I think this draft is going to be like the 1999 draft and Draisaitl is the Pavel Brendl of this draft. Lots of hype because of his big numbers, but I don't think the warts on his game will allow it to translate to the NHL. He's not a good skater and the NHL has become a speed game. I'm not sure some of his dangles or power moves are going to be effective against bigger, stronger, faster players. Lots of hype surrounding some of these kids, but I'm not certain any will live up to the expectations. I think the best of the bunch will be Reinhart. Anyone else I would temper my enthusiasm. I would not be surprised to see the next best players in the draft be selected outside of the first round. I just think it's going to be one of those drafts.
Yes... I can see why you would say that. I remember you saying similar things about Monahan's game not translating into the NHL last year about this time. It's impossible to tell without a crystal ball.
I see absolutely no similarities between Brendl and Draisaitl (except for their names ending in too many consonants.) Brendl's workrate was terrible – compared to Draisaitl's – and he was physically dominated in the clutch and grab era of pro hockey at the time.
One thing I like about Dal Colle is that he has a good supporting cast (Laughton, Cassells, Smith) but he's the guy leading Oshawa in scoring by a mile. That is a good sign to me; he's the go-to guy there despite being a youngster.
Draisaitl is like a one man army for the Raiders. He has Josh Morrissey feeding him nice passes from the blue line, but he was the leading scorer by 30 points or so. There's been too much smoke from up North about him going to the Oil for it not to be true. The only way he doesn't go to the Oil is if Ekblad drops out of the top 2.
I seriously like all these players... Sorry for my overenthusiasm guys. Day off & I'm really excited about the future of the Flames thanks to that Monahan video! I'll stop posting now... FZ out.
I see absolutely no similarities between Brendl and Draisaitl (except for their names ending in too many consonants.) Brendl's workrate was terrible – compared to Draisaitl's – and he was physically dominated in the clutch and grab era of pro hockey at the time.
I wish we had some Brendl footage to compare. I think you'd see exactly what I'm referencing. Brendl had everyone hot and bothered with his size and sick hands. His skating was just never good enough to get him to the NHL. I see that in the German kid. Draisaitl can use his size to his advantage right now, but that size advantage will disappear and the space he has to dangle will go away playing against quicker/smarter players. I can't comment on his work ethic, and I doubt you can either, but I know most junior kids have no idea how hard they have to work to become a pro. I doubt Draisaitl is any different. If his work ethic as as good as you suggest, he'd be a better skater. He's one kid whose numbers I am dying to see at the Draft Combine. It will be interesting to see where he shakes out.
Ehlers had 8 more goals and 9 less assists than Drouin did last year, and Drouin had MacKinnon.
Add in his huge near 2 PPG pace in the playoffs (Drouin is at a 2.67 PPG pace what....) and he seems like a really really good player.
Even though he's slightly smaller, I'd prefer him to everyone except Reinhart/Bennett. No offense to Draisaitl, or Dal Colle, but Ehlers looks like he might have star calibre offensive skill, instead of just potential 1st line skill.
Plus Ehlers can play either wing.
Having two blazers like Ehlers and Poirier would make our offense deadly. Speed kills.
I saw an analysis of Ehlers' point production on HF a while ago. About 25% of his points occur when Drouhin is on the ice. I've seen him play when Drouhin wasn't dressed and he is the real deal. Some of Drouhin's points are due to Ehlers too as he's got that elite vision as well as being a finisher. And his skating and stickhandling are off the charts. I suspect he'll be taken much earlier in the draft than people think. And don't forget his plus 65 stat either. He looked pretty good on the point in the last game of the Halifax-Gatineau series too.
I wish we had some Brendl footage to compare. I think you'd see exactly what I'm referencing. Brendl had everyone hot and bothered with his size and sick hands. His skating was just never good enough to get him to the NHL. I see that in the German kid. Draisaitl can use his size to his advantage right now, but that size advantage will disappear and the space he has to dangle will go away playing against quicker/smarter players. I can't comment on his work ethic, and I doubt you can either, but I know most junior kids have no idea how hard they have to work to become a pro. I doubt Draisaitl is any different. If his work ethic as as good as you suggest, he'd be a better skater. He's one kid whose numbers I am dying to see at the Draft Combine. It will be interesting to see where he shakes out.
Yeah, true. You have to admit that his highlights package looks pretty similar to Mony's from last year though. He gets good physical positioning on big d men & gets some slick passes and dangles done while physically under pressure. You would be justified to think that his game wouldn't translate, just as you would have been justified to think Monahan's wouldn't. Impossible to tell at this point. Still hoping the Oilers take this guy, despite the fact that I think he's a good prospect. I think he could be an awesome player, but somewhere in my mind I'm hoping the Oil take him so we can draft one of my favourite 3 players. I guess that's a bad sign in a way... :/
Draisaitl's game looks cerebral to me, which is a good sign. The nearest comparable to Brendl for me is Virtanen, but I can't help thinking my mind makes that connection because of the jersey he wears.
Totally with you about Reinhart. All these flashy guys might allow him and his simple, cerebral game to slip to us at #4. Fingers crossed (for the next 2 freakin months!!!)
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Over on the Oilers board I saw that they have a poll for Bennett vs Draisaitl with Bennett way ahead. Hopefully that doesn't reflect management because I'm praying that Bennett falls to us.
Apparently the Oilers focus has shifted from Draisaitl to Bennett as well though.
Over on the Oilers board I saw that they have a poll for Bennett vs Draisaitl with Bennett way ahead. Hopefully that doesn't reflect management because I'm praying that Bennett falls to us.
Apparently the Oilers focus has shifted from Draisaitl to Bennett as well though.
Take this with a grain of salt the size of Timbuktu, but Eklund says Oilers are trying to do a deal where their first is gone:
Over on the Oilers board I saw that they have a poll for Bennett vs Draisaitl with Bennett way ahead. Hopefully that doesn't reflect management because I'm praying that Bennett falls to us.
Apparently the Oilers focus has shifted from Draisaitl to Bennett as well though.
where the hell do these kinds of rumours come from? Is Craig calling up 630 CHED to tell them "hey fellas, kinda leaning towards that bennett kid right now, might just be a phase, ill keep you posted".
seriously. As far as I can tell its all just fan hype.
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where the hell do these kinds of rumours come from? Is Craig calling up 630 CHED to tell them "hey fellas, kinda leaning towards that bennett kid right now, might just be a phase, ill keep you posted".
seriously. As far as I can tell its all just fan hype.
Some glowing tweets from whoever their Millions news guy is about.
The fan hype is not to be taken too lightly considering Oilers have people monitoring their section of HF. Remember they bought out a few accounts just for PR damage control.
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If the oilers pick Bennett I will honesty just #### myself laughing. When you watch playoff games in the western conference the hitting is just vicious. To beat the teams like San Jose, LA, St. Louis, Anaheim, Chicago you need size.
That's why I'm fine if the flames land draisatl. Really his only question mark is consistency. I think that can be taught if he is brought into the right group. He can use Monahan as a role model to become a complete player.
CP makes it out to be this huge gap, but honestly I don't. Do I prefer Bennett? Yes. Do I think the difference is substantial. No. And I think draisatl has more long term potential to be a superstar in the mould of a Ryan getzlaf or Anze Kopitar.
Big centres with skill are a hard thing to find. Brian Burke didn't find one in his Toronto days.
If the oilers pick Bennett I will honesty just #### myself laughing. When you watch playoff games in the western conference the hitting is just vicious. To beat the teams like San Jose, LA, St. Louis, Anaheim, Chicago you need size.
That's why I'm fine if the flames land draisatl. Really his only question mark is consistency. I think that can be taught if he is brought into the right group. He can use Monahan as a role model to become a complete player.
CP makes it out to be this huge gap, but honestly I don't. Do I prefer Bennett? Yes. Do I think the difference is substantial. No. And I think draisatl has more long term potential to be a superstar in the mould of a Ryan getzlaf or Anze Kopitar.
Big centres with skill are a hard thing to find. Brian Burke didn't find one in his Toronto days.
But he's just a thick guy. Anyway look at these stats.
Kingston scored 301 goals. Bennett had 91 points in 57 games. That means he was in on 30.2 % of his teams goals.
On the other hand, Prince Albert had 243 goals. Draisatl had 105 points in 65 games. That means he was in on 43.2% of his teams offence.
Obviously he played more games then Bennett but I also think that points to the fact big guys are usually more durable and sustain less injuries as a result, therefor allowing them to impact more games on average then their smaller counterparts.
I think we have to acknowledge that Brendl is just a weird outlier. How many players just keep getting worse from age 17 on? Very rare does a player come into the WHL at 17 and just dominate the league. Then he just started getting worse and worse every year that followed.
