https://www.nhl.com/news/dahlin-svechnikov-tkachuk-zadina-lead-nhl-mock-drafts/c-298917820
Found this really interesting reading, from a few weeks before the 2018 draft.
Some interesting standouts to me:
– Kotkaniemi really was a reach! Ranked at 9th/10th here.
– Quinn ranked at 6th by 2 of the 3 scouts. 7th by the other.
– Noah Dobson being the consensus 5th overall, despite going 12th in reality.
– Barrett Hayton ranked 11th/12th, ended up going 5th.
– JET WOO ranked 22nd
by Turkish_Canuck
8 Comments
Detroit still waiting for Zadina to find his footing, while Kotkaniemi finally put in a solid season in Carolina
I remember at this draft, Noah Dobson was my choice for this pick… until Quinn Hughes fell. I’d just assumed QH43 wouldn’t be there.
Also I was really stoked on the Jett Woo pick at the time.
It’s sad how Woo still hasn’t made it. Was really excited for him back then.
Funny seeing Bode Wilde ranked 15/17/19 by the three mock drafters. He would ultimately go in the second round to the Islanders at pick 41. I remember folks here (and on /r/hockey) *screaming* for us to take him at 37, but we took Jett Woo instead, which most were generally fine with. Decided to check out how Wilde’s doing and after playing 42 AHL games he went to Switzerland to play for a year during the pandemic and then played entirely in the ECHL last season. At 23, it’s probably fair to label him a bust and it would be surprising if he ever played more than a handful of NHL games at this point, if that
We all know drafting is an inexact science, and we hear about it all the time when teams pass on someone for the wrong guy (Juolevi anyone?), but we often conveniently forget the guys us armchair scouts back that the GMs rightfully want nothing to do with and pass over like Bode Wilde
Thanks Arizona for your illegal scouting practices that led you to Barrett Hayton.
> Barrett Hayton ranked 11th/12th, ended up going 5th.
If I remember correctly, Barrett Hayton was one of the only top-ranked players who had a good meeting in Arizona. Sounds like he told them that he’d love to play for them (whereas, all the other top prospects feared being picked by the Coyotes). So, they reached for a player who wanted to play for them, instead of taking someone who wanted to play literally anywhere else.
On a side note, remember when we had high picks and chose players like Mike Bibby and Steve Francis, players who *did not* want to play here – while passing over the likes of Steve Nash, who would have loved playing in Vancouver?
My memory of this draft was we all were hoping like hell to draft Quinn but seriously expected him to not get past Detroit. The other guy most of us were high on was Wahlstrom. I liked Dobson a lot too though. Lot of people implied he was kinda boring but safe-ish.
jett WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO