Prospect Info: Round 1, Pick #19: Jay O'Brien, C, MA-USHS --> Providence U

[landsbergfan]

Not ideal by any means, but if it allows him to play it could be a positive. One of the good things about the junior schedule is that it is much longer, like twice as long. So he should be playing a lot more than he would be at Providence and can come back next year. Ultimately just want him to rebound after this year. Maybe this move helps him do that. He was more of a project than some other guys there, so it isn't like his timeline to the NHL is ruined. Kyle Turris was drafted from the BCHL after putting up 120+ points. So as long as he scores around that much he will be fine

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

The lesson of all this is that college hockey sucks.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Wasn't happy when they selected and I am less happy now. He can very obviously turn it around but man look at some of the guys selected right after him that I would have loved to take and how they are doing: Kupari almost a PPG in the Finnish league, Lundestrom getting a look in the NHL/AHL, Bokk putting up respectable numbers in the SHL, Sandin putting up more than .5 PPG in the AHL, and Joey Veleno (whom everyone assured me sucked and was DOA and not worth a pick at 14 or 19) tearing up the Q. Hopefully he gets a ton of playing time in Penticton and stays healthy so this post looks silly in a couple years.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

He also took Hart after Laberge when everyone said we have enough goalies.

Rubtsov is still alive I hear.

Barely.

 

[Curufinwe]

Laverge looked like a good pick until a cheap shot ruined his career.

Laberge actually looked pretty good at the end of the season with the Phantoms.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

Thus far, he absolutely has been. He was a first round pick just three years ago and is barely an afterthought when people talk about the Flyers top prospects.

A player getting injured isn’t a blown pick.

Rubtsov looked very good in the AHL.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

Laverge looked like a good pick until a cheap shot ruined his career.

Not really. I find this to be a myth. He was not impressive even before that incident.

 

[NYCFlyer]

So glad Hextall decided to hold onto that pick rather than trade it in a ''win now'' or ''panic move.''

Hextall gets so much praise for how great he was at drafting, and while I would say he was good, great is a huge stretch. At this time it looks like he absolutely blew two first round picks with Rubtsov and JOB. He also completely **** the bed with the Laberge pick/passing on Debrincat early in the 2nd round the same year he took Rubtsov.

I just looked at the prior five 19th picks in the first round. Norris, Bellows, Svechnikov, DeAngelo, and Rychel. Not exactly an All Star team. In fact when I enlarged the sample to picks 17 - 23 there was on average about half the picks are or probably will be productive NHLers and only a couple that are really good. Some years like 2015 were deep in that range, others like 2013 were very weak. I think Hextall was better than most GM's at drafting but development of draft picks is just as important and i would say he was just average there.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

 

[Curufinwe]

Not really. I find this to be a myth. He was not impressive even before that incident.

That incident happened early in his D+1 season, a few months after he was expected to go near the end of the first round. And he was voted our 8th best prospect that summer, ahead of NAK and Allison.

Prospect Info: - 2016-17 Flyers Prospects - Top 20 SKATERS, #20

1. Provorov, Ivan (88%) LHD
2. Sanheim, Travis (75%) LHD
3. Konecny, Travis (85%) RW
4. Morin, Sam (54%) LHD
5. Rubtsov, German (79%) C
6. Myers, Phil (56%) RHD
7. Lindblom, Oskar (54%) LW/RW
8. Laberge, Pascal (68%) C/RW
9. Aube-Kubel, Nicolas (63%) LW/RW
10. Allison, Wade (44%) RW

 

[JojoTheWhale]

Laberge was highly voted because he was a guy who got a little bit of end of the first round hype plus the obviously flashy skills.

I watched a good bit of the Q in the years in question. He was dreadful before the concussion in his D+1. His only outstanding run in Juniors was essentially the second half of his draft year. The concussions being the cause of all of his problems has always been a myth. There were other injuries like a broken hand and some time spent on the wing that went poorly for sure, but essentially the only time he looked like anything at all was when Bruce Richardson (his coach) moved him back to Center and told him to only worry about scoring.

I hope he puts it together somehow. I'm just not betting on it. This is what the other side of the coin of drafting risers looks like.

 

[Rebels57]

Laberge was highly voted because he was a guy who got a little bit of end of the first round hype plus the obviously flashy skills.

I watched a good bit of the Q in the years in question. He was dreadful before the concussion in his D+1. His only outstanding run in Juniors was essentially the second half of his draft year. The concussions being the cause of all of his problems has always been a myth. There were other injuries like a broken hand and some time spent on the wing that went poorly for sure, but essentially the only time he looked like anything at all was when Bruce Richardson (his coach) moved him back to Center and told him to only worry about scoring.

I hope he puts it together somehow. I'm just not betting on it. This is what the other side of the coin of drafting risers looks like.

He played 7 games before his concussion in his D+1 and he was one of the 3 stars of the game in a few of those games, so he this is a wild exaggeration. Even if his play wasn't great in the first 7 games of the season, that's too small of a sample size to draw any conclusion. Slow starts happen.

Flyers’ prospect Pascal Laberge concussed by dangerous hit - TheHockeyNews

 

[JojoTheWhale]

He played like 7 games before his concussion in his D+1 and he was one of the 3 stars of the game in a few of those games, so he this is a wild exaggeration.

So stars of the game is an appropriate measure of play now? You really want to make an argument that leads to failed Sam Carchidis doing player evaluations for you?

 

[Rebels57]

So stars of the game is an appropriate measure of play now? You really want to make an argument that leads to failed Sam Carchidis doing player evaluations for you?

The point is that he was clearly sprinkling in some good performances in his first 7 games prior to the concussion, which lends further credence to the fact that your assertion that his play was "dreadful" is a mischaracterization.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

The point is that he was clearly sprinkling in some good performances in his first 7 games prior to the concussion, which lends further credence to the fact that your assertion that his play was "dreadful" is a mischaracterization.

I had the Q package that year. He had 4 Points in 7 Games in the Q getting plenty of ice time.

He sucked on the projected NHL player scale. I don't know what else to tell you.

 

[Cootsfanclub]

Not really. I find this to be a myth. He was not impressive even before that incident.

He was one of the top forward prospects in the rookie camp after he was drafted. O’Connor had him second to Konecny in a camp with Lindblom, Allison and Nak.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

Media and hf posters ranking him highly after the draft doesn't mean a damned thing to me.

We always overrate fresh picks. See the titular character of this thread

 

[deadhead]

Well, we'll get to see Rubtsov, Laberge and Kase this year in the AHL.
If they get injured again, well, it starts to become a trend.
If they shine, we see the value of patience.
If they are meh, well, them are the odds.

 

[FlyguyOX]

The fact is that any top 6 caliber forward prospect makes it very apparent that they are heading down that path by:

Draft year stats
Draft +1 stats
By age 21

If they're not knocking down doors and making headlines as players that are bound for a significant role in the future by that time, then odds are they won't amount to anything more than a serviceable bottom 6.

 

[landsbergfan]

Sammy C just tweeted that Jay OBrien hasn't confirmed he will play in the BCHL yet. Still deciding

 

[Curufinwe]

Carchidi with the scoop.

Flyers prospect Jay O’Brien leaving Providence, exploring other options after ‘tough year’

O’Brien, who will take part in the Flyers’ prospects camp this June in Voorhees, said he has two weeks of classes remaining at Providence, “and then I’ll probably figure out what the best plan is.”

“Obviously I had a tough time with injuries this year, and coming straight out of high school and going to college was an adjustment,” he said. “But I think. for me, taking a step back and playing more games [is important]. I’m not sure where I’m going to play next year. My agent has told me, and the same with the people in Philly, that there’s no rush. Philly was totally fine with the decision.”

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Jankowski 2.0 should go to the Q and play for Shawinigan. Yeah, they're bad, but he's going to get boatloads of ice time and that should help him get his game back together again.

 

[FLYguy3911]

"My Agent"? That's a no-no.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

"My Agent"? That's a no-no.

I think they stopped policing the language on that since kids were essentially having agents anyway under the term “advisors”.

 

[GKJ]

Jankowski 2.0 should go to the Q and play for Shawinigan. Yeah, they're bad, but he's going to get boatloads of ice time and that should help him get his game back together again.

I don't see the connection to Jankowski other than they went to the same school, but ideally he should be trying to play games. He made the world junior team, so other people were confident in his abilities despite what was going on. I think the problem though is that if he jumps to the Q, then I believe his rights expire next season (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) and the question becomes whether or not he's prepared to turn pro (or if he wants to). But it's also worth mentioning that if the answer is no and his rights expire, the Flyers do get a 2nd round pick. So, there's a lot to think about there.