2014 NHL Draft

[cshea]

We have a 1st round pick this year!!!

First round is Friday and rounds 2-7 are on Saturday. From what little I've read about the draft this year, it is weak. Aaron Ekblad and Sam Reinhardt appear to be the consensus 1-2, then it gets a little hazy. The main draft intrigue seems to surround trades this year. It could be a busy week on that front.

The Bruins picks are 25, 56, 116, 146, 206. The missing 3rd round pick went to Philly for Andrej Meszaros, and the 6th rounder went to St. Louis for Wade Redden.

Here's a link to a few NHL.com mocks. McKenzie usually releases his list the week of the draft, and he's generally spot on so I'll post that when it becomes available.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=723213

 

[cshea]

McKenzie's final rankings:
 
http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=95289

 

[mabrowndog]

Are we expecting the Bruins to address specific short-term positional needs? Or will this be more of a "best player available" approach?
 
If the draft's as weak as the experts say, I assume the likelihood of finding immediate-impact talents in the slots they're picking at is pretty low, which would suggest a BPA strategy.

 

[ForceAtHome]

Are we expecting the Bruins to address specific short-term positional needs? Or will this be more of a "best player available" approach?
 
If the draft's as weak as the experts say, I assume the likelihood of finding immediate-impact talents in the slots they're picking at is pretty low, which would suggest a BPA strategy.

 
There are maybe ~5 guys (quite possibly fewer) who could crack an opening day roster this fall, and none of them will be available when the Bruins pick. It's possible that the Bruins are favoring either a defenseman or a forward (unlikely a goalie, a position I know they were targeting in 2012 whether Subban or not), but it will likely be best player available.

 

[cshea]

Yeah, it'll be BPA unless they do something wild and trade way up to the top 5. Once you get past the top 5 players, most of the kids are 3-5 years away from being NHL ready. It's their first draft with Keith Gretzky at the helm so the strategy may change, but I doubt it. 
 
Here's Kirk's primer on potential draft targets. I'm on the Josh Ho-Sang bandwagon. Apparently character issues, but has high end talent and skill. Swing for the fences at #25. 
 
http://www.hockeyjournal.com/news/bruins/NHL_DRAFT_-_Bruins_target_Raw_but_projectable_talent?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 

Truth in lending: Ho-Sang is not a Bruins type of player. But he might be one of the top three most dynamic offensive players in the entire class. He has few peers in terms of sheer puck skills and ability to control the offensive tempo of a game with his wheels, but character and personality account for his slide down to 20-30 on many projected public draft lists. Anyone who takes him does so knowing that they are rolling the dice on a boom-or-bust scoring forward who could be a major steal … or cost someone their job.
Hot read: “I like the progression he showed from being a guy who spent a lot of time doing flashy things that maybe worked at the lower levels, to a more dedicated player who made an effort to be a more complete player this year. He’s not great in the dirty areas, but in space, there aren’t many more dangerous forwards than Ho-Sang.” —  NHL scout, Western Conference
 

 

[NYCSox]

 At the very least he can try to "out Subban" Subban.

 

[cshea]

Fantastic job booing Bettman, Philly. 

 

[scotian1]

Gary Bettman getting a true Philly welcome, booing going on for minutes.

 

[TFP]

God bless you Philly
 
https://twitter.com/DownGoesBrown/status/482658362996576256

 

[scotian1]

#1- Aaron Ekblad to Florida.

 

[scotian1]

A bit of a strange move pausing for seconds before making the announcement.

 

[TFP]

Nothing will ever beat the gamethread of the Seguin draft. That might have had more action and posts than a lot of the regular season games this year.

 

[scotian1]

Ekblad doesn't lack in confidence saying he can step in and help Florida next season.

 

[scotian1]

Buffalo ready to go, which Sam is it going to be?

 

[TSC]

Buffalo ready to go, which Sam is it going to be?

Reinhart it is.

 

[scotian1]

Bennett or the German kid next?

 

[brienc]

Don't fuck this up Garth. Take the BPA and go hit the buffet table.

 

[scotian1]

Boy the picks are coming quick!

 

[cshea]

Draisaitl it is. Another top 6 forward for the Oilers. Hey, who needs defense? 

 

[scotian1]

The highest German player ever chosen in the draft, Draisaitl.

 

[scotian1]

Great to see the picks coming so quickly unlike the NBA last night.

 

[scotian1]

Here comes Burkie!

 

[scotian1]

I think Calgary has taken a good one in Bennett, compared to a big Doug Gilmour.

 

[brienc]

Dal Colle to the Isles. Good job Garth, enjoy the spread.

 

[scotian1]

What a great group of well spoken 18 yr olds that have been chosen so far.

 

[scotian1]

Virtanen to Vancouver.

 

[scotian1]

Hayden Fleury, a 6' 4" D-man to Carolina. My Leafs up next.

 

[cshea]

The fact that Michael Nylander's kid just got drafted makes me feel old. 

 

[cshea]

Whoa, James Neal to Nashville. 

 

[FelixMantilla]

Well there's one less asshole on the Pittsburgh roster.

 

[scotian1]

Leafs choose skill in Nylander, And Penguins have traded Neal to Nashville.

 

[cshea]

Pens get Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. 

 

[cshea]

Bettman announcing the Neal trade to a Philly crowd should be great. 

 

[TSC]

With the cost of living in Nashville being so much less than Pittsburgh, I wonder if Neal will be cheaper there, too.

#askNeal

 

[Greg29fan]

Terrible GM gonna make terrible trades.

 

[cshea]

Nashville needs to find a center to get Neal the puck. Big drop off from getting set up by Malkin to getting set up by Colin Wilson or Mike Fisher. 

 

[scotian1]

Wish the Leafs had taken Ritchie.

 

[cshea]

Man, that Neal trade seems brutal for Pittsburgh. Salaries are almost a wash, if anything Pittsburgh will end up adding salary once Spaling gets signed. 

 

[Greg29fan]

Man, that Neal trade seems brutal for Pittsburgh. Salaries are almost a wash, if anything Pittsburgh will end up adding salary once Spaling gets signed. 

 
They haven't done anything right since going up 3-1 against the Rangers...why start now?

 

[cshea]

Caps take Vrana. Kirk had him a potential Bruins target. 

 

[FelixMantilla]

BC recruit Sonny Milano goes to Columbus.

 

[veritas]

How did Holmgren not get booed?

 

[FelixMantilla]

Hextall looks like a small-time criminal.

 

[FelixMantilla]

Second BC recruit, Alex Tuch taken by Minnesota.

 

[cshea]

DeAngelo is an apparently an asshole. Suspended 3 times for racial slurs. 

 

[veritas]

Hextall looks like a small-time criminal.

 
And Anthony DeAngelo sounds like a small-time criminal

 

[cshea]

Nice zinger there from Stan Bowman. "It's nice to be back in Philadelphia!" 

 

[veritas]

Any guesses for the Bruins pick? I don't really know anything about any of these players other than what I've been reading over the past hour. But Adrian Kempe intrigues me a lot. 17 year old who held his own in the SEL, and allegedly is a complete forward with his strengths being speed, size, smarts, and work ethic.

 

[cshea]

I like Connor Bleakley, Adrian Kempe and Ho-Sang. Ho-Sang is probably a real long shot though. 
 
Kempe seems right up their alley. 

 

[cshea]

There goes Bleakley. Benning could poach a guy the B's like right here.