I'd still pick Reinhart to be honest.

I don't see why everyone is so high on Ekblad. Personally, I don't think he's worth it as first overall, maybe 2nd or 3rd, top 5. Is it cause he's a Canadian Dman? I remember everyone was so high on Johnson too, to the point where Staal and Toews went 2nd and 3rd. Look at Johnson now. Sure, he's a decent dman but not exactly lliving up to 1st overall. Here's the last few dman drafted first overall:

Erik Johnson - 2006
Chris Phillips - 1996
Bryan Berrard - 1995
Ed Jovanovski - 1994
Roman Hamrlik - 1992

Worth mentioning is Victor Hedman, I remember everyone was so high on him, saying he was a potential franchise dman. He's a decent dman, dependable but I wouldn't go as far as to say he's a franchise cornerstone.

With a few exceptions, notably Doughty/Pietrangelo/Suter, I find that the true stud/franchise dman develop later and are usually picked further down/often overlooked in the draft. The list goes on...Weber, Chara, Lidstrom, Keith, Karlsson, Subban. Hell, everyone was saying Seth Jones was ready for the bigs and he's looked pretty timid in his first year. Too early to say if he'll be a stud dman or not but not exactly NHL ready.

If Canucks somehow land 1st overall, I hope to hell they draft Reinhart. Based on past drafts, the chances of landing a franchise dman is better later in the draft. But hey, this is just my $0.02. I'm curious to see what people who wanna draft Ekblad first have to say.

If the playoffs of the past years have proved anything, it's basically that you need that stud on the blue line to be successful

Taking a chance on an undersized forward who has skating issues over a potential stud would be the wrong move IMO. Not to mention the pressure on Reinhart to preform will be enormous and he will most likely not live up to expectations

Problem Canucks have is they are interestd in Reinhart. But they have the dilemma of deciding Ekblad or Reinhart.

Dan Murphy was saying yesterday that a Kesler deal will be done by Friday.

Yeah but you're already assuming that Ekblad WILL be a stud dman. Just cus he got "exceptional status" doesn't mean that he'll instantly be a stud. Even Tavares took a few years to make an impact.

Big risk big rewards. You don't have to look far to see that. Look at Mackinnon. The Avs opted to go with him over Seth Jones. Undersized forward yes. Only difference is that Mackinnon was a great skater. It's not like Reinhart is terrible at skating, needs improvement definitely but so does every prospect.

How do you know Ekblad won't wilt under pressure either? Sure he's been in a leadership role, but he's still a prospect nonetheless. He's not exactly going to take charge of a Vancouver dressing room laden with veterans.

Yes, we need a stud dman to be successful. Is it Ekblad? I have my doubts. Maybe he'll be the first dman drafted first overall to pan out as a franchise cornerstone but looking at past drafts, the safe pick would be Reinhart.

Dman are made to be pick 2nd overall its just a good luck charm... ask pronger and doughty :fuckthatshit:


OEL looking like a franchise dman nowadays as well

lol
#1 overall, Reinhart
#2 overall, Ekblad

Therefore, Ekblad will be a stud. :fullofwin:
So who has the 2nd overall? Let's trade for that instead....


I think based on the fact that many championship teams have a cornerstone Dman,
Canucks might be more willing to gamble for one.

But in the end, they both have equal chance of panning out or not.

Wait so...

Dont take Ekblad first since he wont pan out and let another team have a stud d man since he gets picked second.

or

Pick Ekblad and have him become mediocre but don't let another team have a stud defencman?

What a decision :derp:

If we don't follow BPA and look at what the Canucks need the most in the next 5-6 years. It's actually a first line centre. For defence, we still have Tanev, Corrado, Hutton, and Andersson.

Once we lose Henrik to retirement and Kesler through trade, our next top centre would be Horvat. Whether Horvat can become that first line offensive centre is still the question.

Rumour is Kesler is down to two team, Chicago and Anaheim.

There isn't really much to argue about really, since it is based on history

2013: MacKinnon vs Jones - too early to say for Jones since traditionally defenseman adapt significantly slower than forwards
2012: Yakupov vs Murray - not sure anymore after this season, still early for Murray
2011: RNH vs Larsson - RNH easily
2009: Tavares vs Hedman - Tavares easily

Even more goaltenders have gone 1st overall than defenseman since 2000. The only thing you can really say is Ekbald was granted exceptional status in 2011 (2nd to Tavares) and immediately made an impact defensively for the Colts as a 15-year-old and has been hyped as a franchise defenseman for the longest time.

Reinhart has been hyped with a 1C ceiling but not considered a franchise player, slightly lower tier.

If we take Reinhart, I wouldn't wanna be burnt by Ekbald by either EDM or CAL. I feel like if FLA just keeps their pick, they will 100% draft Ekbald, since they passed on BBC last year since 1C > 1D in terms of priority at the time. I also feel like any team that will try to move to #1 will be for Ekbald, not for Reinhart who most likely will be avaliable at #2

Kassian and Tanev got there QOs today as formality (850k, 1.5m)

Ducks and bkackhawks front runner for Kesler.

What do you guys want from them?

10th + etem and TT + hawks 1st?

Might be saad. It would be epic if we can get saad out of Chicago.

I would take TT in a second from the Hawks over etem

Terevainen, hmm intriguing

Although Kesler to hawks and TT back this way = us waiting for hawks to get old before competing with them again lol

It's easier to sign a top pairing D via UFA than a top 6 centre. By the time your D prospect is developed, they'd leave for free agency usually. Forwards are the safer bet for crapshoots.

I'm hearing Sharpe is in play from Chicago now

What time does the draft start on Friday anyways?

We won't have Tanev if we get Reinhart :ifyouknow:

toews and kesler in the same locker room? not a single word will be said all season lol

He might not be in play for the 1st pick

4PM.

Patrice Bergeron for the NHL 15 cover.

Linden should seriously consider bringing Igor Larionov back and hire Alyonka as the replacement of Kristin Reed.

What role would Larionov play?

But Alyonka? :ifyouknow:

would prefer tt from chicago, instead of whatever could come from the ducks. add on possible trade from first overall and we have 4 young promising centres. reinhart, tt, horvat, gaunce