2009 nhl draft

[Preds666]

Do you Swedish guys know anything about a player named Jonathan Nilsson who plays for Frolunda?

Lol, I saw Nilsson play 5 days ago Once considered a top 3 Swedish defenseman born 1990 a year ago. Has not been tested for a while on the junior team and I believe he has had some problems with injuries. However, a mobile defenseman with pretty decent skating and puckhandling. I also liked his shot from the blue line. Need to see him more, but he was his team's top defenseman in the game that I saw.

 

[Juan]

Lol, I saw Nilsson play 5 days ago Once considered a top 3 Swedish defenseman born 1990 a year ago. Has not been tested for a while on the junior team and I believe he has had some problems with injuries. However, a mobile defenseman with pretty decent skating and puckhandling. I also liked his shot from the blue line. Need to see him more, but he was his team's top defenseman in the game that I saw.

Thanks a lot.

I was asking because a kid I know skated with him this summer and told me he was very good. I was told he would be a sure bet to make the U-17 team that went to Ann Arbor, so I wanted to watch him there, but he wasn't on the roster. Do you know why he wasn't? Should he have been?

 

[Joretus]

At this point it's long shot, but atm it seems Rajala will best offensive talent coming from Finland since... well... long time.

 

[Bobby39]

here is my top 30

1. John Tavares. Center. Oshawa
2. Andre Kuchin. Center. Russia
3. Steve Anthony. Forward. Dartmouth
4. Matthew Duchene. Forward. OHL
5. Toni Rajala. Forward. Ilves
6. Victor Hedman. Defense. Modo
7. Magnus Pääjärvi. Forward. Malmo
8. Ryan O’Reilly. Forward. Jr Canad
9. Landon Ferraro. Forward. WHL
10. Jared Cowen. Defense. Saskatoon
11. AJ Treais. Forward. US HS
12. Stefan Elliot—Defense—WHL
13. Sam Calabrese. Defense. US U17
14. Kenny Ryan. Forward. Honey Baked
15. John Henrion. Forward. BJB
16. Jacob Josefson. Forward. Djurgarden
17. Jere Ringbom. Goalie. Lukko
18. Tomas Vincour. Forward. Kometo
19. Alexei Avatev. Forward. Omsk
20. Louis Leblanc. Forward. Quebec
21. Jordan Caron. Forward. Rimouski
22. William Wallen. Forward. Sweden
23. Ben Hughes. Defense. SSM
24. Ryan Howes. Forward. WHL
25. Anton Lander. Forward. Timera
26. Oleg Li. Forward. Dynamo
27. Gabriel O’Connor. Defense. Halifax
28. Cody Eakin. Forward. WHL
29. Olivier Roy-Bellevance. Goalie. Quebec
30. Simon Despres. Defense. Laval
31. Peter Holland. Forward. OHL

Anthony will never go that high, the kid is a solid player but the hype surrounding him is unwarranted. There are 1992's in that league that are putting up the same amount of points as him. He is a big kid that can skate when he wants to. But he has the worst "on and off" switch that I have ever seen from a kid that age. Two American names to add to the list....William Wrenn and Chris Brown..

 

[MM425]

Steven Stamkos, anyone?

GP G A PTS +/-
46 32 39 71 13

He's already almost trumped Tavares's rookie year last year. He keeps it up and he might give Tavares a run for his money in 2009.

EDIT- My bad... he's eligible next year... he'll be a top pick then!

 

[Preds666]

Have not seen him yet, but will this weekend. From what I have heard, skating and mobility is his flaw. Although I will be able to make my own opinion this weekend

I haven't seen him this season, maybe he took one step backward
or just got bigger and heavier.

Well, I got to see Mylläri this weekend. He was very good (puck control, passing game, hockey sense, strength etc.), but skating was definitely not a strength of his. He needs to improve his skating skills, acceleration and endurance. He also need to add replace some fat with muscles, actually a bit overweight. Still, it is quite impressive that he is logging these kind of minutes (probably about 25-28 min) this young in the U20 league.

Attached: picks of Mylläri

 

[Sore Loser]

Let's face it, just like we all knew with Sid, Tavares will be the #1 pick in '09 to a team lucky enough to secure the #1 pick, but after that, I'm going to make the case for the top 3 WHLers.

Jared Cowen - Here in Spokane, he's the best prospect to come through since Pat Falloon and maybe the best ever. I was pleasantly surprised when he decided to come play for our club, and we got the chance to see him a couple of times in his first 2 WHL games. To me, he seems to be a superb skater, maybe already the best skating d-man on the team as a 15 year old. His puck poise was 2nd to none and he seemed right at home after his 1st shift was a little shakey. Definately going to be an elite defenseman at the WHL level.

Landon Ferraro - I haven't seen him play yet, but the bloodline suggests he will be a star to some extent. He's a little bigger than Ray from what I've read, and his playmaking skill will be very strong.

Ryan Howse - I think this may have been the steal of the bantam draft, as I thought we would take him 1st overall since Cowen had expressed his preference not to play here. The kid would probably make any WHL team as a 15 year old this season, just looking at his stats with his bantam team: 108g 73a 181p and 42 PIMs in only 52 games. I wouldn't have been mad at the Chiefs' brass for picking a guy like this under the circumstances. He's also listed at 6'0" 171lbs. This guy could be a hot commodity if his skills translate well.

 

[Fedz]

Mark my words when I say Ryan Howse will go NO lower than 5th overall. He is a generational talent. He'd be playing, and putting up points if he was allowed with the Bruins this year. In fact, they almost thought about going through the process like Tavares.

 

[PuckheadMcGillycuddy]

Mark my words when I say Ryan Howse will go NO lower than 5th overall. He is a generational talent. He'd be playing, and putting up points if he was allowed with the Bruins this year. In fact, they almost thought about going through the process like Tavares.

If he's a "generational talent" how could there be up to four people better than him in his draft year? That phrase is so woefully overused.

 

[ilovehockey]

This generation talent thing is redicoulous.
In the history of the NHL there have been three generation talents. That have played and are now retired.

Lemieux, Orr and Gretzky thats it.

 

[pdxshark]

i've seen landon ferraro in person when red deer was in portland, at times looked like red deers best forward out there. He's a smooth skater who puts himself in a position to make plays. That kid is going to be good!

From what I hear we've got a good young defenseman in brent ponich and our first round pick reiley boychuck fit right in during the pre-season and hopefully we will see him before seasons end. I think he's one to keep an eye on but yeah, its really early.

 

[Sore Loser]

Mark my words when I say Ryan Howse will go NO lower than 5th overall. He is a generational talent. He'd be playing, and putting up points if he was allowed with the Bruins this year. In fact, they almost thought about going through the process like Tavares.

I wouldn't go as far as saying "generational," but definately high end. I would feel safer saying "future top 6 NHLer," as there have been guys in the past (Dan Cleary?) who have dropped off significantly; although he seems to finally be rejuvinating his career at this point.

Howse will be a good one, and I do belive that Chilliwack would have him in the league if they were able to, and I think he would be doing quite well for them.

 

[Sore Loser]

What about Burke Gallimore? Co-MVP in the Alberta league he played in last season while scoring 57g and 108p for his squad in something like 40 games. Listed at 5'11 170, he was very impressive in camp, staying with the team until it's final cuts and scoring 2g and 1a in their red/white game. Future sniper maybe, but this is another kid IMO that if he translates his scoring, he could be a force come NHL draft day.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Sam Calabrese is going to be a GOOD one.

 

[Transported Upstater]

Sam Calabrese is going to be a GOOD one.

I love the last name. Calabria Represent!!!!

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I love the last name. Calabria Represent!!!!

I hope he shows up to every game in a pinstriped suit with slicked back hair and a bunch of golden chains.

 

[leafmon]

This generation talent thing is redicoulous.
In the history of the NHL there have been three generation talents. That have played and are now retired.

Lemieux, Orr and Gretzky thats it.

I agree but Crosby's start does get ones attention. 10 years from now we will see.

 

[Transported Upstater]

I hope he shows up to every game in a pinstriped suit with slicked back hair and a bunch of golden chains.

LOL

 

[rollover]

Burke Gallimore is a good player, but he needs to learn to rely on his teammates more. I get to watch him play quite often up here, and he is the best player on his Midget AAA team as a 15 year old. He is very lucky this year to have a great developmental coach who can help him develop his all around game. But at this point, I wouldn't rate him in the top 30 for 2009

 

[Charge_Seven]

This generation talent thing is redicoulous.
In the history of the NHL there have been three generation talents. That have played and are now retired.

Lemieux, Orr and Gretzky thats it.

Agreed, in fact, I'm not sure that Gretzky and Lemieux can be considered one. The phrase leads me to believe that only once a generation it can happen, so it's got to be only one of them.

 

[An Ape called Yoko]

Do you Swedish guys know anything about a player named Jonathan Nilsson who plays for Frolunda?

Yes... ive seen him several games now.. and he is looking ok.. but defensively he is a not reliability so far. I think he needs lots of work here.. but otherwise he has nice hockeysense, smooth skating and a great slapshot from the point. I´d say he is a bit disappointing though, considering the hype last season.

 

[An Ape called Yoko]

At this point it's long shot, but atm it seems Rajala will best offensive talent coming from Finland since... well... long time.

Yea, big talent. No question about it.. but he looks like a midget.

 

[Juan]

Yes... ive seen him several games now.. and he is looking ok.. but defensively he is a not reliability so far. I think he needs lots of work here.. but otherwise he has nice hockeysense, smooth skating and a great slapshot from the point. I´d say he is a bit disappointing though, considering the hype last season.

Thanks for the input.

Would a move to North America next year do him good in terms of developing as an NHL prospect, given your opinion that he needs work on his defensive game?

 

[An Ape called Yoko]

Thanks for the input.

Would a move to North America next year do him good in terms of developing as an NHL prospect, given your opinion that he needs work on his defensive game?

Im not too sure what would be best for him. But sure.. i think regarding the defensive aspect of the game he could learn it better in CHL than in Frölunda. Frölunda has an extremely offensive playingstyle, and I think they are bad at developing defensemen.

Forgot to mention that he likes to hit as well, which is a positive sign. But im not really high on him yet. Maybe he´ll improve.

 

[5mn Major]

here is my top 30

1. John Tavares. Center. Oshawa
....
31. Peter Holland. Forward. OHL

I do appreciate the effort, but the state of Minnesota has been averaging 4 players in the first round...as usual, 'experts' don't even have the state on its radar.

6-1 Ben Hanowski, currently 3rd as just a sophomore in MSHS (a league that has been delivering several top round picks a year) and is in the running to break the leagues record in scoring.

6-4 Seth Helgason, Minnesota defense recruit (a team that has had as many recent top round defensemen and hobey baker winners as about any team in recent times) that put in 5 goals the night he committed.

I'm waiting for the 2009 version of...who's this Okposo guy?