C Frederik Gauthier (2013, 21st, TOR)

[LastWordArmy]

Many players drop in the draft due to shortcomings in their game. With Gauthier, the biggest knock was skating and offense. Those are important attributes for 1st round picks.

To be fair he was close to a PPG in his draft year.

You expect that a player will see his offensive numbers go up from his 17/18 year in his 18/19 and 19/20 years. The issue is Gauthier's offense (at least numbers wise) hasn't really developped.

I don't think he was seen as having zero offence in his draft year.

 

[LastWordArmy]

FWIW Leafs came out and said he projects to be a 3rd line C right after he was picked

IMO they were going for need instead of taking BPA when they made the pick, and I think they were looking for a shutdown type of C after the way they came down vs Bruins in the playoffs. It's too bad, because apparently they were also very high on Poirer and Burakovsky, who were selected after Gauthier. Nice to see Gauthier playing well in the Memorial Cup though

They didn't pigeon hole and say he'd never be top 6 guy

https://twitter.com/jonasTSN1050/status/351465439169228800

"Dave Nonis says Gauthier projects as a second, but more likely, third-line centre."

 

[buttman*]

They didn't pigeon hole and say he'd never be top 6 guy

https://twitter.com/jonasTSN1050/status/351465439169228800

"Dave Nonis says Gauthier projects as a second, but more likely, third-line centre."

"More likely".

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

They didn't pigeon hole and say he'd never be top 6 guy

https://twitter.com/jonasTSN1050/status/351465439169228800

"Dave Nonis says Gauthier projects as a second, but more likely, third-line centre."

Exactly, him and Leafs Scouting Director projected him to be more of a 2-way 3rd line C:

ND: Speaking of Gauthier – how high was he on your draft board? What do you like about his game and where do you see him fitting in 5 years down the road?

DM: With Frederik Gauthier, we feel pretty comfortable with his potential as a third-line center. Could he better than that? Yeah, I think he could. But I don’t think at this point you could project him better than that. I think he’s going to be a really strong two-way player that is going to help your team win. I think he’s going to be one of these guys that down the stretch, playoff time, big situations, when you really need two-way strength – he’s going to be a player that really helps us down the road in that regard.

DM being the Leafs scouting director. Rest of his comments made it seem like they were basing the pick from a "need" perspective, especially after that disappointing finish vs Bruins in the playoffs.

 

[Whileee]

Exactly, him and Leafs Scouting Director projected him to be more of a 2-way 3rd line C:

DM being the Leafs scouting director. Rest of his comments made it seem like they were basing the pick from a "need" perspective, especially after that disappointing finish vs Bruins in the playoffs.

This is the same GM and scouting staff that just got canned by Shanahan, right?

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

This is the same GM and scouting staff that just got canned by Shanahan, right?

Scouting head (Morrison) still has his job, but it's safe to say Hunter has taken over most of his responsibilities. Pretty sure Morrison will get canned after the draft

But yeah, majority of the scouting staff was canned. Think it was 18 of 22 who were fired

 

[kabidjan18]

Perhaps overdue but with his first point today against Columbus.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

He has looked good/okay in his call up. I think he projects well into a #4 line C or PK/Faceoff Specialist. Not sure he will ever have the offence to play in the Top 9. But he won't hurt you if he is slotted properly. He can also be a player that can be trusted in the last min of a game. Debatable you pick a player 21st overall for these qualities. But he does bring some positives to the table.

 

[Judas Tavares]

Ya. but he took the place of "insert random prospect on certain posters' favourite teams here" on the Junior team, so he stinks.

 

[Duke Silver]

From someone who has seen him play 15+ times in the AHL, he appears to be one of those prospects who looks better at the NHL level than the AHL level.

Or it's just adrenaline right now and he'll fall back to Earth.

 

[Raging Bull]

Reminds me still of a better skating David Steckel. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, Steckel was a 4th line center on some pretty good Capitals teams.

 

[Fogelhund]

Hopefully he will be with the Marlies in an increased role next year, to try and get a little more offence out of him. I have no doubts he will be on the Leafs one day, and an important part of the team, but the question will be, is he a 3rd line guy, or 4th line? Time will tell.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

From someone who has seen him play 15+ times in the AHL, he appears to be one of those prospects who looks better at the NHL level than the AHL level.

Or it's just adrenaline right now and he'll fall back to Earth.

I see it.

Certain players have the ability to play better at a higher level.
Especially 'system' players, alot of goaltenders comment about the AHL the same way. It can be difficult to track pucks and flow, because the AHL doesn't follow the same rhythm of the NHL.

 

[Doublechin]

Hopefully he will be with the Marlies in an increased role next year, to try and get a little more offence out of him. I have no doubts he will be on the Leafs one day, and an important part of the team, but the question will be, is he a 3rd line guy, or 4th line? Time will tell.

Probably an elite shutdown 3rd line center for an AHL or KHL team

 

[Warden of the North]

Hes had some very good chances on net. If he figures hands/timing out he'll score a few goals.

His skating does not look out of place at all, either.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Reminds me still of a better skating David Steckel. Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, Steckel was a 4th line center on some pretty good Capitals teams.

Brian Boyle to me would be the best case scenario. There are some similarities as both being 1st rd picks, Boyle is playing a key bottom 6 role for TB. If I were a Leafs fan, Steckel if it is the Steckel that played for the Leafs would be totally underwhelming to me.

 

[StuckOutHere]

Scouting head (Morrison) still has his job, but it's safe to say Hunter has taken over most of his responsibilities. Pretty sure Morrison will get canned after the draft

But yeah, majority of the scouting staff was canned. Think it was 18 of 22 who were fired

I doubt this. If they didn't fire him during the mass exodus that happened after the regime change I doubt they will anytime soon. Fact is, outside of the first round, this team has had success drafting NHL players in rounds where most teams struggle to find anything.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I doubt this. If they didn't fire him during the mass exodus that happened after the regime change I doubt they will anytime soon. Fact is, outside of the first round, this team has had success drafting NHL players in rounds where most teams struggle to find anything.

This is correct. If anything, if Morrison leaves I surmise it will be his choice so he can concentrate on OHL scouting. Leafs thought well enough of him to keep him, And depending on if you like the player or not, he is the Head Scout on record for picks Kadri, Rielly, and Nylander. With later gems in Brown, Komarov, and Leivo sprinkled in. And not at the benefit Hunter has with 2 very high picks in 2 years in a row, and more picks also in last year's draft and upcoming drafts. Morrison is not perfect, but under 3 GM's and differing drafting profiles. He has done well.

 

[StuckOutHere]

This is correct. If anything, if Morrison leaves I surmise it will be his choice so he can concentrate on OHL scouting. Leafs thought well enough of him to keep him, And depending on if you like the player or not, he is the Head Scout on record for picks Kadri, Rielly, and Nylander. With later gems in Brown, Komarov, and Leivo sprinkled in. And not at the benefit Hunter has with 2 very high picks in 2 years in a row, and more picks also in last year's draft and upcoming drafts. Morrison is not perfect, but under 3 GM's and differing drafting profiles. He has done well.

Lets not forget Hayes, Pateryn, Granberg, Holzer, Stralberg, Reimer, Gunnarsson, and Kulemin. All NHL players playing elsewhere who were picked under his watch.

 

[Raging Bull]

Brian Boyle to me would be the best case scenario. There are some similarities as both being 1st rd picks, Boyle is playing a key bottom 6 role for TB. If I were a Leafs fan, Steckel if it is the Steckel that played for the Leafs would be totally underwhelming to me.

He doesn't seem to have the same drive that Boyle has, more of a cerebral player. I'd love it if he developed a bit of a mean steak.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

This is correct. If anything, if Morrison leaves I surmise it will be his choice so he can concentrate on OHL scouting. Leafs thought well enough of him to keep him, And depending on if you like the player or not, he is the Head Scout on record for picks Kadri, Rielly, and Nylander. With later gems in Brown, Komarov, and Leivo sprinkled in. And not at the benefit Hunter has with 2 very high picks in 2 years in a row, and more picks also in last year's draft and upcoming drafts. Morrison is not perfect, but under 3 GM's and differing drafting profiles. He has done well.

I doubt this. If they didn't fire him during the mass exodus that happened after the regime change I doubt they will anytime soon. Fact is, outside of the first round, this team has had success drafting NHL players in rounds where most teams struggle to find anything.

I believe most of the scouts under Morrison responsible for those non-European picks were purged in 2015. Morrison wasn't fired, he was just shifted on to the pro scouting team, away from the team that scouts prospects.

Morrison was, at best, average at the draft IMO, outside of the work the European scouts put in. Hit goldmine in 2006, but 2007-2013 (too early for 2014) didn't amount to much for the organization. Holding out hope for Brown, Leivo and Johnson to develop into NHL players, but still..

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I believe most of the scouts under Morrison responsible for those non-European picks were purged in 2015. Morrison wasn't fired, he was just shifted on to the pro scouting team, away from the team that scouts prospects.

Morrison was, at best, average at the draft IMO, outside of the work the European scouts put in. Hit goldmine in 2006, but 2007-2013 (too early for 2014) didn't amount to much for the organization. Holding out hope for Brown, Leivo and Johnson to develop into NHL players, but still..

Don't want to make this into a Morrison thread. But I would like to respond on the Bergman/Euro angle.

Morrison gets a bad rap for this. He was quoted as saying there were times he and his team liked a European prospect and wanted to pick them. But Bergman liked less. So the angle that Morrison did not listen or like European prospects is a complete fallacy. Leafs did draft many Swedish players in his time. First, mid, and late round. I don't see this being a reason for critique.

 

[LeafGm]

Regarding Dave Morrison, it's worth noting that he didn't exactly get to keep his job. While he wasn't one of the guys that was outright fired by the team in the great Leaf scouting purge of 2015, he was shuffled from the Leafs amateur scouting department over into the professional scouting department.

Which means that, instead of scouting prospective junior players that the Leafs are interested in drafting, he's now scouting other NHL teams and their AHL affiliates for the team. In that role, it's doubtful he'll have much, if any, input into the Leafs draft plans this year or going forward.

As for The Goat, I hated the pick when it was made---and as a rule, I don't think you should spend first round picks on low-ceiling specialists like Gauthier. But putting aside where he was drafted, I've been happy with what I've seen from him at the NHL level so far. He's not a speedster, but by no means does his skating look like it's at the point that it'll hold him back from becoming a useful NHL player. And a center with his physical attributes could definitely be a very useful player, especially as a young player on a cheap contract.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Don't want to make this into a Morrison thread. But I would like to respond on the Bergman/Euro angle.

Morrison gets a bad rap for this. He was quoted as saying there were times he and his team liked a European prospect and wanted to pick them. But Bergman liked less. So the angle that Morrison did not listen or like European prospects is a complete fallacy. Leafs did draft many Swedish players in his time. First, mid, and late round. I don't see this being a reason for critique.

I didn't criticize him for his European track record or him not using enough picks on Swedish prospects, but his record elsewhere was pretty poor. Outside of the top 10 picks in Rielly, Kadri and Schenn, the 2007 - 2012 years were pretty dark for this organization (not just because of the scouting staff, but also management's willingness of giving up picks). There's a reason why they let go of so many scouts as they did, and shifted Morrison's job, in 2015.

As for The Goat, I hated the pick when it was made---and as a rule, I don't think you should spend first round picks on low-ceiling specialists like Gauthier. But putting aside where he was drafted, I've been happy with what I've seen from him at the NHL level so far. He's not a speedster, but by no means does his skating look like it's at the point that it'll hold him back from becoming a useful NHL player. And a center with his physical attributes could definitely be a very useful player, especially as a young player on a cheap contract.

Yeah, the pick's got a lot of criticism and at this point it's just beating a dead horse, but Gauthier looks like a decent 4th line C for the future. Not sure if he will ever crack Babcock's team full time though.

 

[Menzinger]

This is correct. If anything, if Morrison leaves I surmise it will be his choice so he can concentrate on OHL scouting. Leafs thought well enough of him to keep him, And depending on if you like the player or not, he is the Head Scout on record for picks Kadri, Rielly, and Nylander. With later gems in Brown, Komarov, and Leivo sprinkled in. And not at the benefit Hunter has with 2 very high picks in 2 years in a row, and more picks also in last year's draft and upcoming drafts. Morrison is not perfect, but under 3 GM's and differing drafting profiles. He has done well.

Except the only draft he can really claim to have developed NHLers (beyond the top 10 picks) is the 06 draft. I don't blame him too much though - he was obviously given lousy marching orders from Burke and Nonis - IE to value grit over skill and traded picks away like candy. There's a reason Hunter didn't fire him after all - I suspect he's much better suited to be a pro than amateurs scout.

Gauthier was a lousy use of a 1st. ideally he will develop into what the modern 4th liner is - great at shot suppression.