Dylan Guenther vs the class of 2023

[Selanne13]

Going up against this years prospects, where would you slot him in?

[Pengwin7]

Probably #5 for me.
He hasn't had any miss-steps to suggest he won't pan out very well.
He's looking at top line wing slot (long-term) with Cooley (& obv, Keller).
So the TOI and the points should both be there.

Most prospect rankers have Will Smith & Zach Benson at 5/6 range.

I certainly wouldn't trade 2 years of development hoping for better upside from Smith/Benson.

[Axeman33]

I agree with P7. Im right in the 5/6 area as well. Thats the area this draft starts to dip so a lot of high end prospects previously drafted are going to be in that area for me.

[senryu]

Probably #5 for me.
He hasn't had any miss-steps to suggest he won't pan out very well.
He's looking at top line wing slot (long-term) with Cooley (& obv, Keller).
So the TOI and the points should both be there.

Most prospect rankers have Will Smith & Zach Benson at 5/6 range.

I certainly wouldn't trade 2 years of development hoping for better upside from Smith/Benson.

I agree with this.

[DangerCat]

Probably #5 for me.
He hasn't had any miss-steps to suggest he won't pan out very well.
He's looking at top line wing slot (long-term) with Cooley (& obv, Keller).
So the TOI and the points should both be there.

Most prospect rankers have Will Smith & Zach Benson at 5/6 range.

I certainly wouldn't trade 2 years of development hoping for better upside from Smith/Benson.

Hard to argue this 5 is muchos reasonable.

[berni67]

After or before Mitchkov ?

[Belexus75]

After or before Mitchkov ?

talent wise you can argue Mitchkov at 1st and uncontested at 2nd...however wait is long and i think there is a possibility he never crosses ...so really depends on individual situation when it comes to fantasy hockey but i would assume one way or the other Mitchkov is in everybody's top 4.

[senryu]

After or before Mitchkov ?

After.

[DangerCat]

Michkov is in a different galaxy than Guenther. He should be drafted 2OA but the Russian factor is going to cause some teams to make a choice I bet won’t age wel. Not that Fantilli and Carlsson won’t be fantastic players in their own right, but if there’s someone who could potentially challenge Bedard for the best from this class it’s The Mich-elin Man! (It’ll catch just watch!)

[Feenom]

5 seems fitting.

[Locke]

If you're considering drafting Michkov I recommend doing a deep dive.

I'm in a league where 3 prospects can be kept where a skater prospect qualifies until their 201st NHL gp. With those parameters, development in the KHL isn't that bad. A prospect making a Kaprisov type impact gives teams in our league a pretty solid advantage.

I had the Anaheim-linked pick, so was bumped down in the draft to 2nd oa. I'm not sold on Michkov despite the nature of the league. I've read a few scouting reports that suggest that while he's got elite puck skills and an elite shot, there are some flaws with his game that may seriously affect his NHL impact. IE, he's a poor decision maker (regularly takes on multiple defenders) and he's often getting opportunities by staying up from the play and gambling on an outlet pass. In other words plays much like Yakupov in junior.

At this point I haven't ruled Michkov out for myself. I do think however that it's not just the 'Russia' situation and the KHL contract that are questions marks. There seem to be some legitimate question marks to his actual NHL upside as well.

Cheers

[deantime419]

6th for me.
Guenther has been good but didn't quite dominate the WHL enough after returning to bump him above Smith.

Semi-hijacking this, would Snuggerud vs this class end up in that 6/7 spot as well?

[Belexus75]

I think you can make argument that Snuggerud could be drifted somewhere there, maybe but different but personally I don’t think he is in same class as Guenther… I put Guenther talent wise right up there after Bedard and MM but would probably select him 4 th or 5 th at best

[chuckcouples]

What is wrong with you people? Guenther went 9th in a very weak draft class and you think he should go 5th against this year's draft class?

I wouldn't be taking him in the top 15 against this year's draft class. The only thing he has more than this year's draft class is two years of development which is valuable but not enough to suddenly think he's a top 5 talent.

[hawkdog]

Jason Robertson went 39 in a relatively weak draft class, and Nolan Patrick went second the same year - so just because DG went 9th isn't a definite indicator of talent, He put up 15 points in 30 odd games - which is pretty good for a rookie in the desert.