Quote:
Originally Posted by FCAV
You touched on it, but Petan did have plenty of support to work with on a stacked Portland team that went 57-12-3. In all fairness, Petan did finish second in scoring that season, and first the following season at a higher PPG (he played fewer games).
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Think this part is key - Petan was on a line with two other forwards that put up over 110 points and was tied for the team lead.
As you mentioned Yamamoto led his team by 23 points.
Guys who lead their team by a ton as 17 year olds tend to be really good picks, and usually go in the top 10. Only disclaimer is it's hard to gauge when a guy is playing with another elite top 10 talent (Johansen/Niedereiter, Drouin/Mackinnon, Ehlers/Drouin).
Feel like Yamamoto is a good value pick since he is dropping due to his size alone. Led the Hlinka tournament in scoring in his only international year (ahead of Hischier, A.Nylander, Patrick etc).
And even though he was small he put on a great show in the physical tests at the combine:
VO2 Max: 1st
Pro Agility Left: 2nd
Pro Agility Right: 2nd
Mean Power Output (Watt/KG): 4th
Peak Power Output: 3rd
Bench Press: 15th
Pull Ups: 6th
Get the results are skewed since it makes it easier for him since he is so light but it's still a good sign that he is powerful for his slight frame.
If he is there at 16 I would take a chance - Penguins/Hawks are proving that you need elite offensive talent to be successful in the NHL. Plus I don't see Kane/Panarin having a hard time producing even though both are small.
Look at a guys like Brayden Point, Eberle, Ennis, as guys who put up top 10 pick numbers in the WHL but fell to later in the draft because of their size. They seemed to be able to translate it to the NHL just fine.