Peter Mueller

2 things
a) will he be in the NHL this season if he signs a contract (as expected soon)

b) what kind of player will he be? can he be compared to another current NHL player? What kind of offensive production can be expected of him when he peaks?

 

A) Yes, he was incredibly late cut last year and for all intensive purposes, he's improved ten-fold. He'll be wearing a Coyote jersey next season.


B) He'll be a top-line center and I see his peak in the 80-90 point range. A few people have compared him to Patrick Marleau, but I don't know if the comparison is accurate.

 

Yes he will be in the NHL sometime next season. I don't see the coyotes roster getting any better anytime soon so , maybe not at the start but he will see time.

I don't see him being a Marleau player because Marleau has breakaway speed and is more of a shooter while Mueller is more of a playmaker and being more shifty on the skating side. Maybe a Spezza...

 

I like the Spezza comparison, but with a little bit more size and defensive awareness. He does have the same stickhandling/passing talents as Spezza at that age. He'll definitely be the captain in a few years learning from Doan and Gretzky - you can't ask for a much better career path than that (except for a few quality young draftees, and a more excited fan base maybe....)

 

My guess is that Mueller never plays in an AHL game.

As for a comparison...hmmm...maybe a Jason Allison type, hopefully without the injuries.

 

Ya, you are right... I'm guessing Mueller has the better career when all is said and done.

 

While Mueller isn't timid, I don't think he has the same physical presence Jason Allison did. I think Mueller is probably somewhere in between Spezza and Marleau, honestly. Physically and defensively, he's closer to Marleau, but offensively, his style bears more of a resemblance to Spezza, although contrary to popular belief, he does have a pretty nice shot. 80-90 points seems like a good estimate for his peak and may be a little bit conservative.

 

See, I was thinking Jason Allison also, but I was going to say less physical Jason Allison. Imagine if Jason Allison played the point on the PP and didn't hit people...big, right handed shooter, soft hands, playmaker before goal scorer. I don't like the comparison to Spezza because I think he's a better all-around player than that. Hard to compare him to anyone at this point, because you don't see many 6'2" playmaking centers who don't crash the net.

 

Just curious of all the people who have posted on this thread how many times have you seen Peter play?

He is going to have to learn to play "EVERY NIGHT" if he wants to play in the NHL! He more than once in Everett has refused to play and the coaching staff giving into him and giving him the night off. You can't do that in the NHL!

You will rarely see him check a player! He needs to toughen up and learn to not be afraid of it. I am really surprised that he hasn't been in a fight (allbeit he would lose badly) yet in the WHL.

As for being in Phoenix yeah he'll be there for 10 games and then back in Everett unfortunately. I'd be happy to see him gone for the entire season or traded!

 

I find it a bit strange that someone with the handle SilvertipsFan would use his second ever post on these boards to bash the living daylights out of his favorite team's best player, and even call for his trade. Hmmm...

 

Notice how that's his 2nd post ever?

I guess he must not like winning...next time we hear from him he will be teling us how glad he is that Kevin Constantine is no longer there, that his team is afraid to play a team game every night, and that Constantine needs to step up and challenge someone to a fight.

Peter carried Everett at times, in the elimination game in round 1 of the playoffs, he played to this point the most clutch game I've seen a player play in the WHL...he carried them to that victory, absolutely flawless game.

 

And the above post is coming from a guy who has hated Peter Mueller since he declared he was going to the 'Tips.

 

Only score 21 goal compare to 26 last year (really bad for a second year)and i don't think Mueller will be a super star ,more like a Trevor Linden or Robert Lang type.

 

decent compairson, but he is a lot faster then allison.

 

I shouldn't even justify this, but I have to ask: Are you part of the coaching staff for the Silvertips? How exactly do you know he's "refused to play" and been given the night off, as opposed to there being other reasons?

Do you know what Mueller's background was before he came to Everett? Do you know that he was (from what I've been told) taught how to fight in Ann Arbor, but just isn't that type of guy which is why he doesn't? You don't have to fight to be a good hockey player, btw, but apparently you wouldn't know that.

I, for his sake, hope he's in Phoenix next year, where he can move on to the next level in his career, and where he's away from idiots like you. You must be praying that the Silvertips end up in the cellar this year, so you can whine about it. I'm embarrassed that people like you represent the fan-base of a team I like.

I don't think, back to the main topic, that there's a player out there that you can compare Mueller to and get something accurate. He's still growing in his game. Right now, I'd agree with the Alison comparison, with the caveats already listed. But who knows, as he gets even more comfortable in his body and in his talent. I guess we'll see.

 

The "ladies" evidently realize better than you that mid 21st century WHL stats cannot be directly compared with turn of the century OHL stats. That said, Spezza was a highly hyped prospect, much more so than Mueller even.

Mueller is not a prospect that I expect to reach Spezza's level, but perhaps he could be a similar type of player stylistically.

 

What do you mean he was taught to fight in Ann Arbor?

 

From what I've been told, he was given some "on ice fight training" while he was there.

 

Youngblood style?

LOL

 

Just to clarify, the only games Mueller missed (that I know of) were for the WJC, for when he had the flu, and at the very end of the season when the Silvertips' playoff position was set and they were resting their good players.

 

And the very beginning of the season while he was still in Phoenix. But yes, those were the only games he missed. And the end-of-season misses were due as much to lingering illness (the flu was hell this year) as to resting the top lines. He played at least a couple of games where he probably shouldn't have because he was still sick, in fact. The kid wants to play; I guess I'm just sort of (only sort of, Everett fans are a strange breed) surprised to hear him being touted as a prima-donna who doesn't want the ice time.

 

When I was making the comparison, I was only talking about his style because I have only seen him play a few times so I can't comment on his game play too much, but I have watched him practice a whole bunch. It's just the way he moves on the ice reminds me of Spezza. His skating his puckhandling the way he dekes players, although Spezza gets a bit more flashy with it. Mueller tends to snap the pass/shot more while Spezza is in one swift motion. Overall I would say they're more similar than different.

 

Mueller struck me as a Thornton clone. Not a great skater, not very aggressive with his size but uses it well to protect the puck, good vision and on-ice communication.

 

I get that same Joe Thornton impression - at least stylewise. He's an OK fast skater, but his game is more geared towards gaining the zone and protecting the puck in order to allow the play develop in front of him. Then he uses his wicked precision passing to tear apart the defense.

I agree with another poster, that 2-post "Silvertips fan", that he has to learn to play on a nightly basis. But that is a problem for many young players and I don't think he'll have a problem with that as he gets to be 23 or 25 years old.

Spezza comparisons are overambitious. But not by much. And IF MUELLER ENDS UP WORKING OUT HIS LEGS AT THE GYM LIKE A MOTHERF-----R and compliments his toolkit with topnotch speed, he could end up being outright SCARY.

I was at the WJC's this year and saw 75% of the games. In my opinion Mueller was far and away the best forward there (both at that time and tryiing to account for the future). Backstrom gave him very serious competition, and Kane had some special creativity traits that nobody else had. Toews, despite his 1st Team All Star accolade, did not deserve mention in the same breath (make note: only at that tourney. Obviously Toews did some pretty noticable things later in the year). Also of note, it is VERY easy to see Mueller's extremly adept vision when he is on the point on the PP.