PHX: Mueller vs Hanzal

[LeafsrGods*]

That's ambitious.... but if Muller ends up on a line with a top-notch scorer this is not overly ambitious.

In five years Mueller might end up being the best forward out of last years' draft. There are few NHL'er NOW who can pass like that guy. He needs to get stronger legs though...he's a bit too slow right now.

i disagree, i believe every forward in the 2006 nhl entry draft class from #1-#15 have the potential to be THE BEST FORWARD out of the draft. There are so many forwards from #1-#15 who can shoot, snipe, etc., etc., better then Mueller.

 

[DFF]

if he can not score 30 goal or 100 pt in Junior...how can you expect him to exceed that in the NHL....

yeah yeah he plays on a defensive team but can someone show an example of a 70 pt jr player become a 100pt NHLer?

I think Mueller will get 60-80 pts at his peak

 

[PhoPhan]

He may not have had 100 points last year (though no one in the WHL did), but he scored 78 points in 58 games (1.34 points per game, which put him on pace for a league-leading 97 points had he played in all games). Not to mention, he played with the flu for a little bit. To say Peter Mueller is not an offensively gifted player is to only look at a few numbers and to never have seen him play.

 

[Colt.45Orr]

If you care to do some research, you'll find that I was pimping Mueller long before the Coyotes drafted him, and that I had him in the top 5 of my draft rankings.

I got your back (again) bud. I am not a Yotes fan, but think Mueller is going to be a stud. He is the most dominant WHL forward I have seen since Getzlaf. I think it is entirely possible that he has a Joe Thornton type numbers... optimistic sure, but possible none the less.

 

[Sinurgy]

I don't think you're blind, and I do think you're a good poster, but I have a pet-peeve with the if-everything-goes-right discussion. I see no point in discussing if everything goes right, so-and-so's potential exceeds Crosby's!, or something along those lines. There's just not much point in them. Nothing ever goes absolutely right.

When discussing potential, why not try to be realistic? It's understood that we'll make assumptions on the optimistic side (i.e. the player, first of all, makes the NHL; secondly, we assume no hindering injuries, few problems adjusting their game to the pros, etcetera.). Beyond this, I see no point in making optimistic assumptions. They are too far removed from reality to be worthwhile.

Mueller's a good, dynamic offensive talent. But he's not a rare talent. I would wager most NHL clubs feel confident they have a talent in their prospect pool roughly equivalent to Mueller. So to claim Mueller, in his prime, can achieve a 110-120 point-level--which is something even Crosby (yes, I know he's 19) has trouble achieving; a level which the Thorntons, Jagrs of the league attain only rarely, and elite offensive talents such as Spezza, Heatley, Lecavalier, et al. have yet to ever achieve is, well, a little beyond optimistic and realistic. These elite talents were better players in their pre-NHL career than Mueller has been, and yet they have trouble surpassing the 100-point mark.

For my own prediction: I would say Mueller more realistically will fall in the 65-80 point range in his prime, which--contrary to predictions on potential around here--is still very, very good, and worthy of being a good, but not spectacular first-line impact player.

Who ever mentioned 120 points?! PhoPhan gave a low\high range for goals and assists, even if you took both high ranges that would still only be 110. Furthermore, when you have ranges like that, it makes much more sense to take the average which would have Mueller in his prime topping out at 103 points (38goal and 65 assists). It may or may not ever happen but it's easily plausible, especially if he ends up with a talented sniper on his wing.

 

[rt]

I'm still trying to find NHL comparables to Mueller. It's damn tough. I haven't seen any I like.