Prospect Info: 3rd Overall Pick. Stutzle vs Byfield

[Cosmix]

LA has german ties in the org, he likely interviewed with them and of the teams he did so with may have like what they said the most, not having been to LA myself, i can still tell you id rather move there then Detroit,

I have been to LA many years ago. I could live there and enjoy the weather.

 

[Cosmix]

Did they? The only thing I got when I asked them is that they want Byfield but feel Stutzle is the pick.

If you have more info or a message please share I'd love to see it!

Why would they pick one but want the other?

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Both will probably be great players, but I would prefer Byfield by a bit. This has been stated before, but the fact he's so young is hard to ignore.

 

[Philadelphia Collins]

I’d be thrilled with Byfield at 3, and hot take I’d also love if they gave him one more full year to dominate in juniors and be a leader offensively at the wjcs

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

I’d be thrilled with Byfield at 3, and hot take I’d also love if they gave him one more full year to dominate in juniors and be a leader offensively at the wjcs

WJC will be before the NHL starts, so it is likely he will be there regardless.

I think this long delay will pay dividends for guys like him. They can play CHL + WJC + NHL if they are able.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Agreed on Pronmon.

Byfield to me played well enough at the Hlinka. 5 points in 5 games.

However your point stands on the WJHC, and top prospects game.

I think he was decent but was clearly outplayed by Perfetti and Lapierre, which was a bit disappointing.

Not that those two guys are better prospects, but they had a better tournament as Canada's clear two best forwards, with Byfield in a distance 3rd.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Player B above isnt Lafraniere. hes from a different draft.,

I’m aware, hence the “heck”.

 

[Sun God Nika]

This is kind of similar to when Pierre was asked the same question and hyped up Byfield as raw, powerful and skilled, and didn't really say much at all about Stutzle except that germany is starting to produce hockey players

interesting...

 

[jhutter]

This is kind of similar to when Pierre was asked the same question and hyped up Byfield as raw, powerful and skilled, and didn't really say much at all about Stutzle except that germany is starting to produce hockey players

interesting...

If you read the replies to the Tweet, no one seems to agree with him "jumping over Byfield".

 

[DJB]

Why would they pick one but want the other?

The Kings posters beleive Stutzle is the pick but as a group they would prefer if Byfield is the choice.

Hope that helps clarify!

 

[DJB]

I think he was decent but was clearly outplayed by Perfetti and Lapierre, which was a bit disappointing.

Not that those two guys are better prospects, but they had a better tournament as Canada's clear two best forwards, with Byfield in a distance 3rd.

All three were solid but your point stands.

 

[Sensenmann]

Holtz does have really good scoring metrics based on league and ice-time, but all the forwards commonly ranked around him also have good metrics; however, all the forwards (Bob's list) ranked ahead of Holtz look better than Holtz when I watch them play.

Holtz plays a very simple game, and it should translate well. His shot is NHL level, so if he can skate and try on defence, he will almost certainly be a solid forward, but I think some of the other players offer the potential of a more complete game.

This is where our sightings differ then, which very well could be lack of watching on my part.
A poster on the prospects board put it like this. Instead of calling his game simple, he calls it efficient. Lots of little and intelligent flicks, bounces, passes and interceptions that enable other players around him. Rossi does act like a catalyst in a similar fashion but Holtz does it at another pace. In combination with his motor/forechecking, his playmaking and shooting arsenal, I think this is what sets him apart. I see some of these qualities in Lundell`s game as well.

Which aspects in other players games are you projecting to make them more complete?
And do you by chance know a site where one could find metrics like shots for/against for the top of this draft class?

 

[aragorn]

Difference being Sieder wasn't ranked that high and Detroit reached a bit relative to where most services had him. LA wouldn't be reaching by taking eiyhet guy

Okay, I accept that explanation, but wtf is eiyhet? hahaha

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Okay, I accept that explanation, but wtf is eiyhet? hahaha

'either', likely.

 

[Micklebot]

Okay, I accept that explanation, but wtf is eiyhet? hahaha

Typing on cell. Fat fingers. Either

 

[ijif]

This is where our sightings differ then, which very well could be lack of watching on my part.
A poster on the prospects board put it like this. Instead of calling his game simple, he calls it efficient. Lots of little and intelligent flicks, bounces, passes and interceptions that enable other players around him. Rossi does act like a catalyst in a similar fashion but Holtz does it at another pace. In combination with his motor/forechecking, his playmaking and shooting arsenal, I think this is what sets him apart. I see some of these qualities in Lundell`s game as well.

Which aspects in other players games are you projecting to make them more complete?
And do you by chance know a site where one could find metrics like shots for/against for the top of this draft class?

I see those smart little plays from Lundell, but I don't really see them from Holtz. He does have a good motor, and he does forecheck hard, but I would not say he is a good forechecker.

In my opinion, the forwards I have ahead of him just do more. I think they have more potential to be the driver of a line. I think they are going to be the guys carrying pucks in, beating players off the rush, using skill to open up play off the cycle/down low, and they are all better playmakers. Holtz is going to be more of an off puck guy, finding soft spots in the offensive zone to get his shot off. That does not mean he is a bad player, but I just think this draft has six forwards that are better prospects. The only defender I have over him is Drysdale.

I don't know of any full data set for what you are asking, but Scouching tracks that type of data. I don't subscribe because it is expensive, but he has the data for certain players published.

Here is the link:

 

[OttawaSenators11]

That Pronman comment on Byfield is so ridiculous.

The reason he has a lot of doubters is so obvious - he didn't perform well on the big stages (WJC, TPG, Hlinka), where all of the casual observers see the top prospects.

Has nothing to do with race. Jones in 2013 got nowhere near the same negativity, even though it was more deserving in his case. Why? He had an amazing WJC, despite an underwhelming season in Portland as an 18YR old.

Stutzle looks like the better player, i hope LA takes Byfield.

 

[GCK]

As long as we get out elusive #1 centre I don’t care which one we get.

 

[TheDebater]

I think we should all be grateful that John Muckler is not the one making the decision in this draft. He would probably skip over both Byfield and Stützle to select Brian Lee's cousin.

It has also been a long time since I recall a draft where the 2nd and 3rd ranked players were this close. It has generally been pretty obvious who the #2 player was and that meant a pretty steep drop in terms of franchise level talent from 2 to 3.

Malkin, Doughty, Hedman, Seguin, Laine, Eichel, for example were clear cut #2 guys but luckily for us there have been examples of the #3 being just as good as the #2 or in rare cases even better (Draisaitl).

Honestly, Dorion can literally close his eyes and make picks based on the average draft rankings from all the experts and come out hugely successful in this draft by just making the safe picks.

 

[Icelevel]

I think we should all be grateful that John Muckler is not the one making the decision in this draft. He would probably skip over both Byfield and Stützle to select Brian Lee's cousin.

It has also been a long time since I recall a draft where the 2nd and 3rd ranked players were this close. It has generally been pretty obvious who the #2 player was and that meant a pretty steep drop in terms of franchise level talent from 2 to 3.

Malkin, Doughty, Hedman, Seguin, Laine, Eichel, for example were clear cut #2 guys but luckily for us there have been examples of the #3 being just as good as the #2 or in rare cases even better (Draisaitl).

Honestly, Dorion can literally close his eyes and make picks based on the average draft rankings from all the experts and come out hugely successful in this draft by just making the safe picks.

It is obvious who the #2 player is. Should be anyway. It’s stutzle.
I didn’t know enough about them earlier on to come to that conclusion but scouts who have been watching them a long time will have.
Stutzle will go #2

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

It has also been a long time since I recall a draft where the 2nd and 3rd ranked players were this close. It has generally been pretty obvious who the #2 player was and that meant a pretty steep drop in terms of franchise level talent from 2 to 3.

2013. The top 4 were close.

Funny thing is, I see this draft being similar to 2013 but with the depth of 2014

 

[Samsquanch]

LA has german ties in the org, he likely interviewed with them and of the teams he did so with may have like what they said the most, not having been to LA myself, i can still tell you id rather move there then Detroit,

I wouldn't wish living in Detroit on my worst enemy.

It still blows my mind that Stevey Y still left Tampa for Detroit. Even with his history there, the city and that roster are both a tire fire, and Tampa had the weather and taxes incentives that would be hard to beat.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

This is kind of similar to when Pierre was asked the same question and hyped up Byfield as raw, powerful and skilled, and didn't really say much at all about Stutzle except that germany is starting to produce hockey players

interesting...

Could also be a case of both GMs wanting to hide their cards from the rest of the group.

Seems a lot of GMs act a bit coy and throw out false signals at draft time. Could also be LA hoping Dorion will give them a freebie to pass on Stuzle, since Pierre has a history of handing out assets to get his guy in the draft.

 

[Samsquanch]

It is obvious who the #2 player is. Should be anyway. It’s stutzle.
I didn’t know enough about them earlier on to come to that conclusion but scouts who have been watching them a long time will have.
Stutzle will go #2

That's one hell of a strong take man....

It's not even a maybe anymore, Byfield has been overanalyzed and nitpicked to death. It almost feels like a witch hunt at this point to find things in his game to dislike.

That's not really directed at you either, just an observation about the public perception of Byfield, this board is among the worst tbh, and It's got much worse since the lottery. It's funny because in the LA forum theres nothing but love and admiration of both players, but mainly Byfield. Hes their choice by a landslide.

For a kid that was playing Defense up until bantam, and only has two years in the OHL on a relative bottom feeder team. One he was the CHL rookie of the year, and the other he scored at a near historic pace for his age. The harsh critiques of his game are way off base, and the ISS article is exhibit A.

I'm not agreeing with Pronman and saying this treatment toward Byfield is definitely race inspired, but I will say this. For such an incredibly gifted and smart player, his hockey IQ has been questioned far too many times now imo. Something is up.

Its elite. Hes not restricted to going up and down the ice and scoring off the rush. It's a pure fallacy that's being spread by I dont know who at this point, clearly not someone that watched him regularly this season I promise you that.

And it's a fact that Black athletes (not just in hockey) are very often unfairly labeled in general as being great athletic specimens, but dont have a high sports IQ. Black QBs in football having been fighting this uphill battle for years, while also having the double standard of being expected to be able to run the ball well (while it's a fairly optional trait for a white QB).

So while I dont think anything malicious is happening here, I do think that some old subconscious stereotypes might be coming into play here when some people are trying to look objectively at Byfield and his game.

As a half Persian/Half fench/Irish guy myself that grew up in a very predominantly white town and playing hockey (and took my fair share of durka durka and terrorist jokes along the way), this is an issue that I feel like I'm able to speak on.

There is definitely inequality in hockey for anyone with darker skin, and it's something that we need to actively keep on the look out for if we ever want to change that culture in our sport.

 

[FormentonTheFuture]

It is obvious who the #2 player is. Should be anyway. It’s stutzle.
I didn’t know enough about them earlier on to come to that conclusion but scouts who have been watching them a long time will have.
Stutzle will go #2

That’s not obvious at all. I have Byfield #2 as do many others.