Prospect Info: Marlies/Prospects Thread

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

He's easily our #5 prospect imo



He's a winger imo, I'd be shocked if he's a center at higher levels

I wouldn't guarantee it, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if he ends up a center. I think he checks a lot of boxes that you'd want in an NHL center and doesn't have anything that I think will really hold him back

 

[kb]

That's shades of Robertson right there.

 

[Kiwi]

I wouldn't guarantee it, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if he ends up a center. I think he checks a lot of boxes that you'd want in an NHL center and doesn't have anything that I think will really hold him back

I think his major strength is his ability to transition the puck up ice but when he's doing it he ends up in the wing position a lot, much like Nylander which is one of the major reasons he ended up on the wing imo

I think he ends up on the wing because it makes the best use of his strengths

 

[stickty111]

I think his major strength is his ability to transition the puck up ice but when he's doing it he ends up in the wing position a lot, much like Nylander which is one of the major reasons he ended up on the wing imo

I think he ends up on the wing because it makes the best use of his strengths

See I don't know about that. He has a lot more transition ability playing centre, plus his defensive game and faceoff ability is decent that he can stick there.

 

[nobody]

I guess I'm late to the party but just saw on twitter that Mikhail Abramov indeed is going to be playing for team Russia in the WJC. If he gets that chance and he will quite easily make it, he's probably looking at perhaps a top line C slot for the Russians. Meaning we could potentially witness a Abramov - Amirov duo for the first time at the WJC. Very exciting!

 

[stickty111]

Could have 3 points pretty easily.

 

[Kiwi]

See I don't know about that. He has a lot more transition ability playing centre, plus his defensive game and faceoff ability is decent that he can stick there.

If he's going to stick at center he's going to have to change how he plays offensively, he spends a lot of his time in transition on the wing rather than the middle of the ice which is going to need sorting out

He can still take draws and be strong defensively but he doesn't need to be a center to do that

Way easier to just flip him across to the wing

 

[Canada4Gold]

Excited to see Abramov finally playing and scoring again. That layoff seemed forever.

 

[stickty111]

If he's going to stick at center he's going to have to change how he plays offensively, he spends a lot of his time in transition on the wing rather than the middle of the ice which is going to need sorting out

He can still take draws and be strong defensively but he doesn't need to be a center to do that

Way easier to just flip him across to the wing

Agree to disagree. I don't want to limit a player's upside just because of one thing. I see a centre in him.
Remember when we flipped Kadri to wing, and he wasn't as effective as he was at centre. Lets say we kept him at wing, and we lost a #2 centre. Abramov is also a lot better defensively then Kadri was at that age.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

If he's going to stick at center he's going to have to change how he plays offensively, he spends a lot of his time in transition on the wing rather than the middle of the ice which is going to need sorting out

He can still take draws and be strong defensively but he doesn't need to be a center to do that

Way easier to just flip him across to the wing

Playing wing would be easier, but a lot less rewarding. If he's strong in the middle of the ice in his own end and the offensive end, it doesn't really bother me if he tends to transport the puck up the wings in the neutral zone. He already does drive the net, he just needs to find a bit more consistency

 

[kk87]

Abramov is another prospect that I wasn't very high on when we drafted him, but after I saw him at the rookie tournament in Michigan last year, it was very hard not to be impressed. He ended up turning that into an incredible season, and now he has me very excited as a prospect.

I don't know if he makes it to the NHL as a center, but if his game can translate to the wing, we might have a player on our hands.

That draft in general, our first 4 picks are all SMASHING their draft rankings and would all go much higher in a re-draft today.

Robertson
Kokkonen
Abramov
Abruzzese

Interestingly, I thought Kokkonen was the biggest steal of the four at the time he was drafted, and he's stagnated while the other three have taken off (to varying degrees). Still think he can be a good player, but hasn't quite taken the same strides as the rest of the draft class.

 

[Kiwi]

Agree to disagree. I don't want to limit a player's upside just because of one thing. I see a centre in him.
Remember when we flipped Kadri to wing, and he wasn't as effective as he was at centre. Lets say we kept him at wing, and we lost a #2 centre. Abramov is also a lot better defensively then Kadri was at that age.

I think we would be able to get more out of him on the wing so I don't think you would be limiting him, he'd be more valuable as a 20 minute a night top 6 2-way winger than a 15 minute a night 3rd line center (best case scenario), much like Nylander

He's not going to be a 2C with Tavares and Matthews in front of him and he doesn't play like Kadri who tended to stay in the middle of the ice rather than the wing offensively

Playing wing would be easier, but a lot less rewarding. If he's strong in the middle of the ice in his own end and the offensive end, it doesn't really bother me if he tends to transport the puck up the wings in the neutral zone. He already does drive the net, he just needs to find a bit more consistency

The problem is somebody needs to be in the middle of the ice, that's usually your center or somebody that can cover that position for him and at that point he may as well just be the winger

 

[stickty111]

I think we would be able to get more out of him on the wing so I don't think you would be limiting him, he'd be more valuable as a 20 minute a night top 6 2-way winger than a 15 minute a night 3rd line center (best case scenario), much like Nylander

He's not going to be a 2C with Tavares and Matthews in front of him and he doesn't play like Kadri who tended to stay in the middle of the ice rather than the wing offensively



The problem is somebody needs to be in the middle of the ice, that's usually your center or somebody that can cover that position for him and at that point he may as well just be the winger

He could be the 3rd line C and still get PP time. Your looking at 16-18 minutes then. The top 6 winger doesn't work if he isn't getting good at it. It's not fair to assume he could transition to wing easily.

 

[Kiwi]

He could be the 3rd line C and still get PP time. Your looking at 16-18 minutes then. The top 6 winger doesn't work if he isn't getting good at it. It's not fair to assume he could transition to wing easily.

Wing is a far easier position to play, you can point to a few guys who can't move from center to wing but there's players for days the other way around

If he's playing for us he's probably not going to get a lot of PP time, keefe seemed to like giving his #1 unit a ton of minutes and our #2nd unit has tended to blow

I could see him breaking in on the wing then sliding over to center eventually but if he's as good as I think he is I believe they will want him in the top 6 which means wing

 

[leafs rule 11]

How bad was that one shift damn lol

I once played a game where I was called up to a playoff game for the highest house league team that year...I think I played 2 or 3 shifts and sat on the bench....but I scored the gwg with like 2mins left...and this was house league hockey lol!!

 

[stickty111]

Wing is a far easier position to play, you can point to a few guys who can't move from center to wing but there's players for days the other way around

If he's playing for us he's probably not going to get a lot of PP time, keefe seemed to like giving his #1 unit a ton of minutes and our #2nd unit has tended to blow

I could see him breaking in on the wing then sliding over to center eventually but if he's as good as I think he is I believe they will want him in the top 6 which means wing

I think for him there are more arguments for playing centre then for playing wing. We'll see.

 

[Cor]

Abramov is another prospect that I wasn't very high on when we drafted him, but after I saw him at the rookie tournament in Michigan last year, it was very hard not to be impressed. He ended up turning that into an incredible season, and now he has me very excited as a prospect.

I don't know if he makes it to the NHL as a center, but if his game can translate to the wing, we might have a player on our hands.

That draft in general, our first 4 picks are all SMASHING their draft rankings and would all go much higher in a re-draft today.

Robertson
Kokkonen
Abramov
Abruzzese

Almost like drafting for skill and IQ works!

 

[LeafChief]

Almost like drafting for skill and IQ works!

Need #size though.

 

[Fogelhund]

Need #size though.

As we've seen, we can bring in size through free agency, or trades.

 

[Cor]

Need #size though.

Need more Mattinen’s and Middleton’s!

Shore up the AHL depth

 

[LeafChief]

As we've seen, we can bring in size through free agency, or trades.

I was being sarcastic, sir.

 

[LeafChief]

In a stroke of brilliance, I have created the new Kotkaniemi thread on the prospects board. Now every time this thread is clicked, Habs fans will need to look at my Leafs avatar.

Shower me with your likes.

 

[Sinkkunaattori]

Kokkonen and Rindell's team having a rough night, down 9-0 after 2 periods...
Was laughing at this pylon on Lundell's goal then realized it was Kokkonen


Goalies' swiss cheese and they're the worst team in the league but come on man.

 

[Morgs]

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

even if those odds are too generous, finding players with even a 50% chance of being an NHL player in the 4th and 5th rounds is some excellent drafting. I hope Dubas is here for a long, long time