Who's # 3 in 2004 draft?

[Jagrock]

I know Ovechkin and Malkin are the 2 top offensive ranked prospects that came out in 2004. Im wondering who do you guys/gals think is #3 in offensive potential?
Im out West and have seen Ladd plays lots but I have a feeling he shouldnt be ranked #3 in my offensive potential just becuase he went 4th overall.
Radulov, Tukonen, Schremp, Olesz amongst others I think 'could' be #3.
Who's the general consensus?
Thanks all.

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[BrooklynCanuck]

It's close.

My personal pick would be Tukonen.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

It's close.

My personal pick would be Tukonen.

Same.

 

[Russian Fan]

There's a reason why TUKONEN slip @ 11th.

Usually 2-3 spots could be just a matter of preferences but why a very close Top 5 consensus player would drop that high ?

What we don't know about him ?

 

[Teemu]

Since the Blackhawks prospects camp concluded, I can say that Barker does look like advertised. It seems like his selection at #3 was the right one. This kid can really play.

 

[IkeaMonkey*]

Since the Blackhawks prospects camp concluded, I can say that Barker does look like advertised. It seems like his selection at #3 was the right one. This kid can really play.

This post is about pure offensive potential

 

[BrooklynCanuck]

There's a reason why TUKONEN slip @ 11th.

Usually 2-3 spots could be just a matter of preferences but why a very close Top 5 consensus player would drop that high ?

What we don't know about him ?

Sure there are reasons why he slipped, but are they stupid reasons? How many teams would pass on Fritsche again? O'Sullivan? Hudler?

 

[MastahPlaya]

Schremp or Olesz

 

[O.T.]

I would have to go with Schremp, I've been watching the Top Prospects game. And man this kid has amazing talents, I just hope he can put it all together at the next level.

 

[f1nn]

Tukonen

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Schremp...

 

[gretzky1545]

schremp

 

[infinitesadd]

Schremp without a doubt, I'd take him over Tukonen.

 

[McBlaze]

Hockeynews says Radulov

 

[CH Wizard]

Tukonen ,I like his ,he don't have many weakness on his game.

 

[Russian Fan]

Sure there are reasons why he slipped, but are they stupid reasons? How many teams would pass on Fritsche again? O'Sullivan? Hudler?

Well Fritsche was because of his shoulders, O'Sullivan was because of his past.

We never heard anything specific outside of his hockey abilities that would give a team a real concern about him.

We can't relate Tukonen to Fritsche, Schremp or O'Sullivan because we never heard anything to be worried about before draft day.

 

[ktownhockey]

Schremp

I would say Scremp has the best PURE offensive talent in this draft... this is a bold statement but have you seen this kid play with the puck and fire it? it's incredible.. I havent got a chance to see Malkin play much so Iam gonna have to put my list like this for pure offense:

1) Robbie Scremp
2) Alexander Ovechkin
3) Evgyny Malkin (based on hearsay)
4) Tukonen
5) Alexandre Picard

?????

 

[Vagrant]

I'm still curious as to why people think Lauri Tukonen has this tremendous offensive upside. The very reason that he slipped outside of the Top 5 in a lot of GM's books is because his offensive upside is in question. If you think about it, it makes sense. What else is there to not like about Tukonen's game?

1. Ovechkin
2. Schremp
3. Malkin
4. Radulov
5. Wolski
6. Ladd
7. Olesz
8. Picard
9. Tukonen
10. Sindel


That's my 10. We'll see how it develops in the coming years.

 

[Legionnaire]

I'm still curious as to why people think Lauri Tukonen has this tremendous offensive upside. The very reason that he slipped outside of the Top 5 in a lot of GM's books is because his offensive upside is in question. If you think about it, it makes sense. What else is there to not like about Tukonen's game?

1. Ovechkin
2. Schremp
3. Malkin
4. Radulov
5. Wolski
6. Ladd
7. Olesz
8. Picard
9. Tukonen
10. Sindel


That's my 10. We'll see how it develops in the coming years.

Like I asked you before, how do you know this about Tukonen? I heard one mention of it from Brian Burke during the draft, but that's it. Is that all you are basing it on, or were you at the draft actually talking to people?

 

[Vagrant]

Like I asked you before, how do you know this about Tukonen? I heard one mention of it from Brian Burke during the draft, but that's it. Is that all you are basing it on, or were you at the draft actually talking to people?

I talked to quite a few people on draft day, but not in depth about Tukonen other than his draft status slipping with others rising. I never heard anybody directly say that Tukonen was dropping from offensive game concerns, but it was something I kind of gathered. Burke did say during the draft when I reviewed the tape later that Tukonen's stock had slipped a little due to his offensive game being in question. That helped to confirm my doubts about his game. I had a sense before the draft that Tukonen was going to slip because there were quite a few people that had scouted Tukonen that had brought this to the attention of teams.

I'm not really trying to argue, I was just wondering what others had seen in his game that I have been missing or if the opinions were baseless and more made out of him being a european player, who are generally regarded as having a more flashy offensive style. In my opinion, Tukonen is a great all-around player with a solid two way game instead of being flashy on either end of the ice. My best comparison is he's a bigger version of Sami Kapanen that is slightly less agressive on the forecheck.

 

[Legionnaire]

I talked to quite a few people on draft day, but not in depth about Tukonen other than his draft status slipping with others rising. I never heard anybody directly say that Tukonen was dropping from offensive game concerns, but it was something I kind of gathered. Burke did say during the draft when I reviewed the tape later that Tukonen's stock had slipped a little due to his offensive game being in question. That helped to confirm my doubts about his game. I had a sense before the draft that Tukonen was going to slip because there were quite a few people that had scouted Tukonen that had brought this to the attention of teams.

I'm not really trying to argue, I was just wondering what others had seen in his game that I have been missing or if the opinions were baseless and more made out of him being a european player, who are generally regarded as having a more flashy offensive style. In my opinion, Tukonen is a great all-around player with a solid two way game instead of being flashy on either end of the ice. My best comparison is he's a bigger version of Sami Kapanen that is slightly less agressive on the forecheck.

I wasn't trying to argue either, I was just wondering where this was coming from. I had figured that you attended the draft, and was wondering if there was some inside info that you may have gathered.

It should be interesting to see how he ends up developing. He was after all the youngest player in the draft. He has the tools: speed, size, a great shot, but whether he can translate them at the next level will be the real question.

 

[BrooklynCanuck]

I think Tukonen suffered from being overscouted.

Sometimes players who aren't seen as much rise while guys who have been around a while fall because people overanalyze.

 

[Legionnaire]

Budding star Lauri Tukonen took a bit of a tumble than many expected, falling to 11th overall right into the lap of the Los Angeles Kings, who had to have been ecstatic with his availability. Tukonen is a big, strong forward who shows no major weaknesses to his game and promises to be a solid top-six forward with the ability to put up good numbers. His draft decline is a bit of a mystery, but one assumption is that the near-equal play of his linemates at the U-18's did not make him stand out as much as many expected.

I just found this on McKeen's

 

[Legionnaire]

I think Tukonen suffered from being overscouted.

Sometimes players who aren't seen as much rise while guys who have been around a while fall because people overanalyze.

True. Tukonen was one of only three players that were mentioned here at HF during the 03 draft preview.

 

[Vagrant]

Well, i've also read this on HF's Lauri Tukonen profile.

In the elite league where a youngster like him can only obtain a checking a role he has been eager to lay hits, but when dominating against juniors his physical play tends to lose that aspect as he focuses on the puck. Even though on occasion his deeds have hinted at a scoring touch most rare among Finnish players, the biggest question in Tukonen's case is whether his talent is great enough to score as much as he is expected to.

That's kind of the sentiment that I share regarding Tukonen. I didn't even know this was said until I went to find his profile to see which side it corroborated. Finnish players on the whole generally aren't regarded as players who notoriously have a lot of offensive upside anyways, so this says.