Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffman
Eh... I was butt hurt at the time because we had no centre prospects and we passed on Teuvo Terravainen. Now that we have Mony and Benzo, I don't mind the pick at all
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First, Benzo is completely terrible. Nobody likes it.
Secondly, Teravainen is an undersized center. Yes, looks like he is playing center at the moment, but the Hawks have played him on wing quite a bit. I too liked Teravainen at the draft, but the experts seem to be right about him - will likely have to adjust to the wing to be an effective offensive player, as his size may prevent him from becoming a competent two-way center.
Also, it isn't like Teravainen has been experiencing tonnes of success. I thought he was surprisingly good in the playoffs last year, but also surprisingly 'meh' for most of his time otherwise. The Hawks also tried him on the top line with Toews and Hossa for a while as well.
For me, Jankowski will always be linked to TT, but I don't think it is a loss at all. I think Jankowski can really be a much more important player for the Flames down the road than anything TT could have been on the Flames. TT is an undersized player who has played with some exceptional talent in Chicago, or has received 'easy' minutes against lower quality of competition, but is not a half a point a game player, yet doesn't offer any physicality or an ability to function as a defensive specialist. I bet he would have gotten more points on the Flames simply because the Flames would have probably force-fed him some more top 6 minutes, but he would not have been some key guy in the rebuild.
Not a horrible player, just not someone anyone should have buyer's remorse over in any Jankowski argument.
I am still really high on Jankowski. I think he will be able to slot in at so many different positions on the Flames' roster. If you watch him on the PP, he makes some really good passes and has great vision and patience, and he can also snipe it himself. He is a very responsible 200ft player who can hopefully help on the face-off dot. He can be a very good complimentary winger with size. He has a tremendous reach that he uses well.
I was happy with the selection, and I am happy with him still now that his NCAA career is over. I can't wait to see how he adjusts to the pro game.