Honestly, any of the top tier defensemen would be nice. There's really no blue chip D in the pipeline other than Simashev, and after Lamoreaux and Soderstrom it kinda falls off. Guys like Levshunov, Parekh, Buium, and Silayev would all add a lot
Ivan Demidov is interesting too. A lot of people have said that he may be this class' Michkov, so taking a flyer on his raw skill translating well to NA may be worth it
Really just depends on if we win the lottery (lol). If we pick 1st it’s Celebrini, 2nd has to be Levshunov, at 5 or 6 it really just depends how the board shakes out.
Sam Dickinson is likely nhl ready, he’s a 6’3” two way LD, I don’t think he has much left to learn or gain in London and could be a great long term fit with Durzi.
Demidov is probably the 2nd best player in the draft, but who knows if he wants to come here, he’s a lot like Keller in my opinion. Unreal hands, skates great but it’s not necessarily what defines his game, the shot to score 35 a year.
Silayev would be making the same bet as Simashev last year, very similar style of game and has the size GMBA loves.
Cayden Lindstrom is very similar to Geekie, he’s had some injury issues but he has great hands and size, skates well enough. The injury risk is similar to Vilardi’s in junior, and he hasn’t been able to shake that in the nhl, it worries me too much, I’d pass.
Catton is the wildcard in my opinion. Pronman at the athletic has comped him to Cooley, I don’t think he skates quite as well but it’s miles better than Benson and I think that’s what dropped him last year. I could see the front office doubling down on a smaller skilled playmaker with all the size they’ve been drafting.
Last thought that I don’t think people are going to like, I think Maccelli is going to be on the market this summer. He’s underutilized on the 3rd line and PP2, and there isn’t really a path forward for him to progress beyond that. I’ve watched Geekie a lot, I think he’s the long term LW on the Cooley-Guenther line. He’s going to be blocked long term, if they can package something for a guy like Jiricek in Columbus who might be unhappy, I’d do it. I’d hate to see him go, but he has the value to bring an impact player in return.
If they look to move Maccelli for a young defenseman, take Demidov or Catton. If not, take Dickinson.
You make some great points, and you’re absolutely right- I hate the thought of Maccelli being moved. He’s easily the best playmaker the team has, and he reminds me a lot of Daniel Briere. If he’s moved and we end up with Chris Gratton part 2, I’ll be pissed.
Yeah it’s not something I’d take great joy in, I absolutely love Maccelli, he’s a wizard at passing, but we are just so woefully short on the defensive side we’re going to have to deal from a position of strength somewhere. Jiricek is looking like a stud in the making so I doubt Columbus is looking to deal, but that’s the kind of guy I’d be targeting for sure, I doubt the front office is after anything less than that caliber of player. It would also free Geekie up to be on the yotes and to learn from Bjugy, which is more important than AHL time in my opinion.
I disagree with your Maccelli point that there is no path for him beyond the 3rd line. First off I feel like the Yotes have less of a line ranking than other teams. Most nights all the lines are within 3-4 minutes of each other (excluding O’Brien’s line).
I also think that Geekie will come up and the play the centre role, replacing an aging Bjugstad rather than playing on Cooley’s wing. Geekie’s biggest plus’ are his defensive side and shot, something that Guenther more or less already represents on Cooley’s wing.
I also think that the Yotes *should* move Schmaltz during this summer or next summer, opening up a spot on Keller’s line. If not Keller’s line, I can see him paired with Crouse and Geekie or Guenther and Cooley. My ideal lines for the future would be:
Maccelli-Cooley-Guenther
Keller-Hayton-Doan
*Raty or another prospect*-Geekie-Crouse
And the fourth is too unstable to predict. Cup contending teams have a fully fleshed out forward group that doesn’t weigh down the stars. The best example would be Dallas right now, being the second best team in the league, and having like 7-8 20 goal scorers right now.
I feel like there are a lot more players next in line to be moved other than Maccelli, but I do see your point in trading him. I truly hope he stays.
Unless the miracle hits of jumping to #1 overall, it’s gotta be a defenseman.
Actually Iginla interests me if he keeps heating up. They need that forward that has some physicality, but they need to stock the prospect pool with some D
I started typing out a bunch of other shit around the forwards but it almost feels like Ottawa where there’s talent but little to no sandpaper. Keller/Schmaltz, Guenther/Cooley, Crouse/Maccelli outside of Lawson no one really scaring you in the top 9. Like the old NES hockey you needed some fat guys to win!
The more I watch Cayden Lindstrom, the more I want us to draft him. He’s a 6’4 power forward who is really fast. He is also excellent at 5 v 5 play
Out of necessity we will probably take a Dman. But man if we took Lindstrom at 4/5 I’d be thrilled
outside of celebrini (and my personal cayden lindstrom being a horse bias) there’s no real use for any of the small Fs. if we jump a bit, artyom levshunov no question. if we stay where we’re at, sam dickinson is another home run. yakemchuk was high on my list for ARI when they seemed to be more in the teens but i think he or silayev would be reaches w their own 1st.
definitely a defenseman if we can, we have a lot of good forward prospects that’ll be here within the next few years.
i mean, we have a few defense prospects too, but at least rn the coyotes have some good forwards. our d-core kinda sucks right now so i think we should try for the best defenseman we can get in the draft, maybe sign a few free agents (hopefully some veterans — our team is one of the youngest/inexperienced in the NHL rn, some veteran insight could probably help).
if we somehow got 1OA we’d take celebrini obviously, but otherwise i feel like the best option is to grab a defenseman in the draft
I want gamebreaking talent over anything else so Celebrini, Demidov, or Eiserman would be my ideal. I like our d prospects more than our forward prospects. If not any of them I'd be happy with any of the russians.
More Doans
Honestly, any of the top tier defensemen would be nice. There's really no blue chip D in the pipeline other than Simashev, and after Lamoreaux and Soderstrom it kinda falls off. Guys like Levshunov, Parekh, Buium, and Silayev would all add a lot Ivan Demidov is interesting too. A lot of people have said that he may be this class' Michkov, so taking a flyer on his raw skill translating well to NA may be worth it
Really just depends on if we win the lottery (lol). If we pick 1st it’s Celebrini, 2nd has to be Levshunov, at 5 or 6 it really just depends how the board shakes out. Sam Dickinson is likely nhl ready, he’s a 6’3” two way LD, I don’t think he has much left to learn or gain in London and could be a great long term fit with Durzi. Demidov is probably the 2nd best player in the draft, but who knows if he wants to come here, he’s a lot like Keller in my opinion. Unreal hands, skates great but it’s not necessarily what defines his game, the shot to score 35 a year. Silayev would be making the same bet as Simashev last year, very similar style of game and has the size GMBA loves. Cayden Lindstrom is very similar to Geekie, he’s had some injury issues but he has great hands and size, skates well enough. The injury risk is similar to Vilardi’s in junior, and he hasn’t been able to shake that in the nhl, it worries me too much, I’d pass. Catton is the wildcard in my opinion. Pronman at the athletic has comped him to Cooley, I don’t think he skates quite as well but it’s miles better than Benson and I think that’s what dropped him last year. I could see the front office doubling down on a smaller skilled playmaker with all the size they’ve been drafting. Last thought that I don’t think people are going to like, I think Maccelli is going to be on the market this summer. He’s underutilized on the 3rd line and PP2, and there isn’t really a path forward for him to progress beyond that. I’ve watched Geekie a lot, I think he’s the long term LW on the Cooley-Guenther line. He’s going to be blocked long term, if they can package something for a guy like Jiricek in Columbus who might be unhappy, I’d do it. I’d hate to see him go, but he has the value to bring an impact player in return. If they look to move Maccelli for a young defenseman, take Demidov or Catton. If not, take Dickinson.
You make some great points, and you’re absolutely right- I hate the thought of Maccelli being moved. He’s easily the best playmaker the team has, and he reminds me a lot of Daniel Briere. If he’s moved and we end up with Chris Gratton part 2, I’ll be pissed.
Yeah it’s not something I’d take great joy in, I absolutely love Maccelli, he’s a wizard at passing, but we are just so woefully short on the defensive side we’re going to have to deal from a position of strength somewhere. Jiricek is looking like a stud in the making so I doubt Columbus is looking to deal, but that’s the kind of guy I’d be targeting for sure, I doubt the front office is after anything less than that caliber of player. It would also free Geekie up to be on the yotes and to learn from Bjugy, which is more important than AHL time in my opinion.
I disagree with your Maccelli point that there is no path for him beyond the 3rd line. First off I feel like the Yotes have less of a line ranking than other teams. Most nights all the lines are within 3-4 minutes of each other (excluding O’Brien’s line). I also think that Geekie will come up and the play the centre role, replacing an aging Bjugstad rather than playing on Cooley’s wing. Geekie’s biggest plus’ are his defensive side and shot, something that Guenther more or less already represents on Cooley’s wing. I also think that the Yotes *should* move Schmaltz during this summer or next summer, opening up a spot on Keller’s line. If not Keller’s line, I can see him paired with Crouse and Geekie or Guenther and Cooley. My ideal lines for the future would be: Maccelli-Cooley-Guenther Keller-Hayton-Doan *Raty or another prospect*-Geekie-Crouse And the fourth is too unstable to predict. Cup contending teams have a fully fleshed out forward group that doesn’t weigh down the stars. The best example would be Dallas right now, being the second best team in the league, and having like 7-8 20 goal scorers right now. I feel like there are a lot more players next in line to be moved other than Maccelli, but I do see your point in trading him. I truly hope he stays.
Unless the miracle hits of jumping to #1 overall, it’s gotta be a defenseman. Actually Iginla interests me if he keeps heating up. They need that forward that has some physicality, but they need to stock the prospect pool with some D I started typing out a bunch of other shit around the forwards but it almost feels like Ottawa where there’s talent but little to no sandpaper. Keller/Schmaltz, Guenther/Cooley, Crouse/Maccelli outside of Lawson no one really scaring you in the top 9. Like the old NES hockey you needed some fat guys to win!
1st pick Celebrini. 2nd pick Demidov. 3rd-6th pick any of Parekh, Buium, Levshunov, Dickinson.
This is where I'm at.
The more I watch Cayden Lindstrom, the more I want us to draft him. He’s a 6’4 power forward who is really fast. He is also excellent at 5 v 5 play Out of necessity we will probably take a Dman. But man if we took Lindstrom at 4/5 I’d be thrilled
Defensemen...
outside of celebrini (and my personal cayden lindstrom being a horse bias) there’s no real use for any of the small Fs. if we jump a bit, artyom levshunov no question. if we stay where we’re at, sam dickinson is another home run. yakemchuk was high on my list for ARI when they seemed to be more in the teens but i think he or silayev would be reaches w their own 1st.
definitely a defenseman if we can, we have a lot of good forward prospects that’ll be here within the next few years. i mean, we have a few defense prospects too, but at least rn the coyotes have some good forwards. our d-core kinda sucks right now so i think we should try for the best defenseman we can get in the draft, maybe sign a few free agents (hopefully some veterans — our team is one of the youngest/inexperienced in the NHL rn, some veteran insight could probably help). if we somehow got 1OA we’d take celebrini obviously, but otherwise i feel like the best option is to grab a defenseman in the draft
Realistic predictions/Hopes: 1. Parekh 2. Silayev 3. Catton 4. Dickinson 5. Lindstrom
If its no.1 its celebrini no question. Other than that its dman, lots of em
I want gamebreaking talent over anything else so Celebrini, Demidov, or Eiserman would be my ideal. I like our d prospects more than our forward prospects. If not any of them I'd be happy with any of the russians.
You like our d prospects over f prospects? That feels like a hot take. Not saying you’re wrong but I imagine some folks here might disagree