Prospect Info: Jets Prospects at the '22 World Junior Hockey Championship

[Gil Fisher]

Perfetti reminds me a little bit of Joe Sakic. He’s got that innate ability to be in the right place at the right time and while he may not be the flashiest player out there, at the end of the night he’s one of the most productive.

Now this is not to say he’s going to have a comparable career to Sakic, but like Perfetti, Sakic was never the fastest guy on the ice, but he was smart and he could make things happen whether it was with his unreal wrister or snap shot or threading the needle to a teammate.

I recall Sakic having at least above average speed in the 90s. Recall him skating circles around opponents when he was a Nordique.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

He's also playing with the two youngest players on the team. I thought he was juat as good if not better then McTavish myself, he just doesn't play as flashy as of game.

Well Power is a 6"6 number 1 overall dmen that has had multiple comparisons to Headmon. No shame in in taking a back seat to him.

In addition to his 3 assists, he very well could have had 2-3 goals yesterday. Of course you don't expect anyone to convert on all of his chances, but if he had scored on even 1 of them we would be hearing more Perfetti and less McTavish. Still wouldn't outshine the Dman who scored the hatty though.

 

[ps241]

Absolutely, but I think it's a lot harder than most think to fix skating flaws. I think players that can dictate the pace that the game is played are so few that poor skating tends to be the difference between a passenger/complementary player and someone who actively drives play.

It’s an I interesting observation. When teams are drafting they have to weigh all the attributes of the prospects and rank accordingly. There are a few ways to gain separation. Speed/edge work, size/strength/shielding, lastly IQ and processing speed.

Guys like Connor and Ehlers used speed skill edge work. PLD uses power/skill/Speed, same as a prime Blake Wheeler who used speed/skill and length.

Guys that were (are) not fast skaters that could/can drive play without speed were/are Gretz, Ducky, P Kane, Kucherov, Mark “Snow Shoe” Stone. The list goes on. Look no further than a guy like Adam Fox who is not big and not fast but he has won the Norris.

I think the Jets have a nice Blend within their group. Perfetti has elite hockey IQ and already shields the puck very well for his size. His skating only needs to be good enough and his edges are already a weapon when you combine them with his GPS

All things being equal I do like speed but I am fine if they have other attributes that work.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yeah, I have no doubt that players like Heinola and Perfetti will succeed at the highest level but I still have concerns that their skating is going to hold them back.

Perfetti's stride still looks a little awkward. Not nearly as bad as last year. But he gets the job done. He actually has pretty good speed now.

My concern with his skating might be that he expends more energy than he should because of an inefficient style. He may tire more than he should with big minutes.

 

[Channelcat]

Perfetti's stride still looks a little awkward. Not nearly as bad as last year. But he gets the job done. He actually has pretty good speed now.

My concern with his skating might be that he expends more energy than he should because of an inefficient style. He may tire more than he should with big minutes.

Agreed. His hockey IQ will need to mitigate some physical deficiencies. I don't think he looks like an NHL player yet...... although Im fairly certain he will soon.

 

[surixon]

In addition to his 3 assists, he very well could have had 2-3 goals yesterday. Of course you don't expect anyone to convert on all of his chances, but if he had scored on even 1 of them we would be hearing more Perfetti and less McTavish. Still wouldn't outshine the Dman who scored the hatty though.

Well the main boards are actually all very happy with his play as well so hes getting more then enough credit.

 

[surixon]

Perfetti's stride still looks a little awkward. Not nearly as bad as last year. But he gets the job done. He actually has pretty good speed now.

My concern with his skating might be that he expends more energy than he should because of an inefficient style. He may tire more than he should with big minutes.

He just needs to keep working on it. His skating has already improved by a good amount in one year. Give him another couple of years and I expect he will look much more economical on the ice.

 

[BoneDocUK]

Perfetti reminds me a little bit of Joe Sakic. He’s got that innate ability to be in the right place at the right time and while he may not be the flashiest player out there, at the end of the night he’s one of the most productive.

Now this is not to say he’s going to have a comparable career to Sakic, but like Perfetti, Sakic was never the fastest guy on the ice, but he was smart and he could make things happen whether it was with his unreal wrister or snap shot or threading the needle to a teammate.

Yep, a little bit.

I saw prime Paul Stats and Doug Gilmore (minus the snarl and occasional murderous stickwork) in his game early on also, and still do. Great playmaker with a lethal release who can play a quick passing or careful possession game as required and is well ahead of the play wherever it goes.

The sequence for Bedard's goal against Russia was classic Perfetti. He's covering the far slot and blueline, then sees the play swinging right and moves to cover the exit pass, then moves left before anyone else sees where the puck is going. Then he picks it up in the left corner, holds and lays up a perfect pass to Bedard. No one else on the ice seemed to have registered the possibility of that puck deflecting into the corner but Cole, or spotted Bedard alone in the slot. It's a combo of brains, anticipation and high-end skill that is likely unique on that team and rare even in the NHL.

In terms of skating he is noticeably quicker and more explosive this season, and he can sustain that over much longer shifts than before. He's never going to be Ehlers, but he might become Sheifele, which is plenty quick enough for the game he plays, especially at centre.

Like Heinola, he is always in the right place at the right time -- who cares how he got there? The number of times in a game or season either of them would be required to outrace a McDavid is likely to be far, far lower than the number of times their brains make a plus difference in a play, shift or game, IMO. Stats and DeMelo have been among the Jets' best players so far -- neither moves particularly quickly because they don't have to. Cole is a supremely efficient player, and he's going to pile up points and drive play at a very high level, IMO.

I have no concerns about Cole's skating, and like @surixon have never really understood the knocks against Heinola's skating, given his excellent 4-way mobility. And again, if they're always where they need to be, why does it matter?

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Should I be worried that Perfetti is not best on Canada despite being the oldest?
Powers and Mctavish have both been more impressive.

That's a weird concern considering you are comparing him to a 1st and 3rd overall pick.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Agreed. His hockey IQ will need to mitigate some physical deficiencies. I don't think he looks like an NHL player yet...... although Im fairly certain he will soon.

I think he is awfully close to NHL ready now, TBH. He is probably better than several players on our roster now and he would help our PP.

 

[SM]

Should I be worried that Perfetti is not best on Canada despite being the oldest?
Powers and Mctavish have both been more impressive.

I think part of it is role/expectation. McTavish likely up against lesser opponents while centering the “2nd line” in terms of ice time; Power is playing very offensively-aggressively and likely surprised the other team. I could definitely see another team taking note of that and burning Power big time in future games this tournament.

 

[Atoyot]

Timmins or Hague would have been nice

Yeah I was big on trading down a bit and taking Hague at the time. There were big risks because of his skating but with that size and hockey IQ it seemed worth the gamble to draft him and investing money into trying to fix his skating.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yup, Lafrenier shot the shit out of this tournament a few years ago and well it hasn't really helped him at the NHL level as of yet.

I am looking forward to seeing how Cole's game builds through out the tournament. I expect he will get better as the tournament progresses, especially if his center turns a corner and isn't a drag on the line.

WTF are Rangers doing to Laf? He has size, speed & skill to burn. He is 9th on that team in scoring, behind such Ross challengers as Kappo Kakko, Barclay Goodrow, Trouba and Strome. Something is going very wrong there.

 

[snowkiddin]

Just finished the Canadian/Czech game. Perfetti was great! Canada gave about 25% effort and still won lmao

 

[snowkiddin]

Wright just floats around. Not impressed by him at all. Bedard is significantly better prospect and reminds me a lot of Paul Kariya.

Bedard has been pretty bad in the Dub this year, especially defensively (Draisaitl bad) but he looked good against the Czechs and he’s only 16. He’s a MUCH better prospect than Wright. By the time Bedard is McDavid’s age he’ll be the best player in the league.

 

[snowkiddin]

He's also playing with the two youngest players on the team. I thought he was juat as good if not better then McTavish myself, he just doesn't play as flashy as of game.

Well Power is a 6"6 number 1 overall dmen that has had multiple comparisons to Headmon. No shame in in taking a back seat to him.

Power was good but let’s remember who was dishing him the puck. Perfetti created those goals, Power simply finished them

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Yep, a little bit.

I saw prime Paul Stats and Doug Gilmore (minus the snarl and occasional murderous stickwork) in his game early on also, and still do. Great playmaker with a lethal release who can play a quick passing or careful possession game as required and is well ahead of the play wherever it goes.

The sequence for Bedard's goal against Russia was classic Perfetti. He's covering the far slot and blueline, then sees the play swinging right and moves to cover the exit pass, then moves left before anyone else sees where the puck is going. Then he picks it up in the left corner, holds and lays up a perfect pass to Bedard. No one else on the ice seemed to have registered the possibility of that puck deflecting into the corner but Cole, or spotted Bedard alone in the slot. It's a combo of brains, anticipation and high-end skill that is likely unique on that team and rare even in the NHL.

In terms of skating he is noticeably quicker and more explosive this season, and he can sustain that over much longer shifts than before. He's never going to be Ehlers, but he might become Sheifele, which is plenty quick enough for the game he plays, especially at centre.

Like Heinola, he is always in the right place at the right time -- who cares how he got there? The number of times in a game or season either of them would be required to outrace a McDavid is likely to be far, far lower than the number of times their brains make a plus difference in a play, shift or game, IMO. Stats and DeMelo have been among the Jets' best players so far -- neither moves particularly quickly because they don't have to. Cole is a supremely efficient player, and he's going to pile up points and drive play at a very high level, IMO.

I have no concerns about Cole's skating, and like @surixon have never really understood the knocks against Heinola's skating, given his excellent 4-way mobility. And again, if they're always where they need to be, why does it matter?

I think the concerns with skating, for both Perfetti and Heinola, goes back to the idea that smaller players need to extra quick in order to avoid getting flattened by the bigger players. I think both are elusive enough, but that is where the real concern originates, IMO.

 

[Flair Hay]

I recall Sakic having at least above average speed in the 90s. Recall him skating circles around opponents when he was a Nordique.

Just watched some 2002 Olympic Gold Medal Game to take a trip down memory lane

Sakic was basically Draisaitl. Just did everything at a high level.

 

[None]

I think the concerns with skating, for both Perfetti and Heinola, goes back to the idea that smaller players need to extra quick in order to avoid getting flattened by the bigger players. I think both are elusive enough, but that is where the real concern originates, IMO.

For me it's less a question of durability and more a question of whether their skating might hold them back from hitting a higher peak, particularly offensively.

 

[surixon]

WTF are Rangers doing to Laf? He has size, speed & skill to burn. He is 9th on that team in scoring, behind such Ross challengers as Kappo Kakko, Barclay Goodrow, Trouba and Strome. Something is going very wrong there.

I have no clue but they don't really develop forwards all that well.

 

[Atoyot]

Apparently every player on Russia is Chibrikov.

 

[surixon]

Power was good but let’s remember who was dishing him the puck. Perfetti created those goals, Power simply finished them

I went back and watched and while Power was great offensively he also committed a fair amount of defensive miscues. Hoe he played the two on one that lead to a goal against was peewee level bad. He also was out muscled for pucks and was turned inside out a few times.

I think he's going to be damn good but he has some areas to work on and I think his goals took some focus off the other rough areas of his game.

 

[None]

Apparently every player on Russia is Chibrikov.

I think Svechkov was also Michkov for a minute

 

[Atoyot]

I've been really impressed with Chibrikov so far this tournament. Very smart player.

 

[ps241]

I've been really impressed with Chibrikov so far this tournament. Very smart player.

He looks good especially for his D+1 season. I believe he still qualifies for next years tourney if the cut off is January 1st.