Craig's List 2014 Prospects

[sureLoss]

Reinhart with a hat trick tonight.

has 10 pts (8g+2a) in 4 games since coming back from the WJC

[saXon]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

OHL Stats at age 16:
Taylor Hall - 1.33
Steven Stamkos - 1.46
Connor McDavid - 1.72

(Tavares was at 2 PPG however)

If McDavid reaches anywhere near Stamkos' stats, I'll eat my left shoe.

I understand the kid has been granted exceptional status, but the 'Crosby' comparisons he's been drawing from the pundits is overzealous.

Tavares is good, but as you've pointed out, exceptional status means jack until you hit the bigs. Stamkos has outshined him in almost every aspect of the game.

[Table 5]

Based solely on the WJC, I'd take Eichel over McDavid.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by saXon

If McDavid reaches anywhere near Stamkos' stats, I'll eat my left shoe.

I understand the kid has been granted exceptional status, but the 'Crosby' comparisons he's been drawing from the pundits is overzealous.

Tavares is good, but as you've pointed out, exceptional status means jack until you hit the bigs. Stamkos has outshined him in almost every aspect of the game.

Tavares also looked 38 when he was 17. It seems like McDavid has more growing to do than Tavares did. I may or may not be taking out of my ass though

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by saXon

If McDavid reaches anywhere near Stamkos' stats, I'll eat my left shoe.

I understand the kid has been granted exceptional status, but the 'Crosby' comparisons he's been drawing from the pundits is overzealous.

Tavares is good, but as you've pointed out, exceptional status means jack until you hit the bigs. Stamkos has outshined him in almost every aspect of the game.

Tavares wasn't surrounded by good players in Long Island either. Stamkos was fortunate enough to have Lecavalier and St.Louis to "raise" him into the pro and star he is today. Whereas Tavares has essentially walked the more difficult road to attain his star status.

As for McDavid, I know he's good. But I still am not sold on him and the hype yet. Same with Eichel, but I think he has a better build for the NHL game. we shall see, theres a long way to go yet before that draft.

It's still Ekblad or bust for me. I'm looking at this years draft class and he keeps standing out over the rest to me. Sam Reinhart doesn't look like top tier talent to me where Ekblad does. Not saying Reinhart sucks at all here. I also believe that Same Bennett is coming on at the right time and may keep fighting for that number one spot. Again, only time will tell.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Tavares wasn't surrounded by good players in Long Island either. Stamkos was fortunate enough to have Lecavalier and St.Louis to "raise" him into the pro and star he is today. Whereas Tavares has essentially walked the more difficult road to attain his star status.

As for McDavid, I know he's good. But I still am not sold on him and the hype yet. Same with Eichel, but I think he has a better build for the NHL game. we shall see, theres a long way to go yet before that draft.

It's still Ekblad or bust for me. I'm looking at this years draft class and he keeps standing out over the rest to me. Sam Reinhart doesn't look like top tier talent to me where Ekblad does. Not saying Reinhart sucks at all here. I also believe that Same Bennett is coming on at the right time and may keep fighting for that number one spot. Again, only time will tell.

Reinhart is on par or better than Monahan imo. It would be great to have two solid players like that at the top of our centre depth chart.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Based solely on the WJC, I'd take Eichel over McDavid.

Which is why the WJHC can be a horrible way to judge young kids. Especially when comparing guys from different teams.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by moon

Which is why the WJHC can be a horrible way to judge young kids. Especially when comparing guys from different teams.

Hey, I didn't say it was extensive analysis, ha.

I'm not really going to judge any of that class till next year when we get to see more of them...but I was mightily impressed with Eichel from what I saw.

[moon]

Fair enough.

I wasn't really impressed with Eichel at all. He seemed to benefit from being on a bad American team that was desperate for offense so got thrown out there a lot. He didn't seem to be able to beat anyone one on one (not surprising considering his age) and just threw a lot of shots at the net hoping something would happen.

At least when McDavid played you could see the individual talent and he made some plays only a handful (or maybe just him and Drouin) could make.

[Francis's Hairpiece]

Originally Posted by nik-

Reinhart is on par or better than Monahan imo. It would be great to have two solid players like that at the top of our centre depth chart.

Or move him to RW with Monahan at center... Sven Sean Sam... Dear lord.

[albertGQ]

Whould Bennet be ranked higher than boring Sean Monahan?

[strombad]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Whould Bennet be ranked higher than boring Sean Monahan?

Both Reinhart and Bennett are close to Monahan.

If we took either, we'd likely be looking at Reinhart/Monahan or Monahan/Bennett after it all shakes down, but they would all be quite close.

[Zulu29]

Originally Posted by strombad

Both Reinhart and Bennett are close to Monahan.

If we took either, we'd likely be looking at Reinhart/Monahan or Monahan/Bennett after it all shakes down, but they would all be quite close.

Good problem to have.

[strombad]

Originally Posted by Zulu29

Good problem to have.

Absolutely.
It's why I'd rather either of those guys over Ekblad. Having a 1a/1b center situation is excellent. And hey, if we get McDavid or Eichel next year and they really are as good as they seem to be, then that allows us to move a top level centerman for any position we really need. People ALWAYS pay big for young high-potential centermen.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by strombad

Absolutely.
It's why I'd rather either of those guys over Ekblad. Having a 1a/1b center situation is excellent. And hey, if we get McDavid or Eichel next year and they really are as good as they seem to be, then that allows us to move a top level centerman for any position we really need. People ALWAYS pay big for young high-potential centermen.

I agree with you - I don't mind taking a C at all. However, I would not want to take another LW. Ekblad or a C.

Then head for the 2015 draft. Then see what we've got, and start turning it into a team.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by AltaGuy

Trouba may have been as good as Jones - but I didn't think so when watching at all. When I saw Jones play there he reminded me a ton of Rob Blake and stood out every time on the ice.

Ekblad simply didn't.

Trouba was definitely their best defenseman. He was amazing and looked great all tourney. IMO McCabe was better than Jones as well.

But you'd expect that since Jones was considerably younger.

[Red John]

Have been firmly in camp Ekblad to this point, because the Flames need a franchise defenseman.

But if Ekblad ends up being a top-pair guy but not a franchise guy, it would perhaps be better to roll with Reinhart.

If Ekblad is going to become Victor Hedman, you may as well grab a No. 1 centre instead and hope you can find a diamond in the rough on the blueline later in the draft.

[$ven27]

Have you seen Hedman this year? Guy's a beast. If Ekblad becomes him and we draft him it'll be fantastic.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Have you seen Hedman this year? Guy's a beast. If Ekblad becomes him and we draft him it'll be fantastic.

The one thing with Hedman is that he had the chance to develop in the relative obscurity of a non-hockey mad market for 5 years. Would a high-end pick be given the same type of leeway in Calgary? Do the fans/GM/owners here have the patience to wait half a decade for a Top 1/2 pick to pan out?

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Table 5

The one thing with Hedman is that he had the chance to develop in the relative obscurity of a non-hockey mad market for 5 years. Would a high-end pick be given the same type of leeway in Calgary? Do the fans/GM/owners here have the patience to wait half a decade for a Top 1/2 pick to pan out?

Well it isn't like we'll have to wait 5 years for another Jankowski, just to see if he can play in the NHL. He'll be playing for us next season, two years ahead of Phaneuf's progress. We won't be any good for another few years anyways and our fans should be smart enough to know what to expect.