It's definitely less hyped than other drafts. Most notably, Shane Wright is considered to have an underwhelming season.
Plus, the WJC where some top prospects could have been more hyped, has been rescheduled till AFTER the draft.
Plus, the bigger hype is reserved for next year, with phenoms Bedard vs. Mitchkov.
I still dislike the term "weak"/"strong" draft. There's talent every year.
The forwards are drawing the most attention.
Excellent assessment, especially this line.
I seen a few people bemoan the fact there isn't elite goalie talent in this draft and that maybe we shouldn't draft one because of it. The greatest goalie we've ever had was a 3rd rounder. Arguably the Vezina winner this year, Igor Shesterkin, was a 4th rounder, Ilya Sorokin was a 5th, etc. There is plenty of goalies in the NHL that went in rounds one or two, but plenty outside that range too. This is a fine year to throw a mid-round pick at a kid that's a long range project and let him marinate, preferably overseas.
Guys that I see LA targeting for forwards if they keep the pick that are in the area we're likely drafting are Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Marco Kasper and Isaac Howard. Cutter Gauthier too, but I think he's gone by the time we pick and could see him getting up into the top 10. It wouldn't surprise me if they grabbed a defenseman at all though still, and there are plenty in the range we're likely to pick.
LA seems to value character at least as much as skill in the higher picks under Blake (and under DL too) . Additionally, the picks have been heavily focused on NA and when they do venture into Europe it seems to be mainly Sweden and Finland. They have drafted one Russian under Blake and just two since 2014 so don't expect them to go there, especially in the top two rounds.