2014 Entry Draft Dilemma

[Nos]

Jacob Trouba is available to be drafted in our league, overall where do you feel he ranks among the new crop? I own picks 3 and 4, I'm thinking I'll take one of Reinhart, Bennett or Draisaitl with the 3rd pick, would you take any of the other forwards ahead of these defensemen (Ekblad and Trouba)? Nylander? Ehlers? Dal Colle? Is Ekblad ahead of Trouba? His exceptional status tag has my head a little clouded perhaps, or maybe not. What do you guys think? Thanks!

League Stats: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, SOG, W, SV%, GAA, SHO

[lesouder]

I don't think many (any) would disagree with me in saying you should probably take someone like Trouba - who is already an established NHL player and also has very high/possibly elite upside - over anyone from this years draft class or any other draft class for that matter. Don't get caught up in the glitter of a new crop of draftees, you need to be taking the best player available with picks that early and Trouba is way ahead of anyone in the the 2014 class.

[brett_c_b]

For me I would take Trouba over Ekblad, if it's close I'll take the one closer to being established, and Trouba showed more offensive upside last season than I thought he had. If +/- matters for your league Trouba should be better than ekblad at least a few years, plus players in florida are hard to find.

I also skew towards drafting forwards. There is a small group of defenseman who are consistently high scoring, outside of that small group the top scoring defenseman vary quite a bit year to year. So even if ekblad gets in that 50-60point crowd eventually, in my league I can probably pluck a 35-40 point defensemen in a mid round. My league keeps enough players that it's very hard to get a 50+ point forward, so if I have to choose between drafting a forward with 70+ point potential I take that over the dman with 50+ point potential because in our setup the point gap between available D and top tier D upside is smaller than the gap between available F and top tier F upside.

So your league setup will impact it a bit, but my preference is stud forward over stud D, arrive sooner with a bit more certainty and D scoring is all over the place year to year.

[newfcollins]

What does the rest of your team look like? If you're short on forward prospects, I'd take two forwards. If you're short on dmen prospects, then I would definitely take a dman.

[Axeman33]

Well here's a silly question but if Trouba's available, who else from previous drafts is available??

Personally I love the spot Ekblad landed. He will be dropped right into prime time out of the gate and Florida is building a nice little team there. If you need D, I would have no issues drafting both Trouba and Ekblad with 3/4. If you dont need D, I would take who ever was left from the big 3 forwards and Ekblad.

[ccsitdown]

I'm in the opposite position where a GM has offered me first overall this year for my Trouba. I'm having a hard time convincing myself to take it. Take a look at that thread to, if you want some more perspective - it's in the Keeper Trades section.

[mounD]

I'd personally go Draisaitl / Trouba.

[sharpp87]

I would not trade my Trouba for 1st overall in 2014. I would for 2015.

for pick 3rd and 4th I would definitively take take Trouba ans Draisaitl too.

[Nos]

Thanks a lot for the great responses guys, having mulled it over I think I'm going for Trouba and Draisaitl with my picks if they fall. The draft starts tomorrow. My team does need defense, every other area is pretty rock soild, I would characterize my defense as my team's weakness, other defensive prospects that I have include Justin Schultz, Dougie Hamilton, Eric Gelinas, Jonas Brodin, and Josh Morrissey. So the cupboard isn't bear but the only other defenseman I have is Kris Letang (as my keeper) the others are designated as prospects and are free to keep for now. Trouba is only available because the manager who owned him broke farm eligibility rules, a rare instance, so he got released back into the drafting pool. Nobody else is worth discussing at 3rd and 4th overall.