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Prospect Info: Florian Xhekaj

The kind of player that Pezz became is always available league wide for roughly a 5-6 rounder and that was his ultimate upside.

I agree its better to go for a player with a standout skills and big weakness.Nobody will complain about busting on a big swing at that point.

Still props to Pezz for becoming his best version and making it to the show but hes dime a dozen in the NHL
 
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It's a case by case thing obviously, but IMO it's acceptable to go off the BPA approach and start picking specific guys your scouts really like from the 4th round onward. Getting any sort of an NHL player is a bonus at that point, might as well go with a prospect your staff has a positive impression about going in.
 
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The thing is you never know what they saw in a player. They called Florian a "unicorn" so they certainly see his ceiling as more then a 4th liner. Yet 99% of us would say 4th liner if everything goes right is his ceiling. It's likely in Pezzetta's case they also more then 4th liner as the ceiling.
 
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Pompeius Magnus said:
It's a case by case thing obviously, but IMO it's acceptable to go off the BPA approach and start picking specific guys your scouts really like from the 4th round onward. Getting any sort of an NHL player is a bonus at that point, might as well go with a prospect your staff has a positive impression about going in.
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Yeah agree, our prospect pool is stacked, I certainly wont blame them to take a chance on a specific player in the 4th round, Xhekaj seems like the type of foward we dont have in the system.
 
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(For people that have watched the draft video, and if you havent I recommend it)
When they mention Xhekaj being a "unicorn" as a late pick. Think about guys with size that you think were better than their stats and the team help that they had. Not Jamie Benn, but same type of thing. If people attack me for saying Jamie Benn keep in mind I said NOT Jamie Benn, and if you dont know the direction I meant by that then I dont care. But he has the tools that if he progresses the same way his brother does, he could be a very solid player in the NHL. If he doesnt, hes a later pick and we took are shot, just missed.
 
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Sorinth said:
The thing is you never know what they saw in a player. They called Florian a "unicorn" so they certainly see his ceiling as more then a 4th liner. Yet 99% of us would say 4th liner if everything goes right is his ceiling. It's likely in Pezzetta's case they also more then 4th liner as the ceiling.
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99% of us also saw his older brother as a AHL/NHl#6-8 career player. He could surprise us. I can see him playing as a powerfoward in 3 years in the third line.
 
Sorinth said:
The thing is you never know what they saw in a player. They called Florian a "unicorn" so they certainly see his ceiling as more then a 4th liner. Yet 99% of us would say 4th liner if everything goes right is his ceiling. It's likely in Pezzetta's case they also more then 4th liner as the ceiling.
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Every player has a ceiling higher than what most give. No one is going to say this player is a stud at the NHL level, but there's always a chance.

If he's a physical beast, beats the shit out of the league and pots 25-30 goals, that's a Unicorn and that's what he could be.

That potential to be that ? Like .001%
 
Ezpz said:
I think you need to draft a variety of players as acquiring anyone through free agency is cost prohibitive. This includes good fourth liners. I don't have any issue with taking one or two per year, preferably past the 5th round. The issue is when you get hyper fixated on it like Bergy and draft ten of them in the top 3 rounds.

Lernout and Crisp in particular with that much talent still on the board. Sorokin went pretty closely after Lernout, as did Brayden Point. Before our next pick so did Devon Toews. Koberstein was another one of those picks and Forsling went directly after him. Don't look at all the people that went between Crisp and Andrighetto and then between Ghetto and Reway for the sake of your mental health. There are literally over a dozen guys that could have helped the Price core.

There's no problem with getting a Pezz in the 6th or 7th round. Going for that above that is ridiculous. I didn't mind Xhekaj because we had extra picks in every round. I just hope all the scouts from the 2012-2017 period have been fired.
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From 2017:
Lapointe is still there but he was Director of Player dev. Now Director of amateur scouting.
Rockstrom is still there. Chief Euro scout
Audette is still there. QC/Maritimes
Boisvert is still there and promoted to international crossover scout.
Krupa is still there. Czechia/Slovakia
Laine is still there. Finland
Simpson is still there. Pro scout west
Crawford is still there. Director of Pro scouting.

Bill Berglund left after 2017.
Mowers left for the Wild in 2017.
Backus left in 2018.
Ludzik left in 2018.
Westrum left in 2018.
Elmer Benning 2018 RIP.
Masters left in 2019.
Posa left in 2019.
Morin left in 2020 for the Panthers.
Burke left for Vegas in 2022.
Kinsella left for STL in 2022.
Telepin left in 2022.
 
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I like this pick. Its a different breed of player that brings diversity to a group that has in the recent past been smurf-like. Will he pan out? Who knows - likely not given that most 4th rounders do not reach the NHL. But regardless, its a good pick as he has the attributes of the type of player that we don't have enough of.

Also, big guys like Xhekaj take longer in the development stages. Josh Andrerson is a good example. He never lit up the OHL at any point. Nor the AHL. But he was big, fast, truculent and has a decent shot.
 
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Sorinth said:
The thing is you never know what they saw in a player. They called Florian a "unicorn" so they certainly see his ceiling as more then a 4th liner. Yet 99% of us would say 4th liner if everything goes right is his ceiling. It's likely in Pezzetta's case they also more then 4th liner as the ceiling.
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Exactly, Pezzetta was a coveted prospect in the GTHL and was a top selection for Sudbury in the 2014 OHL Priority draft. We took him in 2016 in the 6th round largely based on his pedigree and the fact that he was big and was a strong skater with hopes that he could potentially realize some of the offensive potential that Sudbury saw when they drafted him 11th OA.

I love how posters who know nothing about a player's past are so quick to flippantly dismiss them without any research and allow their bias to form their narrative without any evidence to support it.

I realize that we have some very young posters as this is not news to anyone who was an active board member when we drafted him but please stop acting as though this is tik tok and look for context and evidence.
 
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Boss Man Hughes said:
Actually it isn't. 8 Cups in 13 years is 60%. Toe Blake.
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Our grandparents were lucky. My gramps is still alive and was a student in Montreal during the late-40s-early-50s. And saw Blake play and coach.
Went to a game at the Bell centre a few years ago with him, the game when Ovi tied Maurice Richard in goals. He reminisced about the golden age of Harvey, Richard, Boom boom, Gros Bill, Plante. Im freaking jealous of them. Our parents too, Lafleur/Cournoyer/Robinson/Dryden/etc. They didnt know how spoiled they were.
 
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Sorinth said:
The thing is you never know what they saw in a player. They called Florian a "unicorn" so they certainly see his ceiling as more then a 4th liner. Yet 99% of us would say 4th liner if everything goes right is his ceiling. It's likely in Pezzetta's case they also more then 4th liner as the ceiling.
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Exactly the reality is no team is looking to draft 4th line guys. 18 year olds all have the potential to develop into something better. Instead they will use the later rounds to draft roles and fill holes. Florian has the potential to fill out like Arber and that physical growth should elevate what he already does reasonably well. He definitely has the potential to fill a HUGE hole on our roster. A big strong reasonably talented rugged winger who will take no prisoners and can possibly play up the lineup if called upon. The Unicorn they speak of in this day and age has to have it all. The size, the strength, the skating, soft(ish) hands, the IQ and a natural game faced nastiness that will keep opposing team's players heads on a swivel.

Man I hope this is what he can become.
 
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DAChampion said:
That's the sort of change that can give a prospect tremendous progression over the coming years.

It might not even show up this season as Xhekaj won't yet know how to use his size.
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The good news is it didn't affect his brother who actually got better in a hurry. Maybe coordination won't be an issue.
 
Look at Pezzetta, as long as he can take his game to next level this year, he can make it.
 
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WeThreeKings said:
It's not the case for anybody drafted in the sixth round.

You identify people with an actual trait like a great shot but might have other things going against them that need to scale up to play. But if they hit, they can become something of value.

The guy I wanted was Sokolov who didn't hit but he had a big pedigree the year before and actually had some high end offensive traits, but heavy feet, a shoulder injury and conditioning issues.

If Sokolov hit, he's a top 6 scoring forward with size. Pezzetta was never going to be more than he is now, they got lucky he hit his upside but he's easy to find. A top 6 scorer with size is not easy to find.
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How many 6 rd picks become what you are suggesting having 1 trait and a crap ton to work on?
Maybe there is value in drafting kids that may play a 4th line role, develop in the org ovr 3/4 yrs and add to the culture of a room and team instead of grabbing random punching bags of waivers. Those bonds can be helpful in developing culture. Just my thought.
And no I have no issue taking flyers on players with skil later on. I just think the role players are a better shot at success in those rds.

Pompeius Magnus said:
It's a case by case thing obviously, but IMO it's acceptable to go off the BPA approach and start picking specific guys your scouts really like from the 4th round onward. Getting any sort of an NHL player is a bonus at that point, might as well go with a prospect your staff has a positive impression about going in.
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Better said than I did in my post.
TY
 
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