gdt: 2018 NHL Entry Draft – Movin' On Up into the Top-Five – Live Discussion

[Gravesy]

Orrrrrr the players picked from 1 though 7 were amazing prospects that are supposed to be can't miss and pretty much picked where they should have been picked?

 

 

But they weren't. Not even close. The first 2 picks stuck to the script, after that it was all over the shop. There wasn't single guy alive that had

3. Kotkaniemi

4. Tkachuk

5. Hayton

6. Zadina

7. Hughes

8. Boqvist

 

The fact that Dobson, Bouchard and Wahlstrom would all be available at 9 was a complete shock to literally everyone. I think it just goes to show that the draft rarely plays out the way the scouts and analysts expect it to. Every scout sees different things. Every organization puts more value into a certain attribute, position or mental characteristic than others. After Dahlin and Svechnikov there were a bunch of guys who were rated between 3 and 10 in various order depending on the scout. Kravtsov was, with a few exceptions, at the lower end of the spectrum. But I think you're right that name recognition is a factor. It is for the scouts as well. Everybody knows the rankings has a certain bias against Russians. And why wouldn't they be? They watch the NA skaters loads of times in the flesh. Virtually every single draft has a Russian kid picked late that turns out to be dynamite. That's just the way it is. I'm not saying this is necessarily a factor with Kravtsov, but I think it's absolutely clear Bobrov knows that player a hell of a lot better than the likes of McKenzie, Pronman etc.

 

I can't say with any confidence they made the right pick. Maybe Wahlstrom, Dobson and Bouchard will go on to light up the NHL and the Rangers will look silly once again. Like you said, we'll just have to wait and see.

[Pete]

But they weren't. Not even close. The first 2 picks stuck to the script, after that it was all over the shop. There wasn't single guy alive that had

3. Kotkaniemi

4. Tkachuk

5. Hayton

6. Zadina

7. Hughes

8. Boqvist

 

The fact that Dobson, Bouchard and Wahlstrom would all be available at 9 was a complete shock to literally everyone. I think it just goes to show that the draft rarely plays out the way the scouts and analysts expect it to. Every scout sees different things. Every organization puts more value into a certain attribute, position or mental characteristic than others. After Dahlin and Svechnikov there were a bunch of guys who were rated between 3 and 10 in various order depending on the scout. Kravtsov was, with a few exceptions, at the lower end of the spectrum. But I think you're right that name recognition is a factor. It is for the scouts as well. Everybody knows the rankings has a certain bias against Russians. And why wouldn't they be? They watch the NA skaters loads of times in the flesh. Virtually every single draft has a Russian kid picked late that turns out to be dynamite. That's just the way it is. I'm not saying this is necessarily a factor with Kravtsov, but I think it's absolutely clear Bobrov knows that player a hell of a lot better than the likes of McKenzie, Pronman etc.

 

I can't say with any confidence they made the right pick. Maybe Wahlstrom, Dobson and Bouchard will go on to light up the NHL and the Rangers will look silly once again. Like you said, we'll just have to wait and see.

This is kind of a good point. Predraft rank vs mock draft...a mock draft should take into account organization need. And even then, it's a guess by the mock drafter.