Prospect Info: Marlies/Prospects Thread - 2021/22

[crump]

Gophers move on to Frozen 4
Gophers shut out Western Michigan 3-0 to earn berth in Frozen Four

 

[TMLAM34]

Knies is looking real f***ing good…

 

[stickty111]

 

[BertCorbeau]

It's cliche but it would be awesome to see Knies lead his team to a 'ship ... that 'winner' mentality can go a long way in a guy's development, especially when they're the key guy stepping up.

 

[Future]

It's cliche but it would be awesome to see Knies lead his team to a 'ship ... that 'winner' mentality can go a long way in a guy's development, especially when they're the key guy stepping up.

100%

Caufield took all his momentum from the college hockey playoffs last year into the NHL and ended up being Montreal’s X-Factor. Would be fantastic if Knies could be that guy for us.

 

[riffle]

Happy for Knies and Ski-U-Mah but that win set his clock back at least 10 days in signing with the Leafs. They're running out of season to get a look at him IF he signs.

Gophers next game is April 7th. Would've been nice to have him and Abruzzese at the same time. Who does this kid think he is winning in the playoffs like this?

 

[stickty111]

Here are the playoff series for our prospects, and their stats in the series and entire playoffs. I will add and updates series for each league as they start
Updated Saturday March 26th
Games today

Game 4: Irbis wins 2-0
Series tied 2-2
Peksa 19 save shutout

MHL
2nd Round (best of 5)
Chaika(2) vs Irbis(5)
Series tied 2-2
V. Peksa (Irbis)
Series:
GP 4 GAA 2.16 SV% .900 SO 1
Playoffs
GP 7 GAA 1.58 SV% .924 SO 2
Regular Season
GP 56 GAA 1.79 SV% .936 SO 9

Notes:
Irbis has come back from 2-0 down and forced a deciding game 5.

 

[stickty111]

Here are the playoff series for our prospects, and their stats in the series and entire playoffs. I will add and updates series for each league as they start
Updated Sunday March 27th
Games today

Game 1: Ilvis wins 5-1
Ilvis leads 1-0

Game 1: TPS Turko wins 2-0
TPS Turko leads 1-0

MHL
2nd Round (best of 5)
Chaika(2) vs Irbis(5)
Series tied 2-2
V. Peksa (Irbis)
Series:
GP 4 GAA 2.16 SV% .900 SO 1
Playoffs
GP 7 GAA 1.58 SV% .924 SO 2
Regular Season
GP 56 GAA 1.79 SV% .936 SO 9

Liga
1st Round (best of 7)
Ilvis(3) vs Karpat(6)
Ilvis leads 1-0
Topi Niemela (Karpat)
Series:
GP 1 Goals Assists Points
Playoffs:
GP 1 Goals Assists Points
Regular season:
GP: 48 Goals: 10 Assists: 22 Points: 32

1st Round (best of 7)
TPS Turko(4) vs IFK(5)
TPS Turko leads 1-0
Roni Hirvonen (IFK)
Series:
GP 1 Goals Assists Points
Playoffs:
GP 1 Goals Assists Points
Regular season:
GP: 46 Goals: 9 Assists: 17 Points: 26

 

[Twine Tickler]

It's cliche but it would be awesome to see Knies lead his team to a 'ship ... that 'winner' mentality can go a long way in a guy's development, especially when they're the key guy stepping up.

At this point, he is already in the frozen 4. There is really no reason to not cheer for him to win it all. I was secretly happy when Harvard lost because it meant Abruzzese would be available to us earlier, but now that Knies has made it to the final weekend of the Tournament, I'd rather him play it all the way through vs. arriving to the Leafs 2-3 days earlier (potentially).

What has been so encouraging is that he is seemingly playing his best stretch of hockey when it matters the most. I unfortunately was not able to see the games, but every time I'd log into my twitter it was a new highlight of either Knies scoring a goal or him destroying another player. This kid is a freshman and he plays with that level of confidence. It's actually insane.

I continually find myself pinching myself when it comes to Knies. We could not have hand crafted a more suitable prospect to fit our organizational needs right now. The fact that he looks ready for the NHL already is just a bonus.

I know I live in a Leafs bubble and admittedly pay very little attention to other prospects, but has there been another 2021 drafted prospect that has had that level of ascension? Rare to see a mid 2nd rounder look NHL ready this early post draft.

regardless, it really is hard to believe that 3 of our top 4 prospects were selected beyond pick 50 (Niemela, Robertson, Knies). I know it doesn't necessarily work this way, but that is why I was so adamant about us keeping our 1st rounder this season. If our staff can do that sort of damage beyond pick 50, which they are continuing to prove year after year, lets give them an opportunity to strike gold in that 1st round. Even if it means doing a vintage Kyle Dubas draft day trade back for a later 1st and another pick.

 

[LeafChief]

At this point, he is already in the frozen 4. There is really no reason to not cheer for him to win it all. I was secretly happy when Harvard lost because it meant Abruzzese would be available to us earlier, but now that Knies has made it to the final weekend of the Tournament, I'd rather him play it all the way through vs. arriving to the Leafs 2-3 days earlier (potentially).

What has been so encouraging is that he is seemingly playing his best stretch of hockey when it matters the most. I unfortunately was not able to see the games, but every time I'd log into my twitter it was a new highlight of either Knies scoring a goal or him destroying another player. This kid is a freshman and he plays with that level of confidence. It's actually insane.

I continually find myself pinching myself when it comes to Knies. We could not have hand crafted a more suitable prospect to fit our organizational needs right now. The fact that he looks ready for the NHL already is just a bonus.

I know I live in a Leafs bubble and admittedly pay very little attention to other prospects, but has there been another 2021 drafted prospect that has had that level of ascension? Rare to see a mid 2nd rounder look NHL ready this early post draft.

regardless, it really is hard to believe that 3 of our top 4 prospects were selected beyond pick 50 (Niemela, Robertson, Knies). I know it doesn't necessarily work this way, but that is why I was so adamant about us keeping our 1st rounder this season. If our staff can do that sort of damage beyond pick 50, which they are continuing to prove year after year, lets give them an opportunity to strike gold in that 1st round. Even if it means doing a vintage Kyle Dubas draft day trade back for a later 1st and another pick.

Ottawa picked this guy 10th OVERALL, which is fun.

 

[weems]

At this point, he is already in the frozen 4. There is really no reason to not cheer for him to win it all. I was secretly happy when Harvard lost because it meant Abruzzese would be available to us earlier, but now that Knies has made it to the final weekend of the Tournament, I'd rather him play it all the way through vs. arriving to the Leafs 2-3 days earlier (potentially).

What has been so encouraging is that he is seemingly playing his best stretch of hockey when it matters the most. I unfortunately was not able to see the games, but every time I'd log into my twitter it was a new highlight of either Knies scoring a goal or him destroying another player. This kid is a freshman and he plays with that level of confidence. It's actually insane.

I continually find myself pinching myself when it comes to Knies. We could not have hand crafted a more suitable prospect to fit our organizational needs right now. The fact that he looks ready for the NHL already is just a bonus.

I know I live in a Leafs bubble and admittedly pay very little attention to other prospects, but has there been another 2021 drafted prospect that has had that level of ascension? Rare to see a mid 2nd rounder look NHL ready this early post draft.

regardless, it really is hard to believe that 3 of our top 4 prospects were selected beyond pick 50 (Niemela, Robertson, Knies). I know it doesn't necessarily work this way, but that is why I was so adamant about us keeping our 1st rounder this season. If our staff can do that sort of damage beyond pick 50, which they are continuing to prove year after year, lets give them an opportunity to strike gold in that 1st round. Even if it means doing a vintage Kyle Dubas draft day trade back for a later 1st and another pick.

Dubas and his scouts are extremely good at drafting players that have fallen due to some perceived weakness (Size/Skating).

Drafting might be one of the areas where analytics can exploit the most when certain teams pass on good players because of bias.

Knies skating was the biggest question mark at draft time from what I can remember and it doesnt appear like it's anywhere close to an issue and he's big and has good agility and that usually means he can still get more explosive as he develops.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Dubas and his scouts are extremely good at drafting players that have fallen due to some perceived weakness (Size/Skating).

Drafting might be one of the areas where analytics can exploit the most when certain teams pass on good players because of bias.

Knies skating was the biggest question mark at draft time from what I can remember and it doesnt appear like it's anywhere close to an issue and he's big and has good agility and that usually means he can still get more explosive as he develops.

Yup that has been Kyle DUbas' bread and butter since taking over. Even when you look at guys like Voit, Robertson, Neimela, Miettenen, Ovchinikov, Abruzzese...etc they all follow that same model. High end talent with 1 or more glaring weaknesses. Usually that weakness has been size, much to the chagrin to the anti-Dubas crowd.

But the truth of the matter is, those undersized players are historically the ones that are slept on the most. Even still to this day. Unless you are a player that is drafted from an inferior league a la Tverberg, there is almost no way a guy with size and skill falls to a place where Knies did. But seeing as though Knies was selected out of the USHL, I don't know if I see that as an inferior league really. It's been a breeding ground for American NCAA bound talent for a while now.

Someone mentioned Tyler Boucher in this thread, and that kind of goes to show just how bad teams still value size and where they played. The USNDTP has a great reputation, and it 100% factors into some players rankings. I knew nothing about Knies when we selected him, but I do remember being shocked that 56 selections were made prior to him when you consider the rare combination that Knies has. Skating was the "red flag", but it's not like this guy didn't make up for it in every possible way. I've been able to watch a decent enough of his games since we selected him. Enough to formulate an actual opinion. And his skating just lacks explosiveness out of the gate. But when he gets wheeling, and has the room to generate speed, his top gear is actually pretty fast. He's got the drive and motor to always keep those legs churning, so his "poor skating" doesn't get exposed as much as it probably should. When he receives the puck from a stand still he's never going to separate himself from his opponent, but there are not many guys that can do that.

He's just a unique talent, and I am so thankful he is Leafs property. Can he have a better mentor than Auston Matthews? Matt Knies was just meant to be a Leaf IMO

 

[Prominence]

What helped in drafting niemela was that he played all his games except 1 in the liiga so scouts only saw niemela trying to keep his job by playing very conservatively as he was perceived as a defensive dman. Niemela most likely didn’t showcase any of his offense.

Knies showed odd mobility and was too much a volume shooter in the ushl. Where scouts may have failed is that knies had covid and did not account for this much like when liljegren fell to 17 in 2017 due to mono. Also his teammates were not that great in hindsight.

The scouts exhibit critical thinking and downplay bias better than a lot of teams.

As much as I like to s*** on boucher, there may have been a chance that some prospects refused to be selected by ottawa and therefore ottawa was forced select to boucher (it happens in junior a lot).

 

[Borschevsky]

Boucher is just the Sens version of Tyler Biggs

Albeit at a worse slot to be picked at

 

[Twine Tickler]

As much as I like to s*** on boucher, there may have been a chance that some prospects refused to be selected by ottawa and therefore ottawa was forced select to boucher (it happens in junior a lot).

I donno if there were that many players that would have said no to going to OTT. They wanted the player, they paid a high price to get him.

It was eerily reminiscent of the Frederic Gaulthier selection for us. We selected a player with higher NHL projectability but little to no upside. I never understood those type of selections in the 1st round. Hell I don't really understand those selections ever. IMO you draft to hit home runs. You acquire role players via free agency. Kase, Kampf, and Micheyev are all players that were acquired at zero cost to our draft capital. I'd much rather miss on a Bracco style talent vs get 100 games of shit hockey from Freddy Gaulthier. Because at the end of the day, Freddy is easily replaceable, and the more you try and hit a home run, the more often you will land a Niemela, Robertson or Knies.

Tyler Boucher was a terrible selection at 10 OA. It was the day it was made, and it is only looking worse with each passing day

 

[uncleben]

Ottawa picked this guy 10th OVERALL, which is fun.

View attachment 522904

Most aggregate rankings had him ~50th lol
I remember getting a good kick seeing Ottawa taking him 10th

But, apparently Ottawa uses a completely different and unique scouting model which is why they consistently take off the board picks
Sanderson, while not entirely a stretch at 5th was aggregate ranked around 11, Bernard-Docker was not expected to go first round, Tychonick in the second...

We need to give it a few more years to see how bad of an idea it was for top picks, but it seems to be doing alright for later rounds, Formenton, Batherson, and guys like Guenette, Sogaard, and Pinto looking like they have some potential


But that Boucher pick, still...

 

[AuraSphere]

Any opinions on Joseph Duszak? 24 YO seems to be going PPG in the AHL - any reason why maybe he wouldn't have been given a chance yet?

 

[SprDaVE]

Any opinions on Joseph Duszak? 24 YO seems to be going PPG in the AHL - any reason why maybe he wouldn't have been given a chance yet?

He's a good skater with good offensive tools but not much of a defenseman. Very much TJ Brennan in that sense, although Brennan was not a good skater.

Duszak was made a forward for awhile and he looked good there as well. I think it's a little too late for the Leafs to give him a shot, but a rebuilding team should easily give him a shot.

 

[Fogelhund]

Any opinions on Joseph Duszak? 24 YO seems to be going PPG in the AHL - any reason why maybe he wouldn't have been given a chance yet?

No space on our team, and as @SprDaVE mentions, he's all offense, not that great at D. He likely gets moved in the offseason, and given a chance elsewhere.

 

[Magic Man]

Any opinions on Joseph Duszak? 24 YO seems to be going PPG in the AHL - any reason why maybe he wouldn't have been given a chance yet?

He's got a small touch of rat in him. But, he's physically weak in battles and doesn't provide much in the way of physical contact. He would not work out well at the next level defensively.

He's an AHL allstar. I don't think he sees much NHL time in his career.

 

[stickty111]

Here are the playoff series for our prospects, and their stats in the series and entire playoffs. I will add and updates series for each league as they start
Updated Monday March 27th
Games today

Game 2: Ilvis wins 2-1 in OT
Ilvis leads 2-0

MHL
2nd Round (best of 5)
Chaika(2) vs Irbis(5)
Series tied 2-2
V. Peksa (Irbis)
Series:
GP 4 GAA 2.16 SV% .900 SO 1
Playoffs
GP 7 GAA 1.58 SV% .924 SO 2
Regular Season
GP 56 GAA 1.79 SV% .936 SO 9

Liga
1st Round (best of 7)
Ilvis(3) vs Karpat(6)
Ilvis leads 2-0
Topi Niemela (Karpat)
Series:
GP 2 Goals Assists Points
Playoffs:
GP 2 Goals Assists Points
Regular season:
GP: 48 Goals: 10 Assists: 22 Points: 32

1st Round (best of 7)
TPS Turko(4) vs IFK(5)
TPS Turko leads 1-0
Roni Hirvonen (IFK)
Series:
GP 1 Goals Assists Points
Playoffs:
GP 1 Goals Assists Points
Regular season:
GP: 46 Goals: 9 Assists: 17 Points: 26

 

[SprDaVE]

 

[kerk]

marlies signed a guy

 

[Fogelhund]

marlies signed a guy

Marshall Rifai at eliteprospects.com

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Marshall Rifai, 1998-03-16 Beaconsfield, QC, CAN Canada. Most recently in the AHL with Toronto Marlies. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

He's too big.. why are we signing guys over 5'10"?

 

[dubplatepressure]

He's a good skater with good offensive tools but not much of a defenseman. Very much TJ Brennan in that sense, although Brennan was not a good skater.

Duszak was made a forward for awhile and he looked good there as well. I think it's a little too late for the Leafs to give him a shot, but a rebuilding team should easily give him a shot.

TJ Brennan was an AHL force though. Not often you find defensemen that can do both PPG AND 100+ PIM seasons in the AHL. He's only 32 even now lol