Top 10 Offensive D Prospects in the AHL

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Omniscient Gadfly

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http://www.forecaster.ca/demo/hockey/extras.cgi?offensivedefense

good read and a decent list...

*a little suprised to see christian erhoff not make the cut.

*kronvall ahead of suter is accurate at this point. that said, suter showed flashes of unique offensive ability at the WJC, and could outpoint NK in time. then again, NK will anchor the Red Wings' PP.

*i've got a hunch that grebeshkov's production will be dependent upon the quality of players surrounding him. he's gone off this year on a solid manchester squad. production shouldn't be a problem if cammy, brown, and tuokonen (and perhaps even lehoux)realize their high potential.

*jay bouwmeester. he didn't qualify for prospect status on the list. and i know this point has been discussed before on hfboards. but looking at AHL stats...he's tied for 35th in D scoring at 3-10-13 in 39 games. he's a great puck mover, but his offensive ceiling has been overstated. he's young, but the sean hill comparisons may not be so far fetched.
 

PhoPhan

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What, no Keith Ballard?
I know Springfield has struggled mightily, and as such, so has his production, but he can't have fallen so far to be ranked behind guys like Wideman or White.
 

Jason MacIsaac

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PhoPhan said:
What, no Keith Ballard?
I know Springfield has struggled mightily, and as such, so has his production, but he can't have fallen so far to be ranked behind guys like Wideman or White.
Ballard is a really really low minus. I thought he was complete like Martin and Leopold.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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Omniscient Gadfly said:
http://www.forecaster.ca/demo/hockey/extras.cgi?offensivedefense

good read and a decent list...

*a little suprised to see christian erhoff not make the cut.

*kronvall ahead of suter is accurate at this point. that said, suter showed flashes of unique offensive ability at the WJC, and could outpoint NK in time. then again, NK will anchor the Red Wings' PP.

*i've got a hunch that grebeshkov's production will be dependent upon the quality of players surrounding him. he's gone off this year on a solid manchester squad. production shouldn't be a problem if cammy, brown, and tuokonen (and perhaps even lehoux)realize their high potential.

*jay bouwmeester. he didn't qualify for prospect status on the list. and i know this point has been discussed before on hfboards. but looking at AHL stats...he's tied for 35th in D scoring at 3-10-13 in 39 games. he's a great puck mover, but his offensive ceiling has been overstated. he's young, but the sean hill comparisons may not be so far fetched.

*Heard a lot of good about Erhoff.

*Pretty glad Suter didn't get the obligatory first spot likes he usually get on lists. And Kronvall is supposedly a fantastic prospect.

*You may be right about Grebeshkov. He does look like a very smart player from what I have seen of him.

*I strongly disagree on you with Bouwmeester. Sean Hill? Think again. At a very young age, he's already among what Canada (king country of blueline depth) has best to offer and competes at top events, where he rarely misses a beat. As for his offensive ceiling, I don't know if it was overstated. Bouwmeester was more hailed (and rightly so) as a top notch two-way defenseman prospect who can log big minutes and has absolutely no flaws. From size to skill to mobility, J-Bo has it all. He's a calm, humble player who won't give you any headache.

I don't think he'll ever wonder around and make high risk plays and I'd like to see him play with an edge. I can't knock his attitude, he doesn't have a bad attitude. But he could have a take-charge attitude an accomplish so much more. I think he will mature into one of the best blueliners of the NHL in time. Meanwhile, he's already pretty close to being a Wade Redden in skills.

Bouwmeester's point production will likely come from his combination of skills and playing a humongous number of minutes on some good teams where forwards can exploit some creativity knowing the backend is taken care of.

His offensive ceiling is fairly high IMO, but he's not going to be the best offensive D-man in any league. He could still end up with more points than any thanks to big minutes. The thing with J-Bo is, his ceiling is fairly high in pretty much everything.

It's all going to depend on playing with some edge and good coaching.
 

JohnnyRyall

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wow ... Kirill Koltsov finally made his way back onto someone's list (and at #3!) ... Anyone have any thoughts here, or shall I go pester the folks on the Vancouver board?
 

triggrman

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If Hutchinson could learn to play in both ends he'd be great. Unlike Delmore he is a great passer and can play physical, he's just out of position much of the time in the defensive zone. He will be great trade bait for Nashville in the near future.
 

Evilo

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Whitney produced more in one playoff run than Gebreshkov in one AHL season.
How come he ranks lower?
 

Jbcraig1883

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Who would be the next five on your lists? Do you think Brent Burns could be a possible top 15? Just trying to continue the discussion...
 

PanthersRule96

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DeuceUNO said:
ryan suter doesn't strike me as the offensive type...or am I missing something?
You're not missing anything. I feel the same way.

BTW, if this is the top OFFENSIVE dmen prospects, then shouldn't it be the ones with the most offensive ability on the list and offensive potential in order? When the say Lukas Krajicek may be the most offensively gifted on the list (which would be a strong case to make), then how is he 6, when they said the reason he's not higher is because of his defensive play and away from the puck when it's not talking about defensive play but offensive potential which Krajicek has like insane amounts of.
 

dawgbone

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Evilo said:
Whitney produced more in one playoff run than Gebreshkov in one AHL season.
How come he ranks lower?

Considering the fact that he has 10 more points in 2 less games this season, I think that would be a decent enough reason.
 

Reilly311

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trahans99 said:
Nice list, why is Wideman at #10 if he's #1 in scoring. I hope he continues to succeed.



He's 7th in scoring and you need to turn down your Knights homerism.
 

Evilo

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dawgbone said:
Considering the fact that he has 10 more points in 2 less games this season, I think that would be a decent enough reason.
Grebeshkov in his rookie season put up 9 points in 43 games and 1 point in 6 playoff games.
Whitney, in his rookie season, has 13 points in 37 games, and 10 points in 20 playoff games.
 

Mess

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gonzopher said:
wow ... Kirill Koltsov finally made his way back onto someone's list (and at #3!) ... Anyone have any thoughts here, or shall I go pester the folks on the Vancouver board?
Do you have to be playing in the AHL to get on the list or is playing in Russia close enough??
 

Vlad The Impaler

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Evilo said:
Whitney produced more in one playoff run than Gebreshkov in one AHL season.
How come he ranks lower?

That would be because Whitney is an emotional pansy, wildly inconsistent and dumb. Grebeshkov is a safer prospect who plays a smarter game.

I remain extremely high on Whitney as a hockey player due to his potential upside. But he does have lots of question mark and it is reasonable to put Grebeshkov in front of him right now. Grebeshkov is not too shabby. It's not like it's a knock on Whitney.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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PanthersRule said:
You're not missing anything. I feel the same way.

BTW, if this is the top OFFENSIVE dmen prospects, then shouldn't it be the ones with the most offensive ability on the list and offensive potential in order? When the say Lukas Krajicek may be the most offensively gifted on the list (which would be a strong case to make), then how is he 6, when they said the reason he's not higher is because of his defensive play and away from the puck when it's not talking about defensive play but offensive potential which Krajicek has like insane amounts of.

The list is not the "Top 10 most gifted defenseman offensively". I was about to mention that when someone whined about that big wuss Hainsey (deservedly) not making the list.

You can have all the offensive talent in the world but the fact remains you can't rank higher than players who will be better at providing what they do in the NHL.

They're just listing offensive Ds in what they think is best order. But there will always be more to a player than what his specialty provide and that must factor in, unless you just want a list that won't tell you much except who is most gifted offensively.
 

cj

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Regarding Koltsov, the list mentions that he's not playing in the AHL anymore. I guess they decided to include him anyway since he played the first part of the season there.

I'm not usually one to complain about lists but...

2004-05 with Manitoba (AHL): 28 GP, 3-14-17
2004-05 with Avangard Omsk (Russia): 2 GP, 0-0-0
After a scintillating start with the Manitoba Moose this season, Koltsov decided to return to Russia for the conclusion of the Russian Super League season with Omsk. At 5-11, 183 pounds, Koltsov lacks ideal NHL size but makes up for it in mobility and offensive acumen. While the Canucks already boast Ed Jovanovski, Mattias Ohlund and Brent Sopel, don't be surprised to see Koltsov on the first power play unit the next time Vancouver plays hockey again.

??????????

Who exactly is Koltsov going to bump off the Canucks first powerplay unit? :help:

The last I heard, Kolstov wasn't even the Canucks 7th defenseman. Now he's quarterbacking the power play? What did I miss here?
 
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Evilo

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Vlad The Impaler said:
That would be because Whitney is an emotional pansy, wildly inconsistent and dumb. Grebeshkov is a safer prospect who plays a smarter game.
Nothing less? :eek:
 
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