spintheblackcircle
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Anyone have Gaudreau as a likely Calder candidate this year outside of Calgary?
RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (2013, 89th, CBJ)
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Anyone have Gaudreau as a likely Calder candidate this year outside of Calgary?
The fact that Bjorkstrand will not be in the NHL is one part of my reasoning.
JohnLennon
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spintheblackcircle
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What is mind blowing to me is that while Bjorkstrand had 63 goals to lead the league by about 25% more than the 2nd place guy (while playing 20% fewer games), he was only 21st in power play goals. He wasn't a guy rolling up goals on the man advantage. He had 11 PP goals, he almost had more short-handed with 8.
He had 44 ES goals. Only 3 players had that many total. One of the best CHL seasons anyone has had that I can remember.
He had 44 ES goals. Only 3 players had that many total. One of the best CHL seasons anyone has had that I can remember.
And with 2 more goals Bjorkstrand is once again leading the WHL in goals and continuing to do his thing in the playoffs.
I read other prospect pages on here and see so many saying their guy isn't talked about enough meanwhile the best player n the WHL this year is buried on page 11 of the prospects forum
but i do like the under the radar thing he has going. I hope the kid is able to pack on some pounds and keep was he has because he has the work ethic and smarts to be a real good player in the future
I read other prospect pages on here and see so many saying their guy isn't talked about enough meanwhile the best player n the WHL this year is buried on page 11 of the prospects forum
but i do like the under the radar thing he has going. I hope the kid is able to pack on some pounds and keep was he has because he has the work ethic and smarts to be a real good player in the futureAnd with 2 more goals Bjorkstrand is once again leading the WHL in goals and continuing to do his thing in the playoffs.
I read other prospect pages on here and see so many saying their guy isn't talked about enough meanwhile the best player n the WHL this year is buried on page 11 of the prospects forum
I think Bjorkstrand has the potential to be a very good scorer at the NHL level.
He probably does benefit somewhat from playing with Nic Petan at Portland. Petan is the best playmaker in the WHL, and has assisted on 7 of Bjorkstrand's 10 playoff goals (with one of his goals being an unassisted empty-net goal).
I'm guessing he will play with pretty good playmakers in the NHL if he makes it and is on one of the top 2 lines. That is why I never understood people who say a player is good because he plays with another good player (I am not saying you said this). Well, of course that helps, but it goes the other way too. If Bjorkstrand wasn't a good goal scorer, Petan wouldn't have as many assists.
veganhunter
Mexico City Coyotes!
Bjorkstrand is a very good scorer but just for arguments sake Petan has put up huge numbers without Bjork. However, Bjork has never put up huge numbers without Petan.
Currently better players, yes. We don't know about in the future, Petan put up Drouin and MacKinnon numbers in his draft year and 2P/G for most of last season. Literally the only reason he wasn't picked near the very top of the draft was because he was 5'9 150 pounds in his draft year.
Petan 1.71P/G
Bjorkstrand 1.5P/G
Petan has outproduced Bjork at a decent clip from their draft year to today.
Again I happen to think Bjork is a really good player but to completely disregard Petan's impact on his success or vice versa is just silly.
That includes Bjorkstrands rookie season and Petans season on a pretty stacked line. The past 2 seasons its actually been Bjorkstrand at a slighty higher PPG pace. Both are awesome and its a beautiful mix of shooter and playmaker working together so as you said its silly to say 1's success is solely based on the other one
It's all relative. Petan is an elite playmaker at the WHL level of play. Wennberg and Johansen are terrific players, but I wouldn't assess them as being elite playmakers at the NHL level.
Perhaps a good statistical comparable is Ty Rattie (Blues). He scored at almost the same rate as Bjorkstrand in his last two years a Portland. I like Bjorkstrand a lot more than Rattie, but I'm a bit cautious about projecting scoring from junior to the NHL when the player was on a very strong offensive junior team.
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Bagge
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How many gets nominated for player of the year and who will he face? I dont know much about WHL I must admit.
OG
cajun filet
What makes him any different in Caliber than say Conner Brown (Who I'm very high on btw).
Small Skilled Wingers who put up HUGE numbers in the CHL. McDavid was even sheltered by Brown's line last year.
Small Skilled Wingers who put up HUGE numbers in the CHL. McDavid was even sheltered by Brown's line last year.
WannabeFinn
Beloved One
Bjorkstrand was far better in his draft year and draft+1 year, had MUCH higher goal totals
he also didn't have the luxury of a Connor McDavid on his team
I cant speak so much on Connor Brown. But Bjorkstrand has scored 93 goals in his last 96 games. This season (regular and playoffs) has scored over a goal per game.
spintheblackcircle
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Conner Brown was the one on the first line when McDavid was on the team, with Gaunce as his centre. McDavid was the sheltered one iirc.
And then Brown has AHL top scoring Rookie this year. And lower goal but similar points. Also don't think you can argue that Brown benefited from his team more as Portland has been better than what Erie was.
I still think Bjork is better, but I think they're similar in caliber.
veganhunter
Mexico City Coyotes!
I don't even know that he's in the conversation McDavid, Strome, Marner, Ehlers, and Garland all have a much better case than him. McDavid is a lock but the only one you could even make a realistic, albeit, weak case for is Ehlers who scored 1.98 P/G and factored into an obscene percentage of his teams total goals. After Meier and Moynihan there is a whole lot of nothing on the Moosheads roster while the other guys have much better rosters to work with, but again nobody is taking that award from McDavid.
Cant say I really agree with this, I think theres too much thought into who are better prospects not just who had the better year. Is Bjorkstrand older then the rest minus Garland? Yes. Are the other players projected as better NHLers minus Garland? Yes. Did they all have better seasons then Bjorkstrand? After McDavid I dont really think so and none of them have a "much better case" then Bjorkstrand.
McDavid was clear and away the best so he doesn't even need to be talked about. You say Ehlers was better because he was on a worse team so what he did was more impressive but really a big line is going to get top defenses regardless. Ehlers had Meier and Moynihan while Bjorkstrand had Petan and Bitter. Thats 90 and 70 points vs 89 and 71... Pretty crazy actually.
At the same time you don't mention the fact Marner had 2 other 100 point players on his team.
Bjorkstrand was the best goal scorer in the CHL this year, 63 in 59 games is pretty amazing. Remember when Mantha hit 57 in 57 and everyone was losing their minds? He had 44 ES goals this year... Marner and McDavid each had 44 total and Garland and Ehlers had 35 and 37 respectively. Not to mention his 8 short handed goals. He was also +60 which was +19 higher then 2nd on his team. The next biggest gap was Marner being +6 higher then 2nd on his team.
So while Bjorkstrand doesn't project to be as good as the rest (minus Garland) this year in the CHL he most definitely has a case to mentioned with those names and after McDavid I actually think he had the most impressive CHL season
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spintheblackcircle
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For me, don't care if he's in consideration for CHL poy, or in the top 50 prospects. The fact that he's producing the way he does, progressing the way he has, and being talked about this much makes him a steal for a 3rd round pick. I'm cheering for this kid!!
