Did Bode Wilde ever play for Saginaw or are you expecting him to be there this season?
What bcspragu said. I don't know how much of a "ransom" to expect but I think they could possibly get better value for him in trade than he's worth. He fell in the NHL draft for some reason and the commentators made quite a bit out of "the issue" which the rarely do. I'd think some OHL teams may shy away from him but it only takes 2 bidders so who knows.Did Bode Wilde ever play for Saginaw or are you expecting him to be there this season?
It would be nice to see how many 12th round picks made it big in the OHL.
That's exactly why I asked. Good on them if they can land him.Can't compare a US kid with a college commit being drafted late to an Ontario kid getting drafted late. Much more risk that the US player doesn't go OHL route and you waste a pick. He was ranked #45 on Priority Selections Final Rankings for 2002 players before draft, right ahead of him was William Portokalis who went #39 overall.
If teams thought they could land the top Americans with college commits they wouldn't be 12th round draft picks.That's exactly why I asked. Good on them if they can land him.
There was this Smereck kid who I heard about that was a 15th round pick. Flint has had multiple later round American picks turn out to be quality hockey players. James Greenway (Wisconsin), Tyler Johnson (Soo Greyhounds), Evan Barrett (Penn St), Wyatt Bongiovanni (Quinnipiac), Zack Pittman, Vasili Kolias (Union), Noah Lalonde (Lake Superior), Joel Farabee (BU), Curtis Hall (Yale). That's just from the last few years and I might be missing some kids. The issue has been being able to recruit those kids.
For sure. The way Kettering schedules their stuff with 3 months school, 3 months work study could make it tough, or maybe something could be worked out to make it work for a kid. A lot of the kids I listed were just a bit later developmental curve, where the route to possibly playing pro works out better when they're 21-22-23 as opposed to 20-21. That makes the NCAA more attractive. Others like Greenway and Farabee can play wherever and still find their way into the pro ranks. Those are the kids Flint has to go after and pull and then hope a couple of the Bongiovanni's and Lalonde's can be convinced every now and then.And thats the reason they are late rounders, most have made it known they are going the college route.
I feel like with the education some kids could get while here, Flint needs to use that to its advantage.
I doubt any of these guys would go to Kettering, but UofM Flint is a Michigan degree, so thats gotta account for something and Mott is a very solid community college.