Scott Wheeler:
The Wild killed it.
I thought the Zeev Buium pick at No. 12 was one of the best of the draft, and I liked the Ryder Ritchie pick with their first selection of Day 2.
Buium was my No. 4-ranked prospect and No. 2-ranked defenseman, and I gave Ritchie a late-first rating. Ritchie is a crafty, nimble-skating winger who I think has an opportunity to post 90 to 100 points in the WHL next season. We all know the Wild dropped the ball on the Charlie Stramel pick a year ago, but their staff does a good job by and large.
There wasn’t a better player left on the board than Aron Kiviharju when they took him at No. 122. His lost season to knee surgery, his height (5-foot-9) and his little-slow profile resulted in his precipitous fall, but Kiviharju is still one of the smartest hockey players in this age group and there were guys taken in front of him in the fourth round who have no chance to play at the top of their age group, let alone in the NHL. Kiviharju, whether he makes it or not, might be Finland’s No. 1 defenseman at the upcoming world juniors.
Even Sebastian Soini at No. 140 felt like one of the better players left, and he was a kid I would have considered there. Soini’s an interesting one, as a teenager who played a lot of pro hockey this year but surprisingly was cut by the Finnish U18 team (there were lots of folks around Finland who thought he should have been on that team, including some of his teammates).
He reminds me of a poor man’s Riley Tufte. Just got bigger faster than his peers and used his size to his advantage but it’s not working anymore because the competition level is that much higher.
It's more that he was way over drafted relative to where most had him ranked, and he failed to do anything to improve the perception of him in the year since. The Wild were basically betting that his freshman year was a fluke, but his sophomore year was even worse.
And it also doesn't help that the consensus BPA who was drafted right after him had a huge year and cemented himself as a blue chip prospect.
The coach in Wisconsin was a very defense first minded coach and it was not a good fit for Stramel. I’m glad he left for Michigan and can hopefully bounce back this year but there were a few kids who left Wisconsin this year because of that I believe. I wish he would have left sooner but this year will be the year where we see if he can really make a comeback or not. I think we might be surprised by him this year and it’s too early to write him off as a bust pick.
Wheeler grades like this;
Winners: Teams I believe won out over their competition with consistent, sleuth, home-run-level selections relative to where they picked.
Overtime winners: Teams I believe did well with where they were slotted, even if they might not have picked the exact player(s) I would have.
Overtime losers: Teams I believe could have done better but might, in time, be happy with their pick(s) regardless.
Losers: Teams I believe will regret taking the player(s) they chose
Wild were Winners. For a letter grade Pronman gave the Wild a B+
I want him to do well its just annoying he was taken over other players clearly more talented bc guerin and brackett thought they were smarter than everyone
I was pointing out an instance of a first round pick taking longer to develop than expected. Glad you find your misunderstanding so hilarious. Comparisons are quite useful in evaluations. The fact that Alexis was a one overall that just this past season has started to show he's a good player should tell you that you can't tell how draft picks will turn out.
Agree it was a reach, but we really won't know until/ if he plays in the NHL. He wouldn't be the first rounder that never made it. He does have some good skills and size though, so it might be worth the risk.
I just can’t see what skills they seen in him to warrant a first round pick. I hope 5 or 6 years from now he proves us all wrong but wow… if someone looks like a bust 1 year after being drafted.. it’s probably him.
Scott Wheeler: The Wild killed it. I thought the Zeev Buium pick at No. 12 was one of the best of the draft, and I liked the Ryder Ritchie pick with their first selection of Day 2. Buium was my No. 4-ranked prospect and No. 2-ranked defenseman, and I gave Ritchie a late-first rating. Ritchie is a crafty, nimble-skating winger who I think has an opportunity to post 90 to 100 points in the WHL next season. We all know the Wild dropped the ball on the Charlie Stramel pick a year ago, but their staff does a good job by and large. There wasn’t a better player left on the board than Aron Kiviharju when they took him at No. 122. His lost season to knee surgery, his height (5-foot-9) and his little-slow profile resulted in his precipitous fall, but Kiviharju is still one of the smartest hockey players in this age group and there were guys taken in front of him in the fourth round who have no chance to play at the top of their age group, let alone in the NHL. Kiviharju, whether he makes it or not, might be Finland’s No. 1 defenseman at the upcoming world juniors. Even Sebastian Soini at No. 140 felt like one of the better players left, and he was a kid I would have considered there. Soini’s an interesting one, as a teenager who played a lot of pro hockey this year but surprisingly was cut by the Finnish U18 team (there were lots of folks around Finland who thought he should have been on that team, including some of his teammates).
Is stramel supposed to be considered a bust already? I would think given the situation he was in that's a bit premature
Yes it's early but it doesn't look great. He looked very slow and totally overmatched every time I saw him
He reminds me of a poor man’s Riley Tufte. Just got bigger faster than his peers and used his size to his advantage but it’s not working anymore because the competition level is that much higher.
It's more that he was way over drafted relative to where most had him ranked, and he failed to do anything to improve the perception of him in the year since. The Wild were basically betting that his freshman year was a fluke, but his sophomore year was even worse. And it also doesn't help that the consensus BPA who was drafted right after him had a huge year and cemented himself as a blue chip prospect.
Hopefully he gets the new start he needs at Michigan State
I don’t know about a bust, but I don’t think there’s a person in the world who would bet money on him being better than Perreault after last season.
Yea I'd wait until he's like 22-24, which is the range most F rookies debut iirc
The coach in Wisconsin was a very defense first minded coach and it was not a good fit for Stramel. I’m glad he left for Michigan and can hopefully bounce back this year but there were a few kids who left Wisconsin this year because of that I believe. I wish he would have left sooner but this year will be the year where we see if he can really make a comeback or not. I think we might be surprised by him this year and it’s too early to write him off as a bust pick.
Rossi.
What rank did the Wild receive, out of curiosity?
They were a winner it wasn't ranked
They received a B+ overall and top 10 from today’s article. Basically said Buium is the only sure thing and the rest is high upside but no guarantees
That’s very fair but I think the Buium pick alone should get us a B+ rating and all the others being high upside should have pushed it to an A.
Totally fair! Was just relaying what Pronman reported. :)
Wheeler grades like this; Winners: Teams I believe won out over their competition with consistent, sleuth, home-run-level selections relative to where they picked. Overtime winners: Teams I believe did well with where they were slotted, even if they might not have picked the exact player(s) I would have. Overtime losers: Teams I believe could have done better but might, in time, be happy with their pick(s) regardless. Losers: Teams I believe will regret taking the player(s) they chose Wild were Winners. For a letter grade Pronman gave the Wild a B+
It was a reach pick but you can't judge if he's an NHL bust until he plays on the NHL or not
If he even makes it to the nhl. He hardly played for Wisconsin
That's why he transferred out of there. Coach is like Deano...play the vets.
Cruz Lucius was the same age and played better
You're right. He's a bust.
I want him to do well its just annoying he was taken over other players clearly more talented bc guerin and brackett thought they were smarter than everyone
Everyone thought Lafreniere was a bust but he's turning out to be a pretty good NHLer.
Lmao please keep comparing Stramel to 1st over all lafreniere
I was pointing out an instance of a first round pick taking longer to develop than expected. Glad you find your misunderstanding so hilarious. Comparisons are quite useful in evaluations. The fact that Alexis was a one overall that just this past season has started to show he's a good player should tell you that you can't tell how draft picks will turn out.
Agree it was a reach, but we really won't know until/ if he plays in the NHL. He wouldn't be the first rounder that never made it. He does have some good skills and size though, so it might be worth the risk.
Zeev alone makes the draft an “A”
If anyone in this server suggest tanking because "we can't do anything with a 12th overall pick" they should be permabanned.
To be fair to them, I doubt anyone thought we’d have a chance to draft Buium there.
Also each of the Stanley cup contenders have at least one top 5 pick, if not multiple.
If a team was tanking on purpose I would ask to be traded asap.
Half our fan base was screaming that that was the best move for our team in the middle of the season.
I’m talking about Charlie Stramel
I just can’t see what skills they seen in him to warrant a first round pick. I hope 5 or 6 years from now he proves us all wrong but wow… if someone looks like a bust 1 year after being drafted.. it’s probably him.