Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
Those guys (Caufield, Perfetti, Newhook, Mercer) have more natural abilities that Pelletier. Caufield has elite goal scoring ability, and did when drafted. There were questions about his size but he's got elite instincts and was considered the best goal scorer in the draft. Newhook also has very high end offensive abilities in terms of his hockey sense, skating and ability to make plays.
I'm not going to break down each guy, but they all are better offensive players than Pelletier, who is more of a good all around player, with a strong level of compete. He's got a lot of strong attributes but isn't elite in any one thing.
I like Pelletier a lot. And I think he's ready to be given a look.
But those guys are in the NHL ahead of him because they are more than likely stronger players. Frankly I think the Avs have done a disservice to Newhook, not by playing him in the NHL, but giving him a little too much responsibility too soon. They considered him to be the replacement for Kadri and I don't think he's ready for that.
|
Caufield has elite goalscoring skills for sure and thats something Pelletier doesnt have, but i do think i question that the other three are a step ahead offensively.
It's tough to compare NCAA to QMJHL production but on the same WJC team they had the same Point per game production. At the AHL level as rookies they had very similar production as well - Newhook with a limited sample of 20 points in 18 career AHL games vs 96 in 97 games for Pelletier.
Mercer is an elite skater so that helps but production wise their QMJHL stats arent that different - 275 points in 210 games for Pelletier (1.31 PPG) compared to 186 points in 194 games for Mercer (0.96 PPG). Each had 7 and 6 points respectively on the same WJC team as well.
Perfetti was a 10th overall pick - so he was higher regarded for sure. Perfetti has great vision and is a better playmaker than Pelletier but once again when looking at AHL production its super close - with 41 points in 49 career games for Perfetti. Also had 6 points in 7 games on the same WJC team as Pelletier, Mercer, and Newhook.
So maybe Pelletier isnt as naturally skilled at these guys but really at either the junior, AHL, or WJC hes been able to perform at the same offensive clip as these guys, or actually better.
To me he's the same quality of prospect as all of them (except Caufield), but his skills have been a bit downplayed by the fanbase who see him as more of a grinder (which he can do too as a great PKer in the AHL).
And I do actually agree that Newhook was probably rushed a bit - hes keeping a float but he probably shouldnt have been playing out of college in 20-21 but hey Colorado and Newhook have a Stanley Cup that he was a part of.