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C/LW Cole Perfetti - Saginaw Spirit, OHL (2020, 10th, WPG)

I hate how is skating might be such a huge hindrance at the NHL level....I love his Playmakkng ability and deception on the walls..... but man that combo or lack there of size and skating ability really scares me when it comes to making a top 5 or 10 pick. I really hope he overcomes the odds but this is one of the first times in my personal draft rankings that I’m lowering a guys ranking due to size or skating who I think has high end IQ, hands and playmaking ability. He’s #6 in my fwd ranks atm(which I know everyone on here will scoff at)
 
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STLBLUES44 said:
I hate how is skating might be such a huge hindrance at the NHL level....I love his Playmakkng ability and deception on the walls..... but man that combo or lack there of size and skating ability really scares me when it comes to making a top 5 or 10 pick. I really hope he overcomes the odds but this is one of the first times in my personal draft rankings that I’m lowering a guys ranking due to size or skating who I think has high end IQ, hands and playmaking ability. He’s #6 in my fwd ranks atm(which I know everyone on here will scoff at)
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To be fair he has the best quality to become an NHLer, IQ makes you able to adapt even with flaws. He’s a very similar prospect to what Suzuki was. Their sound positioning and anticipation makes up for their bellow average footstep. Skating technique is very teachable for a teenager and acceleration and speed comes with strenght! Suzuki made a huge stride and that department.
 
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HOPE said:
To be fair he has the best quality to become an NHLer, IQ makes you able to adapt even with flaws. He’s a very similar prospect to what Suzuki was. Their sound positioning and anticipation makes up for their bellow average footstep. Skating technique is very teachable for a teenager and acceleration and speed comes with strenght! Suzuki made a huge stride and that department.
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Believe me I know, IQ is always my #1 trait to evaluate. But it’s the combo of size and speed, not one or the other that worries me.
 
HOPE said:
To be fair he has the best quality to become an NHLer, IQ makes you able to adapt even with flaws. He’s a very similar prospect to what Suzuki was. Their sound positioning and anticipation makes up for their bellow average footstep. Skating technique is very teachable for a teenager and acceleration and speed comes with strenght! Suzuki made a huge stride and that department.
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I think Perfetti at draft time is a clearly better prospect than either Suzuki brother but youre right about taking strides. Perfetti needs to take a lot to become an impact NHLer.

But looking at Nick, he didnt event ake time in the AHL before becoming a ~2nd line NHL player at 20 years old. Perfetti being a better prospect and seeing how good Suzuki has become should ease peoples concerns a lot about Perfetti
 
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newfy said:
I think Perfetti at draft time is a clearly better prospect than either Suzuki brother but youre right about taking strides. Perfetti needs to take a lot to become an impact NHLer.

But looking at Nick, he didnt event ake time in the AHL before becoming a ~2nd line NHL player at 20 years old. Perfetti being a better prospect and seeing how good Suzuki has become should ease peoples concerns a lot about Perfetti
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in their draft year yes, Suzuki did take a pretty good step tho, but like i said they are very similar (draft year) wierd strides, poor few steps, high IQ, great playing making abilties and underraret shot, Suzuki has better puck protection and boards battle tho. I realy wouldn't be scared to pick Perfetti.
 
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HzH said:
Perfetti was on a stud team too, best in his conference i believe?
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Saginaw was 2nd in the west. Very good team yes, but not nearly as loaded as Ottawa. Especially since the best 2 players not named Cole, Bode Wilde and Ryan Suzuki, only played a combined like 30 games for Saginaw. Had they played in SAG all year you would have seen seen Coles numbers sit right around Rossis. Not to mention Rossis team plays in the East which was a cake walk this year. The 2nd place team in the east would have been fighting for a playoff spot if they were in the west. Talent gap is huge top to bottom
 
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This kid is a stud. Skating isn’t a 10 out of 10 but let’s not act like it’s a 1. His skating could use a better first step but he’s fine once he’s on the rush. People are also forgetting that this kid doesn’t just have great iq. He’s got elite passing and a well above average shot. So if you take the pass away there is a good chance he will shoot and just as good a chance he scores. Detroit should take him at 4. Looking at the draft again 5 years from now they might end up with the second best guy. He’s not far off Byfield and Stutzle.
 
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bcspragu said:
Saginaw was 2nd in the west. Very good team yes, but not nearly as loaded as Ottawa. Especially since the best 2 players not named Cole, Bode Wilde and Ryan Suzuki, only played a combined like 30 games for Saginaw. Had they played in SAG all year you would have seen seen Coles numbers sit right around Rossis. Not to mention Rossis team plays in the East which was a cake walk this year. The 2nd place team in the east would have been fighting for a playoff spot if they were in the west. Talent gap is huge top to bottom
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Ottawa (and most high-end players in the East) beat up on 3 teams I'd have trouble even calling OHL teams this year (Niagara, Kingston, and North Bay). Perfetti played those teams a combined 5 times and got 13 points, Rossi played them 11 and got 37. Now, if you subtract those games and numbers Perfetti has a ppg of 1.75, you take them from Rossi he has a 1.84. Which is significantly smaller than the gap appears. Not saying that this method is completely fair to Rossi (and I'm not saying its out of the question I counted wrong), but I do feel certain OHL eastern conference players totals are a bit inflated given how bad the bottom 3 teams were, with Sauga and Hamitlon also not particularly great (pretty much comparable to the last 2 teams in the West). I'm sure guys like Byfield, Kaliyev, Tomasino, and Nick Robertson numbers also benefitted from the weakness of the bottom of the East.
 
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93LEAFS said:
Ottawa (and most high-end players in the East) beat up on 3 teams I'd have trouble even calling OHL teams this year (Niagara, Kingston, and North Bay). Perfetti played those teams a combined 5 times and got 13 points, Rossi played them 11 and got 37. Now, if you subtract those games and numbers Perfetti has a ppg of 1.75, you take them from Rossi he has a 1.84. Which is significantly smaller than the gap appears. Not saying that this method is completely fair to Rossi (and I'm not saying its out of the question I counted wrong), but I do feel certain OHL eastern conference players totals are a bit inflated given how bad the bottom 3 teams were, with Sauga and Hamitlon also not particularly great (pretty much comparable to the last 2 teams in the West). I'm sure guys like Byfield, Kaliyev, Tomasino, and Nick Robertson numbers also benefitted from the weakness of the bottom of the East.
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This is moving the goalposts if I ever saw it.

You might as well go and deduct career points from Lindros, Jagr and Lemieux because the eastern conference in the NHL was trash for the later half of the 90's.
 
OgeeOgelthorpe said:
This is moving the goalposts if I ever saw it.

You might as well go and deduct career points from Lindros, Jagr and Lemieux because the eastern conference in the NHL was trash for the later half of the 90's.
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It is not moving the goal-posts. Moving the goalposts is when you state an argument then dramatically change the premise of it. I just used numbers to show how badly certain players were beating up on the bottom of the Eastern Conference in the OHL this year. It's a rare case where the absolute worst teams are all congregated at the bottom of one conference. Usually, the weaker teams are more spread out. Rossi/Ottawa in general benefitted statistically by having the worst teams in their league in their conference compared to the Western conference kids. What I did, just doesn't inflate Rossi's numbers due to playing double the amount of games vs these teams compared to Perfetti, despite playing less games overall.
 
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STLBLUES44 said:
I hate how is skating might be such a huge hindrance at the NHL level....I love his Playmakkng ability and deception on the walls..... but man that combo or lack there of size and skating ability really scares me when it comes to making a top 5 or 10 pick. I really hope he overcomes the odds but this is one of the first times in my personal draft rankings that I’m lowering a guys ranking due to size or skating who I think has high end IQ, hands and playmaking ability. He’s #6 in my fwd ranks atm(which I know everyone on here will scoff at)
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I have Perfetti at 9 for exact same reasons. I think people in this thread have made some good arguments about other prospects improving their skating, but I do not think it's ever a guarantee. I think there are other prospects in this draft that are less of a gamble without giving up all that much on the ceiling.
 
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I just think it's so interesting how different evaluators judge skating differently. Depending on who you're talking to, Perfetti is below average, average, above average, or even good. And depending on who you're talking to, his mechanics and edge work are somewhere between hopeless and quite good. Somebody's right, but who?

Just makes me think you can't trust a lot of people's opinions on skating. For the most part you can know a good but not great shot when you see one, but a decent stride? Maybe not so much.
 
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Darkseider said:
I just think it's so interesting how different evaluators judge skating differently. Depending on who you're talking to, Perfetti is below average, average, above average, or even good. And depending on who you're talking to, his mechanics and edge work are somewhere between hopeless and quite good. Somebody's right, but who?

Just makes me think you can't trust a lot of people's opinions on skating. For the most part you can know a good but not great shot when you see one, but a decent stride? Maybe not so much.
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I think it depends a lot on which games people saw. Early in the season, I thought his skating looked awful. I’m told it was decent to good later in the year. He improved a lot after not getting the invite to worlds.
 
Perfetti reminds me of Adam Fox in that despite not being overly quick or a burner at top speed, he buys more time and space with his head, edgework and hands than other guys do with nonstop footwork. I think his IQ is undeniable and he will figure out how to assimilate to the NHL, even if physically at a disadvantage.
 
theVladiator said:
I have Perfetti at 9 for exact same reasons. I think people in this thread have made some good arguments about other prospects improving their skating, but I do not think it's ever a guarantee. I think there are other prospects in this draft that are less of a gamble without giving up all that much on the ceiling.
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Agreed and if it were only size or skating instead of both then I’d have him higher. But since it’s the combo of the two it scares me. If he were small but quick and had good lateral ability and edge work/balance/strength on skates it’d be different.
 
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Just to respond to some of the concerns and to give my take.

Size - A true 5'11 and 185 is not small in today's hockey world.

Skating (Lateral/Edges) - Above Average
Skating (First three steps) - Below average
Skating - Top Speed - Average

Hockey IQ - Off the charts, top 2 in the class
Shot - Amongst best in the class
Skill/Hands - Amongst best in the class

The fact that he is still seemingly physically immature indicates a lot of future upside if he puts in the work.
 
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NA Hockey said:
Just to respond to some of the concerns and to give my take.

Size - A true 5'11 and 185 is not small in today's hockey world.

Skating (Lateral/Edges) - Above Average
Skating (First three steps) - Below average
Skating - Top Speed - Average

Hockey IQ - Off the charts, top 2 in the class
Shot - Amongst best in the class
Skill/Hands - Amongst best in the class

The fact that he is still seemingly physically immature indicates a lot of future upside if he puts in the work.
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Worthy prospect as are Raymond, Rossi, Drysdale, Sanderson in that range
 
NA Hockey said:
Just to respond to some of the concerns and to give my take.

Size - A true 5'11 and 185 is not small in today's hockey world.

Skating (Lateral/Edges) - Above Average
Skating (First three steps) - Below average
Skating - Top Speed - Average

Hockey IQ - Off the charts, top 2 in the class
Shot - Amongst best in the class
Skill/Hands - Amongst best in the class

The fact that he is still seemingly physically immature indicates a lot of future upside if he puts in the work.
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I agree with everything you said. His skating is hard to talk about because you have to be specific. Its clearly a work in progress because hes great at some aspects and below average at others. Overall I would say its average but with one of the highest ceilings for improving as well. Hes basically a player that if he can get his skating to above average hes almost guaranteed to be elite because of his brain. His physical immaturity helps project that he could do it too
 
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Darkseider said:
I just think it's so interesting how different evaluators judge skating differently. Depending on who you're talking to, Perfetti is below average, average, above average, or even good. And depending on who you're talking to, his mechanics and edge work are somewhere between hopeless and quite good. Somebody's right, but who?

Just makes me think you can't trust a lot of people's opinions on skating. For the most part you can know a good but not great shot when you see one, but a decent stride? Maybe not so much.
Click to expand...
Its not nearly as bad as people make it seem. His ability to anticipate the play mitigates his only issue which is his top end speed. His first couple steps are pretty decent and with his edgework thats all he needs. To me he is a much bigger Gaudreau (who also has poor top speed) which will be a hell of a player. He is also only 17 and doesnt look like a mature player for his age from a physical stand point. I think he can get faster and stronger. He is likely a winger but will be a play driving winger.
 
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Half of March April May June July to work on leg strength. Could really pay off for the future of this prospect
 
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