5 rookies this year (Crosby, Ovechkin ...

[NewSidFan]

Hi, I am helping to put together the office hockey pool, and in a box with 5 choices, I hope to list the following candidates:

Box 20 (really young guns)
1. Sidney Crosby (PIT)
2. Alexander Ovechkin (WAS)
3. Nikolai Zherdev (COB)
4. Jeff Carter (PHI)
5. ?

And I am stumped as who to put for spot #5. Perhaps Evgeni Malkin, but last I heard, it is up in the air whether he will play in the NHL this season.

Top-end young point producers like Rick Nash and Ilya Kovalchuk are going into other boxes as they are several notches better than what I am trying to do for the choices above, and I would like to keep Box 20 as a choice of young prospects-to-players not yet having a full season in the NHL.

Any helpful comments and suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Click to read more...

 

[Belarus Rocket]

Alexander Perezhogin

 

[CharlieGirl]

Phaneuf?

 

[CRAZY_FAN]

Defenitly Vanek or Ruutu (if he is not already listed elsewhere)

 

[Remax]

Horton, Staal, Bergeron, Stajan... Got many more where that came from

 

[sudcity]

I think that if you have Zherdev in then you certainly need T.Ruutu.

 

[jackets63]

Zherdev wont technically be a rookie, if thats what youre going for.

 

[Briere03]

Vanek

 

[Fozz]

Horton, Staal, Bergeron, Stajan... Got many more where that came from

All those guys aren't rookies. And what is Stajan doing with those other guys? He has third liner potential, that's it!

Anyways, my list of suggestions (bythe way, Zherdev isn't a rookie either):

Malkin (if he signs)
Vanek
Parise
Perezhogin
...

 

[MojoJojo]

Lehtonen and Kronwall

 

[Limey FK]

Michalek will be given every opportunity to do well. Let's see if he lives up to the hype.

 

[Hedberg]

Go with Lehtonen

 

[Remax]

All those guys aren't rookies. And what is Stajan doing with those other guys? He has third liner potential, that's it!

Anyways, my list of suggestions (bythe way, Zherdev isn't a rookie either):

Malkin (if he signs)
Vanek
Parise
Perezhogin
...

1. Read the original post (REALLY YOUNG GUNS)

2. I think he has more than 3rd line potential. He got 27 points in 69 games last year, and that was 69 games playing 10-15 minutes a game on the 3rd and 4th lines. If he was playing with better players and getting more ice time that number would without a doubt go way up.

 

[Yertle The Turtle]

Lehtonen should definatley be in there

 

[Tage2Tuch]

Thomas Vanek, he was 2nd in scoring in the American League

He's on the Sabres, will get lots of ice time I'd think... take him

 

[BiggMac99]

Thomas Vanek all the way.

 

[CaptainShark]

Vanek is a good call...

Not be a homer, but Michalek may shine as well as he will get 1st-line-ice-time along Marleau and Sturm and if he clicks with those to guys, watch out...

 

[HfxMoose]

Vanek no question.

 

[joepeps]

Carter Richards Steen Colaiacovo Wellwood Johnson Brule Kopitar

there are tons that can make it... especially in a smaller market.....

 

[DuklaNation]

my top 5 would be

Crosby, Ovehckin, Carter, Lehtonen & Vanek.

I'd include Phaneuf but defenseman will have a hard time cracking the top end this year.

 

[NewSidFan]

Thanks

Hi, I should have clarified more -- only goals and assists will count in the office hockey pool, so goalies are excluded.

And sorry -- I should not have said rookies on the subject header as I am not looking to make it a selection for Calder trophy winners, just a checkbox to pick one player out of 5 who you think will get the most points.

I think Box 20 (Really Young Guns) will shape up to have a choice of
1. Sidney Crosby (PIT)
2. Alexander Ovechkin (WAS)
3. Nikolai Zherdev (COB)
4. Jeff Carter (PHI)
5. Tomas Vanek (BUF)

Zherdev with 50+ NHL games under his belt has the most experience already, plus he'll have playing time with Rick Nash; Ovechkin can dominate from all that I have heard but I think he lacks a supporting cast in Washington; Carter is a wildcard in Philly maybe playing with Forsberg and/or Gagne from what I have read; Vanek is intriguing and a top talent, although I admit, I know the least about; but my money would be (actually, it will be!) on Crosby when I enter this pool!

I think any of the above 5 players can compete against each other in racking up points, but Crosby does have one thing that none of the above have, and that is Mario Lemieux as a teammate, mentor, and boss! One could argue Carter has Forsberg, but I think Lemieux has an edge on being a big-brother figure, like he did for Jaromir Jagr.

Anyways, that's my take, more detailed than I intended, but thanks again for helping flesh out the choices!

 

[Buffalo Stylee]

With the loss of Miroslav Satan, Vanek will more than likely be moved to the top line for at least some of the season. He should have no problem scoring in the NHL. He was, i believe, 2nd in AHL goals this past year.

 

[Entrancemperium]

Henrik Lundqvist should most definately be in there

 

[JimEIV]

Sometimes it doesn't matter how good the Rookie is vs the role he is given and the players he plays with........I wouldn't be surprised to see Zach Parise taken on a second line center role in New Jersey playing with players like Langenbrunner and Friesen.

Consider Elias being out for some time, the Parise line could turn into #1 line until Elias is reunited with Gomez. Who knows what will happen, but I'm just saying a better player than Parise in a limited role wont put up the numbers he will in a 2nd line role.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

Vanek, Parise, Perezhogin, Richards..