13-14 Prospects Thread Version XXI: Finn 2nd. in PPG OHL Defenders

[Leafs at Knight]

Yea I'll take Gauthier over McCarron anyday

 

[Cor]

It's more of a bias thing for me. Big fan of him. Shinkaruk was my main choice though.

 

[Peasy]

No points for Connor Brown tonight in North Bay, as the Battalion win 2-0 over Erie.

Brown looked dangerous on several occasions, but the Battalion played a tough, defensive brand of hockey tonight. Erie's lines were in the blender for most of the night, with McDavid up on his line at times.

It was hard to get a read on his defensive game. The Otters wingers often stretch and fly the zone to generate speed and attack the lanes, so it was hard to get a handle on his positional play due their offensive brand of hockey.

Overall, he seems like a fairly decent skater (not good nor bad), and thrives in open space in the offensive zone. Cycled the puck decently vs. a stellar defensive team, however this is still not his forte, although can create space for himself fairly well when needed.

Do you live in North Bay? I was at that game tonight haha. Went just to see Brown and McDavid, was disappointed they didn't get on the scoreboard but NB dominated the play the first two periods. Even without McDavid getting anything you could see why hes going to be something special.

Everytime Brown and McDavid were together they generated good scoring chances.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Finn has been great. He's playing on a very strong, veteran laden Guelph team, so he has had plenty of help this year, but the argument can be made that he has been their most important player so far.

 

[hd1344]

Do you live in North Bay? I was at that game tonight haha. Went just to see Brown and McDavid, was disappointed they didn't get on the scoreboard but NB dominated the play the first two periods. Even without McDavid getting anything you could see why hes going to be something special.

Everytime Brown and McDavid were together they generated good scoring chances.

no I don't live there, but I have family from the area and was up there visiting. Nice to see OHL back in NB.

 

[StuckOutHere]

Fredrik GOATier

What does Fred have to do with the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test?

 

[The Magic Man]

I'm not the biggest fan of Gauthier, heck, I'm not even a fan of him. But some people in this board are going way overboard.

I personally wanted McCarron or Shinkaruk.

I remember when I was pumped for Filatov. McCarron seems like he would've been horrible. What's the appeal for you? I've never watched him.

I wanted one of Morrissey, Gauthier, Rychel, Erne or Zykov. I didn't think Mantha would've been close to us, so I didn't get too pumped about him. I would've paid the price to move up for him or Lazar. I think they both fell too far.

 

[Cor]

I remember when I was pumped for Filatov. McCarron seems like he would've been horrible. What's the appeal for you? I've never watched him.

I wanted one of Morrissey, Gauthier, Rychel, Erne or Zykov. I didn't think Mantha would've been close to us, so I didn't get too pumped about him. I would've paid the price to move up for him or Lazar. I think they both fell too far.

Yeah, I'm not upset we didn't get McCarron, just a personal player I like, and while It wouldn't have been a good pick, I wouldn't of hated it. Just like the way he plays personally. He plays a big game. The issue with him is his offense, he's very raw offensively.

I was hoping we would get Mantha, he was my #1, but when Detroit took him, I wanted Shinkaruk.

 

[Haatley]

I find it odd that this many people are so upset about it. It's the 21st pick in a rather mediocre draft, IMO. I was never to pumped about it, but I don't mind going after role players and I don't feel the need to take the biggest gamble payoff. But I thought we had a safe bet in Biggs...... We'll see.

But I see the choices after him as sort of ho hum. I don't expect a lot out of the later half of the draft, outside of Mantha. But it'll be a few years before any of it really shows.

It was a great draft. Mantha and skinkaruk went in 20's. Petan in the second. Why is it a weak draft?

 

[mikebel111*]

Finn has been great. He's playing on a very strong, veteran laden Guelph team, so he has had plenty of help this year, but the argument can be made that he has been their most important player so far.

Thanks for the update! I heard he will need a bit of time in the AHL. Bit meaning a year. Right?

 

[FreeBird]

The way I see it Freddie Gauthier still has time as he is quite young still. I believe he can still put it all together. People have to remember that by drafting is how you get those big centers.

He needs to spend the summer with Gary Roberts and Biosteel.

 

[Cor]

Thanks for the update! I heard he will need a bit of time in the AHL. Bit meaning a year. Right?

Finn will need at least a year, then I'd say another year with some call ups.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

It was a great draft. Mantha and skinkaruk went in 20's. Petan in the second. Why is it a weak draft?

Andre Burakovsky, liked what I have seen of him. He's a player, and he played for team Sweden too. Got like them.

 

[Madic]

It was a great draft. Mantha and skinkaruk went in 20's. Petan in the second. Why is it a weak draft?

Because the talent level after the first 10 or so doesn't look so hot compared to years past? I also don't get your examples being relevant at all. What, did people think Mantha would stop scoring after being drafted? He dropped to 20 for a reason, and he hasn't proved anyone wrong yet...scoring won't change that. Just like Grigorenko last year. Shinkaruk is the same thing except he's proven jack squat so far. You're just throwing names out there that don't mean anything yet.

 

[leafsfuture]

Because the talent level after the first 10 or so doesn't look so hot compared to years past? I also don't get your examples being relevant at all. What, did people think Mantha would stop scoring after being drafted? He dropped to 20 for a reason, and he hasn't proved anyone wrong yet...scoring won't change that. Just like Grigorenko last year. Shinkaruk is the same thing except he's proven jack squat so far. You're just throwing names out there that don't mean anything yet.

Agreed.

We know Mantha and Shinkaruk can score in junior. Obviously they have the potential to be good NHLers but there are some deficiencies in their games that dont make them blue chip prospects.

 

[Major19]

Lmao, the hate with Gauthier is astonishing. Wouldn't expect any less here though.

Freddy Bustier is a boom/ bust pick though. We get an elite 3C (highly unlikely) at best and a pedestrian AHL scrub (more likely) at worst.

Isn't that the issue with, you know, every draft pick in the draft? Also, Gauthier is not nearly as boom/bust as someone like Shinkaruk.

Players like Leivo, Brown, Finn, Percy, Ruperts, Rielly, Kadri (in AHL), Kegger, etc. They all stand out for something. May that be hits, scoring, competitiveness or just having a presence. 2 of the most underwhelming players I have watch in recent memory have been Tyler Biggs (although I'm slowly starting to appreciate his game on the marlies) and Freddy G.

Gauthier, for his age (which is younger than all of those players you named), does a hell of a lot of good things for his age group. He's an absolutely magician at the face off, and there aren't many (if at all) junior players with his kind of defensive awareness. Just because he isn't a sexy looking kid who scores lots of goods (see: stat-padding), doesn't mean he can't be an effective player. He "stands out" for something that NONE of those players listed even dream of having. Rielly and Kadri are also #5 and #7 overall picks, so I'm not sure what you're trying to prove including them in there.

They say the great shooters in the game never have to look at the net to know where it is, I think if you blind folded bustier he would just fall over, hes such a mess offensively and I hate these defensive picks. You can teach players defence (player 43 for example) but you cant teach offensive instincts and intuition. In a perfect world he would eventually replace bolland, but bolland has some offensive upside and was certainly tearing it up a lot more then bustier in junior and there really is no hope for the guy. I've never heard of a player increasing production when they get into the nhl, it never works that way. Player 43 gets crap all the time around here when he doesn't produce every other game or whatever, just imagine freddy g..... its going to be a nightmare at 3c and hes honestly just going to be a 4c in all likelihood, such a bad choice with that high of a pick imo

1) Rofl, incredible. I'd love for you to see how many 18 year old kids would be interested in developing the defensive aspect of the game like Gauthier does. Hint: it doesn't happen much. Truth is, you can't teach the defensive awareness that Gauthier has, and you definitely can teach a player how to shoot a puck. Also, I love Naz but LOL at "player 43 for example" as someone who learned defense. Naz has a long way to go until he has the defensive game that Gauthier has, and that says a ton about the 18-year-old more than it does about Naz.

2) Yes, having a 17 years old develop is completely unheard of.

The rest of your post is just as comical, I don't care enough to take bits of it out.

It's more of a bias thing for me. Big fan of him. Shinkaruk was my main choice though.

The bottom line is that you don't win a cup with a bunch of Shinkaruks in the lineup. You need a defensive presence. A guy that can be depended on winning faceoffs and help hold 4-1 leads with 10 minutes left. Hunter Shinkaruk will not be that guy. I can guarantee you one thing: if Frederick Gauthier was 5 years older and into the Leafs lineup during that 4-1 lead, the Leafs are playing the Rangers next and it's really not even a discussion. If Gauthier develops an offensive game, then we have a Patrice Bergeron on our hands. If not, he'll still go down as a great #3C, and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[91Stammer*]

Even if Gauthier spends his hole life learning offensive side of his game, he can never become the offensive threat Kadri is. Kadri's offensive instincts, hands, skills, grit is irreplaceable. We have a very good player like Gauthier and his name is Jay McClement, who shows he can be very reliable defensively.

 

[Peasy]

Andre Burakovsky, liked what I have seen of him. He's a player, and he played for team Sweden too. Got like them.

Watched him last night, dude has some great hands.

 

[Divine]

So guys, is Justin Pogge ready yet?

 

[Guy Boucher]

Yea I'll take Gauthier over McCarron anyday

Personally I would've taken Klimchuk over either of them.

 

[Neil Hamburger]

Even if Gauthier spends his hole life learning offensive side of his game, he can never become the offensive threat Kadri is. Kadri's offensive instincts, hands, skills, grit is irreplaceable. We have a very good player like Gauthier and his name is Jay McClement, who shows he can be very reliable defensively.

We also have some very good offensive players like Kadri, Kessel, JVR, etc.... so what's your point?

 

[The Magic Man]

It was a great draft. Mantha and skinkaruk went in 20's. Petan in the second. Why is it a weak draft?

We have no real idea yet how good a draft it was. Mantha took another step forward as an offensive player, which is great. I'll guess he'll be a 30g player in the NHL. Shinkaruk took another step back, his 2nd step back in 2 years.

People complain about Gauthiers' lack of O and point to Shinkaruk? He's steadily declined for 2 seasons. It was a decent hill to descend from, being a near 50 goal scorer at 17, but he's been average to crap since. I don't expect much from this group. I don't see a Giroux or Eberle yet that was available to us. We'll see, but I'm OK with a project 3C when he has the intangibles that Gauthier already has.

FTR, he already skates better then Jay McLement, who RC leans on way too much. He is way bigger, and still has the obvious room to grow as a player. I think we got something with him, just not anymore than a 30pt player.

I would bet most of the players taken in the next 5-10 spots don't average as much ice time as him in 10 years. We'll see though, we don't anything for sure.

 

[mikebel111*]

Finn an assist

 

[leafers]

Personally I would've taken Klimchuk over either of them.

Burakovsky over all three of them. Watched him play this past wjc and was really impressed with his game. Excellent skater with good offensive skills, too bad we let him slip past us.

Gauthier will be fine and I like his game, but in the 1st round with a player like Burakovsky around you have to take a shot at him.

 

[67Cup]

I wanted Burakovsky because he appeared to have the most upside of the players likely to be available in the Leafs' range. But I predicted Gauthier would be the pick and was content with it. I still am, although there is no way to spin this season as a positive, at least on the offensive side of the puck.

McCarron always has struck me as a slightly more gifted Jamie Devane, but without the fighting ability. I'm glad the Leafs didn't take him. But to be fair to him and the Habs, he, like Gauthier is a big guy and that type often develops a bit later.