Silayev, Lindstrom, Catton, Iginla, Parekh, Eiserman

[LaP]

100% this. I would add that skill along with commitment/desire. Plenty of skilled players that were lacking in commitment and desire who go on to be underwhelming and compared to their skillset, but without skill, nothing else matters.

Even without the commitment high end skills will usually be enough. Mogilny was not the guy with the most commitment and yet he played around 1000 games, was a ppg player and played 124 games in playoffs. He won the cup and made it to 2 scf and one semis with the Laffs which is an accomplishment by itself. People often can't make the difference between real high end skills and being productive in junior

 

[Sorinth]

Guys like Desharnais might have been described as small and skilled but let's face it, he wasn't actually a high skill player, his skill level was pretty average. Pretty much all his success (Which was the early part of his career) came from hard work and not skill. So it's probably more accurate to describe our teams over the past few decades as small and hard working rather then small and skilled.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Even without the commitment high end skills will usually be enough. Mogilny was not the guy with the most commitment and yet he played around 1000 games, was a ppg player and played 124 games in playoffs. He won the cup and made it to 2 scf and one semis with the Laffs which is an accomplishment by itself. People often can't make the difference between real high end skills and being productive in junior

Well you can find players that are an exception to the rule, generally speaking, the high end players have the desire and commitment that’s partly why they are highly skilled players. However, you take a guy like Kovalev, extremely skilled, crazy training, but not always committed. He could have been even greater.

 

[LaP]

Well you can find players that are an exception to the rule, generally speaking, the high end players have the desire and commitment that’s partly why they are highly skilled players. However, you take a guy like Kovalev, extremely skilled, crazy training, but not always committed. He could have been even greater.

Yes Kovalev could have been greater but i still take him in a top 6 before a guy like Gallagher. I take Gallagher only if my top 5 is elite level and i need some sandpaper. The weird thing with Kovalev is his stats in playoffs are better than regular season. Both his ppg and gpg are beter in playoffs.

 

[Miller Time]

The only sub-six feet tall top six forwards still playing are Trochek and Stankoven. That’s 2 of 24. Sure we’ve had a skill issue up front but teams today are not winning Cups with half of their top six forwards under six feet.

I see what you did there....you added 6'. I don't think this qualifies - no one has ever mentioned a 6' forward as being small.

What I "did there" is respond to the above post, which was responding to the fact that more than 1/2 the top 9

I didn't think or intend "6' or less" to be a misleading reference point.

Vegas (aside from Kessel who only played 4 games in the playoffs) - had only one forward listed less than 6' - and that was Marcheseault - that from every account plays bigger that 5'09".

Yes, and, they had 3 of top 6 and 4 of 7 (in utilization) that are 6' or less.

Don't know what your issue is with simple, factual statements

 

[General Fanager]

I still think they should call and see how bad Calgary wants Iginla....

 

[themilosh]

If ppl think an inch is a difference maker they need a new passion. We’re not talking about a 5 foot 7 guy here.


This post comes off as all knowing and couldn’t be anymore untrue.

If you keep giving an inch away, itll bite you in the end.. each inch is equal to 10 more pounds of muscle, tgats gone too...

Add it up over every player on the team it suddenly not looking to scary come playoff time.

 

[Miller Time]

If you keep giving an inch away, itll bite you in the end.. each inch is equal to 10 more pounds of muscle, tgats gone too...

Add it up over every player on the team it suddenly not looking to scary come playoff time.

Meh... Speed is also very scary when it comes to trying to win a game, and imo a harder disadvantage to game plan against

 

[Habs]

Your key players can't be all smurfs, and you have to be big down the middle and on the backend. I watched the Oilers dominate the Nucks with size/skill and it pissed me off. You can have the odd small skilled player, for sure, but you better have lots of size to go with that skill past round 2, because it gets nasty out there. Our last cup run we have some great size to surround Cole with, some nice grit and a huge blueline. Good times.

 

[BLONG7]

100% this. I would add that skill along with commitment/desire. Plenty of skilled players that were lacking in commitment and desire who go on to be underwhelming and compared to their skillset, but without skill, nothing else matters.

Skills...........are the first thing everyone notices. You simply have to have the skill, then the rest of what a kid has comes into play. I do consider his speed, to be as skills....
If everything being equal with two kids is identical, other than size, then I could see taking a kid who is 6'2 vs 5'11
I think the size issue may come into play more in the bottom six and of course the Dmen.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Agreed.

I just don't see much evidence of high end skill and have concerns about IQ and vision.......the back injury is also concerning for a player who may need to really lean on his physicality to be effective. There are some shades of Josh Anderson here, both good and bad. He has some Evander Kane upside minus the behavioural issues, maybe even Chris Kreider but there are some red flags that require a closer look.

Indeed, you can't watch him and come to the conclusion that he's the next big center that you need in the NHL, he does not play like that in the junior. Almost everytime I watched him, Basha was the one acting like the center in the offensive zone.

Personally, I also compared him to Anderson and that's not a compliment in my case, but if everything goes really well, he can be a meaner version of Pacioretty.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Skills...........are the first thing everyone notices. You simply have to have the skill, then the rest of what a kid has comes into play. I do consider his speed, to be as skills....
If everything being equal with two kids is identical, other than size, then I could see taking a kid who is 6'2 vs 5'11
I think the size issue may come into play more in the bottom six and of course the Dmen.

Agreed 100%. Except, when is everything ever equal? We all say it, but is it ever true. I don’t think so. Lots of cup winners that were 6’ or less and were the key performers on their team. A balance is nice, but speed kills more than size.

 

[bcv]

Indeed, you can't watch him and come to the conclusion that he's the next big center that you need in the NHL, he does not play like that in the junior. Almost everytime I watched him, Basha was the one acting like the center in the offensive zone.

Personally, I also compared him to Anderson and that's not a compliment in my case, but if everything goes really well, he can be a meaner version of Pacioretty.

Please explain what a center does in the offensive zone that a winger doesn’t.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

Meh... Speed is also very scary when it comes to trying to win a game, and imo a harder disadvantage to game plan against

I’m agreeing with you on everything here. I’m curious who you would take at 5?

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

Please explain what a center does in the offensive zone that a winger doesn’t.

Usually, the center is the player with the best passing ability and vision, that result in him having the puck more often than not. Of course there are exceptions.

For now, Lindstrom is a shooter, who does not uses his passing a lot, he rarely skates with the puck on his stick, while entering the offensive zone, that's why we have question marks about his vision. For these reasons, I have a hard time projecting him as a center in the NHL.

 

[The Last Red]

Usually, the center is the player with the best passing ability and vision, that result in him having the puck more often than not. Of course there are exceptions.

For now, Lindstrom is a shooter, who does not uses his passing a lot, he rarely skates with the puck on his stick, while entering the offensive zone, that's why we have question marks about his vision. For these reasons, I have a hard time projecting him as a center in the NHL.

So play him on the wing. He'll still be big and nasty with a very good shot. We already have two top 6 centers on the roster.

 

[Big Lurk]

So play him on the wing. He'll still be big and nasty with a very good shot. We already have two top 6 centers on the roster.

Andrei Kostitsyn 2.0? (serious question)

 

[Sorinth]

So play him on the wing. He'll still be big and nasty with a very good shot. We already have two top 6 centers on the roster.

Yeah it seems like a strange complaint when the alternative to drafting a center who might end up a winger is to just draft a winger. Like sure if it's a choice between Lindstrom and Helenius because you really want a center then the question of will Lindstrom end up a winger at the NHL level might have some bearing, but when the alternative is Demidov/Iginla it's a meaningless.

 

[CristianoRonaldo]

So play him on the wing. He'll still be big and nasty with a very good shot. We already have two top 6 centers on the roster.

Passing and vision are also useful on the wing, I don't want another Anderson (if something goes wrong in his development). That said, I'll trust them, if they draft him.

 

[The Last Red]

Andrei Kostitsyn 2.0? (serious question)

Does Lindstrom drink a fifth of vodka every night, because if he doesn't, I don't understand the comparison.

 

[bsl]

IF both Lindstrom and Demidov are available at #5,

And we pick Lindstrom...

Is everyone okay with that?

Depends on their faith in dach being healthy going forward. If no faith in that. Go lindstrom

 

[Big Lurk]

Does Lindstrom drink a fifth of vodka every night, because if he doesn't, I don't understand the comparison.

Im reading a description that goes as follow :

Physically gifted winger who has a heavy shot/shoot first mentality with a questionable/untested hockey IQ

And hes projected to be drafted in the top 10

The description fits AK46, no?

Am I crazy for asking this question?

 

[Maitz]

Does Lindstrom drink a fifth of vodka every night, because if he doesn't, I don't understand the comparison.

I think AK was more into the ski session every night

 

[Big Lurk]

Depends on their faith in dach being healthy going forward. If no faith in that. Go lindstrom

Do we believe Lindstrom to be healthy going forward as well?

 

[bsl]

I think if we can move up to 4 it may behoove us to do so. (If Lindstrom is still there) I'd love to move up to 2, for Demidov but that may prove to be too costly.

Sigh. Go check the last time a team moved up from 5. It’s like once in 20 years.