2006 top10 talent vs 2005 top ten:Who is better?

[borro]

I realize Crosby may be a "generational" talent. Beyond that with some guys like Little and Kessel and Frolik and Meuller and Toews and Joenesuu and Vasyunov and Sheppard and Maxwell and Jordan Staal, the upper end talent so far looks better for 2006 then 2005. It looks to me like 2005 is deeper (maybe NHL guys thru Round 4 or 5). I realize that things may change and maybe even dramatically with the 2006 class. I see a plethora of top end forwards for 2006. A dearth of top end goalies and dmen. Is this a reasonable approach or am I missing something. Thanks in advance for comments.

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[Twist and Shout]

Yep, quite a few probable franchise players in the 2006 draft.

 

[Form and Substance]

that's what they said for the '05 draft and the '04 draft.

 

[Habsfan 32]

I think 2006 has the potential to be better then 2003.

 

[borro]

that's what they said for the '05 draft and the '04 draft.

If you were looking for a Top pair dman and top 2 line center would you pick the dman in 2005 and the center in 2006? I realize every one says pick the best player available. I also believe that the comparison is not as simplistic as people think. Any Johnson/Staal/Bourdon types in 2006? The higest rated one I see is Cormette and he seems kind of soft and offensive oriented.

 

[Roger's Pancreas*]

I think 2006 has the potential to be better then 2003.

That's a very bold statement.

 

[borro]

Has anyone seen Bryan Little play? Style wise, he seems like he may be similar to Eroc Staal (without the size) Plus player, kinda gritty with puck skills. What's the skinny on him?

 

[Le Golie]

Crosby is the best out of both years by a decent margin. After that however, the 2006 crop takes over. If any of Kessel, Frolik, Toews, Meuller, Sheppard and Joenesuu were in this draft class they'd be potential #2 picks, the first two would be shoo-ins.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

2006 has more top end talent, i.e. franchise players, but 2005 has more NHL potential in it than most drafts. 2005 can produce a lot of NHLers, it just might not be the quality players, more of the quanity.

 

[scoutman1]

The way I see it...leaving Crosby out of the picture:

2005

Gilbert Brule, Benoit Pouliot, Anze Kopitar, Bobby Ryan, Alex Bourret, Nicolas Bergfors, Guillaume Latendresse, Ryan O'Marra, Daniel Bertram, Denis Istomin, Ryan Stoa, Jack Skille, Andrew Cogliano, Mikko Lehtonen.

Defense:
Jack Johnson, Luc Bourdon, Ryan Parant, Teemu Laakso, Vyachaslav Buravchikov, Marc Staal, Dustin Kohn, Ryan Macaise.

Goalies:
Tuukka Rask, J-P Levasseur, Alexander Vincent, Jeff Frazzee

2006:

Phil Kessel, Michael Frolik, Jesse Joennsuu, James Sheppard, Alexander Vasyunov, Igor Makarov, Jonathan Toews, Ben Maxwell, Tomas Marcinko, Jordan Staal, Benjamin Breault, Ryan McDonough, Derrick Brassard, Peter Mueller, Blake Geoffrion, Brian Little.

Defense:
David Ruzicka, Ben Shutron, Erik Johnson, Jason Legault, Alex Beiga, Mark Mitera, Alex Lamontagne, Matt Correntte, Trevor Glass.

Goalies:
J-C Blanchard, Joe Palmer, Jonathan Bernier, Stephan Cesar.


With out Crosby in the Picture I think 2006 is better in all catagories of the draft.

 

[gretzky1545]

i guess i'll be the one to put the caveat on the argument. its generally implied and common knowledge but i think it should be posted in every thread like this.

Lets wait until at least 2 years after each draft before we start comparing qualities.(you can argue you should wait 20 years so every player has pretty much finished their career, but obviously we are impatient)

also, remember, a year before this draft everyone was touting it as being up there with 2003. Not quite that level, but a great draft none the less. Next year's draft always looks more enticing than this years, since you know less about it, and your imagination is able to take hold to fill in the blanks of what you dont know.

 

[AnThGrt]

i dont know much about 2006 yet are any of those golies really good? When is the next MAF Lehtonen Dipietro top 3 pick golie gonna be in a draft?

 

[Chaos Giraffe]

Prospect rankings and expected development can change drastically over the course of a season. I mean, many had Gilbert Brule locked as the #2 pick after Crosby last year, and now he can go anywhere from 2-6.

I also recall Bourret being on many people's top 10 lists, but has no seemingly dropped off the charts a bit.

Too hard to judge.

 

[borro]

The way I see it...leaving Crosby out of the picture:

2005

Gilbert Brule, Benoit Pouliot, Anze Kopitar, Bobby Ryan, Alex Bourret, Nicolas Bergfors, Guillaume Latendresse, Ryan O'Marra, Daniel Bertram, Denis Istomin, Ryan Stoa, Jack Skille, Andrew Cogliano, Mikko Lehtonen.

Defense:
Jack Johnson, Luc Bourdon, Ryan Parant, Teemu Laakso, Vyachaslav Buravchikov, Marc Staal, Dustin Kohn, Ryan Macaise.

Goalies:
Tuukka Rask, J-P Levasseur, Alexander Vincent, Jeff Frazzee

2006:

Phil Kessel, Michael Frolik, Jesse Joennsuu, James Sheppard, Alexander Vasyunov, Igor Makarov, Jonathan Toews, Ben Maxwell, Tomas Marcinko, Jordan Staal, Benjamin Breault, Ryan McDonough, Derrick Brassard, Peter Mueller, Blake Geoffrion, Brian Little.

Defense:
David Ruzicka, Ben Shutron, Erik Johnson, Jason Legault, Alex Beiga, Mark Mitera, Alex Lamontagne, Matt Correntte, Trevor Glass.

Goalies:
J-C Blanchard, Joe Palmer, Jonathan Bernier, Stephan Cesar.


With out Crosby in the Picture I think 2006 is better in all catagories of the draft.

You may be right but you did not include the best goalie prospect in 2005 (Carey Price). In comparing the defense and goalies. Johnson appears to be much better than anything 2006 shows YET. Same with Price and Rask and marginally Levasseur. You also did not include Mikkelson and Finley and a few who figure prominently on defense; Scott Jackson and Risto Korhonen. Obviously, we don't have that much on the 2006 guys yet and d-men and goalies take longerr to develop. If I could choose at this point, based on the information we have so far, I choose 2006 Forwards, 2005 Defense and Goalers, and 2006 for overall Top 10.

I would still draft a dman in 2005 and a center in 2006. Then again, free agency, loss or retention of Fehr's class, and overall development would have an impact. All that said I still think the 2006 draft is not one I would count on upgrading on defense.

 

[Le Golie]

i dont know much about 2006 yet are any of those golies really good? When is the next MAF Lehtonen Dipietro top 3 pick golie gonna be in a draft?

Nobody in 2006 is apparent right now, but one tournament can do wonders for a goalie prospect in his draft year. I can't really see it at all in '06 because there is such strength at the top end of the draft.

One goalie to keep an eye out for this season in the WHL will be Red Deer rookie James Reimer. He might have made the Rebels last year as he was the best goalie they had in camp, but was sent down to keep his NCAA eligibility in tact and to get more ice time so nobody really knows about him yet. He dominated the Manitoba AAA league, finishing with a GAA of 2.11 and the top goalie award. He's big and has good fundamentals, his coaching staff worked really hard with him all season and he is getting quicker all the time. If he can put it all together and gets a chance to show his abilities next year he will shoot up the charts.

 

[Greg]

Prospect rankings and expected development can change drastically over the course of a season. I mean, many had Gilbert Brule locked as the #2 pick after Crosby last year, and now he can go anywhere from 2-6.

Agreed, Devereaux Heshmatpour was the next Pronger this time last year. Red Line had him at #9.

 

[AnThGrt]

Nobody in 2006 is apparent right now, but one tournament can do wonders for a goalie prospect in his draft year. I can't really see it at all in '06 because there is such strength at the top end of the draft.

One goalie to keep an eye out for this season in the WHL will be Red Deer rookie James Reimer. He might have made the Rebels last year as he was the best goalie they had in camp, but was sent down to keep his NCAA eligibility in tact and to get more ice time so nobody really knows about him yet. He dominated the Manitoba AAA league, finishing with a GAA of 2.11 and the top goalie award. He's big and has good fundamentals, his coaching staff worked really hard with him all season and he is getting quicker all the time. If he can put it all together and gets a chance to show his abilities next year he will shoot up the charts.

Thx for the info

 

[MattintheHatt]

That Staal blood must be MAGIC, I want some.

 

[MN_Gopher]

Do not forget Okoposo in the 06 draft either.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Right now Kessel, Frolik, Mueller, Joensuu, Little, Vasyunov, Toews, Sheppard, Maxwell, and Staal are my top 10 - and thats no doubt a better top 10 than 2005.

 

[TheFinalWord]

Agreed, Devereaux Heshmatpour was the next Pronger this time last year. Red Line had him at #9.

And he still hadn't turned 26 yet....so much potential.

 

[borro]

Agreed, Devereaux Heshmatpour was the next Pronger this time last year. Red Line had him at #9.

So lets see Crosby was #1...still is
Brule was #2...is 2-6 pretty close still. Still a #1 Center wheteher at 1 or 6
Johnson was #3. No 2-3 now.
Ryan has mostly stayed at 4

The fact is you can point out guys who have dropped. Largely, you have the same cast in different order for Top 10 guys.

 

[Evil Homer]

And he still hadn't turned 26 yet....so much potential.

That's funny!

 

[FearTheFlyers]

Has anyone seen Bryan Little play? Style wise, he seems like he may be similar to Eroc Staal (without the size) Plus player, kinda gritty with puck skills. What's the skinny on him?

He is not really similiar to Staal. Staal is more of a guy who makes plays for teammates, and scores more goals with his positioning and awareness rather than a big shot or amazing offensive skills. Little is more of a pure scorer, sniper type player who will cause a lot of turnovers with a grittier style.

 

[mercury]

What happened to Guillaume Latendresse? He was #2-3 to a lot of people this time toward the end of the last NHL season, now I see him dropping out of people's top 10 for 2005?