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2024 NHL Draft Reaction - Big Trades, Surprises, Undrafted, Winners, Losers & More | THW Roundtable
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Jun 30, 2024
In this episode of The Hockey Writers Roundtable, Matthew Zator, Jacob Billington and Dayton Reimer get together to react to the plethora of trades that happened on Day 2 of the 2024 NHL Draft. They also talk about some surprise fallers, prospects that went undrafted, and which teams impressed with their draft classes and which ones underwhelmed. Check out THW's 2024 NHL Draft Live Tracker - https://thehockeywriters.com/2024-nhl-draft-live-tracker/ 0:00 Intro 1:15 Lightning Trade Sergachev to Utah HC for Moser & Geekie 3:31 Devils Trade John Marino to Utah HC 5:43 Lightning Trade Tanner Jeannot to the Kings 8:26 Golden Knights Trade Logan Thompson to the Capitals 10:52 Devils Trade Schmid & Holtz to the Golden Knights for Cotter 17:05 Blues Trade Kevin Hayes to the Penguins 21:05 Surprise Fallers in Rounds 2-7 26:05 Who should have got drafted that didn't? 29:15 Winners & Losers The THW Prospect Corner crew are great writers too: Dayton Reimer - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/dreimer/ Matthew Zator - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/mzator/ Jacob Billington - https://thehockeywriters.com/author/jbillington/
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0:00
Hello everybody and welcome into a special episode of the Hockey Writers Roundtable
0:06
our draft coverage here at the Hockey Writers. We've got, I've got Jacob Billington and Dayton Reimer joining me here
0:12
I was just finishing up the draft, which also had a bunch of trades on the second day
0:19
The first round didn't see many big ones, but the second round to the seventh round
0:24
early on second and third round where all these trades happened. But Dayton, Jacob, how's it going
0:30
It's going great. It's been a great day. It's been, it's been crazy
0:35
I think I'm going to take a nap after I record, we record this, but it's, it's been, it's
0:41
been a go, go, go doing the breaking news and also throughout draft here
0:46
Dayton, I know you manned the draft tracker throughout, got the picks up really quick
0:52
and our profiles, we had quite a few of them and also quite a few left
0:57
Which, which always happens every year we do all these, we don't know if they're going to be drafted or not, but they're, they end up being out there and they have a chance
1:05
to get drafted next year too. So let's start with some of the trades that happened
1:11
We'll start with the biggest one, arguably the biggest one, and that would be Mikhail
1:15
Shcherbachev going from the Tampa Bay Lightning to Utah, which Utah was very busy and it looks
1:23
like their owners wanted to hit the ground running and have a really good team to start it
1:29
And, you know, they made their picks, which, and then also got Shcherbachev
1:33
So I'll start with you, Jacob, what do you think about that trade
1:36
I mean, Tampa Bay obviously wants to create some money to go out and run for Stamcoast
1:42
again, which looks like he's going to enter the market, but I'm sure they still want to
1:45
get them back. Frieza, Pallotta Cap. What'd you think about that trade
1:50
I think it was a fantastic trade for the Tampa, for both teams, really from the Tampa
1:55
side to get JJ Mosher, who's going to be an NHL player right away
1:58
I'm a huge fan of what JJ Mosher brings to the lineup. He's in RFA right now, so he doesn't have a contract
2:03
He's going to need to need a new, new deal. I don't know what that's going to look like
2:08
If it's just going to be a one or two year cheap deal, or if they lock them up kind of
2:12
like they did with Nick Paul and do like look at six or seven years at three or 4 million
2:17
and just try and get some consistency in there. They get Connor Geeky, who's a fantastic prospect, a second round pick in the seventh
2:25
Those are, those are great options. And they used the pick to draft Noah Steen
2:29
I think Noah Steen is a great prospect. I think that he a little bit underrated
2:33
So I think Tampa did really good. Really sucks having to clear cap space and trading Mikhail Sergachev
2:38
He had a phenomenal year before his injuries, but I, I don't know what they're trying to
2:46
do because they didn't really step up their offer. The last offer that they made to Stephen Stancoast was eight years at 3 million, which I, I think
2:54
is hilarious. But a bunch of reports coming out now saying that they didn't make a bigger offer now that
3:00
they have cap space. So we'll get into that a little bit more too with the Tanner's, you know, trade, but that's
3:05
just my thoughts. I think obviously Utah is getting a stud defenseman, their number one guy
3:11
And I was a little bit surprised that they went with TJ again, let the draft and didn't
3:16
go with a defenseman, but if they had this cooking up, that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah
3:21
We talked about it. Dayton and I talked about it. You know, they went forward heavy in the first round and didn't, didn't go for defenseman
3:27
Well, they had plans and we'll move on to that. John Marino also going to Utah Dayton, what, you know, now they have two great defenseman
3:37
Marino's that more of that shutdown guy. And he, he went with the fifth round pick and the devils get a second rounder with that
3:47
in the, from this draft and then in the 2025 draft too
3:52
What do you think about that one? I mean, Marino was a really good guy for, for the devils, but again, they need to create
3:58
some, some room too. And they made another trade later on. We'll talk about too
4:04
What do you think about that one? Yeah, I found that one a little surprising
4:07
Marino was kind of that big free agency signing just a couple of years ago, and he was supposed
4:13
to come in and stabilize the defense. And it seemed like he did
4:17
So to see him move so quickly, I think is more so telling of what they want to do this
4:22
off season, which is clear up capsule space to pursue some pretty big name free agents
4:28
And I think I heard it was Brett Pesci was on their red radar
4:32
They want to make a big run at him. So you got to move somebody Marino drew the short straw
4:38
The devils get back, like you mentioned, and a second round pick next year and a second
4:43
round pick this year, which they used on a goalie, Mikhail Yegorov, who was the top ranked
4:49
North American goalie. He's, you know, he's a raw goalie, but he's got size and he's got skills
4:54
I think he could be a pretty good pickup for them. The fifth rounder they sent back, you know, it's a fifth rounder
5:01
See if it turns into anything. But no, I think it was a it was a surprising trade
5:07
But overall, I thought it was pretty solid. Well, I mean, it makes sense that they're going after Pesci and they needed, again
5:14
the space to do it, to be able to put a good offer for him. And, you know, Marino, he struggled last season and his first season was great with the devils
5:23
But, you know, everyone struggled with the devils last season. So and it was one of them
5:28
So, I mean, maybe trying to change the defense core a bit
5:33
And of course, they've got a new goalie, too. So it kind of makes sense what they were doing, I think
5:39
And overall, we'll see. We'll see how it all pans out. Right
5:43
You mentioned Jacob Tanner-Jeanot, and he was traded as well and creates more cap space
5:47
for the Lightning. And he was traded to the Kings. And you know, the way that the way it all goes, Jeanot was traded for a lot of picks
5:56
and the Lightning don't really get that many back for him. They get a fourth round pick and a second rounder
6:02
I mean, that's okay, I guess. But they gave up. I mean, I don't know how many picks they gave up
6:09
It was, it was a, it was a first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and Cal foot. Yeah
6:13
It was a lot of stuff. They didn't get a lot back. But what do you think about going to the Kings
6:19
Again, the Kings are trying, I guess, changing their lineup, too. They traded Dubois
6:23
Now they get Jeanot. Yeah. So I got a text from my cousin today, who's just as big of a hockey nerd as us
6:30
And he said, is like, is that close to a fireable offense for Julian Breezeball for this kind
6:36
of turnover in a deal that shortly? And I said, you know what
6:40
It's closer to a fireable offense for Rob Blake for paying a second and a fourth for
6:44
Tanner-Jeanot at this point. Like, he doesn't bring much value. He was healthy scratched quite a bit in the season this year, if I'm not mistaken
6:55
He only played 55 games, 14 points, and makes $2.6 million. Dayton, we've talked about this on the Senators Roundtable quite a bit, looking for maybe a
7:06
fourth or fifth for Matthew Joseph. Is Matthew Joseph not a lot more valuable than Tanner-Jeanot is at this point
7:14
Like Tanner-Jeanot brings the physicality, but Matthew Joseph has more, gets more points
7:19
He's better defensively. He's faster. I don't know. I just don't get it at all
7:24
I don't understand it from LA's perspective at all. Getting two picks, two good picks for Tanner-Jeanot is a huge success for Julian Breezeball. Yeah
7:35
I, Jeanot seems to be a lot more valuable in, I guess, GM's eyes because again, he's
7:40
now been traded for, well, first and a bunch of other picks. And then now a second, I, you know, all the picks that he's been traded for, that's some
7:48
pretty good value for a guy that's probably a third line guy
7:52
I mean, he had a really good season with Nashville, that one season there
7:57
And that was why he was traded for that first round pick, but it didn't fit in Tampa
8:02
I mean, and now he'll, we'll see how he does in LA. I mean, the Kings kind of play a style that maybe he'll be good in, I think
8:10
So maybe, maybe he'll be good in LA and, and this pick, these picks that Blake did give
8:18
up is going to be a good trade in the end. All right, moving to gold tenders
8:24
And this is where we'll start with the first one here, Logan Thompson going to the Washington
8:28
Capitals from the Vegas Golden Knights. And for a third round pick, two thirds actually, one in 2024 and one in 2025
8:37
What do you think? I mean, well, I'll talk about it later. They acquired another goalie later on to replace him, but now the Capitals have a tandem of
8:46
two pretty cheap gold tenders. And I mean, arguably probably a 1A, 1B
8:52
What do you think about Thompson going to DC? Yeah, so definitely, I don't think he was on anybody's radar of being moved, but that's
9:04
how Vegas does, right? They'll move anybody at any time if the offer is right
9:10
And I guess the offer was right for them for the two third round picks
9:16
So he didn't even really have much of a regression this year
9:21
He took a minor step back, went from a 9.15 last season to a 9.08 save percentage this season
9:28
In the playoffs, though, he was still great at a 9.21 save percentage, was playing more
9:33
games, looked really solid. I think he struggled with some injuries early on, if I'm not mistaken
9:40
I might be getting that confused with last season. He was up for a lot of time last season, it was. Yeah
9:46
Yeah, okay. Too many goalies that just kind of rotate. I think that's a great acquisition for the Washington Capitals
9:55
And comparatively, they didn't have to pay very much to get him
9:59
It's somebody who could be a starting goalie for pretty much anybody in the league right now
10:05
But he has really good upside. And yeah, that's, you know, Vegas
10:13
You never can predict what Vegas is doing. And the Capitals took advantage of that. Yeah
10:19
And the thing is, I mean, of course, everyone's gonna after the Golden Knights getting kicked
10:23
pretty early in the playoffs, and you know, they're gonna be they're gonna be forced or
10:28
pressured to maybe make some moves. And of course, their cap situation isn't any good
10:33
It never is. They're always right up against it. They have to move some guys, not sure if they're going to be able to resign Marcia
10:41
And now they're goaltending. I mean, Aiden Hill's a great goaltender. So he's our starter now for sure
10:49
And now we'll talk about the guy that they got. And that was Akira Schmidt from the New Jersey Devils
10:54
And they had a little bit of a logjam with goaltenders. And now Schmidt gets a chance to be a backup
10:59
This one is an interesting one to me. The Golden Knights getting Alexander Holtz, who was a high end draft pick a couple of
11:06
years ago and didn't seem to work out in New Jersey, goes to Vegas for only Paul Cotter
11:13
and a third round pick in 2025. Is Paul Cotter that much worth that much for pretty much a top prospect and a potential
11:22
starting goaltender maybe down the road? I'll get both your thoughts on this
11:25
I want to know both your thoughts on what I mean, Jacob, what do you think about it? I mean, I think I think the Golden Knights just won this trade hands down
11:34
I think it's undeniable that the Golden Knights won that trade. I'll start with what they got
11:39
So Akira Schmidt, like you said, he prospect to be a potential starting goaltender down
11:44
the road. He was the Devils best goaltending prospect that they had
11:48
It's arguable, arguable between him and Nico Dawes. But I think in my opinion, it's Akira Schmidt and Alexander Holtz, who is Cole Eisenman
12:00
Like it's very similar prospect, just pretty one dimensional, has that good shot
12:07
He started taking some steps. He did some good things this year
12:12
Not quite where the Devils wanted him to be. I'm just pulling up his stats here
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He had 16 goals in 82 games. So that's like pretty good for a prospect in his first full season
12:24
I think that there's still a lot of room to grow for him, and he could be a top six forward
12:28
on Vegas as soon as this year. And I think that it's a huge win
12:32
As for Paul Cotter, I'm a huge fan of him. I think that he, especially with his $775,000 cap hit, I think he's extremely valuable
12:41
He's a great third line center. He had 25 points in 76 games this year on pace for about 30 in a full season
12:48
He's pretty physical. He's good defensively. He's one of those. I wouldn't be surprised to see him turn into a Chandler Stevenson of Vegas
12:59
He definitely has that upside. He went undrafted. I believe. No, he was drafted in the fourth round by Vegas a couple years ago, 2018, I believe
13:11
He could turn into one of those kind of Chandler Stevenson players or Anthony Cirelli or one
13:17
of those kind of players that I think New Jersey sees that in him
13:21
And at $775,000 for two seasons, I'd be willing to pay pretty big for that too
13:26
Maybe not that much. I think Vegas is still the clear winner, but I don't hate the trade from either side
13:32
I mean, I'm really high on Holtz. Maybe that's maybe I'm overvaluing him a bit, but I still love his upside
13:39
I think he's going to still be a 30 plus school score just because of that shot
13:43
And he's really young still. I think adding Holtz in there, I think makes it more Vegas's side, but that's me
13:53
Dayton, what do you think about that? I know we talked a lot about Holtz during his draft year, how good he was, how good
14:01
he's going to be. What do you think about the trade? Initial reaction was definitely this is a robbery from the devils
14:12
Why are they giving up Holtz? Why are they only getting Kotter back
14:17
This is strange. I think there is a little bit more logic to it than that
14:22
Like you said, Holtz hasn't really worked out in New Jersey. He did score 16 goals, but he's been given a lot of opportunities and he just hasn't
14:32
really clicked. He hasn't been fantastic in the minors. You know, a point per game in the AHL is still pretty good, but for somebody taking seventh
14:41
overall in a very deep draft, you'd hope that wouldn't be. They'd be in the NHL right now, right
14:49
They were hoping for Lucas Raymond or like they were teammates, right
14:52
You should have been kind of in that same area. And Raymond is not anywhere close to where Holtz is right now
15:00
Holtz is struggling. OK, so there's that. Kotter is surprisingly solid, too
15:08
He had 25 points last year in, or I guess this season, in 76 games, 41 penalty minutes
15:15
That is very close to what Holtz put up. They also only have, both of them, three seasons in the NHL
15:23
And Kotter took a roster spot pretty commandingly with the Vegas Golden Knights, who have a
15:30
very deep roster. So I think that's another positive sign for acquiring him
15:37
And I think the last piece of consideration for the Devils was Holtz's contract is up
15:42
at the end of the year. He will require an extension. And as a seventh overall pick, he's going to be looking for some money because there
15:51
is that potential. He could become a 30 goals, 30 goals score in the NHL
15:56
And you have to take that into consideration when you're signing. I don't think the Devils wanted to sign him long term, and I don't think they wanted to
16:07
deal with that because they are trying to get some really big names for this year
16:11
They are in a win now mode. And Holtz just wasn't helping them win now
16:15
So he became a trade casualty. Yeah, and I think the Golden Knights, they're gonna end up benefiting from it
16:24
I like I said, I still have a lot of hope that Holtz can become that type of goal scorer
16:29
And yeah, he just didn't really fit in New Jersey. And we'll see how he does in Vegas
16:36
But I think I think he still has a lot of skill and that shot alone will get him to
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score goals. It's just and playing with some really skilled players in Vegas, he'll be able to he'll get
16:45
a lot of opportunities again. We'll see if he takes advantage of it because they do got a lot of talent and he'll be able
16:51
to play with some really good players. So could play with Jack Eichel
16:55
That's a pretty good, pretty good center to play with. And and that's that's going to be up to him
17:01
Let's see how he does. All right. Well, those are the bigger trades
17:06
Kevin Hayes also got moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins. You know, this is again, salary dump
17:10
I mean, this is a guy that was, you know, he's getting paid quite a bit still quickly
17:16
I mean, Jacob, do you think anything that'll move the needle for Pittsburgh at all? Or I mean, he's been wasn't very good in St. Louis
17:23
No, I mean, he's a 40 point guy at the most now
17:28
He's making seven million dollars. I don't understand why Kyle Dupas would make that trade at all
17:36
Isn't that like exactly what Kyle Dupas was saying that he's trying to get Pittsburgh out of is the acquiring players like in the same age group or whatever as Chris Letang
17:49
Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin, Eric Carlson, like it's time to move out of that
17:54
It's time to get younger. This is not helping, especially at seven million dollars
17:58
It's not I don't understand it at all. Yeah, I'm not when I saw it, I'm like, Hayes gets moved again
18:06
And so many guys that that you're like, they never can get moved because their contract yet
18:12
Hayes has now been moved twice. And with that same contract, I don't I don't understand
18:18
Maybe other teams see things in them and for that money. I don't know
18:23
Well, they're talking about trading Riley Smith because of his salary cap
18:27
There is a cap it that's I'd much rather take Riley Smith than Kevin Hayes at this point
18:35
Yeah, I agree with that for sure. All right. Let's move to the big event of the day
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I mean, that was the draft and that finished it. And the sphere was amazing
18:44
We said it on the show last night. And I still think I think the initials just to say we're going to do this here all the time
18:53
I mean, why not? I know they're changing the whole format now and it's not going to be the same moving forward
18:59
But I mean, I don't know, it was a success in my mind of how how well it was executed
19:05
and the visuals on TV were great. You know, we got I got Dayton's thoughts on on the first round
19:11
But quickly, Jacob, what do you think about the first round and the picks and your overall
19:16
takeaways from that? I think that it was a really boring first round because there were no surprises like
19:23
other than Demidov falling to five and Seneca going to three in which honestly, Seneca
19:31
I expected that because I saw quite a few reports before the draft saying, look out
19:35
for this. Anaheim really likes them. There was no surprises. The content was excellent
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I loved the like watching it from the sphere. And I will say back to the award show, just backing up an extra day
19:49
I think that Matt Friend did a fantastic job hosting the award show
19:54
And it really sucks that none of the NHL players in this league have a personality because
19:58
he did a fantastic job. Yeah, too bad. That's the problem, I guess
20:05
Yeah, there weren't. I mean, I was surprised that Seneca went third overall
20:09
But yeah, there was a bit of chatter about it. But yeah, overall, I mean, Koleiserman dropping
20:15
We kind of were talking about him dropping that far. And it happened
20:20
But yeah, I guess looking back, there wasn't really any big ones where you're like, oh
20:24
my gosh, what happened? I mean, why did the guy drop all the way down here? Or why did the guy raise so much
20:30
There's a bit more drama in the last couple drafts in that case, especially the draft
20:35
of Slavkovski. We didn't know who was going to go first overall
20:38
And there was surprise with Shane Wright dropping so far, and he was supposed to be first overall
20:43
But yeah, but overall, I think the atmosphere and the way that it was done, I think the
20:48
first round was great, like you said, about the content. Yeah, it was good
20:52
All right, moving to the rest of it. Dayton, I'll talk, you know, there was a lot of, I mean, once the second round got going
21:00
there was, the picks started going a bit quicker, as it always happens
21:05
But what'd you think about the whole draft in general, the players that were drafted
21:09
any surprises that you saw? Would you think about it? Yeah, I thought it was pretty good
21:14
It had several surprises as the draft kind of went on. First, I think most notably, Aaron Kiviharju, falling to, was that the fourth round
21:23
It was the fourth round, yeah. There was no way that Aaron Kiviharju should have fallen to the fourth round
21:30
That's a guy who should have been in the first or just barely in the second
21:35
But he's a little guy, right? And I think that's primarily what tanked his draft status
21:43
He had that injury, but he looked like he came back from it okay
21:46
And Adam Jurczyk was drafted highly and he had an injury that took him out of everything
21:51
So I don't think those guys were leagues apart. So that was definitely the biggest surprise
21:59
Second biggest one was Ryerson Linders falling to the seventh round. One of the best goalies available in North America, to be sure
22:07
He did drop a little bit based on some injuries in the playoffs
22:12
You know, some inconsistency, but very, very athletic goalie. He makes saves, just he makes them look easy, highlight real stuff
22:23
I don't know how he ended up in the seventh round. There were so many like weird no name goalies taken before him, just waiting
22:32
Where's Linders? Those are definitely the two biggest surprises for me. But it was fun seeing all of these guys that we'd, you know, researched and looked up and
22:42
scouted for months and months, finally find their home. Yeah. I mean, Linders, I really, I was surprised
22:51
And like, when I saw him, he hasn't been drafted yet? What are you talking about? Like, I thought he was already drafted
22:56
And you look and I'm like, oh, he wasn't. Yeah, I don't know
23:00
He could. Well, look, Hendrik Lundqvist went what? Sixth round? Yeah, I think so. Yeah
23:07
I mean, you don't know. I mean, some of these goalies, some teams just don't have the confidence in drafting
23:11
these guys higher than that area. And I mean, there is a lot of uncertainty in goaltending
23:18
We all know that. But I really think he should have been at least, I don't know, third round
23:25
Second round? I mean, we were talking about him being maybe the first goaltender off the board at times there
23:32
And Ilhan Abakov went where we kind of thought he was going to
23:36
Oh, where I thought he was going to go to. Everybody told me no
23:40
Jacob thought he was going to go high. I had him 52nd, I think, in my final ranking
23:46
And I thought that was a pretty fair placing for one of the most interesting goalies of
23:50
the draft. No, he went really high. I said 39 and he went 38. Yeah
23:56
Well, we said on Prospect Corner, we're talking about early. I think Peter was saying he said he said he could have been really early on in the second round
24:05
Peter was with you, Jacob. Everybody told me I was wrong. All right
24:12
Well, Jacob, what do you think about the rest of the draft
24:16
Any surprises for you? Yeah, Kivihiryu, that's a pretty obvious one Dayton already mentioned
24:24
Another one that Dayton and I chatted about today was Justin Poirier
24:27
And he went 156th to the Carolina Hurricanes. And I understand that he did. Yeah
24:34
I don't I don't know how he went so far down the draft
24:38
But yeah, five foot eight guy. That's why he went so far down the draft
24:42
He is the first player that is 17 years old to score 50 goals in the QMJHL since Sidney Crosby
24:48
How do you let him fall to the fifth round? I don't understand
24:52
I think that that was the biggest surprise for me. Well, and guess who gets them
24:57
The Carolina Hurricanes. I was about to message Dayton about that. I'm like, well, of course, it's the Hurricanes
25:03
And he had just messaged the channel, the draft channel about it
25:07
So I yeah, I think a lot of people are probably like, yeah, the Hurricanes always go for these
25:11
guys and they always seem to pan out. I mean, that just it just they're not afraid how that works
25:18
They're not afraid to kick these guys. Not at all. And they end up hitting
25:23
I mean, and that's and I don't have I really have no doubt that he probably will
25:28
You're probably going to see him in the NHL. And that's and that's something that I mean, undersized, you know, but he's like not even
25:35
that small. He's, you know, almost 180 pounds at five foot eight
25:39
He's a solid like train. He plays closer to five, 11 and five
25:45
He does not look that small when he's playing out there. Yeah
25:49
So I mean, yeah, when it happens, we always say it undersized guys get get looked over
25:55
and then look at they they actually do well. And then no one learns. Yeah
26:02
All right. Let's talk about just a couple guys that we had profiles for maybe guys that we thought
26:10
yeah, definitely going to get drafted. Just one each here, because we're going to have a huge episode of Prospect Corner
26:16
I'm talking all about this. But Dayton, one guy that you were surprised was not drafted
26:22
Yeah, Daniil Ustinkov, the defenseman out of Switzerland. He at one point was being projected to be a first round pick
26:31
I watched him. I didn't love some of his game. I thought he was a little bit too patient in areas
26:36
So I put him conservatively down in the third round. He wasn't picked at all
26:42
Like he's not small. He's six foot one. He's a right shot defender, I think
26:45
No, that's someone else. He's a left shot. But you know, he plays a pretty simple, straightforward game
26:51
I don't know how nobody took a chance on him. Yeah, I don't get why I don't get take flyers on some of these guys just later on
27:00
I mean, what do you got to lose, really? But yeah, I've projected to be that high
27:04
I don't know why he wasn't drafted either. Jacob, what about you
27:09
There's a few names that didn't get drafted, that is what we had our profiles for, but I'm going to go with Gabriel Fresca
27:16
I'm quite surprised that he didn't get drafted. I'm surprised he fell out of the third round
27:22
And I'm surprised that he didn't get drafted at all. He played with Kingston this year
27:28
He's a really good two way player. 32 points in 44 games
27:32
Like that's solid production from no HL. I can't remember if he's a rookie or if he's a sophomore in that league
27:39
but he's a solid two way player. And one of those guys that a team looks at and says
27:45
this guy's going to be a safer bet than others, like he's not very risky
27:50
And I'm just surprised that he didn't get drafted at all. Yeah, I mean that
27:57
Now this is I'm going to same same comments. I don't know why some of these guys drop so far and or don't get drafted at all
28:03
One for me is Alexander Zetterberg. I mean, yeah, again, the size he has
28:09
He is small, lots of skill. And I would think I thought sixth, seventh round
28:15
And then when the Canucks were had some six and seven, he's Swedish. Come on, pick him
28:20
Yeah, they don't pick up. I they did pick some Swedes. And also Jack Boudin
28:25
I was really surprised that he wasn't drafted either. I mean, he's very simple defenseman
28:29
He's he's a good hitter. He's probably doesn't have a lot of upside offensively
28:34
maybe a bottom pairing defenseman, but I think he was worth taking a flyer on
28:39
But he wasn't drafted either. Those two, for me, were my biggest surprise for sure
28:43
Zetterberg, because we had him. We were talking about him maybe in the third round
28:47
There was talk of maybe second round. But his size, ultimately, I think that's just what happens
28:53
And he wasn't he's still he's still available. And we'll see if he's
28:58
they'll get drafted next next year in the draft. And but I was really surprised by Zetterberg, not
29:04
not just going in the seventh round. I mean, I would think a team would just take
29:08
take some a chance on just his skill alone, but. Didn't happen
29:14
All right, quickly, a winner and a loser from the draft, Dayton
29:20
All right, winner, I'm going to go to Calgary Flames. They took several of the guys I was watching
29:26
Luke Misa somehow fell to 150th. That's the flame scooped him up
29:31
Henry Muse, they picked up at 74th and Andrew Bash at 41st
29:35
I think those are all really, really good players. I think they all could have been first round picks at one point
29:40
They weren't. And the Flames took them. I think that was fantastic on their part
29:45
They also got a lot of really good guys in like Bataglia
29:49
Jacob Bataglia, I think Hunter Lang, Eric Jamison. And Matt, they agreed, and, you know, could be a hit or a miss
29:57
But Zane Parekh with their first pick. Yeah, really, really solid. I'm really, really impressed with what the Flames did
30:04
Loser, I'm going to go with the Toronto Maple Leafs because they didn't pick anybody
30:10
And maybe that's a little harsh on Ben Danford, who is easily the best guy that they took
30:15
But he's a defensive defenseman. He had half a point a game
30:19
He is what he is. I think everyone else they selected is a shot in the dark
30:24
and I wouldn't be surprised if none of them panned out. Yeah, it's I think just kind of a waste of a draft for the Leafs this year
30:33
Jacob, what about you, a winner and a loser? I do just want to go back to the Zetterberg comments
30:37
that you said you're surprised nobody took him in the seventh round. Remember the last Zetterberg that got taken in the seventh round
30:44
Yeah. Yeah. But my winner is easily, without question, the Minnesota Wild
30:52
They got probably the best value per pick with Zeve Bullion, Ryder Ritchie and Aaron Kivihirju
31:00
Those three picks alone. Like if they didn't make any other picks in this draft, I still think that they're the winners
31:06
That's just that adds so much depth to their already strong depth charts
31:11
And especially on defense, you can have Brock Faber, Zeve Bullion and Aaron Kivihirju in a couple of years
31:17
I don't think that that's very fair for the rest of the league, if I'm going to be honest
31:22
Ryder Ritchie ended up going to Minnesota. What'd you say? Ryder Ritchie, he also went to Minnesota
31:28
Did I not say him? Yeah, he said Ryder Ritchie, yeah. OK. Oh, my goodness. Yeah
31:34
You had me questioning myself. Loser of the draft for me was also
31:41
Toronto, just because they did not do much. And it's as simple as that
31:47
If I had to pick another. Off the top of my head, I might say Ottawa and not just because
31:54
Gabriel Eliasson was a interesting pick, I'm not going to hate on it yet
32:00
I'm going to do some more digging into him personally. They just went with big and a lot of risky picks, but
32:08
their smallest player is six foot two and their lightest player was one hundred and eighty one pounds
32:15
But you can't you can't teach size and not a lot of big skill guys, just a lot of really risky picks
32:21
I don't hate their draft, but I just think that they didn't go with very many safe picks in a time that they needed to go with a lot of safe picks
32:30
Yeah, that's fair. I mean, I agree with Toronto, I looked at all their names and I'm like, who
32:37
Yeah, like and even even Peter, he's like, this will be a quick one
32:41
I don't know how these players. Yeah, a lot of quick. I mean, the thing is, is I mean, maybe some of them pan out
32:51
and we didn't think Easton Cowen was a good pick in the first round last year
32:56
Turns out it's pretty good. Ben Danford, I think, is going to end up being pretty good, too
33:00
I do like that pick. That's a good pick. Yeah, yeah. And I think overall, yeah, the draft wasn't
33:07
It was very underwhelming, but you never know. I never know with some of these some of these guys
33:12
Right. So I think my winner was the Minnesota Wild. In my opinion, those those defensemen that they got, they really bolstered
33:20
a part of their prospect pool that's very weak. And now they got legitimately probably three guys that could be top four
33:29
I mean, definitely boom. And and Kiviharjo is a lot of upside
33:35
even though he's undersized and does have some developing to do. But I messaged Mariah, who covers the wild, and I said
33:41
you've got to steal with Kiviharjo. I mean, this guy is great. He should have been a first round pick and you get him in the fourth round
33:47
So undersized, he's five, ten, one hundred pounds. Like he's not tiny
33:53
No, but they say undersized. And that's yeah, I don't know. And the wild have had success with undersized defenseman
34:02
Jared Spurgeon. Exactly. He's a lot smaller, obviously, but doesn't play that way
34:07
And and that's I think Kiviharjo doesn't have that same physicality. He doesn't block shots like like Spurgeon does
34:15
But that can be developed, I guess. We'll see. We'll dive into all the draft classes through Prospect Corner
34:22
throughout the summer. We're going to do that. And of course, Senator's Roundtable
34:26
You guys are going to go a whole episode about the Senator's draft class
34:30
So stay tuned for that. Make sure to check out all of our stuff at thehoggarages.com
34:34
We've got draft recaps coming out already out or they're coming as you're watching this
34:40
So make sure checking all of everything, all of our stuff post draft
34:44
And then, of course, free agencies just around the corner. So no rest
34:49
We've got a lot of stuff coming out. So make sure checking all that out
34:52
And until our next episode, we'll see you next time
#Hockey