Another draft prediction

If St. Louis lands #4 I would be mad if they picked Parekh, but I don't think they would. I would 100% take Dickinson at this pick. If they were dead on RHD then take Yakemchuk.

Appreciate the lottery luck like you would not believe, but Parekh is far and away the LAST Dman the Blues should be grabbing in the 1st round, let alone with the 4th pick. Dickinson would almost definitely be the pick. A slight chance it's Yakemchuk or Silayev. Absolutely no smallish Dmen who can't defend, especially if it's a good 10 slots too high for the player.

The guy likely has Q.Hughes potential, and is a RD, (on the bigger side of offensive D-Man as well). You are likely underrating him quite a bit. But, if STL end up going for a more stable D, then I would think it would be Silayev. Personally, I don’t see the offensive talent in Dickinson as much as some others, but it still remains close. Time will tell which D comes out on top in this draft, it is extremely hard to tell right now

It has nothing to do with underrating. It's the type of player required. Parekh is the exact opposite of that required type.

Besides, you're definitely overselling him (in what world is 175 pounds big for any Dman? Q Hughes???). He ain't the second best DMan in the class. I also have no idea how one could not see offense in Dickinson's game... is there a better goal threat creeping in from the point in this entire class? On that alone, he's a legit weapon.

Not saying there is no offense in Dickinson, but likely looking at at 40 pt D, which is very good, but not as much as some others.
Weight is gainable, so by the time he’s 23, Parekh can be comfortably 185-190 while standing at 6”0, maybe even more if he has some growth left, decent frame. What he did this year should be enough to identify him has potential of 85 pts (Parekh that is). IMO, he should 100% go top 5.

I understand he could be not the ideal fit for STL though, just thought they would go for top end potential

Heh. Points is certainly not the sole measure of top end potential. And even if he seamlessly gains 20 pounds, he's still below average size. But most of all, I think you're really underselling Dickinson a lot.

Sure, pts don’t say the whole story, but he isn’t getting lucky either, so he’s doing something really right offensively, and imo, will translate into the NHL.
I guess I’m underselling Dickinson as much as you are on Parekh.

BTW, Parekh is listed at 181, so getting to 190 is 9 lbs gain, very easy for a professional athlete who is 5 years away from prime physical maturity

I don't doubt that's possible, but I have not seen any prospect ranking that has Parekh anywhere near 4, his play is roundly described as irresponsible defensively. Whereas Dickinson is almost always top 5, because he's a far better skater (and Parekh certainly is not below average, so that's saying a lot) and really has no holes in his game.

I can definitely see how a Montreal fan would favor Parekh more at this time than a Blues fan would, but I'm struggling to connect with underselling Dickinson. He might actually be the most high floor sure thing in the whole draft.

San Jose has a big need for defense and have a long term build going on. As such, it only makes sense for them to fill their need at defenders first rather than forwards given the development time involved in a defensive prospect versus forward prospect.

Hawks probably are looking very closely at Levshunov, but he and Korchinski wouldn't be an ideal pairing as both are offensive D-men. Vlasic, who as a rookie is playing first line against the top competition and ranks top 5 in the league in the D zone (the only Hawks d man this season with positive analytics), would be much more ideal to pair up with Levshunov. Korchinski plays the 2nd line behind Vlasic.

Lev is considered more of a 2-way D

He's questionable in his own zone and his strengths weigh heavily to offensive output. Vlasic is a first line shut down guy and Korchinski struggles in his own zone. Vlasic and Levshunov would be a much better pairing.

Don't necessarily agree with some of the draft positions, but the fits seem right. Connelly to Washington and MBN to Detroit seem like solid guesses

For what it is worth, Craig Button recently did a mock draft on TSN trade deadline day and he had Parekh at #2 overall. To be fair, though, i think that it is the only time I have seen anyone put Parekh that high. His right handedness certainly favours him over some of the lefties, but I am not sure by how much in the NHL teams' minds.

Just to be clear, this is not my rankings, just a mock draft. I think its very likely we see some reaches, especially for RDs

Heh. Craig Button. Makes total sense.

Would not be surprised if Parekh shot up late in the rankings. Dickinson reminds me of Simashev, who is a great prospect tbf. The only thing is, Simashev's Defensiveness is superior imo, and the point total from each player may be similar. Personally, I'd rank Simashev over Dickinson.

For the fun of it, here is my defense ranking of the last 2 drafts (IK, I placed ASP freakishly high 3 days ago, let's ignore and move on):
1. Lev
2. Parekh
3. Silayev
4. Reinbacher
5. Simashev
6. Buium
7. Dickinson
8. Yakemchuk
9. ASP
10. Willander

Yeah, my top 10 would be very different. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure Parekh cracks the top 10.

So what are we looking at?

Don't have time to make a list right at this moment (or rather the weather is finally too good to stay inside while the sun is out), but I can later. Gonna take the dog for a hike. However, it's pretty clear we're valuing different traits at different levels - it's not good or bad or better or worse, but definitely different profiles. So yeah, it'll probably be very different. I can promise that there will a 23 higher than fourth, and that Dickinson will be first or second not fifth among 24s.

Sharks are actually super deep on the Left side. They specifically need RHD (desperately). So yeah they'd absolutely be taking Levshunov or Yakemcyuk if the miss out on Celebrini. I also think Lindstrom is crazy overrated. If he's there with the PIT pick (assuming it doesn't get transferred to 2025) I'd be ok with that, but i'd prefer to trade up to get Catton.

Nah, MTL got Catton locked in 😉

I could slide a few of these names around a spot or two (Jiricek might be a little higher if he was already back in fitness/form), but as of today with a quick think this is pretty close to my top 15 ranking. Obviously, more all-around guys are generally going to land ahead of straight offensive Dmen.

Simashev
Reinbacher
Dickinson
Levshunov
Silayev
Willander
Yakemchuk
Buium
Bonk
Lindstein
Molendyk
ASP
Parekh
Jiricek
Strbak

Obviously very different from my list, but I don’t hate it. Lev under Reinbacher is definitely an interesting take though. Lev seems to have Hedman-like potential. Probably won’t quite get there, but still

To me, Reinbacher looks eerily like Petro at that age. I agree Hedman is a good comp for Lev, but I do worry about his defending a little.