willie said:
From my understanding his knees should not be a problem in the future. I believe the surgery he had was because of a genetic problem, not an injury. I could be wrong but I think Berti could have played last year but it would have put his career at risk down the line whereas if he had the surgery he would sacrifice his OHL rookie year but not be at an increased risk for injuries in the future. I could be way off but this is how it was explained to me. (and I'm sure the team that picks him will thoroughly check out his situation)
Well the same sort of thing was said with Danny Fritsche last year, with his shoulders, and that appeared to be one of the reasons he fell in the draft.
willie said:
I agree with McGrath but not Bickell. Bickell, to me, is one of the most overrated players in the draft. I would say he has very limited offensive upside (his offensive production essentially consists of a really flukey start) and even his physical game (much like Berti) is inconsistent. I have seen him over a dozen times live in the past 2 seasons (and many more times when he was playing minor hockey) and I just don't see what the fuss is about. A nice player who could become a role player in the NHL but I don't see much else.
If I had to rank the OHL guys it would probably go:
1) Schremp
2) Wolski
3) Bolland
4) McGrath
5) Berti/Garlock
I like Bickell to be honest, although I haven't seen him nearly as many times as you. The few times I've seen him, he's shown me that he does have some untaped offensive ability. He's also a good skater and a strong defensive player. I think his physical game is much more consistent then Berti's, although I do agree that his offensive game is equally as inconsistent.
There is one thing that I agree on with Bickell though and that is I'm unsure of whether he has the potential to be anything more than a 3rd liner in the NHL. However some teams look at sure things later in the draft, because in reality if you can pull a third liner out of the first round where on average only about a third of the kids make an impact in the NHL, you are doing alright.