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Anaheim Ducks
Player Position Selection # HP Rank 1-100
Rickard Rakell Right Wing 30 66
John Gibson Goaltender 39 95
William Karlsson Center 53 46
Joseph Cramarossa Center 65 N/A
Andrew Welinski Defense 83 N/A
Max Friberg Left Wing 143 77
John Manson Defense 160 N/A
Day 1: Wasn't a huge fan of picking Rickard Rakell at #30. I was under the impression from the Ducks before the day started that they thought they could trade down and still get a good player. However, I didn't know they would go for a low-upside/maybe can be a decent bottom-six guy as the player they would be aiming for when there was still scoring talent available.
The Rest: I think John Gibson is the top goaltending prospect in the class and there wasn't much in terms of goaltending depth in Anaheim's system beyond Igor Bobkov. However, I think that was much too high to take him based on his talent level in today's goaltender market. I was really impressed by William Karlsson at the Under-18's by his above-average hockey-sense and deceptively slick puck skills. Joseph Cramarossa isn't a prospect I love, but he was one of those names I threw around into the tail-end of my top 100 as he has a fine work ethic and a good enough defensive projection to get onto a fourth line. I never saw Andrew Welinski, but from what I heard from scouts he never really stood out in any regard and looks like an org guy more than anything. Max Friberg went around where I thought he'd go, although I did think he had the skill set and hockey IQ to go somewhat higher, but the skating and size scared off some teams.
Summary: I wasn't a huge promoter of what Anaheim did at the draft, as this seemed to be a draft where they took shots at depth and low-tier players, although in a system with quite a few high-upside prospects it makes sense to a degree.
Dallas Stars
Player Position Selection # HP Rank 1-100
Jamieson Oleksiak Defense 14 27
Brett Ritchie Right Wing 44 48
Emil Molin Center 105 N/A
Troy Vance Defense 135 N/A
Matej Stransky Right Wing 165 N/A
Jyrki Jokipakka Defense 195 N/A
Day 1: I thought this Jamieson Oleksiak was a bit of a reach but Dallas obviously wanted to gamble on the elite-level physical tools. Oleksiak isn't a Hal Gill type player in my opinion, but he doesn't have the skills to get to a first pairing either so I'd place his projection in a happy median between that range. This was a somewhat risky pick, and while I can see why some scouts see the top-end upside to this pick, I don't.
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