Prospect Info: 16th Overall, Alex Newhook, Victoria Grizzlies, C, BCHL

[Ryan Pat80]

We have to get over our Jost complex. The Avs have.

First of all the jury is still out on Jost and relative to those picked around him on his draft might, he’s done fine thus far. It was a weak draft.

Second, we picked Makar a year later out of a league (AJHL) that overall is significantly a step down from even the BCHL (though his team Brooks was a powerhouse that year in that league as well duh they had Makar). Why do we immediately bring up Jost and QoC concerns instead of bringing up Makar and the fact that the Avs were able to mine an absolute gem from a “lesser” league?

Third, Newhook is not Jost in the way he moves around the ice or his dynamic qualities. Button is an idiot if he gave him 3/5 for skating. Newhook’s toolset is tailor made for how the Avs hockey in their ideal form. I’d agree somewhat with the idea that he’s going to make it as a scoring line player and not a checker (despite a solid motor and fine defensive effort and smarts for his age) because he’s not big and he’s not a grinder. But I’d be as bullish about him making it as a top 6 forward as any forward outside the top handful in this draft. When you can skate like he does, play a naturally intelligent game and have a varied offensive toolset with parts playmaking and parts scoring and by all accounts he’s a great and hard working kid - you’ve got somebody to be excited about.

Krebs would have been a great pick too, the two of them were dominant together at the U18’s but I think the Avs had their hearts sets on Newhook all along, even if Krebs were 100% healthy.

Yeah, I really don't see the concerns with his skating. He's not MacKinno (who is??), but he has some pretty damn good wheels IMO. Seems to find the soft spots a lot too.

 

[NeverBeNormal]

Yeah, I really don't see the concerns with his skating. He's not MacKinno (who is??), but he has some pretty damn good wheels IMO. Seems to find the soft spots a lot too.

Is MacKinno a thing? Because I like it. Just say it. MacKinno. I mean I still prefer just Mack but damn, that's pretty close.

 

[Ryan Pat80]

Is MacKinno a thing? Because I like it. Just say it. MacKinno. I mean I still prefer just Mack but damn, that's pretty close.

Oops...one too many puffs I suppose.

 

[NeverBeNormal]

Oops...one too many puffs I suppose.

May or may not be why I like it so much.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Your guys skating concerns scare me..

 

[ANewHope]

It's weird how split people are on his skating. Some think he's as fast as anybody in the draft and an elite skater, while others apparently have concerns. I'm by no means a scout and I guess it's hard to tell given the competition he's facing but he looked like an incredible skater to me at the u18's.

Alot of the comparisons I've seen are Duchene and even Barzal which doesn't make any sense if his skating isn't a strength. Jost didn't have skating concerns which turned out to be an issue, but I never once seen anybody say he was one of the best/fastest skaters in the draft like some do with Newhook.

 

[S E P H]

I would say that his skating is quite a bit unknown at the moment and a reason why is because he decided to stay in the BCHL for two seasons (I wish he went to the USHL for at least one). Again as I mentioned yesterday I am a believer of his straight line speed and that when he eventually gets going his top end speed is very good. However, other areas of his skating such as his explosiveness, agility, and edge work all needs work. He's a more off the rush Matt Duchene than he is around the net Matt Duchene.

 

[McMetal]

Yeah, best skater in the draft is massive overkill, but he is good in a lot of areas and it shouldn't be a problem for him in the NHL the way it is for Jost, who is the obvious comparison given their leagues and stat lines.

Jost is just so, tantalizingly close to being a good NHL skater, he's just a half step behind and with even a little more quickness he'd be able to unleash his offense. Newhook shouldn't have that drawback at least.

 

[Ivan13]

Jost did the same dumb thing Nate did back in the day. Instead of working on being leaner and improving his fast-twitch muscles he bulked up. When you add his rather average balance into equation you get a guy who is easy to tip over and not explosive enough to get out of those situations before he is pinned.

 

[Foppa2118]

Young prospects need to pack on muscle, get faster, and improve their conditioning with lots of cardio all at the same time. It's a process and it takes years. No matter which you focus on first, you're going to have to improve the others too.

 

[Makar to MacK]

I can't believe that we took Newhook over Payton Krebs! It is what it is but that was a pretty big bummer for me with Krebs on the board but then again Byram over Turcotte was a huge surprise as well so a lot of picks I was confused about but I guess time will tell who was right and I really hope it was Sakic and this shows how much better at analyzing prospects he is then me lol.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I can't believe that we took Newhook over Payton Krebs! It is what it is but that was a pretty big bummer for me with Krebs on the board but then again Byram over Turcotte was a huge surprise as well so a lot of picks I was confused about but I guess time will tell who was right and I really hope it was Sakic and this shows how much better at analyzing prospects he is then me lol.

Yeah I was pretty sad we didn't take Krebs over Newhook. Still very happy with the pick though. At least Krebs didn't go to the Mild. That would have crushed me. Unfortunately they have Boldy though which I like a lot too. F**k the green filth.

 

[Balthazar]

Pronman rated the best skaters in the draft....this is strange.

Jack Hughes, C, USNTDP-USHL	70
Philip Broberg, D, AIK-Allsvenskan	70
Alex Newhook, C, Victoria-BCHL	65
Domenick Fensore, D, USNTDP-USHL	65
Leevi Aaltonen, LW, KalPa-Jr. A Liiga	65

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Alex Turcotte, C, USNTDP-USHL	60
Bowen Byram, D, Vancouver-WHL	60
Dylan Cozens, C, Lethbridge-WHL	60
Philip Tomasino, C, Niagara-OHL	60
Tuukka Tieksola, RW, Karpat-Jr. A Liiga	60
Rhett Pitlick, LW, Chaska-U.S. High School	60
Ethan Phillips, C, Sioux Falls-USHL	60
Tobias Bjornfot, D, Djuargarden-J20 SuperElit	60
Ryan Johnson, D, Sioux Falls-USHL	60
Semyon Chistyakov, D, Ufa-MHL	60
Antti Saarela, C, Lukko-Liiga	60
John Beecher, C, USNTDP-USHL	60
Mattias Norlinder, D, MODO-Allsvenskan	60
Kirill Slepets, RW, Yaroslavl-MHL	60
Jayden Struble, D, St. Sebastian’s School-U.S. High School	60
William Constantinou, D, Kingston-OHL	60

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Cousin Eddie]

Your guys skating concerns scare me..

You should not be concerned over Alex Newhook’s skating. It’s his best attribute.

 

[Foppa Frossa]

You should not be concerned over Alex Newhook’s skating. It’s his best attribute.

I thought it was his smile?

 

[Pokecheque]

Sure, sure, he's fast and has good hands...but can he win faceoffs?

 

[Pokecheque]

I will come back to hate him if he trades Barrie for a 2020 first and Virtanen.

But right now very happy with our picks!

Well, that 2020 first may end up going to Tampa so that might allow you to breathe a sigh of relief.

But that 2020 2nd is up for grabs.

 

[Barklez]

Pronman rated the best skaters in the draft....this is strange.

Jack Hughes, C, USNTDP-USHL	70
Philip Broberg, D, AIK-Allsvenskan	70
Alex Newhook, C, Victoria-BCHL	65
Domenick Fensore, D, USNTDP-USHL	65
Leevi Aaltonen, LW, KalPa-Jr. A Liiga	65

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Alex Turcotte, C, USNTDP-USHL	60
Bowen Byram, D, Vancouver-WHL	60
Dylan Cozens, C, Lethbridge-WHL	60
Philip Tomasino, C, Niagara-OHL	60
Tuukka Tieksola, RW, Karpat-Jr. A Liiga	60
Rhett Pitlick, LW, Chaska-U.S. High School	60
Ethan Phillips, C, Sioux Falls-USHL	60
Tobias Bjornfot, D, Djuargarden-J20 SuperElit	60
Ryan Johnson, D, Sioux Falls-USHL	60
Semyon Chistyakov, D, Ufa-MHL	60
Antti Saarela, C, Lukko-Liiga	60
John Beecher, C, USNTDP-USHL	60
Mattias Norlinder, D, MODO-Allsvenskan	60
Kirill Slepets, RW, Yaroslavl-MHL	60
Jayden Struble, D, St. Sebastian’s School-U.S. High School	60
William Constantinou, D, Kingston-OHL	60

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Looks about right to me

I think people have some misconceptions on Byram’s strengths. I think his IQ and savvy make his skating look better than it is, similar to Girard but G has better agility and lateral quickness. Byram is a good skater (see the company he lands amongst on that list), stronger on his skates than most, and sees the play 2 steps ahead allowing him to make the WHL look silly. I don’t think he has the quick feet that Girard and Newhook do but it’s also not part of his game so not a huge concern.

G’s vision is one of, if not the biggest, asset to his skating in the NHL. The same will need to be true for Byram if he is to be anywhere near as dominant offensively at the next level.

To me he’s more of a Bouwmeester where he’s beating you with his stride, strength, and puck protection and can do it all game long. Whereas these sorts of rankings are on all aspects of skating and you can end up with Bigras being rated a better skater than one of the best skaters in the league (in Mackinnon).

I wish someone would take ratings like this and then filter them as to how effective each guy is within his own game/play style.

Edit: Oops. Just saw what thread this is.

 

[timothy jimothy]

Young prospects need to pack on muscle, get faster, and improve their conditioning with lots of cardio all at the same time. It's a process and it takes years. No matter which you focus on first, you're going to have to improve the others too.

I agree that young hockey players need to get faster, stronger, etc. but in a very basic off-ice weight lifting program, like the one that it sounds like Jost was on before, that does not always translate into functional strength and speed as a hockey player.

Take a good hockey stance for example, hockey players are in this position almost the entire time when they are on the ice. It's in a very low deep-seated position. If you do squats, it is closer to the bottom of the range of motion rather than the top. It's much better to train for maximum power from that low position than it is to be repping with heavy weight through the full range of motion top to bottom to top.

Mobility work is another thing that is picking up in the hockey world. Hockey players are usually mobility nightmares if they aren't working on it. It gets even worse when they train heavy.

 

[avsfan09]

Sure, sure, he's fast and has good hands...but can he win faceoffs?

Well we couldn't just have him in here showing off now could we?

 

[avsfan09]

Pronman rated the best skaters in the draft....this is strange.

Jack Hughes, C, USNTDP-USHL	70
Philip Broberg, D, AIK-Allsvenskan	70
Alex Newhook, C, Victoria-BCHL	65
Domenick Fensore, D, USNTDP-USHL	65
Leevi Aaltonen, LW, KalPa-Jr. A Liiga	65

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Alex Turcotte, C, USNTDP-USHL	60
Bowen Byram, D, Vancouver-WHL	60
Dylan Cozens, C, Lethbridge-WHL	60
Philip Tomasino, C, Niagara-OHL	60
Tuukka Tieksola, RW, Karpat-Jr. A Liiga	60
Rhett Pitlick, LW, Chaska-U.S. High School	60
Ethan Phillips, C, Sioux Falls-USHL	60
Tobias Bjornfot, D, Djuargarden-J20 SuperElit	60
Ryan Johnson, D, Sioux Falls-USHL	60
Semyon Chistyakov, D, Ufa-MHL	60
Antti Saarela, C, Lukko-Liiga	60
John Beecher, C, USNTDP-USHL	60
Mattias Norlinder, D, MODO-Allsvenskan	60
Kirill Slepets, RW, Yaroslavl-MHL	60
Jayden Struble, D, St. Sebastian’s School-U.S. High School	60
William Constantinou, D, Kingston-OHL	60

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

According to this Byram and Newhook are better than Cozens? I'm not the biggest Cozens fan but that seems off. He's an elite skater imo.

 

[Chiarelli]

According to this Byram and Newhook are better than Cozens? I'm not the biggest Cozens fan but that seems off. He's an elite skater imo.

Straight line speed I definitely agree.
Cozens skating was quite impressive.

 

[TheFactor]

I can't believe that we took Newhook over Payton Krebs! It is what it is but that was a pretty big bummer for me with Krebs on the board but then again Byram over Turcotte was a huge surprise as well so a lot of picks I was confused about but I guess time will tell who was right and I really hope it was Sakic and this shows how much better at analyzing prospects he is then me lol.

I think Krebs is more skilled, but he doesn't seem like a guy with the tenacity and drive that you need to win. Just like we saw in this years playoffs with the Flames, skill without drive and tenacity isn't going to win you playoff games. Newhook looks like a much more hard-nosed player and I'm glad they picked him over Krebs. Byram also looks like a skilled tenacious player so I'm liking the two picks.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I think Krebs is more skilled, but he doesn't seem like a guy with the tenacity and drive that you need to win. Just like we saw in this years playoffs with the Flames, skill without drive and tenacity isn't going to win you playoff games. Newhook looks like a much more hard-nosed player and I'm glad they picked him over Krebs. Byram also looks like a skilled tenacious player so I'm liking the two picks.

What? Krebs is known for a guy that never gives up. He would have been a great fit to Bednar's system.

 

[Balthazar]

I doubt that Krebs would have went 17th without his injury. It probably scared Sakic like it scared other GM's before him.