https://m.soundcloud.com/bnwt-podcast/season-1-episode-12-craig-button
Button gets into Neilsen and other prospects too, it's good. Buttons segment starts at about 51:04 in.
Nylander is total package.
Marner is an assassin.
Piccinich skilled but not high skilled.
Johnson is a nhl player.
Bracco gifted but needs work on his pace of play.
Nielsen very underrated due to late start in hockey. Will be complete package. Compared to Hutton.
Timashov needs work on skating and speed to be able to keep and create space.
Button talks a bit about size and how it's not that important, training and development.
https://m.soundcloud.com/bnwt-podcast/season-1-episode-12-craig-button
Button gets into Neilsen and other prospects too, it's good. Buttons segment starts at about 51:04 in.
Nylander is total package.
Marner is an assassin.
Piccinich skilled but not high skilled.
Johnson is a nhl player.
Bracco gifted but needs work on his pace of play.
Nielsen very underrated due to late start in hockey. Will be complete package. Compared to Hutton.
Timashov needs work on skating and speed to be able to keep and create space.
Button talks a bit about size and how it's not that important, training and development.
Next year I see the following prospects as sure-fire locks:
Nylander
Marner
Soshnikov
Johnson
How do you see a guy who hasn't played a single game on North American ice as a lock for the NHL? No way he doesn't start in the AHL. Maybe he works his way up by the end of the season.
Yes, he is.I don't think Brown is waiver exempt next season
Agreed. His analysis of all the topics were pretty good imo, even what he had to say about Burke made me think about what I didn't really pay attention to, though Burke still hurt the organization imo.Great listen. Thanks a bunch.
I like buttons comments about Freddy, because man he has made some huge plays for the Marlies so far this year.
How do you know it's broken if we don't know how they'd develop if they had a chance to be in the AHL?
No... we are notBecause Button is a professional scout.
Basically he says that A.Johnson is an intelligent player with a great shot and finishing ability who's on a very steep development curve.
The leafs are desperate for goals so it makes sense.
if you had even bothered to read the very next line I told you how it's broken. It's not that certain players would surely develop better, we don't know how they would develop in other situations. It that that option of the AHL isn't there for all players.
The NHL executives who have a big say in where these players go are very smart people, most of the time they get it right, if they say a player is probably better off to be in the AHL he probably is, but that avenue isn't there for a bunch of player, which isn't fair to the group of players who perhaps would be better off if they were assigned there. That's how it's broken. There's a system which blocks off an avenue of development for a group of players until they're 20.
Any word on Granberg? He should have been back by now.
Is he practicing? Is this another Lou move, keeping him on the IR before a decision can be made on someone like Marincin/Corrado?
Conditioning stint with the Marlies soon?
This is something I've been thinking they should do. Maybe the NHL team has to compensate the CHL team. Maybe they can take more than one but have to pay the team.I think the proposal that every team can have 1 guy who would normally not be allowed to play in the AHL can play there as long as they were a 1st round pick and are in their draft+2 year. That's a fair compromise. The upper level early births(so they have a junior draft+2 year) have that option to go to the AHL to develop if their teams choose that avenue, however you're only seeing 5-10 of those guys leave the CHL per year, this year there would only be 6 teams that would have that option. So the vast majority of the upper level remains in the CHL.
Would also like to know about him too.
Figure with him coming back, the big club will need to move a D soon..
Why would the AHL want to pay for CHL players when they can just get players from every other league?
We should be clear here, the CHL is a business, and hockey players are people.
It should be up to the player (human) to decide whether he wants to stay in junior or pursue his career elsewhere, unless he has signed a contract compensating him appropriately.
Perhaps we'll see more Matthews going forward as the best prospects pack up and move where they retain more ownership to their own playing rights.
How do you see a guy who hasn't played a single game on North American ice as a lock for the NHL? No way he doesn't start in the AHL. Maybe he works his way up by the end of the season.
No... we are not
We aren't desperate for anything right now lol. We are rebuilding. We won't fast forward any players development to help us in the interest of making our team score or win now, because we are rebuilding lol.
If he comes up its because he they feel he is physically/mentally ready, not because we are desperate for anything.
Johnson isn't a teenager. He's had 3 years of pro experience against grown men. He'll either crack the leafs lineup or head back to europe after a short stint in the AHL.
Rebuilding is great but if the leafs bury all their talent in the minors the league will come calling. The NHL already changed the draft lottery rules to further discourage this behaviour after what happened with Buffalo last year and their blatantly obvious tank.
Wouldn't say he's a lock, but he has a damn good chance. He's been playing in Europe's best league against men, and he's been one of the best players in that league. Maybe a brief stint with the AHL is in order to acclimatize him to the NA ice, but with his tenacious playing style he might not need it.
he's not going to be buried in the AHL. If he goes there it'll be because the Leafs think he needs a little development or getting used to the smaller ice. He's not 24, he's 20.
If he's ready he'll be here, but given he's played on big ice his entire career it's likely he'll need a little transition period in the AHL to get used to the small ice.
Look at Loov, he's 22. But the Leafs have him down there, and nobody is screaming about how he's being buried and gonna go back to Sweden. Obvious Johnson is different from Loov, and could be a top 6 winger very soon, but development takes time, complaining about how a 20/21 year old 7th round draft pick might be in the AHL next year instead of the NHL is dumb. And no, me calling him a 7th round draft pick is not saying that's his talent level now before you attack me for saying that
Johnson has nothing left to prove in the Swedish league which is arguably better than the AHL. Sure different ice surfaces but the good players will always adjust.
Comparing Loov to Johnson is apples and oranges. The only thing they have in common is their country of origin. Defencemen and goalies always take more time to develop.
Henrik Zetterberg was a 7th round pick and his numbers at the same age aren't substantially different from Johnson. I'm not saying Johnson is at that level in terms of creativity but he's got NHL skills.
Because Button is a professional scout.
Basically he says that A.Johnson is an intelligent player with a great shot and finishing ability who's on a very steep development curve.
The leafs are desperate for goals so it makes sense.
https://m.soundcloud.com/bnwt-podcast/season-1-episode-12-craig-button
Button gets into Neilsen and other prospects too, it's good. Buttons segment starts at about 51:04 in.
Nylander is total package.
Marner is an assassin.
Piccinich skilled but not high skilled.
Johnson is a nhl player.
Bracco gifted but needs work on his pace of play.
Nielsen very underrated due to late start in hockey. Will be complete package. Compared to Hutton.
Timashov needs work on skating and speed to be able to keep and create space.
Button talks a bit about size and how it's not that important, training and development.