2022 Draft Grades

[bIueadams 776]

What do you give it?

[kipwinger 8,756]

I have it an A-. Kasper was the best pick at 8, and people are going to love how much better this kid is than what was billed. He scored marginally worse than Lucas Raymond in his draft year, despite playing fewer minutes for a more defense heavy club. Plus his coach in Rogle openly said they told him to play conservatively if he wanted to stay in the lineup. He's going to be awesome.

Then we took another Bertuzzi/Mazur in Dylan James and two super skilled, high upside, guys in Buchelnikov and Lombardi.

Only giving it an A- because the 3rd we used on Jusso got used on Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and I really liked him in the 3rd round before the draft.

[marcaractac 3,963]

I'm really curious to see how the Russian kid turns out. Turns out he was very under-scouted. Could be the steal of the draft. 

[marcaractac 3,963]

There is also word out there that the Wings are the favs to land Klingberg as well, and that the issue to be worked out is term. 

[redw1ngs 149]

7 hours ago, kipwinger said:

I have it an A-. Kasper was the best pick at 8, and people are going to love how much better this kid is than what was billed. He scored marginally worse than Lucas Raymond in his draft year, despite playing fewer minutes for a more defense heavy club. Plus his coach in Rogle openly said they told him to play conservatively if he wanted to stay in the lineup. He's going to be awesome.

This.

Kasper is another homerun? slam dunk? powerplay goal by SY. This kid will be a top 5 player in this draft. Love this pick and for that reason alone love this draft. Easy A

[redw1ngs 149]

1 hour ago, marcaractac said:

There is also word out there that the Wings are the favs to land Klingberg as well, and that the issue to be worked out is term. 

Link? 

With the additions made so far this summer plus Klingberg this is a playoff team.

Bert-Larks-Raymond
Vrana-Copp-Perron
Zadina-Suter-Kubalik
Ras-Veleno-Sundqvist

Chiarot-Seider
Edvinsson-Klingberg
Maatta-Hronek

Ned/Husso

Erne/Oesterle/Lindstrom

[LeftWinger 5,132]

2 hours ago, redw1ngs said:

Link? 

With the additions made so far this summer plus Klingberg this is a playoff team.

Bert-Larks-Raymond
Vrana-Copp-Perron
Zadina-Suter-Kubalik
Ras-Veleno-Sundqvist

Chiarot-Seider
Edvinsson-Klingberg
Maatta-Hronek

Ned/Husso

Erne/Oesterle/Lindstrom

I mean, that very well could be a playoff lineup. I am thinking Edvisson does a season in GR, but it's not like we don't have very serviceable LHD to slot in. Walman and Oesterle were both positives on an otherwise (not including Seider) horrible D last season.

That is FOUR very good to great lines! On paper we could very well make the playoffs.

[marcaractac 3,963]

2 hours ago, redw1ngs said:

Link? 

With the additions made so far this summer plus Klingberg this is a playoff team.

Bert-Larks-Raymond
Vrana-Copp-Perron
Zadina-Suter-Kubalik
Ras-Veleno-Sundqvist

Chiarot-Seider
Edvinsson-Klingberg
Maatta-Hronek

Ned/Husso

Erne/Oesterle/Lindstrom

Freidman mentioned it on his podcast last week

[bIueadams 776]

Kasper screams Seider - mature physical and defensive game in his draft year - but SY is saying is offensive skill is highly underrated...

The Russian i followed a bit this year. Definately could end up our most talented player in this draft.

More than a few swedes we took were not even in the black book... likely sneaky hakan picks all of them. 

[Neomaxizoomdweebie 3,083]

On 7/19/2022 at 7:09 AM, marcaractac said:

There is also word out there that the Wings are the favs to land Klingberg as well, and that the issue to be worked out is term. 

That means bye bye Hronek.

[bIueadams 776]

I love this draft more than most. I give it an A-

#8 Marco Kasper - Big, physical, defensively responsible, mobile center. SY seems to think his offensive abilities have flown under the radar, which very well could be true. His coaches reportedly gave him sheltered ice time and instructed him to play a conservative defensive game. This could easily become Seider 2.0 and the offensive floodgates open as soon as he's given the opportunity. The kid is fluent in German, Swedish, and English. Perfect for this team. Worst case scenario: Another Rasmusssen.

#40 Dylan James - Bertuzzi/Mazur buzzsaw style winger. Won USHL rookie of the year - some good players have won this award (Johnny Hockey, Andrei Svechnikov, Max Pacioretty, Anders Lee, Joe Pavelski). Could be another Tyler Bertuzzi, could be another Adam Erne.

#52 Dimitri Buchelnikov - Dynamic, electric, offensively gifted, Russian winger. This kid can do it all in the offensive zone. Skate through defenders. Break ankles with dekes. Bat pucks out of the air. Clap bombs. Snipe corners. Will end up being your favorite player to watch. He's an over-ager who is small and didn't do much in his draft year, but then exploded and put up big numbers after being passed over. Is this our Kucherov/Panarin? Or just another AA?

Watch this:

After this I don't know much about the picks... besides this:

The Swedes:

#105 Anton Johansson
#129 Maximilian Kilpinen
#137 Tnias Mathurin

These guys were way off most folks radar. Not even appearing in most (extensive) draft rankings. These are your 2022 Hakan dark horse picks. Two big Dmen and a dynamic left wing. What does he know that others don't with these 3?

#113 Amadeus Lombardi -  Looks like another AA. Very gifted offensively. If his attitude and compete are any better this could be a nice pick up.

#201 Owen Mehlenbacher - Plays a strong heavy game. Skating improved drastically through the year. If he makes the NHL most likely a future bottom 6 grinder.

#212 Brennan Ali - Our last pick of the draft, but my favorite pick of the draft. Ali isn't a hockey player. Ali is an athlete. He was at the very top of most of all the combine testing drills. He's a physical specimen, and the Wings will teach him to hockey. This kid has the raw genetics to possibly make an impact from the 7th round.