Prospect Info: #54 Hunter Smith

[Anglesmith]

Apparently, But you have to take in the European skaters, European goalies and North American goalies and assume he fits somewhere in the 50-70 range for central scouting. I'll agree nobody had him#32 on their list but that's not to say some teams still may have had him in the 60-90 range. I've only seen one ranking listing him as a 5th rounder as you've suggested.

I think Stewie's point is that there are at least 30 rankings which have him that low:

1. Anaheim
2. Boston
3. Buffalo
...
30. Winnipeg

 

[Lunatik]

Apparently, But you have to take in the European skaters, European goalies and North American goalies and assume he fits somewhere in the 50-70 range for central scouting. I'll agree nobody had him#32 on their list but that's not to say some teams still may have had him in the 60-90 range. I've only seen one ranking listing him as a 5th rounder as you've suggested.

who cares? this seems like a really pointless argument. He wasn't really a reach, it likely won't be a steal either.

 

[Skip2myBordyloo]

I think Stewie's point is that there are at least 30 rankings which have him that low:

1. Anaheim
2. Boston
3. Buffalo
...
30. Winnipeg

Have him 5th round low? That just doesn't make sense.

 

[Anglesmith]

Have him 5th round low? That just doesn't make sense.

****, I got all kinds of confused on this one. Think I was thinking of a different discussion altogether.

 

[Skip2myBordyloo]

who cares? this seems like a really pointless argument. He wasn't really a reach, it likely won't be a steal either.

I'm not really high on the pick myself. Would be ecstatic if he turned into a 3rd line player, wouldn't be surprised if he turned into a middle 6 AHL player.

****, I got all kinds of confused on this one. Think I was thinking of a different discussion altogether.

I live in Calgary, and wanted to see what the HF community thought of with the pick as there's a mixed opinion among friends and other people about the pick.

One poster suggested he liked Maygar over Smith, Stewie responded saying he's ranked 5th round by other scouting services, while of the 4 rankings I've seen of him 3 of them had him higher he's a late second to late third in 3 of them, with the exception of one service who had him in the 5th round. I brought up the Central scouting to suggest it's not that outlandish to prefer Maygar over Smith.

My only point is that team generally have different lists and that just because Maygar was passed over in the 3rd round that some teams may have had him pegged as a 3rd round player, they just had players they preferred over him in the 3rd round, as in I would not be shocked to find the Avalanche had him around 70 on their list. And possibly some ( Very likely a big minority) teams viewed him as a better pick than Smith is all I'm suggesting.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

Not too big of a fan of this pick. He caps out as a fourth-line **** disturber, I doubt he'll ever make it to the NHL.

 

[Anglesmith]

Not too big of a fan of this pick. He caps out as a fourth-line **** disturber, I doubt he'll ever make it to the NHL.

You mean you think he has 4th-line ceiling? Hardly seems to be the case.

 

[TheHudlinator]

You mean you think he has 4th-line ceiling? Hardly seems to be the case.

To me that is his basement. I'd say anywhere from 4th liner to 2nd liner is his potential. It all comes down to how much progress he makes in the next year or 2.

 

[MonahanTheMan]

I dunno how you guys can see someone who was passed over last year, is basically a six-and-a-half foot plug, and who had more penalty minutes than games played last year and think "second-line forward".

 

[TheHudlinator]

I dunno how you guys can see someone who was passed over last year, is basically a six-and-a-half foot plug, and who had more penalty minutes than games played last year and think "second-line forward".

Yea there has never been a late bloomer EVER

What about this guy could he score 30 in the NHL?

Draft year

62 GP 9G 10A 149PIM's

He is now seen as one of the top power forwards in the game. But your right Lucic couldn't make the NHL, I mean look at those PIM's.

 

[Bosnian Beast]

I dunno how you guys can see someone who was passed over last year, is basically a six-and-a-half foot plug, and who had more penalty minutes than games played last year and think "second-line forward".

He's 6'7", not 6'0"-6'1".

 

[joeyabs]

six and a half feet = 6'6" FYI

don't understand the last post

 

[Bosnian Beast]

That doesn't make sense to me, but whatever.

I'm with Hudlinator and MVW/Johnny Hoxville in thinking the guy has potential to be a good player for us in the future. After hearing the praise his coach had for him (when talking about the possibility of MDC making the Islanders out of camp), to say his ceiling is a 4th line plug is stupid. He's been a Flames prospect for a day - lets see what he can do at development camp before jumping down on the kid before we even see him. Maybe he won't be a 2nd line RW, maybe he will. Time will tell, some people need to calm their ****.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Have him 5th round low? That just doesn't make sense.

I will say it for the fourth or fifth time now.

I was referencing Maygar, not Smith.

 

[GetThePuckOut]

I've seen him play a couple times. It's hard to gauge his potential, but I did notice that he has good awareness and goes to the right places. It will be interesting to see what he does next year.

 

[joeyabs]

I don't think its a bad pick, but I do question offensive upside being that large. His size will limit his high end speed and explosiveness required of the top6 - that's my biggest issue. I see him as a 3rd liner, hopefully we can plant him in front of the net on the PP and he can take out the trash like Chara does once in a while. Next year will be interesting if he can take his offense to the next level.

Calgary has to give him a chance and not force the goon role upon him.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Guys I'm 6'2. In grade 9, I grew from 5'7 to 6'1 in one year. I'm telling you, it's almost hard to walk some days when you grow that much, your coordination and everything takes a long time to develop and get used to. This kid is 6'7! He's in the process of adding muscle to his enormous frame while working on balance and speed (yoga will help). This kid is a project of sorts (as is Kanzig), but if he continues to improve as he has been, he may be that type of role player who has a real impact on our lineup. Imagine this guy going into the boards hard on the forecheck with guys like Jankowski and Reinhart on his line.

 

[Anglesmith]

I will say it for the fourth or fifth time now.

I was referencing Maygar, not Smith.

K good. I wasn't as confused as I thought, then.

 

[Lunatik]

I dunno how you guys can see someone who was passed over last year, is basically a six-and-a-half foot plug, and who had more penalty minutes than games played last year and think "second-line forward".

Really? As a Flames fan how can you even take such a hard line stance?

I know of this one player, he was passed over in the draft twice. He is a defenseman that fully developed is only 6'0", 200lbs. He had okay offensive numbers as a junior, was said to be lacking defensively. After his 20 year old season he was given an NHL contract and it took 5 more years before he became an NHL regular.

Now at the age of 30 he is one of the top defensemen in the NHL, captain of his team and was 2 points shy of matching his best junior season in the NHL.

That player? Mark Giordano.

You know who else was passed over in the draft twice? Curtis Glencross.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Really? As a Flames fan how can you even take such a hard line stance?

I know of this one player, he was passed over in the draft twice. He is a defenseman that fully developed is only 6'0", 200lbs. He had okay offensive numbers as a junior, was said to be lacking defensively. After his 20 year old season he was given an NHL contract and it took 5 more years before he became an NHL regular.

Now at the age of 30 he is one of the top defensemen in the NHL, captain of his team and was 2 points shy of matching his best junior season in the NHL.

That player? Mark Giordano.

You know who else was passed over in the draft twice? Curtis Glencross.

Yep, late bloomers are a thing. These are great examples. People forget just how young these guys are. Some of them are still adjusting to their bodies in general, let alone adjusting and improving on the ice. If he explodes offensively next year this pick starts to look really exciting.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

Who didn't have him ranked in the top 60?

Here's how others have ranked him, for interest's sake:

Bob McKenzie*: 52
Craig Button: 88
THN: 49
ISS: 39
hockeyprospect.com: 54
McKeen's: 76
NHL CS: 39 NAS

*Keep in mind, Bob McKenzie's rankings are based on a poll of actual NHL scouting staffs...

So I have to ask, why don't you like him? What aspect of his game do you not like?

His skating isn't good and his passing and hockey sense. He doesn't have enough offensive tools in my mind to be a top 6 player.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

His skating isn't good and his passing and hockey sense. He doesn't have enough offensive tools in my mind to be a top 6 player.

Gillies, his skating needs work but it's far from being not good. His hockey sense and passing are also above average IMO, that's why I like him so much. He's raw, but he's a smart kid with tremendous physical attributes.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

Gillies, his skating needs work but it's far from being not good. His hockey sense and passing are also above average IMO, that's why I like him so much. He's raw, but he's a smart kid with tremendous physical attributes.

maybe I don't know about him enough then. I'll wait until next year to start passing more judgement on him.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Yea there has never been a late bloomer EVER

What about this guy could he score 30 in the NHL?

Draft year

62 GP 9G 10A 149PIM's

He is now seen as one of the top power forwards in the game. But your right Lucic couldn't make the NHL, I mean look at those PIM's.

The exception to the rule is a pretty poor justification for making a choice. I've gone fishing and accidentally caught a bird on my line before; does that mean that a fishing rod is an effective tool for catching birds?

It would be nice for this guy to turn into a giant top 6 winger, and as far as overage draftees go he certainly looks more intriguing than many, but he obviously has a lot of question marks and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he was a complete bust (which I realize is an easy statement to make in regard to any pick outside of the 1st round in most drafts).

 

[CraigsList]

Now we potentially have Colborne and Smith as our middle 6 players in the next few years.... 6'5 and 6'7... Jeez.