Round 1, Pick 20: C Ilia Morozov

[Brawndo]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

OK.

At least they also didn't end up with Knies nor Trochek.  Both would've been stupidly big overpays.

The Rangers ask at the TDL was A first and Östlund. 
 

1 hour ago, shrader said:

Every year people whine about not getting help for today during the NHL draft. This is not the event for that. It never will be. The moves are still coming. When did we add Josh Doan last year?

 

edit: Before the draft, but the moves come at a different time. 

McLeod was traded to Buffalo on July 5th 

[Nacho Libre]

7 minutes ago, stenbaro said:

We are still without a number 1 center, and have been for years, we are without a center who you count on to win faceoffs and lastly we need a goalie that is top level good. Not this bunch of dice we keep rolling out hoping that one gets hot.

Goals will come, stopping them is our biggest need.

Id still pick us to win the cup if we added Hellebuyck and Trocheck I don’t care 

I get it might not score high on arm chair GM mode and maybe rightfully so but honestly i just think we would be a really good team lol shoot me 

like, in 2026-2027 *ducks*

Edited June 27 by Nacho Libre

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

The Rangers ask at the TDL was A first and Östlund. 
 

McLeod was traded to Buffalo on July 5th 

Hell ####ing no.

[Porous Five Hole]

3 minutes ago, stenbaro said:

We are still without a number 1 center, and have been for years, we are without a center who you count on to win faceoffs and lastly we need a goalie that is top level good. Not this bunch of dice we keep rolling out hoping that one gets hot.

Goals will come, stopping them is our biggest need.

I also want to desperately add to the top six, but for the rest of your list…Carrick wins face-offs at a great rate.
Goalies are voodoo from year to year. Allow me to list the goalies by AAV and 2026 results:

Shesterkin: missed the playoffs

Bobrovsky: missed the playoffs 

Vasilevskiy: out in round one

Hellebuyck: missed the playoffs 

Oettinger: out in round one  

Sorokin: missed the playoffs 

Swayman: eliminated by Buffalo in round one

Saros: missed the playoffs 

Demko and Wolf (AAV is higher next year for each): missed the playoffs 

My point is that while like you, I want more ammo in the top six…the rest of your needs list is hard to solve and a big trade/big money deal doesn’t guarantee anything. I have zero faith in UPL, but a third of the league invested big dollars in the league for zero results. 

Everything you request is easier said than done. The crease is lottery tickets every single year these days. 

[Porous Five Hole]

21 minutes ago, Nacho Libre said:

Id still pick us to win the cup if we added Hellebuyck and Trocheck I don’t care 

I get it might not score high on arm chair GM mode and maybe rightfully so but honestly i just think we would be a really good team lol shoot me 

like, in 2026-2027 *ducks*

I’m landing here too. If Hele was to be had, it would have happened tonight. I think Winnipeg blinked. I don’t blame them that the Jets folded their hand to run it back.  But they’re not better next year and unfortunately…neither are the Sabres. 

[Doohickie]

30 minutes ago, stenbaro said:

Goals will come, stopping them is our biggest need.

How did Carolina's "Sure Thing Veteran Goalie" work out?  In the end they had to turn to a sub-.900 sv% goalie who somehow elevated to .931 in the playoffs.

[Long Suffering Fan]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Because Kesselring was so good on and off the ice?  

No, because he was the center piece of a trade for JJ - Yes, Doan is awesome, but that doesn't change that - and because he was injured last year.  I had hoped he could turn around.  I view a late round second as very mush a scratch off ticket and thought Kesselring had potentially more immediate upside than a second.

However, as was smartly pointed out upthread, he was due to get a tender offer of around the second round in 2027 and the moves of the last two days - Crevier, Zellweger, and the dragonrider - has shown that Kesselring (we should have been calling him the field marshall) was clearly not in the their plans.  There would have been no room for him here.  That pretty much makes it a good trade.  His off ice stuff must have really been a problem.

TLDR - I've come back around on it.  I was just surprised by how low it was to make that jump.

[Nacho Libre]

17 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

How did Carolina's "Sure Thing Veteran Goalie" work out?  In the end they had to turn to a sub-.900 sv% goalie who somehow elevated to .931 in the playoffs.

In fairness by numerous reports Carolina is/was a lead contender for Hellebuyck. They won with the formula they did yet still evidently recognize the value of a more sure fire, better option. Not enough to pay wherever the price was at least yet, but they clearly at least see value in the idea of adding him, and that’s the cup champs 

Edited June 27 by Nacho Libre

[dudacek]

3 hours ago, Brawndo said:

The Rangers ask at the TDL was A first and Östlund. 
 

McLeod was traded to Buffalo on July 5th 

***** Drury.

Morozov was the fittest player at the combine, while working toward a finance degree in a foreign language at age 17.

Hes a big kid who everyone says plays hockey like he’s guarding the lives of his family.

And he was absolutely beaming on stage.

Never seen him play but I absolutely love the pick.

[GASabresIUFAN]

This kid could develop into an ROR type player.  

[French Collection]

He replaces what Wahlberg was supposed to become, middle six big bodied guy.

Morozov is young and can continue to develop in the NCAA for a few years. Perhaps he is the kind of guy who wants to graduate and then pursue the NHL dream.

[Rasmus_]

If we were destined to make this selection and couldn't find a dance partner in a trade, it was fortuitous that he was the selection.  As far back as mid May, we were hearing the voices saying that Morozov viewed highly amongst Sabres brass.  I like the description of a bully on the puck, so that's a nice fit.  Floor of Zemgus with the opportunity to probably fill out as something like John Madden?  Maybe a generalized guess?

[LGR4GM]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

***** Drury.

Morozov was the fittest player at the combine, while working toward a finance degree in a foreign language at age 17.

Hes a big kid who everyone says plays hockey like he’s guarding the lives of his family.

And he was absolutely beaming on stage.

Never seen him play but I absolutely love the pick.

His game is not flashy but it's effective. He's got an excellent release that is heavy and quick. I think his shot is underrated. Down low he's mean and good. He battles for pucks and not just with his stick. He'll just shove you away, if his skating gets better he'll be better down low too. 

His defensive game though is borderline perfect. Active stick that takes lanes away, he'll clear the net front, he's punishing on the boards, he never leaves early, reads the play very well, has good outlet passes. He's basically a 3rd defenseman. He's really smart too and I wanna say he speaks 3 languages, like English, Russian, and he's learning French or something. 

If his offensive game takes 1 step forward, where his hands and skating improve so he execute the ideas he has... that's a 2nd line center. Morozov is gonna be a 4th line center, but I'm really really hoping with his work ethic and brain, he becomes more. 

[Weave]

This feels like Zemgus Girgensons 2.0.

I’m good with that at 20.

[JustOneParade]

10 hours ago, Doohickie said:

his 17 pull-ups tied him for fifth-best all-time in that event.

So he's no Casey Mittelstadt.

Or he’s 17 Casey Mittlestadts.

[JustOneParade]

8 hours ago, Taro T said:

Hell ####ing no.

What is it about the Rangers? They view all of their assets with such ultra high regard yet they still suck.

[JustOneParade]

Succession planning. If McLeod finishes his contract in Buffalo your 3C is ready to go. (On a line with Zeimer?)

[Hoss]

I couldn’t tell you the first thing about him outside of the few things I’ve seen said, but I’m always curious about projecting a guy to the NHL who has never had offensive production at any notable level.

22 points in 59 games in the USHL.

20 points in 36 games in college (which is certainly not nothing for a 17-year-old).

The offense may never develop, and a lot of the guys who are bruisers/bottom six forwards at the next level were dominant offensive forces prior to coming to the NHL.

This is a big-time projection, but if he develops the offense, then you’ve got the entire package.

[Nacho Libre]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

This feels like Zemgus Girgensons 2.0.

I’m good with that at 20.

Agree

[JustOneParade]

FWIW re: Morozov. Probably shouldn’t underestimate the significance of his competitiveness in D1 college hockey at age 17. I started playing NCAA basketball at 17 and the difference between 17 year olds and 20/21 year olds is stark.

Edited June 27 by JustOneParade
Clarification

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Hoss said:

I couldn’t tell you the first thing about him outside of the few things I’ve seen said, but I’m always curious about projecting a guy to the NHL who has never had offensive production at any notable level.

22 points in 59 games in the USHL.

20 points in 36 games in college (which is certainly not nothing for a 17-year-old).

The offense may never develop, and a lot of the guys who are bruisers/bottom six forwards at the next level were dominant offensive forces prior to coming to the NHL.

This is a big-time projection, but if he develops the offense, then you’ve got the entire package.

I'd note though, most of his peers would have been in the ushl this season too. He played 23 fewer games from ushl to college but only lost 2 total points. Idk what to make of that. 

[Mr Peabody]

Since he’s intelligent and a finance major he’ll be ciphering the delta between an early ELC or UFA status at 21 years old.  Could get interesting; doubt there’s a lot of NIL at Miami?

Edited June 27 by Mr Peabody

[dudacek]

6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'd note though, most of his peers would have been in the ushl this season too. He played 23 fewer games from ushl to college but only lost 2 total points. Idk what to make of that. 

According to elite prospects his was the 13th most productive year by a 17-year-old this millennium.

The names aren’t particularly impressive though because not a lot of 17-year-olds play NCAA

[dudacek]

He vastly outperformed Tynan Lawrence (7 points, 18 games) who went higher this year, and Ryan Poehling (13 in 35) whose name caught my eye because he’s a comparable profile.

[shrader]

23 minutes ago, dudacek said:

He vastly outperformed Tynan Lawrence (7 points, 18 games) who went higher this year, and Ryan Poehling (13 in 35) whose name caught my eye because he’s a comparable profile.

Lawrence jumped over to NCAA in the middle of the year though. So you’ve left out half of his production for the year.