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Other draft day targets

CarltonTheBear said:
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Nik the Trik said:
CarltonTheBear said:
I think I'm all aboard the Samuel Girard train at 30/31.
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Yeah, baby. After the ill-fated Oliver Kylington express of last year I have high hopes for this one coming true.
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Dmen at 5'9" scare me a little.
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Ghost Bear scares me a little whenever he has the puck.
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Good point and while I think Girard was one of the top performers at the combine, I'm still not sure about taking a small dman that high.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Dmen at 5'9" scare me a little.
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WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
I just think at that slot in the draft there are probably better picks.
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I don't think that's true. If Girard were 2 inches taller he'd go in the top-15 probably. In terms of ceiling I doubt there will be anyone else available at 29/30 who can top Girard's. There will be safer picks, sure. But screw those.
 
There's only 2 regular NHL defencemen listed at 5'9", Torey Krug and Jared Spurgeon. Krug's scored at a 40+ point pace over the past 3 seasons and Spurgeon's a very reliable top-4, two-way defenceman. Brian Campbell, Tyson Barrie, Ryan Ellis, Toby Enstrom, and Sami Vatanen are all listed at 5'10 and top-4 defencemen. Ghost Bear's listed at 5'11" but that's definitely with skates on.

Girard also only just turned 18 last month, so he's on the younger side of draft eligible prospects this year. Decent chance he grows at least another inch before he makes the jump to pro. And as his combine results showed he's fairly fit for his size.
 
And of course there's this for those who didn't know:

Corey PronmanVerified account ‏@coreypronman  Apr 6
Samuel Girard's 74 points is most by a U18 defenseman in the QMJHL in over 30 years. Going back to Jean-Jacques Daigneault in 1983.
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Corey PronmanVerified account ‏@coreypronman  May 10
Samuel Girard-2016 at 22 points in postseason, best mark by a U18 Dman in the QMJHL playoffs since Patrice Brisebois in '89. T-2nd all time.
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You've made a compelling case.

I have to admit I didn't know much about him outside of some scouting reports and seeing his name mentioned around the combine coverage.

 
I would also like to float Cam Dineen out there as a late second round option:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/battalions-dineen-has-a-great-mind-for-the-game/

In some cases with young offensive defencemen, there are concerns about hockey sense. On Monday, when North Bay was two minutes from closing out a 3-2 road win against Ottawa, the puck came to Dineen at the blueline along the boards. Ample time to unleash a slapshot. All sorts of puck permutations abounded. Many juniors would have let fly. Maybe the puck would have missed the net and become a gift breakout for an odd-man rush and overtime-forcing goal. Others would have opted for the craven soft dump to the near corner to eliminate the elements of risk, scoring and entertainment.

Dineen?And what would you expect from the son of a school principal who passed on Yale to go to the OHL for his draft year??split the difference. He took something off his fastball and shot the puck so it would ricochet off the boards and create a goalmouth scramble. As a result, the Battalion got a valuable offensive-zone faceoff.

?I think he is pretty underrated,? Battalion assistant coach Ryan Oulahen said of Dineen. ?He is very cerebral, great mind for the game, knows his position very well. You don't see him make very many mistakes.?

Dineen was intent on Yale before committing to North Bay last spring. The Toms River, N.J., native is on the compact side at 5-foot-11 and 182 lb., but the hockey IQ is Mensa-worthy. Dineen also has the beyond-his-years confidence to acknowledge that he wants a big stage for his skills.

[...]

One prevailing observation about Dineen, who is also second in OHL rookie scoring to Mississauga Steelheads surefire first-rounder Alexander Nylander, is his propensity for getting a point shot through shot blockers. His 12 goals are third among all OHL defencemen.

?I think that comes down to just working on it in practice a lot,? he said. ?I think last year my coach, Bob Thornton, really made that an important aspect of my game. So he would always work with me getting pucks through from the point.?

[...]

?Cam's that kind of new-age defenceman,? Oulahen said. ?He defends really well, uses his stick well, and doesn't get himself into bad situations.?

Monday, Dineen didn't get any points and yet his impact was indelible. He hustled back for a dump-in and drew a cross-checking penalty on Montreal Canadiens draft pick Jeremiah Addison that set up the game's first goal. There he was again, joining the rush to become a decoy and open a passing lane to facilitate captain Mike Amadio's game-winning goal. And making smart passes that initiated dangerous rushes and forced Ottawa to take penalties, one of which also led to a power-play goal.
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Girardi seems like a really interesting prospect. But, I'm seeing him in the 18-25 range in most projections.
 
Bullfrog said:
Girardi seems like a really interesting prospect. But, I'm seeing him in the 18-25 range in most projections.
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The last consolidated rankings I saw had him at 29. And there's been plenty of rankings that have left him out of the top-30 altogether (ISS, Sportsnet, McKeens). Obviously at that point in the draft anything can happen but I'm reasonably confident he'll be available there. Plenty of teams are still afraid of small guys.
 
herman said:
I would also like to float Cam Dineen out there as a late second round option:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/battalions-dineen-has-a-great-mind-for-the-game/
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I'd be somewhat surprised if Dineen made it out of the 40s, so the odds of him still being there for the Washington pick seem very slim. If Girard is off the table at 30/31 then I'd look into trading down a few spots into the late 30s and grabbing Dineen then.
 
Is this draft regarded as deep, soft or weak? Sound if guys like Dineen are around at 40 then there are a lot of very good players available.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Bullfrog said:
Girardi seems like a really interesting prospect. But, I'm seeing him in the 18-25 range in most projections.
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The last consolidated rankings I saw had him at 29. And there's been plenty of rankings that have left him out of the top-30 altogether (ISS, Sportsnet, McKeens). Obviously at that point in the draft anything can happen but I'm reasonably confident he'll be available there. Plenty of teams are still afraid of small guys.
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Button has him at 18.

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Bullfrog said:
He's got Carter Hart up to 24. Would you pick a goalie with the 30/31 pick?
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Yeah I mean assuming Hunter & co. don't see any red flags with Hart or one of the other top-ranked goalies I'd be going D/G with 30/31 for sure.
 
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