Quote:
Originally Posted by 1qqaaz
Gillies is probably worth a late first round pick...
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No chance. When was the last time a prospect with no professional games played was traded for a first round pick? Gillies is a good prospect, but he is still a college goalie who has yet to play a single pro game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1qqaaz
...Ortio is an average prospect who is 3 years further along.
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Ortio has played fifteen
NHL games, sports a winning record, and he only just turned 24-years-old. He has played in North America for only two years, and looked absolutely fantastic in a few of his starts with the Flames last season. Yes, he is further along, but has accomplished a tremendous amount more than Gillies to this point. One of Ortio's most impressive assets is his ability to handle big game pressure—this is something that can be notoriously difficult for even the most technically sound goalies, and has prevented a long list of former college, juniour, and minor league stars from ever becoming elite level starters. With the variable development trajectory of goalies at the NHL level, Ortio still has at least another two or three seasons to establish himself; he still has time to go along with an impressive physical and psychological skill set to be a legitimate top level starter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1qqaaz
It's pretty hard to justify rating Ortio higher than Gillies IMO.
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It is not at all difficult. For all of Gillies' success, he is not a "wart-free" prospect, and Ortio is very realistically now, and possibly even in the future a better goalie when all is said and done.
I like both of them, but have simply not seen enough from Gillies to convince me that he is the clear winner here. As of today, I think Ortio has a higher ceiling with a better likelihood to meet it.