Kylington Interview

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Jankowski was easily the best player at Dev. Camp. He oozes skill and was definitely the most NHL-ready guy there, or so it seemed. I'm pumped for him.

But, I can see why some people have him lower than the #2 spot. He's still a project for sure, but there's serious potential there.

There seem to be several players 'oozing' in this thread.

[EVERLAST]

Loved both those articles.

He is confident, described himself as being grumpy on the ice and in preparation. I think once he gets his turn to play regular minutes in Calgary as a regular instead of a call up well see how really good he is.

The maturity factor is definitely there. He realizes he's close to making the team and has allot of competition to beat still but maintains a really professional attitude.

We're lucky to have him I say. He's really turning into something.

This makes Brads job easier not re signing guys like Russel and waiting to depart ways with Wideman, Englelland(sp)

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Meh, People are swing voters. Look at Jankowski as an example. He was getting lots of praise during development camp and he managed to earn 2nd best prospect. Jankowski's career hasnt been "stellar" in a conventional sense. It's been a slow progress. Gillies on the hand loses to Jankowski but has had such an exceptional career this far he's probably one of highest ranking prospects in the world.

Yes it has been slow progress. And that was expected when he was drafted as a long term project who had a lot of filling out to do as a very skinny draftee. I've been very behind him ever since he was drafted and have been voting him high in the prospect polls every year, you can go back and look if you like.

This year he finally showed the big jump in points we were looking for so that has validated his status for a lot of people. He was a key player on a very strong team. And then he performed better than the Flames were expecting to start his pro career. I'd say he had a pretty stellar year overall even if you don't believe his career path has been stellar.

The ranking of Gillies vs Jankowski is a nuanced debate that is colored by a lot of people's opinion that because goalies are very hard to project and take forever to develop that a lot of fans as a rule will take a more skeptical, you have to prove it first approach. So far we haven't seen a big sample size of Gillies in pro. He didn't develop much at all last year. But he's still highly regarded because of his pedrigree, his pro debut and the fact he was playing injured for several years and is now finally healthy.

Another factor for some people is how valuable the player may be when fully developed. Historically goalies do not get traded for massive hauls. Historically big top two line centres are extremely valuable and rarely get traded. So if Jankowski becomes a big #1 or #2 centre and Gillies becomes a good NHL starter its conceivable Jankowski may hold more trade value when they are both fully developed.

I see Janko vs Gillies as very close but I give the edge to the skater. Goalies are just so hard to predict. They are both great prospects IMO, I don't think there's anything questionable about where Jankowski was ranked this year.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

Sure they are. THN houses a staff of writers who are paid to watch prospects. That's an aggregate list? Hockeys future uses aggregate lists from each team HF forum, as well as their own reports to generate their rankings. People here were hearing comments from people watching development camp and were persuaded that Jankowski was better than all other prospects.

THN writers paid to watch prospects? I don't believe that's how it works. You think THN has a guy out scouting the AHL all year? I can't see that being the case. They use writers that have connections to actual NHL scouts and they post stuff based on 2nd hand information. And most people they talk to probably haven't seen a lot of Jankowski.

I think I'd trust Craig Button's info more than THN writers as he has very good and long term connections in the industry and we know he actually is out there scouting unlike the THN writers.

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-5...pects-1.436669

Button has Gillies #1 for the Flames and Jankowski #2. I think Button's list seems pretty fair although I think he may overrate Mangiapane a touch.

Anyways you seem to be arguing that people have talked other people into liking Jankowski based on development camp hype and I'm not sure that's actually the truth. There's been a lot of staunch Jankowski haters since his draft pick. I think people are basing their opinions of Jankowski on a lot more than development camp. I think people have paid attention to his stats last year in College, how far his team went the past two years, his college all star nod, his impressive pro debut in Stockton and factor that in moreso than any development camp hype.

Jankowski went high in the prospect poll for good reason. If you want to continue to argue Janko vs Gillies maybe start a new thread for that as we seem to have drifted far away from Kylington talk.

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

THN writers paid to watch prospects? I don't believe that's how it works. You think THN has a guy out scouting the AHL all year? I can't see that being the case. They use writers that have connections to actual NHL scouts and they post stuff based on 2nd hand information. And most people they talk to probably haven't seen a lot of Jankowski.

I think I'd trust Craig Button's info more than THN writers as he has very good and long term connections in the industry and we know he actually is out there scouting unlike the THN writers.

http://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-5...pects-1.436669

Button has Gillies #1 for the Flames and Jankowski #2. I think Button's list seems pretty fair although I think he may overrate Mangiapane a touch.

Anyways you seem to be arguing that people have talked other people into liking Jankowski based on development camp hype and I'm not sure that's actually the truth. There's been a lot of staunch Jankowski haters since his draft pick. I think people are basing their opinions of Jankowski on a lot more than development camp. I think people have paid attention to his stats last year in College, how far his team went the past two years, his college all star nod, his impressive pro debut in Stockton and factor that in moreso than any development camp hype.

Jankowski went high in the prospect poll for good reason. If you want to continue to argue Janko vs Gillies maybe start a new thread for that as we seem to have drifted far away from Kylington talk.

Button's list is interesting even if it is from Feb. 11.