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Prospect Info: Marlies & Prospect Discussion

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weems said:
Big year for him.
If he dominates the AHL, you can really start to get excited that we found a player.
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I watched a lot of his games last season, I'm already pretty excited as I think he is going to be a good middle six winger with potential for more.

A great start in the AHL might be all he needs to get into the big leagues as I think his contract situation/ roster competition will have him on the outside looking in through camp, unless he is heads and shoulders above the Cowan/Robertson/Mcmann/Holmberg/Minten, etc group challenging for NHL minutes.
 
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SprDaVE said:
THN (Nick Barden) has seen him play though, unlike people calling him a #6-7 here because they're looking at his hockeydb page.
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I did ask people on this forum about that though and the answers didn't seem to be entirely based on hockeydb - some of them seemed logical and rational. I can't remember but it seemed to be around his foot speed and his size. That he doesn't have anywhere near the tools of say Sandin who is still struggling.

I'll be on record saying I have no clue.
 
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Stringer Bell said:
I did ask people on this forum about that though and the answers didn't seem to be entirely based on hockeydb - some of them seemed logical and rational. I can't remember but it seemed to be around his foot speed and his size. That he doesn't have anywhere near the tools of say Sandin who is still struggling.

I'll be on record saying I have no clue.
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Niemela is a bit more mobile which helps.

Sandin had problems going back to junior with not avoiding contact...while you don't want players scared of contact, you don't want them getting hammered all the time with hits, it'll wear you down, he's not a big enough player to withstand that.

Beyond the durability issues will be the combination of his size and speed, for his size he is not fast enough...and I don't believe his IQ is so elite to make up for it.

Niemela...I am curious to see after this summer what he looks like in training camp this year after a full year in the AHL. I thought the previous training camp he was making some bad reads.
 
Stringer Bell said:
Most people on this forum seem to peg him as a #6-7. If he's our third ranked prospect, our cupboards really are bare.
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1. Our cupboards really don't have a lot of high quality prospects... this is to be expected when we trade away many of our first round picks.
2. Not everyone is going to agree on rankings, and that's ok.
3. People on the forum don't have the benefit of watching the Marlies as much as Barden does.

Heck... I'd like them all to succeed. Mostly, it's fun to see what those people who do watch our prospects a lot have to say about them.

D players are somewhat unpredictable really. Their trajectories aren't linear, and sometimes earlier round guys amount to nothing, and later round guys end up good NHL players. Most end up disappointing, but if just a few end up being useful, great.

You also have to look at people's criteria for rankings. He ranks them based on...

  • Highest ceiling at the NHL level, under 23 years old
  • Past season of play on their perspective team
  • Closest to seeing an NHL game with the Maple Leafs

The last qualifier, is probably quite different than most of us here. We've got a couple of D prospects, many would rank as higher upside than Niemela... but they aren't closer to seeing a NHL game... so they are ranked lower in his list.
 
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Hadn't realized Lucas Raymond and Mortiz Seider were both RFA's. Yzerman has some work to get done. Looks like they're not short on cap space to do it, though.
 
@Brock who's extremely knowledgeable when it comes to all things OHL ranks NHL affiliated prospects. Has Cowan ranked ahead of Ritchie, Musty, Dvorsky, Barlow etc.

Sure to ruffle a few main board feathers.

Top 25 OHL Prospects - Summer of 2024

The Memorial Cup and the NHL Draft are in the rear view mirror; everyone is in summer mode. That means it is time to update my annual Top OH...
ohlprospects.blogspot.com ohlprospects.blogspot.com
 
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Isaac Nootin said:
@Brock who's extremely knowledgeable when it comes to all things OHL ranks NHL affiliated prospects. Has Cowan ranked ahead of Ritchie, Musty, Dvorsky, Barlow etc.

Sure to ruffle a few main board feathers.

Top 25 OHL Prospects - Summer of 2024

The Memorial Cup and the NHL Draft are in the rear view mirror; everyone is in summer mode. That means it is time to update my annual Top OH...
ohlprospects.blogspot.com ohlprospects.blogspot.com
Click to expand...

Danford at 17 too
 
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""

I've never heard of them before, but they are opinions. They basically suggested that they've "heard" (from where?) Niemela is basically NHL ready, and might make Liljegren dispensable and on the trade block, if he comes in a performs well in camp and pre season.
 
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Fogelhund said:
""

I've never heard of them before, but they are opinions. They basically suggested that they've "heard" (from where?) Niemela is basically NHL ready, and might make Liljegren dispensable and on the trade block, if he comes in a performs well in camp and pre season.
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Or... hear me out... we keep both and stop signing people close to retirement.

At least on the bottom pairing, let a couple of the younger guys try to break the lineup instead of someone like Hakanpaa (hopefully he doesn't actually get signed).

Tanev will break down in a couple of years (at best) and we will be back to look for more RHDs.
 
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notbias said:
Or... hear me out... we keep both and stop signing people close to retirement.

At least on the bottom pairing, let a couple of the younger guys try to break the lineup instead of someone like Hakanpaa (hopefully he doesn't actually get signed).

Tanev will break down in a couple of years (at best) and we will be back to look for more RHDs.
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I get what you are saying... and don't necessarily disagree... but imagine not signing Tanev or Hakanpaa, and giving these guys a chance... and having a lineup of Rielly, Liljegren, Niemela, McCabe, OEL, Benoit..... it's just not good enough defensively, or physically. If we'd drafted a more diversified D group... sure... but we don't really need Niemela AND Liljegren... one likely isn't a Leaf at some point.
 
Fogelhund said:
I get what you are saying... and don't necessarily disagree... but imagine not signing Tanev or Hakanpaa, and giving these guys a chance... and having a lineup of Rielly, Liljegren, Niemela, McCabe, OEL, Benoit..... it's just not good enough defensively, or physically. If we'd drafted a more diversified D group... sure... but we don't really need Niemela AND Liljegren... one likely isn't a Leaf at some point.
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Hunter drafted enough large, no skill physical D for the next 20 years, just none of them worked.

I don't think Hakanpaa is a loss.

Tanev will be good for a short period of time, it'd be short sighted to give up on someone like Liljegren because of him.

Colorado doesn't need Toews, Makar, and Girard, they have enough small skilled D, but it seems to be working.
 
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notbias said:
Hunter drafted enough large, no skill physical D for the next 20 years, just none of them worked.

I don't think Hakanpaa is a loss.

Tanev will be good for a short period of time, it'd be short sighted to give up on someone like Liljegren because of him.

Colorado doesn't need Toews, Makar, and Girard, they have enough small skilled D, but it seems to be working.
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I don't think you give up on Liljegren for Tanev... but maybe you consider it if somehow Niemela shows up and is superior. Or maybe you try and keep both... who knows.

I'm kind of excited to see what Nick Mattinen is going to do for us. Given his size, and skating ability, he's kind of my defensive dark horse here. He'll start in the AHL, but it wouldn't shock me if we get injuries, if he gets a shot here.
 
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Fogelhund said:
I don't think you give up on Liljegren for Tanev... but maybe you consider it if somehow Niemela shows up and is superior. Or maybe you try and keep both... who knows.

I'm kind of excited to see what Nick Mattinen is going to do for us. Given his size, and skating ability, he's kind of my defensive dark horse here. He'll start in the AHL, but it wouldn't shock me if we get injuries, if he gets a shot here.
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I’m really hoping Mattinen can grab a spot with the leafs. Him and Grebby. I feel really excited to watch camp because there are spots up for grabs
 
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