CBJWerenski8
Formerly CBJWennberg10 (RIP Kivi)
- Jun 13, 2009
- 42,601
- 24,668
Offensively his motor is fineDoes Smith have near the same motor as a point or crosby?
Everywhere else? Non existent
Offensively his motor is fineDoes Smith have near the same motor as a point or crosby?
his teammates and coaches rave about his 200-foot game. he also made significant changes/improvements to his skating over the last year. in other words: he's coachable and playing the way they want him to.This is the key question (and one that some/many of you might know more than me): why was Smith’s D so bad?
Was it a USNDT system thing where he can/knows how to but wasn’t asked to or was instructed to play a certain way?
front offices have infinitely more data at their disposal than public analytics pundits + have an entirely different use case for it (coaching/player dev). even this chart has a staggeringly small sample size at just 120 minutes for smith – he played something like 1500 minutes for the NTDP this season.There's a lotta cherry picking going on in this videos. He's almost always the one receiving the breakout passes and starting the play at his own blue line.
And yes I get it, his system puts him there. But hockey is a fluid game and if he's playing center there would more than enough instances where he would be the leading the breakout and making the stretch passes.
From the video..
View attachment 721994
Funny how superior Smith is yet there are zero franchise C’s from Smith mold in the NHL.
To switch gears and potentially defend Smith, the motor thing is hard to judge. He plays on a near perfect junior line where everyone fills a role so he doesnt have to do some of those jobs. Its tricky because you have to predict what hes not doing because thats the system they run and how hes told to play or does he simply not have the desire. He plays in a league and system where he can cheat offense more and expirement that way. Hes doing what we want drafted prospects to do and complaining about it to some degree. We want the Sillingers/Chinakhovs/Bemstrom to play in lower leagues to dominate offensively and get used to holding the puck and not playing hot potato when they get it. But the guess work becomes do you think he can expand the 2 way game because from what we've seen there isnt much to go off of yet.There's a lotta cherry picking going on in this videos. He's almost always the one receiving the breakout passes and starting the play at his own blue line.
And yes I get it, his system puts him there. But hockey is a fluid game and if he's playing center there would more than enough instances where he would be the leading the breakout and making the stretch passes.
From the video..
View attachment 721994
I think @majormajor has pointed a few times that his motor is an area of concern.
Where would Jack Hughes be without the skating thoughJack Hughes
my biggest issue with the draft discourse is that fantilli and carlsson get the benefit of the doubt with their shortcomings because of their size, but smith doesn't. people want big centers so they'll look past similarly pressing concerns (fantilli's hockey IQ, carlsson's skating/shot) with those players – or more accurately, assume that they'll be fixed.Some of this stuff is similar for Fantilli. People question the IQ which is nonsense to me, I think hes expirementing and learning on the fly. Prospects do that in every league when they jump up in competition, we were just excited watching Johnson do the same thing in the NHL.
Love this quote: I like him [Dubois] better, but there is no way the Jackets will take him at 3Still reading. Trying to find a place where I state a preference. I recall not being sold on Puljujarvi but I don’t recall saying they should drafty someone else or who I might have favored.
There’s a good lesson to be learned about ascribing certain position to “the board” inasmuchas the 2016 debate includes two posters dismissive of anyone but Jesse who are on clearly opposite sides of the Smith-Carlsson discussion.
Also funny to read media reports about uncertainty over the second and third picks. “I’m hearing Winnipeg might not take Laine” etc. just like 2023.
In 2016, it was CBJ the upset the apple cart.
Almost like different people have different priorities and perspectives.my biggest issue with the draft discourse is that fantilli and carlsson get the benefit of the doubt with their shortcomings because of their size, but smith doesn't. people want big centers so they'll look past similarly pressing concerns (fantilli's hockey IQ, carlsson's skating/shot) with those players – or more accurately, assume that they'll be fixed.
meanwhile, smith's situation (playing on an all-offense top line in a system that focuses on having numbers on the rush) contributes to the perception of flaws in his game and people act like it's unfixable or say "oh so we don't care about defense then?!"
the truth is that none of these issues are fatal flaws for any of these players. none of them are finished products! but the irony is that the areas where smith needs to improve are both the easiest for coaches to fix and are arguably overblown to begin with.
Jack Hughes
Because size used properly is a skill, we see it every playoffs. If everything else were equal you would obviously take the bigger player. There will be tight checking games vs teams like Carolina where a guy like Carlsson will be able to hold and shield a puck where a guy like Smith may struggle more.my biggest issue with the draft discourse is that fantilli and carlsson get the benefit of the doubt with their shortcomings because of their size, but smith doesn't. people want big centers so they'll look past similarly pressing concerns (fantilli's hockey IQ, carlsson's skating/shot) with those players – or more accurately, assume that they'll be fixed.
meanwhile, smith's situation (playing on an all-offense top line in a system that focuses on having numbers on the rush) contributes to the perception of flaws in his game and people act like it's unfixable or say "oh so we don't care about defense then?!"
the truth is that none of these issues are fatal flaws for any of these players. none of them are finished products! but the irony is that the areas where smith needs to improve are both the easiest for coaches to fix and are arguably overblown to begin with.
if by "smith mold" you mean "who play the type of game that will smith does right now as an 18-year-old prospect" well, you're probably right.Funny how superior Smith is yet there are zero franchise C’s from Smith mold in the NHL.
This is why I cringe whenever anyone posts anything from “JFresh” as gospel on this board….
Not really, based on the repliesPretty sure that’s satire
he does a joke board every year that bucks the consensus at the top (which is what people react to in the comments) and rounds it out with a bunch of fakes namesNot really, based on the replies
And if it is, why are we taking his player cards as gospel in this forum?
There are a bunch more too.he does a joke board every year that bucks the consensus at the top (which is what people react to in the comments) and rounds it out with a bunch of fakes names
the following prospects don't exist:
- darcy bingley (pretty sure this is a pride and prejudice joke?)
- nikita nogoalov (no goal ov as a goalie name)
- planktyn chumbouquet (spongebob reference)
- galidor bluetooth
- fagorn legge-horne (looney toons)
- theodore tugboat
- rodolfs nøse (rudolph the red nosed reindeer)
i mean if there's actually a goalie out there named nikita nogoalov the jackets should absolutely draft himThere are a bunch more too.
"Nice try, nogoalov."i mean if there's actually a goalie out there named nikita nogoalov the jackets should absolutely draft him
I remember talking with a friend from Finland the day after the draft. He was working and living in Columbus at the time. He is very knowledgeable, played Jr. hockey in Finland and counts several NHL players as friends. He told me Jarmo made a huge mistake passing on Puljujarvi and my friend said he would no longer be a Blue Jackets fan.All this debate about who to take at #3OA had me reading through our 2016 draft thread. Just makes us remember...none of us really know. Some quotes from just the first four pages of a 33 page thread....
- Perhaps the scouts are preferring a more well rounded player [Puljujarvi] than the "next Ovie?"
- I've always thought there was a good chance Winnipeg could take Puljujärvi. He has always been the number 2 draft prospect, IMO. I actually like him more than Matthews, but that is because I like his game more.
- I'll go so far as to say Matthew Tkachuk is exactly what the CBJ needs instead of Puljujärvi [Not Wendell gets major props for this one]
- [Response to last comment] Yeah, that isn't even close...your statement is just flat out wrong. Puljujärvi is SO much better...Bigger, better skater, more skill (IMO), etc....We are about to draft the best player we have ever drafted. Yes, better than Nash or anyone else we have drafted before
- Jesse is a good bit younger and unlike Tkachuk he's been playing against men. And better at what? He's an infinitely better skater, for one. Imagine Jake Voracek with better shooting and finishing
- I'd rather have Puljujarvi because of his playmaking abilities and if not him I think I'd rather have Dubois because of his versatility
- Tkachuk is more like Rychel if Rychel was more talented with the puck
- Puljujärvi is an absolute steal at 3 IMO. We run to the stage, make the announcement and then celebrate the grand larceny we got away with
- Columbus, if you guys manage to mess this up by not taking Pulju, please mess up in such a way that Pulju does not go to Edmonton. That is all. He deserves better
- I never thought there would be this much debate about this third pick and what we will do
- there is a high probability we end up with a top 8 pick next season [we won 50 games, 24th pick]
- If we leave this draft without taking Puljujarvi, it may be time for me to go back to rooting for the red wings
It's funny to remember how silly I was after the lottery by dreaming of getting to read these exciting discussions in the draft thread for the next two months, with about 70% of it consisting of Carlsson vs Fantilli debate and "who we gonna take with other picks?" for the remaining 30%. But instead, it often feels like it's been 90% of Carlsson vs Smith that's been going in circles for god knows how long and 10% some other stuff.Can't wait for the band aid to get ripped off. Too many of these kids' moms are in this thread.
Here are a few points to remember.
1. Has the CBJ been good at development? I would say low to poor. Partially rushing prospects, player and or coaching. So to say someone is going to be developed - I take that with a grain of salt. Most prospects that are good on our team excelled/developed somewhere else (not in our system) or naturally.
2. I admit coming out of the amateur ranks a lot of center prospects have defensive problems. The better one’s already understand the positioning but lack a high offensive game. The more elite one’s are already very good at defense and very good at offense.
3. KJ - if he was a center, why didn't they swap him with Roslovic on a lost season. The CBJ can keep saying that but until they put him at center and keep him their he is in my book a very good/possibly elite winger. Mark my words he will stop being talked about at center with this draft pick and possible hockey trade add.
After reading all of my opinions (with facts) with of the 2 prospects sound like Carlsson and which one sounds like Smith. Just for the record this isn’t the only logical path but focusing specifically on defense or comparisons to KJ.