Nikolaj Ehlers

[Whileee]

I like Armia's potential but it is an exaggeration to say he was 'terrific' with Rochester. In his 2nd AHL season he had 25 pts in 33 games with them. That is sub-terrific territory. For comparison O'Dell had 55 pts in 59 games in his 2nd AHL season and he was apparently never taken seriously as a prospect. I think Armia's time with Rochester last year could more accurately be described as 'adequate'.

O'Dell was a year older, and the issue with O'Dell was more related to the lack of translatable skills. Armia's 0.76 points / game is nice production. Also, his coach spoke glowingly of him, and Chevy said his scouts were very high on him. Maybe "terrific" is too strong a word, but all signs point to him being ready to make the jump if he is given that champ and comes to camp in great shape and with a lot of intensity.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

O'Dell was a year older, and the issue with O'Dell was more related to the lack of translatable skills. Armia's 0.76 points / game is nice production. Also, his coach spoke glowingly of him, and Chevy said his scouts were very high on him. Maybe "terrific" is too strong a word, but all signs point to him being ready to make the jump if he is given that champ and comes to camp in great shape and with a lot of intensity.

What? Goal scoring is not a translatable skill?

I get that a direct comparison between the 2 would need to look at more than just scoring stats. I use O'Dell as a kind of benchmark for AHL scoring level needed to induce excitement. Just a reality check.

Agree with the bolded. He is on my list of most likely rookies. He is really the only one listed for both top 9 vacancy and 4th line. Both Ehlers and Petan could play 4th line in some much less likely scenarios so I don't have them on my expectations list for the 4th.

I just have to take exceptions to the enthusiasm for his play in Rochester last year. It is being overstated IMO due to enthusiasm for the Buffalo trade and old fashioned homerism. Coaches' comments and scouting reports get filed in the same bin as draft position. Always nice to see but those things don't actually play the game. It is 'show me' time for Armia.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

We'll be right back with Part II. Stay tuned!

New thread is here: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1948409