June 8th - 2015 NHL Draft Q & A Thread

[Dean Youngblood]

Back at it again. Go ahead and fire your draft related questions.

I will likely choose some of the better questions to answer in an upcoming Dobber Prospect rambling and attempt to answer all of your questions.

I highly recommend purchasing the Prospects Guide as it will answer a lot of questions. To be fair to the supporters of that guide, lets refrain from big lists.


Let's hear your questions

[gainerama]

Nick Merkley, I'm really high on him. Should I be, cause I got picks 6 & 8 and like him ahead guys like Meier and Zacha?

[Axeman33]

I noticed in the guide, under the top 25 forwards to choose, you had Lawson Crouse at 20.

Why do you have him down so low on your list?

I know I am not overly high on him heading into the draft and he's probably one of the more polarizing players in this year's draft. He seems to be all over the place as far as peoples take on where he might land in the draft.

I am curious to hear your thoughts on him and your reasoning for that placement.

Thanks!

[Oakville Squires]

In terms of highest offensive upside for fantasy purposes how would your rank the following prospects:

Kyle Connor
Timo Meier
Travis Konecny
Lawson Crouse
Jeremy Bracco
Evgeny Svechnikov
Nick Merkley
Denis Guryanov
Zach Werenski
Oliver Kylington
Robby Fabbri
Oliver Bjorkstrand

Since I will be getting Eichel with the 2nd overall and one of either Strome or Marner with 4th overall I would like to target a riskier but higher upside pick with my 2nd rounder to fill out my prospect roster. Thanks in advance Rossy!

[Pengwin7]

(I ask this question yearly).
Can you name any guys that will be especially! good specialists in the following trendy Fantasy Hockey categories:

PIM:
HITS:
FACEOFFS:

(Ideally, for my fantasy draft, I'm looking for guys that will fall late-1st or 2nd round in the NHL draft.)

[sammynos]

Which way do you see Stars going at 12? They are pretty cap friendly with a few spots to fill and plenty of cash to do so. I assume they go out and find themselves some pieces in free agency, but what way do they lean at the draft?

Some rankings have guys like Provorov and/or Hanifin available that late, but do they draft a D? Or do they go Winger with a relatively underwhelming group after Dickinson and Ritchie?

[Zorro]

1) Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart, what do you see them doing as far as 'points only' go the next 3 or so years??

2) Not including Hellebuyck, Gibson, Vasilevskiy who's the next young goalie you see coming along and pulling a Holtby??

[Bazz]

I've watched Marner highlights, nothing live. How does he compare to other small forwards like Kane, Drouin and Kucherov?

I've seen a lot of Bouwmeester comps for Hanifan, but he looks a lot more Keith like to me. Thoughts?

[Jouko-Pouko]

You ranked David Kase pretty high in the FPR, and Craig Button also ranks him #69, but he wasn't part of the 85 names mentioned in TSN's final draft ranking. Any idea why NHL scouts are not very high on him? Is he a long-shot to make it to the NHL? Do you think some NHL team might still draft him in the 3rd round or does he fall like his brother last year?

[chuckcouples]

Who's the best stay at home dman in the draft that should be available after the first round? Especially those that would help in leagues that count stats like Hits, Blocked Shots and PK TOI.

Thank you.

[ddtop]

Two different league, two different setup. Can you tell me the order you would select your top 5 D-men considering those specific setup. Feel free to add one or two interesting player that could be worthy with those setup but available later in draft.
Both league are H2H total pts.
League 1- 0,1 for SOG / 1 for A and G / 0,2 for PIM and +-
League 2- 0,2 for blocks / 1 for A and G / 0,5 for ppp / 0,1 for hits / - 0,2 for pim

As you nothice, league 2 gives alot of credit to defensive but not aggressive player due to the -0,2 per pim. For example, a Gorges is a good d-men in this league.
Ty for doing this!

[reeveta]

My question is a more general one. When reading about the NHL draft for fantasy purposes, I read both fantasy and non-fantasy sources. The non-fantasy sources don't always give you an idea about what numbers a player may put up. In the first round, who are the players that will be better real-NHL players vs. Fantasy players?

[yougo]

A lot of people compare Hanifin to Jay Bouwmeester. For fantasy purposes, isn't he more like better version of Ryan Murray? A reliable D but with barely no offensive upside (by that I mean that 35pts is a reach). I have a real hard time ranking Hanifin over Werenski & Provorov especially fantasy wise.

[SensArmy93]

For the league in my sig I own picks 19, 28, and 31. Am I better off getting two players in the 20-31 range or should I try and package 28 and 31 to move up closer to 20?

[Still learning]

Hi,
I don't mind waiting, I just want to know who have the best upside. I know they are from different draft year, but you're the expert so that's why I'm asking.

In terms of highest offensive upside for fantasy purposes how would your rank the following prospects:

Domi (2014)
Marner (2015)
Puljujarvi (2016)
Jones (2016)
Patrick (2017)

Who is my best bet to hit a homerun, if I don't mind to wait.

Thanks