Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
I've seen this argument a few times and I can't really buy into it.
Is Ekblad scoring 20+ goals because of his size? Is he making Canada's top 4 as a draft eligible player strictly because of his size? His size is a positive attributes of his just like shot and just like his physical play. This positive attribute does not go away when he joins a league with a slightly bigger average height/weight.
Do we equally worry about Reinhart not being able to translate his hockey sense advantage at a higher level where the average hockey sense is higher? Not really I don't think.
Do we equally worry about Bennett not being able to translate his shot, speed, etc at a higher level where players on average shoot harder and skate faster? Nope.
So why do we think size wouldn't translate? Makes no sense to me. If a guy is a beast in junior he should be a beast in the NHL. If his size/strength edge is huge in junior then it's still going to be significant in the NHL. Ekblad is much bigger than guys like Backlund, Glencross, Cammalleri, etc. He should be able to physically overpower most of our forwards.
I think where there should be concern is when a small guy is a really physical player and you wonder if that will translate because he's actually below average in size. Gilbert Brule was seen as a powerforward in his draft year and he went very high but he was only 5'10 180ish and his style was dangerous and somewhat ineffective at his size.
But if you've got a huge guy who's a physical player? Great! Instead of worrying if it will translate I'm drooling at the thought of him physically dominating the NHL for the Flames. I don't see this as a red flag at all and am somewhat bewildered why anybody would. We're looking for big, physical players, we shouldn't be paranoid that they are overrated because of their size. Scouts are taking all these factors into account. Ekblad is more than just a big defenseman, it's the sum of his attributes that make him the prospect he is. His size should be attractive to the Flames with our lack of size in the top 4, it shouldn't be worrying.
And if Ritchie ends up being the type of player who carries 5-10 lbs extra I don't even think that's the end of the world with his style of play. Those extra pounds can make him even harder to move in front the net, knock off the puck, etc. As long as his skating isn't very adversely affected a tad extra weight is not the end of the world. Ove isn't the slimmest lad either and it doesn't seem to drag him down.
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Huge fan of your posts/insights man. However I must respectfully counter that the average NHLer will be bigger than the average opponents he is used to. One of the most compelling arguements in Graudeau ability to translate his game is that he is aleady accustomed to being the smallest and succeeds anyway.