Both of The Athletic’s NHL draft experts gave the Kraken high grades once again after a great 2022 draft.
**Corey Pronman**: B+ ([Whole league](https://theathletic.com/4652553/2023/06/29/nhl-draft-2023-grades-analysis), [Seattle pick-by-pick](https://theathletic.com/4636741/2023/06/28/seattle-kraken-nhl-draft-2023-grades-picks-analysis/))
>Seattle, unlike a lot of the teams with high grades, didn’t pick in the top 15, with their first pick, Eduard Sale, coming at 20, but they get a high grade because of the collective talent of their first four picks. Sale could be a top-six forward if he hits and becomes more consistent. Lukas Dragicevic has top two pair offensive tools even with some defensive issues. Carson Rehkopf is inconsistent but very talented. Oscar Fisker Molgaard could be a top-nine forward. Collectively that’s an impressive group. There are no sure things in that group, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this draft class produced two NHL regulars.
[2022 rating: A](https://theathletic.com/3406708/2022/07/07/seattle-kraken-nhl-draft-picks-analysis/)
**Scott Wheeler**: [#3 Winner](https://theathletic.com/4629663/2023/06/29/nhl-draft-2023-winners-losers/)
>I liked the swing the Kraken took in Round 1 on Eduard Sale, who at No. 20 was one of the most talented players remaining — they’ve smartly recognized that while the expansion draft positioned them as a good, deep team, they need to use the draft to add more of the skill element.
>I really liked what they did in the second round, too. Carson Rehkopf is a really interesting prospect who has length, skating, skill, an NHL shot and another ceiling to reach. Oscar Fisker Molgaard is a well-liked player who could become a nice complementary player in the NHL and could stick at centre. Lukas Dragicevic is one of the most talented defencemen in the draft and a worthwhile bet if he can improve his skating and defending, which scared some teams off.
>They continued to roll in the second round with the selection of Caden Price No. 84, too. Price was No. 46 on my list, sees the game at an advanced level and is one of the younger players in the draft, with another level to find I think.
>Even Andrei Loshko in the fourth round and Zeb Forsfjall in the sixth round makes a lot of sense to me. Neither were on my list but both were honourable mentions. Forsfjall’s a more talented player than his statistical profile indicates and Loshko showed real skill throughout this season in Chicoutimi.
2022 rating: [Day 1 – #2 Winner](https://theathletic.com/3401481/2022/07/08/nhl-draft-first-round-winners-losers/), [Day 2 – #1 Winner](https://theathletic.com/3401435/2022/07/08/nhl-draft-day-2-winners-losers/)
by SiccSemperTyrannis
3 Comments
Pronman and Wheeler have different scoring methodologies. Pronman focuses on raw total value – how many players that will contribute in the NHL did you draft? This rewards teams with high picks and many picks since that runs your total value up.
Wheeler instead looks at how each team did relative to the optimal player selected at each pick. That means a team with very few picks can score highly if they got above expected value with those picks, while a team with many high picks can score poorly if they don’t take the players he thinks are best at those picks.
The net result here is that the Kraken both got good scores in total value and in optimal value. The total value was hurt by not picking until 20th overall by which time the high-probability prospects had already been picked, but no other team with a B+ in total value picked later than the Kraken did in the 1st round.
Thanks for posting this! I looked at a few other rankings today (all between B+ and A) but don’t pay for the Athletic anymore and was curious what they thought.
|Lukas Dragicevic is one of the most talented defencemen in the draft and a worthwhile bet if he can improve his skating and defending, which scared some teams off.
So teams were scared off because a defenceman needs to improve his defense?