Toggle sidebar

Prospect Info: Leafs' 2019 4th-round (#124 via STL) -- C Nicholas Abruzzese --Chicago USHL - 5' 9"/ 160

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
As soon as I heard his name I immediately downloaded Prison Break and started watching it again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigBlu
The kind of pick you make and hope he projects. Top USHL scorer and going into a 4 year program with Harvard. A long long-term project.

With that said, these kind of projects rarely ever work out from the top of my head, at least for Leaf prospects. They rarely ever sign them as well.
 
He is a fourth round pick on a guy who might be a late bloomer. Lead hi league in scoring and the Leafs knew full well that he is a project.
 
supermann_98 said:
Screams to me of a Jack Walker type pick
Click to expand...

Jack Walker never lead the league in scoring. I think its good that he'll have 3-4 years to develop at Harvard, tbh. No rush with this kid. If it works out, great! If not, sign some other NCAA guy.
 
This is the only pick I don't love, but this is a guy who came of nowhere to become a top player at the junior level in the USA and should be linked comparably to the likes of Leason, Meireles, Kastelic, and Coskey in terms of a accomplishments (grouped in the middle). The difference here is that all those other names are +2's from the CHL and their rights can only be held for one season. The Leafs have full four years of exclusive rights to try to develop a quality player here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Magic Man and MyBudJT
Must be a smart kid.
Maybe a late bloomer.
Age suggests he’d be an option to enter the system at any time.
 
ITM said:
Picked essentially where he was ranked.

Was hoping for a goalie. Maybe Cameron Rowe?
Click to expand...

Rowe was awful last year. Plus we could have got him with our 7th's and chose to trade one instead of drafting him. Everyone passed over him and a few teams decided to take a few unknowns over him.

Spencer Meier or Taylor Gauthier were better options. I could list quite a few other better options too.
 
GardinerTheForward said:
Adam Brooks lite is not a good thing. Wish him and all our prospects the best.

Goalies seem like the best value in late rounds, would just stock up on them
Click to expand...

I thought the Leafs would pick one, because they could fit one into their timeline right now (especially a Euro or NCAA goalie) and it was a good draft for them, but perhaps they felt the good ones were gone by the 4th round.

I liked some guys like Saville, Ross, Wolf, Basse, Gylander, Brady, Haider, etc. who went in the 5th, 6th, 7th rounds but there were also some major unknowns taken in there too, which shocked me considering the quality of other names still out there. That being said, they were a lot lower quality than the guys picked 3rd round or higher (except maybe Parik).

But I don't think the team was going to lose sleep over not getting Nolan Maier, Roman Basran, Ethan Anders, Derek Mullahy, Henry Wilder, Jesper Myrenberg, Alex Aslanidis, etc. The only one I think is somewhat regrettable would be Taylor Gauthier. I am surprised he did not go, but he had a poor CHL Showcase and was stuck on a poor WHL team which could have affected him negatively. Despite that though, he still did pretty well this year, and I thought he was this year's Scott (but just a couple of inches smaller).

Those were really the best remaining options, and maybe some of those guys were worth 7th round picks. I would try really hard to invite a couple of those good CHL goalies to rookie camp and if they do well enough, I would be willing to offer an ELC like LA has done with a ton of UDFA goalies. Taylor Gauthier would especially be one to try and get if possible.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GardinerTheForward
SeaOfBlue said:
I thought the Leafs would pick one, because they could fit one into their timeline right now (especially a Euro or NCAA goalie) and it was a good draft for them, but perhaps they felt the good ones were gone by the 4th round.

I liked some guys like Saville, Ross, Wolf, Basse, Gylander, Brady, Haider, etc. who went in the 5th, 6th, 7th rounds but there were also some major unknowns taken in there too, which shocked me considering the quality of other names still out there. That being said, they were a lot lower quality than the guys picked 3rd round or higher (except maybe Parik).

But I don't think the team was going to lose sleep over not getting Nolan Maier, Roman Basran, Ethan Anders, Derek Mullahy, Henry Wilder, Jesper Myrenberg, Alex Aslanidis, etc. The only one I think is somewhat regrettable would be Taylor Gauthier. I am surprised he did not go, but he had a poor CHL Showcase and was stuck on a poor WHL team which could have affected him negatively. Despite that though, he still did pretty well this year, and I thought he was this year's Scott (but just a couple of inches smaller).

Those were really the best remaining options, and maybe some of those guys were worth 7th round picks. I would try really hard to invite a couple of those good CHL goalies to rookie camp and if they do well enough, I would be willing to offer an ELC like LA has done with a ton of UDFA goalies. Taylor Gauthier would especially be one to try and get if possible.
Click to expand...
Ya but isn’t the whole point of ncaa and euro players os you have longer to sign them. why then are you running to give an ELC to goalies at the rookie camp? Is there like another way to make them our property without giving an ELC? I may be missing something.

But ya, as much as HF collectively shits on Sparks, he was a good value pick.
 
GardinerTheForward said:
Ya but isn’t the whole point of ncaa and euro players os you have longer to sign them. why then are you running to give an ELC to goalies at the rookie camp? Is there like another way to make them our property without giving an ELC? I may be missing something.

But ya, as much as HF collectively ****s on Sparks, he was a good value pick.
Click to expand...

Draft them. That's it.

I'm also not really talking about NCAA or Euro guys. TBH, they were pretty much taken. Henry Wilder, Alex Aslanidis, and Derek Mullahy are decent, but I'm not shocked that they went undrafted, and I think even if they did well in the USHL next year, you can still get them pretty late as an overager in next year's draft. None of the remaining Euro goalies were guys I'd spend a pick on.

The best remaining guys are all CHLers, and I would invite one or two of them to come to development camp alongside Bouthillier, Woll and Scott. If they look impressive enough, I'd strongly consider giving them an ELC so we don't need to spend a pick on them next year. Gauthier, Basran, Maier and Anders are all guys in the WHL whom I think could really stand out next year, and if they are in our camp and look really good alongside two really good goalie prospects (and Bouthillier), then I think it's worth the risk to sign them to an ELC. Their contracts slide for two years (so they don't count against our contracts) and in two years we can put them in the ECHL or AHL and hope they don't suck. Worst case, we wasted a contract spot for 3 years. Best case, we got a nice prospect for no DP.

That's only if they stand out. Inviting them (or any UDFA goalie prospect) to development camp to see what they can do is literally a zero risk proposition, and we are going to need at least another goalie or two in camp anyways. Usually you want 4.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GardinerTheForward
Walshy7 said:
Yeah but that’s because he loves the OHL. Or at least that’s the excuse you hear from his fans
Click to expand...
It's all excuses. Teams had considered him, but decided for other candidates. If he really was just focused on the OHL, he wouldn't even get considered.
Teams just don't feel Hunter would help them in the NHL.
 
stickty111 said:
Just because they aren't 7 feet tall?

The size people should realize looking for Holzers and Biggs isn't the way to draft.
Click to expand...
...but this is? Good players come in all sizes. Ignoring either is a stupid idea. Let's hope this was just a coincidence in what was available from some over excited teams thinking big
 
SeaOfBlue said:
Draft them. That's it.

I'm also not really talking about NCAA or Euro guys. TBH, they were pretty much taken. Henry Wilder, Alex Aslanidis, and Derek Mullahy are decent, but I'm not shocked that they went undrafted, and I think even if they did well in the USHL next year, you can still get them pretty late as an overager in next year's draft. None of the remaining Euro goalies were guys I'd spend a pick on.

The best remaining guys are all CHLers, and I would invite one or two of them to come to development camp alongside Bouthillier, Woll and Scott. If they look impressive enough, I'd strongly consider giving them an ELC so we don't need to spend a pick on them next year. Gauthier, Basran, Maier and Anders are all guys in the WHL whom I think could really stand out next year, and if they are in our camp and look really good alongside two really good goalie prospects (and Bouthillier), then I think it's worth the risk to sign them to an ELC. Their contracts slide for two years (so they don't count against our contracts) and in two years we can put them in the ECHL or AHL and hope they don't suck. Worst case, we wasted a contract spot for 3 years. Best case, we got a nice prospect for no DP.

That's only if they stand out. Inviting them (or any UDFA goalie prospect) to development camp to see what they can do is literally a zero risk proposition, and we are going to need at least another goalie or two in camp anyways. Usually you want 4.
Click to expand...

Cant remember if I've seen Gauthier but I saw Maier and liked his game. Couldn't hurt to invite him.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SeaOfBlue
Gallagbi said:
...but this is? Good players come in all sizes. Ignoring either is a stupid idea. Let's hope this was just a coincidence in what was available from some over excited teams thinking big
Click to expand...
I know that, but it's pretty clear some fans here are angry at picking small, even if they were good picks.
Small players were the BPA in our spot.
 
acrobaticgoalie said:
Cant remember if I've seen Gauthier but I saw Maier and liked his game. Couldn't hurt to invite him.
Click to expand...

I think Maier could have gone in the 3rd round if he were a few inches taller. Just like Wolf likely would have if he were a few inches taller. Problem is these guys, despite their numbers, were still not superior technique-wise over a lot of the goalies taken above them who did have the size advantage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom