Which LW: Gavin McKenna vs Ivar Stenberg

[BleedingBleu]

I'm kinda thinking Carels. A gamble if you have the first pick maybe but in retrospect the anointed sure thing is really not. We did the conventional safe pick with ej. In retrospect would have rather have had Fat Phil.

Carels is the safest pick in the draft.

What do you think of Smits if we fall back to that 8-10 area of the draft? His skillset reads like Broberg, but I haven’t seen much of him.

Only know from what I saw at the WJC’s. He’s good, he’s going to go high and he looked like he might be NHL ready now. Probably be a solid player that eats minutes…not sure how much he moves the needle though. He also might be the first dman off the board, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was. There are a lot of quality future NHL dmen in the top 20 picks. With the right moves we should be able to get a skill guy and possibly a very solid dman.
Dream scenario for me would be one of McKenna or Stenberg and then maybe we get another pick in the 12-15 range and grab Daxon Rudolph or maybe we go Carels and Belchetz and since I’m being greedy we also end up with a late first rounder and grab Tomas Chrenko

Considering how only 4 Defenseman went in the first twenty pics of last year’s draft, and 9 Centers went in the first twelve picks, I could definitely see where there could be a run on Defenseman early in the 2026 Draft.

[juan good eye]

I’d pick Stenberg over McKenna.

He lost me during the WJC with some of the most insufferable interviews you’ve ever seen. He also wasn’t all that impressive except against Denmark.

I think both go in top 3 so give me the one likely to do better come playoffs.

Stenberg is more of a sure thing. High floor vs high ceiling.

Having brothers on the team would be interesting but would it be a distraction later on?

Does McKenna have more diva than dog in his game?

It didn’t seem to be a problem for the Sedin twins

And yeah. I think Gavin has some diva in him for sure

The sedin sisters never could win when it counted although they came close once

[SameOldBlues]

I'm kinda thinking Carels. A gamble if you have the first pick maybe but in retrospect the anointed sure thing is really not. We did the conventional safe pick with ej. In retrospect would have rather have had Fat Phil.

Carels is the safest pick in the draft.

You’ve been pretty consistently high on Carson. Elite Prospects doesn’t have much to say about him, but what’s interesting is the rankings are fairly scattered.

I’d say the “experts” predominant rank him in the early teens, with a coupe as high as Top-4 and a couple others as low as 25.

Ranked #13 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
Ranked #8 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #13 by CAM'S CONSENSUS
Ranked #6 by TSN/CRAIG BUTTON
Ranked #11 by TSN/CHRIS PETERS
Ranked #25 by THN/FERRARI
Ranked #14 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #14 by DAILY FACEOFF
Ranked #3 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #11 by DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY
Ranked #6 by SPORTSNET/COSENTINO
Ranked #4 by SPORTSNET/BUKALA
Ranked #25 by SMAHT SCOUTING
Ranked #13 by DOBBERPROSPECTS

Why would you pick him over McKenna, Stenberg, Lawrence, or even your boy Belchetz? Less challenge, more curiosity.

Carels is #5 right now on Buttons post WJC January rankings. I believe he’s a top 3 pick.

Ive been warming up ti Carels bigtime lately too after watching and reading up on him. Wish he was a little bit bigger, but he’s mean enough with enough skill and lots of compete to be a future 1 potentially.

I think ya have to take McKenna if you’re pickin #1, in spite of the red flags, just too much talent there and he went to college to challenge himself, which I like. Sime of these kids are labeled as the next prodigy for years, and ya gotta wonder if they get bored at some point and that’s why their game suffers a little sometimes.

I think Lawrence is underrated, he’s got lots of grit and compete in him as well as being a potential #1 center whi plays a complete game.

Looks like Veorhoff or however ya spell it is this year’s overrated prospect to date. Humorous since ASOGG has pined for em multiple times while schooling everyone on his superior hockey knowledge.

[BleedingBleu]

I’d pick Stenberg over McKenna.

He lost me during the WJC with some of the most insufferable interviews you’ve ever seen. He also wasn’t all that impressive except against Denmark.

I think both go in top 3 so give me the one likely to do better come playoffs.

Stenberg is more of a sure thing. High floor vs high ceiling.

Having brothers on the team would be interesting but would it be a distraction later on?

Does McKenna have more diva than dog in his game?

It didn’t seem to be a problem for the Sedin twins

And yeah. I think Gavin has some diva in him for sure

The sedin sisters never could win when it counted although they came close once

While Henrik was spectacularly bad that series (1 point, -7), they did go 7-Games and Roberto Luongo was spectacularly outplayed by Tim Thomas. Dude had an .891 Sv% despite 2 Shutouts!

G3 - 8 GA (including 4 in 3rd Period) on 38 Shots
G4 - 4 GA on 20 Shots (pulled)
G5 - 0 GA on 31 Shots
G6 - 3 GA on 8 Shots (pulled)
G7 - 3 GA on 20 Shots

Let’s just say no one has ever confused Luongo for being a Big Game Goalie…

[clemonsonroots]

I'm kinda thinking Carels. A gamble if you have the first pick maybe but in retrospect the anointed sure thing is really not. We did the conventional safe pick with ej. In retrospect would have rather have had Fat Phil.

Man, you gotta love that kid. To me, he is not a gamble at all. His work ethic will make him successful. Kids don't have this kind of work ethic usually. I would go Stenberg Mckenna Carrels Reid Verhoeff Lawrence Malhotra Belchetz in that order.

[kimzey59]

Looks like Veorhoff or however ya spell it is this year’s overrated prospect to date. Humorous since ASOGG has pined for em multiple times while schooling everyone on his superior hockey knowledge.

Verhoeff is being jumped over, but he's still pretty solidly a top 10 pick.

The "over-rated" guy this year is Ryan Roobroeck.
Massive kid with incredible hands and skating ability that just doesn't have a single F to give. Even the slightest bit of effort and he'd be in the mix for the top 5(or higher). He was projected top 5 coming into the year, but the most recent mocks I've seen have him sliding into the 2nd round. He's pretty much made his way onto my do not draft list with the lack of effort this year(the gamble might be worth it in the late stages of the draft but he's not worthy of a 1st or 2nd round pick IMO).

[juan good eye]

I’d pick Stenberg over McKenna.

He lost me during the WJC with some of the most insufferable interviews you’ve ever seen. He also wasn’t all that impressive except against Denmark.

I think both go in top 3 so give me the one likely to do better come playoffs.

Stenberg is more of a sure thing. High floor vs high ceiling.

Having brothers on the team would be interesting but would it be a distraction later on?

Does McKenna have more diva than dog in his game?

It didn’t seem to be a problem for the Sedin twins

And yeah. I think Gavin has some diva in him for sure

The sedin sisters never could win when it counted although they came close once

While Henrik was spectacularly bad that series (1 point, -7), they did go 7-Games and Roberto Luongo was spectacularly outplayed by Tim Thomas. Dude had an .891 Sv% despite 2 Shutouts!

G3 - 8 GA (including 4 in 3rd Period) on 38 Shots
G4 - 4 GA on 20 Shots (pulled)
G5 - 0 GA on 31 Shots
G6 - 3 GA on 8 Shots (pulled)
G7 - 3 GA on 20 Shots

Let’s just say no one has ever confused Luongo for being a Big Game Goalie…

Luongo never lived that loss down.

I think the bigger story was the aftermath of Thomas not attending the team visit to the WH as many influential media outlets were quick to go on the attack...

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/103 ... se-refusal

https://thesuffolkjournal.com/7000/spor ... use-visit/

https://www.si.com/nhl/2012/01/24/why-t ... -was-wrong

https://www.espn.com/boston/nhl/story/_ ... -statement

[Harry S Deals]

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/mock_draft

Blues arent likely to hit the top 5 currently 9.5% chance at #1

In that pick range

Malhotra
Verhoeff
Reid
Smits
Carels

Who you got Im warming to Malhotra, total Blues pick

[Pierre McGuire]

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/mock_draft

Blues arent likely to hit the top 5 currently 9.5% chance at #1

In that pick range

Malhotra
Verhoeff
Reid
Smits
Carels

Who you got Im warming to Malhotra, total Blues pick

At #4….Carels hands down

[kimzey59]

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/mock_draft

Blues arent likely to hit the top 5 currently 9.5% chance at #1

In that pick range

Malhotra
Verhoeff
Reid
Smits
Carels

Who you got Im warming to Malhotra, total Blues pick

1- OT win for Winnipeg tonight against Chicago and we're in a 4-way tie for the #2 pick.
Lose to Winnipeg tomorrow and they jump us.

I doubt anyone can out-suck Vancouver at this point, but I'd say it's very likely that we end up with a top 5 pick. The problem is that we'll need to be 1st or 2nd to land Ivar and that's going to take some lottery luck.

2- Of the options you listed; it's Reid or Verhoeff for me. I probably lean towards Reid at the moment(Reid is a MUCH better skater) but it's close.
I do think Malhotra ends up in the top 10, but he's below the D men IMO.

[Harry S Deals]

https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/mock_draft

Blues arent likely to hit the top 5 currently 9.5% chance at #1

In that pick range

Malhotra
Verhoeff
Reid
Smits
Carels

Who you got Im warming to Malhotra, total Blues pick

1- OT win for Winnipeg tonight against Chicago and we're in a 4-way tie for the #2 pick.
Lose to Winnipeg tomorrow and they jump us.

I doubt anyone can out-suck Vancouver at this point, but I'd say it's very likely that we end up with a top 5 pick. The problem is that we'll need to be 1st or 2nd to land Ivar and that's going to take some lottery luck.

2- Of the options you listed; it's Reid or Verhoeff for me. I probably lean towards Reid at the moment(Reid is a MUCH better skater) but it's close.
I do think Malhotra ends up in the top 10, but he's below the D men IMO.

This franchise could certainly use some lottery luck I mean BOTH NY teams jumped from #10 to #1 so.....

[SameOldBlues]

I don’t know much of anything about Malhotra, is he Top 5 pick worthy? Or, is he top line material, elite in any areas?

[kimzey59]

I don’t know much of anything about Malhotra, is he Top 5 pick worthy? Or, is he top line material, elite in any areas?

Probably not top 5 but certainly top 10 IMO.
Looks like a prototypical #2 center more than a top line guy. High end motor and IQ, outstanding defensively for his age, above average puck skills and passing, good shot but doesn't use it enough(more willing than Thomas was at the same age but he could still improve there).
Plays a lot like Thomas(more physical than Thomas but not as good of a skater).

[LGB73]

I'm not a draft the BPA guy because generally speaking it's too hard to predict that the #3 ranked prospect is clearly better than the #4 guy or even the #5 or 6. Not impossible in some cases but this year I don't think there is leaps and bounds certainty that one guy in the 4-8 range is a lock vs the others. If we get #1 and there is a generational talent there with zero question marks, you take him regardless of organizational need. Don't see that player in this draft unfortunately.

That being said then it comes down to where the needs are for the team when looking at our young NHL players and prospects. That's C followed by RD. Thomas and Dvorsky are our only top 6 C's and plenty of questions of whether either is guy will grab the 1C and lead this team. Lawrence and Malhortra appear to be the two I see listed as being worth a top 10 pick.

Not sold on either of centers then we should look at the RDs. We really only have Mailloux and Jiricek set to replace CP/Faulk in the next couple of years. I don't think anyone here is locking both those guys in as sure top 4 RDs at this time. Getting a 3rd guy in the mix that could be #1 would help. Even if all 3 hit you've got a very valuable trade trip since RD's have a lot of value in the league. Verhoeff and Reid being the ones I see mentioned most.

[Harry S Deals]

I don’t know much of anything about Malhotra, is he Top 5 pick worthy? Or, is he top line material, elite in any areas?

Probably not top 5 but certainly top 10 IMO.
Looks like a prototypical #2 center more than a top line guy. High end motor and IQ, outstanding defensively for his age, above average puck skills and passing, good shot but doesn't use it enough(more willing than Thomas was at the same age but he could still improve there).
Plays a lot like Thomas(more physical than Thomas but not as good of a skater).

What i was getting at is i am not 100% sure the Blues will unfortunately be Top 5. They are really bad but with a relatively healthy forward group they will win some games

[kimzey59]

I don’t know much of anything about Malhotra, is he Top 5 pick worthy? Or, is he top line material, elite in any areas?

Probably not top 5 but certainly top 10 IMO.
Looks like a prototypical #2 center more than a top line guy. High end motor and IQ, outstanding defensively for his age, above average puck skills and passing, good shot but doesn't use it enough(more willing than Thomas was at the same age but he could still improve there).
Plays a lot like Thomas(more physical than Thomas but not as good of a skater).

What i was getting at is i am not 100% sure the Blues will unfortunately be Top 5. They are really bad but with a relatively healthy forward group they will win some games

1- We haven't been able to drag ourselves out of the bottom 5 all year.

2- Every time one of our forwards gets healthy, another one goes down. See last night with Sunny.
Until I actually see our forwards back on the ice together, I'm not going to count on it happening. The injury bug has owned us this year.

3- The trade deadline is coming(March 6) and I fully expect to see some players moved. We only have 12 more games before the Deadline due to the Olympic Break. I don't see us doing nearly enough in 12 games to cancel the sell-off.

Granted, you have to be bottom 3 to be guaranteed a top 5 pick given the lottery system; but I fully expect us to be bottom 5 going into the lottery.