Prospect Info: Colorado Avalanche Prospect Poll #4

[member 116861]

Pickard is better than Aittokallio...

 

[member 116861]

Voted Elliott.

Add Agozzino.

 

[landesberg]

sammy

 

[bidzey*]

I almost voted Bigras because his skillset seems perfect for Avs and should translate very well to NHL, but I want to see more of him.

here's 15 minutes of it here:

 

[a mangy Meowth]

here's 15 minutes of it here:

Thank you!!!

 

[Belgican]

Definitly Bigras, no Elliott here

Will vote for a goalie once Bigras is chosen, don't knoww why most of you chose Aito over Pickard though.

Add Carey

 

[Nzap]

I'm surprised so many people have Aitto over Pickard right now... Pickard was significantly better in Lake Erie last season.

I agree. I voted Pickard here.
And I'm Finnish and a big Aittokallio fan.

 

[Sheet]

Im going with elliot strictly based on nhl experience but i think birgas has more upside and will be more impactful long term. Elliot gets the nod because i havent seen birgas prove he can hang in the nhl.

Would of vote Sami, but id need a bigger sample size. He seems like he coukd be something special though.

 

[Frenchy]

here's 15 minutes of it here:

thanks for the vid , Looks like we have a good one with Bigras. He has a good vision on the ice , makes good def zone plays, not afraid to make a hit and got some skill with the puck making the first pass out of his def zone to restart the play.

 

[CobraAcesS]

thanks for the vid , Looks like we have a good one with Bigras. He has a good vision on the ice , makes good def zone plays, not afraid to make a hit and got some skill with the puck making the first pass out of his def zone to restart the play.

This is all the other ones of Bigras I could find on that site,

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/62881652

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/64242395

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/62813062

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/62819248

One of Geertsen as well,

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/65175823

There were also a bunch of Mackinnon, but we've seen quite a bit of him as scouting goes.

One thing I'll say in the hour's worth of Bigras's shifts I've watched, he does not seem to lack offensive upside although it's always fairly simple plays, with good on the tape passes. NHL players will capitalize on his play and contribution to the transition game better I think. The kid can really thread the needle on his passes, and it does not seem to matter if it's long or short passes either.

Watching all of that, you can see his skating ability as well. Although he rarely needs to show it and it's deceptive. The other thing, pretty much all of it is the same in that he really does never seem to make mistakes in his reads and when it comes to keeping the puck out of trouble.

Definitely an interesting unheralded pick, needs more pure strength though.

 

[klozge]

thanks for the vid , Looks like we have a good one with Bigras. He has a good vision on the ice , makes good def zone plays, not afraid to make a hit and got some skill with the puck making the first pass out of his def zone to restart the play.

Also, watching the vid let me embrace the Avs' decision not to draft Jones even more. The more I see of him the more I dislike his defensive game.

Yes, I know it's a bit ironic but I chose Elliott in the poll.

 

[henchman21]

One thing I'll say in the hour's worth of Bigras's shifts I've watched, he does not seem to lack offensive upside although it's always fairly simple plays, with good on the tape passes. NHL players will capitalize on his play and contribution to the transition game better I think. The kid can really thread the needle on his passes, and it does not seem to matter if it's long or short passes either.

Watching all of that, you can see his skating ability as well. Although he rarely needs to show it and it's deceptive. The other thing, pretty much all of it is the same in that he really does never seem to make mistakes in his reads and when it comes to keeping the puck out of trouble.

Definitely an interesting unheralded pick, needs more pure strength though.

I would agree completely with this. While I am not a fan of overly 'safe' picks, Bigras will be a good safe pick for the Avs. He should be a top 4 defender within 3-4 years. It is possible that he tops out there, but he could be more with time. I don't think he has an ultra high ceiling, but he can become a solid top pairing defensemen in the mold of Martin and Hamhuis if he reaches his ceiling.

Right now, IMO, all Bigras really needs to play in the NHL is more strength. His reads, passing, skating, etc are NHL ready now. I wouldn't put it past him to pull a Brodin in 14-15.

 

[bidzey*]

This is all the other ones of Bigras I could find on that site,

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/62881652

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/64242395

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/62813062

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/62819248

One of Geertsen as well,

http://vimeopro.com/edmontonoilers/2013-nhl-entry-draft-video/video/65175823

There were also a bunch of Mackinnon, but we've seen quite a bit of him as scouting goes.

One thing I'll say in the hour's worth of Bigras's shifts I've watched, he does not seem to lack offensive upside although it's always fairly simple plays, with good on the tape passes. NHL players will capitalize on his play and contribution to the transition game better I think. The kid can really thread the needle on his passes, and it does not seem to matter if it's long or short passes either.

Watching all of that, you can see his skating ability as well. Although he rarely needs to show it and it's deceptive. The other thing, pretty much all of it is the same in that he really does never seem to make mistakes in his reads and when it comes to keeping the puck out of trouble.

Definitely an interesting unheralded pick, needs more pure strength though.

his passing is very good, I must've seen at least a couple of dozen times where the pass was on the ice, and right on the tape, but so hard that the other teammate couldn't handle it. In the OHL sometimes that gave it a negative effect, but I agree in the NHL that will be an asset.

The TV announcers also named a pass that he also does well off the backboards. He made it popular at the Bayshore arena (home ice in Owen Sound) and they now call it the "Bayshore bounce".

 

[avsfan09]

here's 15 minutes of it here:

Awsome video thanks for posting.

Things I noticed from the video:

His agility and footwork is great. He was able to stay with shifty forwards.

Made smart and quick plays with the puck.

Has a great pass.

Made some smart plays offensively.

His positioning is great and probably the reason you never really see him get beat.

He's going to be a great player. With his hockey sense I honestly can see why Roy thinks he has a chance to make the team next season.

 

[AvInNebr]

This is all the other ones of Bigras I could find on that site,

Thanks for all the great links! I've enjoyed watching Bigras and really see the upside and reason behind the Avs having him ranked high and thinking he'll make an impact.

As for my #4 prospect, I can't vote yet but if I could I'd probably lean a bit more towards Elliott than Bigras at this point just because Elliott has some experience and is more likely to make an impact this year ... but that's where ranking prospects is so difficult. Do you rank on how soon they can play, long term impact, overall potential despite how likely or not they are to reach it, or realistic ceiling? So many ways to go about things...

As for my top 3 MacKinnon definitely is #1, followed by Barrie and Seimens for me as well so the top three are my top three. Barrie showed me quite a bit last year and I think he's going to be a solid guy this year ... so #2 ... but long term I think we have a few guys that if they reach their potential will pass him there. (I too think he and even Elliott have "graduated" but given they are on the list that is where I'd put them.)

 

[S E P H]

I only watched that 15 minute video and noticed he is good at tying up sticks in front and around the net, but he is prone to run around or get lost in front of the net as well. Definitely a small sample size for sure and he also needs to gain a lot of strength as well. I like his physicality and hit the players a fair amount, but to me it seem like a pea against a potato out there. Finally I agree with the posters that said his offensive game was pretty apparent out there, very, very good passer.

 

[chet1926]

here's 15 minutes of it here:

Thanks for posting it was fun to watch. I really like what I saw out of Bigras, he is a very simple player but his skating looks awesome, just really fluid and quick when he needs to be. Scouts are pretty accurate when they say he just makes the right play, nothing flashy, just get the job done.

The other thing I took from that video was the play of Seth Jones (it was easy to watch as he and Bigras were paired together). And this wasn't meant to be a good comment for Jones, he screwed Bigras on multiple occasions. Jones needs to mature in my opinion. He always tries the hardest possible play and is way too eager to jump into plays before taking care of stuff in his own end.

For example there was a play, I think in the 2nd period of that clip, where Jones has the puck in the corner with a guy on him, all he has to do is cycle the puck around the boards to a wide open Bigras who would have skated the puck out of the zone or had an easy clear. But instead Jones tries a ridiculous spin move, gets pinned and turns the puck over leaving Bigras to scramble to the front of the net to take away a prime scoring chance. There were a couple other occasions where Jones would try to rush the puck and instead of passing he try to skate through 3 guys and get pick-pocketed leading to a rush the other way. I saw at least two no look passes he attempted to Bigras where he totally misfired and made Bigras scramble for the puck.

I get it that Jones is an offensive dman, and thats why he was so highly rated (he is flashy which gets him noticed), but his defensive game leaves a lot to be desired at this point. You make those kind of plays (mentioned above) in the NHL and you are going to end up with a bunch of pucks in your net. There is no denying that Jones has talent, but he needs to really focus on his defensive game to develop into a better player. I'd much rather have a guy like Bigras who I know is going to take care of things on his end and hopefully he can develop into a bit more offensive player.