Prospect Info: Marlies/Prospects Thread - 2021/22 PART II

[Mitch nylander]

That Braeden Kressler ELC is puzzling to me, .55 ppg in his draft +1 at 5"8 155. 9th on his team in scoring.
I'm all for drafting/signing small skilled players. But this one is puzzling to me. Those anyone know anything more about him?

That being said our other small skiller in Ty Voit is having a decent start to the season. Hopefully he keeps this up, and can be on USA's radar for next year.

 

[Prominence]

That Braeden Kressler ELC is puzzling to me, .55 ppg in his draft +1 at 5"8 155. 9th on his team in scoring.
I'm all for drafting/signing small skilled players. But this one is puzzling to me. Those anyone know anything more about him?

That being said our other small skiller in Ty Voit is having a decent start to the season. Hopefully he keeps this up, and can be on USA's radar for next year.

Kressler is all about defense and aggressive pk ability. Best pker in leafs system.

 

[Zine]

With all due respect, that was the exact same narrative the Russian coaching staff used with respect to Mikhail Abramov last year as well. They flat out refused to insert him into the lineup because of the alleged gaps in his 200 foot game. Only to be one of the more impactful players for Russia when he was eventually given the TOI. He was the only player on Russia that showed any push back when they got absolutely body bagged by Canada in the Semi's.

Canada does stupid shit like that all the time as well. They'll likely not use Bedard well enough or at all, and will put a struggling player in what could be a situation he would be better suited for.

I understand Zubov's logic, but it still isn't the best logic if you ask me. Ovchinikov is a better player than half of that Russian roster

Cmon man. Where are you getting this stuff?

Last year's Russian WJC team was purely offensive. Larionov tried to re-create 'beautiful soviet offense hockey' and it was a pathetic disaster. Canada crushed us.
Btw, Abramov was presumably scratched for unsteady and inconsistent play according to Larionov I just looked up. He described him as a kid on a swing.

Zubov's roster will more reflect a Valeri Bragin team. Good with the skills and 2-way, but also a team you're never gonna physically intimidate. Will it guarantee Gold? Of course not, but it won't be a team of Larionov pushovers either.
My big worry is how young our super-skilled 'go-to' guys are. Probably helps to explain the inclusion of feisty dudes like Tyutnev, Zinchenko, Didkovsky, etc.


Re: Ovchinnikov. I like him, good player. But it's unlikely he'd make the squad even if it was all skill-based. There are just better options than him; especially considering his mediocre international play this year. You can't keep living off last year's success. Few people (other than maybe Leaf fans) were overly surprised by his WJC camp omission. The bigger surprises were Poltapov and Fedotov not chosen. The 2003s are really deep.

 

[Lauro]

Stop posting facts and detailed information that doesn't fit the narrative plz, thx.

 

[Stigma]

Cmon man. Where are you getting this stuff?

Last year's Russian WJC team was purely offensive. Larionov tried to re-create 'beautiful soviet offense hockey' and it was a pathetic disaster. Canada crushed us.
Btw, Abramov was initially scratched for unsteady and inconsistent play (presumably in practice) according to Larionov I just looked up.

Zubov's roster will more reflect a Valeri Bragin team. Good with the skills and 2-way, but also a team you're never gonna physically intimidate. Will it guarantee Gold? Of course not, but it won't be a team of Larionov pushovers either.
My big worry is how young our super-skilled 'go-to' guys are. Probably helps to explain the inclusion of feisty dudes like Tyutnev, Zinchenko, Didkovsky, etc.


Re: Ovchinnikov. I like him, good player. But it's unlikely he'd make the squad even if it was all skill-based. There are just better options than him; especially considering his mediocre international play this year. You can't keep living off last year's success. Few people (other than maybe Leaf fans) were surprised by his WJC camp omission. The bigger surprises were Poltapov and Fedotov. The 2003s are really deep.

I just want to say, keep posting here! It's great hearing an opinion from a Russian guy who watches the KHL. It's informative and refreshing. Carry on......

 

[4thline]

Kressler is all about defense and aggressive pk ability. Best pker in leafs system.

That Braeden Kressler ELC is puzzling to me, .55 ppg in his draft +1 at 5"8 155. 9th on his team in scoring.
I'm all for drafting/signing small skilled players. But this one is puzzling to me. Those anyone know anything more about him?

That being said our other small skiller in Ty Voit is having a decent start to the season. Hopefully he keeps this up, and can be on USA's radar for next year.

56% at the dot (top 5-10 in the O among full time C's), lead pker on the best pk in the league. Not the kind of player you're picturing if you're thinking "small skilled player". Also, Flint has him listed at 5'9 175. The reach will be a disadvantage, but he's fast, tenacious, and strong on his feet.

 

[SprDaVE]

That Braeden Kressler ELC is puzzling to me, .55 ppg in his draft +1 at 5"8 155. 9th on his team in scoring.
I'm all for drafting/signing small skilled players. But this one is puzzling to me. Those anyone know anything more about him?

That being said our other small skiller in Ty Voit is having a decent start to the season. Hopefully he keeps this up, and can be on USA's radar for next year.

56% at the dot (top 5-10 in the O among full time C's), lead pker on the best pk in the league. Not the kind of player you're picturing if you're thinking "small skilled player". Also, Flint has him listed at 5'9 175. The reach will be a disadvantage, but he's fast, tenacious, and strong on his feet.

I think the Leafs took a gamble on a player that put up respectable numbers as a 16 year old, before the pandemic really stopped his draft year season.

While he is a terrific worker and skater, I think the Leafs definitely hoped he'd probably show a little more offense in his game so far. Either way, a well worth ELC gamble.

 

[Magic Man]

That Braeden Kressler ELC is puzzling to me, .55 ppg in his draft +1 at 5"8 155. 9th on his team in scoring.
I'm all for drafting/signing small skilled players. But this one is puzzling to me. Those anyone know anything more about him?

That being said our other small skiller in Ty Voit is having a decent start to the season. Hopefully he keeps this up, and can be on USA's radar for next year.

If I remember correctly, Voit only played one rookie tournament game this year for the Leafs because he looked like a child playing with men. Kressler was given 3 games, including a game on the top line and was the best invite in camp, he was all hustle.

Kressler if he can bring more offense could potentially be a gritty, energy shut down player. Voit is all offense and I don't think that will change. For him it will be can he bring enough offense to outweigh shortcomings in other areas of his game.

You have to sign your invite to an ELC or release them back to their junior league and they re-enter the draft next off-season. They simply took a swing with Kressler based on a short sample that doesn't look to be paying off so far. IMO in large part because he was the best invite and they lacked draft picks at his age group.

 

[4thline]

I think the Leafs took a gamble on a player that put up respectable numbers as a 16 year old, before the pandemic really stopped his draft year season.

While he is a terrific worker and skater, I think the Leafs definitely hoped he'd probably show a little more offense in his game so far. Either way, a well worth ELC gamble.

While that's no doubt true, I'm not ready to take that production at face value. Admittedly haven't been able to catch Flint, but there's something odd about a team's "3C" being far and away their FO leader. I know he started out higher in the lineup and it didn't click, but I get a vibe that Flint is playing above their head, and part of that is a coaching decision to lean heavy on Kressler to eat minutes and carry a pretty meh team when Othmann isn't on the ice, rather than play his two best guys together. Of course, you'd want to see him create his own offense, but maybe he's just not that kind of player.

 

[LeafChief]

That Braeden Kressler ELC is puzzling to me, .55 ppg in his draft +1 at 5"8 155. 9th on his team in scoring.
I'm all for drafting/signing small skilled players. But this one is puzzling to me. Those anyone know anything more about him?

That being said our other small skiller in Ty Voit is having a decent start to the season. Hopefully he keeps this up, and can be on USA's radar for next year.

I can't say I've watched him much this year but from a stat-watching perspective it does seem puzzling.

I would have much preferred Theo Rochette who they also had at dev. camp but he was released early so who knows what happened there.

Tucker Robertson is also an undrafted guy that likely gets picked in the first or second round in this coming draft. Getting a guy like that would have been huge. Hindsigh is always 20/20 though. Easy for me to say after the fact.

 

[4thline]

If I remember correctly, Voit only played one rookie tournament game this year for the Leafs because he looked like a child playing with men. Kressler was given 3 games, including a game on the top line and was the best invite in camp, he was all hustle.

Kressler if he can bring more offense could potentially be a gritty, energy shut down player. Voit is all offense and I don't think that will change. For him it will be can he bring enough offense to outweigh shortcomings in other areas of his game.

You have to sign your invite to an ELC or release them back to their junior league and they re-enter the draft next off-season. They simply took a swing with Kressler based on a short sample that doesn't look to be paying off so far. IMO in large part because he was the best invite and they lacked draft picks at his age group.

Remember it the same way. He wasn't particularly flashy, but didn't look small, and fully kept up with Steeves/Robertson and was adequate as the greasy/puckhound type 3rd wheel. Looked like he belonged at that level

 

[Zookeeper]

Remember it the same way. He wasn't particularly flashy, but didn't look small, and fully kept up with Steeves/Robertson and was adequate as the greasy/puckhound type 3rd wheel. Looked like he belonged at that level

Puckhound? Dare I say Hyman 2.0?

 

[Twine Tickler]

Cmon man. Where are you getting this stuff?

I watched the tournament just like everyone else on here... If Abramov resembled a kid on a swing, than what exactly did the rest of that team resemble to the Russian Hockey Federation?

it was a terrible assessment at the time, and still a terrible assessment now.

I fully understand other teams make questionable decisions all the time as well, and as I stated earlier Canada is equally, if not more so guilty of this type of political shit. It's the downside of having a large pool of players to choose from. The fact that Brandt Clarke was not even invited to Team Canada camp is 10x more ridiculous than Ovchinikov not being named to Russia's camp. So it is not exclusively Russia, far from it. The fact that coincidently there were 4 drafted players who play in North America, 2 of which would have been returnee's to the tournament, and were conveniently left off of Russia's lineup for undrafted 19 YO's is a bit alarming to me. If that does not sound the alarm bells for you, I don't know what to say. I really don't think the idea of there being some hidden agenda is all that far from being possible.

for the record, those same alarm bells are ringing for most Canadians with respect to the Brandt Clarke omission. These alarm bells also ring when you have the team Canada head coach refer to 16 year old Connor Bedard as not "dynamic offensively" after putting up 4 pts in 2 games at selection camp. This old school logic of this tournament needing a style of player or this tournament being a 19 year old tournament is such a stupid way to build the roster. Select the 23 best players, and manage the roster thereafter. There is always room for 1 or 2 heart and soul guys on any team, but to leave obvious talent off the ice seems ridiculous to me.

 

[thinkblue]

Any update on Robertson?

 

[Fogelhund]

Any update on Robertson?

Out a minimum of ten weeks, which takes us to 2022. Hopefully we hear something at the start of the new year.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Out a minimum of ten weeks, which takes us to 2022. Hopefully we hear something at the start of the new year.

Any concern the amount of time he’s missed these past few years could affect his development?

 

[Apex Predator]

Any concern the amount of time he’s missed these past few years could affect his development?

I’m a little concerned. A lot of people pencil him into the line up next year but I don’t know about that. He didn’t look NHL ready in the pre season. Lots of time in the new year to get games under his belt though so we’ll see how he looks.

 

[Fogelhund]

Any concern the amount of time he’s missed these past few years could affect his development?

I'd say of course there would be concern. Probably delays his development by a year now.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

There is a lot a young guy can learn while he is hurt. As long as the injury doesn't affect him long term, then it is likely not a big deal.

He trains like a fiend, so I am not worried about his physical development getting stunted by missing a few months, and I think a lot of what he needed to work on would not get delayed by this injury.

He is probably a good bet for the NHL next year, but it is going to be a competition regardless. We have Amirov, Anderson, and Steeves fighting for only one or two jobs... And that excludes any more UFA bargain bin signings.

 

[Twine Tickler]

I am a bit worried about Robertson. Not necessarily because I don't think he will make it eventually, but more so when he will eventually make it. As far as I am concerned the gaps in his game have not been able to work themselves out just due to injury and the pandemic. His shot is a joke, but he's gotta find a quieter brand of hockey. I feel like he could outwork guys in junior with ease, but it's just not that easy at the pro level. He needs to find ways to hang back in the play a bit more, and make quicker plays on the puck. I thought he improved with the Marlies this last year, but having no games this year is a total bummer. Especially when you consider Amirov is not getting much action either. Our 2 top prospects essentially have not played all year. Not good. I still think he will be fine, But holy f*** this guy can't catch a damn break. 2 serious leg injuries in under 365 days, WTF

murphy's law I guess

 

[Fogelhund]

 

[Judas Tavares]

There was a prospect mailbag in the Athletic which was interesting. It had a blurb about everyone's favourite coach Greg Moore. And a lot of other things.

But the part I want to mention was somebody asked which prospects were potentially untouchable in trades. Amirov and Niemela were specifically mentioned, I'm sure most would also consider Robertson and Knies fairly untouchable as well. The name that was brought up as a potential mover was Hirvonen. Just on the basis that he is a well-regarded prospect but not a blue chipper, but a good WJC could sort of bring his status up enough that he would be an attractive piece to other teams, but also not an end of the world piece to move from the Leafs standpoint.

I found that interesting as well, just because I have Amirov/Robertson/Niemela/Knies as a tier of their own and would hope to somehow keep them. I have no issues dipping into tier 2, and I consider Hirvonen at the top of that tier.

 

[SprDaVE]

There was a prospect mailbag in the Athletic which was interesting. It had a blurb about everyone's favourite coach Greg Moore. And a lot of other things.

But the part I want to mention was somebody asked which prospects were potentially untouchable in trades. Amirov and Niemela were specifically mentioned, I'm sure most would also consider Robertson and Knies fairly untouchable as well. The name that was brought up as a potential mover was Hirvonen. Just on the basis that he is a well-regarded prospect but not a blue chipper, but a good WJC could sort of bring his status up enough that he would be an attractive piece to other teams, but also not an end of the world piece to move from the Leafs standpoint.

I found that interesting as well, just because I have Amirov/Robertson/Niemela/Knies as a tier of their own and would hope to somehow keep them. I have no issues dipping into tier 2, and I consider Hirvonen at the top of that tier.

Makes perfect sense and I would agree about using Hirvonen as a trade chip. I'm not as high on Hirvonen as other peeps but definitely a pretty good B prospect.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander
Micheyev - Kampf -Kase
Ritchie - Spezza - Simmonds
Clifford

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Liljegren
Sandin - Dermott

Campbell/Mrazek

I may be alone on this, but I really don't see a ton of holes in this lineup. I genuinely feel like that is a roster that can compete for a Stanley Cup. I am totally fine moving futures, Hirvonen included, but It would really have to make our team immediately better IMO. I left Holl/Engvall out of this lineup as that is the likely money to go out the door if/when we eventually make a trade. I think if I see any possibility to upgrade it would be 2nd pair RD to slot Lilly back with Sandin, and Dermott as our 7D. But again, I am not sure what a package of Holl, Hirvonen and Draft pick gets you TBH.

I am usually not in favor of rentals. If we could somehow swing a Muzzin like deal where we get 2 years with 50% retention I would be willing to be aggressive with a futures heavy offer. Kyle usually doesn't trade for pure rentals, last year being the only exception. But that was understandable given the looming Seattle Expansion.

Will be interesting to see what they end up doing, I really don't have a target in mind. But definitely open to Hirvonen being the prospect to go. Nothing against him, I like him as a player, I just don't know if I see the superstar upside.

 

[hockeynorth]

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Kerfoot - Tavares - Nylander
Micheyev - Kampf -Kase
Ritchie - Spezza - Simmonds
Clifford

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Liljegren
Sandin - Dermott

Campbell/Mrazek

I may be alone on this, but I really don't see a ton of holes in this lineup. I genuinely feel like that is a roster that can compete for a Stanley Cup. I am totally fine moving futures, Hirvonen included, but It would really have to make our team immediately better IMO. I left Holl/Engvall out of this lineup as that is the likely money to go out the door if/when we eventually make a trade. I think if I see any possibility to upgrade it would be 2nd pair RD to slot Lilly back with Sandin, and Dermott as our 7D. But again, I am not sure what a package of Holl, Hirvonen and Draft pick gets you TBH.

I am usually not in favor of rentals. If we could somehow swing a Muzzin like deal where we get 2 years with 50% retention I would be willing to be aggressive with a futures heavy offer. Kyle usually doesn't trade for pure rentals, last year being the only exception. But that was understandable given the looming Seattle Expansion.

Will be interesting to see what they end up doing, I really don't have a target in mind. But definitely open to Hirvonen being the prospect to go. Nothing against him, I like him as a player, I just don't know if I see the superstar upside.

I don't think there are many holes at all, the weak link is MAYBE the #4 dman slot, but even then it is fine