Flames vs Oilers vs Canucks prospects Battle Royale

[Bingo]

Great exercize for sure ... really enjoyed it.

It looks optically bad to pick the Flames player in all 10, but even if I work hard at hammering Flames prospects I see 7.

I guess part of that comes from org prospect rankings too ...

Calgary is ranked 6th
Edmonton is ranked 18th
Vancouver is ranked 27th

so you'd expect Calgary to hammer these two teams

We should probably agree on the groupings and put them in voting groups for polls. Later this summer I think we should do the same for 25 and under roster players and prospects as well.

Anyone remember a few years ago when we had the entire Edmonton and Calgary rosters listed and you had to pick a player one by one? That caused some good arguments!

[Lanny_McDonald]

ROUND 1:
1. Gaudreau
2. Draisaitl
3. Horvat

No bull#### here. Gaudreau is a completely different class than either of these two players. Draisaitl is going to top out at best a number two center. Hour vat looks like a number three guy. Gaudreau is small, but has elite talent in every category. You have to be a major apologist to even suggest either of the other two prospects is in the same class after the storied career Gaudreau has put together. The last player with this type of skill to come out of college was a kid named Kariya.

ROUND 2:
1. Bennett
2. Nurse
3. Virtanen

The only player that stands out in this grouping is Virtanen, and for the wrong reasons. Virtanen was taken way too early and he does not have the chops to be in this grouping. Bennett is the best, but Nurse is a close second.

ROUND 3:
1. Marincin
2. Baertschi
3. Shinkaruk

Marincin wins this because he was the only prospect not to #### the bed last season. Margin in and Baertschi are close, but Shinkaruk is out of his class here. I don't see him being anything more than a minor league player. His attitude will hold him back.

ROUND 4:
1. Poirier
2. Jensen
3. Klefbom

Klefbom has had a brutal couple of years. How anyone could rate him as a top prospect in any grouping is beyond me. Poirier has had an incredible ascent to being an excellent prospect. This makes him stand out in this group. Jensen is a middling prospect with limited upside, but he is still better than Kleft-bomb.

ROUND 5:

1. Granlund
2. Yakimov
3. Gaunce

There is no competition here. None. Guanches hasn't stepped up and improved in any shape or form. Yakimov is again in a completely different tier of prospect than Granlund. His size is intriguing, but he has nothing to show he's NHL ready like Granlund.

ROUND 6:
1. Klimchuk
2. McCann
3. Kharia

The 2014 draft was way weaker than the 2013, so there is no way that McCann can be ranked higher than Klimchuk, especially after the positive year of growth Klimchuk showed.

ROUND 7:
1. Corrado
2. Reinhart
3. Simpson

I give Corrado the slight nod because he plays the tougher position. Reinhart is right there too. Simpson isn't in the discussion.

ROUND 8:
1. Wotherspoon
2. Vey
3. Chase

Wotherspoon gets the edge for the same reason Corrado does. He plays the tougher position and his shown he's ready for the show. Vey is a smallish center who got passed by in the Kings organization, so I don't know if he's going to be much use to Vancouver. There is a reason why they only signed him to a one year deal. Chase is a long shot.

ROUND 9:
1. Gillies
2. Demko
3. Moroz

Gillies is the best goaltender in college hockey. Demko was a big reason why the BC eagles never went any place last season. Moroz is an overage who doesn't appear to be taking that next step, even on the best team in the country.

ROUND 10:
1. Jankowski
2.
3.

Doesn't matter what the matchup is, neither the Oilers or Canucks are deep enough to challenge Jankowski.

[CalgaryFan1988]

ROUND ONE

1st Place: Draisaitl (EDM)
2nd Place: Gaudreau (CGY)
3rd Place: Horvat (VAN)

ROUND TWO

1st Place: Bennett (CGY)
2nd Place: Nurse (EDM)
3rd Place: Virtanen (VAN)


ROUND THREE

1st Place: Marincin (EDM)
2nd Place: Baertschi (CGY)
3rd Place: Shinkaruk (VAN)


ROUND FOUR

1st Place: Poirier (CGY)
2nd Place: Klefbom (EDM)
3rd Place: Jensen (VAN)


ROUND FIVE

1st Place: Granlund (CGY)
2nd Place: Gaunce (VAN)
3rd Place: Yakimov (EDM)


ROUND SIX

1st Place: Klimchuk (CGY)
2nd Place: McCann (VAN)
3rd Place: Khaira (EDM)


ROUND SEVEN

1st Place: Reinhart (CGY)
2nd Place: Corrado (VAN)
3rd Place: Simpson (EDM)


ROUND EIGHT

1st Place: Vey (VAN)
2nd Place: Wotherspoon (CGY)
3rd Place: Chase (EDM)


ROUND NINE

1st Place: Ortio/McDonald (CGY)
2nd Place: Demko (VAN)
3rd Place: Moroz (EDM)


ROUND TEN

1st Place: Arnold (CGY)
2nd Place: Hutton (VAN)
3rd Place: Ewanyk (EDM)

[Bingo]

There is a consistency with Gaudreau besting Draisaitl given how much historical proof on the site exists suggesting ...

1. Gaudreau > Bennett
2. Bennett > Draisaitl

[Psytic]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Oh for sure, reminds me of the 1998 draft when it was pretty damn obvious that David Legwand would have a much better career than some late round skill player like Pavel Datsyuk.

Hey i'm not going by total upside and potential i'm just going by who has less of a bust factor. We all know there is a ton of late round picks with huge upside but some sort of knock against their games. Some make it and realize that potential and some don't. Gaudreau looks like the real deal but you still cant say if he doesn't make it he could live out his days as a plug and still be an NHLer like Draisital. It really depends on what criteria your using to do the ranking though.

[Psytic]

[QUOTE=New Era;4850063]ROUND 1:
1. Gaudreau
2. Draisaitl
3. Horvat

No bull#### here. Gaudreau is a completely different class than either of these two players. Draisaitl is going to top out at best a number two center. Hour vat looks like a number three guy. Gaudreau is small, but has elite talent in every category. You have to be a major apologist to even suggest either of the other two prospects is in the same class after the storied career Gaudreau has put together. The last player with this type of skill to come out of college was a kid named Kariya.

This is the exact player I was thinking of ironically. Lets hope Johnny's career isn't affected by injury as well. Kariya was an easy HHOF member if he didn't get derailed by concussions.

[Oil Stain]

[QUOTE=Psytic;4850627]

Originally Posted by New Era

ROUND 1:
1. Gaudreau
2. Draisaitl
3. Horvat

No bull#### here. Gaudreau is a completely different class than either of these two players. Draisaitl is going to top out at best a number two center. Hour vat looks like a number three guy. Gaudreau is small, but has elite talent in every category. You have to be a major apologist to even suggest either of the other two prospects is in the same class after the storied career Gaudreau has put together. The last player with this type of skill to come out of college was a kid named Kariya.

This is the exact player I was thinking of ironically. Lets hope Johnny's career isn't affected by injury as well. Kariya was an easy HHOF member if he didn't get derailed by concussions.

The Kariya comparison doesn't hold water. Kariya put up 100 points in 39 games as a 17 year old. In his 20 year old season he put up 108 points and finished 7th in scoring in the NHL.


Gaudreau's 20 year old season is a lot closer to Gerbe's 68 points in college then it is to Kariya's NHL season at 20.

I think putting Gaudreau ahead of top 5 picks in Bennett and Draisaitl may prove to be premature.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

The Kariya comparison doesn't hold water. Kariya put up 100 points in 39 games as a 17 year old. In his 20 year old season he put up 108 points and finished 7th in scoring in the NHL.


Gaudreau's 20 year old season is a lot closer to Gerbe's 68 points in college then it is to Kariya's NHL season at 20.

I think putting Gaudreau ahead of top 5 picks in Bennett and Draisaitl may prove to be premature.

When Kariya put up those totals, college hockey wasn't nearly as competitive as it is today. There are much better players overall and one player simply cannot put up ridiculous numbers any more.

Hell, Kariya had another player on his team score 95 the year he put up 100 and another who had 85.

This is like comparing Crosby's point totals to Gretzky's. You just can't do it.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I think putting Gaudreau ahead of top 5 picks in Bennett and Draisaitl may prove to be premature.

Well, considering I don't think Draisaitl amounts to much more than Pavel Brendl it isn't much of a stretch.

Seriously, I don't see the top five from this draft deserving any where near the level of reverence being afforded them. Bennett is the best of the bunch and I don't see him as more than a Doug Gilmour type center. To me, that is a low end first liner to a high end second liner. Everyone else from the draft is likely to fall below that, so Johnny Hockey is well within the possibilities of exceed each and every player from this past draft. I see a top line player in Gaudreau. Can't say I see that from Draisaitl or Horvat.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by New Era

Well, considering I don't think Draisaitl amounts to much more than Pavel Brendl it isn't much of a stretch.

Seriously, I don't see the top five from this draft deserving any where near the level of reverence being afforded them. Bennett is the best of the bunch and I don't see him as more than a Doug Gilmour type center. To me, that is a low end first liner to a high end second liner. Everyone else from the draft is likely to fall below that, so Johnny Hockey is well within the possibilities of exceed each and every player from this past draft. I see a top line player in Gaudreau. Can't say I see that from Draisaitl or Horvat.

Doug Gilmour finished top ten in league scoring a few times. Carry on.

[tvp2003]

Can't have a battle royale without this:



Also, no Jankowski? Gillies?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Doug Gilmour finished top ten in league scoring a few times. Carry on.

Yup, not bad for a 7th rounder. It would be nice if Bennett achieved those heights, but that may not be realistic. Being top of your draft class doesn't mean much if its a bad draft class. This class is more 2002 than 2003. There will probably be one really good player out of the mix (Bennett), then some good talent that will become important support players. The German kid might work out for the Oilers as they are looking for a support talent. I personally don't see much in his game that will make him a great player. None of the players just selected have anything special about their games. None of them come close to Gaudreau in talent level. The only thing holding Gaudreau back is his size. Big issue, but he's overcome it at every single level he's played at.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I think putting Gaudreau ahead of top 5 picks in Bennett and Draisaitl may prove to be premature.

Very possible yes, but neither of those two players has the wizard-like skills Gaudreau possesses so you can make the argument that if Johnny can overcome his size in the NHL the sky is the limit as he's a special player. Time will tell.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

When Kariya put up those totals, college hockey wasn't nearly as competitive as it is today. There are much better players overall and one player simply cannot put up ridiculous numbers any more.

Hell, Kariya had another player on his team score 95 the year he put up 100 and another who had 85.

This is like comparing Crosby's point totals to Gretzky's. You just can't do it.

Oil Stain will ignore this post.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

Sorry, I can see how you thought that by my posts, in hindsight. I was just meaning to the OP vs Draisaitl. I think it's Draisaitl because of his history and size.

If Gaudreau was drafted in the 3rd round and Draisaitl was drafted in the 2nd round my argument would be weak. Draisaitl was a top 5 draft pick and is 18 years old.

Like I said in my first post, I like Gaudreau, just trying to be realistic.

If all you're using to determine who will be better is draft position and size, your argument is already weak. The fact that there are many who think you are wrong about a 4th round pick with the body of a 14 year old vs the hulking 3rd overall pick and that it is even a debate itself shows that it's a weak argument. If size and draft position was all that mattered, Gaudreau wouldn't even be in this conversation.

What does Draisaitl's history have over Gaudreau's that I am missing?

[Oil Stain]

Darren Haydar's 76 points in 40 games in 2001-2002 is closer to Gaudreau's season then Gaudreau's is to Kariya's.

Cammalleri could be in the ball park. Put up 60 points at 18, then on pace for 60 at 19, before turning pro at 20. He likely would have smashed college had he stayed another year.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Darren Haydar's 76 points in 40 games in 2001-2002 is closer to Gaudreau's season then Gaudreau's is to Kariya's.

Cammalleri could be in the ball park. Put up 60 points at 18, then on pace for 60 at 19, before turning pro at 20. He likely would have smashed college had he stayed another year.

How much have you seen Gaudreau play?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

Darren Haydar's 76 points in 40 games in 2001-2002 is closer to Gaudreau's season then Gaudreau's is to Kariya's.

Cammalleri could be in the ball park. Put up 60 points at 18, then on pace for 60 at 19, before turning pro at 20. He likely would have smashed college had he stayed another year.

So... well over a decade ago?

College hockey has completely changed.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Can we change Oil Stains status from First Line Center to Pathetic Wet Blanket?

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I think putting Gaudreau ahead of top 5 picks in Bennett and Draisaitl may prove to be premature.

I actually think this is a fair point (i think bennet is the flames top prospect followed by Gaudreau).

However, just the fact that we can rationally debate a 4th round pick's value amongst the past few year's top 5-10 first round picks, speaks volumes to the flames drafting in the past few years.