Prospect Info: Matthew Stienburg (C/RW), 63rd overall

[Balthazar]

I recall that one scene where Hepple was trying to convince Joe to take him in the 3rd with Ottawa's pick and I wonder if this was one of the fateful decisions which made the Avs let go from him?

Actually it was worse than this...they explained after the draft that they got caught by surprise because the teams in front of them picked all the players that they wanted at 63rd.

Terrible.

 

[Richard88]

Actually it was worse than this...they explained after the draft that they got caught by surprise because the teams in front of them picked all the players that they wanted at 63rd.

Terrible.

It was Alexandrov they wanted. A mobile two-way center like him who can skate would be such a perfect fit for this team right now... certainly more so than Stienburg whatever he's up to these days.

 

[S E P H]

Actually it was worse than this...they explained after the draft that they wanted to pick him later in the draft but the teams that picked in front of them picked all the players that they wanted at 63rd.

Terrible.

Yeah that was Nikita Alexandrov and he would've been one hell of a pick for us that's for sure. Not top-end centre potential, but will be a fantastic tweener centre which should become a more offensive-minded Radek Faksa. With that said, there were some great players still available on the board and they should've went to Europe (specifically Finland) yet played the safe route with an Ontario boy.

 

[McMetal]

Pretty unfortunate season for him, had a major injury (during I think preseason for Junior A) and because each season was cut short he missed the entire year. Going back into the Avs draft behind the scene videos, I recall that one scene where Hepple was trying to convince Joe to take him in the 3rd with Ottawa's pick and I wonder if this was one of the fateful decisions which made the Avs let go from him?

If any third round pick should have been a fireable offense, it was Josh Anderson.

I think he broke his leg last year, real tough break for a guy who needed to play to develop. He should be all rehabbed now, let's hope he gets back on track when college hockey starts up again.

 

[The Kingslayer]

If any third round pick should have been a fireable offense, it was Josh Anderson.

I think he broke his leg last year, real tough break for a guy who needed to play to develop. He should be all rehabbed now, let's hope he gets back on track when college hockey starts up again.

Whoever picked Mitchell Heard in the second round should never be involved in hockey ever again.

 

[S E P H]

If any third round pick should have been a fireable offense, it was Josh Anderson.

Whoever picked Mitchell Heard in the second round should never be involved in hockey ever again.

I'm pretty sure both of them were Pracey, both fit his model of being CHLers with high-character traits...

 

[McMetal]

I'm pretty sure both of them were Pracey, both fit his model of being CHLers with high-character traits...

Nah, Anderson was 2016, Pracey was already gone by then. Heard was his pick, but Anderson is solely on Hepple and whoever the WHL scout was at the time.

Klip was actually hired the season after that, according to EP. Maybe they did move on from the scout who pounded the table for that pick.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

If any third round pick should have been a fireable offense, it was Josh Anderson.

I think he broke his leg last year, real tough break for a guy who needed to play to develop. He should be all rehabbed now, let's hope he gets back on track when college hockey starts up again.

I fully believe they meant to pick Joey Anderson, who was picked 2 spots after Josh, and got mixed up. J. Anderson? Josh or Joey? Uhhh yeah, that one. First guy I guess"

Reason I think so is that he was a prototypical Avs pick, right hand shot, College bound, he's a bit undersized but has really good wheels and decent offensive skills. Projected as a 3-4th liner due to his forechecking.

Would have been nice to have right now

 

[Tommy Shelby]

Whoever picked Mitchell Heard in the second round should never be involved in hockey ever again.

Sissons what RIGHT THERE too. No wonder we burn through head scouts lol

 

[tigervixxxen]

Actually it was worse than this...they explained after the draft that they got caught by surprise because the teams in front of them picked all the players that they wanted at 63rd.

Terrible.

I don’t buy this story for a second. There is no way shape or form a team’s list does not carry through the first pick of the third round. Those Avs draft videos are heavily edited and splice many clips together and they edit any names flow of discussion out. Quite simply this pick was 100% nepotism, there was zero scouting involved in it. The discussion may have been whether to do it at that spot or not since their guy was taken. Hepple did nothing to sell the pick after saying things like “we knew the background, the character of the kid, the family” and “he has some skill, could be a 4th liner”. As a scout you don’t take that at #63, it’s appalling. Maybe Hepple was just as frustrated that he was pushed into these things that reflect on him as a scout and that none of his picks after the obvious ones have been developed into anything.

The wrong J Anderson is a joke, it’s just a meme. Anderson fits their infatuation of a big hulking defenseman. Remember there’s other guys at the table who have a voice like Brad Smith and Billington. They love old school type players. Avs love injury fallers too. Anderson fit their mold perfectly. They just forgot that those guys will do nothing in the development system like Siemens and Geertsen.

Back to Stienburg, I actually was watching when he got hurt blocking a shot in BCHL preseason. Tough way to go out. It was a displaced leg fracture and he was to be out 6 months. I can see some qualities they like that he is physical but he chases it too much and tends to hit late because of it. His best attribute is he does have smarts and can play center. His skating is ok, it’s pro level passable. The skill level tho is extremely rough. He’s a good kid, throughtful and intelligent. He’ll probably be a coach someday like his old man.

Paarup has been around so long he scouted Sakic and then they gave him a lifetime position, he’s been part of the WHL crew.

 

[RockyMtnRedhawk]

Passing on Dorofeyev with the Stienburg pick really pissed me off at the time, and it still does.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Passing on Dorofeyev with the Stienburg pick really pissed me off at the time, and it still does.

Outside of the top 10 picks you can basically go into the draft thread for any Avs prospect and say this is a terrible pick and a fireable offense.

 

[jabubenice]

Whoever picked Mitchell Heard in the second round should never be involved in hockey ever again.

Hahahahah

 

[McJedi]

Whoever picked Mitchell Heard in the second round should never be involved in hockey ever again.

This. Worst pick in Avs history. Dude had the absolute ceiling of AHL checking line nobody. That was his ceiling. He never reached it.

 

[Hasbro]

This. Worst pick in Avs history. Dude had the absolute ceiling of AHL checking line nobody. That was his ceiling. He never reached it.

Kevin Grimes

 

[obZen]

Vaclav Nedorost. Mikhail Kuleshov. Jonas Johansson. These are all first rounders. There's a laundry list of terrible picks in avs history.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Vaclav Nedorost. Mikhail Kuleshov. Jonas Johansson. These are all first rounders. There's a laundry list of terrible drugs picks in avs history.

Nedorost scored 2 goals in his first game. Highlight of his career. Jonas Johansson traded to Washington for Konowalchuk. One of Lacroix best trades imo. Kuleshov so bad.

 

[Pokecheque]

Kuleshov was so bad the Avs became a bunch of Europhobes in their drafting for years under Pracey, Hepple fixed that to an extent at least.

Mitchell Heard was a rotten meathead moron on top of being a bad hockey player.

But I don't think I'll ever witness as precipitous a fall in one's draft stock/development than what I witnessed with Conner Bleackley. The change that happened in between his first and second camps was nothing short of astonishing.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Kuleshov was so bad the Avs became a bunch of Europhobes in their drafting for years under Pracey, Hepple fixed that to an extent at least.

Mitchell Heard was a rotten meathead moron on top of being a bad hockey player.

But I don't think I'll ever witness as precipitous a fall in one's draft stock/development than what I witnessed with Conner Bleackley. The change that happened in between his first and second camps was nothing short of astonishing.

His second camp was better than his first lol. He actually had a good first fall too. But it’s not worth getting into lol. I could write at least 2000 words about what happened but it’s not worth it.

 

[Hasbro]

His second camp was better than his first lol. He actually had a good first fall too. But it’s not worth getting into lol. I could write at least 2000 words about what happened but it’s not worth it.

Might make a good article.

 

[Pokecheque]

His second camp was better than his first lol. He actually had a good first fall too. But it’s not worth getting into lol. I could write at least 2000 words about what happened but it’s not worth it.

I personally would like to know what the hell happened, but that was a long time ago. He was just a really bad pick in a really, really bad draft class.

 

[henchman21]

I personally would like to know what the hell happened, but that was a long time ago. He was just a really bad pick in a really, really bad draft class.

It isn't rocket science... not enough work ethic, big head who thought he knew it all, off ice questions, etc. Top that with some injuries and he just never took a step. The big miss was the off the ice and work ethic where Pracey thought he was great... it was seen through early into his first camp and instead of correcting, he went down the wrong path.

 

[Pokecheque]

It isn't rocket science... not enough work ethic, big head who thought he knew it all, off ice questions, etc. Top that with some injuries and he just never took a step. The big miss was the off the ice and work ethic where Pracey thought he was great... it was seen through early into his first camp and instead of correcting, he went down the wrong path.

The larger question to me will always be why in hell Roy and Sakic let Pracey stick around for an entire year to run another draft when there were already huge disparities between him and the new brain trust. They clearly didn't see eye to eye at all in 2013 when the Avs opted to take MacKinnon. I'm fine that they took a wait-and-see approach with a lot of guys, like Chynoweth, but they should've moved on from Pracey a hell of a lot quicker.

 

[Balthazar]

It isn't rocket science... not enough work ethic, big head who thought he knew it all, off ice questions, etc. Top that with some injuries and he just never took a step. The big miss was the off the ice and work ethic where Pracey thought he was great... it was seen through early into his first camp and instead of correcting, he went down the wrong path.

IIRC someone wrote an article about him taking the summer off and not training after getting drafted. Does anyone else remember that?

 

[henchman21]

The larger question to me will always be why in hell Roy and Sakic let Pracey stick around for an entire year to run another draft when there were already huge disparities between him and the new brain trust. They clearly didn't see eye to eye at all in 2013 when the Avs opted to take MacKinnon. I'm fine that they took a wait-and-see approach with a lot of guys, like Chynoweth, but they should've moved on from Pracey a hell of a lot quicker.

Teams like continuity, and I think if we have learned anything from Sakic, he likes to evaluate all sides of things prior to acting on it. Bleackley was just the straw the broke the camel's back. It was a miss too far and too big for him to remain.