Prospect Info: HF Wild NHL Draft Big Board Pick #9

[Digitalbooya]

Going till our 2nd round pick (#45).

This is a draft board for the Minnesota Wild. We, as a collective, are the GM and scouting department tasked with ranking the players for the upcoming draft.

Who is the #9 player on our draft board?


1. Malkin Celebrini (100%)
2. Ivan Demidov (83.3%)
3. Artyom Levshunov (81.8%)
4a. Zeev Buium (35.7%)
4b. Sam Dickinson (35.7%)
6. Berkly Catton (43.8%)
7. Anton Silayev (35.7%)
8. Cayden Lindstrom (52.9%)
9.

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[Dr Jan Itor]

My #7 player still there at #9... what a steal!

 

[57special]

If we didn't have Fabes, i would've voted Yakemchuk, but we do, soo... I love the idea of taking this all the way to our 2nd rounder.

 

[Circulartheory]

Helenius, the two-way skilled forward that plays both center/wing, produced like a top-six forward on his men team in the Liiga, and has represented Finland in every age group - U18, U20, and Mens at the WC.

A bit of average size at 5'11" 181lbs but he'll able to bulk up a bit in the next 2 years and add more speed to his game.

 

[BagHead]

Helenius, Iginla, and Yakemchuk are basically tied here for me. Might change my mind by tomorrow on the order I place them in. I guess I'll go with Yakemchuk today. I love that size, strength, and offense from the blueline, though I'm sure he'll drive fans and his coaches crazy too.

 

[57special]

Is the worse case scenario for Yakemchuk that he is a bigger Dumba?

Seems to have some of the same qualities, good and bad.

 

[BagHead]

Is the worse case scenario for Yakemchuk that he is a bigger Dumba?

Seems to have some of the same qualities, good and bad.

I think the worst case is that he's a bigger, late-career Dumba, where the offensive tools are there, but just aren't quite good enough to produce regularly. Plenty of bottom line NHL players have tools that can shred the CHL, but not the NHL, held back by injury, developmental plateau, or whatever else.

I've said in the past that he seems like a hybrid of Phaneuf (early career) and Burns. I think his skating is good, but not great like Burns's. He can go fast, but I don't see an explosive first step. I think his shot is both like Phaneuf and Burns, in that he can wrist it like Burns, or slap it like Phaneuf, he's got both tools. His decision making is decidedly Burns/Dumba-like. His physicality is more like Phaneuf's. His hands are more like Burns's, soft for his size and position. I think his skating isn't as elusive as Burns's, so that could hold his hands back when navigating traffic.

This is all from watching him in juniors, and only a handful of games at that, so I don't truly know how it'll look vs. pro players. Maybe his skating is better than I give it credit for. Maybe his hands are worse. This is the problem with projections, it's all just relative observations and educated guesswork. As an uneducated fool, I'm already at a disadvantage.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Helenius, Iginla, and Yakemchuk are basically tied here for me. Might change my mind by tomorrow on the order I place them in. I guess I'll go with Yakemchuk today. I love that size, strength, and offense from the blueline, though I'm sure he'll drive fans and his coaches crazy too.

Those are my #7, #8 and #9. Same tier.