Prospect Info: Sean Farrell, C/LW, 124th Overall

[Miller Time]

If we're talking about skaters, I would not classify Roy as on the smaller side in either sense.

In general, getting worked up about the weight of prospects (especially young prospects) doesn't make much sense because most of them are still adding muscle. Most drafted players fall under the NHL average of weight. Many prospects aren't finished growing either.

The league in general is also trending smaller among skaters (specifically forwards) and bigger in net, so its just a function

Management is also clearly paying attention, they traded for Dach and took Slafkovsky first overall.

Skill does come before size and, bringing it back to Farrell, its hard to complain when you pick a guy like him at the end of the 4th round.

You completely missed the point... You're arguing with a ghost in your own mind, contradicting yourself in the process

 

[Captain Mountain]

You completely missed the point... You're arguing with a ghost in your own mind

I got the point, I just thought you were being unneccessarily critical of the height and weight of prospects.

 

[Miller Time]

I got the point, I just thought you were being unneccessarily critical of the height and weight of prospects.

There was no critique of their height or weight... Point missed

 

[Captain Mountain]

There was no critique of their height or weight... Point missed

I was far from the only person on here to miss your point then, maybe phrase it better?

 

[SOLR]

Does anyone else find it weird that our own scouts had our bottom 3 prospect (Smith) ranked higher than our top 3 prospect (Farrell)?

Smith has been injured the whole way since his draft, not sure your question makes sense.

 

[Miller Time]

I was far from the only person on here to miss your point then, maybe phrase it better?

Or, maybe take the time to read and understand before responding?

 

[Captain Mountain]

Or, maybe take the time to read and understand before responding?

I did? You called out a bunch of prospects for being undersized and said it would be hard to make even half of them, Caufield, Evans, Gallagher and Suzuki work. That doesn't really make much sense even just looking at how teams like the Lightning are constructed at forward.

 

[themilosh]

looks like it was a 2010 link... and yes, more recent data suggests the average weight has gone down a bit.

so splitting hairs aside, remains that Farell, Mesar, Kidney, Mysak, Rohrer, Roy and Ylonen are all on the "smallish" side of the equation (below average height or weight or both).

Like Suzuki, some of them may well develop the kind of thickness as to play "bigger" than their physical stature, that's always possible (though with that, also runs the risk of adding too much bulk, as we've at times seen happen).

As someone who far more values skill and grit over "size", I was certainly not suggesting we should dump some of them in favor of Hugh Jessiman clones. Far from that.

It is, however, a trend in prospect pool and roster makeup that the management will need to pay close attention to as they roster-build and manage/optimize assets over time.

Id gladly drop a few of them for PLD to add to our top6.. there's the big swing in size and grit to our forward core so desperately needed.

We can use a few (at most 2) undersized frwds like cc and gally.. after that, its imperative to surround them with bulk.

While many in here will argue the size issue being overblown, i feel it is lost in translation when discussing a singular prospect. Ofcourse individually you take the more skilled player, but as a team, you need to have an imposing set up to spark any fear onto your opponents. Come playoff time, tiny guys have a hell of a time finding space.

 

[Tyson]

Id gladly drop a few of them for PLD to add to our top6.. there's the big swing in size and grit to our forward core so desperately needed.

We can use a few (at most 2) undersized frwds like cc and gally.. after that, its imperative to surround them with bulk.

While many in here will argue the size issue being overblown, i feel it is lost in translation when discussing a singular prospect. Ofcourse individually you take the more skilled player, but as a team, you need to have an imposing set up to spark any fear onto your opponents. Come playoff time, tiny guys have a hell of a time finding space.

Small guys with speed and skill vs big guys with same skills and speed= playoff time the bigger guys win

 

[dcyhabs]

Id gladly drop a few of them for PLD to add to our top6.. there's the big swing in size and grit to our forward core so desperately needed.

We can use a few (at most 2) undersized frwds like cc and gally.. after that, its imperative to surround them with bulk.

While many in here will argue the size issue being overblown, i feel it is lost in translation when discussing a singular prospect. Ofcourse individually you take the more skilled player, but as a team, you need to have an imposing set up to spark any fear onto your opponents. Come playoff time, tiny guys have a hell of a time finding space.

You need some balance and you need to plan your team. Bergevin absolutely stunk at that, which is why the team is worse than the sum of its parts. I'm not sure I like Hughes' moves this offseason but it's clear that he is planning for the future. I don't know if Dach and Slaf are the best players to pick up but at least they will make it more feasible to add Farrell, Roy, Kidney, and Mesar longer term. It's likely that Wright will be a better scorer than Slaf but it's unlikely that he will have more of a physical impact barring a late growth spurt and a suddenly acquired mean streak.

It may not work out but at least there is a plan.

 

[dcyhabs]

Small guys with speed and skill vs big guys with same skills and speed= playoff time the bigger guys win

You try to get the most of all those components. Kucherov and Gaudrault are good additions to a team. Trying to draft for size got the habs a whole series of busted top picks. Size is very, very important but it is overrated even so by NHL teams. I think Hughes' point that having small players is fine but having 22 small players is a problem comes into play. If you just draft or acquire big guys you end up with a pretty bad team. The goal is to balance size and skill so that your team is effective. The habs may not be better this year but they should be more balanced. They'll need to balance further if they want to add Farrell, Kidney, Roy (not small but not physical), and most of their non-1OA picks this year.

 

[Runner77]

He's playing in our top 9 at the end of this year.

I’d be curious to know whether Nicholas has a tendency to heap that much praise on players he likes and by extension, how reliable his comments might be. Sure interesting to read his views on Farell’s upside, it’s encouraging.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

He's playing in our top 9 at the end of this year.

Bold & spicy.

I like it!

 

[SlafySZN]

I’d be curious to know whether Nicholas has a tendency to heap that much praise on players he likes and by extension, how reliable his comments might be. Sure interesting to read his views on Farell’s upside, it’s encouraging.

He worked with Farrell when he was on the Chicago Steels in the USHL.

 

[Miller Time]

I did? You called out a bunch of prospects for being undersized and said it would be hard to make even half of them, Caufield, Evans, Gallagher and Suzuki work. That doesn't really make much sense even just looking at how teams like the Lightning are constructed at forward.

nope... go re-read. no one was "called out".

look closer at TB and what do you see...
Paul, Maroon, Perry, Nash et. take a wild guess why those types were added to their complement of elite skilled forwards.

also, the only guys under 6' tall in their top-9 heading into next year... Kucherov (5'11), Point (2 of the top 5 in the league at their respective positions) and Hagel.

but again, you completely missed the point. If you aren't going to bother reading, or, can't comprehend what you read, best to just leave it there.

 

[themilosh]

You need some balance and you need to plan your team. Bergevin absolutely stunk at that, which is why the team is worse than the sum of its parts. I'm not sure I like Hughes' moves this offseason but it's clear that he is planning for the future. I don't know if Dach and Slaf are the best players to pick up but at least they will make it more feasible to add Farrell, Roy, Kidney, and Mesar longer term. It's likely that Wright will be a better scorer than Slaf but it's unlikely that he will have more of a physical impact barring a late growth spurt and a suddenly acquired mean streak.

It may not work out but at least there is a plan.

if we already had a strong top 6 then I believe we would have drafted Wright. While speed is very important, and yes skill etc.... we have been pushed around for the better part of 30 years as we have meddles in small skilled players. The error in this is we built our team around them - when they should simply be complementary pieces.

think about the last 30 years: Oleg Petrov, Saku Koivu, David Desharnais, Gallagher, and now CC. all these players are/were key cogs in our top 6. recipe for failure.

 

[Tyson]

Farrell is going to absolutely dominate the NCAA this year...2 points per game potential.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Farrell is going to absolutely dominate the NCAA this year...2 points per game potential.

No chance at 2ppg.
Just going 1.5 ppg would make him the favourite for the hobey baker

 

[Runner77]

Farrell is going to absolutely dominate the NCAA this year...2 points per game potential.

That’s going to be so much fun to follow.

 

[dcyhabs]

if we already had a strong top 6 then I believe we would have drafted Wright. While speed is very important, and yes skill etc.... we have been pushed around for the better part of 30 years as we have meddles in small skilled players. The error in this is we built our team around them - when they should simply be complementary pieces.

think about the last 30 years: Oleg Petrov, Saku Koivu, David Desharnais, Gallagher, and now CC. all these players are/were key cogs in our top 6. recipe for failure.

I don't see that having any one or even two of these players is a problem. Koivu's main problem was his knee injury, Gallagher was fine until the last year or two, Desharnais had some good years, CC may be weak on D...

The problem isn't having small players, it's having only small players. Anderson was a major need, and it won't hurt to have a few other big guys. The main flaw recently is that Bergevin only looked at peak stats and didn't consider whether a player had aged out or wasn't a fit.

Getting Toffoli was great. Adding Drouin, Caufield, and Hoffman while he was there makes 4 players who need to play in the top 6 who need space opened by someone else. Toffoli was probably the best fit, but also the best trade piece. The habs still have to try to fit 3 guys into what should be at the very most two slots, two non-physical guys who don't play much D but who can put up a lot of points if the other two guys on the line can mostly occupy 3 opposing players. There is a place for Caufield long term but I don't see Hoffman or Drouin as a fit with him playing.

Kucherov is not a problem as a key cog in Tampa. I don't think Tampa as a team is all that big, but they have a balanced team, most players are feisty, and they have enough big guys.

There is a balance between too small to win in the playoffs and so "moar big" that your team can't play hockey. It's a tough one, and the habs have done it badly. Get good players by taking the guys who are "too small," don't pick up terrible players or prospects because they are big, try not to overpay for the big guys, but find a way to get the size you need. Yes, it's self-contradictory.

 

[Tyson]

No chance at 2ppg.
Just going 1.5 ppg would make him the favourite for the hobey baker

I am not saying he has Gaudreau potential but you never know.
Gaudreau drafted 104th, smallish player averaged exactly 2 points per game his junior year.

 

[Wats]

No chance at 2ppg.
Just going 1.5 ppg would make him the favourite for the hobey baker

Agreed, 2ppg puts him at Gaudreau level. Don't believe his hands/skating is as good to be that dominant.

 

[Tyson]

Agreed, 2ppg puts him at Gaudreau level. Don't believe his hands/skating is as good to be that dominant.

Will be fun to watch, if nothing else

 

[Scriptor]

Mesar?

Mesar might be interesting as a potential top-6 solution, but he still needs to work on his scoring, being primarily a playmaker at this point, IMO.

I could see an all-Slovakian 2nd line if we land a power forward LW to play on the Suzuki line, like Dubois as an UFA?

Dubois - Suzuki - Caufield
Slafkovsky - Dvorsky - Mesar
Farrell - Dach - Roy
Mysak/Heineman - Beck - Ylonen

Heineman, Mysak

 

[Scriptor]

6 foot 200 (Jonathan Roy) lbs is not small. Bergeron would be considered small because he's 6'2 but 189 lbs?

Suzuki at 5'11 205 lbs is not small (above average in weight according to your metrics).

He's small (height and reach), but sturdy (weights and muscle to win battles). There is no magic formula that says a player is too small for the NHL.

St-Louis was small (height) and only 180 lbs, but he had tree trunks for legs and talent to put you in his back pocket.

Hutson is tiny, height and weight, but skates like a dart inn every direction, is elusive and can break down D structures like few can. In close, he has hands, vision, hockey IQ and puck skills that enable him to rack up points.

A cross-check from Weber would have ended his career, for sure, but I don't think he would have been in one place long enough for Weber to get that cross-check in.