Jeff Skinner (#9 in 2007) & Logan Couture (#7 in 2010) stick out to me as guys that made an immediate impact & were not top 5 picks.
Monahan is sometimes compared to Logan Couture in the scouting write-ups. Wasn't there an OHL scout who came out on Twitter and said Monahan & Couture were the best OHL talents he'd ever scouted?
If we pick him I see him slotting straight into the lineup. Other guys in our range? Nichushkin comes over to the NHL now or never, in my mind (just intuition, nothing to back that up). Barkov & Lindholm are both capable of making the NHL, but contracts would probably hold that up. Ristolainen is the D-man people talk about being physically ready. How about Hunter Shinkaruk? I really see this kid making a splash in the NHL.
|