Deep Thoughts • 20/10/2020
Deep Thoughts Sudbury Star - October 21 2020 - Canadian Teams NHL Draft Grades
Deep Thoughts
With
Mark Seidel
There has been a lot of activity upon the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals with the Draft, Free Agency & Trades. I have got some Deep Thoughts about the past 4 weeks & I have decided to give the Canadian Teams grades on both the Draft and other acquisitions they have made as we wait to start the 20/21 NHL season.
Calgary Flames
Draft Grade: A
Draft Comments: Todd Button & his scouts had a very good few days. Connor Zary can play any way you want, Yan Kuznetsov is a big kid that played against 25 year old men in the NCAA and did well while the super-skilled Jeremie Poirier might have been the biggest steal of the weekend. Furthermore, they got Ryan Francis & Rory Kerins late which were excellent value. Although I do not think any of their picks will become superstars, it was a very solid performance that should yield key components to a winning team down the road.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: B
Acquisitions Comments: I liked the roster of the Calgary Flames at the end of last year so I didn’t expect a lot of change, but they did get the hottest goalie on the market, Jacob Markstrom for 6 years. They also stole the quietly effective Chris Tanev from the Vancouver Canucks & he will help replace TJ Brodie.
Edmonton Oilers
Draft Grade: B-
Draft Comments: When a staff only has 1 pick in the top 100 & 2 picks in the top 125, it makes it incredibly hard. Dylan Holloway will play down the road, but I do not see him being a star. Ty Tullio was a brilliant pick at #126 because his combination of skill & grit is hard to find in the 5th round. The skilled Carter Savoie will go play at the University of Denver for a few years to round out his game but not selecting a single defenseman throughout the draft was perplexing.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: C
Acquisitions Comments: The Oilers have 2 Hart Trophy winners in Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl so you would think players would be chomping at the bit to sign in Edmonton, but it has not happened yet. They did sign Tyson Barrie who is coming off a disappointing season in Toronto & they brought in Kyle Turris to help up front. I fully expect Jesse Puljujarvi to return from Finland & show why he was a Top 5 pick but I have to admit that I’m disappointed they chose to stick with the aging Mike Smith & Mikko Koskinen in net with so many quality goalies on the market. Ken Holland is a legend, but this off-season has been underwhelming thus far.
Montreal Canadians
Draft Grade: A
Draft Comments: I liked the Canadians draft overall. They chose Kaiden Guhle in the 1st round who will make them harder to play against down the road. I thought they got really good value in the 2nd & 4th rounds with the picks of Alex Tuch’s brother, Luke, the late rising Jan Mysak, Sean Farrell & Blake Biondi. They also took a flyer on the massive Re-Entry goaltender, Jakub Dobes. My only concern is they only took 1 defenseman throughout the Draft which can affect organizational balance. I thought Trevor Timmins & his crew did a very good adding to an improving prospect base.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: A+
Acquisitions Comments: The Habs have brought in Jake Allen to provide a solid back-up, traded for heavy defenseman Joel Edmundson, acquired the power forward Josh Anderson & signed the proven scorer, Tyler Toffoli. I am a fan of Max Domi, but it was time to move on & they maximized their return. It is really difficult to not be impressed by the work that Marc Bergevin and his staff have done over the past month.
Ottawa Senators
Draft Grade: A+
Draft Comments: When you have 6 picks within the Top 61 in a very strong draft, you had better come away with a haul & Trent Mann & his staff did just that. Stutzle is a lock & Sanderson will become a key part of this team while Ridley Greig is a feisty kid that will find a way to contribute. They certainly got some major size with Jarventie, Kleven & Sokolov & each brings a different aspect to the team. Jarventie is an up & down winger, Kleven is a physical beast & Sokolov has tremendous goal scoring ability. They took some swings late but a number of those first 6 players will become a part of a winning Ottawa Senators team.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: A
Acquisitions Comments: The Sens have gotten much harder to play against with the acquisition of defensemen Eric Gudbranson, Josh Brown and the gritty Austin Watson. They also finally solidified their goaltending position with the trade for Matt Murray & signed the under-appreciated Evgenii Dadanov from the Florida Panthers. It may also have been addition by subtraction is letting the perennial headache, Anthony Duclair. Pierre Dorion did a good job, but fans should not lose sight of the fact that the Sens winning days are still a year away when their young prospects can step in.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Draft Grade: B
Draft Comments: If I were grading the Draft on which team acquired the most skill, the Leafs would win in a landslide. Almost every player that John Lilley & his staff took has very good skill but at some point, I think you must mix it up with some different elements. Individually, it is hard to argue about several their picks & I particularly liked the Amirov, Niemela, Miettinen & Rindell picks but how many small, skilled forwards & slick offensive defensemen can you dress every night? I know that there were not any picks that were going to add grit & sandpaper to this Leafs team in the next 2 years but what about in 5 years? The Dubas Plan has been to draft skill & acquire grit/sandpaper so they are certainly sticking to that plan.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: A
Acquisitions Comments: As everyone knows, the Leafs were tight to the Salary Cap so Kyle Dubas would have to be very creative in his overhaul of the roster. It is no secret they were not happy with their playoff performance so out went Kasperi Kapanen, Cody Ceci, Tyson Barrie & Andreas Johnsson, who all under-performed in the bubble. In came TJ Brodie, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Bogosian & the legend Joe Thornton with exceptionally affordable contracts. Dubas admitted in an interview that he wanted to get more character & grit and those signings certainly accomplish that.
Vancouver Canucks
Draft Grade: C
Draft Comments: Like other teams, the Canucks had traded away their first 2 picks, but I was not overly impressed with the guys they took when they did get to draft. Joni Jurmo is a big defenseman that has great feet, but I am not sure how much defense he wants to play. Jackson Kunz still has a year before he goes to North Dakota so he will have time to get better. My favorite pick of the draft for Vancouver is Dmitri Zlodeyev. He is more than the sum of his parts & is incredibly competitive which is a bonus in the 6th round. It turned out to be just an OK draft for this up & coming team.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: B-
Acquisitions Comments: The offseason is generally about a team brings in but in the Canucks case, it has been more about who has left. They had a great year last year but the loss of Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher & Tyler Toffoli really takes a bite out of that squad. The Canucks were also close to acquiring Oliver Ekman Larsson from Arizona but that fell apart at the last second. They have brought in Stanley Cup winner Braden Holtby to replace Markstrom & one of my favorite players in the NHL, Nate Schmidt, but the net result is that this exciting young team now has some holes to fill.
Winnipeg Jets
Draft Grade: B
Draft Comments: When you only have 2 picks in the first 132 picks & 4 in total, it is hard to markedly improve your prospect pool, but they did very well with their top 2 picks. Perfetti fell into their laps & once he gets stronger, he will really help them a lot. Torgersson is a prototypical power forward that will play heavy for them. Bauer adds some snarl on the back end so I think Mark Hillier & his group did the best they could with so few picks.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: C
Acquisitions Comments: The Jets have been very quiet since the end of the season except for the trade to acquire Paul Stastny from the Vegas Golden Knights. He will help solidify their forward group, but the big issue has been the back end & they have not addressed it yet. I am a big fan of Dylan Demelo & they re-signed him, but they still have some holes back there that they must address.
With
Mark Seidel
There has been a lot of activity upon the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals with the Draft, Free Agency & Trades. I have got some Deep Thoughts about the past 4 weeks & I have decided to give the Canadian Teams grades on both the Draft and other acquisitions they have made as we wait to start the 20/21 NHL season.
Calgary Flames
Draft Grade: A
Draft Comments: Todd Button & his scouts had a very good few days. Connor Zary can play any way you want, Yan Kuznetsov is a big kid that played against 25 year old men in the NCAA and did well while the super-skilled Jeremie Poirier might have been the biggest steal of the weekend. Furthermore, they got Ryan Francis & Rory Kerins late which were excellent value. Although I do not think any of their picks will become superstars, it was a very solid performance that should yield key components to a winning team down the road.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: B
Acquisitions Comments: I liked the roster of the Calgary Flames at the end of last year so I didn’t expect a lot of change, but they did get the hottest goalie on the market, Jacob Markstrom for 6 years. They also stole the quietly effective Chris Tanev from the Vancouver Canucks & he will help replace TJ Brodie.
Edmonton Oilers
Draft Grade: B-
Draft Comments: When a staff only has 1 pick in the top 100 & 2 picks in the top 125, it makes it incredibly hard. Dylan Holloway will play down the road, but I do not see him being a star. Ty Tullio was a brilliant pick at #126 because his combination of skill & grit is hard to find in the 5th round. The skilled Carter Savoie will go play at the University of Denver for a few years to round out his game but not selecting a single defenseman throughout the draft was perplexing.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: C
Acquisitions Comments: The Oilers have 2 Hart Trophy winners in Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl so you would think players would be chomping at the bit to sign in Edmonton, but it has not happened yet. They did sign Tyson Barrie who is coming off a disappointing season in Toronto & they brought in Kyle Turris to help up front. I fully expect Jesse Puljujarvi to return from Finland & show why he was a Top 5 pick but I have to admit that I’m disappointed they chose to stick with the aging Mike Smith & Mikko Koskinen in net with so many quality goalies on the market. Ken Holland is a legend, but this off-season has been underwhelming thus far.
Montreal Canadians
Draft Grade: A
Draft Comments: I liked the Canadians draft overall. They chose Kaiden Guhle in the 1st round who will make them harder to play against down the road. I thought they got really good value in the 2nd & 4th rounds with the picks of Alex Tuch’s brother, Luke, the late rising Jan Mysak, Sean Farrell & Blake Biondi. They also took a flyer on the massive Re-Entry goaltender, Jakub Dobes. My only concern is they only took 1 defenseman throughout the Draft which can affect organizational balance. I thought Trevor Timmins & his crew did a very good adding to an improving prospect base.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: A+
Acquisitions Comments: The Habs have brought in Jake Allen to provide a solid back-up, traded for heavy defenseman Joel Edmundson, acquired the power forward Josh Anderson & signed the proven scorer, Tyler Toffoli. I am a fan of Max Domi, but it was time to move on & they maximized their return. It is really difficult to not be impressed by the work that Marc Bergevin and his staff have done over the past month.
Ottawa Senators
Draft Grade: A+
Draft Comments: When you have 6 picks within the Top 61 in a very strong draft, you had better come away with a haul & Trent Mann & his staff did just that. Stutzle is a lock & Sanderson will become a key part of this team while Ridley Greig is a feisty kid that will find a way to contribute. They certainly got some major size with Jarventie, Kleven & Sokolov & each brings a different aspect to the team. Jarventie is an up & down winger, Kleven is a physical beast & Sokolov has tremendous goal scoring ability. They took some swings late but a number of those first 6 players will become a part of a winning Ottawa Senators team.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: A
Acquisitions Comments: The Sens have gotten much harder to play against with the acquisition of defensemen Eric Gudbranson, Josh Brown and the gritty Austin Watson. They also finally solidified their goaltending position with the trade for Matt Murray & signed the under-appreciated Evgenii Dadanov from the Florida Panthers. It may also have been addition by subtraction is letting the perennial headache, Anthony Duclair. Pierre Dorion did a good job, but fans should not lose sight of the fact that the Sens winning days are still a year away when their young prospects can step in.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Draft Grade: B
Draft Comments: If I were grading the Draft on which team acquired the most skill, the Leafs would win in a landslide. Almost every player that John Lilley & his staff took has very good skill but at some point, I think you must mix it up with some different elements. Individually, it is hard to argue about several their picks & I particularly liked the Amirov, Niemela, Miettinen & Rindell picks but how many small, skilled forwards & slick offensive defensemen can you dress every night? I know that there were not any picks that were going to add grit & sandpaper to this Leafs team in the next 2 years but what about in 5 years? The Dubas Plan has been to draft skill & acquire grit/sandpaper so they are certainly sticking to that plan.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: A
Acquisitions Comments: As everyone knows, the Leafs were tight to the Salary Cap so Kyle Dubas would have to be very creative in his overhaul of the roster. It is no secret they were not happy with their playoff performance so out went Kasperi Kapanen, Cody Ceci, Tyson Barrie & Andreas Johnsson, who all under-performed in the bubble. In came TJ Brodie, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Bogosian & the legend Joe Thornton with exceptionally affordable contracts. Dubas admitted in an interview that he wanted to get more character & grit and those signings certainly accomplish that.
Vancouver Canucks
Draft Grade: C
Draft Comments: Like other teams, the Canucks had traded away their first 2 picks, but I was not overly impressed with the guys they took when they did get to draft. Joni Jurmo is a big defenseman that has great feet, but I am not sure how much defense he wants to play. Jackson Kunz still has a year before he goes to North Dakota so he will have time to get better. My favorite pick of the draft for Vancouver is Dmitri Zlodeyev. He is more than the sum of his parts & is incredibly competitive which is a bonus in the 6th round. It turned out to be just an OK draft for this up & coming team.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: B-
Acquisitions Comments: The offseason is generally about a team brings in but in the Canucks case, it has been more about who has left. They had a great year last year but the loss of Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher & Tyler Toffoli really takes a bite out of that squad. The Canucks were also close to acquiring Oliver Ekman Larsson from Arizona but that fell apart at the last second. They have brought in Stanley Cup winner Braden Holtby to replace Markstrom & one of my favorite players in the NHL, Nate Schmidt, but the net result is that this exciting young team now has some holes to fill.
Winnipeg Jets
Draft Grade: B
Draft Comments: When you only have 2 picks in the first 132 picks & 4 in total, it is hard to markedly improve your prospect pool, but they did very well with their top 2 picks. Perfetti fell into their laps & once he gets stronger, he will really help them a lot. Torgersson is a prototypical power forward that will play heavy for them. Bauer adds some snarl on the back end so I think Mark Hillier & his group did the best they could with so few picks.
Acquisitions through Trades & Signings Grade: C
Acquisitions Comments: The Jets have been very quiet since the end of the season except for the trade to acquire Paul Stastny from the Vegas Golden Knights. He will help solidify their forward group, but the big issue has been the back end & they have not addressed it yet. I am a big fan of Dylan Demelo & they re-signed him, but they still have some holes back there that they must address.
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