I'm suprised some people are so down on Baertschi and he should be no lower than #3 on anybody's list. The whole first 5 mins of this video is the Baertschi-Monahan show. Sven making some magic with an 18 year old rookie. This isn't a guy that has trouble playing in the NHL, obviously. This is a guy that needs good time and good linemates (like Colborne was gifted last season, and guess what, he improved greatly as the year went on).
To say that there are more than maybe Gaudreau and Bennett that are better prospects in our system than Sven is crazy talk.
I like Hartley for the most part but his biggest mistake/downfall right now is how he has treated Beartschi so far. It's almost as if it's personal or something.
I'm not voting Sven in the Flames top 3. He's still a solid prospect (top end skills are there) but his development has currently stalled, he's become a little injury prone, and I think there's a couple of other players that are trending up and haven't shown to be mentally fragile. The mental hurdle can be the hardest to overcome for some players which is why I'm weary of his long term outlook.
I went with Gaudreau. It's true Bennett could be better than Gaudreau in three years, but then again, he may not! At this point Johnny Hockey is the better prospect.
Also, I found it very interesting looking at the results from last year. Baertschi will fall, Janko will fall I imagine too. It kinda shows how expectations and potential do not mean guaranteed success. But certainly exciting times.
To me it's clearly Bennett. I sure hope people are right about Gaudreau but I still fear that the massive expectations don't match reality in his case.
Sieloff over Granlund is a headscratcher. The GM has already mentioned they've at least thought of moving Sieloff to forward (where he'd be Lance Bouma 2.0). Granlund tore up the AHL and looked good in his brief NHL stint in his first year in North America. I think I'd have Granlund ahead of at least the 6-9 guys (and to be honest probably 4th after Bennett/Gaudreau/Poirier)
I went with Bennett for the same reason The Fonz did (Bennett being 3 years younger) but also that they're different players. It looks like Bennett will be a much more complete player. Gaudreau will be an amazing player but with his size, he will be more of an all offense player while Bennett will be more of a Gilmour in his prime.
How amazing is it that we can even have this discussion now! The future looks pretty good for the Flames at this point.
I'll vote for Bennett when he blows away everyone on the list at main camp but for now Johnny wins this poll by a landslide.
To me it's clearly Bennett. I sure hope people are right about Gaudreau but I still fear that the massive expectations don't match reality in his case.
The "reality" is that he has surpassed expectations at every level he's played and continues to do so, including his first game in the NHL during which he did not appear to be in any kind of struggle physically. The size of the competition hasn't hindered Gaudreau's game one bit. It may now and then if he's full time in the NHL, but clearly the players at the WCs couldn't slow him down and that was littered with big NHLers.
I like Hartley for the most part but his biggest mistake/downfall right now is how he has treated Beartschi so far. It's almost as if it's personal or something.
I don't agree. His treatment of Baertschi has been just right, mostly in that it was opposite to the Oiler model.
Baertschi was given, by far, the most sheltered minutes on this team last year, and he was supposed to learn to play a more complete game with that. He didn't. And he mostly did nothing with the opportunity to prove Hartley wrong on the Heat.
He is still at the prove me wrong stage. And I really hope he does.
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I'm not voting Sven in the Flames top 3. He's still a solid prospect (top end skills are there) but his development has currently stalled, he's become a little injury prone, and I think there's a couple of other players that are trending up and haven't shown to be mentally fragile. The mental hurdle can be the hardest to overcome for some players which is why I'm weary of his long term outlook.
I do agree with the injury prone part and that is a bit of a concern. I also agree with the stalled development part, but I think that's because he isn't playing in the NHL every night. You can't watch the first 5 mins of that Monahan highlite package and tell me that Sven can't play forward at the NHL level.
I'm curious to see where Max Reinhart ends up in the rankings, he lead the Heat in scoring last season and pretty much solidified the #1 C by season's end. We have a log jam at C, guys like Knight and Granlund are going to have to consider RW if they want to break into the NHL
The "reality" is that he has surpassed expectations at every level he's played and continues to do so, including his first game in the NHL during which he did not appear to be in any kind of struggle physically. The size of the competition hasn't hindered Gaudreau one bit.
Don't know where the fear is coming from.
Without exaggeration, he's the most hyped Flames prospect I've seen discussed here, among many posters at least, and those people are probably going to be disappointed.
I'll believe it when I see it. One garbage game at the end of the season isn't enough for me to say that he's ready for the NHL.
I think the top 2 are pretty clear, I went with Gaudreau He looks like he's ready now, it seems clear he is an elite talent. Bennett cloud be an elite talent, and probably is not ready, those put him behind Johnny
Then there's big group behind them depending on their criteria, I could see people saying, Baertschi, Poirier, Gillies, Klimchuk, Ortio, Wootherspoon, Seiloff, or Kanzig could be #3 depending on how you look at it, Need, Readiness, Potential High End Impact,
For me all of the Dmen are at the back of that Group. I'm gonna put Baertschi at the top, because I hope a couple of years of pro experience pay off for him this season.
Without exaggeration, he's the most hyped Flames prospect I've seen discussed here, among many posters at least, and those people are probably going to be disappointed.
I'll believe it when I see it. One garbage game at the end of the season isn't enough for me to say that he's ready for the NHL.
Currently, I vote for Gaudreau.
He has a 67 NHLE, while Bennett has a 40 NHLE.
I know that in Gaudreau's draft year he had an NHLE of 25, but until Bennett can hit close/similar to a 67 NHLE I'll say Gaudreau is the top prospect this year.
Also note, NHLE isn't the most accurate measurement of talent/skill. But if the difference is by 27 points it still shows that Gaudreau is currently still a few steps ahead of Bennett.
Another note is Monahan's NHLE when he was drafted was 33 and he scored 34 points this year.
While I agree that Bennett will be a beast in the future, he's currently not the #1 prospect this summer. He'll have the tools to easily be the top prospect in next years summer poll. Unless we draft really high next season.
Last edited by dfsflamesfan; 07-11-2014 at 01:09 PM.
Reason: Added Monahan's stats and definition of #1 Summer 2014 Prospect Rank
I'm not voting Sven in the Flames top 3. He's still a solid prospect (top end skills are there) but his development has currently stalled, he's become a little injury prone, and I think there's a couple of other players that are trending up and haven't shown to be mentally fragile. The mental hurdle can be the hardest to overcome for some players which is why I'm weary of his long term outlook.
Same here. I place Granlund and maybe Poirier, Ortio and Gillies ahead of Sven right now.
Without exaggeration, he's the most hyped Flames prospect I've seen discussed here, among many posters at least, and those people are probably going to be disappointed.
I'll believe it when I see it. One garbage game at the end of the season isn't enough for me to say that he's ready for the NHL.
What matrix do you use to determine your vote? All the prospects have a certain amount of hype, projection or speculation to them. I didn't vote Gaudreau very high last year and he won the Hobey Baker, performed well at the WC, played in his first NHL game and didn't look out of place.
Perhaps you need a full NHL season with solid (Monahan like) performance to get him over the hump? If so, that's fair. But when compared to his peer class, he has to be either choice #1 or #2 - hype or not.
Without exaggeration, he's the most hyped Flames prospect I've seen discussed here, among many posters at least, and those people are probably going to be disappointed.
I'll believe it when I see it. One garbage game at the end of the season isn't enough for me to say that he's ready for the NHL.
He was the best Flames player on the ice that game... Every shift he made he tried to make something happen, he didn't just skate around.
To me it's clearly Bennett. I sure hope people are right about Gaudreau but I still fear that the massive expectations don't match reality in his case.
May I ask, have you seen Gaudreau play live (in person)?
