Blackhawks:Turris or Kane?

[bullsville]

Like the Kings threads i want to know what do you pick and why....

Click to read more...

 

[usiel]

That is a tough one. I like Turris but he might be a slight reach at #3 (currently) so Kane it would be.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

They already have Taves down the middle - IMO Turris makes more sense.

 

[Zim]

They already have Taves down the middle - IMO Turris makes more sense.

You don't look at what position they play you draft the highest rated guy left or trade down to get the player who plays the position you want. Also nearly all good teams have a good 1-2 centre punch and Kane and Toews would make a good combination.

 

[ReLyT]

Couture, Couture, Couture!!!

 

[Ri hards]

You get no one in the top 30! somehow, the Flyers manage to rangle and dangle and manage to secure all 30 first round picks!







alright ya got me. . .I'm drunk right now. . . . .

 

[RightKinger]

Toews and Kane would be a great 1-2 punch down the middle. I don't think the Blackhawks can take a chance on a project like Turris.

 

[nanzenkills]

They already have Taves down the middle - IMO Turris makes more sense.

Assuming that the Blackhawks are stupid enough to draft for need instead of taking the best player available, isn't Turris a center? Or did you mean that Kane makes more sense?

At ISS, Kane is listed as a right wing and Turris is listed as a center.

I would take Kane, because I think he will be the better player of the two, and I think drafting for positional need is foolish. By the time these guys are ready to play, Chicago's positional needs could very easily be completely different from now, and even if they aren't, you can always move a good player to fill positional needs then.

 

[knights2005]

The only time you'll see Kane in the middle is when he's taking a face-off if Gagner gets booted. Kane is definitely a right wing.

 

[hawksfan50]

The Blackhawks have Skille and Makrov and Blunden as org depth on RW...and of course Havlat is "the man" at RW --so that they are wellstocked at right wing ...though they have Toews as a legit #1 or #2 line centre coming ,and hopefully re-sign Handzus , and have some other centre candidates (Davis,Bolland,Kontiola,Brophey) I still would prefer if they grabbed off one of the top centres in this draft if they can: reason: If the Hawks improve a lot in future years,their draft slots willbe a lot worse--and so it is much harder to get a top centre candidate in those drafts where they will pick in the bottom half of each draft round--so I think they must grab one when they get a chance again this year --

Kane to me is a great offensive talent--no doubt-BUT he doesn't have great straight line speed on defensive checking responsibility--and at the NHL level may be a big defensive liability--teams can live with that due to his offense --BUT he won't be that helpful as just a 2nd line RW --with his offensive talent,he has to be a go to guy on a team's 1st line and PP --with Havlat already getting such prime minutes isn Chicago -I can't see Kane as the right fit..


On the other hand if I was assured Van Riemsdyck was the real deal at LW--chicago could use that too on te #1 line --is he the next Rick Nash? If he reallly is not--then I still think the best way for the Hawks to go is draft another top centre when you can...1 injury at centre (Handzus) really cost the Hawks this year and despite Havlat's efforts (when he too wasn't hurt) resulted in the Blackhawks not being able to compete with a legit #1 entire line....so the Hawks desprately need an upgrade at centre accross all 4 lines and that also means having even mored depth there in case of injury to the #1 centre --the day the Hawks are so loaded at centre accross 4 lines is the day they will dominate the league ...this is a team so lacking in good centres for the last decade that this "structural problem" had to be fixed once and for all --1 vet (Handzus) was a good start (except for his injury this season) +adding Toews in last year's draft was a 2nd linchpin up the middle...the centre they might draft this year (hopefully Turris,if not,then Gagner) willbe at least 2 more years in development before NHl ready-by then who knows if Handzus (assuming they re-sign him) will still be a balchawks player or move on) --or if he is still there then we have tremendous depth challenging for centre spots on all 4 lines (with Davis,Bolland,Kontiola and maybe Brophey in the mix for just 3rd+4th line spots--or they can be put on the wing)-but at least the Hawks depth at centre problems willbe solved..that is why I believe we must get that cenre depth cemented with 1 more top notch middleman if we get the chance in this draft...

Esposito--I don't care for him...
Couture-- I expected a lot more from him--but he had mono--then finally got going in December-but had a poor January --so I'm not convinced...

Turris-I always had a hunch he'd be a special player-he's my #1 pick as the best cenre prospect in this draft...but while I had some doubts about Gagner's upside and
question how good he'd be on a team without Kane and Kostitsyn on his wings--I have watched him a lot--and he does plenty of things i like a lot --I'd still take Turris ahead of him --but if I had to "sette" for another centre ,I like him better than Couture(the one I've seen this year) or Esposito...



HOWEVER--if the Blackhawks continue their recent winning ways in the final 28 games,they may not get the chance to draft Turris or Gagner....it is possible they could still leap frog 7-8 teams --if they do that would put them drafting 11th or 12th
---so more realistically let's say they leap frog only 4 more teams,that means they would draft 9th --which means both Turris and Gagner likely gone off the board..
And surely Van Riemsdyck..

Would I take Couture or Esposito if they were still on the board?

At this point no --IF Couture recovers and shows me his December form again certainly --but Esposito -no--I just do not like his game at all.

Rather --I'd be looking at either trading the pick or trading down a bit and instead take one of the 2nd tier (allegdely) centres Kevin Veilleux or Joakim Andersson or Lars Eller...

The concern I haveabout Andersson is that everyone says his only problem is his skating -but all he does is keep scoring points --especially in theInternational tournaments he's played in--I just have this hunch about him ...

On theother hand--everyone raves about Eller's world class speed and skills -so he can't be that bad a pick either..

Veilleux--man that size,and his simple intelligent game + of course a 98mph shot! How can that not be projected as a successful pro?

So I think there are 5 pretty good centres that I would target :

2 from the consensus top tier of centres (Turris or Gagner) ;and 3 from the alleged 2nd tier of centres (Veilleux,Andersson,Eller) if the 1st tier targets are off the board...

 

[Maitz]

Kane is tha deal baby !

 

[bullsville]

The Blackhawks have Skille and Makrov and Blunden as org depth on RW...and of course Havlat is "the man" at RW --so that they are wellstocked at right wing ...though they have Toews as a legit #1 or #2 line centre coming ,and hopefully re-sign Handzus , and have some other centre candidates (Davis,Bolland,Kontiola,Brophey) I still would prefer if they grabbed off one of the top centres in this draft if they can: reason: If the Hawks improve a lot in future years,their draft slots willbe a lot worse--and so it is much harder to get a top centre candidate in those drafts where they will pick in the bottom half of each draft round--so I think they must grab one when they get a chance again this year --

Kane to me is a great offensive talent--no doubt-BUT he doesn't have great straight line speed on defensive checking responsibility--and at the NHL level may be a big defensive liability--teams can live with that due to his offense --BUT he won't be that helpful as just a 2nd line RW --with his offensive talent,he has to be a go to guy on a team's 1st line and PP --with Havlat already getting such prime minutes isn Chicago -I can't see Kane as the right fit..


On the other hand if I was assured Van Riemsdyck was the real deal at LW--chicago could use that too on te #1 line --is he the next Rick Nash? If he reallly is not--then I still think the best way for the Hawks to go is draft another top centre when you can...1 injury at centre (Handzus) really cost the Hawks this year and despite Havlat's efforts (when he too wasn't hurt) resulted in the Blackhawks not being able to compete with a legit #1 entire line....so the Hawks desprately need an upgrade at centre accross all 4 lines and that also means having even mored depth there in case of injury to the #1 centre --the day the Hawks are so loaded at centre accross 4 lines is the day they will dominate the league ...this is a team so lacking in good centres for the last decade that this "structural problem" had to be fixed once and for all --1 vet (Handzus) was a good start (except for his injury this season) +adding Toews in last year's draft was a 2nd linchpin up the middle...the centre they might draft this year (hopefully Turris,if not,then Gagner) willbe at least 2 more years in development before NHl ready-by then who knows if Handzus (assuming they re-sign him) will still be a balchawks player or move on) --or if he is still there then we have tremendous depth challenging for centre spots on all 4 lines (with Davis,Bolland,Kontiola and maybe Brophey in the mix for just 3rd+4th line spots--or they can be put on the wing)-but at least the Hawks depth at centre problems willbe solved..that is why I believe we must get that cenre depth cemented with 1 more top notch middleman if we get the chance in this draft...

Esposito--I don't care for him...
Couture-- I expected a lot more from him--but he had mono--then finally got going in December-but had a poor January --so I'm not convinced...

Turris-I always had a hunch he'd be a special player-he's my #1 pick as the best cenre prospect in this draft...but while I had some doubts about Gagner's upside and
question how good he'd be on a team without Kane and Kostitsyn on his wings--I have watched him a lot--and he does plenty of things i like a lot --I'd still take Turris ahead of him --but if I had to "sette" for another centre ,I like him better than Couture(the one I've seen this year) or Esposito...



HOWEVER--if the Blackhawks continue their recent winning ways in the final 28 games,they may not get the chance to draft Turris or Gagner....it is possible they could still leap frog 7-8 teams --if they do that would put them drafting 11th or 12th
---so more realistically let's say they leap frog only 4 more teams,that means they would draft 9th --which means both Turris and Gagner likely gone off the board..
And surely Van Riemsdyck..

Would I take Couture or Esposito if they were still on the board?

At this point no --IF Couture recovers and shows me his December form again certainly --but Esposito -no--I just do not like his game at all.

Rather --I'd be looking at either trading the pick or trading down a bit and instead take one of the 2nd tier (allegdely) centres Kevin Veilleux or Joakim Andersson or Lars Eller...

The concern I haveabout Andersson is that everyone says his only problem is his skating -but all he does is keep scoring points --especially in theInternational tournaments he's played in--I just have this hunch about him ...

On theother hand--everyone raves about Eller's world class speed and skills -so he can't be that bad a pick either..

Veilleux--man that size,and his simple intelligent game + of course a 98mph shot! How can that not be projected as a successful pro?

So I think there are 5 pretty good centres that I would target :

2 from the consensus top tier of centres (Turris or Gagner) ;and 3 from the alleged 2nd tier of centres (Veilleux,Andersson,Eller) if the 1st tier targets are off the board...

Nice analysis of the players.I think the Blackhawks will have a top 5 pick and i think Turris will be avaliable(i hope )

 

[Odontya]

Great analysis hawksfan50. Maybe I'm delerious but I really think that the #1 center will be picked up from free agency.

If picking in the top 5, my list would be like this:

#1. Cheraponov
#2. Van Riemsdyk
#3. Andersson

Cheraponov is a playmaking winger which would compliment the hypothetical first line of Toews with Havlat. I'm not a huge fan of Van Riemsdyk but he's got the potential. If I'm not confusing Andersson with someone else, he to is a playmaking center who would probably fit in well with the top 3.

If picking in the middle (6 - 14)
It would be a crapshoot between

Couture
Esposito (He's got the talent but needs motivation...)
Voracek
or any of the top 5 if they drop down.

If it comes down between Turris and Kane... you go with Turris. He's got the raw talent and I know Mike Eaves can force him into being a two-way threat. He'll be ready for the physicality of the NHL coming out of Wisconsin and the offense is already there. The way Kane is performing in London reminds me of how Schremp was so overrated because he was lighting it up on a great team. Since their junior campaigns can't really help in the decision I'd go with the guy who will be more NHL ready when his time comes. Yet, overall neither would be my top choice.

 

[The_scout]

I went and saw Turris play last weekend when he had 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists).

If i remember correctly 3 of the points were on the powerplay but he still looked very good out there.

His goal was a great one as well. He came down the right wing on a 2 on 1, faked a pass and fired it just under the crossbar in the top corner over the goalie's glove.

His head was always up and looked comfortable cycling around in the corners, didnt seem too afraid to take a hit but certainly didnt go around trying to dish them out as hes only 165 pounds or so.

It was also very interesting because whenever his team had the puck at the point on the powerplay he went in front of the net, or was always trying to hang out in the slot as opposed to hanging out on the wing like most players his size do.

That night he also seemed to play wing as much as he did center. Im assuming the coach was just switching up lines as his team won by 5 goals.