[nik-]

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

He's a playmaking centre. He scored a bunch of goals because he can put the puck in close to the net and his size allows him to go there, but he is definitely a playmaker type. Like I said before, goal highlights hardly do him justice especially since some of the clips on those packages are from when he was 16.

Also definitely not a winger. He plays a very strong game as a centre. It shows just how limited YouTube clips are when people say that he looks like Olli Jokinen or a winger. All Barkov's major strengths are Jokinen's weaknesses: intelligence, puck management, playmaking, two-way play.

If you're looking for a highlight reel guy, undoubtedly there are many players who are more impressive. What you have in Barkov is a strong, solid centre who also happens to have breaken all the scoring records for players his age in the league. I have no idea how he compares with other prospects though.

As for Ville Nieminen being a top-10 scorer, a good deal of that is because he played with Barkov. I don't know how he projects in the future, but he carries his line like a veteran centre. He's not a typical kid with skills who gets some nice goals here and there. He plays in every situation and he creates offensive opportunities more than finishes them - if you watch a YouTube reel, it looks like he's just a big guy who somehow gets the puck and scores, but that gives a false impression of what his game is like.

I don't advocate that the Flames draft him, particularly, but I think it's important to have a proper idea of what type of player he is. The scouts and experts are mostly correct. YouTube impressions can be misleading.

Thanks for this. The highlights for him do suck, so it really is hard to see his game.