ISS Top 15 for February

[Ken McKenna]

ISS Top 15

ISS presents their latest top 15 for the 2006 NHL Draft. Click the link to read on!

Click to read more...

 

[reidy]

I'll never understand ranking Toews ahead of Kessel, but alas...

 

[Metallian*]

I'll never understand ranking Toews ahead of Kessel, but alas...

toews is canadian so he has more potential

 

[firstroundbust]

ya, sanguinetti will look real nice in a wild jersey.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Toews before Kessel?

 

[KStewart113]

I'll never understand ranking Toews ahead of Kessel, but alas...

Agreed...it would be nice if statistics would be posted along with the rank, or better, a reason why he moved up/down.

 

[ReLyT]

As a Hawks fan I hope whoever finishes second fires all their scouting staff just before the draft and just goes by this list... i'd love to get Kessel at #3... i DONT want Toews at 3...

 

[MN_Gopher]

I have seen lots of Kessel and Towes a few times x2 live. Both have gotten lots better. Looking more comfortable and all that. In the last game Kessel and 2 semi breaks a 2:1 and a 1:1. On the two on one he waits it out gets the D to go down and passes it over to his winger and he buries the puck. On the other one he goes up the ice, the D gives him a little room he goes wide and shoots the puck on net, the goalie fights it off and the rebound goes straight up the middle and a rushing wing buries the puck. Early in the year he may have tried to score on both of those plays going 1:1 to the net. He is using his team now and is not a 1:1 player. I would have figured that would be enough to change most peoples minds. But i think he is being judged by the start of the year. And some have wrote him off as the same player they read or saw in the first few months of the season.

Towes on the other hand. He is just getting better. But he was on less of a pedistal to begin with. So for him the climb has been all up. He is showing more and more of his potential and had a nice 3 point performance in his last game. I have not seen enopugh of his potential come out to place him ahead of a guy that is doing it and still improving as well.

 

[Chrisd]

Im a gopher fan...and no i don't love all their players....i call it like i see it...

IE- I think blake wheeler stinks, and can't skate and control the puck at the same time.

I am far from a gopher homer....but this said,.....I have seen a ton of kessel and Toews, kessel is IMO, simply a better player, much more dynamic.

I honestly don't get what all the pub is on Toews, and no I'm not trying to be a no dak basher....Love Oshie, and zajac.

Yeah i know Toews has potential, he's young, blah blah....

But believe me, I'll take anyones bet, and say kessel goes over toews in the draft, and give anyone who wants it 3:1 odds.

ISS is simply absurd, on this one.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Toews is a year younger than Kessel which could possibly be why he's rated higher.

 

[MN_Gopher]

Toews is a year younger than Kessel which could possibly be why he's rated higher.

six months

 

[Chrisd]

Toews is a year younger than Kessel which could possibly be why he's rated higher.

6 months aint that big of a deal...and...

quite frankly when you look at each of their games...they aren't even close...

Time will tell this as well.

kessel is simply a better player, and will be picked higher, no matter what ISS says lol.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

You guys don't understand do you, by ''year'' I mean an extra year of minor hockey development.

 

[MN_Gopher]

I dont know how far back they go. But last year Towes played at Shattucks and Kessel played for the USNTP. I think the year before that they were at the same place. Both should be HS seniors this year. They are not much different at all. Comparing Kessel and Towes. I know Peter Mueller and Kessel played on alot of the same youth teams.

 

[Alessandro Seren Rosso]

Vasyunov is 11th that's such a good news!

РОССИЯ ВПЕРЁД!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CoolburnIsGone]

Vasyunov is 11th that's such a good news!

РОССИЯ ВПЕРЁД!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its good news...but no team is going to pick a Russian playing in Russia in the top 15 without an agreement in place with the IIHF/NHL/Russian Federation. Maybe a late 1st round pick at the earliest but I'm betting that a lot of talented Russians ranked higher than other Euro's will not get picked until later in the draft.

 

[#66]

Sheppard is a player that I just haven't gotten to see this year. Can anyone post some thoughts on him? I've read people rave about his skating for a big guy but Taylor Pyatt creeps into my mind. How is his shot and hand skills in tight spaces?

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Early in the year he may have tried to score on both of those plays going 1:1 to the net. He is using his team now and is not a 1:1 player. I would have figured that would be enough to change most peoples minds. But i think he is being judged by the start of the year. And some have wrote him off as the same player they read or saw in the first few months of the season.

If Kessel is evolving into more of a team-oriented player instead of trying to do everything himself, that will help him considerably both in the draft and in his own development. But if he backslides come tournament time and gets selfish with his play again, he may fall past 3rd and 4th.

 

[Anthony Mauro]

Im a gopher fan...and no i don't love all their players....i call it like i see it...

IE- I think blake wheeler stinks, and can't skate and control the puck at the same time.

I am far from a gopher homer....but this said,.....I have seen a ton of kessel and Toews, kessel is IMO, simply a better player, much more dynamic.

I honestly don't get what all the pub is on Toews, and no I'm not trying to be a no dak basher....Love Oshie, and zajac.

Yeah i know Toews has potential, he's young, blah blah....

But believe me, I'll take anyones bet, and say kessel goes over toews in the draft, and give anyone who wants it 3:1 odds.

ISS is simply absurd, on this one.

I'm not trying to defend them and I'm not even sure about the ranking...but teams don't draft their players just to be great college players. It seems like with Kessel there is no room for development while Toews has a lot to come around to.

 

[NobodyBeatsTheWiz]

I'm not trying to defend them and I'm not even sure about the ranking...but teams don't draft their players just to be great college players. It seems like with Kessel there is no room for development while Toews has a lot to come around to.

Why do you say theres no room for development with Kessel?

 

[hawksfan50]

Kessel last year was compared to Crosby-like franchise material;since Kessel has not torn up the NCAA as a freshman (does anyone doubt Crosby would not have put up 3points a game at the NCAA level?)--it is safe to say he has way underperformed expectations...therefore there is no great"gap" between him and some of the other top ten forwards in this draft...he has both good points and bad flaws...one might argue that an offensive talent like Bryan Little (ISS rated #9 overall) might equally have put up the same or better numbers if he had been in Kessel's place as a freshman at Minnesota--as for the "younger" draft eligibles=Toews somewhat, but more so the baby's of the draft Staal and Mueller--you do have to allow for both the almost 1 year of development difference AND the fact that it takes bigger guys longer to develop to catch up with their bodies in co-ordination ...so you either assign some "premium" on the "youth" and "size" projection OR you stay with what you see NOW...if the latter--no question Kessell is ahead of Toews and wayway ahead of Staal and Mueller who are very raw at this point...ALL OF THIS completely ignores the achievement of Nicklas Backstrom as a 1st line centre for Brynas in the Swedish Elite League as an 18 year old...If we are talking about what is seen right NOW --then he is way under-ranked at #7 since he is mored advanced than Kessel,Toews or Mueller or Staal--does anyone believe they could hold down a #1 line centre job for any team inthe Swedish elite League right noW? I do not think so...but even Backstrom (and certainly none of the others) is "ready" for the NHL next year..the ONLY guy I saw who can step in right away is ERIK JOHNSON....so there is JOHNSON --then there is a 2nd tier in the next 2-9 picks (assuming Little is as low as #9)....Little IMO has just as much chance as Kessel does in putting up the hghest points as an NHL'er as any of the other forwards we are taling about...Staal and Mueller may develop--but if not they could be busts (they are still so raw)...Toews may be "safer" but might not get to 1st line "star' status ...Backstrom has as good a chance as any to be the best of this bunch ..so it is a bigger crapshoot this year...all because Kessel has not lived up to being the net Crosby...if he had goten 2.5 -3pts a game as a freshman "dominating" the NCAA--then he would be ahead of Erik Johnson in a tier by himself--as it is we only have 2 tiers--Johnson by himself and then the next tier in the group down to Little... and this is the REALITY.

 

[borro]

Can anyone tell me why Frolik with 2goals in 44 games is considered a Top10 guy. I have never heard anyone explain. He does not even seem like a round 1 guy. Ordinary tournaments. Fedz said he thought he would not be top10. What's the deal with frolik?

 

[Chrisd]

I'm not trying to defend them and I'm not even sure about the ranking...but teams don't draft their players just to be great college players. It seems like with Kessel there is no room for development while Toews has a lot to come around to.

lol@ no room to develop with kessel.....thanks for the

 

[Seph]

Can anyone tell me why Frolik with 2goals in 44 games is considered a Top10 guy. I have never heard anyone explain. He does not even seem like a round 1 guy. Ordinary tournaments. Fedz said he thought he would not be top10. What's the deal with frolik?

Because there's more to scouting than how many points a guy is putting up?

 

[chaachie12]

lol@ no room to develop with kessel.....thanks for the

I agree...it's ridiculous to say Kessel can't get better. He reminds me a lot of Vanek when Vanek played at Minnesota. Was so used to beating people with "moves" that it takes him a good half season or more to start using his teammates. The big difference between Vanek and Kessel is that Kessel is already on the PK. I don't think Vanek ever saw the ice on the PK, certainly not in the first half of his freshman year.