2026 NHL Draft

[Ronning's Ghost]

When I think of skilled "shrimps" that were impactful when games get heavier......

Datsyuk, St. Louis, Theo Fleury, Marchand, Marchessault.....it's a short list (see wot).....

And one thing most of those guys have in common is that while they are short, they aren't actually shrimps.

Dionne, and if 5'11" (Datsyuk) is the cut-off for short, then Trottier.

[Cousin Strawberry]

A guy on the wing could be considered on the perimeter, I suppose.

Once he gets the puck though, he's got lasers. Nobody on that list has the innate offensive vision.

Bang. Shot past the goalie or deep dish on your tape. Lethal and efficient, no need to pound the puck into the ice looking for chances. Unteachable.

Everything else you can coach into the player. I bet it wouldn't take him 10 years to learn to work out over the summer and come to camp in shape.

Too much whale watching, Cuz. Missed the boat again.

We're gonna need a bigger boat to haul Stenbergers (yep!) giant sack

[Carl Yagro]

We need that boat to cast our baldies out to sea. I just know they're gonna fuck it up.

[donlever]

They've already had Verhoeff in.

When we get a top 3 pick one of McKenna, Stenberg or Keaton will be drafted by them and we will have a top end, blue chip prospect.

They'll fuck other shit up, but not that.

[Carl Yagro]

Yeah, you're right.

They're such fuck ups that I don't even have faith that they won't fuck up something that can't be fucked up.

[Cousin Strawberry]

The old man is done by the end of next season at the latest. He's not the Highlander FFS.

The Canucks need a succession plan that isn't Smithers Alvin

[Meds]

When I think of skilled "shrimps" that were impactful when games get heavier......

Datsyuk, St. Louis, Theo Fleury, Marchand, Marchessault.....it's a short list (see wot).....

And one thing most of those guys have in common is that while they are short, they aren't actually shrimps.

Dionne, and if 5'11" (Datsyuk) is the cut-off for short, then Trottier.

Yeah, Datsyuk wasn't a full shrimp.....just a "smaller" player that they definitely reached way off the board (into the 7th round) to find lol.

[Meds]

They'll fuck other shit up, but not that.

That may be more faith than they deserve.

[Ronning's Ghost]

When I think of skilled "shrimps" that were impactful when games get heavier......

Datsyuk, St. Louis, Theo Fleury, Marchand, Marchessault.....it's a short list (see wot).....

And one thing most of those guys have in common is that while they are short, they aren't actually shrimps.

Dionne, and if 5'11" (Datsyuk) is the cut-off for short, then Trottier.

Yeah, Datsyuk wasn't a full shrimp.....just a "smaller" player that they definitely reached way off the board (into the 7th round) to find lol.

Everyone seems shrimpy when you're 7' 2".

[dbr]

When I think of skilled "shrimps" that were impactful when games get heavier......

Datsyuk, St. Louis, Theo Fleury, Marchand, Marchessault.....it's a short list (see wot).....

And one thing most of those guys have in common is that while they are short, they aren't actually shrimps.

Some guys you overlooked: Steve Yzerman, Patty Kane, Pat Verbeek, Dino Cicerelli, Denis Savard, Saku Koivu, Mark Recchi, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Brian Gionta.. Seth Jarvis for that matter.

All listed at 5'10 or shorter and all have pretty strong playoff resumes.

Ultimately I wouldn't want a team of wee little guys but I don't think it makes sense to avoid them in the draft unless it's one of many red flags (eg. small and slow and unremarkable vision and positioning).

[donlever]

Brayden Point

....the list could be never ending.

[Topper]

There are always outliers

[Meds]

When I think of skilled "shrimps" that were impactful when games get heavier......

Datsyuk, St. Louis, Theo Fleury, Marchand, Marchessault.....it's a short list (see wot).....

And one thing most of those guys have in common is that while they are short, they aren't actually shrimps.

Some guys you overlooked: Steve Yzerman, Patty Kane, Pat Verbeek, Dino Cicerelli, Denis Savard, Saku Koivu, Mark Recchi, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Brian Gionta.. Seth Jarvis for that matter.

All listed at 5'10 or shorter and all have pretty strong playoff resumes.

Ultimately I wouldn't want a team of wee little guys but I don't think it makes sense to avoid them in the draft unless it's one of many red flags (eg. small and slow and unremarkable vision and positioning).

I didn't include, Yzerman, and Kane, (admittedly forgot about Savard, Koivu, and Briere). However I would have excluded them as none of them were reaches in the draft. They were all in the first round, and they were all drafted for their high hockey IQ and skill.

Cicerelli, Recchi, Kzolov, Gionta, and Drury, certainly fit that bill.....(although I remember watching Recchi play and never thought he was a shrimp, he always struck me as being bigger than he was).

Gionta was borderline for me as well, but his playoff numbers were actually better than his regular season production.

I didn't forget about Verbeek, he was a good player, but I didn't include him because his playoff numbers are in the 0.5ppg range, which was a significant drop in production from the regular season. In all but two or three years he was a total no-show in the playoffs.

Edit: Lever's mention of Point, definitely.

[Carl Yagro]

Steamer?

[Meds]

Steamer?

Shit. I didn't realize that Smyl actually clipped along at a career 0.75 PPG pace, and stepped it up to 0.80 PPG in the post season.