Prospect Info: 17-18 Blues Top Prospect #14

[EastonBlues22]

#1-Vince Dunn(67%)
#2-Ivan Barbashev(46%)
#3-Jake Walman(79%)
#4-Klim Kostin (31%)
#5-Ville Husso (31%)
#6-Robert Thomas (39%)
#7-Tage Thompson (41%)
#8-Jordan Kyrou (62%)
#9-Jordan Schmaltz (86%)
#10-Zach Sanford (83%)
#11-Osskar Sundqvist (46%)
#12-Samuel Blais (27%)
#13-Adam Musil (31%)

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[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Went Mikkola again. After this one it gets real interesting for me.

 

[Memento]

After Mikkola, Stevens and Toropchenko, it gets murky from there. I went with Mikkola.

 

[Blanick]

Still going with Toropchenko. Just got a feeling about him. Super sleeper.

 

[Dbrownss]

Went with the destined to regress guy

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Torpedo

 

[STL fan in MN]

Mikkola.

 

[aceoutdoor]

I have a gut feeling Toropchenko will be the best late round pick we made since Colt 55.

 

[Robb_K]

I went with Mikkola again. Toropchenko has a high potential ceiling, but has a long way to go, and also the risk of his potential for deciding to spend his career in The KHL, EVEN if he becomes good enough to be an NHL Top 6er. All the rest of the candidates have lots of "IFs".

I CAN"T believe Easton was really serious when he wrote, "I'll close this poll when Musil goes ahead by one vote." Boooooo! Hisssssss! I call a fix!

 

[Dbrownss]

Isn't Toropchenko reporting to the CHL? Unless he bombs on NA ice, Id put the KHL as low

 

[Ranksu]

Philip Helt

 

[Majorityof1]

Philip Helt

Can I change my vote from Mikkola to Helt? Ranksu has convinced me. Everybody who voted Mikkola should change too. I mean, if Mikkola's own countryman doesn't believe in him, why should we?

 

[Ranksu]

Can I change my vote from Mikkola to Helt? Ranksu has convinced me. Everybody who voted Mikkola should change too. I mean, if Mikkola's own countryman doesn't believe in him, why should we?

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

quality post

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

After Mikkola, Stevens and Toropchenko, it gets murky from there. I went with Mikkola.

Fitzpatrick is a guy who, many years down the line, we'll all be wondering how we had him ranked so low this year.

 

[Daley Tarasenkshow]

Fitzpatrick is a guy who, many years down the line, we'll all be wondering how we had him ranked so low this year.

Agreed. I also thing Tanner Kaspick could be similar to what fans are expecting out of Musil. Nice bottom-6 player, and Kaspick should wear the "A" again this year for Brandon. Plus being selected to the team Canada showcase isn't bad either.

Anyway, I voted Toropchenko here. I like the fact he's playing CHL this year.

 

[medkit]

This poll is not close enough for me to get a reaction out of Easton so I will not be contributing

 

[STL fan in MN]

I'm intrigued by Toropchenko but when the main guy promoting him says he has stone hands it gives me pause. I'll be interested to see how he performs in the OHL this season. That'll give us a better idea of his game and potential. I have him slotted here after Mikkola for now though.

After that it's Stevens for me. A good amount of talent in the little I've seen of him but still pretty raw. He'll be a Sr and captain of Northeastern this season. Hopefully he can stay healthy and build on his 22 pts in 17 games he had last season.

 

[Splatter]

Fitzpatrick is a guy who, many years down the line, we'll all be wondering how we had him ranked so low this year.

I have him ranked ahead of Binnington and Opilka.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I have him ranked ahead of Binnington and Opilka.

Same here...but still only have Fitz ranked 18th. Opilka right after that.

It's so hard to value goalies as it's hard to evaluate them as a fan and a slight difference in talent and/or the mental game can be the difference between an NHL starter and a AHL backup. But the value beteeen those two is immense.

Of the little I've seen of Fitz, he's very athletic with quick reflexes but his positioning, mechanics and consistency aren't very good. He has the tools but is super raw. Needs lots of refinement. And it's hard to evaluate a guy that's on such a bad team too.

 

[Zamadoo]

Same here...but still only have Fitz ranked 18th. Opilka right after that.

It's so hard to value goalies as it's hard to evaluate them as a fan and a slight difference in talent and/or the mental game can be the difference between an NHL starter and a AHL backup. But the value beteeen those two is immense.

Of the little I've seen of Fitz, he's very athletic with quick reflexes but his positioning, mechanics and consistency aren't very good. He has the tools but is super raw. Needs lots of refinement. And it's hard to evaluate a guy that's on such a bad team too.

I think you hit all the points on Fitz. He's 6'3" and super athletic, but it's hard to get a good gauge on him. I was super high on him when we drafted him, and I remain intrigued to see how he turns out in a few years.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Copying and pasting from my post on Fitzpatrick's player thread:

"Well, a couple things. First off, goalie stats in the Q and the WHL are typically "deflated," in that the bar for above-average performance is a lot lower than other leagues. For example, the average GAA in the Q this year was 3.33, the Sv% was .891. So, given the fact that Fitz was on a horrendously bad Sherbrooke team, that he was right at the league average actually says quite a bit, especially considering he started the 4th most games in the league.

The word I would use to describe Fitzpatrick's performance this year, purely from a stats perspective, is inconsistent. I'll lay it out here since it might be helpful:

Format: Gp/W/L/T/GAA/Sv%
Weeks 1-7 (I flubbed my tracking, so it's compiled): 9/2/4/3/2.92/.914
Week 8: 2/1/1/0/3.00/.909
Week 9: 3/3/0/0/1.99/.936
Week 10: 2/0/2/0/6.96/.847
Week 11: 1/0/1/0/6.21/.793
Week 12: 3/0/2/0/7.00/.800
Week 13-14: (Injured)
Week 15: 2/1/1/0/2.78/.914
Week 16: (Winter break)
Week 17: 3/2/1/0/2.02/.950
Week 18: 2/2/0/0/2.50/.929
Week 19: 2/0/2/0/7.14/.800
Week 20: 2/1/1/0/3.05/.922
Week 21: 2/0/2/0/1.53/.955
Week 22: 2/0/1/0/4.52/.865
Week 23: 3/1/2/0/2.74/.900
Week 24: 3/1/1/1/3.87/.895
Week 25: 3/1/2/0/3.37/.899
Week 26: 1/0/1/0/5.00/.828
Week 27: 1/1/0/0/0.00/1.00
Week 28: 3/0/3/0/4.15/.875

So, there were really only 6 weeks (a fifth of the season) that he was below the league average in save percentage, and some of those weeks in the fall were especially brutal and tanked his stats. If you wipe those games out as "outliers," things look a lot rosier for his stat line. It's also not insignificant that he's played almost 20 more games this season than any of our other goalie prospects, even with the 2-week injury in December. So, no, his aggregate stats aren't the prettiest thing in the world, but the more nuanced picture is actually quite a bit nicer to look at. There's obviously a reason this kid was ranked the #1 North-American goalie going into last year's draft, but I think it's also pretty obvious by now that he's got quite a bit more work to do, and a long path ahead of him before he gets into the NHL conversation at all."

 

[RandallRitchey]

For me its Poganski. Highly underrated.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

For me its Poganski. Highly underrated.

Out of sight, out of mind. I know nothing about him other than what I see on the spreadsheet and read in the paper. Guys like Musil and Kaspick (i.e. other future bottom-6ers) I can keep track of, but if you're at College, there's basically no chance I'll get to watch you more than once a year max, and even then it's random chance on who I'll get to see; last year it was Walman vs Notre Dame.

Poganski's a right handed shot who doesn't score a lot but is gritty and played on one of the most celebrated lines NoDak's had in awhile a few years back. That is the sum total of what I know about the guy.

 

[Daley Tarasenkshow]

For me its Poganski. Highly underrated.

How does he compare to MacEachern? He didn't exactly come in and light the world on fire although theres still some potential there. Kinda makes me cautious about players from college that aren't high picks. Poganski playing at ND does signal something good though.