder was fixed through surgery and he's played a full season since. The kid is fine. He will have to change his body composition but I think he will play at 230, he's got a huge frame and he's only 18 so will definitely lose fat and put on muscle. This 'history of injuries' drives me nuts, do your homework people!

Ehlers is small (160 pounds) and will definitely also gain muscle, maybe play at 180 or so. Thing is, we have a player who is very similar in Shinkaruk who also plays LW and is small and speedy. I like the guy, think he will be a very good player, but Ritchie's type is needed more.

If Ritchie isn't the choice then for me it's Nylander. He can play all 3 forward positions and is just as good a skater as Ehlers.

Ritchie or Nylander make the most sense. Judging by Trevor's comments that he sees a few big, physical forwards around 6 I think he agrees as well.
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by ClamRussel »

The idea of Ritchie & Kassian manning the wings together in a couple years is intriguing.
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Yes, Ehlers is intriguing but Shinkaruk is enough for us in that department, not to mention Schroeder. We need a Ritchie, Virtanen type on the wings.

What's this stuff about Nylander being a primadonna?
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by SKYO »

RoyalDude wrote:Yes, Ehlers is intriguing but Shinkaruk is enough for us in that department, not to mention Schroeder. We need a Ritchie, Virtanen type on the wings.

What's this stuff about Nylander being a primadonna?
I think his pops was trying to control his swedish hockey life, when modo sent william to his dads team, he won't have that power over here obviously.
hf/joe89: He signed with MoDo for two years, they then assigned him to Rögle to play with his father, didn't work out well so they worked something out with his old club Södertälje(without father) mid-season instead. And somewhere in between and after that, he's been up with MoDo.
there's a whole thread about him on hf with swedes chiming in, some quotes:
Watched him against Västerås the other night and he looked great. He still has the body of a kid, think RNH in his draft year, maybe even smaller. Yet he manages to be a major factor against men. Extremely skilled with the puck, smooth skating, the ability to change pace and fantastic passing, great at getting the puck into a players wheelhouse for the onetimer. Actually made some nifty defensive plays to steal the puck, playing in SHL and Allsvenskan is probably great for his development since there's a big focus on centers holding their own defensively, he's no defensive stalwart but he seems willing to learn. Still tends to make a few stupid plays and give away the puck, also gets outmuscled in pretty much every man on man battle but I have to give him credit for trying.

If he were playing in the CHL I believe he'd put up great offensive numbers and likely challenge for the number 1 spot. I do however believe playing in Sweden against men is much better for his development since there's a focus on getting stronger and better defensively, his two main flaws. Probably needs to work on his shot as well, but I do believe that'll come with strength.

He'd be a perfect fit on the Sabres considering they're looking for highly skilled offensive guys. However probably a bit too high risk-high reward for them with the top pick even though I'd consider it if I were them. If he drops, which is a clear possibility, he could be a massive steal for a team looking for offense.

One of the highest pure offensive ceilings out of a swedish prospect in a long long time. Bäckström I guess? Still only potential and he certainly is high risk but could very well be the best player out of this draft in a few years. Not NHL ready in at least 2-3 seasons I'd say.
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by Cousin Strawberry »

That is an impressive breakdown...something this team lacks is top end potential prospects. Quite a few 2nd liners projected but missing that pure offense.
Wonder what Trevor will do...
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by ClamRussel »

Gotta say, I'm starting to really warm up to Virtanen. Guy doesn't seem to have superstar hands/pure skill but he is fast as hell, solid as a rock & has a big time shot. He will stick up for opponents, lay huge hits & gets alot of his goals from the dirty areas. Not afraid to get in the trenches & get the ugly ones. Seems exactly like Trevor's kind of guy, plus he's a BC boy playing in the Dub.

Ritchie is a behemoth, soft hands for a big guy (like Kassian), fast enough, tough enough, hits like a freight train, solid nose for the net (had a 5 goal 6pt game!)...but perhaps not the sharpest knife in the drawer (also like Kassian). I'll guess this guy will be a project like Zack, take a few years to put it together but if he does, look out!

Perlini probably had the highest upside of the 3 w/ pure skill. The guy is a major sniper from what I can gather. His goals are goalscorer's goals. Perhaps a little awkward out there like Anthony Mantha but deadly w/ the puck. Not going to get the sand paper goals like Virtanen.

Unless a surprise player like Dal Cole drops or we move up I'm predicting we take Virtanen if he's available.
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by SKYO »

Island Nucklehead wrote:Naslund should be able to give us the straight goods then? No?

I'm not opposed to Nylander, but many scouts have him going in the 8-11 range.

For me, it's Ritchie or Ehlers. Both guys are playing in NA, for one, so both should have been scouted more regularly. Ritchie could go in the top-5, and Ehlers is looking like a dynamic player that could balance our attack nicely as a skill guy to compliment the size game we appear to be going for.

Kassian-Ritchie could be hard to pass up on the wings, and Ehlers has that top-end talent that could be a pure speed-sniper that we so desperately lack.
Thomas Gradin should be all up on this, especially the under18's in Finland.

Best case scenario is Ritchie/Ehlers goes 4th or 5th overall so we can land one of MDC or Draisaitl! :thumbs:
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Re: Welcome to the Dark Side Minions: The Top Draft Prospect

Post by rikster »

Ehlers is small. The Canucks don't need another lightweight, Shinkaruk will do nicely
Watching the World Juniors this past December, what I thought the Canadian team really missed was a player like Shinkaruk ...

Against the more talented opposition they looked slow and didn't have the speed to back off the opposition...

I don't see the need this draft to select size over talent, so if a Nylander is the most skilled player on the board when the Canucks take to the podium then I'd like to see them go that route...

If the best player is also a large bodied player, then all the better but talent should trump all else...

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