Quote:
Originally Posted by ah123
I believe Sam Cosantino (sp?) mentioned on the morning show last week that some scouts (teams?) have Ritchie ranked as their #1, so for example, if the Islanders have him ranked as their #1, would they be willing to flip with Calgary and include an small incentive?
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I know this is total hearsay but a friend of mine told me that several people he's talked to in the industry have Ritchie a lot higher on their lists then these independant scouting services. He thinks Ritchie is top 3 on several people's scouting lists.
The draft always surprises. And what appears to be the consensus of the independant scouting services doesn't always mirror the consensus of the NHL teams. This is why we usually get some real shockers.
Ritchie could be more of a consensus top 5 guy than it appears. I think Burke and Treliving probably have a better idea about it then we do. He could go top 4 because he is such a rare type of player and because the top 5-6 are so close. You see a lot of quotes that he could be the best player in the draft when all is said and done because his combo of size, strength, skill and skating means the sky is the limit for him. All it takes is one team to take a chance because they want that combo.
Should be interesting. Like Burke has been saying all year, the top 5-6 could be in a different order for almost every team. Some teams probably have Ekblad #1, some Bennett, some Reinhart, some maybe even Draisaitl, and Ritchie could be even be #1 for a team. It's wide open.