TSN's Craig Button's TOP 30 prospects

[Marc the Habs Fan]

If Rielly is so good, why is his WHL team 4 games under .500?

*awaits flood of Leafs fans*

But I think it's a worthy question.

 

[jedimyrmidon]

I don't like the snarking at Rielly. The kid is fantastic. Had we picked him, you guys would all be in agreement as to where he is placed.

Not sure we would all be in agreement of where he was placed. If you look at the criteria, and you look at where he's placed, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

He's a great talent, but he missed most of last year (rankings are based on play over the past year and this season). He's also a Dman who typically take longer to develop their game. He's dynamic offensively, but his defensive play isn't anything spectacular and still needs work, which is normal. Does his potential and dynamic offensive capabilities warrant him to be #1 among all players of the 2012 draft? Yakupov is also dynamic offensively, even more so and is considered an NHL ready forward.

So... yeah, there are issues.

 

[hototogisu]

I don't like the snarking at Rielly. The kid is fantastic. Had we picked him, you guys would all be in agreement as to where he is placed.

Agreed. I don't know if he's better than Yakupov and Galchenyuk, but we're talking about quibbling of a difference of 1 or 2 spots on a list by Craig Button no less. Either way, he's a great prospect.

But someone mentioned the 180 Button seems to have done on Dumba, which is a good point to bring up. Button was obsessed with him last year (and rightfully so, he looked fantastic) and now he's not even worth a spot in his top 30 after after a tough start to the season? Seems fishy to me.

 

[Andy]

If Rielly is so good, why is his WHL team 4 games under .500?

*awaits flood of Leafs fans*

But I think it's a worthy question.

Crosby put up 100 points in his first nhl season and the Pens still finished in the basement. Great players can still play on crap teams.

 

[FrankMTL]

It's hard to tell, but yet everyone wants Galchenyuk ahead of Rielly. Rielly is a very good hockey player, people better get used to that now because the habs will have to face him 6 times a year for a while.

Nobody is saying he's not a good player, in fact i'm sure most people here know that he's a very good player. Galchenyuk is also a very good player, there's nothing wrong in thinking he deserves to be ranked in front of Rielly.

 

[Andy]

Nobody is saying he's not a good player, in fact i'm sure most people here know that he's a very good player. Galchenyuk is also a very good player, there's nothing wrong in thinking he deserves to be ranked in front of Rielly.

It's not just people think he should be ahead, but they think that it is unfathomable that he is ahead. I really do think the argument can go either way and that it is not such an absurd idea that Rielly is "two spots" higher than Galchenyuk.

 

[Clumsyhab]

Damn, Burke was right, best player of last year's draft was Rielly

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Crosby put up 100 points in his first nhl season and the Pens still finished in the basement. Great players can still play on crap teams.

It's different though, Crosby was an 18 year old rookie playing against men.

Rielly is in his 3rd WHL season. How often does a CHL team struggle this much with an elite already drafted prospect playing for them?

I just find it interesting. Even Saint John is .500 despite losing basically everyone but Huberdeau last summer.

 

[FrankMTL]

It's not just people think he should be ahead, but they think that it is unfathomable that he is ahead. I really do think the argument can go either way and that it is not such an absurd idea that Rielly is "two spots" higher than Galchenyuk.

I see your point, but if you consider the fact that Galchenyuk has been producing at almost a 2ppg clip since his first four games, it's not hard to understand why people feel this way.

 

[Clippy]

I think he put Rielly in front of Galchenyuk just to see everyone's reactions.

 

[Mike Mike Caron]

Yeah Reiley is one hell of a player but he's not the 4th best prospect in the world. And Button always try to mix the cards, never goes with the consensus, so his lists aren't worth much.

 

[Account Terminated]

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[Habs13]

Johnny Gaudreau....that's a hell of a steal by a team desperately trying to have some depth, so it's about time Calgary. But that's a player that despite the size will become a significant player in the NHL. And Rielly at 4? That's high but he clearly deserves it. Awesome pick by the Leafs, which makes me think that if the Leafs would have had our pick and go with Gally, I did mention in the past that people should not panic over the fact that we might have gone with a d-man....and here's the reason why.

I see what you mean, and yes, Rielly is a great prospect - but from a Habs point of view, we really needed offensive forward prospects. Look at Hamilton; there isn't anybody able to bury a puck. Leblanc is coming back from injury and not looking very good right now, Palushaj is out but wasn't looking great, either, despite leading the team in goals. If you eliminate Galy in favor of Rielly, for example, our forward depth past Colburg is pretty lame.

Gallagher hasn't done much at the AHL level - Kristto remains a question mark, etc.

 

[poetryinmotion]

I see what you mean, and yes, Rielly is a great prospect - but from a Habs point of view, we really needed offensive forward prospects. Look at Hamilton; there isn't anybody able to bury a puck. Leblanc is coming back from injury and not looking very good right now, Palushaj is out but wasn't looking great, either, despite leading the team in goals. If you eliminate Galy in favor of Rielly, for example, our forward depth past Colburg is pretty lame.

Gallagher hasn't done much at the AHL level - Kristto remains a question mark, etc.

Yes and even with Gally we still need an other one of his pedigree, also on offense. Defense with Subban Tinordi Beaulieu Ellis is so far back in my mind right now its not even funny. Heck, we probably need goaltending more as well because if Price could mentor an elite backup we can pawn him off again and get us an other Eller possibly, on top of having two great goaltenders for a while.

But if we land a Seth Jones, I won't complain

 

[Kikizaz]

Last season I suggested that I was in favour of Rielly because I had seen him play prior to the injury and was enamoured with him. ***DISCLAIMER*** I am not saying I am disappointed we drafted Galchenyuk, both were equal in my mind last season and it was purely a personal preference.

Since then, I have gone to see Rielly 3 times this season and I have been pretty disappointed by him. I had tickets to both the Vancouver and Victoria Super series games. Rielly was decent in the Vancouver one and considering it was a 1-0 game decent was all he had to be. However, in the Victoria game he was putrid. He and Dumba were the 2 worst players on the ice in my opinion and during beers after the game my friends and agreed that it was a poor showing by team WHL and those two in particular. Rielly did have one amazing end to end rush in the Victoria game that would have brought the roof down, but he missed high and wide on his shot. (If you're going to deke 3 Russians at least get your shot on net)

I wanted to get another look at Rielly, so when Moose Jaw played in Victoria, I got tickets with a few friends and hoped for a good game from him. He was... enigmatic to say the least. He was the D man trailing on at least 3 odd man rushes going against Moose Jaw, and if it weren't for a pretty bad collapse in the 3rd period by the Royals he would have been quite the goat along with #3 Edmundson. He did have 2 assists in the 4-3 shootout win for Moose Jaw but looked pretty bad for a large part of the game. In the 3rd I think the shots were 16-4 (something like that) for Moose Jaw and he had a large part to do with that.

Now, relating that to our Galchenyuk, I've had the chance to watch (via stream) a few of the Sarnia games. "WOW" is how I would put it most nights. Galchenyuk is, usually, better than everyone else on the ice and he has really made me glad that Timmins and I did not share opinions on draft day.

TLDR: Personal preference was previously Rielly, now pretty clearly Galchenyuk.

 

[poetryinmotion]

Last season I suggested that I was in favour of Rielly because I had seen him play prior to the injury and was enamoured with him. ***DISCLAIMER*** I am not saying I am disappointed we drafted Galchenyuk, both were equal in my mind last season and it was purely a personal preference.

Since then, I have gone to see Rielly 3 times this season and I have been pretty disappointed by him. I had tickets to both the Vancouver and Victoria Super series games. Rielly was decent in the Vancouver one and considering it was a 1-0 game decent was all he had to be. However, in the Victoria game he was putrid. He and Dumba were the 2 worst players on the ice in my opinion and during beers after the game my friends and agreed that it was a poor showing by team WHL and those two in particular. Rielly did have one amazing end to end rush in the Victoria game that would have brought the roof down, but he missed high and wide on his shot. (If you're going to deke 3 Russians at least get your shot on net)

I wanted to get another look at Rielly, so when Moose Jaw played in Victoria, I got tickets with a few friends and hoped for a good game from him. He was... enigmatic to say the least. He was the D man trailing on at least 3 odd man rushes going against Moose Jaw, and if it weren't for a pretty bad collapse in the 3rd period by the Royals he would have been quite the goat along with #3 Edmundson. He did have 2 assists in the 4-3 shootout win for Moose Jaw but looked pretty bad for a large part of the game. In the 3rd I think the shots were 16-4 (something like that) for Moose Jaw and he had a large part to do with that.

Now, relating that to our Galchenyuk, I've had the chance to watch (via stream) a few of the Sarnia games. "WOW" is how I would put it most nights. Galchenyuk is, usually, better than everyone else on the ice and he has really made me glad that Timmins and I did not share opinions on draft day.

TLDR: Personal preference was previously Rielly, now pretty clearly Galchenyuk.

That was pretty cool to read actually, Gally powa! No?Too corny? ok..

 

[NewHabsEra*]

Last season I suggested that I was in favour of Rielly because I had seen him play prior to the injury and was enamoured with him. ***DISCLAIMER*** I am not saying I am disappointed we drafted Galchenyuk, both were equal in my mind last season and it was purely a personal preference.

Since then, I have gone to see Rielly 3 times this season and I have been pretty disappointed by him. I had tickets to both the Vancouver and Victoria Super series games. Rielly was decent in the Vancouver one and considering it was a 1-0 game decent was all he had to be. However, in the Victoria game he was putrid. He and Dumba were the 2 worst players on the ice in my opinion and during beers after the game my friends and agreed that it was a poor showing by team WHL and those two in particular. Rielly did have one amazing end to end rush in the Victoria game that would have brought the roof down, but he missed high and wide on his shot. (If you're going to deke 3 Russians at least get your shot on net)

I wanted to get another look at Rielly, so when Moose Jaw played in Victoria, I got tickets with a few friends and hoped for a good game from him. He was... enigmatic to say the least. He was the D man trailing on at least 3 odd man rushes going against Moose Jaw, and if it weren't for a pretty bad collapse in the 3rd period by the Royals he would have been quite the goat along with #3 Edmundson. He did have 2 assists in the 4-3 shootout win for Moose Jaw but looked pretty bad for a large part of the game. In the 3rd I think the shots were 16-4 (something like that) for Moose Jaw and he had a large part to do with that.

Now, relating that to our Galchenyuk, I've had the chance to watch (via stream) a few of the Sarnia games. "WOW" is how I would put it most nights. Galchenyuk is, usually, better than everyone else on the ice and he has really made me glad that Timmins and I did not share opinions on draft day.

TLDR: Personal preference was previously Rielly, now pretty clearly Galchenyuk.

Personally I dont really care about Reilly, I think the Leafs and Habs biggest need was up front and we got the guy both teams wanted (even if this is not Burke has been saying lol) And why Reilly when we have guys like Subban Bennett Beaulieu who can rush the puck end to end?

Reilly is the best pick Toronto could do at 5th overall, so we have to give them credit for picking the right guy but Im certainly not dump enough to believe the Leafs would have drafted Reilly over Galchenyuk

 

[Mr. Hab]

''Montreal'' can be clearer than me about how Schultz became an Oiler as UFA at 22yrs young (when he was drafted by Anaheim), but basically when a player plays 1 year in the USHL after his draft before going to NCAA, he can opt out after his 3rd NCAA year and become UFA. Kristo could have done it this summer, but didn't and now he is either a habs or nothing (unless habs release his rights, which won't happen). Bennett could become UFA if he opts out after this year.

Anaheim lost him for nothing. Gotta hope they close this loophole next CBA.

Thank-you very much for info

Something smells a bit fishy and unfair for Anaheim...glad most of us here are not Anaheim fans or else...wouldn't want this to happen to our Habs... although I am happy for Edmonton...I am not happy for Anaheim...something didn't seem fair about how Schultz became an Oiler on July 1st. This better not happen to our Kristo or our Bennett...



p.s.: about Rielly ahead of many...time will tell but imo Button got what he wanted...all of us bickering about it...time will tell...but imo even today 28 or 29 out of 30 teams select Galchenyuk AHEAD of Rielly

 

[McPuritania]

Thank-you very much for info

Something smells a bit fishy and unfair for Anaheim...glad most of us here are not Anaheim fans or else...wouldn't want this to happen to our Habs... although I am happy for Edmonton...I am not happy for Anaheim...something didn't seem fair about how Schultz became an Oiler on July 1st. This better not happen to our Kristo or our Bennett...

Oiler fan here. On our end we lost Riley Nash to the same loophole that they lost Schultz. Only difference was that we traded Nash before we lost him for nothing. I can't feel too bad for Anaheim, as they profited greatly on Pronger stabbing us in the back. But yeah, that loophole really should be taken care of.

 

[hototogisu]

Thank-you very much for info

Something smells a bit fishy and unfair for Anaheim...glad most of us here are not Anaheim fans or else...wouldn't want this to happen to our Habs... although I am happy for Edmonton...I am not happy for Anaheim...something didn't seem fair about how Schultz became an Oiler on July 1st. This better not happen to our Kristo or our Bennett...

Too lazy to look up the reason why, but it can't happen with Kristo and I'm 99% sure it can't happen with Bennett either. Their loopholes are closed.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Personally I dont really care about Reilly, I think the Leafs and Habs biggest need was up front and we got the guy both teams wanted (even if this is not Burke has been saying lol) And why Reilly when we have guys like Subban Bennett Beaulieu who can rush the puck end to end?

Reilly is the best pick Toronto could do at 5th overall, so we have to give them credit for picking the right guy but Im certainly not dump enough to believe the Leafs would have drafted Reilly over Galchenyuk

Reilly is the best they could do and he is pretty awesome. I know for a fact Burke was lying because about them having Reilly as their #1 no matter what because just before the draft he said that he tried to trade up but no one wanted to.

Surely he couldn't have thought Reilly would go in the top 4.

Too lazy to look up the reason why, but it can't happen with Kristo and I'm 99% sure it can't happen with Bennett either. Their loopholes are closed.

It has to be after their junior year or if they didn't play in the NCAA the year right after they were drafted (I think). I could be wrong but I think Bennett still can.

 

[DAChampion]

I can't feel too bad for Anaheim, as they profited greatly on Pronger stabbing us in the back. But yeah, that loophole really should be taken care of.

Whatever, didn't you guys get Jordan Eberle out of the Pronger trade?

Win for both teams. Anaheim won a cup with Pronger, but Eberle will heavily contribute to the coming Edmonton dynasty.

 

[theboss*]

It's not just people think he should be ahead, but they think that it is unfathomable that he is ahead. I really do think the argument can go either way and that it is not such an absurd idea that Rielly is "two spots" higher than Galchenyuk.

Not anymore. Galchenyuk is playing lights out. The gap is starting to get bigger

 

[HabsPassion]

Button always does this, and I am convinced he is told by upper management. His lists always have players in particular positions to stir up controversy. I don't take his lists seriously.

Think about it, how fun would it be if every scout had virtually the same list?

On a side note, Rielly is a STUD, Yes. But come on the guy has more defensive flaws then Beaulieu had when being drafted.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Whatever, didn't you guys get Jordan Eberle out of the Pronger trade?

Yeah, that was with the Ducks 1st rounder. And they also got Smid who has become a nice piece on D.