Prospect Info: 2014-15 General Prospect Discussion Thread

[Dr Jan Itor]

Except we called up Haula and had Heatley - My fear is that they are going to turn Coyle into a lesser version of Koivu and not develop him offensively. That they are going to move him permanently to center to focus on defense and not give him time to develop offensively because they want him to be defensively responsible. I hope they prove me wrong but Coyle should be a 25-30 goal scorer in his prime and that is only going to come if we are patient and let him develop and make sure he doesn't focus so damn much on dropping back and becoming a third defenseman.

Granlund or Koivu get hurt, Haula moves up, Brodziak moves up and we bring up a guy like Brassart for the 4th line. If both get hurt, then yeah, it'll suck, but that would go for every team that loses its top 2 centers. In that case, Coyle might have to move to the middle for a while, but it's not going to cause any significant setback in his development. He's still playing with NHL players, against NHL players and in a top 6 role.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Granlund or Koivu get hurt, Haula moves up, Brodziak moves up and we bring up a guy like Brassart for the 4th line.

Unless Minnesota moves Brodziak (though we might have McCormick for that)

If both get hurt, then yeah, it'll suck, but that would go for every team that loses its top 2 centers.

Except most teams don't have two injury prone centers :p

In that case, Coyle might have to move to the middle for a while, but it's not going to cause any significant setback in his development. He's still playing with NHL players, against NHL players and in a top 6 role.

His development was already set back when we didn't bring in a center last year and had him drop to the AHL. He had a disappointing season but at least he picked it up in the playoffs.

 

[Avder]

Gentlemen, this thread is about our player prospects.

You can discuss center depth and Charlie Coyle in other threads.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Gentlemen, this thread is about our player prospects.

You can discuss center depth and Charlie Coyle in other threads.

Except wouldn't center depth be about discussing prospects and what this organization has? As well, Coyle, while is now a member of the Wild, could still be seen as a prospect.

 

[Avder]

Except wouldn't center depth be about discussing prospects and what this organization has? As well, Coyle, while is now a member of the Wild, could still be seen as a prospect.

You're discussing center depth in the context of free agency and trades, so no. That goes in the speculation thread, or in this case, the free agency GDT.

And Coyle has his own threads. Bump one or create a new one if it's too old.

 

[keppel146]

Happy we signed gelinas. Any defenseman who can score that much intrigues me

 

[DrPP]

Wow, I shouldn't try updating tables on my tiny 13" screen at home. Forgot to drag over a bunch of stuff.

Should be updated now.

Added Dumba, Folin, Keranen, etc. Removed Almond and Gunnarsson assuming they never play with the Wild. I'll add Gelinas when he signs.

Do it.

 

[Jbcraig1883]

Believe so. Cody Almond signed a 5 year extension so he's never coming back.

Time for me to eat crow! Never would have thought he'd be coming back but Russo suggests otherwise.

 

[tyratoku]

Hockey's Future graded all the new prospects:

Explanation of grades + letters

Alex Tuch: 7.5C / Top Six Forward
Louis Belpedio 6.5C / Second or Third pairing defender
Kaapo Kahkonen 7.0C / Journeyman No. 1 Goalie
Tanner Faith 6.5D / Second or Third pairing defender
Pontus Sjalin 6.0C / Third pairing defender
Chase Lang 6.0D / Third line forward
Reid Duke 6.0C / Third line forward
Pavel Jenys 6.5D / Second or Third line forward

UFA guys:
Christian Folin 6.5C / Second or Third pairing defender
Zack Mitchell 7.0D / Second line forward
Brady Brassart 6.5D / Second or Third line forward
Guillaume Gelinas 6.5D / Second or Third pairing defender

 

[Hall of Faber]

When do we do the summer time rank our prospects polls?

 

[Teddy10Beers]

Article from Chad Graff on Zack Phillips from a few days ago:
http://www.twincities.com/wild/ci_26133705/wild-prospect-zack-phillips-hears-clock-ticking

"His skating is the one thing that he really has to work on," Wild assistant general manager Brent Flahr said. "A lot of that is strength-related, and it's a matter of putting in the time and the effort in the weight room. It's part of the job."

"There's a certain element that you need if you're going to make the jump," Kleinendorst said. "In the NHL, you've got to be able to keep up with the pace. I think he'll get there, but I think he's still a little bit away from there."

I seemed to remember Flahr saying almost the same thing when we drafted him in 2011 (i.e. he need to improve his skating).

It would be interesting to know how much Phillips has improved his skating since the time we drafted him, and how much further he has to go. Phillips will be 22 in October. How likely is it that he'll be able to get his skating where it needs to be in order to get a shot at the NHL?

He was a -30 last year in Iowa but that was on a pretty bad Baby Wild team.

 

[BigT2002]

Duke played well. Wasn't too impressed with the scrum though.

 

[Jarick]

Phillips has had to work on his skating and strength for three years now. If he hasn't done it by now, he's probably never going to do it.

Rankings seem about right. I'd probably drop Tuch, Kaponen, and Mitchell down half a point or so.

 

[Engebretson]

"His skating is the one thing that he really has to work on," Wild assistant general manager Brent Flahr said. "A lot of that is strength-related, and it's a matter of putting in the time and the effort in the weight room. It's part of the job."

Something tells me Flahr wouldn't be saying something like this if he thought that Phillips was giving full effort. Like Phillips is expecting results to come without the work/effort or prioritizing other things over his training.

Of course, I could be reading it totally wrong, but that's my impression from that quote.

 

[TaLoN]

Something tells me Flahr wouldn't be saying something like this if he thought that Phillips was giving full effort. Like Phillips is expecting results to come without the work/effort or prioritizing other things over his training.

Of course, I could be reading it totally wrong, but that's my impression from that quote.

I read it the exact same way...

 

[Scoutguy77]

I didnt.

His skating looked terrific last night !

 

[TaLoN]

Disagree.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I only saw one rush with the puck, but he looked pretty fluid. Lost the puck on a failed toe-drag, which is another issue, but the skating didn't look like a debilitating factor. Zucker he is not, but it didn't seem like a huge problem either.

 

[this providence]

but it didn't seem like a huge problem either.

That was my take. Whether or not he makes it isn't going to hinge on his skating ability. It's good enough if he can find/grow an area of his game to hang his hat on.

I'm intrigued by Labbe. Nice blend of tools he has. Will be interesting to see if he can put them together. In general, I feel the same about much of the Wild's prospects on the blue line. Many of them have a lot of very good tools, I think the hope is they catch lightning in a bottle somewhere in there over the course of their development. They could very well pull a high end player out of that group somewhere down the line.

 

[Jbcraig1883]

Phillips issue for me has always been that he stops moving his feet and then continually tries the same moves over and over again. You can tell he has really good offensive awareness, good hands, etc., but it is frustrating seeing him turn the puck over for the same reasons.

Granted, I did not see many Iowa games last year, so perhaps that has changed. Last night's prospects game is not nearly enough time or the format to see how he has developed.

 

[Jarick]

That's a good way to describe it, JB. That's what we saw with Granlund his first year. Hell, that's one of my biggest problems too. A lot of times when you have soft hands, you want to make plays with them, you stop moving your feet, and then you get in trouble.

Granlund made those adjustments (both in off-season workouts and on-ice approach) after his first pro year, and he looks outstanding now. Phillips has two years in the minors and still needs to work on those adjustments. We will see if that happens, but if it doesn't happen this year I don't see it happening at all.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Correct. Most NHLers make fewer moves, but they do so at much higher speeds. Aside from Patrick Kane, there are very very few NHLers that attempt multiple dangles on a defendant. It's 1 or 2 in full stride.

Maybe Phillips picks that up. Maybe he doesn't. But until he's taking away a spot in Iowa from somebody better, no reason to give him the boot just yet. Maybe it takes him 5 AHL seasons to get it. Oh well. Most good teams are perfectly fine with having a 25-year old call-up who can play top-6 center minutes.

 

[Jarick]

I see him much like Cuma. Not really doing much as a pro, but no reason to move him. I can't imagine the team would get anything in return for Phillips so might as well keep him in the minors.

 

[Scoutguy77]

Correct. Most NHLers make fewer moves, but they do so at much higher speeds. Aside from Patrick Kane, there are very very few NHLers that attempt multiple dangles on a defendant. It's 1 or 2 in full stride.

Maybe Phillips picks that up. Maybe he doesn't. But until he's taking away a spot in Iowa from somebody better, no reason to give him the boot just yet. Maybe it takes him 5 AHL seasons to get it. Oh well. Most good teams are perfectly fine with having a 25-year old call-up who can play top-6 center minutes.

Great post!

 

[Taylor26]

Its not about making moves. Its about positioning. Most Gm's will tell you outside the first two or three picks in the draft can play in the NHL right away. Yet it takes most of the 18 year olds 2-3yrs to know where to BE on the ICE. Some guys are gifted and just have it but others aren't as elite........