Belgican
Registered User
nomorekids
The original, baby
The point is that judging or choosing a player based on the fact that he's already played in the NHL is...rather short-sighted. As mentioned earlier in this thread, it's not like Radulov and Wolski were both eliminated, and the Avs found that Wolski was ready while the Preds couldn' say the same for Radulov. Radulov's team continued to play after the Preds were eliminated. In fact, they continued to play...all the way up to winning a championship. How does that make him less of a prospect?
It's also worth considering there is some actuality to go with the potentiality.
Gnashville
HFBoards Hall of Famer
I don't see where people are missing this point
The Predators could NOT bring Radulov up until his Junior season was over, the Predators' season ended BEFORE the Remparts' season ended. How could he have played this season in the NHL????????
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Though no fault of Rads' own, but we have a bit of a better idea about what Wolski looks like in the show.I don't see where people are missing this point
The Predators could NOT bring Radulov up until his Junior season was over, the Predators' season ended BEFORE the Remparts' season ended. How could he have played this season in the NHL????????
nomorekids
The original, baby
I'm in no way implying this is the case for Wolski...but...less than 20 games is by no means a great sampling to base a projection for a career. It could easily be speculated that it was simply a "flukey stretch." I think that until both have played a full season in the NHL, it simply can't be inferred who is or will be the better player.
Pointswise how do you see these 2 in the future? I see Wolski getting more points, but Radulov mroe goals
Lars
Registered User
Marchy79
Registered User
Very astute comparison... But IMO Radulov will be the better player. Wolski's going to be a good one... but Radulov jas the drive few others have to be the best. I really wanted the habs to pick him at one point prior to his draft... He's got that heart...Skill wise, I think they're close, Wolski could even be better... But the on ice tenacity is definately more visual with Radulov... He's going to be a scary player to play against...
lubomirvaic77
Registered User
I agree. Radulov is going to be a franchise player, your leader on the attack. Wolski on the other hand will never be a player that leads a team, he'll be more of a supporting scorer.
question, will Radulov play next year?
question, will Radulov play next year?
If he has another camp like he had last year, he may very well be on the team. The problem is that the Preds have 6 top 6 ready wingers currently on the roster in Kariya, Sullivan, Walker, Hartnell, Erat, and Upshall. While I think the Preds would like to roll three scoring lines this upcoming season (as opposed to the traditional, 2 scoring, 1 checking, 1 energy), Radulov is going to struggle to surpass those six. The two forwards that appear to be at the bottom of the pecking order, Upshall and Walker, bring a physical, forechecking dimension that Nashville's front lines sorely lack.
The Preds have the forward depth to avoid rushing Radulov. This will be only his third season in North America. A guy like Wolski's far more experienced on North American ice. I've seen plenty of forwards ruined because they came to the NHL too soon. I've never seen a forward's career derailed because he spent 40 games too many in the AHL. If I had to guess, I'd say he starts out the season in Milwaukee and is the first injury callup the moment one of the aforementioned six gets injured (my money's on Walker). From there, he'll either play poor to solid and return to finish the year in Milwaukee or he'll cement his status as an NHLer and force a trade of someone like Walker, Hartnell, or Erat.
Of course, there's always plan B. The Preds have toyed with the idea of moving Upshall to center. His style of play would be perfect for a Predators center. If he can adjust to the transition, he'll likely find himself as the third line center. I wouldn't be surprised, if the Preds attempt to roll 3 scoring lines, to find Radulov flanking Upshall in that situation. He'd probably get 10 minutes of ES time and around 3-4 power play time to start out the season. And it would go from there.
In short, we really don't have any idea which way Poile, Trotz, Fenton, etc. are going to head with this. There's benefit to both the Preds and Radulov in almost every route I've mentioned. It all comes down to how ready he is and how satisfied the Preds are with their wingers. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised with any of these situations coming to fruition. The Preds are wary of rushing forwards into the NHL, and Trotz has always been a big proponent of seasoning players in the minors. Yet, we've never had a young forward this dominant offensively. Only time will tell.
The OHL is indeed better, but this point of yours means very little. Players can be terrific junior players, but lack a dimension in order to be drafted. The Q has a good amount of players who lack a dimension and get neglected at the draft table as a result.
Wouldn't the fact that the OHL has 25% more teams make a difference? While that hardly evens the gap completely, it certainly accounts for a sizeable portion of that descrepancy. And while drafted players is a good indicator of the better league, it is hardly definitive. If 272 of the 273 OHL players drafted were taken in the final rounds, and all 183 of the QMJHL players were taken in the first round, things would appear to favor the Q. While we all know this isn't the case, a round-by-round breakdown would give us more of an indication.
What's scary is that if you really want to use draft totals as a measure of league quality, the NCAA stands out in remarkable fashion. Over the past 5 seasons, I counted a rough total of 117 NCAA or NCAA-bound players drafted in the top 3 rounds. The OHL was second with 87, the WHL followed with 80, and the Q brought up the rear with 51.
This is off-topic, but necessary to show the dangers of using your argument. Though the NCAA has many more teams than any of the individual CHL leagues, almost all of these players come from the same 15-20 schools whereas the CHL draft picks have a nice distribution accross a wide range of their 55 teams. If you use your method, you'd have to admit, albeit likely regrettedly, that while the NCAA as a whole isn't as strong as the OHL or WHL, it's best 15 schools match up quite favorably with either league or the entire CHL.
s7ark
RIP
- Jul 3, 2003
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I love how people write off Schremp because most of his points are on the PP. Who cares if all his points were on the PP? PP goals count just as much as ES ones in the final score.
Anyways, I agree with you on Radulov though, I'd take him over Wolski. Not a knock on Wolski though, I just think Radulov has higher upside.
