StevenToddIves
Registered User
Slafkovsky had 18 points in 11 Finnish U20 games. He dominated there. His Liiga production was limited int he context of his usage. He's 20 tiers ahead of the players in this discussion.I think you're underrating european junior leagues a bit. How would you even compare them other than guys who have played both, like Zacha. He had 6g in 10games Czech U20 and then 16g in 37 OHL games. Really doesn't seem like huge difference. OHL just gets scouted way way way more and their player end up in NA leagues, where as Czech players ends up in european leagues. That doesn't mean the leagues are so much worse.
Also since you are so critical of Salminen's production and finnish U20 league, are you also implying Slakovsky's LiigaU20 production 34pts in 31gp compares to something like 15pts in 30 OHL games?
Judging any player by a Zacha-barometer seems absurd, because all he's done is underperform at literally every level of hockey.
And my point is that Salminen gets top 6 minutes in an inferior Finland U20 as one of the oldest players in the league. It's tough to envision him getting those minutes in the CHL, because it's just a much faster league than Finnish juniors. Can you imagine Salminen trying to defend Kevin Korchinski or Pavel Mintyukov or Denton Mateychuk on the point? They'd be past him before he even started moving. There is no defenseman in Finland U20 with even close to the skating ability of these players. It's just a different level of play.
As for the Czech Junior Circuit, there is not a single NHL-drafted defenseman in the entire league. All the top teenaged Czech defensemen play in a pro league, like Jiricek has since he was 16 and Tomas Hamara did in Liiga last year. I'm not writing off Hauser yet, because quite honestly I haven't seen enough of him yet. We'll see how he does in the Czech men's league next year. As for Salminen, I haven't watched a ton of him either, but I've seen him a lot more than Hauser and his skating just really holds him back.
I'm not trying to write off my own team's prospects so much as I'm trying to inject reality into the discussion. Salminen and Hauser are my #29 and #30 prospects for the Devils because skating is huge and neither skate close to an NHL level. Stillman is in my top 15 because he can skate an NHL level. If either skated as well as Stillman, it would be a different conversation but, quite frankly, they cannot.