dudacek

NHL games played by draft picks since 2014: Boston 1154 Buffalo 909 Florida 891 Toronto 820 Tampa 602 Ottawa 529 Montreal 460 Detroit 572* edit

Me too. I like the value, I like the skill package, like the character and I like the fit. I posted a few weeks back that thing that scared me most about this draft was that of the half-dozen intriguing players that would be available, we would end up picking the only one that would end up busting. I don’t think we did that.

People do three things that make this irrelevant to them: they act as if our 1st rounders somehow shouldn’t count, they don’t account for the young players already on our roster and they don’t have a clue at what the vast majority of teams list of young players look like. Cozens, Johnson, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Mittelstadt, Davidsson, Lukkonnen, Laaksonen, Nylander, Asplund, Eichel, Guhle, Borgen: good luck finding five teams with a better haul out of the last five drafts.

Who are the people you know?

“Safest” wasn’t meant to damn him with faint praise. I see a Jeff Carter ceiling. If you’re seeing more Eric Staal, I’ll gladly be wrong. Interesting. I was thinking more along the lines of we’ve got our elite guys already, we need to surround them with guys we can count on to be good. I also don’t think you can discount our mix either in this pick: in our current top six we have no one like this.

Me too. Can we simply rank them in order of how good an NHL career we think they end up having? Avoids questions of floor/ceiling and how close they are to the NHL.

The more I read about this kid, the more I think he was the safest pick in that large Dach/Caufield/Zegras/Podkolzin/Krebs/Boldy grouping of forwards. He ticks all the boxes; his size, speed, skating, skill, character, work ethic, shot and IQ - with and without the puck - all range from above-average to excellent. He will be an NHL player and should land somewhere between an adequate 2nd line winger and a top 2nd-line centre. He may have a higher floor and a lower ceiling than pretty much everyone else we could have taken. I think when we look back at this draft we will probably see a couple players chosen behind him that we should have taken and a couple others we will be glad we didn’t. I wonder if that was a conscious part of Botterill’s thought process?

It’s all they’re talking about out here.

I have no doubt about his value. Maybe it would take Mittelstadt Risto and next years unprotected first for Point alone. I was more thinking along the lines of how paying Point his value affects Tampa, and is there a number that they can’t accept? From what we are seeing this summer, Hedman is a $12 million player and Stamkos $10. They both took well under market value and know it. Would there be resentment created if Point gets a $90 million deal leading to guys like Johnson or Palat being asked to waive their NTCs? How do they fill their depth slots? Knowing Tampa, Point signs a bridge for two years, $12 million. But if he goes all Marner on them - and he should - it creates a very interesting dynamic that I think would have to lead BriseBois into at least exploring a trade. Especially considering Cirelli’s potential for stepping into Point’s role.

We’re not because aside from Jack and Jeff he is the only top six forward on the team. Aside from McDavid and Draisaitl, RNH is the only top6 forward on their team.

I haven’t even considered a trade for Cirelli given how unavailable his talent/contract ratio makes him, but your over-the-top love for him has kindled my dormant interest in Point. If Brayden is stubborn in an ask for say $10 million, and Tampa is committed to a salary structure with Kucherov at the top that also respects the stature of Stamkos and Hedman, does the presence of Cirelli make the Bolts entertain a Point trade? And given Tampa’s hole on RD and their known interest in Risto, are there reasonable seeds there for a trade? Something built around Point and Foote for Ristolainen and Mittelstadt? That would save Tampa $5 million.

2001 birthday, so 2 years in Lethbridge before he’s eligible for Rochester.

2020-21.

Agreed and I also don’t think a cellar dweller has enough money to make Pavelski sign. The man wont leave SJ to go somewhere to play out the string losing.

Given his physical development and his stature in junior, I don't think it's unreasonable to project him on the roster next year.