If you're planning things out years ahead, then you have a feel of where things are going as well as what to address. Under Murray, it was easier to address because I had a good feel of how he works and the fact he's a tinkerer. Verbeek is different, but the same such that we're hitting on our top-end picks, hitting on potential d-men after the first round, but still sucking ass at drafting top-6 scoring forwards.
If you track and do breakdown of our youths, then it's easier to identify what needs addressing. Which I already did share and where they were invested within - but... you glossed over it and not realizing what the org needs.
Also, do you not scout the prospects first before typing? Clearly with your response that you believe you can grab any DFD and they'll be top-4 or top pairing? Again, you didn't read my post identifying we didn't have any DFD rise up to being a shutdown defender at any level within our system.
You blab and blab and blab about passing up a future super star or OFD, but you have f***ing clue about Levshunov.
NCAA, Defensemen Under 19 years of age
View attachment 863667
Damn, Lev is at the top of the list with Zeev.
Now, let's look at the production with their respective teams.
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NHL Prospects
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NHL Prospects
Denver (Zeev) has 12 NHL drafted players.
Michigan Sate, or MSU, (Lev) has 6 NHL drafted players
It appears Denver's roster is more talented as it doubled up MSU's drafted players.
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Scoring
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Denver (Zeev)
1. RW Devine (Panthers prospect) with 56 points
2. Left shooting RD Zeev Buium with 50 points
3. C Rizzo (Flyer's prosepct) with 44 points
4. C Broz (Pen's prospect) with 40 points
5. Left shooting RD Shai Buium (Wings' prospect) with 36 points
Michigan State (Lev)
1. LW Howard (Bolts' prosepct) with 36 points
2. RD Lev with 35 points
3. F Dorwart with 34 points
4. RW Larson with 32 points
5. RW Muller with 29 points
The scoring for the team's top-5 scorers heavily favors Denver, but also there are huge gaps between the top-3. For MSU, Lev was leading the team in scoring before the playoffs.
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Defense (+/- rating)
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Denver (Zeev)
1. LD Shai +33 (Wings' prospect)
1. LD Zeev +33
3. D Buckberger +32
4. LW Webster +31 (Bolts' prsopect)
5. RW Devine +29 (Panthers' prospect)
MSU (Lev)
1. RD Lev +27
2. LD Nienhuis +20
3. F Kelly +13
4. RW Lebster +11
5. Muller +10
Look at that gap between Lev and the rest of his team. Then look at Zeev tied with his brother, Shai, and the how closely compact the other three are in +/- rating.
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Conclusion
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Denver is a stacked team compared to MSU. I'm more inclined to favor Lev for shining on a weaker team, both offensively and defensively... and Lev is still scratching the surface of what he can become!
Sure, mock Lev for being a two-way guy and think he doesn't have offense, but all the stats says differently. (BTW, he was an OFD in Belarus league and top D scorer under 18 years old in the USHL.) There's a reason why CSB (NA) ranked Lev #2 overall. Here are others that have Lev highly rated.
View attachment 863682
#2
CSB (NA) Final Ranking (this is just for North American skaters)
FloHockey (Peters)
#3
TSN (McKenzie)
Daily Faceoff
ISS Hockey
Sportsnet (Bukala)
#4
Elite Prospects
THN (Kennedy)
Draft Prospects Hockey
I hope you don't gloss over this post like you did my previous post.