Prospect Info: NHL 2013 Draft ...Avs won the draft lottery !!! Part 2

[Freudian]

Size sure didn't help the Sharks win a cup nor the flyers. Vancouver was a win away from winning the cup and they only lost because TT was a man on a mission. Staying away from players because of their size is dumb dumb dumb.

Size did help Kings, Bruins, Blackhawks and so on win the cup. Being able to handle the physical nature of the playoffs is a main ingredient in winning in the post season. Of course with 29 teams not winning the cup every year some of them, like Sharks, will have a focus on size and still not getting it done. That doesn't mean having a big team isn't conducive to winning.

Of course height and weight isn't everything. There are short guys that can handle the physical nature of NHL hockey. Short guys who are strong on their skates (Duchene, Crosby) have no problem. Joe Sakic wasn't the biggest guy, but we all know what he could do when it mattered the most.

Avs prospects are a bit on the small side and of the boom/bust variety. It'll probably be healthy to get some other player types in there. Not at the cost of passing on what is by far BPA of course. But if you have a close call, it may be a factor.

 

[AdamCalderHero]

Dater's blog post on Jones: http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2013/05/04/seth-jones-looks-like-real-deal-to-me/13117/

Interesting how he suggests that Pracey as good as told him we would be picking Jones. I know we all expect it but its the first indication we've got from the organisation.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Size did help Kings, Bruins, Blackhawks and so on win the cup. Being able to handle the physical nature of the playoffs is a main ingredient in winning in the post season. Of course with 29 teams not winning the cup every year some of them, like Sharks, will have a focus on size and still not getting it done. That doesn't mean having a big team isn't conducive to winning.

Of course height and weight isn't everything. There are short guys that can handle the physical nature of NHL hockey. Short guys who are strong on their skates (Duchene, Crosby) have no problem. Joe Sakic wasn't the biggest guy, but we all know what he could do when it mattered the most.

Avs prospects are a bit on the small side and of the boom/bust variety. It'll probably be healthy to get some other player types in there. Not at the cost of passing on what is by far BPA of course. But if you have a close call, it may be a factor.

I'm not saying they should draft small players just for the sake of drafting small players. When you start drafting players with size just because of what you MIGHT have in your prospect pool that's when you get in trouble.

If the avs feel 2 different prospect are close in terms of talent and one is bigger than the other by all means draft him but don't go out of your way to draft a player who's big. (there's other aspects the avs should take into consideration making size factor close to irrelevant).

 

[Mr Serious]

Interesting how he suggests that Pracey as good as told him we would be picking Jones. I know we all expect it but its the first indication we've got from the organisation.

I highly doubt that Pracy gave any suggestion that they will be picking Jones. Even if he is the player that they are targeting. Sounds like Dater is just making suggestions himself.

 

[AdamCalderHero]

I highly doubt that Pracy gave any suggestion that they will be picking Jones. Even if he is the player that they are targeting. Sounds like Dater is just making suggestions himself.

True I think I took a little to much from his blog. Its probably just Daters speculations

 

[MikeC]

....Petan ...He wouldn't be my first choice 32nd overall for Colorado, .

RS who do you see there? A guy like Morin in the Q might be a guy I would take a risk on.

A friend of mine leaves in Seattle and he is telling me that Théodore can be a special player and he also likes Klimchuck.

Being from the Q I never those kids play.

 

[CalderKing21]

I'd rather they just get the best players available. Getting a big guy that can't play won't help us any, it's what got the Avs in trouble before Blake, Foote and Forsberg left.

They need a good mix of skill and size. They'll have pretty decent size on D if they decide to go after Jones. I'd like to see them add size on O via free agency for now. I like Stalberg, Clowe, Clarkson and even Horton, all dependent on costs. My first choice would be Stalberg to play with Duchene. There's also a chance a good player could be had if they get bought out.

i have no issue with drafting small players. but when every last one of your better prospects is small then something is a bit off with your drafting strategy. it's nearly impossible to draft only big or only small unless your philosophy lends itself to doing so.
it's not logical that the BPA is always 5-10 160 lbs. that's not possible.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

RS who do you see there? A guy like Morin in the Q might be a guy I would take a risk on.

A friend of mine leaves in Seattle and he is telling me that Théodore can be a special player and he also likes Klimchuck.

Being from the Q I never those kids play.

Would be stoked if the Avs got Theodore with the 2nd.

 

[Mr Serious]

Would be stoked if the Avs got Theodore with the 2nd.

Same here. I was impressed with his play this year.

 

[henchman21]

Theodore is who I really want with our 2nd. I see a lot of Mike Green in him. He will have to improve his defense to succeed in the NHL, but he has dynamic offensive talent and a hell of a shot. A left shot as well, something needed in the system.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Lol first.i thought you wanted to get jose theodore second round draft pick

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Theodore seems like it would be extremely unlikely for him to still be on the board in the 2nd round though.


A lot of people from other teams are hoping to get him in the 1st round, some even think he could be one of those big surprise jumpers that go in the Top 10.


If he was there at 32 that would be an absolute steal IMO.


I would also like to see us go after Laurent Dauphin.

The biggest thing though IMO. Is that outside of Theodore we should really go for a skilled forward(Preferably wing) with our 2nd rounder. Once(If?) we add Jones our Defense will go from weak to very strong with Jones, Barrie, Elliott, Siemens, EJ all in the organization.

We could really use a couple good forward prospects to add to our system. Right now we really don't have any outside of Sgarbossa and Hishon.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Theodore seems like it would be extremely unlikely for him to still be on the board in the 2nd round though.


A lot of people from other teams are hoping to get him in the 1st round, some even think he could be one of those big surprise jumpers that go in the Top 10.


If he was there at 32 that would be an absolute steal IMO.


I would also like to see us go after Laurent Dauphin.

The biggest thing though IMO. Is that outside of Theodore we should really go for a skilled forward(Preferably wing) with our 2nd rounder. Once(If?) we add Jones our Defense will go from weak to very strong with Jones, Barrie, Elliott, Siemens, EJ all in the organization.

We could really use a couple good forward prospects to add to our system. Right now we really don't have any outside of Sgarbossa and Hishon.

If Erne drops, he'd be a huge steal in the 2nd. I get the feeling a really good player will be available for us to pick. Pretty deep draft.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

If Erne drops, he'd be a huge steal in the 2nd. I get the feeling a really good player will be available for us to pick. Pretty deep draft.

Yea I agree. Theres gonna be at least 1 big faller that should be there when were up to pick at 32.


If I had to guess. Morrisey, Erne, and Mantha would be the most likely IMO.

I also wouldn't be all that shocked to see if Zadarov or possibly Ristolainen fall into the 20's.

I doubt either of them fall out of the 1st round, but with so much talent in this draft, its certainly possible.

 

[AvsRobin]

Yea I agree. Theres gonna be at least 1 big faller that should be there when were up to pick at 32.


If I had to guess. Morrisey, Erne, and Mantha would be the most likely IMO.

I also wouldn't be all that shocked to see if Zadarov or possibly Ristolainen fall into the 20's.

I doubt either of them fall out of the 1st round, but with so much talent in this draft, its certainly possible.

My dream is that Wennberg falls. But that is obviously unlikely. But like you said.. There must be at least one big faller. (Not that it means that we will take him)

 

[S E P H]

Morrissey dropping to the 2nd is not going to happen.

I am watching the Portland/Edmonton game and Jones is looking really solid.

Geoff was right, every time someone hits Jones they are giving him an extra crosscheck. Also surprisingly he is getting 2nd PP time for some reason. First unit is Rutowski and Pouliot by the way.

He has also looked really good on the PK unit and outskated and avoided a pokecheck from a 5'9" talented forward (St. Croix).

But the most underrated part of his game is in the neutral zone, first he always gets his first pass through and it is normally an insane cross ice over 2 opponents sticks. Second he always wins board battles, though it will be much tougher against NHL players. The thing (the underrated part) he does fantastic is uses his angles to take away room from forwards speeding down the wings, those forwards then need to stop and look for the late man or just dump it in.

E: Also Winterhawks are up 1-0 and that goal was all Petan. He got the puck at the blue line and out faked and out skated his opponent, beautiful assist.

 

[the_fan]

So the only part of Jones game people criticize is that he doesn't hit much?

Has Lidstrom ever thrown a body check in his entire career? Not that I'm comparing Jones to Lidstrom, just saying you don't have to throw body checks to be a great d-man as long as you're a smart player, and Jones has smarts.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

Morrissey dropping to the 2nd is not going to happen.

I am watching the Portland/Edmonton game and Jones is looking really solid.

Geoff was right, every time someone hits Jones they are giving him an extra crosscheck. Also surprisingly he is getting 2nd PP time for some reason. First unit is Rutowski and Pouliot by the way.

He has also looked really good on the PK unit and outskated and avoided a pokecheck from a 5'9" talented forward (St. Croix).

But the most underrated part of his game is in the neutral zone, first he always gets his first pass through and it is normally an insane cross ice over 2 opponents sticks. Second he always wins board battles, though it will be much tougher against NHL players. The thing (the underrated part) he does fantastic is uses his angles to take away room from forwards speeding down the wings, those forwards then need to stop and look for the late man or just dump it in.

E: Also Winterhawks are up 1-0 and that goal was all Petan. He got the puck at the blue line and out faked and out skated his opponent, beautiful assist.

If Morrissey drops to the Avs in the 2nd and they don't pick him, I will spend several hours smashing things

 

[CalderKing21]

the guys i am hoping fall to the Avs at #32 are Hagg,Mueller,Compher,Erne and Theodore. Petan would be nice too.
if we could land Jones and then follow it up with Mueller i'd be one happy Avs fan. it's not likely to happen as Mueller will probably get snapped up in the top 25 with his size and potential.
but 2 6-4 D men with good offensive skills and smooth skating would make my year.

 

[S E P H]

So the only part of Jones game people criticize is that he doesn't hit much?

Has Lidstrom ever thrown a body check in his entire career? Not that I'm comparing Jones to Lidstrom, just saying you don't have to throw body checks to be a great d-man as long as you're a smart player, and Jones has smarts.

The worst part of his game to me is defensive positioning.

 

[RockLobster]

The worst part of his game to me is defensive positioning.

How bad is his defensive positioning? And I assume that you were referring to Jones, right?

 

[S E P H]

How bad is his defensive positioning? And I assume that you were referring to Jones, right?

Can't really say because a lot of his out of positioning defensively is due to him "puck watching".

Good thing is these problems are easily fixable with experience and coaching.

 

[RockLobster]

Can't really say because a lot of his out of positioning defensively is due to him "puck watching".

Good thing is these problems are easily fixable with experience and coaching.

I'm really not adept to watching prospects and knowing how they can "project" to be. Basically, as I've always stated, prospect scouting/watching is not my strong suit when it comes to hockey, so I rely solely on guys like you, RS, and others.

But you're basically saying that it's not cause for concern, that Jones should still easily be the guy we should be getting on Draft Day?

 

[DanishAvsfan]

Interesting how he suggests that Pracey as good as told him we would be picking Jones. I know we all expect it but its the first indication we've got from the organisation.

I would not read much into that. Sincerely if the Avs were to give an indication of who they would draft they would be shooting themselves in the foot. Part of the value of having the first pick is that it puts the team endowed with it in a better position to make deals. It gives the team a competitive advantage over the other teams in the draft which they can use for trading purposes. It is like having a really good hand in a card game. So, if Pracey indeed did give an indication that the Avs would take Jones it had to be a smokescreen. But really saying that you would go for the consensus number one guy is not much of a smokescreen because most of the other teams would assume you to do so anyway. So, I believe it is just Dater speculating.

 

[R S]

RS who do you see there? A guy like Morin in the Q might be a guy I would take a risk on.

A friend of mine leaves in Seattle and he is telling me that Théodore can be a special player and he also likes Klimchuck.

Being from the Q I never those kids play.

Hard to say. I think the WHL offers a ton of value at that spot. If we want pure skill, you target a guy like Nic Petan or Morgan Klimchuk. Curtis Lazar also has a small chance of falling that far, but it could happen, who knows. If you want a goalie, a guy like Zac Fucale MIGHT be around, while you can almost surely get either Eric Comrie or Tristan Jarry.

For, most of the value is on a defenceman at that spot. One of Madison Bowey, Josh Morrissey, Shea Theodore, Mirco Mueller, Dillon Heatherington are sure to be there and all are very solid prospects. I understand that people want us to stock our forward cupboards, but the value might be too tough to pass up on defensive prospects at 32nd overall.