Jason Zucker 59# overall 2010 by Minnesota Wild

[BraveNewWild]

which is a 7.0 by Hockey's Future ranking guide.

Which brings us back to the original question. Why the heck did Bennet get a rating of an 8 if he hasn't even shown that he has Zucker's upside yet?

simple answer...He got rated too high

 

[Lundell4Prez]

Love this kid, really was hoping the Panthers picked him up... Never understood why he lasted all the way to 59. Should be a good one for Minnesota.

 

[wej20]

Okay, just so I'm following this thread right:

Bennet is better than Zucker because he's older, played on a weaker line (because the coach thought Zucker was better) and put up fewer points.

Does anyone have an actual legitimate reason for ranking him ahead? I mean, you're free to think one will be better than the other, but can you at least come up with a half-assed excuse as to why?

How much discussing to the writers do when ranking prospects? if the Wild writer and the Pens writer didn't discuss Zucker and Bennett then it's hard to compare there ratings anyway. Zucker's a LW and Bennett's a RW so it's not like they were competing for the same spot. I don't think anyone actually said Bennett is better just that he might have more upside.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

which is a 7.0 by Hockey's Future ranking guide.

Well, semantics I suppose, but that's not where I see his potential being at. To me, a 7.0 would mean that his ultimate ceiling is a 2nd liner, where I suppose my point was that he has first line potential, but I ultimately see him settling into a 2nd line supporting role (or like I said before, on a great 3rd line). Personally, using HF's criteria, my rating for Zucker would be 8.0B

 

[Zero Pucks]

Which brings us back to the original question. Why the heck did Bennet get a rating of an 8 if he hasn't even shown that he has Zucker's upside yet?

simple answer...He got rated too high

Why do you act like Bennet can't be better next season?

 

[JackHughes86]

zucker will be a good player for the wild

 

[forthewild]

why zucker isn't ranked higher is beyond me... oh wait he got drafted by the trap artists thats why.

also i wish HF would have criteria where they weight what the players upside is with how he has performed thus far.
i think some writers rank prospects based on how they have looked thus far and others weigh them based on their ceiling.

while Zucker thus far has looked better i wouldn't just write off bennett yet, its not out of the question he might end up with a better career.

still think Zucker should be at least a 7.8B not quite up to 8 but very safe to play in the NHL

 

[The Kremelin Wall*]

Well, semantics I suppose, but that's not where I see his potential being at. To me, a 7.0 would mean that his ultimate ceiling is a 2nd liner, where I suppose my point was that he has first line potential, but I ultimately see him settling into a 2nd line supporting role (or like I said before, on a great 3rd line). Personally, using HF's criteria, my rating for Zucker would be 8.0B

So better than most top 10 picks?

 

[forthewild]

So better than most top 10 picks?

agree that 8.0b is a bit generous but a 7.5b would be in line a 2nd liner who has intangibles.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

So better than most top 10 picks?

I suppose so, although I would have most of the top 10 picks higher than they are now as well.

 

[squidz*]

How much discussing to the writers do when ranking prospects? if the Wild writer and the Pens writer didn't discuss Zucker and Bennett then it's hard to compare there ratings anyway. Zucker's a LW and Bennett's a RW so it's not like they were competing for the same spot. I don't think anyone actually said Bennett is better just that he might have more upside.

I'm referencing the several people in this thread who have said that Bennett is the better prospect.

 

[wej20]

I'm referencing the several people in this thread who have said that Bennett is the better prospect.

I don't see them.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Zucker was a roller hockey player as well before joining the USNTDP. So not a dissimilar situation. Both have limited hockey experience yet Zucker is much further along. Not to mention he will be on his 3rd World Junior team that he will be captaining this season.

I would not say that the NTDP and BCHL are comparable in terms of NCAA prep.

I guess we will. USA hockey sure thinks he's more valuable. And I guess those who are Denver fans or watch enough WCHA hockey likely do.

Based on what?

Listen, a prospect doing well in his post-draft season is great, but it's not the be-all and end-all. If it were, Dustin Jeffrey would've been rated similarly to Chris Stewart after '06-'07. But he wasn't, because like Stewart, Bennett wasn't drafted for the player he was going to be the next year, he was drafted as a project for the pro player he could become.

 

[BagHead]

Why do you act like Bennet can't be better next season?

Nobody is saying that he can't be better next year. It's a near certainty that he will. They're just saying Zucker has shown a lot more than Bennet so far, but hasn't gotten the proper recognition for it. Or that maybe Bennet has gotten too much for too little. Personally, I think Bennet's rating should hold, and Zucker's could maybe be a 7.0B or a 7.5C. Any higher is crazy, right now. Personally, I'd like to see Zucker repeat it first.

As for how well Zucker did compared to Parise or Towes in his first season of college hockey, don't forget how great Darby Hendrickson looked. He was an alright NHLer (sort of), but not that great.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

As for how well Zucker did compared to Parise or Towes in his first season of college hockey, don't forget how great Darby Hendrickson looked. He was an alright NHLer (sort of), but not that great.

WCHA in the early 1990s =/= WCHA in the 2000s. Take a look at Freshman production over the last 5 or 6 years; it's very encouraging.

 

[Granlund2Pulkkinen*]

I'll be keeping tabs on him all season long at my school

I'll keep this and the Mayfield thread consistently updated.

 

[Nikolai Coolman]

agree that 8.0b is a bit generous but a 7.5b would be in line a 2nd liner who has intangibles.

HF Rankings tend to stay near the average rather than the ceiling. Tyler Biggs and Stuart Percy both got 7.0C, and I'll be damned if a late first round pick has an absolute ceiling of 2nd line/pairing and isn't even a lock to reach that.

7.5B tends to be given out to prospects who have had more development... most prospects coming out of the draft just have C's and D's.

 

[Depch]

Account self-deactivated

 

[Rob Scuderi]

What people are asking here is that what has Bennet shown so far that would make him projected as the better pro player if he's been behind Zucker all the time in 'current' level, there must be something, learning curve? I'd recon the 8C should be 8D then.

And this most likely goes to psychology, people want to have hope for the future and easily make out of it if there is not much of it and then overreact and start making beliefs of something that it not there (overreacting to a prospect when someone is the best of the average). It's just natural and this behaviour is seen very much in HFboards and actually everywhere in life.

++ What I've said earlier, I think HFboards needs some quality assurance who oversees all the rankings and keeps them together in comparison to be truly highly respected media for this. (Watching the latest rankings Bennet is projected to be as good as Strome & Niederreiter)

Projection is the only thing Bennett has going for him right now and really shouldn't require much explanation.

He's an offensive dynamo who will carry his line by the end of college, assuming he doesn't leave next year like he suggested he hopes to. He's a playmaker who has a shot and his nickname is Beau Dangles so obviously he can carry the puck too. He's not big but he's not undersized. He's won't bring Zucker's two way play but he's no liability and versatile enough to play all of the ice on the PP. If Zucker reaches his potential he's a 2/3 tweener who can compliment a line nicely with his hustle and two-way game, as well as relatively good hands. Bennett on the other hand could carry a line at his prime, but if he hits that prime in Pittsburgh he'll be the perfect offensive compliment to one of our centers.

There's just way way more upside and you have to understand where Pens fans were coming from. Last year a thread with either of their names would have been about Bennett's BCHL exploits. Just because Zucker had the clearly better freshman year doesn't mean that next season this same thread won't read the exact opposite after Bennett has a fresh start and no injury concerns.

If you want Zucker to get the praise he deserves then I'd suggest not alienating one of his teammate and having the conversation to descend into that single narrative that detracts from getting Zucker the praise he should. Especially when the basis for the alienation stems from something as silly as a discrepancy in bogus ratings that were never intended comparison between teams, by a poster who should know as much.

 

[Depch]

Account self-deactivated

 

[squidz*]

I don't see them.

Did you try reading the thread?

 

[MN_Gopher]

Bennet did not have a bad year Its just that Zucker had a great year. As long as 18 year olds can compete in the WCHA you are doing pretty good.

tUMD who won it all had 2 92 and one was Faulk. They also had 6 86-87s. There is a strong possibilty Zucker and Bennet were not in high school when those same players had graduated.

Its best to wait on most freshmen. All we learned is that Zucker has a solid head on shoulders for the game. Bennet is still doing just fine.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

What people are asking here is that what has Bennet shown so far that would make him projected as the better pro player if he's been behind Zucker all the time in 'current' level, there must be something, learning curve? I'd recon the 8C should be 8D then.

Ds are reserved for real long-shot prospects, which Bennett certainly isn't.

Honest question now...who here thinks Luca Caputi should've been rated higher than Logan Couture after the '07-'08 OHL season?

 

[ThatGuy22]

Bump...

Time to start talking about Zucker because he is tearing up the AHL. 18 points in 11 games (11 goals, 7 assists). Outshining Coyle and showing the sniper skills that were thought to be missing from the Wild's prospect pool. Is it time to upgrade him from a probable 3rd liner to 2nd or 1st liner?

 

[seafoam]

So what's your opinion on this guy?

5'11'' 174lb

The season following his draft he put up impressive
23G 22A 45P 40GP in Denver University

On the Wild board we voted him our 5# prospect, but he honestly could have easily been as high as 2#
2011 HF Wild Rankings:
1. Mikael Granlund
2. Charlie Coyle
3. Jonas Brodin
4. Marco Scandella
5. Jason Zucker

HF has him as 7.0C prospect, and me and some other Wild fans feel that is definitely underrating him. Maybe he gets overlooked for his draft position, size or NHL team. We have him pegged as a strong second liner, perhaps a very poor mans Parise.

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