I opened new thread for this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Svartsengi
This is not about Per but I was wondering if there are any guys you have seen play that should be signed to an NHL free agent contract?. Any scouting reports on draft eligible players for 2010. thanks.
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First about draft eligible players. Here's Central Scouting's top10 for European skaters:
1 GRANLUND, MIKAEL HIFK FINLAND 5' 10" 180 C,W
2 TARASENKO, VLADIMIR NOVOSIBIRSK RUSSIA 5' 11" 202 RW
3 KITSYN, MAXIM NOVOKUZNETSK RUSSIA 6' 2" 194 LW
4 KUZNETSOV, EVGENY CHELYABINSK RUSSIA 6' 0" 172 C
5 RENSFELDT, LUDVIG BRYNAS JR. SWE-JR. 6' 2.75" 192 LW
6 LINDBERG, OSCAR SKELLEFTEA JR. SWE-JR. 6' 0" 187 C
7 PETTERSSON, ADAM SKELLEFTEA JR. SWE-JR. 6' 0" 186 C
8 JOHANSSON, JONATHAN FROLUNDA JR. SWE-JR. 6' 3.25" 188 C
9 ZAYTSEV, NIKITA NOVOSIBIRSK RUSSIA 6' 1" 176 D
10 KUEHNHACKL, TOM LANDSHUT CANN. GERMAN-2 6' 2" 172 RW
On the top of the list is Mikael Granlund, rookie phenomenon from Finland. At the age of 17 he is already one of the better playmakers and most creative players in the whole league. I would only rank leading scorer and Blues prospect Jori Lehterä in front of him. Granlund controls offensive zone with quick decision making which creates high tempo puck and player movement and defenders have hard time to maintain defensive coverage in such high tempo.
His linemate, Jerry Ahtola is leading goal scorer in the league and he can thank Granlund for that. In 16 first games when both were healthy Ahtola had 13 goals but then Granlund injured and Ahtola's production dropped and without Granlund he has ~5 goals in 20 games.
Granlund compensates his small frame with great attitude towards the game on and off the ice. He works hard and never gives up, he can lay hits and somehow finds a way to beat lot bigger guys in board battles and come away with the puck.
Judging by stats, he should be clear number one European taken. His current stats in Finnish Elite League, 7 goals and 19 assist for 26 points in 29 goals, which is nearly point per game pace is expectional for underager in any European pro league ever. Numbers look amazing but when scouting staffs start ranking prospects for draft, stats mean absolutety nothing. That's something big part of draft followers don't always understand.
It's not about
how much prospects put up points.
It's about
how prospects put up points and how scouts project those skills to translate to the NHL.
I have wanted to say that for long time and now it's said. Let's go on.
Most of you propably followed the WJC and saw couple of Finland's games and went unimpressed with Granlund's performance. He led Finns in points but again, don't let the stats fool. WJC showed Granlund's biggest weakness which is not size like most would think but skating. He struggled to find open spot because in smaller rink it requires more speed to get in those open spots than in Finnish airport-wide rinks. On the other hand his linemates didn't really help but Granlund is elite talent (elite talents can get it done themselves) and he had chance to prove it in WJC but he couldn't match expectations.
After disappointed performance in most important showcase for draft one would think Granlund would start slipping in rankings. But I don't think it will happen because he can fix his weaknesses, most importantly skating.
For big part of smallish kids the issue with weak skating is lack of leg strength. Granlund lacks it but the biggest issue in his case is his stride that is very ineffective and he does lot of useless work for every stride. Whoever coach is responsible for building his skating style has done bad job. In North America power skating knowledge is much better than in Finland or at least I have come away with such impression. So I think a NHL team that is fortune to draft him can fix his skating in summer camps or in the AHL.
I don't know how much scouts value Granlund's weaknesses versus valuing his assets. If they value weaknesses more he propably goes in 15-30 range and if they think he is elite talent who can translate his top-notch skills to the NHL he goes in 5-15 range. I predict he goes at #10. What do you think?
After Granlund there's crop of Russians, Tarasenko, Kitsyn and Kuznetsov. Then there's Alexander Burmistrov, Kirill Kabanov and Stanislav Galiev playing in the CHL who are not listed in this category. All these six are projected to go in first round in some rankings but the Russian factor needs to be noticed and it will drop all of them few spots or even more.
Burmistrov and Kabanov have likely sealed their first round status by moving to Canada. Then I think Tarasenko is the third one to be drafted in the first and he might be the first Russian selected. Tarasenko is offensive dynamo who has better stats than Ovechkin or Malkin at the same age in Russia. And Tarasenko does this is KHL which is greatly improved league from RSL. He has matured quickly to serve in scoring role in 2. best league in the world and he has been responsible in own zone too as his +9 leads the team. Tarasenko is one of the most NHL ready players in the draft. Skating is his biggest improvement point which might hold him back. Consistency and giving his best in every shift are two other concerns.
Kuznetsov and Kitsyn are way less mature kids than Tarasenko but they have big potentials. Kuznetsov reminds me of young Kovalchuk who has all the dangling skills in the world and tries to do everyhing himself. Kovalchuk turned out pretty good and has served in captain role too and some day Kuznetsov will take the mature step and might become a great goal scorer. He's not at Ilja's level, he is more unlikely to burst out and there's no guarantee he wants to come over to NHL so that's why I think he's not going to be selected in first round. Kitsyn has size that most of these talented European kids lack but he doesn't have any special skills, yet.
Swedes. Last year 7 Swedes got selected in first round, this year the similar number is likely 0. 2011 they have Larsson, Landeskog etc. first round talents but 2010 is weird off-year for them. I have never seen any of these listed kids play myself but I bet some of these top ranked names like Rensfeld or Lindberg will turn into crop of best players selected in this upcoming draft. Sweden has great developmental system for juniors and they continue it at Elite level and it will produce great players out of this not-hyped-crop. I don't hope it but it will happen anyway (I have gave up, Swedes always win).
Outside Granlund it's another poor draft for the Finns again. At the beginning of the season Teemu Pulkkinen was highly touted and sure first rounder but his stocks have lower due injuries and talk whether he is injury prone or not. Because of his injury he couldn't crack into Elite league line-up and now it's lot harder because his team signed Michael Nylander and Bates Battaglia to play along with few national team regulars in top lines. Pulkkinen is sniper type and he would neep role in top6. He needs good playmaker to feed him because he lacks speed and size (just like 99% of talented Finnish forward ****) to create his own scoring chances. He should go somewhere between 2-4 rounds. If Darryl is going after another potential goal scorer like Howse and Björklund last year, Pulkkinen might be one to consider in the third round. Just wondering if the Flames picked him and he would make the NHL in 5 years would there finally be a playmaker center to feed him? It would be first one in 15 years.
Two other potential top-100 picks among Finns, Joonas Donskoi who is all-around offensive player and yes, he is under 6 feet tall just like you would have guessed, along with the mandatory talented goalie from our goaltender factory, Sami Aittokallio.
Nino Niederreiter is name on every WJC fans' lips. Sick tournament for El Nino for sure. He showed very complete packet of size, strength, skill and passion. Best part of him was that he raised his game to another level when time was running down and his team needed him for most. That shows winner's attitude and that feature is greatly respected by the one's who make the calls at the draft tables. Usually I'm not fan of these WJC scoring stars because in short tournament almost anyone can play out of the world and look like a future superstar. If you look at top scorers in previous tournaments, there's lot of unfamiliar names who never pan out in terms of becoming NHL player. But it's said that Nino have similar performances daily in Portland Winterhawks and shows those same great aspect there too. If he can continue his ongoing course he could be first European drafted. It's between him, Granlund, Tarasenko and Kabanov.
I just found my inner Pierre McGuire.
Europeans in 2010 draft & Free agents
