What have you been smoking? Most NCAA players wont play in the NHL. Meanwhile Bäckström has 3 former NHLers(Dackell, Sjödin, Bicek) on his team plus one player who was a second round pick(Salmonsson). We can add 2002 NCAA champion Nick Angell to the mix if you want to. He is now playing in the SEL in the same team as Bäckström. What a step backwards it must be...
The talent level is at least as high in SEL as in NCAA but then you also need to take into account the difference in age and experience.
And also another thing. I know just one Swede that is going to play NCAA next year. Carl Hagelin is nowhere near the SEL even if he wanted to.
I have to agree TRVIPERS that its a diffrent game here. But thats the case for every league. In terms of style, the AHL is probably the top league that differs the most from the NHL today.
Thats why its so important to watch the players actually play hockey, and make a educated guess of how they will adopt to the NHL.
Not just looking at the stats sheet. Thats the biggest sin you can do in these situations. Cause Id like to see how someone can explain to me, by looking at stats, how Jason Krog can score 0.8 ppg in the SEL and then over 2 ppg in the AHL, while other players go from the SEL to the AHL and regress. Or how Alex Steen or Petr Prucha can score something like 0.2 ppg in Europe, and then almost a ppg in the NHL.
I would like to add though that the SEL are a helluva allot tougher league to have success in then the NCAA. The list of Hobey Baker candidates that wouldn't even be close to taking a regular spot in the SEL could be made long. Mike Mottau is a example of a player who actually won the Hobey but weren't even close to take a regular spot for a SEL team. Take any player who is top 40 in scoring in the SEL and they defenitly out perform Petr Sejna in College. There is a helluva diffrence in just pure strength between players around 18-20 and players around 30. Besides, the SEL might be the best defensivly schooled league in the World, or might, it is. But at the same time, some players thrive in a controlled game, like the SEL, and to some extent the NHL, but get into trouble when there is more havoc like in the AHL. There is a ton of aspects like that.
When it comes to Towes and Bäckström. I think Towes is a stud. I think he is the kind of player who can put a team on his back and go to war for 82 games in a season. He is a great pick for Chicago. But at the same time I do wonder about his upside, he is defenitly not the next Joe Thornton. Its possible that when everything is said and done, he will be comparable to another 3rd overall pick, Olli Jokinen.
I do think Bäckström in terms of pts have higher potential. He is extremely smart. Its very rare to see a prospect who so effortlessly can create offense at a extremely high level, like for example against Canada in the WCH (real) semi were he set up four point blank shoots with around 10 minutes of icetime. He is just really hard to stop.
In the end, if my team were good funamentally, but needed edge, Bäckström would provide plenty and I would take him.
If my team were a mess, and needed to build a platform, id take Towes.
