I bet there are 1000+ games out of the rest of these prospects. It sounds more grandiose than it really is, as there are still 1-2 prospects left on the board that can reach that plateau by themselves.
Been voting Zarubin for about 5 rounds now. Then the wildcards start a bit here for me.
Hoskin: Drafted out of nowhere last season from a lower level league. Had a pretty good first season in the NCAA. Might be a middle-six guy here after all.
Ciona - Do you vote for a 4th line guy here? You might if he is an impact 4th liner. Ciona really impressed with his speed and IQ last development camp/preseason. He was hard not to notice, plus he has that 'captain material' written all over him too. If he makes it, he will add on and off the ice it seems. This is a guy that should get more votes than what you assume may only be a 4th liner.
Laing - 6'6" WITH skill and not a bad skater either. With guys like Reschny, Potter, Misa - all sub 6'0" centers - having a big guy who can really make some room out there and actually work effectively with skilled guys is attractive. I am not sure what Klapka is, but he was trending to be a legitimately good enough top line player towards the end of the season (though sample size is too small, so I do return to 'I don't know what he is yet"). Is Laing going to be a similar player? He certainly is capable of making high-end plays at times.
Lane - 86pts at St. Andrews College. "Yeah, yeah.. *yawn*. That's just high school hockey, and he wasn't even the top scorer on his team!". Well, with the rule changes, he decided to jump ship and play for Brampton, and went a PPG for 13 games. That's pretty impressive - 18 year old kid playing on a new team in a new league with a definite uptick in competition, and his stats ended up 13GP 7G 6A? This may be a player. He is also 6'1", so he isn't undersized. I have him next after Zarubin I think.
Matveiko - Intriguing prospect. His stats don't really jump off the page, but then he had a growth spurt and is now 6'4", 185lbs. I am sure he was a bit clumsy having grown 3" and gaining 35lbs in one season! He is no longer listed with the CSKA Jrs, and may play in the KHL this upcoming season. Oh, and the previous season - in which he was 6'1 and 150lbs - his stat line was: 26GP 0G 1A 1PTS. This season - with that growth spurt (and I assume increased opportunity), he put up 42GP 10G 14A 24PTS. That's a nice jump, considering he is probably all gangling still. By the way, did I mention he is a C? Wish I could find some video on him, but I haven't been able to. Complete wildcard for me.
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