Can you explain some of the humour? Your story about the origin of Finnish nicknames cracked me up.
It's not something I can explain. It's just kind of funny how he is. I really like the people in the Tampere region in general and how they talk.
He does look like a teddy bear but he's really strong with the puck. He's good at takeaways and tough to force into giving up the puck when he has it. I don't think he'll take very long to get to NHL strength and do the same in NA. He'd be great with someone like Hudler. Maybe he seems like a safer pick without the excitement of some of the other prospects, but it's not for me to compare him to others.
Someone mentioned hype. All prospects are hyped. I remember how the experts in NA talked about Kari Lehtonen - you'd have thought he was Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy's secret lovechild. It's just how it is. Prospects are always absolutely godlike until they make the transition to the NHL and reality sets in, and then people move on to hyping the younger generation.
It's shame you don't speak Finnish because Barkov's Tampere accent and demeanor cracks me up. This is for the few Finns in here, an interview about shootouts with some footage of a very casual practice ("Ja sit välillä voi viedä ihan kahville."):
Haha yeah I think he feels pretty uncomfortable infront of the camera... also the pace of speech cracks me up. Used to live in Tampere for a couple of years.
interviewer: "what tips you have for young kids that want to develop their skills in shootouts?"
Barkov: play outside in the backyard to get hands and head, legs you´ll get in the gym
I'm still terrified we'll screw up the pick and go off the board with a top 3 or 5 pick. But I want Barkov - 6'2 and 200+ down the middle will be deadly. Plus ya know, he's pretty good at hockey I guess.
If we are up to pick (whether it is 1, 2 or 3) and Mackinnon is available we sure as hell better take him.
Hes an incredible player.
Crosby isn't a 6'3 center but hes decent height, thick build, fast, explosive etc etc
Similiar to Mackinnon. Not saying he is going to be the next crosby but you never know. And hes Canadian, I would rate him higher just because of that rather than picking a Russian/Finnish-Russian
I hope we get Nate, that would be amazing, it would make this crappy season all worth it
Is Barkov's hockey IQ a strength? I've only watched him on YouTube but just seems his goals are so Olli Jokinen type.
Quote:
A very calm center who uses his vision well, Barkov has an excellent offensive game and good size. His very good passing and puckhandling combined with great hands and hockey sense make him a big offensive threat. He plays with high confidence and never seems to be under pressure. Barkov is a creative with a very solid overall package and the skill set to compensate for his below-average skating
Elite Prospects
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They wouldn't gamble losing him to another team if they had him so high. If they think so highly of him, they have to think that other teams do as well, and if you have a top-5 guy available at 14-20, there's no way you just trust that no one else sees in him what your scouts do.
I don't think the rinks in Quebec high school are big. Scouts stand out and recognize each other. It is pretty obvious the Flames would know which teams were scouting Jankowski as hard as they were.
You are making an assumption that just can't necessarily be made in Jankowski's case and that is that other teams who were picking higher than 20th thought as highly of Jankowski as the Flames did. I've watched a ton of drafts and it is obvious that teams just don't agree on things. There are surprises galore because of this.
For example in '96 the Flames go WAY off the board and take Derek Morris who was ranked 80th or 90th something on Central Scouting. Other teams were openly laughing at the pick. Turns out the Flames were right.
More recently you have the reverse when LA took Thomas Hickey 4th overall and nobody saw that coming. Looks like they should have dealt down and picked him. Or picked somebody else, he.
For example in '96 the Flames go WAY off the board and take Derek Morris who was ranked 80th or 90th something on Central Scouting. Other teams were openly laughing at the pick. Turns out the Flames were right.
.
But that was still a bad pick. If you have good intel that Morris won't go until the second round or at least the end of the first you trade down. There is no point in going way off board. You are just wasting assets.
Thats why I like what the flames did with Jankowski. Of the players left we had our first pick Jankowski was the top of our list. The flames seeing that the other teams willing to take a flyer on Jankowski were down in the 20-30 range so we trade down to pick him. Using a first on Morris despite him being a good first round pick in that draft was not maximizing assets when we could have had him with a late first or second round pick.
