RoyalDude wrote:Reinhart, Ekblad, Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle will be gone by the time we pick. We will be picking somewhere between 9-14. We ain't catching Phoenix, they are playing great hockey right now. So it will come down to
Ritchie
Nylander
McCann
Perlini
Ehlers
Fleury
Kempe
Kapanen
Virtanen
Ritchie, Nylander and McCann will most likely be the next 3 to go after the first 5. Who will most likely be left by the time we pick will be
Perlini
Fleury
Ehlers
Kempe
Kapanen
Virtanen
That grouping is what we will most likely be picking from by the time we pick. Ehlers may be worth the risk there, or we play it safe and pick Fleury or Perlini. Either way it is just so Canucks to start playing well enough to put themselves out of a quality draft position yet not make the playoffs. Or better yet, make the playoffs only to get slaughtered in the 1st round.
If we don't trade Kesler to Anaheim for the Ottawa pick it will be a pretty dull draft pickings day for us. Edler is to fucking awful for a team wanting to throw us the moon for.
Can't see McCann going in the top 8, barring a huge playoff performance a la Horvat last year. He's more likely to go in the 10 to 12 range. Really like the kid, he's got great wheels, plays the point on the PP and has a big shot, very good both ways. He's got a ton of Kesler in him but not as gritty, at least not yet. Quite a different player than Horvat who is much thicker and plays the game very differently. Would be very happy with McCann as the pick.
Assuming the Nucks finish 5-5 in their last 10 games they will finish with 84 points and a pick in the 7-10 range. That means:
Reinhart
Bennett
Ekblad
Dal Colle
Draisaitl
Are all almost surely gone. Next group that the Nucks will likely pick from is:
Ritchie
Perlini
Ehlers
Nylander
Virtanen
McCann
Not necessarily in that order. Of that group I would take Ritchie or Nylander first, with Virtanen or McCann as the fallback guys. Ehlers is very skinny, not sure if he will keep his ridiculous speed once he puts on 25 pounds, but he's got some great hands. Perlini is a bit of an unknown, has all the tools but is a soft player, we will see if he can learn to play in the dirty areas that will be necessary in the NHL. Ritchie is huge but will need to work on his fitness, likely won't play at 230 in the NHL. Nylander and Virtanen I can't comment on as I have never seen either guy play, but from what I read both would be great additions.
Any way you look at it the Nucks will add a very good prospect to what is becoming a solid group of prospects. Don't believe the garbage that places like Hockey's Future spew, when you have a player like Horvat (who will be a stud, having watched him over 10 times this year) in your group you have something to look forward to. There are a few others that look good as well - Gaunce, Fox, Cassels, and the wildcard that is Shinkaruk.
Also really need to sign Ben Hutton, who by all accounts could be a top 4 dman in the league for a long time. Not a bad 5th round pick.
