Still have lots of agitator types out there. Maybe a more modern comparison to Bunting. Granted once you get a rep the refs start to target you and L'Heureux would probably have a rep before stepping onto NHL ice.
Prospect Info: Offseason Prospect Ranking #9
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Viqsi
"that chick from Ohio"
I'm just too used to seeing "depth guy is called up to a depth role, plays depth role well, is suddenly penciled in as More Than Depth Role and is abruptly labeled a horrible failure when it becomes clear that he was still a depth guy all along". So I hesitate.
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Agitator types are what I was talking about w/r/t psychological warfare. I'm just not convinced he can control himself well enough quickly enough. I'm hoping for the best for him, as a person and as a Pred, but...
Will have a much better idea after next season. Hopefully being some additional vet leadership and closer coordination with predators affiliated staff can keep him on the straight and narrow.I'm just too used to seeing "depth guy is called up to a depth role, plays depth role well, is suddenly penciled in as More Than Depth Role and is abruptly labeled a horrible failure when it becomes clear that he was still a depth guy all along". So I hesitate.
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Agitator types are what I was talking about w/r/t psychological warfare. I'm just not convinced he can control himself well enough quickly enough. I'm hoping for the best for him, as a person and as a Pred, but...
Legionnaire11
Registered User
That and being in a league where he's considered slightly undersized and plenty of opponents (and possibly teammates) will have no problems putting him in his place. He has shown some really great skill since being drafted, if he's humbled a bit physically at the pro level and focuses more on his hockey skills he could be a really great asset.
Not a believer in Prokop. He really needs to show some development this year to stay on track. He had a "good year" statistically but in context of his competition it would not be considered on track.
Stastney has flown under the radar for a while now, but continues to be steady at each opportunity. I think guys like that get overlooked a lot, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, his skating and explosiveness in his first few strides really is high level. That could be enough to propel him into a regular bottom 6 guy.
Edit: Can we add last years rankings. I'd be curious how opinions have changed.
Porter Stoutheart
We Got Wood
- Jun 14, 2017
- 14,996
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Looks like we ran out of gas at #16?
1. Yaroslav Askarov (69.7%)
2. Joakim Kemell (52.8%)
3. Luke Evangelista (42.4%)
4. Fedor Svechkov (41.7%)
5. Zachary L'Heureux (50.0%)
6. Juuso Pärssinen (65.5%)
7. Egor Afanasyev (77.8%)
8. Luke Prokop (40.0%)
9. Semyon Chistyakov (50.0%)
10. Ryan Ufko (40.9%)
11. Adam Ingram (29.4%)
12. Markus Nurmi (38.5%)
13. Marc Del Gaizo (40.0%)
14. Simon Knak (46.7%)
15. Kasper Kulonummi (61.5%)
16. Anton Olsson
AintLifeGrand
Burnin Jet-A
Prokop isnt a top 20 prospect IMO. Despite his novel lifestyle announcement , Nothing he has done has shown he is a serious or projectible NHL prospect.
Great human interest story, bad prospect.
Great human interest story, bad prospect.
Porter Stoutheart
We Got Wood
- Jun 14, 2017
- 14,996
- 11,368
I understand why we had Prokop ranked highly... he was a bit of a novelty in our system, finally a very large D, and his last season in Edmonton was very good, he had more of an offensive role, and scored very well in their playoff run. A guy who runs 6'5-6'6 and 225 on D, with that kind of season, that was a fairly natural "peak" in our hopes for him. Little did we know, he turned out to be unable to transition to the pros, and then didn't really take any steps forward with an overage junior year. So, fair enough, he's not going to make our list this year at all, and has a pretty big uphill battle ahead of him. That's pretty much the way it goes with the majority of prospects in our rankings over the years. They hit a peak after some good year, then gradually fade away into oblivion.
Predsanddead24
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- Mar 7, 2019
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He played 8 games in the ECHL last season before he got sent back down to juniors. I believe the word was he wasn't particularly impressive in those games either (1g,0a,-12). The Norfolk Admirals who he was playing for were the worst team in the league last season though so who knows how much to read into it. Definitely overall took a step back last season either way though.
He played 8 ECHL games with 1 goal and a -12 before being sent back to juniors. Of course +/- isn't a great stat but still ugly.
I agree his track isn't encouraging, but hey, big defensemen do tend to take a year or so longer than other players.
Porter Stoutheart
We Got Wood
- Jun 14, 2017
- 14,996
- 11,368
And assuming he's in Atlanta next season (the Milwaukee D is very crowded... unless the Preds carry somebody as a #8)... that could be a pretty huge D group down there...
maplepred
Go Preds Go!!
- Aug 14, 2011
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I loved this draft we just had. But two prospects out of this draft getting majorly overhyped I feel are Molendyk and Nilsson. Nilsson was ranked as a late third rounder by central scouting and hockey news didn’t even rank him in their top 90.
I definitely feel we got better prospects than him this draft with guys like kiiskanen, Lind, Mackinnon.
I have Nilsson ranked at 21 overall in our prospect pool:
I definitely feel we got better prospects than him this draft with guys like kiiskanen, Lind, Mackinnon.
I have Nilsson ranked at 21 overall in our prospect pool:
- Askarov
- Wood
- Kemmel
- Evangelista
- Tomasino
- Parssinen
- Svechkov
- Schaefer
- L’Heureux
- Molendyk
- Matier
- Chistyakov
- Ufko
- Lind
- Kiiskinen
- Mackinnon
- Kulonummi
- Stastney
- Afanasyev
- Burke
- Nilsson
Viqsi
"that chick from Ohio"
EliteProspects had him as a mid-to-high 2nd rounder. (#41 in their list; Lind was #44.) They had Molendyk at #39, but I like him a bit more mostly because of the whole "shut down Connor Bedard" thing.
Even then id expect him to be in atlanta so he gets alot of playing time.
Predsanddead24
Registered User
- Mar 7, 2019
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The pre-draft rankings are all well and good, but I also think that the draft itself are the best rankings. We "reached" for Molendyk and traded up for Nilsson so that suggests to me that our management thought those guys were going to be gone before we had the chance to pick them, which would indicate that these lists may have had them underranked. Maybe our management was way off base and they didn't need to do that, but it at least tells us how our staff viewed the situation.
Although really most of the draft value charts indicate that by the time you get to the late first round the difference get pretty small between players so it does really come down to personal preference in a lot of ways.
I'm not surprised Molendyk stood out in camp as he's a great skater and that tends to pop as one of the first things you notice about a guy. But he's very much an unfinished project. Will be interesting to see where his game goes as his skating gives him potential at both ends but the production hasn't jumped off the page yet.
Edgework
Registered User
- Jun 22, 2023
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The Athletic’s Cory Pronman’s last pre-draft ranking had Molendyk 25th and Nilsson 48th, which is right in line with where they went.
He also had:
Lind 60
Fink 70 (!!)
Kiiskanen 80
Mackinnon 91
The Athletic’s other scout, Wheeler, had
wood 10
molendyk 42
kiiskanen 59
Lind 62
fink 73 (!!)
Nilsson 75
Which is more in line with what you’re talking about wrt those two.
Hockey draft rankings don’t seem to have much consensus after the first few picks. But Pronman is reputable and seems to have liked molendyk and Nilsson pre-draft.
Also who knew both athletic writers had aiden fink in the third round tier?! I sure didn’t until today.
Fink was shifty at camp. He made some plays and was a guy that I noticed a few times. I knew he had been projected higher after reading up on him but that's a LONG way to fall.
Interesting nugget:
"The start to his season was impressive enough for him to be invited to compete for Canada at the World Junior A challenge where he led the tournament in scoring with 12 points in six games. This tournament had other high-end NHL prospects like Sam Rinzel (drafted #25 in the 2022 Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks), Otto Stenberg, and Tom Willander. No one else in the tournament cracked double digits which helped finally draw some NHL draft buzz to the Brooks Bandits star (and his teammate Hudson Malinoski)."
Interesting nugget:
"The start to his season was impressive enough for him to be invited to compete for Canada at the World Junior A challenge where he led the tournament in scoring with 12 points in six games. This tournament had other high-end NHL prospects like Sam Rinzel (drafted #25 in the 2022 Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks), Otto Stenberg, and Tom Willander. No one else in the tournament cracked double digits which helped finally draw some NHL draft buzz to the Brooks Bandits star (and his teammate Hudson Malinoski)."
Predsanddead24
Registered User
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Really hope Fink pans out so we can hear the story about how he was Poile's final trade as GM for his entire career.
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He's pretty light and played in a lesser league. I have no idea aside from that. There are probably a bunch of examples of even smaller and less productive players from lesser leagues who went above him this year alone. His numbers are pretty dramatic which is what you want coming from a small pond.
Edit: 5'9" and 150lbs
Calgary's still-growing Aiden Fink big on radars for NHL Draft
Calgary's still-growing Aiden Fink big on National Hockey League radars for this week's NHL entry draft.
calgarysun.com
Interesting read... Is this like a puppy where you can tell their adult size by their paw size?
Edgework
Registered User
- Jun 22, 2023
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I don’t know if “fell so far” is the right description. It’s more like: there’s simply no consensus at all after the first few prospects.
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