Prospect Info: Penguins #8 prospect

[Burgs]

Oscar Sundqvist confirms his result in the runoff, so Jayson Megna automatically gets 7th place so we keep things moving forward. Added Bryan Rust and JS Dea.

2014 prospects poll results:
#1 Derrick Pouliot (71.94%)
#2 Kasperi Kapanen (91.41%)
#3 Scott Harrington (54.82%)
#4 Tristan Jarry (62.33%)
#5 Brian Dumoulin (86.14%)
#6 Oscar Sundqvist (28.69% in 6th place voting, 52.38% in runoff)
#7 Jayson Megna (27.87% in 6th place voting, 47.62% in runoff)

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[Dipsy Doodle]

Guentzel.

 

[iFishyHD]

Archibald.

 

[Black Label]

Blueger.

I think it's a crap shoot at this point though.

 

[Get To Our Game]

Lots of players in the 'it'd be cool if they made an impact at some point but I'm not getting my hopes up' tier.

Went Archibald.

 

[Dangles78]

I'll laugh if Murray isn't in the top-10. It's a shame he gets no respect

 

[Ogrezilla]

I'll laugh if Murray isn't in the top-10. It's a shame he gets no respect

Now that TK is gone, we need a new Rodney Dangerfield I guess.

 

[SprootsMasterFlex]

Zlobin.

Add Kevin Hayes ;-)

 

[stayinalive]

would take both Murray and Archibald relatively easy above Megna. anyway went with Murray...

 

[Shady Machine]

I picked Archibald. I think he will be an NHL player in some capacity. Our long shots (Guentzel, Bleuger) don't have the upside to pass on a guy that looks like he can be an effective 3rd liner at some point in the next 2 years or so.

Murray is probably next for me.

 

[Shady Machine]

would take both Murray and Archibald relatively easy above Megna. anyway went with Murray...

I can understand Murray because of difficulty or projecting goalies. Some are hesitant while others seem fine with rating them highly. But why Archibald over Megna? Megs has already played in the NHL and has the same upside, maybe more than Archibald. He has more size as well. I like Archibald, but other than simply picking the younger guy I can't think of a reason to pick him over Megs.

 

[stayinalive]

I can understand Murray because of difficulty or projecting goalies. Some are hesitant while others seem fine with rating them highly. But why Archibald over Megna? Megs has already played in the NHL and has the same upside, maybe more than Archibald. He has more size as well. I like Archibald, but other than simply picking the younger guy I can't think of a reason to pick him over Megs.

Megna is 3 years older than Archibald. Three years ago Megna played junior hockey. Archibald was among the best players in college last year.
Megna also was very unimpressive in the AHL, espically in the playoffs last year. He has shown nothing that suggests that he will ever be a scorer at the NHL level. He might be an OK 4th liner, but those are easy to replace. Archibald might never make the NHL, but he has the upside to be a 2nd liner.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I picked Archibald. I think he will be an NHL player in some capacity. Our long shots (Guentzel, Bleuger) don't have the upside to pass on a guy that looks like he can be an effective 3rd liner at some point in the next 2 years or so.

Murray is probably next for me.

I don't know. Only having very little exposure to both Guentzel and Archibald (about 3 games apiece), Guentzel impressed me more with his smarts and creativity every time. I think he's got the most skill and highest upside of any of the remaining prospects, and he produced very well his first year in college.

This isn't recognized very often, but Guentzel was the highest scoring 18 year old in the NCAA last year too.

I figure he's our best prospect after Dumoulin. He gets slept on a bit here.

 

[Shady Machine]

Megna is 3 years older than Archibald. Three years ago Megna played junior hockey. Archibald was among the best players in college last year.
Megna also was very unimpressive in the AHL, espically in the playoffs last year. He has shown nothing that suggests that he will ever be a scorer at the NHL level. He might be an OK 4th liner, but those are easy to replace. Archibald might never make the NHL, but he has the upside to be a 2nd liner.

So scoring 5 goals in 36 games playing mostly 4th line minutes doesn't show anything about his ability to score at the NHL level? Small sample size to be sure, but still production. He was already an okay 4th liner in his time in Pittsburgh last season. I guess we just don't agree on Megna's performance in the NHL thus far.

 

[Shady Machine]

I don't know. Only having very little exposure to both Guentzel and Archibald (about 3 games apiece), Guentzel impressed me more with his smarts and creativity every time. I think he's got the most skill and highest upside of any of the remaining prospects, and he produced very well his first year in college.

This isn't recognized very often, but Guentzel was the highest scoring 18 year old in the NCAA last year too.

I figure he's our best prospect after Dumoulin. He gets slept on a bit here.

That's fair. I've only seen him play twice. I was impressed with his skills. Just had concerns about his size. I guess it all comes down to upside vs closer to being pro. After the top 5 or 6, I tend to go with the guys that have shown they look like they can realistically be an NHL'er vs a longer shot guy. That's based on a limited viewing, so it's certainly not an expert opinion.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

That's fair. I've only seen him play twice. I was impressed with his skills. Just had concerns about his size. I guess it all comes down to upside vs closer to being pro. After the top 5 or 6, I tend to go with the guys that have shown they look like they can realistically be an NHL'er vs a longer shot guy. That's based on a limited viewing, so it's certainly not an expert opinion.

Understandable, especially after looking back at past prospect rankings.

 

[stayinalive]

So scoring 5 goals in 36 games playing mostly 4th line minutes doesn't show anything about his ability to score at the NHL level? Small sample size to be sure, but still production. He was already an okay 4th liner in his time in Pittsburgh last season. I guess we just don't agree on Megna's performance in the NHL thus far.

3 of those 5 goals were with either Malkin or Crosby on ice.

 

[Sidney BrOSSby*]

Guentzel's only a buck 60.

 

[Shady Machine]

3 of those 5 goals were with either Malkin or Crosby on ice.

Soo..maybe he can be more than a 4th liner? If he can score goals with talent, doesn't that mean something? Craig Adams goal totals wouldn't increase much with Crosby or Malkin because he's just not talented enough to bury any of the opportunities they would give him. He built a career as a solid 4th liner, until a the last few years. So if Craig Adams is your definition of an okay 4th liner, I feel good about Megs' chances of being better than that.

 

[stayinalive]

Soo..maybe he can be more than a 4th liner? If he can score goals with talent, doesn't that mean something?

scoring with Sid or Geno is not particually hard. Most of the times Megna looked lost while playing with either one of them. Also why was Megna that bad in the AHL playoffs ? He was heavily outplayed by Anton Zlobin and Conor Sheary and had 3 points in 13 games. You would expect a lot more from a guy who is a potential impact NHLer. Megna is also already 24, so it is not like you would expect rapid improvement.

 

[penguins2946*]

Archibald, then Murray, then Zoblin for me.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

This list is a who's who of future AHL journeymen!

 

[mpp9]

Think I'll bow out at this point. Have no clue how to order the rest.

 

[Ogrezilla]

scoring with Sid or Geno is not particually hard. Most of the times Megna looked lost while playing with either one of them. Also why was Megna that bad in the AHL playoffs ? He was heavily outplayed by Anton Zlobin and Conor Sheary and had 3 points in 13 games. You would expect a lot more from a guy who is a potential impact NHLer. Megna is also already 24, so it is not like you would expect rapid improvement.

And Simon Despres has been consistently outplayed by Brian Dumoulin in the AHL. There are a slew of career AHL stars who can't make the NHL full time while inferior AHL players go on to have successful NHL careers.

 

[Shady Machine]

scoring with Sid or Geno is not particually hard. Most of the times Megna looked lost while playing with either one of them. Also why was Megna that bad in the AHL playoffs ? He was heavily outplayed by Anton Zlobin and Conor Sheary and had 3 points in 13 games. You would expect a lot more from a guy who is a potential impact NHLer. Megna is also already 24, so it is not like you would expect rapid improvement.

Please see Ogrezilla's response. And to add to that, Megs is a late bloomer. He was late into hockey and has improved a lot over the last year. I expect that trend to continue.