Most Under-Rated Prospects

[David A. Rainer]

btw, lehoux is top 5 in scoring in the ahl . . . but is not even in our top 20 prospects...now thats underated...

He'll be 11th shortly.

And Lehoux is not so much under-rated as he is finally living up to all the expectations. He dropped on radars because, let's face it, the kid flopped in every way the last two years. Now that he has finally figured it out, he is just producing at a rate higher than what we have become accustomed to.

Under-rated? I would not agree. Surprising everyone? Hell ya!

 

[David A. Rainer]

Two more for the Kings:

Richard Petiot
Tim Gleason

Silent, physical, don't show up in box scores unless you are looking at hits, shots/passes deflected, and +/-. Anchors on defense that will not get the noteriety but that every team needs at least one of.

 

[BlueBleeder]

Alexi Shkotov
Carl Soderberg

 

[King'sPawn]

He'll be 11th shortly.

And Lehoux is not so much under-rated as he is finally living up to all the expectations. He dropped on radars because, let's face it, the kid flopped in every way the last two years. Now that he has finally figured it out, he is just producing at a rate higher than what we have become accustomed to.

Under-rated? I would not agree. Surprising everyone? Hell ya!

Lehoux has definitely done well this season, but he hasn't made a believer out of me yet. He just has a very dark past of performances he needs to overcome, and a quarter of a very impressive season won't do that for me.

For me, I would say Zaba is underrated. I'd also agree on Gleason and Petiot.

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

Dustin Boyd, David VanderGulik

 

[Amadeus]

Umicevic, Perry, Goc, Jurcina, Coaiacovo

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

I never said that they were great prospects. Just underrated in terms of their talent compared to the hype.

NO one ever hears about Kreps and he will probably end up in the NHL as potentially a second line center as he has crazy skills.

Meyer is a bona fide sniper in the WHL and no one ever talks about him.

Krajicek has been San Antonio's best dman but he doesn't get much respect here. He is a top 5 offensive dman prospect. IMO top 3 maybe.

Olesz is I'd call him the most underrated upper echelon prospect. Like he is up there in terms of talent and potential with like Michalek, Vanek, etc.. top 20, prolly top 15, but was 40 something on the prospect rankings and has been scoring a lot in the Czech league.

Of course I don't think Meyer and Kreps are top prospects, but I think Olesz and Krajicek are.

Suglubov and Kaigorodov are two underrated palyers IMO. Same with Jussi Jokinen and Shea Weber.

Yeah i agree with nearly every you said PR. I haven't heard one post outside FL boards mentioning Kreps. Meyer is starting to get recognised as several people have said he was a standout in recent international games for WHL. Olesz is underated and i like the pick a lot but way too early to tell with him. Krajicek is probably just below a top prospect though needs to work on his defense. The guy who i think could be great if he could just skate is Meyer.
.

 

[gretzky99]

Mike Richards and Nigel Dawes.

Mike Richards? Hes not underated in my book, that changed on monday night when Pierre Mguire went on about him for the whole game.

* Pierre Mcguire is whithout doubt one of the worst color guys in the game.

 

[Diaboli]

I'm not so sure, that Jarkko Immonen is underrated. Well okay, maybe just a tad, but really, not really that much, as some seem to think. Reasons? Immonen needs A LOT of open space and time to hold the puck and do things with it. You can get that in a wide rink in the FEL, but not in a small rink in NHL. He is also pretty soft and doesn't really use his moderable size at all. He can be regarded like Ville Peltonen. Not good enough offensively to be on the top two lines, and not good enough defensively to be on the 3rd or 4th line.

 

[Slangston]

Clarke MacArthur.

A Buffalo product...Will be playing on Canada's World Junior team. Currently one of the top scorers in the dub.

 

[salty justice]

Nobody gives Dustin Byfuglien credit. His potential is listed as a 7th defenseman with the possibility of moving down 2 rungs from that! He is easily keeping pace with top D prospects like Barker and Phaneuf to say the least and has even outplayed them several times. He is 3rd in dmen scoring in the dub but not considered a top 20 Hawks prospect. He can drop the gloves and single handedly dominate games while playing on a below average team. This guy is a monster and he needs to get some respect!!!!!

 

[J-D]

He also needs to lose weight.

 

[silver_made*]

for florida:

john hecimovic
martin tuma

 

[salty justice]

He also needs to lose weight.

The guy has lost over 30 pounds in the last 2 years and has a heart and work ethic of gold. He still needs some work, but I think he has a fire lit under his ass that will push him far beyond people's expectations.

 

[Padawan]

I'm not so sure, that Jarkko Immonen is underrated. Well okay, maybe just a tad, but really, not really that much, as some seem to think. Reasons? Immonen needs A LOT of open space and time to hold the puck and do things with it. You can get that in a wide rink in the FEL, but not in a small rink in NHL. He is also pretty soft and doesn't really use his moderable size at all. He can be regarded like Ville Peltonen. Not good enough offensively to be on the top two lines, and not good enough defensively to be on the 3rd or 4th line.

Pfft. Having seen Immonen play a lot I can say that while Immonen needs the space, he can find an open space fairly quickly. As for the time to hold the puck, no. He really doesn't need to hold the puck, but sometimes he likes to do so and in SM-Liiga he can do that. Of course he needs time to adjust different kind of rink, playing style and such. Who doesn't? He can also play a physical game and with better linemates he'll get in the NHL he can do wonders as we saw in the exhibition with the Leafs against Jokerit. IMO Immonen is good enough for an offensive line, but currently is not good enough to play in a defensive role. A year or two in the AHL will do him good considering NHL. No need to rush things.

Edit: Just to makes things clear. I think Immonen is worthy for NHL contract. At this point he is not ready for the NHL but more like the AHL.

 

[stanley]

They haven't done anything to warrant credit. Nevertheless, I find that just about every hockey prospect evaluation I've read is utterly subjective, lacking statistical basis.

I don't have a better mousetrap to offer, but I can spot a non-working mousetrap from a mile away. Okay, maybe not a mile, with mountains and trees and such in the way, but a couple hundred feet. We need a system developed from numbers, where we can evaluate successful NHL players late in their careers or retired and through a pseudo-regression can try to find a commonality in their junior or minor-league statistics. We need a way to attach a numerical value to prospects. Many people in baseball have gone through great lengths to mind a better method of prospect evaluation. I think it would be more difficult in hockey due to a significantly more limited historical record, though not impossible. We have many quantitative, intrinsic statistics now. With the future limitations on payroll, finding young (read: cheap) players who can step into a situation and produce will be of the utmost importance.

Lacking this hard data, I suspect a few things based on my own observations in life and knowledge of the baseball evaluation process:

1) College, minor-league, or more foreign players might be better investments than high-school players. More specifically, 20-year-olds (or older) over 18-year-olds. They're more developed, more experienced in life.

2) People who can do many things well tend to be underrated; people who do one thing really well tend to be overrated.

--------

I'm interested in all prospects, but mainly undrafted prospects.

 

[FlyersFan10*]

hmmmm......under rated prospects. Ok, I've got a list:

1) Mike Richards - He's underrated in the sense that most Flyer fans will rave about Jeff Carter and that Richards almost seems like "the other prospect" in our system. He does all the little things that make good hockey players great hockey players. And the fact that he does the little things is something that oftend gets left unnoticed. As well, his offensive game is so underrated. I think Richards will be a 70 to 80 point player and people will still undervalue him

2) Jim Slater - Another prospect who's been lost in the shuffle. Maybe we hear so much about the 2003 draft that 2002 wasn't a bad year either for teams who made solid choices. Slater is one of those choices. Another in the Mike Richards mould of player in that he does all the little things that go unnoticed. Those are players you win championships with. Those are the guys who give you the tough minutes and those are the guys who score the timely goals.

3) Josh Hennessy - Speed to burn and offense to boot. The guy is another one of those players who just seem to fly under the radar. And you know that because he was drafted by San Jose, he won't be rushed into the lineup immediately. They'll bring him along properly. They did the same thing with Jonathan Cheechoo and he's probably going to be one of their best wingers for the next little while. A great pick by a good organization with a good penchant for developing talent.

4) Jared Aulin - I think everyone may have given up a little early on him. A couple of freak injuries and it's like it's become his death knell. I think the Capitals have a very very very fine prospect on their hands who will be a tenacious offensive player for them and have a little bit of a mean streak to him know that he's been hurt. Sometimes, it just takes some freak injuries to bring out a little nasty in someone. This will do Aulin just fine. He's gonna be a gamer and he's gonna make LA really sorry for giving him up for Anson Carter.

5) Brendan Bell - I've watched the kid play in Ottawa when he was with the 67's. His game has always been about offense. Never ask him to be a defensive warrior because that isn't his strong suit. Why Toronto has done that is beyond me. However, Brendan's been responding to the challenge. If this does toughen him up, he'll make Carlo expendable because he will be the better player of the two. And is it just me, or does anyone who's ever played for Brian Kilrea always end up being consumate professionals? You can never go wrong with a Kilrea kid.

 

[Brock]

Stefan Ruzicka

IMO he's got to be one of the most underrated junior players out there. I never really see his name tossed around in top 50 consideration but IMO, it should be. He's a beast, and while he's only 5'11, hes as strong as an ox. He's got wicked hands too, and his overall offensive game has really rounded into form.

I really like him and he's going to surprise a lot of people in the NHL IMO, except maybe Flyers scouts who have done a hell of a job drafting over the past couple years.

 

[Diaboli]

Pfft. Having seen Immonen play a lot I can say that while Immonen needs the space, he can find an open space fairly quickly. As for the time to hold the puck, no. He really doesn't need to hold the puck, but sometimes he likes to do so and in SM-Liiga he can do that. Of course he needs time to adjust different kind of rink, playing style and such. Who doesn't? He can also play a physical game and with better linemates he'll get in the NHL he can do wonders as we saw in the exhibition with the Leafs against Jokerit. IMO Immonen is good enough for an offensive line, but currently is not good enough to play in a defensive role. A year or two in the AHL will do him good considering NHL. No need to rush things.

Edit: Just to makes things clear. I think Immonen is worthy for NHL contract. At this point he is not ready for the NHL but more like the AHL.

Well, the exhibition game was played on a wide rink, correct? How many times do you think, that the Rangers will have THAT much better of a line-up, than the opposition? Jokerit wasn't really that strong at that time, now was it?

Immonen hasn't really shown anything in the international games, has he? In Rosno Cup he was playing in the 3rd line, I'll give him that, but before that he has usually played in the 2nd line with pretty good linemates, and the record isn't really that impressive. The record in the international games also tells us what he can do, when he has less time with the puck. When you need to make quick decisions. And that's in the wide rink. How about when even better players come against you in a smaller rink?

Almost all Europeans need time to adjust their playing style for the NA-style. The difference between him and e.g. Mikko Koivu, is that M. Koivu doesn't really need THAT much space with the puck, so it'll be that much easier for him to adapt. Of course you can say (as you did), that in the FEL you CAN control the puck for that much longer, but quick decisions do make the play that much faster, and it does open up more goal-scoring chances. Relying on this assumption, I'd say Immonen needs the space.

 

[Padawan]

Well, the exhibition game was played on a wide rink, correct?

I can't remember nor find a link that tells the truth.

How many times do you think, that the Rangers will have THAT much better of a line-up, than the opposition? Jokerit wasn't really that strong at that time, now was it?

Jokerit wasn't that strong when compared to Toronto's line up at the time. It was however their usual line-up, IF I remember correctly. The Rangers are rebuilding their team. Give them a uear or two and I'll bet they roster is above average. It's still not just that. When Immonen is ready for full NHL season, he has adapted to the North American style of play. According to JYP head coach Matti Alatalo, Immonen has already the North American style of skating so he is a have started the work for that.

Immonen hasn't really shown anything in the international games, has he? In Rosno Cup he was playing in the 3rd line, I'll give him that, but before that he has usually played in the 2nd line with pretty good linemates, and the record isn't really that impressive. The record in the international games also tells us what he can do, when he has less time with the puck. When you need to make quick decisions. And that's in the wide rink. How about when even better players come against you in a smaller rink?

Yes he has. He was selected as the best forward in Karjala Cup about a year ago. He has shown that he can score points and play well in the international level also. Last season he didn't make the WC team but was close of getting a roster spot. This season he hasn't played that well but on the other hand, he has played much in the SM-Liiga. He was tired before the Rosno Cup already and with OJ being there, he couldn't get a place in the two top lines. If you want the get the best out of Immonen, you should let him play in an offensive line. He isn't that great in a checking and defensive role. He's no grinder at all.

 

[AgentNaslund*]

Kiril Koltsov, and Ryan Kesler. Kesler is a bigger version of MIke Richards, scoring more points then Vanek,Horton Kiril Koltsov have more skill then any of the defencemens in the top 50 best prospects.

 

[It Kills Me]

From Toronto : John Mitchell
IMO: Cam Ward, and Kiriil Koltsov.

 

[mooseOAK*]

5) Brendan Bell - I've watched the kid play in Ottawa when he was with the 67's. His game has always been about offense. Never ask him to be a defensive warrior because that isn't his strong suit. Why Toronto has done that is beyond me. However, Brendan's been responding to the challenge. If this does toughen him up, he'll make Carlo expendable because he will be the better player of the two. And is it just me, or does anyone who's ever played for Brian Kilrea always end up being consumate professionals? You can never go wrong with a Kilrea kid.

They have had to work on Bell's defensive game because he was relying on trying to make offensive plays and had been getting burned. He has improved in the defensive area so far this season which is important because he has the size and skills to be a good prospect.

 

[stanley]

Am I the only one concerned that we might be fooling ourselves into thinking subjective descriptions mean anything at all? I'm fine with it, as long that's the collective interest, but forming opinions of players with them and nothing more (or at least acknowledgement of the associated limitations) is like watching a cheetah order take-out: a really poor use of its adaptations. Entertaining for sure, but a misuse nonetheless.

Is there anybody out there? Does this make sense to anybody?

 

[Nielson81]

YELLOWHORN,

Give me a break.