Quote:
Originally Posted by 868904
I actually think Brown's size has hurt him in the eyes of fans. He put up a similar offensive season to Nylander while playing poorly n the first half. The scouting reports say he has great passing, great shot, great vision, and is a good skater. Sounds pretty skilled to me. Then you watch his highlights and see that said skill.
I think if Brown were only 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, he'd get more credit for his skill, but because he's also big, he gets painted as a big lumbering oak with limited skill. When I watch his highlights, I don't see a guy who gets his points becaus of his size, he barely uses it! He gets his points from his skill which means that when he learns to actually use his size, he will become an even better player.
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He is good, but I don't think he's 1st line material on a good team. If you add a few goals and about 10-15 assists to Colborne this year, around a 50-60 point guy is what I think his upside is eventually. That's pretty good. The other forwards that I listed have more dynamic skill (Nylander/Jost/Keller) and would be more "dangerous" when they have the puck. The thing needed to be weighed mostly has to do with whether one thinks that Brown's slightly inferior raw offensive skill is buoyed by his massive size.
Honestly if the Flames took Brown at 6, I'd be fine with that because I can understand why they went in that direction. It's not a situation like the Canucks a couple years ago when they took Virtanen at 6 when they could have had Ehlers/Nylander/Ritchie, all of whom would have been better picks for their team moving forward. It would be like the Flames taking McLeod this year at 6.
The interesting thing having the best of the second tier picks after the top 5 is that it gives the Flames options. If they luck out and the Oilers/Canucks do something stupid, which is possible, then they will get one of the top tier guys. If not, then if they have 3-4 guys on their list that are more or less equal, why not trade down to 8 or 9 and pick up another pick (38/39) for your trouble. I could easily see any of the 5 D-men being ranked in any order, because they are all slightly different from one another and all have different skill sets. Personally, I'd rank them Sergachev, Chychrun/Bean, McAvoy, Juolevi, but I can understand any of the alternate perspectives on them. Having options is a good thing regardless.