Honzek is getting way too much flack. I am not really worried about his injuries so far, as they are unrelated (AFAIK). Different injuries. Seems to be bad luck. I still love the pick. Why?
Fast, skilled, big and non-stop motor. Fantastic shot too.
If you watched him play in his draft year, he generated quite a bit of offence on his own. He is an absolute force on the forecheck. He didn't do this with his size, as he was still quite thin, so as he bulks up and learns how to use his size more, he can add strength to his repertoire. His PPG was fantastic and ELITE, and it was more than just a handful of games. Did he have a disappointing season? Absolutely he did. However, I am not ready to throw-in the towel yet. I think he is going to be an important piece for the Flames.
Silayev
I was reading the post that Dissentowner had about the mock draft done by NHL.com. Interesting little write-up about him:
https://www.nhl.com/news/mock-2024-n...shunov-silayev
Quote:
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Morreale -- Anton Silayev: He had 11 points (three goals, eight assists), 74 blocked shots and 98 hits in 63 regular-season games in the KHL. Silayev, who played this season as a 17-year-old (he turned 18 on April 11), had the most points by an under-18 player in KHL history; Florida Panthers forward Vladimir Tarasenko is second (10 points for Novosibirsk in 2008-09).
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If true, that certainly changes my perception about him completely. From a defensive defencemen to a more complete defencemen. He was very good as a 17 year old in the KHL as a defencemen, which should make him one of this year's best defencemen available in the draft. If he really does have that offensive component to his other tools (like size, skating, IQ, puck-moving) then he gets my vote as a top 2-3 defencemen. If his offence remains questionable, then probably 5-6th best defencemen at most. If he doesn't have any offensive upside to his game at all, then he drops to somewhere in the middle of the first for me. To have out-produced every other 17 year old kid in the KHL - irrespective of position - seems crazy to me.
FWIW, before the KHL, there was the Russian Superleague. KHL was formed in 2008, so it isn't like Silayev broke a 100 year old record or something (though I also don't want to take anything away from the kid). To put things into perspective, a quick look at Ovechkin does show you how much less offence these kids are putting up.
Ovechkin was drafted at the '04 draft. He put up 23 points in 53 games. However, he is a September birthday, and Silayev is an April birthday. Silayev played his entire season as a 17 year old. Doing the same for Ovechkin puts him at 15 points in 40 games. Either way, Ovechkin scored 23 points in his draft year, then in his draft+1 year, put up 27 points, and in his rookie season in the NHL he put up 106 points.
Let's look at Tarasenko's numbers - the previous record holder in the actual KHL (again, formed well after Ovechkin was already in the NHL, not to mention the former greats like Makarov and Bure). Tarasenko has a December birthday, so it isn't quite fair as it makes Silayev a bit older in their respective under 18 seasons. However, that's still a gifted offensive forward vs defencemen. Tarasenko put up 10 points in 38 games (15th in scoring on his team). Next season he put up 24 points in 42 games (4th in scoring).
11 points in 63 games seems paltry (18th on his team). However, let's contrast him to a fellow countrymen defencemen that got picked 6th overall last year - Simashev.
Simashev's stat-line wasn't bad - 29 games, 1 goal, 9 assists 10 points. However, that was in his time in the MHL. He did play in the KHL in his draft year - 18 games, 0 goals 0 assists 0 points. Last year was a higher-end draft too, and Simashev was the 2nd defencemen taken after Reinbacher. However, this is probably a better year for defencemen, and I am not sure Reinbacher or Simashev get picked ahead of some of the other names available this year.
My point is that I believe that SIlayev is getting overlooked somewhat because people think he is being rated too highly for his size, rather than his ability. However, at the same age, he SEEMS to be much further ahead of Simashev who was the 2nd defencemen taken in the draft, and who many feel is going to become a good #1 defencemen in the NHL. This season, Simashev played full-time in the KHL, and his stat line is 63 games played, 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points. I would bet that if SIlayev was 5" shorter, then some posters would probably like this prospect more.
I don't know about anyone else, but the more I dig-into Silayev, the more impressed I get, and if some of the players that i prefer the Flames to draft at that slot (with Demidov if he falls, and Iginla both leading the way), then I would actually be quite happy for the Flames to draft him - I think. I have Silayev in my top 5 at times, and at other times, I have him well outside my top 10.