Prospect Info: 2024-2025 Ottawa Senators In the system

[Ouroboros]

You are correct that is a high number but i believe he received 15 of those PM's in his last game.

When it comes to PIMS we don't ask how, we ask how many.

 

[Brodeur]

In case anybody needs their Carter Yakemchuk daily fix, Calgary's game tonight will aired on YouTube for free

 

[Bileur]

What pisses me off about the Eliasson pick is the same thing that pissed me off about the Boucher pick.

There were alternatives available that brought size, toughness and physicality without being completely braindead and talentless.

Sens could have taken Sillinger or Coronato in 2021 instead of Boucher. Both were gritty forwards with more PIMs than games played, and they had top 6 talent and excellent USHL production, unlike Boucher.

They could have taken Brunicke or Pulkkinen in 2024 instead of Eliasson. Both are big guys with strong physical games and excellent tools, but unlike Eliasson they actually have some talent and offensive upside to go along with it.

In both cases the Sens scouting staff just HAD to have the most physical/tough player, even if it meant passing up a physical/tough player with much more skill, IQ and upside.

I also wanted Sillinger. I was convinced he’d be the pick with the whole son of a former Senator angle. Boucher I liked in the second but he was clearly overdrafted.

I still think you’re being a little harsh on Eliasson. He’s ridiculously young, and while the puck skills and hockey IQ need lots of work, the skating is pretty impressive for 6’7 220, particularly when you consider most giants are still very awkward at that age.

I’m curious about what he can be molded into. It’s a long term project, but with the new NCAA rules he might even have more runway to develop if he isn’t quite ready for the AHL in two years.

HB and Pulkkinen are nice but neither have the potential to bring the specific element Eliasson could. Also worth noting Pulkkinen is almost two years older than him.

That is true. I don't buy the argument that he would have been available in the mid-rounds.

Players like him to get overdrafted because of their uniqueness relative to the rest of the draft class.

You can justify probably wasting a 2nd/3rd rounder on a guy like Eliasson if you're a team like say Utah or Anaheim that has a top prospect pool overflowing with talent that is missing some toughness, but it was absolutely the wrong pick for a team like the Sens that has little to no talent in the pipeline after trading away a boatload of picks in recent years and largely blowing the ones they did use.

But our scouts can't help themselves. They make the Burke era Leafs' scouting staff look normal by comparison. Just an insane obsession with toughness and physicality over all else.

A second is a huge price but if he hits, this kind of player can be a tone setter and help establish the team style and culture Staios wants. If he identified huge, physical D as a key to success, I don’t think the pick is crazy.

Let this kid simmer on the back burner for a few years and see what we have.

 

[mianjo]

Hamara 1a

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

What pisses me off about the Eliasson pick is the same thing that pissed me off about the Boucher pick.

There were alternatives available that brought size, toughness and physicality without being completely braindead and talentless.

Sens could have taken Sillinger or Coronato in 2021 instead of Boucher. Both were gritty forwards with more PIMs than games played, and they had top 6 talent and excellent USHL production, unlike Boucher.

They could have taken Brunicke or Pulkkinen in 2024 instead of Eliasson. Both are big guys with strong physical games and excellent tools, but unlike Eliasson they actually have some talent and offensive upside to go along with it.

In both cases the Sens scouting staff just HAD to have the most physical/tough player, even if it meant passing up a physical/tough player with much more skill, IQ and upside.

Even Adam Kleber would have been better, although Klebers having a whatever D+1.

 

[Senator Stanley]

In case anybody needs their Carter Yakemchuk daily fix, Calgary's game tonight will aired on YouTube for free

The recording is still up for anyone to watch.

I didn't think Yakemchuk played well at all. I don't know if he's bored or what, but he seemed to alternate between either going through the motions and forcing a play when the puck came to him.

 

[mianjo]

Toure 1a

 

[Brodeur]

The recording is still up for anyone to watch.

I didn't think Yakemchuk played well at all. He looked like a guy going through the motions but not really engaged.

I remember catching a Spokane@Portland game in 2018 and Spokane looked awful. After looking up their schedule, I realized that Spokane had a game the night before and probably rode a bus all night to get to Portland which maybe explained some of the sluggishness.

This was the end of Calgary's US road trip, so certain guys might have been running low on energy.

 

[Senator Stanley]

I remember catching a Spokane@Portland game in 2018 and Spokane looked awful. After looking up their schedule, I realized that Spokane had a game the night before and probably rode a bus all night to get to Portland which maybe explained some of the sluggishness.

This was the end of Calgary's US road trip, so certain guys might have been running low on energy.

That's certainly possible. And Calgary plays the hell out of their top two defensive pairs, so those guys might have been feeling it.

Still, he's a 19 year-old top 10 pick. You'd like to see him leading the team through a tough game at the end of a road trip.

 

[Hale The Villain]

The recording is still up for anyone to watch.

I didn't think Yakemchuk played well at all. I don't know if he's bored or what, but he seemed to alternate between either going through the motions and forcing a play when the puck came to him.

For whatever reason he's looked significantly more impressive playing against men than playing against players his own age, and that's not just with the Hitmen but at the propsect camp, World Junior summer camp, U18s, etc...

 

[Hale The Villain]

I also wanted Sillinger. I was convinced he’d be the pick with the whole son of a former Senator angle. Boucher I liked in the second but he was clearly overdrafted.

I still think you’re being a little harsh on Eliasson. He’s ridiculously young, and while the puck skills and hockey IQ need lots of work, the skating is pretty impressive for 6’7 220, particularly when you consider most giants are still very awkward at that age.

I’m curious about what he can be molded into. It’s a long term project, but with the new NCAA rules he might even have more runway to develop if he isn’t quite ready for the AHL in two years.

HB and Pulkkinen are nice but neither have the potential to bring the specific element Eliasson could. Also worth noting Pulkkinen is almost two years older than him.

A second is a huge price but if he hits, this kind of player can be a tone setter and help establish the team style and culture Staios wants. If he identified huge, physical D as a key to success, I don’t think the pick is crazy.

Let this kid simmer on the back burner for a few years and see what we have.

Heard the same things about Boucher for years, how he had great tools and just needed to develop more and the scoring would come, ignoring that there was nothing between the ears.

Hockey sense is something you largely have or you don't. It's very difficult to "develop". Eliasson is one of the dumber highly drafted prospects I've seen in a long time, so he'd need to improve his decision making significantly to have a shot at making it. Highly doubt that will happen.

I think HockeyProspect.com put it best when they said he's not really so much of a hockey player as much as a goon that you hope you can turn into a hockey player. Maybe a gamble worth taking in the 2nd/3rd round if we had a loaded prospect pool overflowing with talent, but the opposite is true.

 

[Micklebot]

At the same age Zadorov was significantly better than Eliasson at pretty much everything besides taking dumb penalties, which Eliasson is better at than any prospect I've seen in years.

I would hope so, Zadorov was a high First round pick...

 

[Hale The Villain]

I would hope so, Zadorov was a high First round pick...

Yes.

Which is why he isn't a good comparison for Eliasson.

Which was the point of my post.

 

[BondraTime]

Not sure there is a good comparison for Eliasson.

There aren’t many guys who have his skillset and his weaknesses in the NHL.

McIlrath maybe?

He’s got to become more than a physical machine. He’s got a few years to do that, depending on contract signing dates and guys going the the NCAA.

Thankfully he’s a European so he will get an extra couple of years before needing to be signed, so NCAA will still be open for him at 20 regardless of the contract situation.

 

[Ouroboros]

The comparison for Eliasson is probably Arber Xhekaj.

 

[Bileur]

Heard the same things about Boucher for years, how he had great tools and just needed to develop more and the scoring would come, ignoring that there was nothing between the ears.

Hockey sense is something you largely have or you don't. It's very difficult to "develop". Eliasson is one of the dumber highly drafted prospects I've seen in a long time, so he'd need to improve his decision making significantly to have a shot at making it. Highly doubt that will happen.

I think HockeyProspect.com put it best when they said he's not really so much of a hockey player as much as a goon that you hope you can turn into a hockey player. Maybe a gamble worth taking in the 2nd/3rd round if we had a loaded prospect pool overflowing with talent, but the opposite is true.

Boucher isn’t really a fair comparison. He was definitely overdrafted but he’s also been constantly injured without the chance to develop.

I remember a lot of comments similar to the Eliasson second round pick about the Kleven second round pick. He had significant questions about his passing and IQ.

Always very skeptical of drafting pure shutdown D with limited puckmoving and offensive ability.

Track record with these types is terrible. At least Kleven can skate though.

Much like hockeyprospect.com’s comments about Eliasson, Eliteprospects gave Kleven a do not draft grade. Vision was said to be something that couldn’t be taught.

As is the case with people complaining about guys left on the board to draft Eliasson, people complained about the leafs getting Hirvonen and Niemela with the picks we traded to move up for Kleven.

Leafs get Hirvonen and Niemela with the picks we traded to get Kleven

That looks like a solid trade off now with Kleven doing well in the NHL and the other two still grinding in the minors.

We can all find comparators favourable to our position, doesn’t affect what we have in Gabriel Eliasson.

Eliasson turned 18 two months ago. The fact he’s managed put on almost 20 lbs since his draft is a great sign for his work ethic. I think it’s too early for you to be this harsh in your assessment of a guy is who is clearly a long term project. We should pump the brakes on the negative assessment of a new draft pick and let things play out.

 

[Senscore]

The comparison for Eliasson is probably Arber Xhekaj.

We're gonna call him Ikea, aren't we

 

[Hale The Villain]

Boucher isn’t really a fair comparison. He was definitely overdrafted but he’s also been constantly injured without the chance to develop.

I remember a lot of comments similar to the Eliasson second round pick about the Kleven second round pick. He had significant questions about his passing and IQ.



Much like hockeyprospect.com’s comments about Eliasson, Eliteprospects gave Kleven a do not draft grade. Vision was said to be something that couldn’t be taught.

As is the case with people complaining about guys left on the board to draft Eliasson, people complained about the leafs getting Hirvonen and Niemela with the picks we traded to move up for Kleven.



That looks like a solid trade off now with Kleven doing well in the NHL and the other two still grinding in the minors.

We can all find comparators favourable to our position, doesn’t affect what we have in Gabriel Eliasson.

Eliasson turned 18 two months ago. The fact he’s managed put on almost 20 lbs since his draft is a great sign for his work ethic. I think it’s too early for you to be this harsh in your assessment of a guy is who is clearly a long term project. We should pump the brakes on the negative assessment of a new draft pick and let things play out.

Kleven did have questions about his IQ and passing ability, although EliteProspects having him as a no-draft and the online analytics scouts comparing his puckmoving unfavourably to his own goaltender was absolutely laughable.

He turned out to be one of the very rare cases of a prospect improving his skill and decision making tremendously after being drafted. Doesn't mean the same will happen for Eliasson. Odds are heavily against that actually.

People forget that a significant number of shutdown D in the NHL were once two-way guys at lower levels who put up impressive numbers. It's not common for players to go from being offensively inept at lower levels to good enough offensively to succeed in the NHL.

I'll start to get excited about Eliasson when he starts to produce more points than dumb penalties. At this point he's got to put up about a dozen points in his next game to get back to even.

 

[Senator Stanley]

Not sure there is a good comparison for Eliasson.

There aren’t many guys who have his skillset and his weaknesses in the NHL.

McIlrath maybe?

He’s got to become more than a physical machine. He’s got a few years to do that, depending on contract signing dates and guys going the the NCAA.

Thankfully he’s a European so he will get an extra couple of years before needing to be signed, so NCAA will still be open for him at 20 regardless of the contract situation.

Every comparison can be picked apart, but the guy that comes to mind for me is Andreas Englund.

Both early second round picks. Both Swedes who didn't play a stereotypically Swedish style of game. Both physical specimens in their own ways. Both prospects who project as physical, complimentary left-shot defenceman.

Englund, as a prospect, could sometimes look like he'd just picked up a stick for the very first time that day. The way Eliasson constantly crosses the line out there kind of reminds me of watching Englund - "Does this guy know he's playing a game of hockey? Has anyone told him the rules?"