I'll probably eat my words somewhat down the road but Riley Patterson was extremely good for a 18yr old 4th rounder and left the best early impression for me.
The scouts see a lot more and get info were not privy too like when they hit there growth stages and likelihood for more physical/athletic development but his 2nd half of last year was top5 for U18 OHL prospects and that's ahead of a couple first rounders.
If you remember the Horvat draft Gillis and the scouts took notice of Bo's meteoritic playoffs and thick frame to have him rocket into the top10 from a mid to late 1st by most lists early in 2013. Only say this as obviously he's not Horvat but sometimes scouts get stuck in on early season rankings and wont adjust their lists too much and i believe we got outstanding value as a result
Looking at the long list of 3rd to 5th rd selected forwards i cant remember anyone in the last 30yrs that has come to camp as a 18yr old and not looked overwhelmed. Albeit some were in the NCAA which prohibited that opportunity and that includes Alriksson who looked bad last year and Bloom who at 20 looked lost
I kinda liked the analogy that
@MS used in terms of swimming up stream into harder to get to pools . At the top of 7 or 8 pools in pool 1 is NHL core players and drafted kids get plunked in somewhere based on how they show once they come to a camp or turn pro and where they were picked. I would fully expect a 4th round forward to be in pool 7 or 8 but after TC summer development camp and youngstars i see a guy who could easily with some standard development steps be moved or moving into pool 3 or 4 which would be a decent to very good AHLer.
Anyway i liked his game. Gonna keep an eye on Riley. Not to get ahead of myself but our own Rick Tocchet was drafted 121 Patrick Sharp, Drake Batherson, Zack Hyman were all in the same range. Long road ahead and incredibly tough and rare for later picks to swim up faster moving current into the top pools.