2006 Draft is Kessel a lock?

[Sticky*]

Agreed, thats not to say tier 2 is bad, but they just aren't as good. Still there are some amazing players in tier2(Joenssu and Toews). I'm hoping Maxwell hits it big next season.

I would go as far as to put Toews in the top tier. He really is quite the player, he has the hockey smarts to go along with great speed and dazzling stickhandling. I think he's goona be quite the player. He's grown to 6'2" now also. I thinkn he will end the season battling with Jordan Staal for #2.

Nothing against Frolik though.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

how do ovechkin and malkin compare to kessel? who would you guys take?

 

[Le Golie]

how do ovechkin and malkin compare to kessel? who would you guys take?

Ovechkin
Kessel
Malkin

All three are close though.

As for Jon Toews, I can't wait to see how he does at the U18 challenge. I think he could very well challenge for a top 3 spot. He's dynamite.

 

[VOB]

I didn't say it's his strength, I said he does fine in it - meaning it doesn't take away from his overall game.

It is Kessel's weakness and it is one thing that he still must prove himself in while for Mueller it is a strength.

 

[GJB]

No he is not a lock, but I feel he will go first. Crosby was a lock, Kessel is not.

 

[markov`]

After seeing both of them play, I would personally take Frolik over Kessel.

 

[X-SHARKIE]

After seeing both of them play, I would personally take Frolik over Kessel.

2006 will be an excellent draft, especially top end, I can't say he is a lock with guys like Frolik, Mueller, Toews, Staal up there as well...but he's definitley the leading canidate.

He'll have big market muscle as well as the "American Phenom" ect.

I don't know how you could watch any other 06 player at this stage and say they're ahead of Kessel and project better, because they don't. This kids offensive upside is absolutely huge, and has franchise written all over him.

 

[markov`]

Frolik is bigger, stronger, smarter, better defensively than Kessel. In fact he is better in every facets of the games other than goalscoring and speed.

 

[Le Golie]

Frolik is bigger, stronger, smarter, better defensively than Kessel. In fact he is better in every facets of the games other than goalscoring and speed.

Does the quote, "All he does is catch touchdowns" mean anything to you?

 

[espo*]

How is he kicking more ass? At that age spezza was an all star at the WJHC.. I think what Kessel has done is awesome and he will probably go number one next year he reminds me of Kovalchuk in a way but Spezza was pretty good at that age as well.

I watched that whjc..sometimes the all-stars play well but don't exactly set the world on fire with their play really but someones gotta be an all star so they pick the big name guy who has solid numbers. while i felt Spezza played well that season he was'nt special or anything.He had some good games and his numbers were solid.....the media picked him..happens a lot.But that was'nt the case with Kessel in this past under 18's...........he dominated.

I know it's not as strong a competition as the world juniors but it's still high and hey....it's not like he did'nt show solid flashes of brilliance at the world juniors either..........this scouting stuff is based on projections after all and i never saw levels of brilliance in the wjc from Spezza that i saw from Kessel,all star or not.Kessel was playing with a relatively weak and badly coached team with the U.S last world juniors................put him on a team like Canada and he may have been able to strut his stuff even more.

In hindsight,the U.S coaching staff should have given him even more ice time.He is going to be very(yet not impossible) difficult to upseat for number one next year.

take in context the type of game Kessel plays also.........very similar to Kovalchuk's as i've said before imo.The buzz going into that years wjhc was that Kovalchuk had unseated Spezza as top dog for the draft.Spezza ends up outplaying Kovalchuk that wjhc and ends up an all star and then people started saying Spezza may have taken over the top spot again but..................Kovalchuk still went no1 overall in the draft no pressure.Scouts saw his game and what it consisted of............Spezza being named an all star made no difference whatsoever.Scouts(and all of us) can see what Kessel does and what his strentghs are.Skating and scoring being such a big part of the game after all.Very hard to overlook.

 

[espo*]

Does the quote, "All he does is catch touchdowns" mean anything to you?

LOL.

 

[MN_Gopher]

Mueller is also a year younger than Kessel and the gap between the two is not nearly as large as some of you think.

Kessel is a very exciting player but sorry Le Golie, playing in traffic is not his strong suit.

Kessel skates by trafiic. I saw him in Mariucci and at the WJC. He goes by people. I am sure you have seen the highlight of him jumping around the Swedish d man, i think, too. He does not need to play in traffic. He sure seems to be strong enough and have good enough agility to skate by or through opposing players and still find the net. He is not a power forward but he does just fine.
And the age gap is six months not a year.

 

[Entrancemperium]

Iknow it's early but....

Anybody here seen a ranking of the top ten of next years draft? The rangers will be a lock for a top ten maybe top five pick.

 

[MentalPowerHouse]

Kessel seems to me to be an american Kovalchuk, slightly smaller but even more prolific.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Is Phil Kessel a lock for 1st overall in the 2006 draft? We all knew Crosby was going 1st pretty much before he even played in the QMJHL and he did.

Kessel did very well as an underager but will this be a Spezza thing where he is good for a long time but a Kovalchuk unseats him?

Also could I get another list for top 10 in '06 and where they are from? I'm wondering why Jordan Staal is rated so high since he only had 28 points in the OHL this year. And can someone tell me about Bryan Little.

Heeeeeeell no he is not a lock to go first. There is so much top end talent in this draft if Kessel has an average year for Minny and a player like Towes explodes then Towes will go first. If Frolik is WJC MVp then he may go first. There is so much hockey to be played before next years draft.

 

[mercury]

He is significantly smaller than Kovalchuk. He will probably get somewhat bigger, but Ilya is 6'3" and 230 lbs. He is a physical freak. Kessel is a shade under 6 ft., and maybe 180 lbs. right now.

 

[Le Golie]

Heeeeeeell no he is not a lock to go first. There is so much top end talent in this draft if Kessel has an average year for Minny and a player like Towes explodes then Towes will go first. If Frolik is WJC MVp then he may go first. There is so much hockey to be played before next years draft.

Just for the record it is Toews not Towes. And it's pronounced Tay-ves - like 'caves' with a T.

Not trying to be a jerk on the spelling but in case anyone wanted to note the name or find more info on him, that's the correct way.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Just for the record it is Toews not Towes. And it's pronounced Tay-ves - like 'caves' with a T.

Not trying to be a jerk on the spelling but in case anyone wanted to note the name or find more info on him, that's the correct way.

ok, thanks. I would want to be corrected anyway

 

[jake1]

http://www.detroitsportsrag.com/articles/spiro080905.html

From a Jack Johnson interview. I guess we know what Johnson thinks of the Sid/Phil debate:

"Sid is the best player that I have ever played with or against. We hit it off right away during our first year at Shattuck. The whole chemistry of the team was so great; it was just like an immediate click.

One of my favorite Sid stories is the time that Phil Kessel's mom went right down to the glass and started heckling him before a face-off in the opponents' zone. She was calling Sid every nasty name in the book and telling him that he was overrated. Typically, Sid would win the face-off and set me up for a slap shot near the blueline. Not this time. Sid went up to me and said that he was going to win the face-off and take the puck himself and score. I just nodded my head.

Sure enough, the puck drops and Sid grabs possession. Within 2 seconds, the red light goes off and all Sid does is tip his hat to Mrs. Kessel. Just a classic Sid Crosby moment."

 

[espo*]

http://www.detroitsportsrag.com/articles/spiro080905.html

From a Jack Johnson interview. I guess we know what Johnson thinks of the Sid/Phil debate:

"Sid is the best player that I have ever played with or against. We hit it off right away during our first year at Shattuck. The whole chemistry of the team was so great; it was just like an immediate click.

One of my favorite Sid stories is the time that Phil Kessel's mom went right down to the glass and started heckling him before a face-off in the opponents' zone. She was calling Sid every nasty name in the book and telling him that he was overrated. Typically, Sid would win the face-off and set me up for a slap shot near the blueline. Not this time. Sid went up to me and said that he was going to win the face-off and take the puck himself and score. I just nodded my head.

Sure enough, the puck drops and Sid grabs possession. Within 2 seconds, the red light goes off and all Sid does is tip his hat to Mrs. Kessel. Just a classic Sid Crosby moment."

Great story. Wow,what a dumb hockey mom.Hopefully her kid has more on the ball then his mother.

 

[tom_servo]

I like how everyone is putting Toronto at the bottom. We will be the underdogs.

They will make the playoffs, only teams that really improved are Philly and Pens.

Atlanta should be strong.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

http://www.detroitsportsrag.com/articles/spiro080905.html

From a Jack Johnson interview. I guess we know what Johnson thinks of the Sid/Phil debate:

"Sid is the best player that I have ever played with or against. We hit it off right away during our first year at Shattuck. The whole chemistry of the team was so great; it was just like an immediate click.

One of my favorite Sid stories is the time that Phil Kessel's mom went right down to the glass and started heckling him before a face-off in the opponents' zone. She was calling Sid every nasty name in the book and telling him that he was overrated. Typically, Sid would win the face-off and set me up for a slap shot near the blueline. Not this time. Sid went up to me and said that he was going to win the face-off and take the puck himself and score. I just nodded my head.

Sure enough, the puck drops and Sid grabs possession. Within 2 seconds, the red light goes off and all Sid does is tip his hat to Mrs. Kessel. Just a classic Sid Crosby moment."

This story would impress me more...if Johnson and Crosby weren't playing against 15 year old highschool players.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

My take on Kessel as the potential number one for 2006 is if he has a great year at Minnesota and performs at the WJC like he did last year, he is a lock. Frolik or Mueller (the two other guys that will IMO likely comprise the top three with Kessel) will have to do something extraordinary and Kessel would have to pretty much fall on his face for Kessel to not be the number one pick.

 

[espo*]

Why not? they were 15 year olds themselves were'nt they?

The fact he made pretty boy goal scorer Kessel's mom(who was acting like an a%$hole hockey parent) eat crow turns in into legend for me.Nice stuff!!

 

[VOB]

Kessel was rather quiet at the Evaluation camp, netting only one goal and a couple of assists. Of course you really can't put too much stock in a camp held at this time year but interesting none the less.