Reinhart and Monahan are nothing alike. And offensive players like Reinhart are rarely overly tough or physical, however he is very competitive and that is good.
Also, I think Monahan will continue to become more physical as he matures and strengthens - we have already seen some of that as this season has progressed.
Suggesting Reinhart and Monahan would be too similar and too soft is way off the mark IMO.
Someone who saw him in junior more then me can comment but I recall Monahan being a bit of a beast along the boards. You've started to see him add that element to his game more recently in the NHL, you're only going to see it more as he physically matures.
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If we take Ritchie, it'll be like taking a Mark McNeill or a slightly quicker Greg Nemisz. Not exactly high end skill there. Big and mediocre does not beat average sized and good any time.
Ritchie scores some pretty sick goals. Good speed, skill, shot and drives the net hard. Have you seen highlights of him? He's got more skill than you are giving him credit for. I've seen comparisons to Bertuzzi
The @boringmonahan account fools people into thinking that Sean is a mild-mannered, timid youngster out on the ice.
I formed my opinion based on his play. The guy is never in the scrums, never pushes, has 3 minor penalties on the season, etc. Some guys are just mild mannered.
Bouwmeester is a great D. But I wouldn't want just Bouwmeester like players.
I think people are worrying over nothing. Burke may very well like Ritchie, but that doesn't mean that he is willing to draft him in the top 5. He could just be planning in case he picks up another 1st rounder.
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Ritchie scores some pretty sick goals. Good speed, skill, shot and drives the net hard. Have you seen highlights of him? He's got more skill than you are giving him credit for. I've seen comparisons to Bertuzzi
Yes, I have watched a most of his highlights. He does score some nice goals. However, most of those nice goals are scored due to his size and ability to push through the D. The tools in his offensive tool box in my opinion are not good enough for someone considered to be top 10. His passing is average to below average, his playmaking is poor for someone that's going to be a 1st rounder, and his shot is below average for a top 15 pick.
He isn't without talent. I'm not saying he's bad. I'm saying that if he's taken in the top end of the first round (1-12th), that would be a bad pick relative to his abilities.
When you compare his raw skills to those of Draisaitl, Dal Colle, Ehlers, Nylander and a couple others, Ritchie is inferior. The only thing he has on those guys is that he is already a man sized hockey player.
Also the comparisons to Bertuzzi are semi-terrible. The only place where they are similar is they were both big and physical. Bert's hands were very smooth, and his passing was good and he had a better shot than Ritchie. It took him time to figure out how to use everything properly, but those better skills led to better down the road results. Ritchie unfortunately doesn't have those skills.
It is noticeable, that he is as tall as he is, and the relative average/below average size of most of the rest of the forwards are in the top 15. If Ritchie's skills were as good as say Bennett, Nylander or Ehlers (all three are ahead of Ritchie on mynhldraft's site), wouldn't Ritchie begin to make sense for 1st or 2nd overall? He would have all the things necessary to be a star then.
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Eklund saying the Sabres would entertain trading their pick for 2 prospects +. Backlund, Baertschi, Granlund Flames 2nd for 1st/2nd overall and Stewart? Flames add salary and size on an expiring deal (to flip at the deadline) and add a 2nd top 5 pick. Helps the team long term and helps keep the team in contention for McDavid/Eichel.
Buffalo 3young forwards and a high 2nd rounder for a 27 year old and a high pick.
I would tend to agree that the "power forward" position is no longer relevant in the NHL. Maybe a guy like Lucic is a power forward but it's really a speed and finess game now among big men. Very few players come to mind as being power fowards anymore.
Eklund saying the Sabres would entertain trading their pick for 2 prospects +. Backlund, Baertschi, Granlund Flames 2nd for 1st/2nd overall and Stewart? Flames add salary and size on an expiring deal (to flip at the deadline) and add a 2nd top 5 pick. Helps the team long term and helps keep the team in contention for McDavid/Eichel.
Buffalo 3young forwards and a high 2nd rounder for a 27 year old and a high pick.
I read the Eklund thread and if true ( highly doubt) then Buffalo is asking for to much. It says they want 2 top prospects that are Nhl ready. Why would a team trade 2 near NHL ready players for one top prospect that will not be NHL ready? It's not like the top 2-3 draft prospects are generation talents.
Eklund saying the Sabres would entertain trading their pick for 2 prospects +. Backlund, Baertschi, Granlund Flames 2nd for 1st/2nd overall and Stewart? Flames add salary and size on an expiring deal (to flip at the deadline) and add a 2nd top 5 pick. Helps the team long term and helps keep the team in contention for McDavid/Eichel.
Buffalo 3young forwards and a high 2nd rounder for a 27 year old and a high pick.
I'd be for making a trade to get that first overall. If it's something like Backlund, Baertschi, Knight and our 2nd round pick. No idea what it takes to get a 1st overall in a year like this but to have two in the top five seems worth giving up a lot. Quality over quantity - and denying Edmonton Ekblad seems worth a hefty price. Buffalo may be into that too given their history.
Backlund has shown in 2014 that he is part of the solution on this team moving forward.
Trading him now would be a big mistake, IMO.
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