Postby mikey » Wed Jun 26, 2019 10:08 am
Re: Our picks. Be mindful, I really only know American guys...I have much less knowledge of everyone else, so here goes...
Poulin - He's a big hulk of a guy...one of the more physically imposing current players in the class. He can put the puck away. His skill level isn't super high from a translatable sense right now for me, until he really learns to use his body to protect pucks, keep his feet moving while making his 1v1 moves, and controlling the puck well outside of his skates, I'm gonna be a little hesitant on the ceiling. He has a JVR feel to him, but he'll participate up and down the rink where he can...unlike JVR who is just one-dimensional. He really owns the rink below the dots. Hmm, maybe I'll try to squint and bring it home for us...Ryan Malone maybe? I think he's the best QMJHL eligible player in this class.
What I might have done instead: Shane Pinto or Ryan Johnson.
Legare (Leh-gah-REE) - Just a finisher. He can score from distance already. Plays the point of the power play and the side wall. He really doesn't do much else. I don't think his talent level is anything interesting, I think he's a below average skater, and I don't think he really adds any pluses anywhere else. He can shoot, but I don't think that's gonna be enough. I don't have a lot of hope for this pick.
What I might have done instead: Patrick Moynihan, Parker Ford, Jami Krannila.
Judd Caulfield - Another hulk of a player...more of a cycler than anything. Skating is quite a bit below average. When he gets moving, he takes it to the paint, but his small area footwork doesn't allow him to be a real menace near the net yet like a Hornqvist. Makes some surprisingly good plays from near the icing line and he can really dig out some pucks. But overall, nothing really grades above average for him for me. I don't see it as a reasonable that he turns out better than ZAR for instance...
Valtteri Puustinen - Saw him a little bit at the WJCs. He's a '99, so he's already been passed over twice. He's one of those guys that we take late because we can sign him and get him in our system quicker. He doesn't do anything for me. I don't think he's very smart, I don't think he has skill, he works decently hard...I think I saw some tweet that said that he's a really good skater...I see what they mean, but I don't think that's right either...there's some flaws to it and it really holds him back, especially for a player his size. The speed of his foot churn makes it seem like he's a good, fast skater...but there really isn't a ton there right now, it needs some help.
Santeri Airola - I don't know this player. Apparently one of our scouts was standing on the table for him because I think we traded back in (after giving all of ours picks for Legare) to get him. I don't know him, hopefully he's not a complete boob. I do know that he got invited to Finland's WJC camp over some players that were drafted much higher. But he's a 2018 pass over that I've never heard of...
Seems like, to put it overly simply, we took some guys who can shoot but can't really skate and aren't terribly smart (Poulin is the exception, and whatever Airola is maybe)...Poulin is the hope here, I don't see a reasonable scenario (again, not knowing Airola at all), where any of those other players make pension in the NHL...but, I've been wrong before, and I'll be wrong again...hopefully I am here...
