Article: Which Top Draft Prospects Have A Shot At Falling To the Wild?

[Tony Abbott]

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[Protec]

I do not like the idea of falling players much at all. 
 

I’ll refrain from my favorite example but rather cite the Carson Lambos selection as my evidence for why it’s worth a deeper look. The Wild knew Lambos was a top prospect early but his injuries and timing caused his draft stock to fall. The Wild might have started to think they’d get a great player late in the 1st who in a normal year would have gone earlier. That’s kinda what they said after the pick. 
 

Interestingly, the draft guru/analytics queen from MN went to Seattle where they picked an over-age player just nine spots back  after the Wild at 35th overall. Ryker Evans. Also a defenseman but this guy just went to the Calder Cup and is blowing doors.
 

Evans finished the Calder Cup Playoffs with 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in 26 games to lead all defensemen. He was selected in the second round (No. 35) of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Kraken and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Evans finished the Calder Cup Playoffs with 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in 26 games to lead all defensemen. He was selected in the second round (No. 35) of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Kraken and was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team.

So the issue for me is the potential fixation with who might fall. Wallstedt is a goalie and the Wild moved up a smidge to secure him. That makes sense because some teams don’t need to select a goalie, even a great prospect. In other cases, the falling players can be a trap. Maybe Russians who have KHL contracts or like Lambos, perhaps there are acceptable reasons to fixate on a few guys. Is it wise to look at who’s potentially still there too hard or looking at some off-radar guy? Both carry risk, ask Paul Fenton ca. 2018.

Main idea is whether falling or rising players are good to go for? I think it really boils down to the scouting dept. and their evaluations. Seattle for example has a guy who likely will be in the NHL soon. MN has a younger player from that draft who hasn’t proven anything yet in the AHL and isn’t needed in an NHL uniform for awhile so I’m not ripping on that. Just hoping as time goes on the trend of the Wild sucking around the draft will reverse. 

Looking at Chicago & Nashville loaded with picks this draft and the teams MN already has trouble with in the Central like COL & DAL, it’s pretty important that MN can keep pace and hold off the surge of youth they’ll face in the next few seasons. All the rising and falling stuff is so diluted with opinions and various contradictory evidence it’s hard to really put too much weight upon. Hope the Wild get it right this draft and pick a center who can be there behind Knudi, Rossi, Gaudreau, Steel, Hartman, Bankier, and all the other unproven or NOT long-term top six center solutions. Sure some will say the Wild should trade for that one day with draft capital but how well has that worked out for MN? One good center like Ek since 2015 would be quite helpful to have in MN now. That position has to be top priority especially in this deep draft. I’m saying get a safe center pick, no big-fallers or long-reachers. It’ll probably be an elite Swede.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Protec

[B1GKappa97]

Any and all Russians have a good chance of falling to us. 

Maybe not Michkov, but if he did... we better run that pick in!