2026 NHL Draft

[Cousin Strawberry]

Ha you're probably close. The best of the bunch will probably be one of the next tier guys who nobody saw would make that step. Manny's kid?

[donlever]

You're off Kucherov Jr?

[Cousin Strawberry]

You're off Kucherov Jr?

I'm strangely indifferent to any of this shit these days. I hate the group we dress, the management are incompetent, very little appeal to this long suffering fan.

The last time I gave this few fucks about the Canucks was before the Ronning, Cournall, Momesso, Dirk trade. That was basically when I started following along through thick and thin.

Now...who cares. What a buncha woosies

[Cornuck]

We'll likely never see a team as tough as some of those we've iced, but... c'mon - we gotta have SOME players with guts. Not just the 'hard-working-garland-types' - but someone who can keep the opponents honest and drop 'em when needed.

If we get at least one in this draft, it's a start. Douglas is a start. There's going to be a lot of losses piling up next year. If we're getting pushed around still, then it'll be even harder to watch.

[donlever]

The last time I gave this few fucks about the Canucks....

Now...who cares. What a buncha woosies

Welcome to the team.

[Cousin Strawberry]

The last time I gave this few fucks about the Canucks....

Now...who cares. What a buncha woosies

Welcome to the team.

They should just embrace it and put a C on EP40.

[donlever]

We're the team that put a C a goalie.

Let's go outside the box again and just lay an F on ScooterDoodles jersey.

Tell him it stands for Fearless Leader.

[Carl Yagro]

Isn't skinny puppy already wearing the scarlet letter?

The "A" stands for aloof/arrogant/alien/asshole that nobody on the team likes.

Who would have believed that just 26 months ago, 3 fuckin' bald guys would begin to completely destroy something good so quickly through sheer incompetence and arrogance?

What's not surprising is the A-named owner would increase season ticket prices 3 years in a row.

[Megaterio Llamas]

You're off Kucherov Jr?

I'm strangely indifferent to any of this shit these days. I hate the group we dress, the management are incompetent, very little appeal to this long suffering fan.

The last time I gave this few fucks about the Canucks was before the Ronning, Cournall, Momesso, Dirk trade. That was basically when I started following along through thick and thin.

Now...who cares. What a buncha woosies

Amen to that, Cuz. How are these clowns still in place after this shitshow? It's ridiculous.

[Hockey Widow]

Just a reminder, we have traded our last two captains. Just saying.......

[UWSaint]

What is the upside of Gavin and the Swede?

Nuge?

Not upside. But probably reasonable projection.

I put Nuge and Ekblad sort of in the same camp. I respect them both. They are good nhl players, a few seasons of very good. But nothing close to transformative for an organization. And the kind of player who doesn’t take a first overall to find (but is almost always a first round pick).

And when you look back on it, how many first overalls have their been in the past 20 years (after Crosby and OV). McDavid, McKinnon, Matthews. Celebrini is probably a yes, but let’s see next year. Schaeffer too soon but what a year one; and Bedard still soon enough for verdict to still be out.

Who else? Next two contenders are Kane and Stamkos? They are close to the line; I’d say Kane transformative and Stamkos just on the outside. As good as he was, i don’t think he was the one that pushed the Bolts forward and wasnt needed for one of their cups. As much help as Kane had, they don’t do it without him.

Beyond that, no transformation. Good players for sure — Hughes, Slavkovsky looks like one, the aforementioned Ekblad and Nuge, Tavares, Hall (for a bit), Hischier.

And how many “looks like a good second round pick or worse” guys have gone 1st overall in that time? Yakapov. Lafreniere. EJ.

Power’s a defenseman, takes a bit longer, but I think he tops out at the bottom end of category 2.

Point is, without going through any of them, the #1 is overall has a great chance to be a good player. But most likely the kind of player common in the top 10 and not uncommon throughout the first round. There’s a nonzero chance of getting a disappointment, and “transformational,” while more likely than bust, are still an exception. To be fair, depending on definitions, we might only identify 15 or so guys in the league who are transformational players, so having the #1 pick makes improves your odds considerably. But it’s not as simple as draft first, alter history.

[Topper]

I did not mean my comment as a slag on Nuge, he is a good player, but rather a slag on the hype machine behind some of these kids.

Verhoff is still my choice.

[Lancer]

Draft Lottery is set for 5 May, it seems.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/nh ... t-lottery/

[Lancer]

Ha you're probably close. The best of the bunch will probably be one of the next tier guys who nobody saw would make that step. Manny's kid?

Unlike other years where the top-10 featured high-end skill or skating, this year's top-10 (on aggregate) look more solid than flashy. Bjorck or Nordmark may qualify as sleeper picks that fit your description as those kinds of prospects who could overcome their deficiencies (eg. size in Bjorck's case) and outperform those drafted higher. The rest outside the top-3, with the exception of perhaps Reid or Carels, profile as solid two-way players, but nothing flashy or standout about them.

They all look like potential solid additions to any team's top-4 defensemen or top-9 forwards, but nobody should be expecting McKenna, Stenberg or anyone else in the top-10 to be a Kane-calibre player, and more in line with UW's projection. They're not dogshit, but nobody should be betting on a franchise cornerstone/savior in this top-10.

[UWSaint]

I did not mean my comment as a slag on Nuge, he is a good player, but rather a slag on the hype machine behind some of these kids.

Verhoff is still my choice.

And that’s how I understood your comment — directed at hype, and using Nuge b/c he had a good amount of hype his draft year and turned out to be good, not “generational” or “franchise”. I thought I’d just take a look at the reality side a bit more, which supports hype skepticism.

I don’t really have a strong choice in this draft, I never really do unless I have seen them live or see flags and patterns that are irrational and structural scouting/franchise biases — extra points to kids of NHLers, guys who benefitted from being physically advanced for their age in minor hockey but won’t be units once their peers are NHLers combined with one more flag in their pre draft season. Also, hockey IQ is hard to scout because the rubber doesn’t really hit the road until physical attributes doesn’t buy a player time his marginal skill advantage provided him, and scouts seem to undervalue that element in their reports I think because it’s harder to get a full read on. So when there’s any question in a scouting report about how a kid thinks the game or speed of decisionmaking, that’s a giant red flag to me when it comes to a first rounder.

I suppose these are my own biases and they aren’t exactly rational. I was skeptical of Matthew Tkachuk because so much weight seem to be placed on lineage, and I was wrong—not only about the player but because I think the lineage and family support helped make him better. I was also skeptical of Turcotte because of it and was right (and i had the chance to see him live a few times and compare him to Caufield….)