Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[foshizzle11]

So Draisaitl is about 20-30lbs heavier than both Bennett and Dal Colle....that seems intriguing to me. Maybe the Oilers take him as a big, skilled forward they don't have? Could they be that stupid to pass up Ekblad, I wonder.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Just reading between the lines a little (and making some pretty big leaps), but he seemed to downplay Ekblad a bit. He said that he will be a "heck of a defenseman in the NHL", but also qualified that by saying maybe not a "franchise defenseman".

He may not be a franchise defenseman, but he may still be the best player available in the draft. Murray also questioned if Reinhart was going to end up being a #1 centre.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by dammage79

How big is the whole "not allowing teams to invite prospect to their home cities for personal up close evaluations" going to affect who teams select?

Petty sure I remember the NHL instituting that rule this year. So no more hearing which players end up at the dome for a personal evaluation like we heard last year (Poirier, Petan and Klimchuk IIRC.)

I believe that has been proposed, but still needs to be approved by the NHLPA

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

He may not be a franchise defenseman, but he may still be the best player available in the draft. Murray also questioned if Reinhart was going to end up being a #1 centre.

Yeah, that was interesting too.

Serious question, but is it possible that a GM would purposely downplay one player and build up another in order to help them bargain in a trade? For example, if Edmonton really wanted Draisaitl and Buffalo was planning to draft Reinhart, wouldn't it be a good tactic to build up Draisaitl in a public interview and downplay Reinhart so that Edmonton might ante up on a trade for the top pick? Or is my tin foil hat on too tight....

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Yeah, that was interesting too.

Serious question, but is it possible that a GM would purposely downplay one player and build up another in order to help them bargain in a trade? For example, if Edmonton really wanted Draisaitl and Buffalo was planning to draft Reinhart, wouldn't it be a good tactic to build up Draisaitl in a public interview and downplay Reinhart so that Edmonton might ante up on a trade for the top pick? Or is my tin foil hat on too tight....

Well when Colorado won the first round pick, they kind of did that with Mackinnon. They in a way made it seem like they wanted Mackinnon when everyone thought they were going for the Denver defenseman. They were open to any trading (you had to offer up a whole lot for the first pick so I don't think anyone budged).

[JohnnyT]

Originally Posted by dammage79

How big is the whole "not allowing teams to invite prospect to their home cities for personal up close evaluations" going to affect who teams select?

Petty sure I remember the NHL instituting that rule this year. So no more hearing which players end up at the dome for a personal evaluation like we heard last year (Poirier, Petan and Klimchuk IIRC.)

I think if you use the Flames as an example, admittedly a small sample size but still relevant here, it won't have much an effect at all. Seemed like they already had their guys before they were invited to the dome and the decision of Klimchuk over Petan could have from the interviews, or Klimchuk was their guy but they gave Petan one last chance to impress.

With the scouting today I find it hard to believe that the actual workout portion of the invite really has a drastic effect on the minds of the scouts and management. They've seen these kids play all year, it's the interviews that can be make or break (Shinkaruk) a teams decision on you.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

So Draisaitl is about 20-30lbs heavier than both Bennett and Dal Colle....that seems intriguing to me. Maybe the Oilers take him as a big, skilled forward they don't have? Could they be that stupid to pass up Ekblad, I wonder.

It depends how MacTavish proceeds to plug the holes. If he decides that they need to get competitive quickly rather than continued patience over sucking, Ekblad would have less of an immediate impact than Draisaitl on the Oilers. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they went for Draisaitl even if Ekblad was still on the table. Gagner needs to he taken out to pasture.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Would Dustin Brown be a good comparable to Bennett?

What about a slightly more skilled TJ Oshie as a comparable for Bennett?

[Robbob]

A little OT but when does Gagner's NTC kick in? Is it July first?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

It depends how MacTavish proceeds to plug the holes. If he decides that they need to get competitive quickly rather than continued patience over sucking, Ekblad would have less of an immediate impact than Draisaitl on the Oilers. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they went for Draisaitl even if Ekblad was still on the table. Gagner needs to he taken out to pasture.

Ekblad would have less of immediate impact? I'm not sure about that. Ekblad may be the only guy to step in next season at the top end of this draft and likely will be the most impactful early on because he's already physically mature and has already spent so many years in junior.

To me Ekblad is the most likely to have the most immediate impact. Draisaitl may need more seasoning.

[Vinny01]

Ekblad
Reinhart
Bennett

In that order.

[JohnnyT]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

I believe that has been proposed, but still needs to be approved by the NHLPA

According to this article http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/...r.html?ref=brp its already illegal, its just that the fine was so low many teams didn't care. I believe the talk was the fine was being increased to $250,000 and they would look at adding an on ice portion to the combine.

[RyZ]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

In the regular season:
Draisaitl produced at 1.64 PPG
Bennett produced at 1.60 PPG

In the playoffs:
Drasaitl 0.75 PPG
Bennett 1.29 PPG

Honestly, as far as ability to produce at this point in their careers, there isn't much of a difference between the two.

Bennett may be considered a jack of all trades, but some of his skills are considered elite, with few, if any glaring weaknesses. His compete level also is considered a great asset. Leon is considered a top end playmaker, and yeah there are comparisons to Getzlaf, but his speed and compete level are apparent issues in his game. You can see that when he wasn't able to raise his game in the top prospects game amongst other top prospects, or the playoffs.

Bennett is the Flames' guy IMO.

Bennett also played on a team that scored MORE THAN a full goal per game more than Draisaitls team (Kingston - 4.43 g/g, Prince Albert - 3.37 g/g). Draisaitl clearly drives his teams offense far more than Bennett and it isn't close.

The playoff comarison means nothing as a tiny sample size against different opponents. By your comparisson Dal Cole is superior to Bennett as well.

Draisaitl is the Flames' guy IMO.

[djsFlames]

Bennett also played on a team that scored MORE THAN a full goal per game more than Draisaitls team (Kingston - 4.43 g/g, Prince Albert - 3.37 g/g). Draisaitl clearly drives his teams offense far more than Bennett and it isn't close.

The playoff comarison means nothing as a tiny sample size against different opponents. By your comparisson Dal Cole is superior to Bennett as well.

Draisaitl is the Flames' guy IMO.

Then why is Bennett put ahead of Draisaitl on virtually every 2014 draft ranking? It's more than your production in junior. It's skills and assets in the players' games. And Draisaitl is widely viewed as having more holes than Bennett. Guys like Bobby Ryan only produced at 1.44 PPG in junior, Duchene 1.39, Landeskog 1.25, yet they were viewed as having skills and assets to their games that would translate to the NHL (and did). I don't care if you have a kid who can put up 2+ PPG in the regular season, if they can't step it up when being evaluated on the big stage or playoffs (and I mean both visually and statistically), then that also supports the compete level issue.

I'd rather take the 2-way skilled center workhorse noted as having no real weaknesses, who'll be a royal pain in the opposition's rear end for a full 60 each night than a guy who's big and can set up plays, but you're not sure if he'll show up when you need him to.

[AlbertaOiler72]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

It depends how MacTavish proceeds to plug the holes. If he decides that they need to get competitive quickly rather than continued patience over sucking, Ekblad would have less of an immediate impact than Draisaitl on the Oilers. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they went for Draisaitl even if Ekblad was still on the table. Gagner needs to he taken out to pasture.

Bob Stauffer has been really pumping the "Oilers have no centers in the system" lines lately

I doubt they pass on Ekblad but I really think management feels they need to upgrade the center position just as much...if not more
Reinhart and Draisaitl are at the top of the list IMO

cause Gagner is as good as gone next year

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by AlbertaOiler72

Bob Stauffer has been really pumping the "Oilers have no centers in the system" lines lately

I doubt they pass on Ekblad but I really think management feels they need to upgrade the center position just as much...if not more
Reinhart and Draisaitl are at the top of the list IMO

cause Gagner is as good as gone next year

Future amazing Spengler cup athlete.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by codynw

Maybe an odd question, but how would one pronounce Draisaitl? I've heard it said a few different ways.

just listen to this google translation, it's perfect:

http://translate.google.com/#de/de/Dreisaitl

or here from a German report, right at the beginning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX2viZ3BS5c

[RyZ]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Then why is Bennett put ahead of Draisaitl on virtually every 2014 draft ranking? It's more than your production in junior. It's skills and assets in the players' games. And Draisaitl is widely viewed as having more holes than Bennett. Guys like Bobby Ryan only produced at 1.44 PPG in junior, Duchene 1.39, Landeskog 1.25, yet they were viewed as having skills and assets to their games that would translate to the NHL (and did). I don't care if you have a kid who can put up 2+ PPG in the regular season, if they can't step it up when being evaluated on the big stage or playoffs (and I mean both visually and statistically), then that also supports the compete level issue.

I'd rather take the 2-way skilled center workhorse noted as having no real weaknesses, who'll be a royal pain in the opposition's rear end for a full 60 each night than a guy who's big and can set up plays, but you're not sure if he'll show up when you need him to.

Come on man. They are ranked in the 3-4-5 range in most rankings. Its not like one guy is 3 and the other guy is 22. A tireless worker with some grit along with his skill is great and all and I'm not opposed to Bennett in any way, I'm just pointing out that Draisaitl likely is and will be the better pure offensive player of the 2. To me, that's what the Flames need. Let Bouma and Poirier kill penalties and block shots, we need a guy that can put up 80+ points and I'm not sure Bennett has that upside.

[moon]

It is obviously all speculation but Bennett looks to have the better offensive skills both in upside and likelihood.

To each his own but Bennett seems like a much better choice than Draistaitl especially if offense is considered.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by RyZ

Come on man. They are ranked in the 3-4-5 range in most rankings. Its not like one guy is 3 and the other guy is 22. A tireless worker with some grit along with his skill is great and all and I'm not opposed to Bennett in any way, I'm just pointing out that Draisaitl likely is and will be the better pure offensive player of the 2. To me, that's what the Flames need. Let Bouma and Poirier kill penalties and block shots, we need a guy that can put up 80+ points and I'm not sure Bennett has that upside.

There's some that have Bennett at 1 though, which no one has Draisaitl has. Bennett is the one to pick in a world where they're both on the table for you.