2015 NHL Entry Draft - Draft Day!

[Kin]

More about Leafs new latvian prospect http://volx2.tumblr.com/post/122681063203/martins-dzierkals-zem-lupas

Hey, great contribution with that. Some really good stuff there. I confess I didn't even know what the MHL was when I saw him drafted.

Some highlights from my Google Translate results:

What would you like to say / to tell the large Toronto fan base? How known, the Toronto fans are among the worse around the NHL.

M.Dz. I really know nothing about Toronto fans, but as far as I understand, they are not satisfied with the team's game in recent years. Let's hope that the Leafs every year only to move up.

I like to think "worse" got lost in translation somewhere.

"M.Dzierkals is the first in the history of Toronto draftētais player from Latvian. Another Europeans under 185cm (6'0), but he receives points in the game at any level, has so far played. In short - a wee, technical player.

Martin Dzierkals: A wee, technical player. Looking forward to seeing him in the CHL next year.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

"M.Dzierkals is the first in the history of Toronto draftētais player from Latvian. Another Europeans under 185cm (6'0), but he receives points in the game at any level, has so far played. In short - a wee, technical player.

Martin Dzierkals: A wee, technical player. Looking forward to seeing him in the CHL next year.

I find that "wee" is so underused in scouting reports.

 

[Stickytape]

Some highlights from my Google Translate results:

What would you like to say / to tell the large Toronto fan base? How known, the Toronto fans are among the worse around the NHL.

M.Dz. I really know nothing about Toronto fans, but as far as I understand, they are not satisfied with the team's game in recent years. Let's hope that the Leafs every year only to move up.

I like to think "worse" got lost in translation somewhere.

Makes me sad that this is the first, and sometimes only thing people know about Leafs fans. (Even though it's completely accurate, and actually a huge understatement.)

I look forward to the day when new foreign draftees say "I really know nothing about Toronto fans, but as far as I understand, they are really smug about how their team wins the cup every year now."

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

I assume "worse" in that case would mean tough on players like it's a tough place for players to play because of the attention.

 

[Highlander]

Must have been the scout Scotty Jock Mcpherson whom coined the "wee" phrase

 

[Volx]

Some highlights from my Google Translate results:

What would you like to say / to tell the large Toronto fan base? How known, the Toronto fans are among the worse around the NHL.
Google translate its strange. I mean word "crazy", positive crazy
M.Dz. I really know nothing about Toronto fans, but as far as I understand, they are not satisfied with the team's game in recent years. Let's hope that the Leafs every year only to move up.

I like to think "worse" got lost in translation somewhere.

Makes me sad that this is the first, and sometimes only thing people know about Leafs fans. (Even though it's completely accurate, and actually a huge understatement.)

I look forward to the day when new foreign draftees say "I really know nothing about Toronto fans, but as far as I understand, they are really smug about how their team wins the cup every year now."

 

[herman]

Welcome to TMLFans, Volx!

 

[Volx]

Martins Dzierkals selected by Rouyn-Noranda in CHL Import Draft. Its good choice, strong club, players?

 

[Kin]

Martins Dzierkals selected by Rouyn-Noranda in CHL Import Draft. Its good choice, strong club, players?

They didn't have the strongest year, they were eliminated in the playoffs in the first round of the playoffs, but they did have some other NHL prospects and some fairly high-round selections on the club last year.

One thing that might be seen as a positive is that Rouyn-Noranda is in the Quebec Major Junior League which traditionally is a league that emphasizes offense and so a smaller, skilled player like Dzierkals may very well have a lot of room to show off his offensive talents.

 

[pmrules]

Sorry for being late to the party...was on vacation the past week and have a lot of Leafs news to catch up on.

Love the Marner Pick - welcome to the team.  I was wanting Hanifin, but have zero complaints on Marner.  Hopefully he goes back to junior and perfects the centre position for a year (maybe 2). 

Has there been any reasoning as to why Merkley dropped so much from his anticipated mid 1st round drafting position?  I can't imagine that being a contributor to a Memorial Cup finalist would make him fall 10-15 spots.

Pre-draft I was led to believe that we would be lucky to get Merkley at 24 since he would be long gone.  I understand the first Trade down, since there were plenty of good names left.  Trade down a second time...I'm not to sure about especially with Merkley still available at 29 (and Jeremy Roy for that matter - another first rounder who was anticipated to go in the 20's).

Any idea why Merkley fell?

 

[Kin]

Any idea why Merkley fell?

I don't have anything concrete but a lot of the guys who notably fell at the draft(Merkley, Konecny, Barzal, Sprong) are small-ish forwards.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

From Travis Dermott:

[tweet]617136567568715776[/tweet]

 

[Kin]

I'm sure it's a coincidence and everything but it's hard not to see a little bit of a pattern to the three Canadian born OHL players the Leaf drafted all being from the GTA.

 

[Highlander]

How is Babcock going to protect these kidz from the likes of Simmons and the T.O. media

 

[hockeyfan1]

How is Babcock going to protect these kidz from the likes of Simmons and the T.O. media

That's where it gets interesting. Babcock will surely have his work cut out for him, both on and off the ice, except that the off the ice part will in no way resemble that he dealt with in Detroit.

When the Leafs start improving and the kids start showcasing themselves in a positive light, don't think the media will be too harsh on that count.  The T.O. media views the Leafs from a sarcastic and vitriolic point.  If Babcock brings improvement and handles them accordingly, there'll be more breathing room, so to speak, from the poison pens themselves.

With Babcock as coach, expectations from all quarters are high.

 

[hockeyfan1]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/mcdavids-dad-looking-forward-to-normalcy-for-son/

Just like to say "Congratulations" to Connor and his Dad, Brian, whom I used to know in elementary school (I used to play hopscotch with Brian's sister Cindy --Connor's Aunt). 
Brian and I were in the same grade but different class.  Remember him as being a very academic kid, very energetic but polite.

Am happy for Connor and the McDavid family.

 

[hobarth]

I totally believed that Hanifin was the right choice for TO , I still do, but I can't argue that Marner has serious upside.

 

[herman]

http://mapleleafshotstove.com/2015/07/07/state-of-the-toronto-maple-leafs-part-1-the-draft/

For our friends who didn't like the idea of trading the 24th pick and then the 29th pick:

In the NHL, a good draft produces two solid NHLers. In Behind The Moves, former Sabres GM Darcy Regier shared his data regarding the draft and player output:

The NHL Amateur Draft produces, on average, 54 players [who play at least 80 NHL games in their career] a year ?1.8 per team?I think. So your challenge as a GM is how can you get that to three or four?

It is virtually impossible to routinely ?beat the draft,? so when you are drafting in the top five you have to take advantage of that opportunity and flip the tables. Drafting and developing is a long process, but it is the best way to turn your fortunes around and set your team up for future success, especially in a league where free agency is largely limited to secondary players now.

For the Leafs, the 2015 draft was all about playing the odds.

[...]

[The] strategy was [...]: Trade down, add picks, and increase your odds in the crap shoot that is the NHL entry draft. The more kicks at the proverbial can, the better. The team went into the draft with eight picks, came out with nine, a young defenseman (I wrote about that here), and eleven picks next year. The groundwork was originally laid at the trade deadline, as Toronto eventually turned Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli into Brendan Leipsic, Travis Dermott, Jeremy Bracco, and Martins Dzierkals.

Nobody in sports subscribes to the trade down method more effectively and more often than Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. Data indicates (linked below) that the NFL draft is largely a guessing game, and that is in a league where you are largely drafting matured ? at least into their bodies? 22-24 year olds in hopes of them stepping right onto your roster. There isn?t even a development team/staff buffering them between college and the NFL out of the gates. So, if that league is a crap shoot, imagine the NHL, where you are drafting 18 year olds who you might not even hear from for 3-5 years in terms of seriously contending for a spot on your NHL roster. This goes back to the earlier point from Darcy Regier, where you have a good draft if you?re picking two players who play over 80 games ? so maybe 2/7-9 picks hit, or 22-28 percent.

 

[Frank E]

Ladies and Gentleman, Connor McDavid:

http://www.tsn.ca/video/mcdavid-scores-five-in-oilers-scrimmage-1.327003

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Ladies and Gentleman, Connor McDavid:

http://www.tsn.ca/video/mcdavid-scores-five-in-oilers-scrimmage-1.327003

Man, McDavid made those players look like a bunch of amateur prospects playing shinny hockey.