2021 NHL Draft Rankings

[LGR4GM]

But wait, there's more

Ville Koivunen. Fast, smart, hard working. F20 rookie of the year.  

[LGR4GM]

Svechkov doing Svechkov things.

 

Write up on the other Russian of interest from the game yesterday.

Nikita Chibrikhov

https://eprinkside.com/2021/04/27/nikita-chibrikhov-goes-from-zero-to-hero-in-russias-daring-comeback-win

[Brawndo]

 

[LGR4GM]

20 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Edvinsson is currently outside my top 20. Not 5 or 10, outside the top 20. 

[Flashsabre]

Canada are DESTROYING Sweden 8-0 after two periods.  Amazing when Canada can send their best to this tournament.

 

Next year’s #1 Shane Wright with a hat trick. 2022 #1 Bedard has had some nice chances.  I don’t see it with Edvinsson AT ALL. Big and skates well, thinks horribly out there.

[Hoss]

44 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Edvinsson is currently outside my top 20. Not 5 or 10, outside the top 20. 

I want to like him because he's got a great hockey name.

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

Having dove into the draft a little more I am very high on Guenther. He and Beniers make a ton of sense at the top. I'm actually a little higher on Fabian Lysell than some others. I really want to like William Eklund but I'm not all the way in on him yet.

Guenther is a kid who plays like he knows he's damn good and I mean that in a very good way. A very smooth, big game from him anytime I see him skating. He seems to create a lot of action.

I LOVE the way Beniers is not a "one-and-done" player. He might make a pass for a scoring chance that ends up missing and going to the other team but then suddenly he backchecks, steals the puck and creates another scoring opportunity. He's a guy that's going to breakup the other team's play and get you more scoring chances and there really is nothing more important I could want in a prospect.

[Flashsabre]

27 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Canada are DESTROYING Sweden 8-0 after two periods.  Amazing when Canada can send their best to this tournament.

 

Next year’s #1 Shane Wright with a hat trick. 2022 #1 Bedard has had some nice chances.  I don’t see it with Edvinsson AT ALL. Big and skates well, thinks horribly out there.

10-0 with 10 minutes to go. Dman Brandt Clarke with a couple goals.

[dudacek]

I understand we haven't seen a ton to base this on, but to me, Beniers is the epitome of what Adams wants the Sabres to be: fast, skilled and relentless.

I fully expect to draft him if he is available where we pick.

[Flashsabre]

9 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I understand we haven't seen a ton to base this on, but to me, Beniers is the epitome of what Adams wants the Sabres to be: fast, skilled and relentless.

I fully expect to draft him if he is available where we pick.

That is what I have been saying.  If Adams is serious about “What a Sabre is” then Beniers has to be the pick. Cozens-Beniers is how you start to build an identity, culture for your franchise.

[thewookie1]

Beniers would be my choice in a heartbeat.

Put him with Cozens and whomever that lucky 3rd guy is will have an easy job. 

[steveoath]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

Beniers would be my choice in a heartbeat.

Put him with Cozens and whomever that lucky 3rd guy is will have an easy job. 

Skinner

[Hoss]

Having put in some relatively limited hours on this class so far and still digging this is where my top 10 is currently:

1. Owen Power (D)

2. Dylan Guenther (RW)

3. Matthew Beniers (C)

4. William Eklund (LW)

5. Luke Hughes (D)

6. Fabian Lysell (RW)

7. Brandt Clarke (D)

8. Nikita Chibrikov (RW)

9. Kent Johnson (C)

10. Simson Edvinsson (D)

I won't act like I've done NEARLY as much legwork as others in here (notably Liger) so I can't really dive all the way in depth yet, but I'll sprinkle my thoughts on some of these guys over time. Chibrikov is a guy I think is being slept on quite a bit. I think I might be higher on Power than most others in here and Lysell is a guy that is growing on me a ton (was tempted to put him at 4).

Eklund is a guy I like because I value production a ton and he put up points in the SHL ... but he's the only guy high up on my list that I have big nerves about. He seems to really benefit from the extra ice and plays well when he's got space but I'm worried about what happens when teams consistently take that away.

I'm near equal on Beniers vs Guenther but I give Guenther the edge based on him being someone I see dominate the game a little more. Beniers might do a lot of things well but Guenther is a kid that does a few things great. I worry about the "all-around" prospects with no ELITE skills. Guenther is a guy that looks to have a little more upside. He's confident and you're going to need that when it's cold and you've lost three straight in Buffalo. Beniers' ability to flip the puck in his team's favor takes him from a "meh, he's probably going to be on an NHL roster for a long time" to a "this kid is going to be a top-six fixture."

Simon Edvinsson is hanging by a thread because he's got a nifty name and I'm not afraid to admit that.

[Curt]

1 hour ago, Hoss said:

I'm near equal on Beniers vs Guenther but I give Guenther the edge based on him being someone I see dominate the game a little more. Beniers might do a lot of things well but Guenther is a kid that does a few things great. I worry about the "all-around" prospects with no ELITE skills. Guenther is a guy that looks to have a little more upside. He's confident and you're going to need that when it's cold and you've lost three straight in Buffalo. Beniers' ability to flip the puck in his team's favor takes him from a "meh, he's probably going to be on an NHL roster for a long time" to a "this kid is going to be a top-six fixture."

Just a note on this.  Keep in mind that things like puck pursuit, compete, and positional awareness are skills too.  Beniers has to be near elite in areas like that.

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, Hoss said:

Having put in some relatively limited hours on this class so far and still digging this is where my top 10 is currently:

1. Owen Power (D)

2. Dylan Guenther (RW)

3. Matthew Beniers (C)

4. William Eklund (LW)

5. Luke Hughes (D)

6. Fabian Lysell (RW)

7. Brandt Clarke (D)

8. Nikita Chibrikov (RW)

9. Kent Johnson (C)

10. Simson Edvinsson (D)

I won't act like I've done NEARLY as much legwork as others in here (notably Liger) so I can't really dive all the way in depth yet, but I'll sprinkle my thoughts on some of these guys over time. Chibrikov is a guy I think is being slept on quite a bit. I think I might be higher on Power than most others in here and Lysell is a guy that is growing on me a ton (was tempted to put him at 4).

Eklund is a guy I like because I value production a ton and he put up points in the SHL ... but he's the only guy high up on my list that I have big nerves about. He seems to really benefit from the extra ice and plays well when he's got space but I'm worried about what happens when teams consistently take that away.

I'm near equal on Beniers vs Guenther but I give Guenther the edge based on him being someone I see dominate the game a little more. Beniers might do a lot of things well but Guenther is a kid that does a few things great. I worry about the "all-around" prospects with no ELITE skills. Guenther is a guy that looks to have a little more upside. He's confident and you're going to need that when it's cold and you've lost three straight in Buffalo. Beniers' ability to flip the puck in his team's favor takes him from a "meh, he's probably going to be on an NHL roster for a long time" to a "this kid is going to be a top-six fixture."

Simon Edvinsson is hanging by a thread because he's got a nifty name and I'm not afraid to admit that.

I’m pretty close to this. I have Power going 1OA but I like Guenther in the 1 spot for rankings 

- - - 

Maybe down the line a tad if things work out:

Skinner - Eichel  - Reinhart

Olofsson - Cozens - Guenther

Peterka - Mittelstadt - Quinn 

- - - 

Grab a LW for the system in Rd 2

Edited April 28, 2021 by Thorny

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

I’m pretty close to this. I have Power going 1OA but I like Guenther in the 1 spot for rankings 

- - - 

Maybe down the line a tad if things work out:

Skinner - Eichel  - Reinhart

Olofsson - Cozens - Guenther

Peterka - Mittelstadt - Quinn 

- - - 

Grab a LW for the system in Rd 2

Until Olofsson is out of the top 6, this team won't be good. No offense to Olofsson but if he's 1 of your 6 best forwards, you simply aren't good enough. Now if Peterka takes his spot that is a different conversation. 

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Until Olofsson is out of the top 6, this team won't be good. No offense to Olofsson but if he's 1 of your 6 best forwards, you simply aren't good enough. Now if Peterka takes his spot that is a different conversation. 

Ya I mean ideally I don't want him there either, but I wanted to use realistic possibilities in the system. 

You're gonna have to lay off those Sith Energy Drinks for a while there Liger with recent statements like:

"Until Olofsson is out of the top 6, this team won't be good"

and

"If we want to be a contender, Quinn has to surpass Reinhart"

...neither of those things are necessarily true. If we have 5 all stars in the top 6, we can win with VO there - just to use an extreme example. Quinn could be equal to Reinhart or even slightly lesser than him and be our 4th or 5th best forward and the Sabres a contender. 

Too much absolute thinking 

Who was on the Pens top line when they won their first cup, Pascal Dupuis? It's the sum of the configuration that matters

[LGR4GM]

11 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Ya I mean ideally I don't want him there either, but I wanted to use realistic possibilities in the system. 

You're gonna have to lay off those Sith Energy Drinks for a while there Liger with recent statements like:

"Until Olofsson is out of the top 6, this team won't be good"

and

"If we want to be a contender, Quinn has to surpass Reinhart"

...neither of those things are necessarily true. If we have 5 all stars in the top 6, we can win with VO there - just to use an extreme example. Quinn could be equal to Reinhart or even slightly lesser than him and be our 4th or 5th best forward and the Sabres a contender. 

Too much absolute thinking 

Who was on the Pens top line when they won their first cup, Pascal Dupuis? It's the sum of the configuration that matters

They are true. That's the problem. Quinn has to be good. Olofsson has to be surpassed. We are the worst team in the league and until the talent level increases we will sit at the bottom like the chumps we are. 

When we get Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in here I will believe your Penns analogy. 

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Ya I mean ideally I don't want him there either, but I wanted to use realistic possibilities in the system. 

You're gonna have to lay off those Sith Energy Drinks for a while there Liger with recent statements like:

"Until Olofsson is out of the top 6, this team won't be good"

and

"If we want to be a contender, Quinn has to surpass Reinhart"

...neither of those things are necessarily true. If we have 5 all stars in the top 6, we can win with VO there - just to use an extreme example. Quinn could be equal to Reinhart or even slightly lesser than him and be our 4th or 5th best forward and the Sabres a contender. 

Too much absolute thinking 

Who was on the Pens top line when they won their first cup, Pascal Dupuis? It's the sum of the configuration that matters

I think it's less to do with Olofsson playing on one of our top two lines and more to do with how he ranks among our forwards in ability and ice time.

At the moment, he's being used as our top winger — averaging around 18 minutes a game the past month — and maybe our #3F after Sam and Casey.

That needs to be closer to 15 minutes and #6-7F.

Edited April 28, 2021 by dudacek

[LGR4GM]

Anyways this is the draft thread. Simon Edvinsson is overrated by a lot. Here's a fun article about it. 

https://jhanhky.substack.com/p/draft-to-dev-simon-edvinsson

Quote

Woes to the team that takes him with a top-five pick.

...

Simply put, the persons responsible for drafting Middleton, Mattinen, Gordeev, Rasanen and Greenway had the wrong idea of what size implies.

They believe that size today means more value tomorrow.

I believe in the opposite: if you’re big now and are merely an average player, what’s going to happen when everyone else is big too?

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by LGR4GM

[Buffalonill]

On 4/15/2021 at 1:52 PM, Buffalonill said:

All I know is Clarke is the best  Defensemen in this draft and power is an overrated  Creampuff 

He showed that last night 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Buffalonill

[Thorny]

20 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

They are true. That's the problem. Quinn has to be good. Olofsson has to be surpassed. We are the worst team in the league and until the talent level increases we will sit at the bottom like the chumps we are. 

When we get Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in here I will believe your Penns analogy. 

So it’s inconceivable that we can be a contender if Reinhart is better than Quinn. And it’s impossible for us to be a good team with Olofsson lined up in the top 6 in a balanced set up

Whatever. 

16 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think it's less to do with Olofsson playing on one of our top two lines and more to do with how he ranks among our forwards in ability and ice time.

At the moment, he's being used as our top winger — averaging around 18 minutes a game the past month — and maybe our #3F after Sam and Casey.

That needs to be closer to 15 minutes and #6-7F.

 

 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Thorny

[LGR4GM]

13 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

He should that last night 

Clarke was clearly a man amongst boys from the highlights I saw. 

 

11 minutes ago, Thorny said:

So it’s inconceivable that we can be a contender if Reinhart is better than Quinn. And it’s impossible for us to be a good team with Olofsson lined up in the top 6 in a balanced set up

Whatever. 

 

 

No, I said we need Quinn to better than Reinhart, not "the only way this team won't suck ever is if Reinhart is not as good as Quinn!" Let me clarify. Quinn needs to be better than 50pt a year Sam Reinhart. Why? Because Quinn is the only RW prospect in the pipeline and Reinhart is about to be 26. Reinhart might also be a center now. We need Quinn to be good otherwise this doesn't work. Now we can draft someone (Dylan Guenther) that makes Quinn's success less needed but with the lack of talent this team has, we need Quinn to hit. 

To the second one, yes if Olofsson is lined up in the top 6 this team isn't winning a cup. 

Edited April 28, 2021 by LGR4GM

[Buffalonill]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

Clarke was clearly a man amongst boys from the highlights I saw. 

 

 

You don't have tsn ? 

[LGR4GM]

7 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

 

You don't have tsn ? 

I'm in the states so no