Rather than screaming about Yzerman picking Europeans, we might wanna watch what this kid is doing right now.
He’s been one of the top draft eligible forwards since January, and once again is having dominant shifts against men the last week or two.
It’s pretty rare to watch an 18 year old kid play as dominant a physical game as he has been. The sky really is the limit with him also having that shot, and thinking the game at the level he does. He’s out there creating space for himself like he’s 24-25 years old, and has already played 4-5 seasons against men. He’s creating scoring chances forechecking like a veteran.
I’m not convinced he’s not playing in the NHL this season. While I don’t think so, he’s coming over to camp, and he’s the type of player, who can play in the bottom six and work his way up the depth chart, developing in the NHL, not lower leagues, because he’s already physically ready, and does “think the game” at such a high level. Probably needs some time adjusting but his game is built for the NHL, playing in tight space.
Right now, it’s hard not to say he’s the steal of the 2024 draft. I had no clue he had this type of an offensive game and I watch a ton of these kids every year, and have access to evaluations most don’t. I knew he could physically play in the league right now, but like I said, the way he creates space for himself, and how quick he gets his shot off, Detroit looks like they’ve hit a lottery pick at 15th overall. I’m just trying to figure out if he’s Landeskog, Rantanen, or a combination of the two.
If he was a Finn or a Swede, good bet we would’ve seen more of him obviously, and we can assume his draft capital would’ve easily been in the Top 10. Probably higher. You simply can’t watch him play these last couple of weeks, and form any other opinion. He’s dominating professional men at 18. If you thought the spring was a fluke, you just can’t anymore.
He’s been really fun to watch since January. I’d wager we’re going to have a lot of teams kicking themselves for not taking him before 15th overall. He’s a much better prospect than Cole Eiserman as it currently stands. It’s not even up for debate. It’s laughable almost. No. It is laughable.
The crazy part is, I’m not sure anyone knows his ceiling yet, which does remind you of Rantanen.
It’s safe to say, if they had taken Eiserman, people would already be screaming they made the wrong pick. Justifiably so too, because Detroit was connected to MBN, probably more than any other team.
BTW, we’ve suddenly watched Detroit collect some Grade A offensive prospects over the last couple of years now, to go along with all those dmen and the two goaltender prospects they’ve been developing. Between Danielson, MBN, Kasper, Mazur, Buchelnikov, Becher and this Kiiskinen kid (only 18 still) from Finland (they traded for earlier this summer) who looked very much like a Top 6 NHL prospect a few weeks ago, plus several others still making names for themselves…. they’re gonna be a fun team to watch over the next decade. They have kids like Savage, Lombardi and Plante as well, developing into really solid players as well..
Fans have to still be patient obviously, as these kids are still very young, but there’s a whole lot to like, and they’ve done it without any lottery help, or players falling into their lap. To think the organization was completely empty of any talent 5-6 years ago, it’s crazy how far they’ve come. Especially with no lottery help.
www.allaboutthejersey.com
