Best St. Louis 1st round kid

[bluemandan]

Of the five St. Louis kids drafted in the first round, who do you think will have the best career?

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[Evocable Manager]

Tkachuk or Keller, IMO. Not sure which one however.
These kids are 18, lots of time for each to develop and grow as hockey players.

 

[Majorityof1]

Keller is my choice. Tkachuk is a good pick too. Tkachuk is more certain. He will have a solid, albeit unspectacular career. Keller could bust or he could be the best player to come out of the draft. Kunin will be good, but his health issues will keep him from reaching his ceiling. Brown will be a bust and I honestly don't know enough about Trent Frederic to say. Boston went way off board there.

Keller - 1st line center - 250G, 650A, 900P
Tkachuk - 1st/2nd line wing, 300g, 300a, 600p
Kunin - 2nd line center - 200g, 250a, 450p
Logan Brown 3rd/4th line center - 80g, 150a


*All numbers are completely made up and based on nothing

 

[Evocable Manager]

Keller is my choice. Tkachuk is a good pick too. Tkachuk is more certain. He will have a solid, albeit unspectacular career. Keller could bust or he could be the best player to come out of the draft. Kunin will be good, but his health issues will keep him from reaching his ceiling. Brown will be a bust and I honestly don't know enough about Trent Frederic to say. Boston went way off board there.

Keller - 1st line center - 250G, 650A, 900P
Tkachuk - 1st/2nd line wing, 300g, 300a, 600p
Kunin - 2nd line center - 200g, 250a, 450p
Logan Brown 3rd/4th line center - 80g, 150a


*All numbers are completely made up and based on nothing

I agree with Brown not being very good! Not a fan of his really at all.

 

[bluemandan]

I think Tkachuk will end up with the most points, but I think Keller will have the higher peak.

I think Tkachuk will make the most immediate impact, and have the longest career. He strikes me as a guy who will be able to hold on for many years at the end as a third line, net-front presence.

I think Keller will take a few years to develop, but I think his peak will be higher than Tkachuk's. Think 25 - 45 compared to 30 - 30 potential. But he's a top six only kind of player in my opinion. Once age starts to get to him, he'll be done.

 

[BigRangy]

Keller, I hate the Tkachuk pick. Tkachuk will be fine, but he won't be a top-line guy.

 

[Robb_K]

I'd guess that Keller has the highest upside potential. But, there's some doubt about how high up towards his ceiling potential he will ultimately reach. He likely will be more skilled throughout his career.

But Tkachuk has a lower ceiling, but will likely be the safest bet to not become a bust, and to have a reasonably high-level NHL career. He also may be first to become NHL ready. He will be valuable as a net front presence and play a more physical game. He may end up more consistent, but less effective at his peak than Keller at his peak.

 

[SteenMachine]

I'd think Tkachuk is also in a role that's easier for him to exploit at the NHL level if he fills out his frame, and one that teams covet in most systems. He'll get a lot of opportunities to succeed and time to develop the rest of his offensive game.

Keller is gonna have to earn his ice time and solidify himself with his raw talent then push that into whatever his ceiling actually is. He's gonna compete with veterans in a similar role and might need to take longer to get there or he could be another young guy who's just smart and fast enough with this hands to lock himself into the NHL and grow his ice time organically. That seems to be a growing trend these days, just depends on how he responds to NHL defenders and the speed of the game.

 

[Edgar Carrow]

Picked Brown. Not informed enough about any of them so I did it at random.

 

[simon IC]

Went with Keller. Tkachuk is more "can't miss", but Keller has a higher ceiling.

 

[Evocable Manager]

Went with Keller. Tkachuk is more "can't miss", but Keller has a higher ceiling.

With Keller you truly see the skill. I'm sure Tkachuk is skilled but it isn't evident because every goal he scores is two inches from the goalie.