Quoting: tkecanuck341
The Ducks have been missing a #1 defenseman since Niedermayer retired. I could see it being a coin flip between Byfield and Drysdale if they pick at #2, but if they pick below that, Drysdale should be their first choice. Recent articles that I have read on The Athletic describe him as the second coming of Drew Doughty.
If the Kings draft in the top 5 and take Drysdale, I'll be very upset. True, they're not very deep at RHD, but they have 3 NHL quality defensemen in the system right now in Doughty, Walker, and Roy, and that's likely not changing in the next 5 or 6 seasons. They can pick up another defensive prospect in the 1st round in a couple years. After Kaliyev, they don't have ANY top-six quality natural wingers under the age of 25 (I'm still not sold on Fagemo). Yes, they could move several players from center to wing, but that still robs them of top-quality wing talent.
As you said, the #1 overall pick is obvious, but after that, I would prefer they take Stutzle or Perfetti. I'd be ok to a lesser degree with one of Raymond or Holtz. I'm not sold on Byfield either, but I would only be disappointed (not upset) if they took him, as he had been the unanimous #2 for quite a while, even if he has been trending downward lately.
I disagree with everything here, Lindholm had a few years where he was a solid #1 guy, if you take more than 0.5 seconds considering Drysdale at two you're just insane, at 3/4/5, Stutzle Raymond and Rossi are very minor jumps down from Byfield, still a better prospect than Drysdale, Drysdale has number 1 d man upside yes, prime Doughty upside no (current Doughty upside... Sure, he sucks now lol) now that being said, Byfield has top 3-5 C in the game potential, and is NHL ready, and one of the youngest players in this class, Raymond also probably NHL ready, has been impressive getting very little ice time in the SHL, he's truly been making plays and getting really really good chances with consistent defensive done deployments and lower quality linemates, also probably NHL ready, but will probably go back to Sweden and get top 6 mins, score around a PPG, come to NA and take a run for the Calder, Stutzle dominated the WJC, and has been really good for a 17/18 year old in Germany, and Rossi against the same level of competition just makes everyone else look inferior to him sometimes, he's so good, also has top 10-20 C in the world potential (not for all of them I said potential, not guarentee, Byfield is more of a guarentee he'll be a top 10 C tho, vs Drysdale who's potential is a Lindholm type, yeah he's a number 1, but not like top 10 in the league... And a bigger chance to not reach that potential) ok I agree about the Kings stuff, except i highly doubt they keep all 3 of them for the next 5-6 years, eventually one of them will price themselves out or get moved bc the GM need to shake something up... Kaliyev is not gonna be a top 6 guy, he's lazy, doesn't do anything except take passes from his linemates, I swear he never crosses center red, and his shot won't be able to beat NHL goalies as easily as it can best junior goalies, and NHL d men can easily defend a guy standing still waiting for his linemates to do all the hard work, they won't just forget about him, he has no ability or desire to actually go get a puck for himself... Fagemo on the other hand actually has a p good shot at become a top 6 winger...
Idk if you're talking about the Kings or ducks in the third paragraph, but Drysdale having 1 bad game (I'm not even gonna talk about the tournament, he was two months younger than Laf was last year, got the same amount of points with almost no ice time) does not mean he's trending down, he's still the number 2 guy... Don't listen to Button, he's a complete clown that doesn't actually have any player evaluation ability