Im gonna be purely reactionary and im sure these two are gonna be great players and I will support them 100%, but we took two players who were both clearly NOT the best players available at the draft position we were in. I know KD has his whole philosophy about size and speed and compete, and youre going to get a lot of players who have long careers out of that, but youre passing up on some real star level talent doing so. Obviously we dont know how Moore or Lev or Boisvert are gonna turn out yet, and we wont for several years, but i would rather swing for the fences on all 3, bust on two of them, and end up with 1 star than end up with 3 3rd line caliber players.

I agree. Demidov and Eiserman and Greentree....with at least 1, you get a top 6 and hopefully 2. That said, I do get teh intrigue of Levshunov and if he becomes that first line player, he and Vlasic will be a really good pairing

I will respectfully disagree, if Demidov was this sure fire future star why did two more teams after the Hawks pass on him for forwards?

In my opinion there is as much if not more risk that Demidov busts given the lack of exposure to high level talent he faced. The argument has been made by many that the MHL is a notch below the CHL and USHL and when you factor in Russia’s omission from international events, scouts have not been able to see him against the best of his peers or even against professional in the KHL. So he looks great on video but against who a bunch of future beer league superstars?

As for Boisvert and Vanacker they both went in the range they were expected to. I was leaning towards Hage at 18 but quite honestly Boisvert had a pretty impressive season in the USHL. As far as Vanacker goes, the numbers he put up playing for a mediocre team all the while playing with a torn labrum since November is impressive. Not only that he then went and had a solid U18 for before heading home to have his injury surgically repaired, how can you not love that grit, determination and commitment?

Have to get Vanacker in here too now, and I think kurashev as well. I see Kurashev as much a part of the future or more than I see for Jones and Mrazek at least. Looking at this it becomes very clear that we need one more high pick next year. Luckily it looks like next years draft has quite a few of them. Hagens and Misa (a year out) look to be roughly on Celebrini’s level.

Add a hagens or Misa next year plus whatever else at the TOR pick. Sign a high profile free agent next summer also. Then the fun starts with getting these guys in the lineup.

Its not about Demidov being a surefire star, or boisvert and vanacker being busts or bad hockey players. (side note i actually like the vanacker pick a lot). Its about being so risk averse that you take yourself out of the running for a future star. I'm sure Levshunov and Boisvert are both going to be good hockey players and have long careers in the NHL. But you don't draft at 2nd overall to get a good hockey player. You want a running mate for your calder winner franchise foundation. There is that risk that Demidov busts because he can't take that next step because of the competition he faced, or that his skating and vision doesnt translate. The argument isnt that the risk is there. It's about not willing to swing for the fences. When you already have guys that profile as big competitive 3rd line centers and you draft 3 more guys that fit the same profile when you can draft a guy who has the potential to be something more.