Jaahas jos sitä kävisi vielä tätä toisen päivän satoa läpi.
Alkuun Corey Pronmanin lunnehdinnat Oliver Bonkista:
”Bonk's toolkit looks like an NHL defenseman. He's a 6-foot-2 right shot with strong mobility and offensive touch. Bonk is able to skate pucks up ice, make some skilled plays, and shows good poise from the blue line. He's not a standout with the puck, but he can be a decent puck mover at higher levels. Defensively he's solid due to his feet and reach. Bonk isn't overly physical but he can defend well enough as a pro. He projects as a top-four defenseman in the NHL.”
Bonk kuului Londonin työjuhtiin kun joukkue raivasi tiensä aina OHL:n finaaleihin saakka, jotka kuitenkin hävisivät kuudessa pelissä Peterboroughille. Itse pidän pelaajasta ja tällä on ainakin näin kesällä 2023 tarkastellen helppoa nähdä hyvä NHL-tulevaisuus.
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Toinen päivä alkoi kaupankäynnillä Hawksin kanssa, jossa vaihtoivat Provorov kaupassa saadun Losin kesän 2024 kakkoskierroksen varauksen tämän päivän 51. vuoroon, jolla nappasivat kanukkiveskari Carson Bjarnasonin (6’3’’ / 190 lbs). Maalivahteja alkoi menemään tiuhaan tahtiin siinä toisella kierroksella, joten halusivat selvästi mukaan saaliille.
Pronman:
”Bjarnason has decent size at 6-foot-3, to go with very good quickness and ability to make the tough saves. His hockey IQ is probably his best trait, though. Bjarnason is consistently square with pucks, and makes difficult stops seem easy due to how well he reads and reacts to the play. He has a lot of efficiency in his game. He has NHL potential, but was inconsistent this season, with major highs and lows in his play. It's hard for me to say he for sure has an NHL career, but I think he has a decent chance to do so.”
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Kolmannella kierroksella olikin pari pickiä, joista 87. vuorolla tarttui vuorostaan MHL:ssä pelannut venäläiskassari Yegor Zavragin (6’2’’ / 182 lbs), josta itsellä ei ole mitään käryä. Peliäkään en ole nähnyt ja hyvin vähän mistään lukenutkaan. Tämä aktiivinen venäläisten varaaminen tuli myös yllätyksenä, mutta toisaalta hyvä, että elämä jatkuu.
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95. vuorolla nappasivat yhden omista draftsuosikeistani eli pienen ja pippurisen London Knightsin Denver Barkeyn (C / 5’9’’ / 175 lbs), joka pelasi Bonkin tavoin isossa ruudussa Londonin pudotuspelitaipaleella.
Pronman:
”Barkey has a lot of things to like about his game. He has good skill and vision and he competes his butt off. He plays without fear and gets to the inside which is what you like to see from a smaller player. He's a good skater, with strong speed and edgework and has shown in junior he can be a reliable two-way player. Whether the toolkit is dynamic enough at his size to be an NHL player, though, is up for debate but you love the way he plays.”
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Neljännellä kierroksella vuorolla 103. varasivat Cole Knublen (C / 5’11’’ / 185 lbs), joka on siis yli tuhannen pelin NHL-uran tehneen ja Flyersissakin hyvän tovin pelanneen Mike Knublen poika. Isäänsä verrattuna on selvästi pienempi, mutta liike on tälläkin nihkeää, mikä on se suurin jarruttava tekijä ja samalla selkein syy, miksi sai varauksen vasta toisessa draftissaan. On pienemmästä koostaan huolimatta geenien velvoittamana vahva ja luontainen maalineduspelaaja, mutta muutoin huomattavasti monikäyttöisempi ja kokonaisvaltaisempi, mitä isänsä oli. Henkilökohtaisesti pidän tästäkin, mutta sillä nyt ei ole mitään väliä.
Elite Prospects:
”What a difference a year makes. Cole Knuble went undrafted last season and returned to the USHL as a new player. In last season’s draft guide, we outlined that he needed to swap out the solo rushes for a more proactive, give-and-go style that leaned heavier on his off-puck game. He did that, and then some.
Now, Knuble bypasses defenders with deft passes, a bit of deception, and non-stop movement. He’s a true give-and-go player. Non-stop scanning and proactive off-puck positioning combine with that NHL style. In quick succession, he piles up multiple touches – the puck seems to follow him as a result. The game flows through him.
As a result, Knuble’s a threat from everywhere in the offensive zone: A passing threat in both open-ice and down low and a scoring threat from range with an even better in-tight finishing game. He’s physical, fearless, and just as capable completing plays with defenders leaning on him as he is in open ice.
At Knuble’s current level of skating, space will be virtually impossible to find in the NHL. He has the passing skill, puck protection, and off-puck game to make it work, but there’s a chance the skating just doesn’t quite reach that level.
Still, the hard-nosed centre looks on the path to become a third- or fourth-line forward in the NHL. A team would be smart to pick Knuble up in the middle of the draft.”
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Toisella neljännen kierroksen varauksellaan vuorolla 120. nappasivat slovakkihyökkääjä Alex Ciernikin (LW / 5’11’’ / 180 lbs). Oma otos rajoittuu pariin U20-kisojen otteluun, joten ei sen tutumpi. Väläytteli kuitenkin kisoissa, jonka lisäksi Ciernikille kertyi jo hyvä määrä miesten pelejä Allsvenskanissa. Itselle oli pieni yllätys, että valui peräti neljännelle kierrokselle, mutta nuo Pronmarin pari viimeistä lausetta kiteyttävät tilanteen hyvin. Mutta jos saavat vauhtia ja taitoa prospect pooliinsa neljännelle kierroksella, ei varaukseen kauhean negatiivisesti voi suhtautua.
Pronman:
”Ciernik is a talented scoring winger. He has the speed and skill for higher levels. His skill can stand out, especially the plays he makes in full stride, with flashes of high-end hands. He can make plays on the move and from a standstill. Ciernik's shot is also quite good, and he's a guy who can help a power play due to his various offensive tools. I wouldn't call him a top-end offensive player, and his compete level off the puck, while not poor, is average. So the debate is: As a 5-foot-11 player, where does that fit in an NHL lineup? He could make it, he has talent, but I can't sit here and tell you I for sure see a top-nine winger.”
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Viidennen kierroksen varaus osui vuorolla 135. WHL:n Portland Winterhawksien puolustaja Carter Sotheraniin (RD, 6’3’’ / 203 lbs). Itse en Portlandin ja siten Sotheraninkaan pelejä muista nähneeni yhtäkään kun eivät olleet draftia ajatellen niitä WHL:n kiinnostavimpia nippuja ja läheskään samoja määriä ei matseja tule enää vuodessa pyöriteltyä, mitä joskus aikanaan. Omia ajatuksia ei täten tästä ole.
Elite Prospects:
Olivat draft guidessaan sijoittaneet Sotheranin peräti sijalle 55. mikä olikin samalla kaverin korkein ranking näistä yleisimmistä listauksista. Pitivät siis selvästi näkemästään, mikä myös tuosta kuvauksestakin nousee esiin. Yleisesti Sotherania oli paljon sijoitettu kolmannelle kierrokselle, mitä näkemystä NHL-organisaatiot eivät selvästi jakaneet.
”In a different era, a player with Carter Sotheran’s characteristics would likely be pigeon-holed into a shutdown role. In today’s game of activation and puck play from blueliners, more towering, play-creating blueliners are popping up.
A transition ace, Sotheran consistently creates favourable situations up the rink with patience and skill on the breakout. Like the top puck-movers, he draws pressure, manipulates it, and finds a teammate on the other side. Instead of passing into battles along the boards, he cuts back to find a better option. After passing, he accelerates into the play, using those same exciting skills further up the rink.
The anticipation and feel for the game appear on the side of the puck, too. He angles opponents, forcing them wide before going for the puck. A developing physical element should make his defence a strength in the NHL. And when he recovers possession, he instantly makes the best pass to start the counterattack.
In the offensive end, Sotheran makes the same reads: Activating down the weak side, faking out opponents, and setting up teammates. He’s a better creator than his point totals show, but he’s not quite as effective from the blue line-and-in.
One solution for finding more offensive success is skating improvement. While Sotheran’s an evasive and skilled skater, he lacks stability, especially on his outside edges. His initial steps are sluggish, too. Since he properly loads either leg and uses counterforce to explode out of his turns, his evasiveness could translate. It comes down to adding strength, tightening the form, and timing his manoeuvres a bit better. Skating growth will also enable Sotheran to escape with possession on retrievals, a current hole in his game, improve his rush defence, and make him even more dangerous in transition.
Sotheran’s an intelligent, skilled player, capable of playing on a team’s second pair. It will take longer for him to reach his upside than most prospects ranked in this range, but he could be worth the wait.”
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Kuudennella kierroksella vuorolla 172. tarttui Ryan MacPherson (C / 6’0’’ / 175 lbs). Pelasi päättyneen kauden GOJHL:ssä Leamington Flyersin joukkueessa, mikä toivon mukaan ei ollut sentään se syy varaukselle. Sarjahan on näitä alempia ja heikkotasoisempia Ontarion liigoja verrattuna provinssin pääjuniorisarja OHL:ään. Ensi kaudeksi siirtyy BCHL:n Penticton Veesiin ja syksyllä 2024 aloittaa NCAA:ssa New Hampshiren yliopistossa, joka on siis se syy, miksei OHL:ssä voi pelata, vaikka sinnekin on aikanaan varauksen saanut. Itse kuulin nimen ensimmäistä kertaa tänään, joten siltä tasolta lähdetään. Sellainen erityisen pitkä projekti, jolle ei suuria odotuksia voi asettaa, mitä nyt ei 6. kierroksen varauksille muutenkaan.
Elite Prospects:
”After spending their entire minor hockey years on the same teams, Ryan MacPherson and Connor MacPherson joined the Leamington Flyers of the GOJHL in preparation for their NCAA career. Just like they did at previous levels, the twin brothers quickly started driving their team’s offence, finishing as top scorers over the past two seasons.
Ryan MacPherson, who plays centre, supported plays lower in the zone and started the breakouts. He acted as the connector, the passer who deceived defenders and moved the puck quickly around them. He ensured that the puck transitioned smoothly from the defensive zone to the offensive end. We appreciated his physical skills during the season. MacPherson rarely let the opposition escape cleanly with a loose puck. He battled for them and tried his best to seal them away from the opposition with his body.
While he will probably become an effective college player and maybe even become a useful professional player, the lack of technical ability in his game hurts his NHL projection. During his four years in college, Ryan will have to develop his overall skills if he wants to earn a shot at the NHL.”
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Päivän päätteeksi varasivat vielä seitsemännellä kierroksella vuorolla 199. QMJHL:stä kolossaalisen puolustajan Matteo Mannin (RD / 6’6’’ / 230 lbs). Tämänkään pelejä en ole koskaan nähnyt, mutta nimi oli sentään tuttu ja oli tätä muutamille ennakkolistoillekin yritetty sijoittaa.
Elite Prospects:
”We had high hopes for Matteo Mann, the son of Ottawa Senators’ assistant general manager Trent Mann, coming into the season. While he didn’t score a lot in his draft-minus-one, his length and poise with the puck impressed our staff in moments. We expected the 6-foot-5 defenceman to build on the foundation he laid out in his first two years with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and impose himself as a top-64 player in this draft class.
That scenario didn’t materialize. Injuries kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks in the early season. And when he did rejoin his team in December, he didn’t progress as fast as other prospects. His ice time started to decline. This season could just be a blip on the radar in a few years if Mann manages to develop his skating stride and turn into the puck-mover and shutdown defenceman he can be.
Right now, like many other prospects of his size at 18-years-old, his mobility projects as below NHL average. Mann can’t fold over his skates like a smaller defenceman. His reach compensates for his lack of agility and quickness, but this season, if he didn’t time his defensive close-outs just right, attackers beat him wide with fakes, dangles, and quick accelerations. When he did catch attackers, however, Mann made them remember their encounter.
“Mann crushed a few Remparts players in this one,” Elite Prospects lead scout David St-Louis wrote in a December report. “One of his hits was exceptionally violent. His desire to play physically and his size make him a constant threat on the ice, but he also has finesse. He can slip pucks under sticks to teammates in transition. His awareness stands out constantly.” Mann lacks execution in his plays with the puck. He has some good ideas — he attempts to deceive defenders and activate into the play — but his success rate remained low this season
A patient NHL development team, willing to invest the time to work with Mann over multiple years, could help the defenceman turn his good ideas into scoring plays and his physical gifts into a legitimate NHL shutdown game.”
Toinen todella pitkä projekti, jonka kohdalla täytyisi kuitenkin parissa vuodessa saada päätös aikaiseksi nähdäänkö ELC:n väärtinä vaiko ei.
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Kokonaisuutena linja oli aika selkeä ja yhdenmukainen. Raamikkaita rightin pakkeja sekä pienehköjä hyökkääjiä, joilla kuitenkin kiekollista talenttia ja osalla vahvaa luistelua. Lisäksi pari maalivahtia. Aikahan tuon näyttää miten osuivat, mutta eivätpä ainakaan jatkaneet vanhoilla jäljillään. Varsinkin nämä kookkaat rightin pakit olivat selvä muutos aiempaan. Fletherin aikana kun ei kätisyys kuin kokokaan ollut puolustajien osalta mitenkään erityisen merkittävä juttu.
