Prospect Info: 2018-2019 General Prospect Discussion Thread

[DANOZ28]

no, but sokolov's stats are about what i expected for his first year in iowa. im sure coaches will whip him into shape if something needs fixing. im looking forward to see sokolov , mcbain, khovanov & kaprizov develop.

 

[AKL]

no, but sokolov's stats are about what i expected for his first year in iowa. im sure coaches will whip him into shape if something needs fixing. im looking forward to see sokolov , mcbain, khovanov & kaprizov develop.

I’m not sure I can say I expected Sokolov to score .75 points per game, needless to say it’s a pretty promising stat, even if it is only 17 games so far.

 

[DANOZ28]

im sure i think more highly of sokolov than most but i felt he could do as well as zucker did in a best case scenario. zucker 55 ahl gms 24G 26A

 

[57special]

Zucker's AHL totals 21-22yo 77gp 32g, 31 A

Sokolov is a bit younger, and he's not too far off his pace. Zucker has that burning speed, though. Speed has always been desirable, but even more so now with obstruction penalties being called.

 

[Wabit]

I'll admit I had no idea who #3 was on the list.

 

[Wild11MN]

While most of us know where most of these guys play, it's pretty dumb that the tweet didn't include what leagues the guys are playing in. That is more than a little important for the context.

 

[DANOZ28]

i'll just add sokolov is a talented player that's benefitting being surrounded by more talented players in iowa.

 

[AKL]

While most of us know where most of these guys play, it's pretty dumb that the tweet didn't include what leagues the guys are playing in. That is more than a little important for the context.

If someone doesn’t know what league most of those guys are in, mentioning it isn’t going to provide any useful context because that person probably doesn’t know scoring trends of those leagues.

 

[TZM]

If someone doesn’t know what league most of those guys are in, mentioning it isn’t going to provide any useful context because that person probably doesn’t know scoring trends of those leagues.

Well, I can't remember the teams they play for (except Kaprizov) but I know the scoring relations between the leagues. I would imagine I'm not the only one.

 

[AKL]

Well, I can't remember the teams they play for (except Kaprizov) but I know the scoring relations between the leagues. I would imagine I'm not the only one.

I’m saying that if someone doesn’t know that Kapriov is in the KHL, they’re not going to have a good gauge for how good 25 points in 35 games in the KHL is, typically.

If someone doesn’t know Khovanov is in the Q, they’re not going to know that 42 points in 32 games isn’t particularly spectacular, typically.

Most of us are more... aware of such things than the average Wild fan. That guy, and ultimately Russo’s audiences consists of far more of them than us.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

While most of us know where most of these guys play, it's pretty dumb that the tweet didn't include what leagues the guys are playing in. That is more than a little important for the context.

Somebody should do a full NHL equivalencies post for the Wild prospects. Unlikely, I know.

But the NHLe for the most relevant leagues (for comparison) are:
KHL: .75
SHL: .64
Liiga: .47
AHL: .42
Allsvenskan: .29
NCAA: .17
ECHL: .16
OHL: .16
WHL: .15
QMJHL: .13

courtesy of Manny (I rounded)


so, not worth getting super excited about CHL scoring. But you'd rather see that than the other thing.

 

[Wabit]

@Saga of the Elk So 1p in the NHL is worth: ~1.3p in the KHL, ~2.4p in the AHL, and ~6.25p in the NCAA/CHL?

The NCAA compared to the CHL seems like it should be separated by more than a couple of hundredths.

 

[Wild11MN]

If someone doesn’t know what league most of those guys are in, mentioning it isn’t going to provide any useful context because that person probably doesn’t know scoring trends of those leagues.

For the most part, probably. Good point.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Bit of a rough stretch for Kaapo. 3 straight games of sub-90%.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I’m saying that if someone doesn’t know that Kapriov is in the KHL, they’re not going to have a good gauge for how good 25 points in 35 games in the KHL is, typically.

If someone doesn’t know Khovanov is in the Q, they’re not going to know that 42 points in 32 games isn’t particularly spectacular, typically.

Most of us are more... aware of such things than the average Wild fan. That guy, and ultimately Russo’s audiences consists of far more of them than us.

That's 12th in the QMJHL. His goal totals are tied for 6th. I'd say that ain't bad for a 3rd round pick. Just getting back up to speed. Khovanov was projected to be a 1st round pick before the Hepatitis. Could be an absolute steal.

 

[Wabit]

That's 12th in the QMJHL. His goal totals are tied for 6th. I'd say that ain't bad for a 3rd round pick. Just getting back up to speed. Khovanov was projected to be a 1st round pick before the Hepatitis. Could be an absolute steal.

McBain earlier in his draft was a projected 1st rounder too. Dewar (I didn't like the pick at the time) impressed me at the prospect tournament. Last year's 3rd round could end up giving the Wild a top-6, middle-6, and bottom-6 FWD. They could all turn out to be nothing too. It's a positive outlook at least for the 3rd rounders.

Heck outside of the 1st rounder (lets not go there) the rest of the draft looks pretty good just ~6 months later.

 

[AKL]

McBain earlier in his draft was a projected 1st rounder too. Dewar (I didn't like the pick at the time) impressed me at the prospect tournament. Last year's 3rd round could end up giving the Wild a top-6, middle-6, and bottom-6 FWD. They could all turn out to be nothing too. It's a positive outlook at least for the 3rd rounders.

Heck outside of the 1st rounder (lets not go there) the rest of the draft looks pretty good just ~6 months later.

I'm very impressed with our 2018 draft thus far outside of the first round pick. I certainly think it has the potential to be the best draft we've had from top to bottom. Depends on how Ek, Greenway and Kaprizov turn out.

 

[DANOZ28]

im still bummed we didn't pick that ivan chekhovich went in the 7th rnd 2017. khovanov is having a good year, next year i will expect him to tear up the Q.

 

[StateofCelly]

i'll just add sokolov is a talented player that's benefitting being surrounded by more talented players in iowa.

Well clearly but this isn't a case where he is only succeeding because of those around him. In watching the games he creates a lot for himself and that shot is lethal. He is a magnet to the puck right now, the pucks are finding him whether influenced by his teammates or not.

 

[Nsjohnson]

It's true, you can see on his goals or assists it's because of two things, and these are the two things he has always been known for:

1. His ability to slide into areas where he can receive a pass, these soft areas or just create two feet of quick separation.

2. His shot once he does said spacing. You can't stop his NHL elite level shot. It's what it is too. It's deadly accurate and extremely fast. I think he would have a top 10 shot in the NHL if he were playing RIGHT NOW. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but have you seen this kid's shot?!

These two things are hard to teach. A shot can get more accurate and a bit harder as a player gains strength but he has it from the start, and you have a hard time teaching the killer instinct that he has to find space to shoot a one timer or a quick pass.

Sokolov will be an NHL player if, again, two things happen:

1. He gets significantly better at skating. This is not easy but it's not hard. It's kind of like, how much time and effort and sweat and smarts can he apply to learning how to skate more efficiently? Can he apply what he learns? He needs to be faster in the first three steps. He uses his edges well and he has a decent average speed once he's going. As someone who works with evaluating human bodies, what I would look at is how heavy would he be at 8% body fat? 190? H'e supposedly around 215 pounds at 6 feet. What is his body fat %? 20-30%? I'd like to see him get down to 12-15% while gaining strength in his legs and core and keep his body weight around 205. That's still THICC.

2. With said better skating is he willing to learn and apply defensive layers to his game so he's not a one trick pony that is also a liability. If the risk reward of him is heavily favorable towards the reward, great. But currently, if he played an NHL game he would be benched due to his defensive game.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Best part is, he's only 20. He could be in the AHL for another 2 years (after this one) learning to skate and fake play defense, and it's still not some disaster because a) he was a 7th round pick, and b) he'll only 23 at the time.

 

[DANOZ28]

i think he'll play after next ahl season (2 yrs iowa) with kaprizov (assuming he comes over). hopefully he will work on everything the coaches ask and be nhl ready.

 

[BagHead]

i think he'll play after next ahl season (2 yrs iowa) with kaprizov (assuming he comes over). hopefully he will work on everything the coaches ask and be nhl ready.

Not going to happen. He'll be in the NHL from day 1, or he'll be in the KHL from day 2.

 

[TaLoN]

Not going to happen. He'll be in the NHL from day 1, or he'll be in the KHL from day 2.

He was saying they would both be in the NHL together after Sokolov spends his next year after this one in the AHL.

It was worded oddly, but the "after" does get the right point across.

 

[BagHead]

He was saying they would both be in the NHL together after Sokolov spends his next year after this one in the AHL.

It was worded oddly, but the "after" does get the right point across.

Aha, you are correct sir! I just read it differently than what was intended.