You look at a guy like Peter Holland. Holland has the size, skillset, he's got a lot of tools at his disposal. High side: he plays the game like Eric Staal. Low side: He never sees an NHL rink. It remains to be seen whether or not Holland wants to bring the fire and passion every night. It remains to be seen whether or not he's content watching from the sidelines while his teammates go into the dirty areas to find pucks and scoring chances. He remains to be seen if he'll make the commitment off the ice to the game both physically and mentally. He has a high bust potential in my mind for those very reasons.
Ryan Ellis is another one for me. Does he possess some of the best offensive skillsets in the draft amongst blueliners? You better believe it. He's got a cannon, especially for such a little guy. He handles the power play with coolness and professionalism. What makes you wonder about him is, first, his size. Now, smaller players are becoming a big part of today's NHL game, but a lot of them (St. Louis, Rafalski, Gionta, etc.) all have major wheels...Ellis is up on cinderblocks. Defensively, you really have to wonder about his capability defensively. It makes you think a little when this guy can't contain junior level players that well but yet is very nearly a top 10 pick in an NHL draft. Can he play the pro game consistently 5 on 5? He doesn't have the ol' failsafe of skating and therefore, recovery ability. And then the high body fat at the combine, so, you're small, you're not a great skater, and you come up with that kind of body fat at the combine? That's a little worrisome to me, it's not nearly as big of a deal compared to what I saw on the ice this year (and I think Ray Bourque had like 20% body fat, and it worked out ok for him, or so I've heard)...but still it's icing on the cake (cheap Ellis joke to be made here?)...that's a player that worries down the line.
