Ya know, I think I'm gonna add more response just to air my feelings one more time (as if I haven't already). That is, I'm still extremely bitter about this pick. As a fan, I always have faith in my team and expect that same faith be shown by the front office.
Now, I don't exactly know what they saw in this kid, but I know that they kept saying his interview was what put it over the top. You had players available at number 3, NUMBER 3, that were projected as 1st liners at their peak, but you took the 2nd liner instead. You passed on the best available to get bigger, essentially. You took an opportunity that hopefully doesn't anytime soon again and you went who "looked" ready instead of who pays off down the line. You did Montreal what did last year. You didn't set aside yourself being on the hot seat. You thought of only the quick fix. A quick fix, I might add, who has no business in the NHL next season, as evidenced by Kotkaniemi's own struggles this past season. So what is there to hope for? What's his peak? Will he be another Toews? Because that would require him to go beyond his potential. He can't win faceoffs, when he doesn't have the puck he largely goes missing, and he doesn't use his size. Think about that last one for a second, a 6'4'' 200 pounder doesn't use his size. He can deke the world for all anyone cares, but can he protect himself?
Even more important question: what purpose does he serve? The 2020 NHL draft is due to have countless centers projected to be drafted in the first round. You passed on a number one projected d man to rush on a slower, big body center. I know people think that d men bust more than forwards, but I'll direct everyone to Makar and Heiskanen two years ago. Small sample size, sure, but it doesn't change the fact that being projected that highly isn't for nothing. Busts happen all the time, so why do the Hawks go with the biggest gamble of them all? To size a GM's job? My team, this team I've cheered for since I was 4 years old, have gone from the gold standard of the league, playing speed based possession hockey, to resorting to making a team that needs "sandpaper" to get by. Does this mean we should trade Boqvist, Mitchell, and Beaudin? They are too small right?
I'm sorry to all you fans who show such faith this kid. I get that you want to be positive. But as someone who truly takes pride in trying to know everything I can about hockey, I'm scared. I really wish we didn't get 3rd overall and would have had 4th. If we picked this kid then, at least it MIGHT have been because byram was picked 3rd. Nothing in this pick makes sense to me, and the direction the team has gone in scares me. There's no speed, or rather not much of it. There's toughness, which everyone says "makes us tougher to beat." Not a winner, just able to put up a fight. He is a 200 foot forward? Cool, so is Turcotte, just with more speed, scoring ability, and work rate. I hoped as the summer went on I'd have reason to have faith in this pick, but I haven't had a reason. I ask people over and over to give me a reason to be. Tell me he's a leader, tell me he can actually score, tell me he will learn to win faceoffs, tell me he will actually be able to keep up with NHL hockey. Please, somebody!!!!!
I've been written off as being pessimistic and that I'll give him a fair chance. Bull****, that's the excuse people give when they can't make a logical argument to support this kid. So convince me, please convince me. I need to have faith in this kid if I will believe he will lead this team in the future. Cuz so far, this kid is all talk. I haven't once referred to him by name in this reply, so someone put value on his name for me. Otherwise, its just another nail in Bowman's coffin when he crashes and burns in this faster NHL.