Quote:
Originally Posted by djsFlames
Yeah, I'm not sure Ritchie has the skill to be a 1st line NHLer in the future either. The size is great, the shot is top notch, but he doesn't have all that much else. And part of why he thrived this year was his massive size advantage with a physically mature body when playing teenage kids.
But with Reinhart, Bennett and Dal Colle I can see 1st line potential. Them weighing 50lbs less than Ritchie and generating more offense than he did also says a lot to me. Get them to bulk up and they'll be monsters.
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Powerforwards don't necessarily need to be the most skilled players on the team to still be extremely effective in contributing to winning. Lucic for example is not the most skilled Bruin but there's many teams out there (including ours and EDM) that are dying for a player like that. Lucic can play 1st line even though he doesn't have what you'd call 1st line skill.
The last time we had success in the playoffs we had a beast on our top two lines who didn't necessarily have 1st line skill but was so big and strong that he was hard to contain. Who was it? Chris Simon. His role in our cup run is underrated. He gave us someone who couldn't be moved in front of the net. He helped our PP immensely. He had the hands to pot 20-30 goals if everything went right. He made room for his linemates and made everyone feel bigger and stronger.
True powerforwards are one of the rarest commodities in the league. Try to name 10 really elite ones, I can't even do that. They are rare and they really help winning.
Is Ritchie one of the most 5 skilled forwards this draft? Nope. But does he have the best size/strength/skill combination in the draft? Seems like it. A big, strong, powerforward who can finish is a very, very valuable commodity and helps you win even if he's not quite as skilled as some of the other guys available. He can be the complimentary player to more skilled guys. He could be making room for guys like Gaudreau and Baertschi and protecting them while finishing their plays.
I'm not saying he's our best pick at #4. But I think people are underrating the package he has and underrating how important his size/strength could be at the next level. I'm still seeing this argument that he should be downranked because he was physically dominant but I don't understand that because his physical dominance is his appeal. True powerforwards are as rare as big #1 centres and big top two defensemen. Every team is looking for them. One of the reasons why is that refs put away their whistles a bit more in the playoffs and big powerforwards are way harder to obstruct than smaller forwards. Powerforwards excel in the playoffs and you need their size and strength to bull through checking.
Not everyone sees the game the same way as me and thus don't value powerforwards as highly so I'm guessing I'll never sway some of you. But I know Burke thinks similarly to me in this. Some would argue we need top end skill more. But frankly with Gaudreau, Granlund, Baertschi, Poirier, Klimchuk, Monahan and Backlund we've got some good skill coming up. What we lack completely are powerforwards except for maybe Poirier and Ferland.
I'm not saying take Ritchie over the Sams or anything crazy like that but I'm a bit bewildered by how many people aren't into grabbing a powerforward at #5 if we end up there.