Went with Aidan Lane. Good size, great in high school hockey, but with the NCAA rule changes, went into the OHL towards the end of the season and put up a PPG. Will be at college next season. I think there is something good there, and for me, he should be ahead of Hoskin.
Grushnikov I just don't see as a player. It isn't his lack of production last season - it is his lack of production in every AHL season. Statistically, he hasn't taken a step forward (one could say he is regressing slightly). He is 22, so there is time, but I don't see progression, so he really takes a tumble. Last season I didn't write him off, but without any progression after his 3rd full pro season, he goes down my list unfortunately. I am really biased with these hard-nosed, defensive defencemen too - I usually really love them. I would put my money on Phillips having a higher chance at becoming a player than Grushnikov at this point. Jamieson for sure is ahead. Stats aren't everything, but it is hard to see something in a player here:
GP 61 1G 4A 5PTS 24PIM -10
For a hard-nosed throwback, that's not much in the way of PIM either. After 3 full seasons, he accumulated 2 goals, 9 assists and 11 points. I will argue that the NHL doesn't really have room for defensive defencemen that can't move the puck. You would just assume that if he was even half-decent on the transition, that he would have at least accumulated more than 9 assists in total over 3 seasons.
Hoskin is just a whisker away from Lane in my ranking.
Laing I think should be going in the next couple of picks. When you watch some of his highlights, he has some really good hands, and he has some moves out there. He handles the puck much better than you would assume, decent shot, and he can even dangle, and I don't think he is a terrible skater at all - looks average to me. All of this in a 6'6" package? I bet he is still a bit like bambi with his coordination - these super-tall athletes often are.
I think that's the ledge for me, with perhaps Matveiko straddling here. I have no idea where to really rank this kid as so little is known about him, and I searched but couldn't find even a single highlight video. I guess over the weekend I will try and find something using Yandex search. I even used google translate and searched in Russian, but no luck. I am going out on a limb here and putting my reputation on the line with this statement: Matveiko is the next Pavel! Just not sure if it is Datsyuk, or Karnaukhov!
The next batch I think becomes really difficult to sort. I think I will lead off with Parker Bell. 6'5". Didn't have the best start to his pro career on the Wranglers, but I remember him being a fairly impressive skater. He is a guy that I think could explode next season with a really good pro-training off-season under his belt.
|