Re: Toronto Maple Leafs
Originally Posted by
2014olympicgold
Anyone notice how “old” the Leafs drafted? They really wanted to get the Euro/Russia players so they can control them, and seemed like they wanted players able to play now with the Marlies/leafs. Also big, they wanted big guys.
The Leafs definitely went heavy on second and third time eligible players, but something that really isn't being reported is that they were hardly the only team to do this. They were the team that did it the heaviest but all but two teams in the League didn't choose a second or third time eligible player.
In fact 50 players were drafted who were second or third time eligible. That's 23.7 percent of the entire 211 pick draft. Basically a quarter of the players drafted were second or third time players, or older players.
Originally Posted by
Mr. Guru
The only picks I like were Matthews and Grundstrom and ....The Russian at 32 I didn't know.
But at this stage in the draft does it really matter what they say/do? As long as some of them turn out to be serviceable than it's a good pick. I liked our draft better last year so I'll likely compare the drafts in a few years but until then does anyone really know?
At this point the most we can say is "didn't expect that. Interesting strategy, I don't totally like it but we'll wait and see". Hard to really judge it yet.
Originally Posted by
eyemissgilmour
I can't help but wonder if Lou's influence was the main reason this year's draft seemed so odd. Last year's draft seemed entirely run by Hunter who loves skill.
I personally think they made many mistakes in drafting size and/or grit over skill this year. They can always trade for 3rd line grinders down the road when they need them. In the meantime they should be focused on drafting skill and try to find a hidden gem with late round picks.
It might seem that way but I suspect that might be a quick emotion without exploring the picks a little more. The Leafs draft appeared to be more targeted towards players who were undervalued rather than big and heavy for the sake of going big and heavy. All the players they drafted were more picks who either were in underscouted markets (Russia), sick in previous seasons which left them undrafted and with a hard development year (Walker), or hidden behind deep teams (Nantinen). They could turn out awfully, or they could be alright. It's too early to say.
And I'd hold off on saying Lou helmed this draft. He's been very clear on saying Hunter was running things and he deferred to him.
Korshkov was the best player on the Russian U18 team, and one of the best U20 players in the KHL (which isn't easy to do in that league). He was a legit top 6 guy in the KHL which is sooo difficult to do in the KHL. And he was pretty much listed as a 2nd round choice in most lists.
Brooks demolished the WHL. Like crazy. He was older yes, but he was the 4th highest scoring player in the entire CHL. He apparently made some adjustments that led to the explosion. On a team that had a team scoring differential of -10, he was PLUS 41. That's insane.
Walker was interesting. He suffered development setbacks in his draft year due to illness. Then he went from defense to offense this year and exploded.
Chebykin was barely eligible for last draft and likely was just a case of underscouting in Russia. He led his MHL team in points
Nantinen was underutilized in London, but showed flashes when given time. He's big and I'm not a huge fan of the pick, but there's reason to risk taking him. He could see some nice growth this year with more time and he's a late round pick.
Greenway is hella raw but hella interesting. He was paired with Adam Fox at the U18's and showed nice offensive talent. He could be a huge home run pick once his skating technique is refined.
All the picks have interesting elements beyond "big" that I think people are missing.
And the 2nd round was very similar to last year. Leafs surprise everyone with their first pick (Korshkov and Dermott) but then take a higher ranked player with their second pick (Bracco and Grundstrom)
14T BiWeekly H2H. 4 C/RW/LW, 6 D, 2 G
Cats:G(3), A(1.5), PIM(0.2), PPP(1), SOG(0.2), GWG(1), SHP(2), Hits(0.3), BkS(0.4). W(2), SO(2), OTL(0.5), SV(0.2), GA(-1), L(-1). 9 Keepers in Bold. 12 player Farm team (skaters under 110, goalies under 80 gp) in italics
LW - Gaudreau, Forsberg, Parise, Hyman (C)
C - Backstrom, Getzlaf, N Foligno (LW/RW), Kotkaniemi, Carter (LW/RW)
RW - Tarasenko, Rantanen, Arvidsson, Atkinson, Gourde (C/LW), Mikheyev (RW)
D - Dahlin, Theodore, Ellis, Klingberg, Fox, Andersson
G - Murray, Grubauer
Prospects -Rossi, Turcotte, Kravstov, Tippett, Bouchard, Lehtonen, K Miller, Addison, DeSmith, Kahkonen, Ingram, Gustavsson