Prospect Info: 2015-16 Colorado Avalanche Prospects Thread (CHL, NCAA and Europe)

[Barklez]

Is it just that the league is underscouted/underrated? I don't know a whole lot about the junior leagues, so that statistic strikes me as incredibly odd.

Someone like RS or henchman might be able to explain the underlying reasons why, but in general the WHL is known more for high-end defensemen while more elite forwards tend to come from the OHL and QMJHL. At least that's the common perception. I've paid less attention lately, but the WJC team used to frequently have 3-4+ WHL defensemen, maybe 1 WHL goalie and 1 WHL forward.

People always chalk it up to the "big, strong farm-boys" of the prairies making good dmen and powerforwards but now I'm curious as to whether it has to do with something more subtle like differences in coaching or whether there is that big of a difference between leagues at all.

 

[S E P H]

Is it just that the league is underscouted/underrated? I don't know a whole lot about the junior leagues, so that statistic strikes me as incredibly odd.

WHL is probably the best defensive league, OHL is the best balanced league, and the Q is the best offensive league.

I think Barklez is correct that you have stronger kids coming from the WHL has in part to do with farming being a major lifestyle in the region. I got some friends who played in the WHL and talked to other players who tried out/made teams. Overwhelmingly a lot of them said that the league consists of towering behemoths, majority of them decide to play defence. In one part, because it is a strong defensive league, you get a lot late blooming forwards where only time and experience will help them surpass bigger strong defenders. Example, if you take a 16 year old forward and a 16 year old defenceman with the same skill levels, but the forward was from Vancouver and the 16 year old is from a farm, 90% of the time the defenceman will be stronger due to the occupation. And if you put them in a 1 on 1 battle, the defecenman will probably win 9 out of 10 times. Only when that forward becomes a 19 or 20 year old, will he then surpass other bigger defencemen and then post numbers like 98 points in 58 games. For the record not every player in the WHL comes from a farm, but out of the three CHL leagues, it's definitely the most physically mature. Moreover, it probably surpasses the likes of the USHL (which is a very defensive league as well) and coming in 2nd to the NCAA for North America.

As for underscouted, it could be compared to OHL and LHJMQ since WHL has the worst travelling. But as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I think the main issue is you just normally have a lot of late blooming forwards. Forwards who can't do anything as 17 year olds against some of those defensive cores, but develop their skills when they become 19 and 20 year old.

Another reason is that the kids are just very good junior players, but scouts don't see the potential when they reach the higher leagues. A couple of players whom could fit this perfectly are Tyson Baillie, Brayden Burke, and Rihards Bukarts. Furthermore, you have a player like Dryden Hunt that is posting ridiculous numbers like having his fifth hattrick in the last ten games. But when you see him play, you understand why he wasn't drafted last year and why Habs released from training camp last September as well. He just has holes in his game that leaves you wanting more from him. Trust me, there are not a lot of Tyler Johnsons' you will be able to find for any league in terms of undrafted overagers posting ridiculous numbers. There is a reason why they went two or three years undrafted and unsigned. A perfect example of this would be Mitch Holmberg, as a 19 year old he post 80 points in 66 games for the Spokane Chiefs, didn't get signed. Then as an overager, he posted the ridiculous stat line of 118 points in 72 games. He then proceeded to sign an AHL deal with the Edmonton Oilers where he just posted 15 points in 40 games in the ECHL. After this he's randomly playing for a tier two team in Hungary and I can say that he's better than any of the overagers available from the WHL this offseason.

 

[McMetal]

Interesting, that definitely answered my question, thanks for the detailed response!

 

[JWK]

Still have some concerns about Greer. The way in which he left Boston and the fact that he was not open to playing specific roles for that team. I don't see him as a top 6 at the NHL level and wonder if he would be willing to play a bottom 6 role without sandbagging it.

Just blame everything on David Quinn, we all know how to do that

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Compher/Michigan at Minnesota - Tonight @ 6:30 MT, Big 10 Network (Dish Network has recently added this as a regular channel for those with Dish who have not noticed yet).

 

[CobraAcesS]

Compher/Michigan at Minnesota - Tonight @ 6:30 MT, Big 10 Network (Dish Network has recently added this as a regular channel for those with Dish who have not noticed yet).

Sounds like a good excuse to root against something involving Minnesota. I'm down

 

[cgf]

I know it's Minnesota, but the Gophers have Fasching <3

If only GMTM didn't adore him so much.

 

[Iracundia]

I'm going to make my prediction that Compher will be on our opening day roster. Silky smooth passing through the smallest of lanes.

2 pretty PP assists for him this game

Tenacious on the PK too

 

[landy92mack29]

another 1G+1A performance from Greer and Beaudin tonight. OT winner by Jean-Christophe

 

[Avs_19]

Nice to see Greer producing. I watched him 3-4 times with BU earlier this season and he looked pretty good out there. He wasn't picking up many points but there was a lot to like.

 

[tigervixxxen]

That was an incredible game the Huskies straight pulled out of the sky. Greer's goal was huge too, tied the game at one point. He had a breakaway, got tripped and as he was falling shot the puck right in front of the crease. He also had a nice spin-o-Rama assist. Beaudin the OT winner too, he didn't have a lot of room but just shot the puck. He has an underrated shot. But yeah, it's interesting watching Greer's game evolve. He's so disruptive but he's got good enough passing skills to get the puck to his teammates. Almost all his goals have been of the ugly variety, he loves to stand right in front of the goalie and his move there he likes to do is tip or shoot picks over him.

 

[cgf]

That was an incredible game the Huskies straight pulled out of the sky. Greer's goal was huge too, tied the game at one point. He had a breakaway, got tripped and as he was falling shot the puck right in front of the crease. He also had a nice spin-o-Rama assist. Beaudin the OT winner too, he didn't have a lot of room but just shot the puck. He has an underrated shot. But yeah, it's interesting watching Greer's game evolve. He's so disruptive but he's got good enough passing skills to get the puck to his teammates. Almost all his goals have been of the ugly variety, he loves to stand right in front of the goalie and his move there he likes to do is tip or shoot picks over him.

It's really exciting to think about what Greer will be able to do once he gets comfortable sniping away with that gorgeous shot of his. Talk about a vicious & quick release.

 

[Nihiliste]

I'm going to make my prediction that Compher will be on our opening day roster. Silky smooth passing through the smallest of lanes.

2 pretty PP assists for him this game

Tenacious on the PK too

Nah he'll make it the year after

 

[chet1926]

I'm going to make my prediction that Compher will be on our opening day roster. Silky smooth passing through the smallest of lanes.

2 pretty PP assists for him this game

Tenacious on the PK too

I've actually been saying this for weeks. He is almost the perfect addition to our bottom six. He's young, cheap, he is a little bit older than your standard prospect, and has skill but can still play a bottom 6 role and kill PKs. I'm not going to be surprised when he is still standing late in camp fighting for a roster spot.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Michigan plays again tonight on the Big10 Network.

And St Cloud St plays tonight on CBSSN, and tomorrow on FOXN.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Michigan plays again tonight on the Big10 Network.

And St Cloud St plays tonight on CBSSN, and tomorrow on FOXN.

Thanks, and also reminder Meloche is on NHL Net in the morning or Sportsnet now.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

Thanks, and also reminder Meloche is on NHL Net in the morning or Sportsnet now.

Got it set to record.

 

[Nihiliste]

Normally would be all over watching meloche but no chance during the alumni game! Will have to catch it tomorrow

 

[landy92mack29]

Beaudin with his 3rd straight 1G+1A game. Another W for the Huskies. Greer added an empty netter

 

[S E P H]

Watching Meloche right now, I see a lot of Johnny Boychuk in his game. As it has been mentioned, not a very high ceiling, but plays an NHL style of game. Not a big fan of his puck skills, it's better than Siemens, but as Duncan's skills looked solid in juniors, and bad in pros, I think Meloche might suffer some of the same traits.


I've been able to go back and watch some of Bleackley games before he got injured with some more time on my hand. Curious did anybody post his goal against Kootenay Ice when it was on Sportsnet? It was a thing of beauty and could make it into a gif if it hasn't been post.

As for Bleackley, he was EASILY the best player on the ice for all the games I watched for the Rebels. FYI some of these games were before they got DeBrusk (haven't seen them play with him). Perhaps someone like Nikolishin might have been more consistent in terms of offensive numbers, but Connor was definitely the more flashy and known.

Pros
- His skating has gotten better, has a more explosive first couple of steps.

- His stickhandling has also gotten better, very deceptive when he's able to walk around 3 guys looking easy.

- His offensive game is quite underrated on this board, especially his playmaking attributes. Having a potential third line of Bleackley, Compher, and Greer would be freakin' nuts in awesomeness.

- His toughness has also gotten better, he isn't one to go out there and look for hits, but his toughness with the puck was another good attribute I saw.

Cons
- I was quite disappointed with his defensive game. There were times he overplayed and tried to anticipate plays, but failed and put himself in wrong positions leading to a couple opposing goals. I was also surprised that he didn't play any time on the PK either.

- His shot, he says he wanted to shoot more, but damn he went into Erik Johnson shinpad crazy mode. I was quite disappointed because he has all the tools to become like Jamie McGinn, but I don't think he has the toolbox to be an intelligent goalscorer. I think his lack of goals actually justifies this observation. There's a difference between wanting to shoot more intelligent, and wanting to shoot more foolishly (IE Comeau/Landeskog).


Another observation, don't know if I would consider this a con, but as it has been mentioned a lot of times before, he bends over a lot because he plays with a VERY short stick. Like he's 6'0", but the stick he plays with is for someone that could be 5'8" at tops.

His stat line is disappointing, but he's definitely trying out there. And it's not like he regressed by any means either. I would say he's actually gotten underrated, but for different reasons. His offensive game was better than earlier on in the season, while I think he has some things to work on defensively. But overall, I saw a player who definitely should be signed, any decision letting him go back in the draft would be the wrong one. He will be better than the player that would be at 54th or whatever 2nd round pick it would be.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I think we will always disagree on Meloche's upside. Gatineau uses him more defensively but he has a good shot and likes to shoot. He's good at carrying the puck and making a good first pass and can run the PP. No, he's not going to be a Barrie type offensive D man but he's a solid two way guy. Siemens literally has to stick to 4 foot passes and shouldn't even try to handle the puck along the blue line.

Nice to hear some things about Bleackley. He was never on the PK, I believe this is more a Sutter thing because every time he was with team Canada he was on the PK and I think the Avs even practiced him there. DeBrusk has been ok with the Rebels, Spacek's offense has even fallen off considerably after a hot start. That team just can't consistently find offense, its always been that way. Everyone on that team has been flogged for poor numbers at one time or another. I wouldn't worry about Bleackley as a goal scorer, he scored 27 goals last year, the capability is there. He might try to force it too much at times but there isn't one game I watch of his that he doesn't hit the post or the goalie doesn't rob some great shot of his. He's great at tipping pucks and going to the net as well, he just won't quit on pucks.

 

[Ncit3]

Anyone have any news on JC Beaudin? He looks to be having a pretty good season in Rouyn-Noranda but I can not ever find any good streams to have a good look at him.

That whole team looks to be doing quite well with Perron, Meier, Beaudin and Dzierkals putting up some great numbers.

Anyways, anyone got to see much of Beaudin?

 

[tigervixxxen]

Anyone have any news on JC Beaudin? He looks to be having a pretty good season in Rouyn-Noranda but I can not ever find any good streams to have a good look at him.

That whole team looks to be doing quite well with Perron, Meier, Beaudin and Dzierkals putting up some great numbers.

Anyways, anyone got to see much of Beaudin?

I sure do. What in particular do you want to know about?

 

[Ncit3]

I sure do. What in particular do you want to know about?

How is he looking? Who are his linemates at the moment? I am assuming it's something like


Perron - Beaudin - Meier


but have no clue.


Also how are you able to view QMJHL games?

 

[tigervixxxen]

At the moment I pay for it. There were other means, I've probably seen at least 40 Rouyn-Noranda games this year.

Yes, that's Beaudin's line at the moment although I could see them moving Meier to spread out of the offense a bit more when they get some bodies back. Beaudin is the top C on the team, I really like his game. Reminds me a lot of Soderberg. He's not flashy but he's very smart and does a lot of things well. He looks to pass but he's got a good shot that he's been trying to use more. Scoring the OT winner the other night his pass options were taken away and he had to shoot. Perron seems to feed off of him too, when Beaudin was injured for a couple of weeks Perron's effectiveness went down, I think he even went 3 games without a point which is unheard of for him. Huskies are a really fun team to watch and they really embody the concept of team, Beaudin is a big part of it.