Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
@flamesdraftwatcher
Is it possible that maybe the defensemen in this class just aren't that good? I'll say it. I don't think any of these three are as good as Andersson. That is not saying that Andersson is a top pair defenseman in the future, that is just stating that the guys in this draft just aren't as good as Andersson. They are all a step down from Andersson IMO, and it was evident in their play this year. If these guys had that tops line potential they should have outplayed Mr. Andersson, which I don't think they did. I think this is just a bad class for defensemen. Sadly, there just isn't a high end player there.
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I disagree. I think you're underselling them quite a bit.
I'm not in love with stat arguments but consider this for one minute.
Rasmus Andersson is born in OCT '96. Mikahil Sergachev is born in JUN '98. So almost a two year age gap despite being one draft apart. Andersson scored 9 goals, 51 assists for 60 points in 64 games to lead the OHL. Mikhail Sergachev scored 17 goals and 40 assists for 57 points in 67 games good for 3rd in OHL Defensemen Scoring. And that's at almost 2 years younger. He had almost twice as many goals and nearly as many points. He was the youngest player to ever be named OHL Defenseman of the Year. Oh and he's bigger than Andersson to boot. And he's not even the consensus best d-men this draft!
Chychrun meanwhile finished 4th in defenseman scoring with 11 goals, 38 assists for 49 points in 62 games. Has size, elite skating. These are mighty impressive totals for draft eligibles. Chychrun is about 1.5 years younger than Andersson.
Juolevi broke the record for points at the WJC by a 17 year old defenseman. Damn impressive. He's 6'2 as well.
I'm not sure why you are massively underrating this defensemen crop but it seems like you are. There are future top pairing guys for sure.