Player Discussion: Cole Perfetti 10th OA pick

[Finnflash]

So I’ve been wearing my perfetti pyjamas for two weeks now. Wife decided to wash them. Should of known they would shrink.

 

[jimsabo21]

A few more thoughts: None of us know if Perfetti is the next Kucherov (would be amazing), Wellwood (serviceable) or Angelo Esposito (out of the league). All of them put up huge CHL numbers, credited with elite hockey IQ and all were knocked for poor skating. Why it translates for some and not for others, nobody really knows ...

The 18 vs 19 year old argument is a bit overblown in my books. First of all, if you're 'Super Elite', you never even play as an 18 year old. McDavid, Matthews, Crosby, Laine, Tavaras, Stamkos, Lafreniere, Stamkos, Eichel, T Hall, T Seguin, etc, etc, etc all only played as 17 year olds. The 'Elite' will play as 18 year olds (Marner, Petterson, etc.) but never return as 19 year olds because they'll be in the NHL.

Hell, even Kirby Dach, Dylan Cousins, Trevor Zegras, Bowen Byram and Alex Turcotte would have unlikely been made available for this tournament had Covid not delayed the NHL season. As it stands, Jack Hughes, Kappo Kakko, Moritz Seider and Lafreniere were all eligible to play but not made available by their club teams.

I think we all hope Perfetti becomes an elite player, so it would be nice to see some of that skill in the WJC

If I had to rank the 2020 draft picks by their play in this tournament, I'd have:

1. Tim Stutzle (3rd overall)
2. Lucas Raymond (4th overall)
3. Drysdale (6th overall)
4. Lundell (12th overall)
5. Sanderson (5th overall)
6. Peterka (34th overall)
7. Faber (45th overall)
8. Khusnutdinov (37th overall)
9. Guhle (16th overall)
10. Amirov (15th overall)
11. Holtz (7th overall)
12. Byfield (2nd overall)
13. Holloway (14th overall)
14. Schneider (19th overall)
15. Gunler (41st overall)
16. Kuznetzov (50th overall)
17. Mukhamadullin (20th overall)
18. Mercer (18th overall)
19. Perfetti (10th overall)
20. Quinn (8th overall)
21. Zary (24th overall)
22. Marco Rossi (9th overall) *

* Marco Rossi played for Austria, and legitimately had no roster help at all ... every shift he was alone so nearly impossible to judge his performance

 

[Jets 31]

No draft picks are guaranteed to become NHL stars or starters but i'm going to lean towards Chevy and his professional scouts on Perfetti . They were absolutely pumped about Perfetti being there when they picked so i'll wait until the kid is done with junior hockey and comes to camp before declaring him a bust.

 

[jimsabo21]

No draft picks are guaranteed to become NHL stars or starters but i'm going to lean towards Chevy and his professional scouts on Perfetti . They were absolutely pumped about Perfetti being there when they picked so i'll wait until the kid is done with junior hockey and comes to camp before declaring him a bust.

I really don't understand the hyperbole. As far as I can see, very few (if any) on the Jets board are declaring him a bust. People are stating their opinion after watching him play.

Me saying 'I don't think he's been very good', or 'he's been underwhelming' DOES NOT MEAN I THINK HE'LL BE A BUST. Like I've said a dozen times now, I am ecstatic the Jets selected Perfetti, and am rooting hard for this success.

As far as I can tell,, the purpose of these message boards are to share thoughts and opinions. It goes without saying that we'll know better his future in 2 or 3 years. In the meantime, I hope people continue to share their opinions because I enjoy reading other perspectives.

 

[NA Hockey]

Please don't deteriorate the discourse with pure fabrications. Perfetti has not created four breakaways. He's created one. It was a pass to McMicheal after a steal whereby McMicheal tried to go through his legs and it didn't work out. Not every good pass "should have been" an assist. A breakaway is a 33% scoring play, not 100%.

I suggest you get the premium package from Elite Prospects. Mitch Brown has been tracking every WJC game and has projected point totals based on shot locations and 'dangerous passes' completed. On average, you have to complete 5-8 high danger passes to be credited with one assist. Perfetti is amongst the bottom for projected points per 60 at 5v5. Almost all is shots and pass completions have come on the Power Play.

By contrast, 2020 draft picks Holtz and Raymond (Sweden) led the tournament with 26 and 25 shots on goal. They combined for 3 goals. They *should have* had better luck considering the volume of opportunities they've created.

Perfetti has 11 shots on goal. One goal is about right.

I'm rooting hard for Perfetti. Absolutely love this style of player. But we need to be honest about this play.

I don't want to argue but Perfetti sent McMichael in alone in the Russia game, sent Krebs in alone against Finland on the play that Newhook got hurt and sent Zary in alone last game. There was one more but I cant remember who it was. Regardless, he has set up a number of plays that weren't finished, nice plays that easily could have turned into points. That happens to all players of course but my point was with a bit of luck or above avg luck in a short 5 game sample, he could easily have 8-10 points.

 

[Whileee]

A few more thoughts: None of us know if Perfetti is the next Kucherov (would be amazing), Wellwood (serviceable) or Angelo Esposito (out of the league). All of them put up huge CHL numbers, credited with elite hockey IQ and all were knocked for poor skating. Why it translates for some and not for others, nobody really knows ...

The 18 vs 19 year old argument is a bit overblown in my books. First of all, if you're 'Super Elite', you never even play as an 18 year old. McDavid, Matthews, Crosby, Laine, Tavaras, Stamkos, Lafreniere, Stamkos, Eichel, T Hall, T Seguin, etc, etc, etc all only played as 17 year olds. The 'Elite' will play as 18 year olds (Marner, Petterson, etc.) but never return as 19 year olds because they'll be in the NHL.

Hell, even Kirby Dach, Dylan Cousins, Trevor Zegras, Bowen Byram and Alex Turcotte would have unlikely been made available for this tournament had Covid not delayed the NHL season. As it stands, Jack Hughes, Kappo Kakko, Moritz Seider and Lafreniere were all eligible to play but not made available by their club teams.

I think we all hope Perfetti becomes an elite player, so it would be nice to see some of that skill in the WJC

If I had to rank the 2020 draft picks by their play in this tournament, I'd have:

1. Tim Stutzle (3rd overall)
2. Lucas Raymond (4th overall)
3. Drysdale (6th overall)
4. Lundell (12th overall)
5. Sanderson (5th overall)
6. Peterka (34th overall)
7. Faber (45th overall)
8. Khusnutdinov (37th overall)
9. Guhle (16th overall)
10. Amirov (15th overall)
11. Holtz (7th overall)
12. Byfield (2nd overall)
13. Holloway (14th overall)
14. Schneider (19th overall)
15. Gunler (41st overall)
16. Kuznetzov (50th overall)
17. Mukhamadullin (20th overall)
18. Mercer (18th overall)
19. Perfetti (10th overall)
20. Quinn (8th overall)
21. Zary (24th overall)
22. Marco Rossi (9th overall) *

* Marco Rossi played for Austria, and legitimately had no roster help at all ... every shift he was alone so nearly impossible to judge his performance

I think you're overrating a few of the 2020 draft picks. As an example, players like Holloway, Schneider an Guhle are all big and skate well, so they are better able to stand out, but I haven't been that impressed with what they've done with the puck or in their decision-making. A player like Holloway should be making more impact plays, but I find he just doesn't read the play at a high enough level.

Most of the European players have been playing at a high level of competition for months, so it's not such a big surprise that they have looked sharper through the first 5 games.

For the most part, I've seen a lot in Perfetti's game that I really like, and I think he does a lot more for his line than many seem to understand.

 

[NA Hockey]

I really don't understand the hyperbole. As far as I can see, very few (if any) on the Jets board are declaring him a bust. People are stating their opinion after watching him play.

Me saying 'I don't think he's been very good', or 'he's been underwhelming' DOES NOT MEAN I THINK HE'LL BE A BUST. Like I've said a dozen times now, I am ecstatic the Jets selected Perfetti, and am rooting hard for this success.

As far as I can tell,, the purpose of these message boards are to share thoughts and opinions. It goes without saying that we'll know better his future in 2 or 3 years. In the meantime, I hope people continue to share their opinions because I enjoy reading other perspectives.

You are very reasonable, make good points and are certainly entitled to your opinion. But ti say there haven't been people piling on and declaring him a bust after these last 5 games in untrue. I know you haven't, but others have.

 

[jimsabo21]

I don't want to argue but Perfetti sent McMichael in alone in the Russia game, sent Krebs in alone against Finland on the play that Newhook got hurt and sent Zary in alone last game. There was one more but I cant remember who it was. Regardless, he has set up a number of plays that weren't finished, nice plays that easily could have turned into points. That happens to all players of course but my point was with a bit of luck or above avg luck in a short 5 game sample, he could easily have 8-10 points.

Fair points. I do remember the Perfetti pass to Krebs, but that was more of a 2 on 1 that led to Krebs being alone with the goalie from the slot ... semantics, but either way, you're right ... it did create a Grade A scoring chance.

 

[Romang67]

Perfetti has been exactly what we thought before the WJC, if perhaps not what we hoped (that he would have completely done away with skating issues since his last OHL game, which was always optimistic). He could have had more points, but his skating has ways to go and it's definitely holding him back right now. Just something for the kid to work on, which he knows.

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

People are really overvaluing a tiny sample size after not being able to play for months, on a team where there is like 12 other first round picks so Perfetti is not exactly being pushed out into every offensive situation like he would be if he was on another country's team.

I'd have liked him to absolutely dominate the tournament, sure. But he is not giving me any cause for concern, I see a lot to like in his game.

 

[ps241]

I am enjoying the debate over the last 15-20 posts pretty good back and forth with good points on all sides.

Does anyone know where we can get a summary of zone exits and entries cumulative per player for team Canada?

 

[scelaton]

A few more thoughts: None of us know if Perfetti is the next Kucherov (would be amazing), Wellwood (serviceable) or Angelo Esposito (out of the league). All of them put up huge CHL numbers, credited with elite hockey IQ and all were knocked for poor skating. Why it translates for some and not for others, nobody really knows ...

The 18 vs 19 year old argument is a bit overblown in my books. First of all, if you're 'Super Elite', you never even play as an 18 year old. McDavid, Matthews, Crosby, Laine, Tavaras, Stamkos, Lafreniere, Stamkos, Eichel, T Hall, T Seguin, etc, etc, etc all only played as 17 year olds. The 'Elite' will play as 18 year olds (Marner, Petterson, etc.) but never return as 19 year olds because they'll be in the NHL.

Hell, even Kirby Dach, Dylan Cousins, Trevor Zegras, Bowen Byram and Alex Turcotte would have unlikely been made available for this tournament had Covid not delayed the NHL season. As it stands, Jack Hughes, Kappo Kakko, Moritz Seider and Lafreniere were all eligible to play but not made available by their club teams.

I think we all hope Perfetti becomes an elite player, so it would be nice to see some of that skill in the WJC

If I had to rank the 2020 draft picks by their play in this tournament, I'd have:

1. Tim Stutzle (3rd overall)
2. Lucas Raymond (4th overall)
3. Drysdale (6th overall)
4. Lundell (12th overall)
5. Sanderson (5th overall)
6. Peterka (34th overall)
7. Faber (45th overall)
8. Khusnutdinov (37th overall)
9. Guhle (16th overall)
10. Amirov (15th overall)
11. Holtz (7th overall)
12. Byfield (2nd overall)
13. Holloway (14th overall)
14. Schneider (19th overall)
15. Gunler (41st overall)
16. Kuznetzov (50th overall)
17. Mukhamadullin (20th overall)
18. Mercer (18th overall)
19. Perfetti (10th overall)
20. Quinn (8th overall)
21. Zary (24th overall)
22. Marco Rossi (9th overall) *

* Marco Rossi played for Austria, and legitimately had no roster help at all ... every shift he was alone so nearly impossible to judge his performance

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, knowing that criticizing a prized prospect is not going to make you popular around here. Perfetti is certainly not guaranteed stardom in the NHL, but I have been loathe to over-analyze this tournament for reasons that I and others have made clear.

Re your opening pp, while comparisons to Kucherov are highly optimistic, references to Wellwood and Esposito are even less relevant IMO. The difference is in Perfetti's mental stability and commitment to improve. Wellwood had a well-established reputation as lazy, whereas Perfetti is much more in the Scheifele mold. Esposito, with whom I am less familiar, also had difficulties adjusting to early stardom, and then was felled by a series of injuries.

No one can control for injuries, but barring misfortune in that area, I see a very high probability of NHL success for Perfetti, regardless of his final numbers in this tournament.

 

[Teemusalami204]

I think eberle type is player is a safe comparison for Perfetti.

 

[surixon]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, knowing that criticizing a prized prospect is not going to make you popular around here. Perfetti is certainly not guaranteed stardom in the NHL, but I have been loathe to over-analyze this tournament for reasons that I and others have made clear.

Re your opening pp, while comparisons to Kucherov are highly optimistic, references to Wellwood and Esposito are even less relevant IMO. The difference is in Perfetti's mental stability and commitment to improve. Wellwood had a well-established reputation as lazy, whereas Perfetti is much more in the Scheifele mold. Esposito, with whom I am less familiar, also had difficulties adjusting to early stardom, and then was felled by a series of injuries.

No one can control for injuries, but barring misfortune in that area, I see a very high probability of NHL success for Perfetti, regardless of his final numbers in this tournament.

Esposito isn't an apt comparison due to the fact that his production was buoyed by playing with Radulov in his draft year. Radulov outscored Esposito by over 50 points. Perfetti outscored his next teammate by 30 points.

Perfetti has always been the straw stirring the drink on his team and that wasn't the case for Esposito. When Esposito took the reigns his production was never the same as his rookie year.

 

[jimsabo21]

Esposito isn't an apt comparison due to the fact that his production was buoyed by playing with Radulov in his draft year. Radulov outscored Esposito by over 50 points. Perfetti outscored his next teammate by 30 points.

Perfetti has always been the straw stirring the drink on his team and that wasn't the case for Esposito. When Esposito took the reigns his production was never the same as his rookie year.

Very good points that Perfetti has never been dependant on his line-mates to put up points.

Here are some comparable (stylistically) of super gifted offensive players (in recent times) that had concerns on foot speed:

Kucherov, Panarin, Tavares, Kovalev, Point,

Similar 'stylistic' players that had 'up and down' NHL careers:

Cody Hodgson, Nic Petan, Wellwood, Turris, Drouin

Any others?

 

[Romang67]

Esposito isn't an apt comparison due to the fact that his production was buoyed by playing with Radulov in his draft year. Radulov outscored Esposito by over 50 points. Perfetti outscored his next teammate by 30 points.

Perfetti has always been the straw stirring the drink on his team and that wasn't the case for Esposito. When Esposito took the reigns his production was never the same as his rookie year.

Esposito was also a good skater who proceeded to blow his knees out multiple times.

 

[surixon]

Very good points that Perfetti has never been dependant on his line-mates to put up points.

Here are some comparable (stylistically) of super gifted offensive players (in recent times) that had concerns on foot speed:

Kucherov, Panarin, Tavares, Kovalev, Point,

Similar 'stylistic' players that had 'up and down' NHL careers:

Cody Hodgson, Nic Petan, Wellwood, Turris, Drouin

Any others?

I wouldn't compare him stylistically to any of Hodgson, Turris or Drouin. The later two's games are based on speed and skating, inwouldnt classify either as high IQ players.

Some low end comps for my would be Sam Gagner, teruvinan, Eberle, Mike Comrie.

 

[brendan smith]

Perfetti is the only guy out there playing with a level head and not getting caught up in the track race.

He’s controlling the play, slowing things down and looks poised imo.

 

[surixon]

Perfetti is the only guy out there playing with a level head and not getting caught up in the track race.

He’s controlling the play, slowing things down and looks poised imo.

When his body and skating catch up he will be really good.

 

[10Ducky10]

Eberle has scored .72 ppg in his career.
Pretty not too bad.

 

[10Ducky10]

I wonder if the Jets lend Perfetti to a team in Europe if there is no AHL this season.

 

[surixon]

Perfetti finishes with 6 points in 7 games.

Had a pretty strong final game and looked good when he was playing regularly. He's possibly a player who needs to play decent minutes to get into a game.

Anyhow I think he needs to keep working on his skating and add some muscle. I would like to see him play center in the AHL the remainder of the year.

 

[brendan smith]

Perfetti finishes with 6 points in 7 games.

Had a pretty strong final game and looked good when he was playing regularly. He's possibly a player who needs to play decent minutes to get into a game.

Anyhow I think he needs to keep working on his skating and add some muscle. I would like to see him play center in the AHL the remainder of the year.

I agree. Tonights fast paced game really exploited his skating, but otherwise i felt it was his best game, and that he was a top 5 player in tonights game.

 

[surixon]

I agree. Tonights fast paced game really exploited his skating, but otherwise i felt it was his best game, and that he was a top 5 player in tonights game.

I think he was also given the green light to be creative given that we were down.

Have to say I'm pretty disappointed with the game plan we ran given the talent we had. Would have loved to see this team coached to play with creativity and and lots of switches in the ozone like the Americans ans Fins were.

 

[bumblebeeman]

Perfetti finishes with 6 points in 7 games.

Had a pretty strong final game and looked good when he was playing regularly. He's possibly a player who needs to play decent minutes to get into a game.

Anyhow I think he needs to keep working on his skating and add some muscle. I would like to see him play center in the AHL the remainder of the year.

Wow can he play in the AHL this year? That would be cool