BURKE: Best of the Rest; Who Your Team Should Target on Day 2 of the NHL Draft
VANCOUVER — The first day of the NHL Entry Draft came and passed mostly without a hitch. Almost to a fault. There wasn’t a single hockey trade.
Just 31 players crossing the stage, realizing their NHL dream has now become a reality.
It was a clean run of picks almost right to the final one of the first round, save for one interruption when the Arizona Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers traded places at 11th and 15th overall.
That doesn’t mean there was a lack of intrigue or controversy.
The first-round of this Draft had everything an enterprising draft analyst could ever hope for, whether in the form of reaches, fallers or the odd pick that seemed just right.
That also meant that a lot of first-round calibre players were left at the dance without a partner.
Today, we’re going to look at five of the best players remaining at the Draft, and why your favourite team should consider them on Day Two.
Arthur Kaliyev, W, Hamilton Bulldogs
EliteProspects Top 93 Skaters Ranking: 13th
Silver Seven Sens Expected Pick Range: 11th to 23rd overall
While I’m not necessarily surprised that Kaliyev is still available going into Day Two of the Draft; I might be a little disappointed.
Is Arthur Kaliyev a perfect player? Not by any stretch of the imagination. There isn’t any one part of Kaliyev’s game that is elite, except for maybe his hockey sense, and the worst part of his game is a toss-up between his competitiveness and skating ability. That’s the recipe for a Hockey Man (Tm) shunning, right there.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good though. Because Kaliyev still managed to score 51 goals and put up 102 points in spite of all these supposed red flags.
When one looks at Kaliyev’s production and stature through the lens of the pGPS system (Prospect Graduation Probabilities System), more than 90 percent of the players he compares to went on to have NHL careers. That’s a number commensurate with a top-five selection.
Whichever team gets Kaliyev — and it shouldn’t take long to find out which one that is either, right… right? — is going to leave the Draft with one of the best value snags of the entire weekend.
Bobby Brink, W, Sioux City Musketeers
EliteProspects Top 93 Skaters Ranking: 15th
Silver Seven Sens Expected Pick Range: 15th to 29th
There’s an old saying among scouts. It goes like this: a player can be short or bad at skating, but they can’t be both.
Bobby Brink, who stands at just 5-foot-8, and has well-documented issues with straight-line speed, couldn’t seem to buck the trend. At least not in the first-round.
Now Brink awaits his opportunity to cross the stage in Round Two. Whichever team takes a chance on Brink is going to get one of the smartest players in the entire Draft. And that’s why I’ve remained a fan of Brink’s game throughout this process. One can learn to improve their skating stride; the same cannot be said of learning how to process the game at an elite level.
Another thing Brink has going for him is the fact that his competitiveness is through the roof, and that both coaches and teammates alike are effusive in singing the diminutive playmaker’s praises. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brink cross the stage early on Saturday, potentially as the 32nd overall pick.
Pavel Dorofeyev, W, Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk
EliteProspects Top 93 Skaters Ranking: 16th
Silver Seven Sens Expected Pick Range: 16th to 38th
If Vasili Podkolzin‘s fall to the Vancouver Canucks at tenth overall wasn’t proof enough, the fact that Stalnye Lisy forward Pavel Dorofeyev didn’t cross the stage at all on Friday sent the message home — the Russian factor is real, and it’s every bit as potent today as it was five or ten years ago.
How else would one explain Dorofeyev making it undrafted through the entire first-round?
Some will be quick to point to Dorofeyev’s skating as a significant issue. To me, it’s more about a lack of pace. I’ve seen Dorofeyev skate at an average to above average level — certainly good enough when one considers the other tools at his disposal. But Dorofeyev is at his best when he slows the game down in front of him.
Whichever team gets Dorofeyev is going to get a prospect with legitimate top-six upside. If Dorofeyev can improve upon his skating, and play with more pace as he rises up the professional ranks — there’s no telling what this kid might do.
Nils Hoglander, W, Rogle BK
EliteProspects Top 93 Skaters Ranking: 19th
Silver Seven Sens Expected Pick Range: 20th to 32nd
Even though Nils Hoglander is the lowest ranked player thus far in the article; he might be the one whose inclusion in this list I’m most surprised by.
Teams don’t usually let a high-skill forward like Hoglander that produced relatively well in his first season of draft-eligibility make it to the second-round. Hell, they don’t usually make it out of the teens!
What makes Hoglander’s snub especially curious is that he lacks one supposedly fatal flaw. Whereas Kaliyev’s competitiveness, Brink’s skating, and Dorofeyev’s lack of pace were their obvious downfalls; I’m left to wonder what the case is with Hoglander.
Perhaps it’s as simple as Hoglander’s size scaring teams away. He’s only 5-foot-9, and there isn’t a lot of weight on that frame, either.
I like Hoglander’s upside, though. He’s a shifty player, with great puck skills and high-end vision that held up surprisingly well against men on a regular basis this past season with Rogle BK. He’s going to represent great value regardless of where he goes on Day Two.
Raphael Lavoie, W/C, Halifax Mooseheads
EliteProspects Top 93 Skaters Ranking: 21st
Silver Seven Sens Expected Pick Range: 17th to 31st
What a fall from grace this season has proven itself to be for Halifax Mooseheads forward Raphael Lavoie. At the start of the year, Lavoie looked like a consensus pick in the top half of the first round. Now, I’m left wondering if he’ll go in the top half of the second round, even.
The scouts I’ve spoken to all share concerns about Lavoie’s skating, and even more so his ability to drive play for his linemates. Mostly, they see Lavoie as a complimentary piece.
I’m not sure if I share their concerns. I like Lavoie’s skating better than most, and I’ve found that he has good hockey sense — he puts himself in positions to score, and with a plus-shot, he doesn’t miss often.