Disclaimer: Please forgive the tone of this post, it’s just how I am, nothing personal.
I think Parekh is more of a mirage than Yakemchuk. I'm pretty cold on Catton because we already have a highly touted skill + hockey sense + effort player who might be slightly too small in Eklund (and arguably Smith - who absolutely is at risk of being an empty calorie guy who racks up points on the PP).
The New York Rangers might win a Stanley Cup because their PP is so good. The Sharks made it to the SCF for the first and only time in franchise history in large part because of their ridiculously good first PP unit. Having an elite PP is absolutely a weapon in the playoffs that can make or break your run, so I don’t really see a problem with guys who feast there. Goals are goals.
If you think Parekh is a mirage, please explain why. I have already conceded his defensive short-comings, so it can’t just be that.
I don't know how one can claim Sennecke is an empty calorie winger when he was top performer for his team and was putting in real, hard minutes while producing in the playoffs. I think he's more projectable at his position without requiring a specific set of players around him to make sure he's successful.
Sennecke is the definition of empty calories. He’s been criticized for inconsistent effort and plays no defense, plays a little too much one-on-one hockey. Frankly, he benefitted from being injured during the London series so people can make excuses for why they shut his team down without him. This is not a player who is going to carry a line at the NHL level.
Yak has size that Parekh doesn't, without losing much mobility at all. Parekh doesn't even skate all that well. He has great passing vision, but he gets turnstiled often in his own zone. Yakemchuk's big knock is that he's too aggressive in the D zone and gets out of position with bad decisions, but he is also on tape as shutting down (and infuriating) Lindstrom and McKenna, and he often got exposed on D while playing 25-30min and being asked to do everything. If I'm a GM and both are available, I'm betting on Yak this year.
Yakemchuk people are so obsessed with the one single game where Yakemchuk apparently played good defense. Parekh isn’t an elite skater but he’s a good one and Yakemchuk is a poor one. I’ve watched a half dozen games of each player and I desperately wanted to like Yakemchuk way more than I have, because his effort on defense is not there. Yes, he can bully other teenagers in front of the net because he’s a 6’3” built 18 year old in a league of children. I don’t see that translating unless he drastically improves his positioning and agility. His top speed is above average for his size but I care more about agility, acceleration, and four-way mobility in a defenseman and Parekh is clearly superior in these ways.
You also don’t mention that Yakemchuk’s offense other than his booming shot is not nearly as likely as Parekh’s to translate, because so much of it relies on dangling teenagers and one-on-one moves. I can see Parekh playing exactly the same way in the NHL as he does in juniors because his offense is not junior style. Yakemchuk’s is. He might still translate because he is really talented, but it’s not as clear-cut and easy to envision.
There’s also the fact that Parekh’s +/- was by far the best on his own team and Yakemchuk’s was one of the worst on his team. It’s not a perfect stat, but when the disparity is that large you have to take notice. However bad Parekh is defensively, he out-scored it at even strength by 39 goals. A plus 39 goal differential, which doesn’t include “empty-calorie” PP scoring, is insane at any level.
I really do like both players, but Yakemchuk has true bust potential, as in never plays in the NHL other than games fed to him because 1st round picks always get leeway.
EK never won anything or was a centerpiece of a true contender, so why bet on EK lite? Meanwhile there are lots of big, nasty D who are either questionable in their own zone or figure out how to shut it down and become a solid part of a difficult team to play against. Burns Lite I prefer to EK lite.
To be clear I'm not against the offensive defenseman archetype that Parekh embodies. But this year, for me, Buium is that guy - even without the size, he has so much hockey sense and high IQ, decision-making, plus the offensive tools to boot. Lev and Parekh aren't worth the draft capital they're going to demand, in my opinion, and if it's Yak or Parekh I'm hoping for Yak.
First of all, it’s insane to have expected EK to carry any team he’s ever been on to a Cup. Give him Toews and Kane or Kopitar and Carter or Crosby and Malkin up front when he was in his prime and I virtually guarantee he’s a Cup-winner. Remember how he basically carried an otherwise lottery-bound Sens team to within one game of the SCF? He’s capable.
Second of all, when has Burns ever won anything? Burns is just as much of a loser as Karlsson, so Burns-lite must be a loser too, right?
I’m also not suggesting that we draft Parekh to be a minutes-munching all-situations #1D, or the centerpiece of a contender. I’m suggesting that he be the Forsling/Montour archetype. We still have to draft the Ekblad archetype either way, because Yakemchuk isn’t likely to be that guy either.
I don’t get the Buium comparison to Parekh, they’re totally different types of players. I far prefer Buium to Parekh, obviously, but there’s no question that Parekh is on a different level offensively. Buium was the third leading scorer on his NCAA team. Parekh out-scored the second leading scorer on his team by 20 points. Buium was not the defensive centerpiece on his team, that was Behrens, and several high profile forwards were centerpieces of that team too. Parekh was clearly physically targeted by opponents in the OHL playoffs because he’s the guy that literally everything runs through and his team was practically useless without him.
Again, it’s not that I don’t like Yakemchuk, but rather that I feel like I need to aggressively defend Parekh that much because I just don’t feel like people appreciate his talent and ability. He’s certainly the most misunderstood player in this draft, as far as I’m concerned.
