NHL Draft: Steals & Surprises In Smashville | 32 Thoughts Day

Elliotte Friedman is joined by former scout and Sportsnet draft expert Jason Bukala on 32 Thoughts to take a deeper look into the 2023 NHL Draft, who made the best picks and the biggest surprises from Nashville.
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#NHL #Hockey #NHLDraft

[@oldhab7890]

One of the best videos on draft strategy - like the thought team strategy changes according to the stage of the franchise. Illustrates "the best player available" meme.

[@timsavage-eastburnpa-c1076]

Flyers fan since the 70’s. Most exciting time since trading for Eric Lindros imo

[@bajjanitor]

Gotta package Michkov with everything but the kitchen sink to trade for Bedard now to make it come full circle.

[@schmoe1211]

​@@bajjanitordon't

[@Pariah_Larry]

@@bajjanitorlol that’ll never happen. You should be shocked and absolutely stoked that you guys got Michkov. He has Kane/Kaprizov level offensive upside. Should’ve gone 3rd and you stole him at 7. Just be happy with that! Lol

[@bajjanitor]

@@Pariah_Larry Didn't stop the Flyers with Forsberg!

[@jeffchavez6762]

@@bajjanitor😊😊😅😊😮😢

[@Schubes5]

Danny Briere had such a great draft

[@RayManzarekRocks]

Only thing that was missing was the wheelchair throw down the stairs. With his son in it. #ClassFam

[@ChaimShekelstein-ht6vd]

​@@RayManzarekRocks Wahhhhhh! Not muh heckin wheelchair!!

[@f-twelve7155]

@@RayManzarekRocks My guy remember when your parents plays a sport professionally also means they're not there 80% of the year for their family, at this point it's on his mom more than Briere.

[@williammccarrick6554]

love flyers draft results.

[@notjd19]

we don’t know the steals, it’s too early

[@maverickownage]

4 minute walk... drove YIKES

[@sniperovski]

You BROKE

[@tylerdowd]

My CAPS getting Cristall at 40 is a huge w. Pretty sure he was ranked #16

[@billjohansson88]

At first glance, it may appear so. The question is, why did 39 choices refrain from taking him earlier?

[@-gumby-3381]

@@billjohansson88 Why did 39 teams not pick him before? Well for starters, someone named Connor Bedard was available at #1 for Chicago, they were never going to take him instead of Bedard. Cristall was never going to be picked even in the top 10 bud, doesn't mean he isn't good. Plenty of reasons why players slide (size, league they played, injury, incompetent draft management, etc.) doesn't mean they aren't steals. You could say the same thing about Aho at #35, Pastrnak at #25, even Zetterberg in the 7th round at #210.

[@tylerdowd]

@@billjohansson88 cuz of his height lol

[@billjohansson88]

@@-gumby-3381 I don't see how he would be in the top ten either. When it comes to ranking, it will be very difficult because the basis is so deep overall. When the media starts speculating about the reasons why Cristall falls down to place 40!!! 3 has him as high as 6-8 & 3 has him as low as 16-24. Then it becomes easy for us web GM's to think about burst or win during a draft. Here are my thoughts on his downside. Losing races, his lack of defensive awareness and somewhat lazy. As a Swede, I don't follow him, but this is what I see. Aslo super high end skill yes.... But his defensive game, effort and off puck game make him a huge question mark to take in the first round. Just to paraphrase. I don't even think my RW would have picked him if he was available for any of the three picks they had shortly after. RW went with G,D and traded one pick to Nashville. This particular pick could very well be for an intended forward/Winger, however not Cristall as RW is not in need of him. S.Y and Co had a shorter list for what the team needs. The best thing about Cristall, however, is that he is ~3-4 years away from being eligible for games in the NHL. He thus has a lot of time to work on his weaknesses that all these youngsters have. Of the 40 taken first, very few will even play in the NHL. So in 10 years from now we know for sure who are the winners or losers in this deep draft. At the moment, CHi looks to lead that race...

[@valitsemllaluokanavahyvaks3556]

#7 Michkov, 18# Barlow, #40 Andrew Cristall biggest steals of the 1st/2nd round.

[@steve_frenchcougar1747]

im really happy habs drafted jackeye lil brother

[@mattledbetter]

I think it is fine for a player to not want to play in a certain city. They have worked hard for the past 10 or 12 years to make it to the NHL. They should be able to have an honest conversation with GMs. Having said that, they should also understand the teams point of view and try to come to an agreement.

[@plusfour1]

I would totally respect a kid who said that in an interview. First of all, they're 18 and they know much less than they think they do so there's that caveat but the last thing you want is an unhappy player, a star, who is asking to be traded all the time. It's hard enough to build a team. There are plenty of examples from Pierre Luc Dubois to Eric Lindros.

[@krzyk101]

Is that guitar tune at the start of the video from a song? It's really catchy.

[@noahcaplan7681]

At first, I was pretty shocked by the Reinbacher pick at 5, but looking back at some recent history for Habs' drafting, they don't always take the BPA and have drafted for need. We saw last year that they took Slafkovsky over Wright, which has yet to really be known if that was a good pick or not (both guys had pretty abysmal NHL seasons). Then going back to 2018, they drafted Kotkaniemi 3rd overall when right after, Brady Tkachuk was taken and was ranked higher than Kotkaniemi. You can even look to 2021 and 2020 as the Habs going somewhhat off the board. Kaiden Guhle over Lukas Reichel in 2020 wouldn't hhave been my pick, which doesn't mean much because I'm not a scout or GM, and the Canadiens took a risk with Logan Mailloux in 2021. Montreal obviously has no problem taking a guy that shouldn't have been taken where he was, of course Cole Caufield is the exception in recent me mory. Montreal didn't need a RW sniper as much as they needed a RHD. As a Flyers fan, I'm ectsatic at how the top 7 picks went and truly believe that looking back 5-10 years, most redrafts will have Michkov at 2. Was kinda surprised at the Bonk pick at 22, especially with Perreault still available, but with the logjam at RW for PHI and the need for RHD it made some sense.

[@RRaquello]

No US players were taken in the first round by Canadian teams this year. Trend or coincidence? I did a little research and found that since the year 2000, that's only happened twice: 2008 & 2014. 2008 was a weak year for American players in general (best being John Carlson & Cam Atrkinson). 2014, A Canadian team, Vancouver, took a US player, Thatcher Demko, early in the second round. So because of recent events (Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Hanifin, etc.) of US players asking out of Canada, will Canadian teams be avoiding American players in the future, i.e., Montreal taking Reinbacher over the more highly rated Ryan Leonard?

[@boodits]

I think Canadian teams want players who want to play in Canada, it's not an easy market to play in. Everyone knows who you are (as opposed to some teams players can walk freely without anyone knowing), high end American players will always be drafted but I know Canadian teams will shy away from American born players. With regard to Montreal, they don't always go with consensus, look at the Juraj Slafkovsky pick.

[@ryanb3908]

Why would anyone pick American players when Canadian players are way better?

[@RRaquello]

@@ryanb3908 Well, in 20 of the previous 22 years at least one Canadian team thought a US player was good enough to take in the first round.

[@RRaquello]

@@boodits It'll be interesting to see if this is a new trend, like the "Russian Factor". I'm sure there are certain teams that steer away from Russian players because it seems star-level Russian players only want to play in the glamorous markets. If I was the Columbus Blue Jackets I'd never take a Russian player with a high pick, or trade for a Russian "star" after the whole thing with Panarin.

[@ryanb3908]

@@RRaquello But not first. 🤦🏻

[@KertoBrand]

Great episode!

[@blackhawks9763]

Chicago won the draft and it’s not even close. Aside from Bedard. They drafted very damn well.

[@matthewgraham51]

really liked moore too. chicago had a very nice draft

[@rebeccadallain8937]

Every body thinks that MTL should have picked Michkov, but I feel like it was a great pick and is going to work out well in the future.

[@Pariah_Larry]

Really, REALLY happy you guys brought up Nick Lardis. He was a top end talent after he got traded that no one was talking about. I genuinely felt like he could’ve gone in the end of the first or early second. Also can’t believe Moore fell to #19. I’m biased but I think the hawks had the best draft hands down.

[@mattschanne9696]

What’s baffling is the huge deal people make about the 3 year contract but have no issue with kids being in college that same amount of time

[@sheldoncedwardthibault3599]

1220 feet is a tough walk! Not even a 1/3 of a mile!

[@kevvymetal666]

Hunter Brzustewicz seems like a bit of a steal at 75 for the Canucks. He was projected in the 50's or higher.

[@domcagney2352]

I've asked this question so many times and can never get a straight answer....why does the NHL draft prospects so young? It seems like such a crap shoot as to whether or not the kid pans out...why not just wait a few years and draft the kids at 21-22 when they're more developed physically and have seen more ice time? Or, in the event of a phenom like Bedard, make it so that if you are going to declare younger, you intend to play in the league the following year?

[@eumenides5011]

Hilarious banter 😂

[@user-cy8zy5lo6s]

If Kevin Spacey and Russel Crowe had a baby, this guy is it

[@2Jim2u]

Is Cooley going to sign with Arizona or should they have just simply traded signing rights?? See Wheeler and other Arizona top draft picks who walked away from the org.

[@brianjones7660]

The next 3 ownership groups in the next 5 years will sign him .....😁

[@dennybarlau8065]

Cooley is staying in Minnesota this year

[@quantum1953]

Arizona is waiting for Matthews

[@liveanddieinchicagoliveand7074]

Bro you know Matthews not going to Arizona they can't even get a stadium and might relocate to another city

[@user-jy5ig2jj4w]

my thing for Arizona is, no point in drafting guys when you have no idea where you're gunna even be playing in a few years. they can wait for these guys to develope in russia and come over in a few years when the team ACTUALLY has a direction

[@2Jim2u]

I don't know if he's a steal for Philly but I can say that I think you overrated Fantilli. At Worlds and Unders he didn't step up as a Center, he fell back to wing position, and was ineffective. Look at the volume of points as a winger. I can say, that Carlsson did step up as a Center to top line challenges and actually deserved that place, unless Anaheim was going to select Michkov. The fact that Gusev had played in St Petersburg and had been their assumed starting RW, would have relegated Michkov anyways, they loaned him out. Philly had already had seen Cutter Gautier at the worlds and are currently sitting on him.

[@flexigerkov7516]

Its all Technique!!

[@garyfleming5156]

A lot of teams and fans saying their team had the best draft. As indicated, it was a deep draft. Thus only time will tell which teams really did have great drafts. Guessing it is not going to be as many as people think. Just saying!

[@SedatKulafofski-eh5pc]

Who had a more limited scope of teams they were willing to go to, Adam Fox or Matvei?

[@louisbuss6068]

Well.. Adam Fox had 1.. so how do you get more narrow than that...

[@SedatKulafofski-eh5pc]

@@louisbuss6068 exactly! So I don't know why commentators don't bring him up when they talk about other draft picks choosing their spots. I know Friedman would say college guys have the right but so do pro players playing in the KHL...

[@user-jp7qz6rq7v]

Agreed

[@Howl201]

Arizona don’t mind taking Russians because they can afford to wait for them to come over and if by any chance they don’t come over it’s okay because they have a lot of other prospects and picks anyways

[@kolasillers7776]

So why no Michkov then?

[@user-jy5ig2jj4w]

@@kolasillers7776because Michkov told Arz he did NOT want to play for them. like Elliotte said, there were only a handful of teams Michkov would have been okay gettin drafted to

[@blackstealth2]

Blackhawks dropped the ball on Cristall

[@Traumawarrior77]

It’s interesting people still defend Arizona in any way. It’s pathetic that they even have a team still with all the nonsense that’s gone on. It’s been over a decade of wasted money, talent, time. It’s a dumping ground for bad contracts and as was mentioned in this video all the prospects is simply too much. 5000 person stadium, community votes against them cleaning up a landfill. I don’t know the exact financials but I’m sure it’s ugly. It’s an ugly situation that just makes the league look bad.

[@brianjones7660]

25 years.... 7 ownership groups... 3 bankruptcies... Rarely made money in that period.... Compared to them, WNBA is a master Class in Business Administration. Pull the plug already...

[@ShamimuOmari-kd9rh]

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[@bocephus1911]

Wow Elliot looks like he’s put on some pounds ,

[@rjhaney2614]

As far as steals go in this draft, I can’t believe my Canes got Jayden Perron at #94. The absolute lowest that guy was ranked was like 85th and some people had him as a mid 1st rounder. Also, edit: First.

[@chazlucifer]

Easily a second round pick. Hate my jets for passing

[@moocat11]

He keeps repeating himself

[@mikedonavan]

every team needs to draft a trans gender or else

[@Steve-cu1ye]

Don't worry black people are playing more hockey and let's face it they are better athletes than white men

[@dickbiggerjr3613]

Are you available to play ?

[@Steve-cu1ye]

@@dickbiggerjr3613 hahaha Mikedonavan drinks budlight 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@wardmccomiskey2401]

Lol

[@Steve-cu1ye]

@@wardmccomiskey2401 mike Donovan is Irish that's why he is mad 😡😡 cuz trans has bigger package than mike Donovan hahaha hahaha hahaha

[@phukobama7111]

Friedman is a poseur, but other is legit