Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[djsFlames]

Granlund definitely has top 6 potential, but likely as a winger. Basically I just don't think he's going to transition as a center, and if he does, it's likely after the top two. But who knows, I could be wrong and he could be good enough to be a 2nd line NHL center in the future. But at this point IMO its a safer bet to say otherwise.

[dammage79]

I find almost everyone's lack of faith in Granlund disturbing. "Long Shot" second line center is what some would like to call tempering ones expectations too much.

His success in his unfortunately shortened sting with the Flames was in my view, a very successful effort. He made his line mates better.

I don't expect everyone to see it the way I do but everything about Granlund screams "Solid top six center". I'm pretty confident in this at this point. I bet he takes a roster spot on the Flames next season right out of camp.

[dying4acup]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I find almost everyone's lack of faith in Granlund disturbing. "Long Shot" second line center is what some would like to call tempering ones expectations too much.

His success in his unfortunately shortened sting with the Flames was in my view, a very successful effort. He made his line mates better.

I don't expect everyone to see it the way I do but everything about Granlund screams "Solid top six center". I'm pretty confident in this at this point. I bet he takes a roster spot on the Flames next season right out of camp.

I don't completely disagree, but in the next 10yrs, could u see the flames winning the cup with Granlund and Monahan as our top 2 centers?

If they are the top 2 centers of a cup winner, then there better be some big wingers coming too. Monahan isn't small, but looks so much better with a guy like Colborne beside him, than a guy like Sven.

[Caged Great]

If Granlund is our main option for 2nd line C, we are not going to win anything and I like Granlund a lot. We need more skill and overall talent than that.

He needs to be on our 3rd line (either as a C or as a wing) if we are going to be successful down the road.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

If Granlund is our main option for 2nd line C, we are not going to win anything and I like Granlund a lot. We need more skill and overall talent than that.

He needs to be on our 3rd line (either as a C or as a wing) if we are going to be successful down the road.

I'm glad you've got it all figured out. Myself I'll wait for the various camps and the hockey season to see where each player lines up.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I'm glad you've got it all figured out. Myself I'll wait for the various camps and the hockey season to see where each player lines up.

Granlund is a good player, but how many times have you seen a team with a player like Dallas' version of Niklas Hagman (give or take what Granlund is projecting to be at the top end) win the cup with that type of player in a second line center role?

2013, Toews + Bolland
2012, Kopitar + Richards
2011, Bergeron + Krejic
2010, Toews + Ladd/Bolland
2009, Crosby + Malkin/Staal
2008, Datsyuk + Franzen
2007, McDonald + Getzlaf
2006, Staal + Brind'Amour
2004, Lecavalier + Richards

Unless Granlund magically develops into a player close to Monahan's calibre (not impossible, just very unlikely), then he won't be quite good enough if he's going to be a center and we want to win.

I'm not saying that he's bad, it's just that if your team has him too high on the depth chart, that likely means your team just doesn't have enough talent. If you don't have enough talent and depth, you don't win. Granlund could surprise and become an awesome #2 center on par with a guy like David Krejic. It could happen, but you don't usually see TJ Brodie type jumps in the level of their play, and that's what it would take.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Granlund is a good player, but how many times have you seen a team with a player like Dallas' version of Niklas Hagman (give or take what Granlund is projecting to be at the top end) win the cup with that type of player in a second line center role?

2013, Toews + Bolland
2012, Kopitar + Richards
2011, Bergeron + Krejic
2010, Toews + Ladd/Bolland
2009, Crosby + Malkin/Staal
2008, Datsyuk + Franzen
2007, McDonald + Getzlaf
2006, Staal + Brind'Amour
2004, Lecavalier + Richards

Unless Granlund magically develops into a player close to Monahan's calibre (not impossible, just very unlikely), then he won't be quite good enough if he's going to be a center and we want to win.

I'm not saying that he's bad, it's just that if your team has him too high on the depth chart, that likely means your team just doesn't have enough talent. If you don't have enough talent and depth, you don't win. Granlund could surprise and become an awesome #2 center on par with a guy like David Krejic. It could happen, but you don't usually see TJ Brodie type jumps in the level of their play, and that's what it would take.

Well if that's the case lets just tell him to stay in Finland.
You have no idea where he'll fit in on the Flames but to me he looks promising, so I'll just take the wait and see stance.

As for comparing him to Hagman, they have nothing in common as far as playing styles, so this just shows how weak your assessments are.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Well if that's the case lets just tell him to stay in Finland.
You have no idea where he'll fit in on the Flames but to me he looks promising, so I'll just take the wait and see stance.

As for comparing him to Hagman, they have nothing in common as far as playing styles, so this just shows how weak your assessments are.

I wasn't denigrating him as a player. He's a very good prospect. You just need to have a lot of really good players in order to actually win. Look at Chicago. They have Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Shaw, and Saad who are all extremely good players. You could go through the likely teams vying for the cup and they all have similar top 6 talent.

I think he's going to be a good 3rd line center, or 2nd/3rd line winger. Because of his defensive game, he might be more valuable playing on the wing with Backlund in a shutdown 3rd line role. Also, playing with Backlund they would be able to generate a decent amount of offense.

Also, Dallas' version of Hagman was a player that scored 27 goals and had nearly 50 points. I didn't know that saying that there stands a good chance that a prospect has the potential to be a 25+ goal scorer is a bad thing. Hagman was also a very good defensive forward as well and was a top pk player for them. They have slightly different abilities but they have the exact same overall characteristics. Great shots + offensive competence + defensive awareness. The main difference is that Hagman was always a winger, where Granlund is currently a center (but he would likely be better as a winger, especially if we get higher end talent there like Bennett or Draisaitl)

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I wasn't denigrating him as a player. He's a very good prospect. You just need to have a lot of really good players in order to actually win. Look at Chicago. They have Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Shaw, and Saad who are all extremely good players. You could go through the likely teams vying for the cup and they all have similar top 6 talent.

I think he's going to be a good 3rd line center, or 2nd/3rd line winger. Because of his defensive game, he might be more valuable playing on the wing with Backlund in a shutdown 3rd line role. Also, playing with Backlund they would be able to generate a decent amount of offense.

Also, Dallas' version of Hagman was a player that scored 27 goals and had nearly 50 points. I didn't know that saying that there stands a good chance that a prospect has the potential to be a 25+ goal scorer is a bad thing. Hagman was also a very good defensive forward as well and was a top pk player for them. They have slightly different abilities but they have the exact same overall characteristics. Great shots + offensive competence + defensive awareness. The main difference is that Hagman was always a winger, where Granlund is currently a center (but he would likely be better as a winger, especially if we get higher end talent there like Bennett or Draisaitl)

Sure you were. You're slotting him into a third line role where the truth is we don't have any idea where he'll top out. He had a breakthrough rookie season in the AHL and if he keeps progressing he could be our 1st line centre. I'm not counting on it, I'm just saying it's too early to tell.

As for comparing Granlund to Hagman, I don't see anything similar other than they are both from Finland. I find your supposed scouting very odd.

[irrevocable]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Sure you were. You're slotting him into a third line role where the truth is we don't have any idea where he'll top out. He had a breakthrough rookie season in the AHL and if he keeps progressing he could be our 1st line centre. I'm not counting on it, I'm just saying it's too early to tell.

As for comparing Granlund to Hagman, I don't see anything similar other than they are both from Finland. I find your supposed scouting very odd.

Stop right there, bud. Caged was voicing his opinion of how this prospects slots.. guess what genius? ALL the major networks and radio stations, bloggers, fansites, etc.. DO THIS!

You saying he denigrates the player is an absolute joke.

You're drunk, go home.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by irrevocable

Stop right there, bud. Caged was voicing his opinion of how this prospects slots.. guess what genius? ALL the major networks and radio stations, bloggers, fansites, etc.. DO THIS!

You saying he denigrates the player is an absolute joke.

You're drunk, go home.

d

Read his previous post, like follow along buddy. He wasn't saying it was opinion he was stating it as fact. After he got called he backed off to saying in his opinion. Personally, when it comes to hockey I don't think he has much of an idea what he is talking about.

Read this. It isn't an opinion it's saying, he knows and I think he knows very little.

Originally Posted by Caged Great
If Granlund is our main option for 2nd line C, we are not going to win anything and I like Granlund a lot. We need more skill and overall talent than that.

[irrevocable]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

d

Read his previous post, like follow along buddy. He wasn't saying it was opinion he was stating it as fact. After he got called he backed off to saying in his opinion. Personally, when it comes to hockey I don't think he has much of an idea what he is talking about.

Read this. It isn't an opinion it's saying, he knows and I think he knows very little.

..wow. Kudos, you rampant ######. Seriously, I hope I don't get in trouble for that, but man, you're obviously off the rails tonight.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by irrevocable

..wow. Kudos, you rampant ######. Seriously, I hope I don't get in trouble for that, but man, you're obviously off the rails tonight.

I think you have a problem. I don't like what some poster was saying, so I called him on it. Fair game on here.

[Hackey]

Wow I don't see why people get so offended and butt hurt over projections. We don't know how these players will turn out but we definitely have an idea. If you were going to take the odds than ya more than likely Granlund isn't going to be your top line center. There's nothing wrong with that. He's still a solid player we all hope reaches his max potential but the reality of prospects is most don't. Id rather the Flames continuing building a roster with the assumption that guys will fall off rather than the assumption that their going to automatically be filling top 6 roster spots. Until they are in the spots we need to continuing drafting and developing them like they are vacant. If 4 prospects develop into top line centers I'm sure we can find a use for the other three somewhere whether it be the roster or trade.

[ignite09]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Sure you were. You're slotting him into a third line role where the truth is we don't have any idea where he'll top out. He had a breakthrough rookie season in the AHL and if he keeps progressing he could be our 1st line centre. I'm not counting on it, I'm just saying it's too early to tell.

As for comparing Granlund to Hagman, I don't see anything similar other than they are both from Finland. I find your supposed scouting very odd.

Wow dude, are you for real? So it's ok for you to call a 19 year old Jankowski a bust of a pick. Yet you get to call out another poster for not seeing Granlund as a first line center? Get over yourself.

[Hackey]

...

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by ignite09

Wow dude, are you for real? So it's ok for you to call a 19 year old Jankowski a bust of a pick. Yet you get to call out another poster for not seeing Granlund as a first line center? Get over yourself.

You're way off. I never called Jankowski a bust, just a poor gamble. It's too early as it's too early to pigeon hole Granlund.

[playmaker]

Well, the way I see it... there's something wrong with our center group and it's
a) a lack of size and strength
b) faceoff ability

I feel that as much as we need to find our new Joe Nieuwendyk, we're going to need our new Yelle and Otto even more desperately. In fact, Corgan Knight is IMHO the only prospect that may develop into the big, strong and faceoff winning bottom 6 centre.
Sure, Otto or Yelle are the types of guys you don't want to draft in the top 5 but as we know they are often key figures so I hope Treliving and Burke are going to address this issue with our 2nd round pick or via trade.

I wouldn't be surprised to see one of Granlund / Backlund moved before the draft.

[Roof-Daddy]

^^^^Bill Arnold

[playmaker]

yeah, forgot about Arnold completely, shame on me.
On the other hand he brings only 6'0 to our undersized forward pool and I need to check his faceoff stats first. I wish him all the best though.