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 The 2015 The 2015 draft is all about two guys: Connor McDavid - C - 6'1 195lbs  The joy is apparent on McDavid's face as he realizes he's blessed to spend his formative years in Northern Alberta Insanely fast, insanely skilled, great shot, better passer, insane vision, leadership, intangibles, etc. etc. Basically Sidney Crosby but bigger and faster, but with perhaps a touch less vision. An instant franchise player. There's really nothing more that needs to be said about McDavid. Easily the best prospect to enter the league since Sidney Crosby, and will be a 100pt+ forward in short order. It'll be a long time before another player even approaching his quality will come along again. The Oilers have a horseshoe wedged up their rear end and magically won the draft lottery (despite having 3 consecutive first overall picks from 2010-2012), so get the right to select him which everyone (except Edmontonians) hates. Even the Oilers can't screw him up, he's that good. Jack Eichel - C - 6'2 195lbs  He's coming for you Buffalo  Connor McDavid alone would make the 2015 draft noteworthy, however Jack Eichel makes it one for the ages. Easily the second best prospect to come along since Sidney Crosby, he'd have been a slam dunk first overall pick literally any other year in the last decade. Strong, fast, smart as hell and with a killer shot he's everything you want in a power forward. Think Ryan Getzlaf but faster and with a better shot. At the age of 18 he put up numbers in college you see from a 23 year old maybe once a decade. He's arguably the best American prospect ever. Buffalo were putrid all year and (despite not winning the draft lottery) get the ultimate consolation prize. Because of their already mythical status and the fact they're draft eligible in the same year, these two guys are going to be compared to each other for their entire careers. Both are incredible prospects and both will almost certainly win multiple cups (just not with the Oilers please god). Think Ovechkin vs. Crosby in 2006 in terms of manufactured media narrative, and that's what Oilers/Sabres games are going to be like for the foreseeable future. These two picks are going to be super boring. Unless you want to see the painful image of McDavid being forced to put on an Oilers jersey, I suggest not bothering to tune in for the first 30 minutes. Everyone else not named McDavid or Eichel http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=761663 The CSS North American "rankings" go as follows: 1. Connor McDavid - C - 6'1 195lbs 2. Jack Eichel - C - 6'2" 195lbs 3. Noah Hanfin - D - 6'3 205lbs 4. Dylan Strome - C - 6'3 185lbs 5. Lawson Crouse - LW - 6'4" 215lbs  6. Mitch Marner - C - 5'11" 160lbs 7. Ivan Provorov - D - 6'0 200lbs 8. Pavel Zacha - C - 6'3 210lbs 9. Zach Werenski - D - 6'2 205lbs 10. Timo Meier - RW - 6'1 210lbs 11. Matthew Barzal - C - 5'11 175lbs 12. Jakub Zboril - D - 6'1 185lbs 13. Kyle Connor - LW - 6'1 175lbs 14. Travis Konecny - C - 5'10 175lbs 15. Jansen Harkins - C - 6'1 180lbs 16. Thomas Chabot - D - 6'1 180lbs 17. Evgeny Svechnikov - LW - 6'2 200lbs 18. Filip Chlapik - C - 6'1 195lbs 19. Jake DeBrusk - LW - 6'0 190lbs 20. Daniel Sprong - RW - 6'0 180lbs 21. Jeremy Rony - D - 6'0 190lbs 22. Noah Juulsen - D - 6'2 175lbs 23. Nic Merkley - RW - 5'10 190lbs 24. Ryan Pilon - D - 6'2 205lbs 25. Brandon Carlo - D - 6'5 195lbs (even more )26. Paul Bittner - LW - 6'4 205lbs 27. Brock Boeser - RW - 6;0 190lbs 28. Thomas Novak - C - 6'0 180lbs 29. Colin White - C - 6'0 - 180lbs 30. Dennis Yan - LW - 6'1 185lbs International Rankings (There are basically no big name Europeans this year) 1. Mikko Rantanen - RW - 6'3 210lbs 2. Gabriel Carlsson - D - 6'4 185lbs 3. Jacob Larsson - D - 6'2 190lbs 4. Joel Eriksson Ek - C 6'2 180lbs 5. Michael Spacek - RW - 5'11 190lbs 6. Oliver Kylington - D - 6'0 180lbs McKeen's Rankings  ISS Top 30 THN Top 30 (from January they've changed a bit since then. I recommend their draft preview guide, it's $5 and pretty good for quick summaries of players). NHL Rankings by location 1st ROUND ORDER 1. Edmonton Oilers 2. Buffalo Sabres 3. Arizona Coyotes 4. Toronto Maple Leafs 5. Carolina Hurricanes 6. New Jersey Devils 7. Philadelphia Flyers 8. Columbus Blue Jackets 9. San Jose Sharks 10. Colorado Avalanche 11. Florida Panthers 12. Dallas Stars 13. Los Angeles Kings 14. Boston Bruins 15. Calgary Flames 16. Edmonton Oilers (from Pittsburgh) 17. Winnipeg Jets 18. Ottawa Senators 19. Detroit Red Wings 20. Minnesota Wild 21. Buffalo Sabres (from NY Islanders) 22. Washington Capitals 23. Vancouver Canucks 24. Toronto Maple Leafs (from Nashville Predators) 25. Winnipeg Jets (from St. Louis via Buffalo 26. Montreal Canadiens 27. Anaheim Ducks 28. Tampa Bay Lightning (from NY Rangers) 29. TBD 30. TBD The last two spots belong to the Philadelphia Flyers (from the Tampa Bay Lightning) and the Arizona Coyotes (from the Chicago Blackhawks). Whoever wins the Stanley cup with be slotted 30th, the runner up will pick 29th. e: I had who owned what screwed up for the last 4 picks there, thanks mentholmoose e2: and I got another one wrong. Thanks Furnaceface. I'm on FIYAH! NOTABLE DRAFT WEEKEND TRADES TBD TV OPTIONS The first round takes place at 7pm EST on Sportsnet and NBCSN. This is Sportsnet's first year doing it taking over from TSN, and they'll be going with their usual terrible crew. If you're Canadian, try and watch it on NBCSN as they'll have Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and creepy old Pierre McGuire (aka the actually interesting folks) Time to start sperging about prospects and yelling about size folks! BTW my draft crush this year is Anthony Beauvillier. 94 points in 67 games and named one of the two captains of the CHL top prospects game (the other was McDavid who is 6 months older than him). I seriously have no idea why he's not getting top 10 hype. Most people have him pegged for the early 2nd round because he's 5'11. ThinkTank fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 17:09
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May 26, 2015 17:16
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Has Kylington fallen all the way into the second round?
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May 26, 2015 17:30
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tofes posted:Has Kylington fallen all the way into the second round? Yes, although that's the the CSS North American rankings. I'll edit in the European rankings as well (this is not a draft for players playing outside NA except for Miko Rantanen)
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May 26, 2015 17:32
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tofes posted:Has Kylington fallen all the way into the second round? I doubt that happens at the actual draft. He seems to 'toolsy' I'm hoping the Jets can draft him at 25
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May 26, 2015 17:35
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A Typical Goon posted:I doubt that happens at the actual draft. He seems to 'toolsy' I'm hoping the Jets can draft him at 25 I don't really follow European prospects (as they play on the other side of the world and I'm lazy), but from what I've read he's an oustanding skater with a lot of issues on the defensive side of things. I value skating for defencemen pretty highly, so I figure positioning and breakout passes can be taught. He's certainly not a surefire first rounder though. He struggled this season and didn't stand out at any international tournaments. He's a classic slider, and there's usually a good reason for that.
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May 26, 2015 17:40
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also I hope someone takes a late round flyer on one vladimir tkachev
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May 26, 2015 17:48
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Honestly I'd like to see the Sharks trade down from 9th and pick up at least 1 or 2 more picks in the first 3 rounds. There's a lot of talent outside the top 10 this year.
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May 26, 2015 17:51
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I don't think Eichel would be a slam dunk #1 over Tavares. I'm more curious about the 3/4 of course. Will Phoenix go for the winger, the center, or some kind of D (nope). I think Strome turns out the best, so I'm hoping they take him and keep him out of Toronto. Or that Toronto takes Crouse at the 4 spot.
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May 26, 2015 17:54
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tofes posted:There's a lot of talent outside the top 10 this year. I'm not sure there is. The top 5 is great (Marner and Strome would be 1st or 2nd overall picks in many other years), but it falls off a shelf there and then again at 15 or so. The late first round really isn't that good this year, although there are some players that are ranked in the second round I feel are far better than you'd think. 2013 was much much deeper, it just didn't have the same top end talent. It's miles ahead of 2014 though.
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May 26, 2015 17:54
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I hope the Caps draft another Swedish forward. I want all the Swedish forwards.
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May 26, 2015 17:54
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Bregor posted:I hope the Caps draft another Swedish forward. I want all the Swedish forwards. Eriksson Ek is ranked around 22 and is basically a big defensive centre with intangibles. Sounds like a Cap to me! Jordan7hm posted:I don't think Eichel would be a slam dunk #1 over Tavares. Maybe not quite slam dunk, but 1.8ppg college aged teenagers are much less common than 2ppg CHLers.
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May 26, 2015 17:57
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ThinkTank posted:Eriksson Ek is ranked around 22 and is basically a big defensive centre with intangibles. Sounds like a Cap to me! Swedish Jay Beagle? 
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May 26, 2015 18:01
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ThinkTank posted:I'm not sure there is. The top 5 is great (Marner and Strome would be 1st or 2nd overall picks in many other years), but it falls off a shelf there and then again at 15 or so. The late first round really isn't that good this year, although there are some players that are ranked in the second round I feel are far better than you'd think. I agree the top 5 is a step above the rest but I can't say I think the talent drops midway in the round at all. Guys like Sprong, Merkley, Roy, and others have a real good chance to become impact top 6/top 4 NHL players.
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May 26, 2015 18:14
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Leafs are gonna pick Lawson Crouse and it will rule
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May 26, 2015 18:54
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checksin posted:Leafs are gonna pick Lawson Crouse and it will rule This is going to be the one thing to watch for on draft night
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May 26, 2015 19:24
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checksin posted:Leafs are gonna pick Lawson Crouse and it will rule With Mark Hunter at the helm, you will be disappointed as he will surely pick Mitch Marner. Thought it will be funny when the Flyers select Crouse to go with their other towering meatheads.
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May 26, 2015 19:41
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I don't follow the juniors or college level at all, but I assume Crouse and the other asterisked player in that OP list are just picking up free points by playing with McDavid or Eichel like that dude who road Lemieux's coattails 30 years ago?
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May 26, 2015 20:19
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kalensc posted:I don't follow the juniors or college level at all, but I assume Crouse and the other asterisked player in that OP list are just picking up free points by playing with McDavid or Eichel like that dude who road Lemieux's coattails 30 years ago? They are SIZE AND INTANGIBLES players Crouse is 6'4" and had 51pts in 56 games (aka not good for a draft year), but someone compared him to Lucic so to the top 10 he goes! The Projection Project (which finds similar players based on NHL equivalency) estimates he has a 58% chance of busting entirely, and of the 33 similar players it found exactly two were of any value. He'll be a bottom six forward unless the stars align. With that said, I don't think he's the worst prospect on earth. I certainly wouldn't take him in the top 20 though. Brandon Carlo is even worse. He's 6'5" and brings absolutely nothing to the table in terms of offence (25pts in 63 games). Every profile I've read of him mentions "reach" and mentions he struggles at skating. The projection project estimates he has a 78% chance of busting with 1 of the 49 players it found categorized as a top pairing defenceman. If you want a 2% chance of drafting an all world shutdown guy then go nuts, more likely you have a bottom pairing physical defenceman who will bounce around the league before heading to Switzerland at 28. He's a relic of another time. The Canucks will somehow draft both of them, I just know it.
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May 26, 2015 20:28
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EliteProspects is good for a lot of info. Their draft center page has several different rankings including ISS and McKeen's. Lawson Crouse is a top 10 everywhere but down a little outside CSS and ISS.kalensc posted:I don't follow the juniors or college level at all, but I assume Crouse and the other asterisked player in that OP list are just picking up free points by playing with McDavid or Eichel like that dude who road Lemieux's coattails 30 years ago? I don't see any other asterisks. Crouse plays on a completely different team than McDavid; he's only on the list because he's big. Dylan Strome played with McDavid but has proven himself in the eyes of several scouts.
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May 26, 2015 20:30
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Nah, Crouse is a very different story. He's a guy who passes the eye test with flying colours, but doesn't pass the production test. Pronmann has a good article on him here. For what it's worth, I think the odds of Crouse being a quality NHL player are very high. He's just not got the top line ceiling you're hoping for from a top 5, or maybe even top 10, pick. There's something to be said for taking the guy with a high floor though.
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May 26, 2015 20:31
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kalensc posted:I don't follow the juniors or college level at all, but I assume Crouse and the other asterisked player in that OP list are just picking up free points by playing with McDavid or Eichel like that dude who road Lemieux's coattails 30 years ago? crouse is a big dude who hasn't put up particularly good numbers in juniors yet has been consistently high on draft boards
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May 26, 2015 20:31
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Bregor posted:I hope the Caps draft another Swedish forward. I want all the Swedish forwards. Careful what you wish for, that's how you end up drafting Anton Gustafsson one slot before Eberle.
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May 26, 2015 20:38
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Is Michael Spacek related to good ol' Jaroslav in anyway? Someone tell me about Provorov and Werenski as they're probably the Flyers options if they want D. I saw Werenski a couple times and I didn't think he was all that good, though that may be because Michigan is a literal dumpster fire when playing Penn State. Nissin Cup Nudist fucked around with this message at 20:52 on May 26, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 20:48
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FYI the Flyers have the Lightning's 1st round pick this year as part of the Coburn trade, and the Lightning have the Ranger's pick as part of the St. Louis trade. Hextall had better take Provorov or Werenski with the 7th pick.
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May 26, 2015 20:49
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^^^ Fixed, thanks! DOOP posted:Is Michael Spacek related to good ol' Jaroslav in anyway? Not as far as I'm aware, it's a moderately common czech name (e.g. Sissy Spacek). Elite prospects lists familial relations for players, and Michael Spacek doesn't have any. ThinkTank fucked around with this message at 20:54 on May 26, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 20:51
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As for the player who everyone is tracking, NHLCS has Hayden McCool ranked as the #147 North American skater.
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May 26, 2015 21:14
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I hope the Leafs do something dumb on draft day.
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May 26, 2015 21:43
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yellowcar posted:I hope the Leafs do something dumb on draft day. Trade their first for Crawford. Saving us from cap hell
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May 26, 2015 22:31
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I want the Bruins to get Barzal or Connor. Werenski or Provorov would be nice too if either fell to 14, but I doubt they will.
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May 26, 2015 23:45
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Jordan7hm posted:Nah, Crouse is a very different story. He's a guy who passes the eye test with flying colours, but doesn't pass the production test. I was on board with everything until "If Team Canada selected someone he must be good" because that's pretty demonstrably untrue and also somewhat circular in reasoning. Like, I really like Pronman overall but Team Canada has also valued terrible goalies, Freddy Gauthier, and grinders like Della Rovere and Patrice Cormier in the past. Crouse is likely doing something right, but I can't agree with a strategy that would take a high-floor safety pick top-10 in a draft that's supposed to be pretty skilled overall. Leafs draft history is weighing pretty severely on my thinking fwiw.
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May 27, 2015 01:06
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but you see, you can't teach size.
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May 27, 2015 01:10
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fits posted:but you see, you can't teach size. Tyler Biggs' AHL scoring actually went down in this year, but his PIMs shot way up! Good thing the Leafs traded up under the logic that his floor was a surefire NHL bottom sixer.
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May 27, 2015 01:18
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Canada picks guys like Gauthier and such when they're older though. His age is a factor there. Also, Crouse's scoring isn't horrible. Its enough to say with some confidence he won't be a PPG guy, but not to say he can't produce at the NHL level. The leafs picking him at 4 would be nuts, but if you're taking him at around 7 or 8 I don't think it's an obviously bad pick. Some of these skill guys aren't going to turn out either, and D are a bit more of a crapshoot.
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May 27, 2015 02:17
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Not sure if this means crap since dmen take longer to develop than Fs, but Hanifin has committed to coming back to BC next year, so he won't be on a roster next year. Also, opinions on Mackenzie Blackwood? He looks like the top ranked goalie and is a 1st half of 2nd round projection.
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May 27, 2015 02:42
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I read somewhere that Provorov is the only D that might be NHL ready next year.
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May 27, 2015 03:00
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Koopa Kid posted:Tyler Biggs' AHL scoring actually went down in this year, but his PIMs shot way up! Good thing the Leafs traded up under the logic that his floor was a surefire NHL bottom sixer. Draft nightmares of the Sutter era in Calgary. Every year, Darryl picked a guy in the first round that everyone said would be a sure-fire NHLer at the very least; next to none of them even lived up to that.
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May 27, 2015 05:20
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Jamwad Hilder posted:I want the Bruins to get Barzal or Connor. Werenski or Provorov would be nice too if either fell to 14, but I doubt they will. Crouse is going to fall to 14th and he's going to be a rich man's Tom Wilson.
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May 27, 2015 05:23
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tofes posted:I read somewhere that Provorov is the only D that might be NHL ready next year. Werenski looks pretty ready
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May 27, 2015 05:33
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ThinkTank posted:I don't really follow European prospects (as they play on the other side of the world and I'm lazy), but from what I've read he's an oustanding skater with a lot of issues on the defensive side of things. I value skating for defencemen pretty highly, so I figure positioning and breakout passes can be taught. He's certainly not a surefire first rounder though. He struggled this season and didn't stand out at any international tournaments. He's a classic slider, and there's usually a good reason for that. from what ive heard from the rare person thats watched him is that he's basically the exact same player he was last year, but a year older somehow. no growth to his game in any dimension
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May 27, 2015 09:25
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