I mean I hope Pickering gets there, but the fact he's not a first choice guy when all his pedigree and the pre-season chat pointed to him being one does leave me with questions.
Prospect Info: Pittsburgh Penguins Prospects Thread: 2023-2024 Edition
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there are times when politics gets involved. not say'en that's the case.
Jacob
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Probably being on a bad team 3 years running isn’t helping, either.there are times when politics gets involved. not say'en that's the case.
there are times when politics gets involved. not say'en that's the case.
Hence questions rather than doubts. A further look reveals a lot of odd exclusions and cuts.
At the same time, it doesn't feel like he's taking the big strides that'll make people super happy.
Btw, puff piece on Ilyin
“After the interview they started calling me Gretzky of Cherepovets.” Mikhail Ilyin talks Severstal’s playing style and NHL Draft
The young forward is working hard to consolidate his position in the KHL team’s roster. 18-year-old forward Mikhail Ilyin started the 2023/24 season as a full-time Kontinental Hockey League player. Andrei Kozyrev’s coaching staff have trust in Mikhail and it has been bearing fruit. Ilyin s...
engmhl.khl.ru
Jacob
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Firkus didn’t make it? Seems odd. Outscoring Yager and you’ve got 2/3rds of a line with proven chemistry right there.
Gumbercules
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I found it a bit odd also, however so far in practice they have Yager in a bottom six role and not on either of the PP units, which suggests he may be in more of a checking/energy type role. I've never seen Firkus play, but perhaps that type of role doesn't suit his game.
Gurglesons
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Allegedly looked bad in camp. Got called out by one of the leadership members who apparently is associated with his WHL club.
bit weak that a 1st round prospect with an "NHL-shot" cant even crrack the 2nd unit tbh
Jacob
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Almost everyone there is a 1st rounder and most are a year older.
Yager's even still eligible for next year's squad.
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Sidney the Kidney
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It's always a concern to me when a high pick isn't playing at a level considered to be one of the best at his age group by that age.
Obviously not a guarantee of failure, but not a good sign.
Gurglesons
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OtherThingsILike
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The cool thing is that Dubas drafted all three of them, and they're all also eligible next year. 18-year-olds don't always make World Juniors Rosters, so it's cool that we may have half of our past year's draft to watch in the World Juniors.
Sidney the Kidney
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Wasn't Pickering the opposite of taking a risk? I thought his "ceiling" was low and didn't project to be anything more than a second pairing guy (ie. a Marcus Pettersson type) because of his limited perceived offensive upside?
Big Friggin Dummy
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Pickering was always gonna be a project. Any time a guy has to grow into his frame to the degree he had to, you're talking about a good handful of years before he's even ready to test NHL capability imo. Wouldn't really worry about him for another couple of years tbh. If he's still meh or stagnated then whatever. Kind of expected with ~20th picks.
Gurglesons
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No. The idea with Pickering was that with his size, skating and puck handling that he could be a potential huge hit if everything went right.
If anything I'd argue his defensive game is his weakness that prevented him from making the WJC this year.
Gurglesons
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I think he is one of those players who is boom or bust.
I also think a lot of his development will be done in the A / NHL versus juniors.
Knowing our organization we will try to make him a shutdown third pairing D who PKs..
CheckingLineCenter
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Big Friggin Dummy
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This. A hundred times this.
Along with BFD said about being a project. There probably wasn't a prospect further away from his projected self in the first round.
I would also add that after guys like Karlsson and Letang i.e. true do it all 1Ds, guys who are like Pettersson is now or Dumo was at his peak at my most coveted dmen and, yeah, really hard to get if you don't develop them yourself.
Gurglesons
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What are we saying by "a ton of points".
Pickering from the sources I trust with prospects was viewed as a two-way, potential top pairing PP guy who could put up 30-50 pts.
Just to be clear I said he was a "risk".
BlindWillyMcHurt
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I'm still not that worried about Pickering. His team stinks and there aren't any notable players on that roster that I can detect. Would be nice for him to be healthy for a Pens training camp though.
Sidney the Kidney
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Like, I'm not necessarily saying I'm down on Pickering or that he's a lost cause. I'm just saying that it's discouraging - at this time - that he doesn't seem to be among the best defensemen at his age group. Would have been nice if he was a lock to play at the WJC and be a top 4 guy, which would be an indication that - at this time - he's trending to being among the best of his age group.
Gurglesons
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But that's the issue with taking risks. They don't always pop.
People ask us to take risky prospects. Pickering is one.
Sidney the Kidney
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It's amazing how our "risky" prospects don't seem to materialize but other team's risky prospects turn into Jason Robertson, Brayden Point, and Mark Stone.
Gurglesons
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It's amazing how our "risky" prospects don't seem to materialize but other team's risky prospects turn into Jason Robertson, Brayden Point, and Mark Stone.
I mean, I think judging Pickering as not materializing is a little harsh.
He was pretty much anticipated by all the junior writers as being a top pairing D for the WJC team.
Hockey yers.Canada isn't exactly an organization that is known for always taking the best players.
It'll be interesting though.
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