Prospect Info: 2014-15 Colorado Avalanche Junior Prospects Thread (CHL & Europe)

[Gigantor The Goalie]

I remember something about Sakic saying they don't want the prospects to compete with each other at prospect's camp.

Wonder why that is. Avoid fights?

 

[S E P H]

If anyone has any information of the prospect camp, please post it here.

 

[CB Joe]

1) Chris Bigras - Great skating and decision making.
2) Conner Bleackley - Shiny new toy. Also has many intangibles.
3) Troy Bourke - Scoring ability and the fight to make it, even if undersized.
4) Calvin Pickard - Both goalie prospects are interchangeable.
5) Sami Aittokallio - See above
6) Duncan Siemens - Good size and tenacity. Needs to keep developing. Virtually no offensive skills.
7) Joey Hishon - Too much time lost to injuries to rank any higher. Promising skill set.
8) Cody Corbett - Promising offensive skill set.
9) Will Butcher - Promising offensive skill set.
10) Stefan Elliott - Too soft for the pro game. Especially if Avs keep man-on-man system.

 

[tigervixxxen]

If anyone has any information of the prospect camp, please post it here.

Does twitter stalking count?










Serious question.

 

[henchman21]

My Top 10 (with my thoughts on their ceiling and where I think they likely top out... call it a realistic projection):

1. Chris Bigras - Clear cut #1 prospect in the system. Great skater, good puck mover, great defensively... needs to get stronger, more physical, and can be frustrating offensively (has more offensive talent than his numbers indicate). I don't think his ceiling is as high as a legit top pairing defender, but I hope to be proven wrong. Ceiling: fringe 2/3 defensemen that can look okay on top pairing with a true #1D. My 'realistic' projection: #3 defensemen that plays in all situations.

2. Conner Bleackley - Basically the #2 on this list by default. He is pretty safe to make the NHL in some sort of middle 6 forward role. Doesn't have some of the upside of others on this list (Hishon most notably), but is much easier to project. Ceiling: 2nd line RW My 'realistic' projection: Tweener 2nd/3rd line player that can play any forward position.

3. Stefan Elliott - Upside is the only reason he is this high. If he ever puts it all together he will be one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL (dat wrist shot ). Big questions on whether he can do that. Ceiling: Offensive defensemen that can put up 50-60 points a season with ease. My 'realistic' projection: Tweener NHL/AHL offensive defensemen.

4. Joey Hishon - Finally had decently healthy season. Upside is still there, but injury concerns (even beyond concussions) will always be there. Ceiling: Top 6 forward. My 'realistic' projection: Career AHL top line player, may head to Europe in a couple years.

5. Troy Bourke - IMO more likely to carve out a career in the NHL than Hishon, but much less upside. I have concerns about how his body will hold up over time. Ceiling: Top 6 wing. My 'realistic' projection: Career AHL top line player, may head to Europe in a couple years.


6. Duncan Siemens - I have major concerns about how his puck skills will translate. IMO he will at least need some (not a lot) to be an effective top 4 shutdown D long-term. He is mean enough and can skate well enough to at least make it in a bottom pairing role. Ceiling: top 4 shut down defensemen. My 'realistic' projection: Bottom pairing shutdown defender that excels on the PK.

7. Mason Geertsen - I think it will be pretty close between Siemens and Geertsen in a few years. They are both big and mean shutdown defenders. While I don't think Geertsen's offensive abilities are that high, I think his offensive skills will translate better than Siemens' will. I think he has a breakout season next year. His skating will need to improve. Ceiling: top 4 shut down defensemen. My 'realistic' projection: Bottom pairing shutdown defender/AHL top pairing defender.

8. Kyle Wood - If he hadn't been injured in training camp, he really would have gone earlier in the draft. Because of his injury concerns he was probably picked a bit high this year (probably picked 1 or 2 rounds too early, but that doesn't really matter in the end). Could turn into an incredible value. IMO the slight concerns about his skating will go away as he continues to recover from the dislocated knee cap. Ceiling: 2-way middle pairing defender that is nasty to play against and has a decent amount of offensive upside. My 'realistic' projection: I can't place this yet... much too small of a sample size. Which is why he is low on here. Lots of risk with this pick.

9. Will Butcher - The promise is there to have a dynamic offensive skill set. Size and strength will remain a concern for a while. Ceiling: middle pairing offensive defensmen that can pile up points and run a PP. My 'realistic' projection: bottom pairing offensive defensemen, that may float between the NHL and AHL/Europe for a good portion of his career.

10. Sami Aittokallio - We all know the story on him. Upside, but some rather large holes in his game. Ceiling: solid NHL starting goalie, but not elite potential. My 'realistic' projection: backup goalie that always looks like he can handle more, but when given the chance won't live up to his potential. May flee back to Europe and have a very solid career there as a starter.

HM

Nick Magyar - Very close to making the top 10, should be a NHL player... limited upside
Colin Smith - Boom or bust to me, and much more likely to bust.
Alexis Pepin - Upside, but also boom or bust... and much more likely to bust
Calvin Pickard - I think he has a future as a backup goalie, but probably not with the Avs
Mitchell Heard - Not much upside, but a potential McLeod replacement on the 4th line. Solid face puncher and pest with some versatility.

I left out players like Will/Everberg/etc completely. Want to see what they can do on NA ice first.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I'm assuming this is with Allaire...

https://twitter.com/cpickard1

Countdown is on! Heading to Switzerland on Thursday morning for a little goalie action! #herewego #alps #oxygentank

 

[tigervixxxen]

Interesting...

So far on the twitter stalk beat we have the following confirmed in Denver: Bleackley, Rendulic, Corbett, Magyar, Pepin and Martin.

 

[Freudian]

I'm assuming this is with Allaire...

https://twitter.com/cpickard1

Berra is going to Tonya Harding him.

 

[henchman21]

I'm assuming this is with Allaire...

https://twitter.com/cpickard1

Seems like Pickard is sticking around if he is going to work with Allaire.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Seems like Pickard is sticking around if he is going to work with Allaire.

Might as well send him to Allaire if he hasn't been traded. Roy won't deny any goalie a chance at developing.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Prospect camp invitees:

Bigras, Chris
Bleackley, Conner
Bourke, Troy
Butcher, Will
Corbett, Cody
Everberg, Dennis
Geertsen, Mason
Henley, Samuel
Iafrate, Max
Lindholm, Anton
Magyar, Nick
Martin, Spencer
Nantel, Julien
Pajpach, Maximilian
Pepin, Alexis
Petryk, Reid
Pufahl, Matt
Rendulic, Borna
Schumacher, Michael
Smith, Landon
Storm, Ben
Westlund, Wilhelm
Will, Roman
Wood, Kyle

The Swedes are coming over, which is nice to see. Schumacher is still hanging around too. Any info on Petryk?

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

C Nickolet ‏@Avs_Tweets 9m
Nice to see Reid Petryk is at #Avs prospect camp. He's a big-bodied C with good vision. A Memorial Cup Champion with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

 

[henchman21]

The Swedes are coming over, which is nice to see. Schumacher is still hanging around too. Any info on Petryk?

Thought that was interesting as well. Maybe they (meaning the Monsters) will sign him to another AHL deal.

Petryk is another big body. Has plays center, good vision, good board work, a leader, solid defense... heard he was very impressive at Oilers prospect camp last year. Played in Lake Erie a couple years ago so the organization has been tracking him for a while.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Chambers said they are doing media tomorrow so that's nice. Glad we got some sort of news about this. Nice that a lot of Euros could attend and Butcher, several others who haven't been to camp. I know this roster is smaller than a lot of teams'.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

So do they still make all these kids come just to learn how to eat and stuff? At least other teams give their kids an early shot to skate and play/get familiar with each other.

 

[Cooperman]

Prospect camp invitees:

Bigras, Chris
Bleackley, Conner
Bourke, Troy
Butcher, Will
Corbett, Cody
Everberg, Dennis
Geertsen, Mason
Henley, Samuel
Iafrate, Max
Lindholm, Anton
Magyar, Nick
Martin, Spencer
Nantel, Julien
Pajpach, Maximilian
Pepin, Alexis
Petryk, Reid
Pufahl, Matt
Rendulic, Borna
Schumacher, Michael
Smith, Landon
Storm, Ben
Westlund, Wilhelm
Will, Roman
Wood, Kyle

The Swedes are coming over, which is nice to see. Schumacher is still hanging around too. Any info on Petryk?

It looks like the end of story with the Avs for Condon, Young and Moffatt.

 

[S E P H]

Butcher joining isn't shocking, but Ben Storm there? Damn, probably has to pay his way too since NCAA are idiots.

 

[JLo217]

Butcher joining isn't shocking, but Ben Storm there? Damn, probably has to pay his way too since NCAA are idiots.

I'm excited to see what Butcher can do. He looked good in the few games I saw last year. Luck for him he's in Denver already.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I expected Roy and his french connections to be the first in line to invite Gadoury to camp but looks like he's headed to MTL. Likely wont be anything but he had some very very impressive numbers, even if it's all Drouin's work.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I'm excited to see what Butcher can do. He looked good in the few games I saw last year. Luck for him he's in Denver already.

He's from Wisconsin though, I'm sure he spends his summers there.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I still can't believe they are not going to give Young at least a shot to show what he has. I think that is a mistake.

 

[R S]

I still can't believe they are not going to give Young at least a shot to show what he has. I think that is a mistake.

What do you mean exactly, I'm not super familiar with his situation. If he still has one year left, why would he leave now to sign a pro deal? The Avs have to be just fine with how he's developed so far as a 7th rounder. But if he's graduated, I agree, there is no reason not to have him signed and play good minutes in Lake Erie.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Young has graduated

 

[Flanagan]

Al Iafrate's son is a prospect with us? I completely missed ever hearing we signed him. I wonder if he plays like his dad.

Max appears to lack the blistering slapper… and the hair

Since that's mostly all I know about Al, I guess not

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/19/al-iafrates-son-signs-with-colorados-ahl-affiliate/

 

[CharlieGirl]

Al Iafrate's son is a prospect with us? I completely missed ever hearing we signed him. I wonder if he plays like his dad.



Since that's mostly all I know about Al, I guess not

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/19/al-iafrates-son-signs-with-colorados-ahl-affiliate/

I don't know who wrote that, but Iafrate has a hell of a slapshot from the point. His biggest issue in past years has been accuracy (that poor glass behind the net...), but he improved that quite a bit last season.

But he does lack the skullet!