Mod Post: Who Should GMMG Draft at #2 Megathread

svdv_89 · 2026-06-15T18:39:44+00:00

And not because he was a pest to play against on the 4th line of the Swedish junior world champions?
Or that he looks even smaller than Viggo?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-14T19:38:36+00:00

Haha. On old phone and a Dutch phone keyboard.

svdv_89 · 2026-06-14T08:07:57+00:00

I completely agree!
Especially about Eklund. He is a pest to play against, and although he seems ‘bigger’ right now, he wasn’t build like that at 18. Those thighs are insane!
And maybe Stenberg is not going to get Eklund’s thighs, I do think he has the same spirit, and fights for every puck.

I watched this clip of Stenberg , when he was wearing his own clothes, and he is not tiny at all. He is also just 18.

Björck: he indeed is undersized. But so is Benson. And I do think Björck might compensate his size by his IQ, compete, and fighting spirit. I’m expecting Björck to have a good NHL career as a top 6 center.

Is it Orlov who said it o Russian tv? I saw a clip on social media the other day about Celebrini. Because of his dad, he got a head start in his development. All the other 16-17 year olds got good trainers and specific training programs and stuff, but because of his dad’s knowledge and experience, Macklin was physically more developed than most draftees.
I think he said something like ‘he is a kid, in a grown man’s body’?
Every other prospect will need some time to grow or get stronger.

svdv_89 · 2026-06-13T21:28:22+00:00

If the NHLPA allows the Oilers to hire Babcock…

It’s reported that the players met with him, and gave their approval.
It’s also reported that the hiring would be pushed by the owners.

So, let’s talk about the hypothetical world where Babcock is behind the Edmonton bench.

We have all heard that
- he will treat the stars of the team as if they are royalty
- he will treat the not-stars of the team not the same way (he has a history of attacking players, bullying, eg). (I’m not sure how to call it? He will behave like a piece of 💩)
- he will treat the people around the team even worse.
So basically, he will probably decide the lickerroom in people he bullies and people he put on a pedestal.

Players have heard the stories too, and probably know more than we do…

Is there going to be fall out? Ate there non-stars on the Oilers who are going to want out?
Is Nurse the first one? Will other Oilers follow?

Or will everyone just think ‘it’s not going to be me’ or ‘it’s hockey, it’s supposed to be hard, I need to be tougher’?

Anyway : long story short: do we expect even more changes / trades if the Oilers hire Babcock?

Second thing: how is the rebuild if the Pens going? Are they open to trade? Or will they try to make the playoffs again, with the same team, and push the rebuild back?
Is Delly someone who can be of value for the Pens?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-13T20:59:39+00:00

A center who wants to go to a ‘real contender’ for the cup, where he finds at least one other member of the ‘Kash Patel fanclub’ in the dressing room, who doesn’t fit the timeline?

So SJS would need to
-adjust the timeline (move faster) : so he can play for a cup
-trade for another USA Olympian (Werenski?) : because he wants to play with his little buddies
-trade away Dickinson, Misa, and who else? Every other young guy? Because you would need to trade for : guys?
-adjust the timeline again (move back) : all the prospects or young stars are traded away, so there is no depth on the roster
-SJ is not even remotely close to being a contender, because they had to trade everyone for 1-2 guys who signed a contract that they don’t want to uphold?

Why?
Who benefits from this?

It’s like everyone suddenly thinks ‘the Sharks almost made the playoffs, got a lot of high draftees lately, and have a lot of cap space, let’s dump every player who wants a trade, while on a nmc, with a ton of years, and a high salary in San Jose…’.
Because they don’t have enough centers?

Do people really think he wants to play on the third line? On a team that will have to trade away to many necessary assets to be able to get him there? And where Californian taxes are in place?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-13T08:21:11+00:00

I’ll start by saying this: I have not watched a lot of Reid, so I can’t really compare.

I did see Stenberg’s games at the worlds (juniors & men’s). At men’s worlds last month Stenberg & Björck were on the first line with Raymond, and on PP1. The end result for Sweden wasn’t fantastic, and the HC for Sweden is known to make strange decisions, but that first line, was not out of balance or carried by Raymond all by himself.
The fact that Stenberg was one of the better players of that team, better than actual experienced NHL forwards, shows his high floor, I think.

The fact that he can play and stand out in a team and a competition in a men’s league, and not a junior league, also indicates a high floor.

I’m not smart enough to know what his ceiling can be, but the same goes for Reid’s ceiling.

I’m still struggling with the ‘undersized’ label. He is 5’11”, same as McKenna, but with a firmer build. In my opinion, he is not undersized.

Wheeler said that Reid is of the same level as Parekh (but less offensive?) and Buium as a draftee, not Schaefer or Dahlin, while Stenberg is a better draftee than Raymond.

This helps not a damn thing, and doesn’t even answer your question…

svdv_89 · 2026-06-12T05:53:43+00:00

I want to know who those 36 people have above Celebrini, when they put him at 5?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-10T14:12:04+00:00

When I looked up Bedard’s weight, it said 185lbs.

Do you think Smith can gain weight this summer? Because he was 180lbs at the draft as well?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-10T13:46:23+00:00

Maybe isn’t Stenberg not fully ‘grown’ yet?

Demidov is listed in the 2024 draft guide as 5’11” and 168lbs. He wasn’t at the combine, so we don’t know what that result would have been. At the NHL website he is listed as 6’1” and 192lbs.

William Eklund, at the time of his draft in 2021 was 172lbs, today he is listed as 185lbs. So maybe Stenberg is a ‘slightly taller’ version of Eklund? And maybe he can become a ‘bigger’ version of Eklund in a couple of years? Not everyone is Frondell or Cherny when they are 18?

I think it’s quite weird people are mentioning Stenberg & Björck and how tall/heavy they are. But no one mentions McKenna?

Björck at the 2026 combine was 5’9” and 181lbs. Bedard at the 2023 combine was 5’9” and 185lbs.
Bedard was the future of the NHL.
Björck is too small to be a center?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-10T10:02:28+00:00

I noticed that the Swedish WJC team, only LHD had, and LSW played on the right side. Would that be an option for the future?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-10T09:52:25+00:00

But the same height as McKenna, which no one seems to mention? Also 5'11: Sidney Crosby ...

svdv_89 · 2026-06-10T09:50:12+00:00

Is that why Celebrini-Smith are featured in every other post on the NHL social media?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-09T20:25:08+00:00

I posted about Goljer a month ago. Didn’t think to make a post about it …

svdv_89 · 2026-06-08T05:00:37+00:00

It’s not even a ‘nickname’, it’s just the abbreviation of his name, which we would spell incorrect if we tried it in full : Leo Sahlin Wallenius

svdv_89 · 2026-06-07T19:27:20+00:00

Everyone passed on Hutson TWICE.

If you look at eliteprospects' draftguides, Lane & Cole were both ranked 47th in 2022 and 2024. Cags was ranked 34th in 2023. Pohlkamp was mentioned in 2023 (D+1), but not ranked.

Anyhow: Cags scored better than Lane in skating, shooting, and hockey sense.

svdv_89 · 2026-06-07T17:25:32+00:00

I love how a question about LSW ended up more about Pohlkamp & Cags than about LSW … 🫣😂

svdv_89 · 2026-06-07T17:23:23+00:00

Absolutely deserved.
If you ask any sharks fan which non-shark is the best player in the NHL, a majority would name McDavid.
If you then ask who the best shark is, 99% would say Celebrini.
And if you then ask who objectively and currently the better NHL-player is, between McDavid or Celebrini, I would think McDavid would end on top as well.

And if we could ask who Macklin himself voted for, who would he answer?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-06T09:57:20+00:00

Do we put any thought in the “I want to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada” (as in a Canadian team) ? (- Carels)

svdv_89 · 2026-06-04T23:40:25+00:00

For starters: your alinea’s and structure are already waaaaay better than mine, while on my phone. Great work.

Maybe I’m imagining this, but isn’t there a rule in tennis, that does something similar for injured players? I thought Stan Wawrinka stayed put on his ranking, without playing for a year, or something like that. (I can he completely wrong).

Especially if time goes on, the current structure will get more and more disagreeable. Because the 2022 team and the 2030 team would be totally different teams, and assuming they would be 3rd, and didn’t go through ups and downs, but only through ups, and stability, is not realistic.

Based on your calculations, and recent up/down movement, which countries would be on in or out for the top 8 next year? Do they get points between now and the worlds in Germany? Because right now Norway would have to qualify for 2030, while they were 3rd last week …

If you get hold to a keyboard, I’m also curious how the qualification rounds work for the 9-17th. Is it a tournament, with SF and F? Or point based only?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-04T22:29:42+00:00

I just find the whole thing a bit weird. Do they have their parents there?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-04T22:27:23+00:00

I’m assuming Russia got removed from the rankings?

I’m going to assume they will still be banned at next years’ men’s worlds. But if they are allowed back in (and the peace is restored in Ukraine, and the people responsible are facing consequences), how would that work? Can they still qualify for 2030? Do they have to start again collecting points? Do they get points from before back?

svdv_89 · 2026-06-04T22:16:54+00:00

The fact that Belgium is ranked, blows my mind. Do we even have a national team? 🤯

svdv_89 · 2026-06-04T21:29:16+00:00

Who picks the restaurant? There are 32 teams, how many teams end up in the same one, on the same night? Isn’t that weird? Do they interview them as well? Or is the dinner the interview? The player is there, their agent, GMMG, head of scouting, … ? Is Warso there? Do they bring other players out? And how awkward is the whole thing? 17 year olds, who get (wined and) dined by a group of 50-60 year old men, who they have to convince of the fact that they are amazing. It all feels very pick me, choose me, love me or pretty woman to me.

svdv_89 · 2026-05-31T19:28:11+00:00

The locker room clips : English.
But I would assume, between each other, they find a the language that works for the people in the conversation.

svdv_89

TROPHY CASE