Somewhat polarizing throughout the year, Leon Draiisaitl finished his draft season strong meeting the lofty expectations that many scouts have of him. Reminds me of a Anze Kopitar type of player or a bigger, better skating Sedin brother.
"Leon Draisaitl is an intelligent playmaking forward with good offensive instincts. The German import is effective in puck possession using his lengthy frame to shield away defenders and maintain puck control. He displays top-end vision and can read the play ahead of his peers...Read More"
I honestly think Draisaitl should be in conversation for 1st, serious conversation. His skating is a weakness, but it's virtually his only one. He's got fantastic puck protection skills, he's one of (if not the) smartest players in the draft, and he makes things happen no matter what his supporting cast is. And for all the talk about weak skating, he's actually kind of awkwardly smooth east-west, surprisingly so for those that watch closely IMO. But like some other rangy centers, it doesn't matter because he plays a cerebal gmae that slows everything down nicely.
But I think he'll actually go 5th or later.
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
I think he won't make it past 3rd overall. If EDM doesn't get Ekblad, they could use a big center and skip Sam Reinhart since they are tired of the small, soft centers that are already on the team. Don't need Gagner 2.0 this time.
14 Team NHL Salary Cap Dynasty -daily starts
H2H, Salary Cap 95mil, Player actual salaries (all)
+/-,G,A,GWG,PTS,STP,PIM,SOG,HT,BS,GAA,SO,SV,W
Starters: 12 Forwards, 6 Defense, 2 Goalies
Forwards: Domi, K.Connor, Kessel, Parise, Monahan, Point, Rantanen, Kucherov, Panarin , M.Martin, Reaves, Marner
Defense: Butcher, K.Russell, Pelech, Girard, Klingberg, Larsson
Goalie: Rask, Hellebuyck
Reserves: D.Strome, Jo.Benn, Polak, C.Crawford , M.Jones, A.Dell, Koskinen
Prospects: Soderstrom, Sorokin, J.Dahlen, Kaprizov, Yamamoto, Makar, Starrett , F.Sandstrom, Timmins, T.Terry
Fantrax TAHL 2013 & 2018 Champion
If Florida uses the #1 overall pick, they're most likely going to draft Ekblad; and if another team trades up to get #1, they're probably going to take Ekblad. I don't see Sam Reinhart NOT going #2 in the real draft, given that he's more NHL-ready than Bennett, and scouts seem to like his overall game a good deal more than Draisaitl. So, in my opinion the draft will go (1) Florida - Ekblad, (2) Buffalo - Reinhart, (3) Edmonton - Draisaitl, (4) Calgary - Bennett.
Edmonton is definitely in the market for two things: top pairing Dmen who can play in all situations, and Centermen with size and skill. They won't let Draisaitl slip past them if they can't get Ekblad. The only scenario that would see Draisaitl falling to #4 would be if Nylander/Ehlers were taken at #1st overall by the Cats (unlikely, but possible I guess), and if Buffalo passed on Ekblad to draft Reinhart. In that case, Edmonton would certainly draft Ekblad, and Calgary would be blessed with the Deutscheland Dangler.
MounD - Double Threat FHL (18-19 champs)
10-Team Yahoo daily H2H Dynasty
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G, 7Bn (IR)
G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK // W, Sv, GAA, Sv%, SHO
C: Bergeron, Barkov, Aho, Point, Kadri
LW: Marchand, Landeskog, Hertl, Marchessault
RW: Stamkos, Tarasenko, Laine, Palmieri
D: Carlson, Letang, Dumba, Weber, Pietrangelo, Ristolainen, Byfuglien*
G: Bobrovsky, Holtby, Lehner, Greiss-Varlamov
Farm: Turcotte, Cozens, Denisenko, Newhook // Sandin, Jokiharju, Dobson, K'Andre // Shesterkin
As a Flames fan, my worst fear is they take Ritchie.... that would be an absolute shame. But I'd be happy with a big,skilled centre. Would have a great 1-2 punch with Monahan. Flames would be pretty big down the middle.
10 Team keeper league
(9F, 4D, 2G, 4 bench, 2 IR)
H2H
Goals-1, Assists-1, PPP-0.5, SHG=1, Hits-0.05, BS-0.05, Shots-0.05, Wins-2, Shutouts-2, Saves 0.01, Defenseman Pts-0.5
Keep 6 (potentially 7 with a vote pending)
2012/2013: 4th in reg season, 2nd in playoffs
2013/2014: 1st (t) reg season, 4th in playoffs
2014/2015: 1st reg season, 4th in playoffs
2015/2016 7th reg season (third highest PF)
Crosby, Malkin, Laine, Getzlaf, Radulov, Arvidsson, Rantanen, Bailey, W. Karlsson, Ducehene,Haula,
Klingberg, Suter, Trouba, Ekblad, Provorov
Holtby, Talbot, Varlamov
While not the best Player in the draft i think he could very well be the best Fantasy pick out there.
Commish of UNFFHL, dangered species being the sole Panthers fan on Dobber.
MounD - Double Threat FHL (18-19 champs)
10-Team Yahoo daily H2H Dynasty
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 6D, 2G, 7Bn (IR)
G, A, +/-, PPP, SHP, SOG, FW, HIT, BLK // W, Sv, GAA, Sv%, SHO
C: Bergeron, Barkov, Aho, Point, Kadri
LW: Marchand, Landeskog, Hertl, Marchessault
RW: Stamkos, Tarasenko, Laine, Palmieri
D: Carlson, Letang, Dumba, Weber, Pietrangelo, Ristolainen, Byfuglien*
G: Bobrovsky, Holtby, Lehner, Greiss-Varlamov
Farm: Turcotte, Cozens, Denisenko, Newhook // Sandin, Jokiharju, Dobson, K'Andre // Shesterkin
While I could also easily see Edmonton taking Draisaitl in the 3 spot, I have to disagree on your assessment of Reinhart as small and soft. While he plays a cerebral game that allows him to avoid major contact he is in no way soft. He plays a solid two-way game and has no problem handling the tough western conference style hockey played in the WHL. Honestly other than Draisaitl having a 20 pound advantage, they play very similar games.
He most certainly is in the discussion for 1st overall. He's that good and a team looking for size and skill with a very high ceiling will take LD. I bet he doesn't get by #3.
Soft? Really? I am not sure you have seen Reinhart. He's probably the most coveted pivot in this draft. The Oilers should be thrilled to land him.
10 Team, Points Only, Cash League
25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt
Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, SBennett
G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger
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