https://twitter.com/ryannovo62/status/1536770481172492288?s=20&t=O2BuFhMVKMbuUXqcqbWHwQ
https://twitter.com/ryannovo62/status/1536771338186145792?s=20&t=O2BuFhMVKMbuUXqcqbWHwQ

Why do you think the Ducks will draft Korchinski at 10? I'm genuinely interested

Mintyukov is my best guess

I could actually see it but then again it doesn’t make sense. He’s an offensive Dman who has issues in the defensive zone. U gonna pair him with Drysdale or Zellweger? Lol

If I’m Anaheim, I’d draft a forward at 10 and and try to get Bichsel with the Boston 1st

Just a question for anyone who's reading: What would be your optimal distribution of Forwards that shoot first, those that pass first and those in between? Or which player types do you want on a team how often? Because I'm thinking about who I want the Ducks to pick and while I love Lekkerimäki, I kinda think that there could be too many shooters / snipers in the Top 9 in the future ( McTavish, Pastujov, Perreault, Comtois (?)). You could also add Terry to that category now. He shoots more, he said that he was always told to shoot more and now he does it and it works. I feel like adding Lekkerimäki could potentially not work out in the sense that there might not be enough players that pass to those who shoot. Any opinions on this topic?

Yeah, that's my thought process as well. Korchinski would be the third offensive minded D-man that hopefully slots into the Top 4 in the future. Bichsel could be a good pick or maybe Pickering, they should mainly go BPA in the 20s.

Basically something like :
Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Slafkovsky-Suzuki-Caufield
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson

So power forward - 2 way centre playmaker - sniper

That would be my ideal line

Bichsel-Drysdale
Zellweger-XXX

With Zellweger , they’d probably need a Carlo or Cernak type D. Hopefully Helleson becomes that

You always want this in a line in your top 6:
1.Sniper
2. Playmaker & Two Way Player
3. Physical player, someone who can win board battles, and screen the Tendy, tip shots. A Power Forward pretty much
Also 2/3 of the line should fast, the other player should be slower.

Like imo, this habs line would dominate:
Nichuskin - Suzuki - Caufield
You have #3 in Nichuskin
#2 in Suzuki
#3 in Caufield

Additional things needed: #3 should be able to score goals, 20 preferably. Should be able to pass well, has to be slightly above average defensively. Should preferably be the slower one too
#2 should be able to score goals, and do every single thing above average, you need 75 points from a 1st Line C
#1 should be a great passer, can be slightly below average defensively though, but have to expect 30 goals and 65 points minimum

Now, that is why this line didn't work so well:
Caufield - Suzuki - Anderson

Caufield is good, expect, he's worse than below average defensively.
Suzuki , the offense is 2nd line level, not top line
Anderson: bad passer, only average defensively, he's fast. Doesn't always score too many goals.

All 3 are fast, so the skill in Anderson is a negative asset kind of

Hope that all made sense

How would you do that in the whole Top 9. What would the next two lines look like? This is how I'd classify the players who could potentially be part of the Top 9 in the future / are already a part of it:
Zegras - Playmaker
Perreault - Sniper
McTavish - Goal scoring Power Forward
Tracey- Playmaker
Pastujov - Sniper
Comtois - Sniper / Power Forward (I think his role will change bit next season)
Terry - Sniper (at this point in his career)
(Milano - Playmaker)

Would Lekkerimäki be the optimal player to slot into a Top 9 composed of some of these players?

That would be the dram scenario: Bichsel and Helleson both develop into Top 4 D-men.

Nichuskin - Suzuki - Caufield
Burakovsky- Wright - Gallagher
Drouin - Dvorak - Zadina

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Tkachuk-Hughes-Holtz
Formenton-Danault-Puljujarvi

Something like this .

Imo 3rd line should be a checking line that you can roll out against best offensive lines and make it really tough on them but also be able to create offence and get close to 20G 40pts each

Those 3 types on one line is optimal most of the time. I don't think it's necessary one player is slow, optimally all are fast player imo.

I think Zegras can be that 1C for the next decade or so. He still has to improve his defensive game but 22/23 is only going to be his sophomore year, enough time to develop that part of the game. Also he wasn't horrible defensively or anything but just not good (yet).

Not that they have to be slow, just slowER

He had an outstanding playoffs in the WHL and on articles I’ve read where they anonymously ask scouts who they think is the sneaky top 10 pick that isn’t widely thought to be there, his name is the most common. He’s probably the #3 D in the draft because of Mintyukov’s Russian passport. He’s also big and mobile, which fits the modern game great, and would particularly be good for Anaheim (Drysdale is electric, but he’s only 5’11”, and while I think Zellweger makes it at 2LD, he’s tiny at 5’9”). I also just think the Ducks could use an injection of talent on D, as outside Drysdale (a true #1) I see a couple 2nd pair guys (Zellweger and Helleson), and then a bunch of guys I’m personally not super high on (I don’t see any of Thrun, Lacombe, Moore, Vaakanainen, etc. having higher than 3rd pair upside). Helleson looks like a great rock for Zellweger, so Korchinski would be developed as the partner for Drysdale most likely. His defensive game could use a little bit of fine tuning, but having a solid top pair that can move the puck up the ice to the likes of Zegras, Terry, and McTavish is how the modern game looks to be going (see: Toews and Makar moving the puck up to MacKinnon and Rantanen). I also feel like their best strat would be to draft a LD and a forward in this 1st round, and I think the quality of LD that will be available by 22 is lower than 10 (obviously, but my point being I think the big 4 LD of Korchinski, Mintyukov, Mateychuk, and Bischel will all be gone, and maybe Pickering too, so the Ducks get the cream of the crop of LD at 10, and then still get a solid winger like Howard or Snuggerud, or a 3C like Gaucher at 22, which I like more than Lekmerimaki+Pickering, particularly because I think the Ducks could use a LW more than a RW).

Also after I put him there in my mental mock draft (can’t remember if the one I posted was before Pronman’s or not lol), he proceeded to be at 10 to Anaheim on both Pronman’s and Wheeler’s most recent mock drafts, and they’re usually pretty tuned into how teams think.

“Teams have called and inquired about it, there’s no doubt about it,” Dorion told Postmedia in a telephone interview Monday. “When you speak candidly, and we’ve spoken candidly about the possibility that we could move the pick.

So essentially 4 shoot first guys? Plus playmaker and a few power forwards.

Others might say different but having a couple of shooting guys is great especially if they can pass too

(Zellweger is 5'10" btw, CF lists him smaller than he is. He's only 2cm smaller than Drysdale.)

All valid points. I think Korchinski's defensive game would really have to improve for this to work. Right now Drysdale isn't all that great defensively and Zellweger, while he has gotten more consistent defensively, isn't going to be a shutdown D-man. I'm not saying I want a shutdown D-man in the Top 4 (I think Hockey is moving into the opposite direction), but someone who can do everything would be optimal. Korchinski is viewed as an offensive D by most. But I'll be honest I didn't focus too much on his defensive game when watching him. I think I'll rewatch his shifts to see how he plays in his own zone. What's your opinion on his defensive game?

I think I'd prefer Lekkerimäki / ??? + Pickering / Bichsel over Korchinski + Howard / Snuggerud.

I agree. Not sure if Lekkerimäki is the optimal fit since he might even be the 5th or 6th shooter in the Top 9. In a scenario without trades and FA singings, this would probably be close to the lineup in a few years:

Pastujov-Zegras-Terry
Tracey-McTavish-Lekkerimäki
Comtois-Lundeström-Perreault

So:
Sniper-Playmaker-Sniper
Playmaker-Power Forward-Sniper
Power Forward-Two-way Forward (I guess, idk which category he really fits into)-Sniper

I think Gauthier might be the best at 10. He's in the same category as Lekkerimäki imo but ranks 3 spots behind. But all of those guys are super close.

I think Geekie goes higher. I like Nazar or Lambert there

I don’t think Korchinski’s defensive game is too good right now, but it doesn’t really have to be in junior. Imo he’s got all the tools (NHL frame, good skater) to succeed as a 2-way D. He’ll probably need a year or two in the AHL, but that’s pretty typical of defensemen imo, there are rarely more than 1-2 D per draft that take less than 3 years to develop (like even Power went back to college, L. Hughes and Sanderson both did/are doing 2 years of college). Bischel has all the tools to be a Cernak type on the left side (big defensive stalwart), and Pickering is kinda in this vein too, but imo their puck skills/hockey sense aren’t necessarily gonna be NHL level, and I’d be more comfortable with either of them as the #3 guy, whereas I view Korchinski as being able to be a #2 (I think a good coach can take his size, brain, and skating and help him improve his defense, and there are obviously no concerns about his offense).

I really like Lekkerimaki, but the Ducks already have two right shot goal scorers in Terry and Perreault, and McTavish isn’t exactly a playmaker either. I think they could use a bigger guy but that still has a good shot to complement Zegras (like McGroarty or Snuggerud) or more of a higher skill guy that can make plays and that can afford to be undersized for McTavish (like Howard or Mesar).

At the end of the day, I think what it boils down to is that I’m more of a fan of Anabeim’s future up front, led by Zegras, McTavish, and Terry, than I am of Drysdale and a bunch of 2nd-3rd pair guys on the back end, so I’d use the higher pick to take a higher upside defenseman if I was Verbeek. Especially if I’m confident in my development team to help him focus more on his own end (which given his tools, should be reasonable to expect). I think there’s a lot more cases where guys who are great offensively and project highly because of that learn to round out their defensive game when they turn pro than cases where a defensive rock suddenly develops enough skill to be considered a true top pair guy (and obviously if a guy has both in junior, he’s going top 5 lol).

Where did I mention Geekie?

Sorry meant Gauthier. He’s expected to go in the 6-8 range now that he might move to centre. He’s such an Ottawa pick . And both Detroit and Columbus are both looking for centres