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News Article: Prospect Report: Who Needs to Have a Statement Year?

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Jason Lewis

Registered User
Oct 4, 2011
5,476
1
Another year is set to begin, and thus my favorite thing to follow also begins; the progression of rookies and prospects.

Last season the Kings got some huge performances from AHL rookies like Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli, but they also got really unexpected seasons from players like Alex Roach and Colin Miller.

Hockey tends to be a sport where prospects progress rather slowly, but there are still a bunch of players right now who should be in line for what you could call a “Statement yearâ€. I’ll try and squeeze as many as I can in, but here are in my opinion at least the players with the most to prove ahead of them...
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http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=53301#.UggR0mQ5xdM
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I'd say Forbort has to have a statement year. It's his first as a pro and he needs to show he can justify that first round pick.
 
I'm not as high on Forbort as some of you guys. If anything, I don't expect much out of Forbort in his first year as a pro. I do expect a good year out of Deslauriers, who's in his 3rd year in manch. I also think Shore will be effective this year and will surprise some people.

Honorable Mention:

Jones
Vey
Pearson
Andy
Weal
Gravel
 
I'm gonna go a bit off the board here and say Jordan Weal. Here's a guy who had a great rookie season considering the way he started it, and if he can build on that and have a Linden Vey-like year, that would solidify him as one of our better prospects and an option should a guy get injured going forward.
 
Black1963 said:
I'm not as high on Forbort as some of you guys. If anything, I don't expect much out of Forbort in his first year as a pro. I do expect a good year out of Deslauriers, who's in his 3rd year in manch. I also think Shore will be effective this year and will surprise some people.

Honorable Mention:

Jones
Vey
Pearson
Andy
Weal
Gravel
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I'm inclined to agree with you here. My reasoning was that Forbort more or less will have his statement year come probably next season, along with Tanner Pearson. I don't think it would really be fair to judge him based on this first year, where as you could infer a lot on Colin Wilson and Alex Roach in how they make the jump.

King'sPawn said:
Good article, thank you!
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And hey thanks a lot KP!
 
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Jason Lewis said:
I'm inclined to agree with you here. My reasoning was that Forbort more or less will have his statement year come probably next season, along with Tanner Pearson. I don't think it would really be fair to judge him based on this first year, where as you could infer a lot on Colin Wilson and Alex Roach in how they make the jump.
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I agree. While Forbort's rookie season may say a lot, it won't be as defining as others, given he hasn't put up huge points in college and thus has less to prove. Roach and Miller both put up huge numbers, and so have more to prove.

Could be a statement year for Weal too. He might have higher expectations on him and more responsibility.

I don't think it's a statement year for Kozun. He has put up steady numbers and plays a gritty game. I don't really think he has to prove much. I think once he gets a shot in the NHL, if he does get one, then we can start expecting a statement from him. However, I thought it was, sadly, very telling when Yannetti omitted Kozun's name from the list of forwards ready to make the jump.
 
A Statement year?

Toffoli, Vey, Kozun, Jones - definitely yes. Dowd, Gravel, Miller - in some degree yes.

But sorry, I don't get this Alex Roach "Needs to Have a Statement Year" - thing.

Season 2013-13 was his third year in the WHL. He is younger than Colin Miller - Roach is born Apr 19 1993 and Miller is born Oct 29 1992. So he was 19 years old when Hitmens season started and just turned twenty, when it ended (Apr 30). Was that really "an overage" -year? Actually, how "an overager" is defined?

And BTW, Roach is also over a year younger than Forbort (born Mar 4 1992) or Gravel (born Mar 6 1992).

Rosen wrote during the developmental camp:

http://lakingsinsider.com/2013/07/09/brief-development-camp-update/

"6-foot-4 defenseman Alex Roach is present but not participating at camp due to an undisclosed injury."

Does anybody know what kind of injury that was?

If I remember right, Roach was not with the Black Aces (Kurtis MacDermid was). Was he already injured then (in May/June)?

Twenty years old kid + first professional year + was injured during the summer => "Needs to Have a Statement Year". I'm confused.

edit.

Sorry my english, I hope that you understand what I'm trying to say.
 
Derek Forbort, and it's not even close.

He has had three very pedestrian seasons of college hockey since being the Kings #1 pick in 2010, if he has another year like that playing pro hockey, in the Kings system, with the Kings coaches then you have to question his long term potential.
 
Herby said:
Derek Forbort, and it's not even close.

He has had three very pedestrian seasons of college hockey since being the Kings #1 pick in 2010, if he has another year like that playing pro hockey, in the Kings system, with the Kings coaches then you have to question his long term potential.
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This x10000. Forbort is an absolute GLARING omission and really should have topped the list. To me, this is a make or break year for Derek. He hasn't progressed one bit. If he has four years of no progress, I'd be ready to throw in the towel on him as a prospect.
 
What exactly do people expect Forbort to be ? The kid is not Slava Voynov talented.

He is not going to put up 50 points in Manchester.

He is going to be a top 4 steady D guy that puts up maybe 25 to 30 points yearly.

Also it may take more than one season in Manchester for him to be consistent(he is only 21).

It will be Forbort's first year(full) playing against Men....He will struggle(like everyone does).
 
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cnshockey said:
This x10000. Forbort is an absolute GLARING omission and really should have topped the list. To me, this is a make or break year for Derek. He hasn't progressed one bit. If he has four years of no progress, I'd be ready to throw in the towel on him as a prospect.
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I don't think that's really fair at all. He's progressed quite well. I'm not sure what people have expected of him. He's a calm and steady defenseman. He's not going to put up 30-40 points. He's going to eat minutes, play responsibly and play in all situations well. He hasn't had a bad year yet, and I think that's something that speaks well to his steady nature.
 
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Jason Lewis said:
I don't think that's really fair at all. He's progressed quite well. I'm not sure what people have expected of him. He's a calm and steady defenseman. He's not going to put up 30-40 points. He's going to eat minutes, play responsibly and play in all situations well. He hasn't had a bad year yet, and I think that's something that speaks well to his steady nature.
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So a much better version of Ellerby?
 
Jason Lewis said:
I don't think that's really fair at all. He's progressed quite well. I'm not sure what people have expected of him. He's a calm and steady defenseman. He's not going to put up 30-40 points. He's going to eat minutes, play responsibly and play in all situations well. He hasn't had a bad year yet, and I think that's something that speaks well to his steady nature.
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My only problem with Forbort at this point in time is, after watching him play down the stretch for Manchester last season, he reminded more of Andrew Campbell, than Rob Scuderi. So there's that. Although, I think we should give him a full season to see if it was merely due to adjusting to a significant speed increase, or whether he stagnated his play in College Hockey by not playing enough games, and spending too long in school after being an NHL first round pick.
 
Seems the same excuses that were used for Colten Teubert are being used here.

"You are spoiled with Doughty, not everyone is Doughty"
" Forbort is not Voynov, he won't score 50 points a year"

The thing is, no one mentioned points in any of the posts. What is really concerning is in three years at NoDak he never become a dominant player, not even as an upperclassmen this season, not even close to it. Which is what high end future NHL defenders do in college, not everyone is Jacob Trouba or Justin Faulk and dominate as freshman, but by the time you enter your third season of college hockey you should begin to dominate games from the blue line. And you don't need to score a point per game to do it, Ryan McDonaugh and Danny DeKeyser were dominant college defenders as juniors and they were not high scoring players.

Ofcourse he didn't remind the other poster of Rob Scuderi, his style of play is not Rob Scuderi and he won't be Rob Scuderi at the NHL level. I don't know if people cheapen just how tough it is to find a Rob Scuderi, but you just can't turn anyone into Rob Scuderi. Which is what people seem to want to think Forbort is because his offensive game has completely stagnated. Think of it this way, if Slava Voynov's offensive game never developed would he be up in the NHL right now playing a defensive role?

Sorry to rant, but I just find it funny when someone says "he is fine" after three seasons of college hockey with little to no development. I guarantee you the Kings, much like the UND fan base expected a lot more from Derek Forbort than what they got in his three years there.
 
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