Prospect Info: 2015 107th overall - Christian Wolanin (D) Muskegon [USHL]

[Cosmix]

Barring anymore movement, this is how I expect it to shake out.

Harpur or Wolanin-Karlsson
Chabot-Ceci
Boro-Wideman
Harpur or Wolanin

I think Dorion & Boucher know Boro thrives in a 3rd pairing role and we would just be setting him up for failure by putting him on the top pairing. That said, we don't have any good options unless Chabot grabs it.

Both Harpur and Wolanin are not ready for top pairing.
Chabot will be the most likely Defenseman to play with Karlsson on the top pair. I really hope he does as that would be a very tough pair of offensive defensemen for other teams to defend against.

Harpur looks like a 6-7 Defenseman at this time. Wolanin looked better than Harpur in his limited time and games last year. So I expect Wolanin to play with Ceci on the second pair, leaving Boro and Wideman on the third pair.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Both Harpur and Wolanin are not ready for top pairing.
Chabot will be the most likely Defenseman to play with Karlsson on the top pair. I really hope he does as that would be a very tough pair of offensive defensemen for other teams to defend against.

Harpur looks like a 6-7 Defenseman at this time. Wolanin looked better than Harpur in his limited time and games last year. So I expect Wolanin to play with Ceci on the second pair, leaving Boro and Wideman on the third pair.

I think you're right in the end and they'll turn to Chabot for the top pairing, but I think to start they'll try and force another D man (Harpur or Wolanin imo) next to Karl that doesn't really belong there and hope Chabot can help Ceci perform better than he has.

I could also see Wolanin having to earn the coaches trust before he gets much time as a regular, so I think he ends up as the 7th for now, if not in Belleville.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Both Harpur and Wolanin are not ready for top pairing.
Chabot will be the most likely Defenseman to play with Karlsson on the top pair. I really hope he does as that would be a very tough pair of offensive defensemen for other teams to defend against.

Harpur looks like a 6-7 Defenseman at this time. Wolanin looked better than Harpur in his limited time and games last year. So I expect Wolanin to play with Ceci on the second pair, leaving Boro and Wideman on the third pair.

I'd like to see Chabot have a chance with Karlsson to start the year. I think it would be good for a number of reasons. One is that Chabot could expand his defensive awareness. With possession he and EK could work off each other .. I think that has potential. We never replaced Methot who was an excellent partner for EK. Chabot would not be as good defensively at this point but .. there is a lot he is and can be better at as well. Dorion came out with something like anyone can be EK's partner trying to diminish the loss. I am not sure he realized what he lost. I think they half expected Oduya or Claesson to be able to fill those skates ...both were disappointing. Harpur takes a lot of heat around here and sometimes deserves it but .. I hope we see another step out of him. I was impressed with Wolanin.. I hope he has a good camp and sticks.

 

[BondraTime]

No surprising for the comments. Pretty rare that players are drafted this late in their development but our scouting staff know exactly what they're doing and they are probably the best scouting staff in the entire league at evaluating potential in later rounds. (Dzingel, Hoffman, Stone, Pageau, Batherson, Wolanin, Jaros)

We are very good at drafting overagers from the USHL and CHL (Z.Smith/Hoffman/Batherson/Wolanin/Dzingel/McCormick/Aneloski/Sdao/Kramer/Cowick), but we are not good, at all, at drafting overagers from the other leagues in the States that we delve into very often (Wideman/Shore/Leblanc/Peltz/Boyle/Daccord/Burgess/Novak).

I don't like that we are (in my opinion) throwing away draft picks on the NAHL with Burgess and Novak. In the past 10 drafts, there have been a total of 18 players drafted out of the NAHL. 3 forwards (2 of which are from the Sens), 11 goailes, and 4 D. Without looking at the goalies, taking a look at the skaters drafted out of there doesn't paint a pretty picture. They almost always struggle as soon as they get out of the NAHL and into more competative leagues.

Todd Burgess - Drafted as a 19/20 year old. NAHL top scorer and MVP

2014-15	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	NAHL	46	15	21	36	48	12	|	Playoffs	6	2	2	4	4	2
2015-16	Fairbanks Ice Dogs	NAHL	60	38	57	95	42	27	|	Playoffs	12	5	9	14	6	6
2016-17	RPI (Rensselaer Polytech. Inst.)	NCAA	0	0	0	0	0		|
2017-18	RPI (Rensselaer Polytech. Inst.)	NCAA	34	1	11	12	22	-7	|

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Ivan Chukarov - Drafted as a 19/20 year old

2013-14	Minnesota Wilderness	NAHL	44	4	8	12	28	1	|	Playoffs	5	1	2	3	0	4
2014-15	Minnesota Wilderness	NAHL	55	12	31	43	63	38	|	Playoffs	12	0	6	6	6	9
2015-16	UMass (Amherst)	NCAA	36	3	5	8	10	-17	|
2016-17	UMass (Amherst)	NCAA	36	2	6	8	40	-24	|
2017-18	UMass (Amherst)	NCAA	31	0	6	6	22	0

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Cam Clarke - Drafted as a 19/20 year old

2015-16	Lone Star Brahmas	NAHL	59	9	41	50	29	3	|	Playoffs	4	0	1	1	2	-3
2016-17	Ferris State Univ.	NCAA	35	1	10	11	26	-1	|
2017-18	Ferris State Univ.	NCAA	30	1	6	7	31	-10	|

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Dmitri Zaitsev - Drafted as a 1st year eligible, not able to adjust the jump to the WHL. Unsigned by Washington.

2015-16	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights	NAHL	53	7	15	22	74	-3	|
	Russia U18	WJC-18	5	0	1	1	2	0	|
2016-17	Moose Jaw Warriors	WHL	70	2	18	20	55	19	|	Playoffs	7	0	0	0	2	-6
2017-18	Moose Jaw Warriors	WHL	61	6	22	28	28	40	|	Playoffs	14	0	0	0	2	-8

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Croix Evingson - Drafted as a 19/20 year old

2015-16	Kenai River Brown Bears	NAHL	38	1	3	4	18	-29	|
	Chicago Steel	USHL	16	1	0	1	14	-3	|
2016-17	Shreveport Mudbugs	NAHL	59	12	40	52	125	30	|	Playoffs	3	1	0	1	0	-2
2017-18	UMass-Lowell	NCAA	16	1	5	6	10	2	|

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Nick Dowd - Drafted as an 18/19 year old, NHL journeyman/13th forward

2007-08	Culver Military Academy Prep	USHS-Prep	45	15	31	46	38		|
2008-09	St. Louis Bandits	NAHL	3	0	0	0	2	-1	|
	Wenatchee Wild	NAHL	43	16	33	49	71	9	|	Playoffs	13	8	14	22	34	10
2009-10	Indiana Ice	USHL	46	16	23	39	48	20	|	Playoffs	9	2	4	6	2	-2
2010-11	St. Cloud State Univ.	NCAA	36	5	13	18	34	1	|

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Jakov Novak - Drafted as a 19/20 year old. Entering 1st year of NCAA

2016-17	Janesville Jets	NAHL	52	11	17	28	46	5	|	Playoffs	9	1	0	1	6	1
2017-18	Janesville Jets “A”	NAHL	56	32	41	73	131	41	|	Playoffs	8	4	6	10	2	10

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

There is a pretty clear pattern of guys having monster seasons as overaged guys after having some pretty bad years as 17-19 year olds, followed by some very bad years after making the jump to higher levels. It's not a surprise many of them see a big jump in production as some of the oldest guys in a pretty bad league. It seems as though the only position that you should be looking for out of the NAHL is goalies.

 

[Boud]

I agree with the NAHL random picks. Very bizzare and often we don't wait to take them when legitimately nobody drafts out of those leagues almost. It's like they pick the best scorer in the league on any given year just in case he becomes good.

When is the last time a decent player has come out of that league? Pat Maroon like 12 years ago I guess?