[News] With the 21st overall pick Flames select C Mark Jankowski

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Corey Pronman @coreypronman
@SUNRandySportak he's playing well in the NCAA as a senior but not sure the off-puck play is there for the pro game

Does he mean defensively or offensively?

Offensively Jankowski is good at finding good areas to get the puck. He's not a one-timer guy but he can corral the puck and get wristers through traffic very well.

Defensively, I think Jankowski has Selke type upside. Jordan Staal level at least.

don't love pace either.

"Pace" is due to Providence's system. Seeing Janko in the dev camp scrimmage his end-to-end play was amazing.

Corey Pronman @coreypronman
@SUNRandySportak I'm also always skeptical of guys becoming magically better as a NCAA senior. It's ~ to CHL overage "production"

Jankowski didn't become "magically" better as a NCAA senior. He went from 3rd line center (due to being a Junior on a team with graduating seniors) on the eventual NCAA Champions to 1st line center on the #1 ranked team in the NCAA. Of course his stats are experiencing a bump. And as for CHL overage "production" Jankowski is 21, that's the average age in the NCAA.

Jankowski can be an NHLer.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by heep223

Does anyone know the NHLe for college players in their senior year? Or is that even valid at all?

All I know is Johnny's NHLe was 63 points or close to it his Hobey Baker year. And then god damn if he didn't do just that

[Enoch Root]

Based on his numbers right now, his NHLe is 40

[Calgary4LIfe]

A bit disheartening to hear Pronman talk about Jankowski that way - but he has been wrong before numerous times.

I just don't understand what he means about his play away from the puck - he wouldn't be relied upon as a sound defensive player if he didn't play well away from the puck.

His 'pace' is not like Bennett. It is more like Monahan. More cerebral. He is a good skater, but he doesn't have that non-stop motor like Bennett. Just uses his IQ to anticipate. Just my thoughts anyways. I am no Pronman though.

[druetetective]

I know it might sound stupid but the fact that multiple posters reported that he was our best looking prospect at development camp this summer by far has always been what has made me the most optimistic about Jankowski, not the numbers he's putting up as a senior.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by druetetective

I know it might sound stupid but the fact that multiple posters reported that he was our best looking prospect at development camp this summer by far has always been what has made me the most optimistic about Jankowski, not the numbers he's putting up as a senior.

Not stupid at all. There were a lot of eyes on him and just about everybody came away impressed.

Short camp, and he was one of the older, more experienced guys, but nonetheless - impressive.

[Hackey]

I think I'd put more stock into his actual play in the NCAA more so than the opinions of fans at a development camp but that's just me.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by Hackey

I think I'd put more stock into his actual play in the NCAA more so than the opinions of fans at a development camp but that's just me.

Both have been excellent, so what is your point?

[greentree]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

I wonder how many times Pronman has seen Jankowski play?

I'm assuming he felt the same way about Kevin Hayes...

Glad you mentioned Hayes. The comparison may be apt.
Jankowski won't reach the same scoring #s in his senior season as Hayes, but he hasn't had a certain diminutive genius winger playing with him either. Highly doubt that blogger guy predicted Hayes would record 45 NHL points straight out of college.
Janko is unlikely to match that sort of rookie season/production, but he has solid 3rd line centre written all over him imho, and I'm confident he'll be an important part of the regular Flames squad, near future.

Hayes:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php?pid=127775

Jankowski:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php?pid=155332

[saXon]

Pronman needs to adopt a wait and see approach here. Turning pro involves a whole new level of pace, and something even Johnny had to get used to. He was benched to wake him up.

Keep in mind, Janko could have opted to play one year in the USHL and decided to go straight to college. He thrived in High school hockey, and although it took a bit, he's performed consistently. He'll also have dedicated pro trainers, coaches, and staff at his disposal to help his development once the decision is made.

[HighLifeMan]

I will take the opinion of arguably the best coach in all of collegiate hockey at the moment (Nate Leaman) on Jankowski's aptitude to play defense. Time after time he has praised Jankowski's ability in all three zones, and that was more than proven on the ice when Jankowski was tasked to be the primary shutdown center on a national championship winning roster.

Jankowski really stood out in a positive way at development camp, and his production this year is nothing more than a reflection of what he is capable of. The one concern I do however have is that Mark lacks a certain "killer instinct" in the offensive zone and is at times far to passive in terms of creating room and opportunities for himself. That will have to change if he ever wants to become a true impact player at the NHL level.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by mikephoen

Both have been excellent, so what is your point?

Originally Posted by druetetective

I know it might sound stupid but the fact that multiple posters reported that he was our best looking prospect at development camp this summer by far has always been what has made me the most optimistic about Jankowski, not the numbers he's putting up as a senior.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Pronman is a just above the basement blogger set. He is a great aggregator of information and talks with a lot of people, but he rarely sees the players he talks about. He's base out of Boca Raton, so think about how much hockey, especially developmental hockey, is he going to see? He makes his calls early and he is guilty of defending them, to a fault. Pronman has never liked the Jankowski pick, and has likely never watched him, at all. I mean, even if he just followed the final four tournaments, last season should have blown his mind and changed his mind on this kid. If he watched the Friars this year he would have a different opinion. He obviously doesn't watch or care to watch. Pronman is irrelevant IMO, and I look forward to him being wrong again.

[Chingas]

I hope Pronman keeps this up and some how magically changes the opinion of 29 other GMs, so that they stay the frack away.

[thymebalm]

Jankowski entered the NCAA as one its youngest players. Pronman may not be taking that into consideration.

He's still the 12th youngest of the 28 players on the Friars roster as a senior. He's the youngest senior by over a full year, he's younger than all but one junior, and even younger than two of the sophomores. Jankoski could have held off on the NCAA for another year before entering and still be one of the youngest players in his class.

The other consideration with Jankowski is that last four seasons the Friars went from a bad team to a championship team. Gillies was a majority shareholder in that, but he's gone now and the team is better than ever.

As far as I'm concerned, Jankowski is still on track to be the best player in his draft year in 2022.

[Vinny01]

Jankowski is a young 21 year old senior. A lot of college seniors are 22-23. I think the senior production has a lot to do with Janko finally playing at a size thst suits his game. The knock on him early was he wasn't winning battles and was easily knocked off the puck. Sounds like his puck protection has improved and a lot of that is due to his size.

He is still a project but in a couple years the Flames could have themselves a really important player. Realistically however I am thinking Jankowski is a similar player to Colborne who also has great size and hands but will likely at best be a middle 6 NHLer

[Moneyhands23]

If Janko ends up being a regular 3rd line guy who can move up for short periods and play on the 2nd pp in front of the net that will be great! Hopefully he can be even more!

[BACKCHECK!!!]

IIRC, Pronman does his work like McKenzie does his rankings, he doesn't scout many players himself, he just has a lot of reliable contacts and he compiles and compares their results.

So it's entirely possible he only sees Jankowski once or twice a year. But I think thats all he does for most players. That's not a knock, I think Pronman is pretty good at what he does.

[JiriHrdina]

Pronman and McKenzie are very different. McKenzie doesn't try to be a scout - he just is an aggregator for the opinions of others.
Pronman may have a bunch of people watching that he taps into - but there is a LOT of personal opinion.
I enjoy reading both though I think Pronman is wrong a lot. But I appreciate a different view instead of the same lists with only minor deviations.
But he is very different from McKenzie.

[ricardodw]

Jankowski did not make the final 10 Hobey Baker finalists....

as a senior Kevin Hayes made the final 10 the year Gaudreau won it.

He did not make the "final" 66.

That is kind of hard to understand as he an NHL 1st round draft pick. leading scorer (40 pts in 36 games) on the #4 ranked team in the NCAA. Walman was the only player from Providence in the final 66.

Any ideas why he is not given recognition?