Speculation: Barkov is true draft target for Avalanche

[R S]

If he develops more of a mean streak, it's quite possible that he could fit that type of comparison better though. He's talked about having a willingness and a need to improve that part of his game many times.

No, not really. People don't remember how big and physical Lindros was. He played like a more skilled Milan Lucic, except he skated like Matt Duchene.

 

[CalderKing21]

Well said. If we flip #1 and 2 with Florida and get their second round pick (#31), we have the top 2 picks in round 2, which is an advantageous position to have in this draft. That small a deal with Florida could give us a big dividend, and be a good PR move for the Avs with their fan base, because all the amateur scouts would scream if we took Barkov first overall.

i would love to rake a team over the coals for the #1 pick but that would require dropping down too far. so i wanna see us pick up some good draft pick value and drop down only slightly and still be able to snag Barkov.

 

[CalderKing21]

No, not really. People don't remember how big and physical Lindros was. He played like a more skilled Milan Lucic, except he skated like Matt Duchene.

that's partially because his elite level was brief. similar to how most don't remember just how damn good Grant Hill was in the NBA before he had all those injuries. he was LeBron before LeBron.

 

[R S]

that's partially because his elite level was brief. similar to how most don't remember just how damn good Grant Hill was in the NBA before he had all those injuries. he was LeBron before LeBron.

Hill wasn't nearly as big or physical as LeBron, though.

 

[vanarchy]

I don't think they'd be so obviously revealing in their interviews if they were interested in Jones or Mackinnon.

This makes alot of sense actually.

 

[Ivan13]

I disagree, yes they're "highlight" videos, but I see a lot of Lindros style in his game and how he skates through defensemen with his body size. I don't think anybody is comparing his talent to Lindros because that would be sort of laughable just playing styles.

Lindros was the biggest terror on skates this league had seen since Sprague Cleghorn and Eddie Shore retired, in todays NHL where you can't obstruct the incoming forechecker he would kill defensemen, he used to hit people like Bordeleau does now, except he generated much more speed and you didn't see him coming half the time thanks to his speed. Sasha has some elements of his game, but this comparison isn't really a good one.

 

[Foppa2118]

Interview with Sasha.

I think one of the things the Avs may have been impressed with was his awareness of the weaknesses in his game, and a strong willingness to improve on them to be as good as he can possibly be.

He mentioned in that interview he was 6'3" but thought he played as if he was 6'1" (clearly someone said this to him somewhere along the line) and that he wants to play more physically to take use of his size. Someone else mentioned before about him wanting to play more physically, and he's also acknowledged he could improve his skating.

These are the kinds of things teams love to hear, and why they do the interviews. It's very easy to downplay your weaknesses, or even give lip service to improving them, but when a guy sounds highly committed to improving them, especially physical play which many players don't talk about improving, it shows a lot of character and commitment to doing everything they can to help the team win.

Take Seth Jones for example. I'm not knocking him that much, because I wanted him as the Avs pick, but he all but said he would never change his passive style much when it came up in interviews. He'd always point to Nick Lidstrom as being successful without doing so, as if every defenseman can be one of the top five best defenseman in history by playing a more passive game.

From reports out there Jones' interview was average at best, and I'm not too surprised. He doesn't come off all that great. It doesn't seem to be a case of him being too serious, or trying to give standard boring answers ala Tavares. It's something else, and it's tough to know what to make of that. Is it an example of him being cocky, like a lot of people accused him of being when he pronounced his USA team would win early in the tournament? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's just an example of him being forced to overcompensate for being naturally shy or something.

Maybe they had some concerns over how coachable Jones would be, and whether he thought he knew how to play the game more than his coaches, and wouldn't let the team develop his overall game. Maybe they started to have too many unanswered questions, and saw how great Mac and Barkov played, and then saw how great they came off in interviews, and that put it over the top.

Just speculation on my part, but I think something happened somewhere along the line, and it wasn't just the Memorial Cup, or a preference to taking a forward over a D.

 

[thomast]

I think one of the things the Avs may have been impressed with was his awareness of the weaknesses in his game, and a strong willingness to improve on them to be as good as he can possibly be.

He mentioned in that interview he was 6'3" but thought he played as if he was 6'1" (clearly someone said this to him somewhere along the line) and that he wants to play more physically to take use of his size. Someone else mentioned before about him wanting to play more physically, and he's also acknowledged he could improve his skating.

These are the kinds of things teams love to hear, and why they do the interviews. It's very easy to downplay your weaknesses, or even give lip service to improving them, but when a guy sounds highly committed to improving them, especially physical play which many players don't talk about improving, it shows a lot of character and commitment to doing everything they can to help the team win.

Take Seth Jones for example. I'm not knocking him that much, because I wanted him as the Avs pick, but he all but said he would never change his passive style much when it came up in interviews. He'd always point to Nick Lidstrom as being successful without doing so, as if every defenseman can be one of the top five best defenseman in history by playing a more passive game.

From reports out there Jones' interview was average at best, and I'm not too surprised. He doesn't come off all that great. It doesn't seem to be a case of him being too serious, or trying to give standard boring answers ala Tavares. It's something else, and it's tough to know what to make of that. Is it an example of him being cocky, like a lot of people accused him of being when he pronounced his USA team would win early in the tournament? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's just an example of him being forced to overcompensate for being naturally shy or something.

Maybe they had some concerns over how coachable Jones would be, and whether he thought he knew how to play the game more than his coaches, and wouldn't let the team develop his overall game. Maybe they started to have too many unanswered questions, and saw how great Mac and Barkov played, and then saw how great they came off in interviews, and that put it over the top.

Just speculation on my part, but I think something happened somewhere along the line, and it wasn't just the Memorial Cup, or a preference to taking a forward over a D.

Barkov has alot of character. He works really hard off the ice aswell. Mike Morreale saw went to gym at combine at 6AM. Barkov was only one who was already there working out(Mike tweeted about it).

When you watched him at 16 he was very lumbering skater, struggled at times with skates, fell alot etc. After last summer he was such a solid skater, strong balance, smooth long stride, he was really hard to knock off the puck. He developed with huge leaps in his skating and physical condition. It's obvious that he worked his ass off at last summer. Barkov is kind a player who is never satisfied with himself or his game. He was asked once "are you satisfied with your developement during the season(he was leading the league in goals at the time and etc)" Barkov answered "no absolutely not, i have alot of room to grow. When you're satisfied with yourself you stop developing"

Thats not all. I love how he commitment he is to team concept and system. I don't know any player in FEL who plays as well the team concept as Barkov and that is pretty special for 17 year old. He does all the little things what the coach want to. He is so focused on the ice in all situation. His ability to block passing lanes, shooting lanes and do all the small things correctly is very impressive. He is that focused. He's a guy who buys every word that coach says and show it on the ice. His team mates was pretty lazy and struggled at the beginning of the season. Didn't play focused or hard for the team but Barkov was. He showed example to 30+ year old veterans that how the game should be played. He basically carried his team on his back. Once the team started playing as a team they finished 2nd in FEL.

His personality, willingness to develope and his commitment for the team is special. I've seen him blocking shots when his team leads by alot of goals in the end of the game when the game is basically already over. These things reminds be alot from Jere Lehtinen who was a warrior. Barkov could be very well a much more skilled warrior as Lehtinen who was criminally underrated player.

Barkov has such a passion for the game. He still goes to outdoor rinks to play against ordinary kids. He treats his fans like any other people. He has played scramble against his fans in twitter etc. He's a guy who signs autographs till everyone has gotten one.

Barkov isn't just very skilled and talented two-way player. He is a big team player and very coachable. That might the biggest reason Avs like him. Ville Nieminen is his mentor. Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy won stanley cup with him. They will get all info from Nieminen. To me it's not impossible that avs drafts him #1.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

So, if Barkov is drafted, would it be much of a stretch to see the Avs give Nieminen a contract to play on the bottom lines? Can he even still play at an NHL level?

 

[R S]

So, if Barkov is drafted, would it be much of a stretch to see the Avs give Nieminen a contract to play on the bottom lines? Can he even still play at an NHL level?

Not a chance. He's 36. That time has come and gone long ago for him.

 

[RockLobster]

So, if Barkov is drafted, would it be much of a stretch to see the Avs give Nieminen a contract to play on the bottom lines? Can he even still play at an NHL level?

I don't think so personally...he last played in the NHL in the 2006-07 season, and it was 14 games with the Blues.

 

[AvalancheFan19]

Barkov has alot of character. He works really hard off the ice aswell. Mike Morreale saw went to gym at combine at 6AM. Barkov was only one who was already there working out(Mike tweeted about it).

When you watched him at 16 he was very lumbering skater, struggled at times with skates, fell alot etc. After last summer he was such a solid skater, strong balance, smooth long stride, he was really hard to knock off the puck. He developed with huge leaps in his skating and physical condition. It's obvious that he worked his ass off at last summer. Barkov is kind a player who is never satisfied with himself or his game. He was asked once "are you satisfied with your developement during the season(he was leading the league in goals at the time and etc)" Barkov answered "no absolutely not, i have alot of room to grow. When you're satisfied with yourself you stop developing"

Thats not all. I love how he commitment he is to team concept and system. I don't know any player in FEL who plays as well the team concept as Barkov and that is pretty special for 17 year old. He does all the little things what the coach want to. He is so focused on the ice in all situation. His ability to block passing lanes, shooting lanes and do all the small things correctly is very impressive. He is that focused. He's a guy who buys every word that coach says and show it on the ice. His team mates was pretty lazy and struggled at the beginning of the season. Didn't play focused or hard for the team but Barkov was. He showed example to 30+ year old veterans that how the game should be played. He basically carried his team on his back. Once the team started playing as a team they finished 2nd in FEL.

His personality, willingness to develope and his commitment for the team is special. I've seen him blocking shots when his team leads by alot of goals in the end of the game when the game is basically already over. These things reminds be alot from Jere Lehtinen who was a warrior. Barkov could be very well a much more skilled warrior as Lehtinen who was criminally underrated player.

Barkov has such a passion for the game. He still goes to outdoor rinks to play against ordinary kids. He treats his fans like any other people. He has played scramble against his fans in twitter etc. He's a guy who signs autographs till everyone has gotten one.

Barkov isn't just very skilled and talented two-way player. He is a big team player and very coachable. That might the biggest reason Avs like him. Ville Nieminen is his mentor. Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy won stanley cup with him. They will get all info from Nieminen. To me it's not impossible that avs drafts him #1.

I'm just going to quote this whole post because it's excellent. This is very reassuring, and I'm finally just going into the draft with zero expectations.

I have watched Barkov play 2-3 games, Mack and Drouin 1-2 and Jones 1-2. I do not know enough about any of these prospects to make judgments. I have tried to do research, watch youtube clips but the fact remains is that the Avalanche and other organizations have done extensive research. Whoever we get will be a gifted player who we are lucky to have on our roster. I LOVED our core last year despite what we saw on the ice (might be an excuse but I still hold Sacco very responsible for most of our problems), and now we get to add a future all-star? Feels great to be an Avalanche fan right now!

 

[niwotsblessing]

So, if Barkov is drafted, would it be much of a stretch to see the Avs give Nieminen a contract to play on the bottom lines? Can he even still play at an NHL level?

Ville is going to coach the bottom 6, with an emphasis on teaching Bordy to trash talk in Finnish. Barkov will be in hysterics on the bench during each of Bordy's shifts.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Barkov has alot of character. He works really hard off the ice aswell. Mike Morreale saw went to gym at combine at 6AM. Barkov was only one who was already there working out(Mike tweeted about it).

When you watched him at 16 he was very lumbering skater, struggled at times with skates, fell alot etc. After last summer he was such a solid skater, strong balance, smooth long stride, he was really hard to knock off the puck. He developed with huge leaps in his skating and physical condition. It's obvious that he worked his ass off at last summer. Barkov is kind a player who is never satisfied with himself or his game. He was asked once "are you satisfied with your developement during the season(he was leading the league in goals at the time and etc)" Barkov answered "no absolutely not, i have alot of room to grow. When you're satisfied with yourself you stop developing"

Thats not all. I love how he commitment he is to team concept and system. I don't know any player in FEL who plays as well the team concept as Barkov and that is pretty special for 17 year old. He does all the little things what the coach want to. He is so focused on the ice in all situation. His ability to block passing lanes, shooting lanes and do all the small things correctly is very impressive. He is that focused. He's a guy who buys every word that coach says and show it on the ice. His team mates was pretty lazy and struggled at the beginning of the season. Didn't play focused or hard for the team but Barkov was. He showed example to 30+ year old veterans that how the game should be played. He basically carried his team on his back. Once the team started playing as a team they finished 2nd in FEL.

His personality, willingness to develope and his commitment for the team is special. I've seen him blocking shots when his team leads by alot of goals in the end of the game when the game is basically already over. These things reminds be alot from Jere Lehtinen who was a warrior. Barkov could be very well a much more skilled warrior as Lehtinen who was criminally underrated player.

Barkov has such a passion for the game. He still goes to outdoor rinks to play against ordinary kids. He treats his fans like any other people. He has played scramble against his fans in twitter etc. He's a guy who signs autographs till everyone has gotten one.

Barkov isn't just very skilled and talented two-way player. He is a big team player and very coachable. That might the biggest reason Avs like him. Ville Nieminen is his mentor. Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy won stanley cup with him. They will get all info from Nieminen. To me it's not impossible that avs drafts him #1.

Both this post and Foppa's are excellent,

For speculation Foppa, it's easy to identify with how you came up with those possibilities.

I completely forgot that Nieminen had played with Roy and Sakic.

Between our euro scout, their familiarities with his line-mate, and his character, work ethic, and skill level. It may be a good collection of reasons why Colorado may have a little more information on Barkov than some of the other teams at the top of the board. If we can't see a huge seperation between him and Mackinnon, with their information they may actually like Barkov better or just as much, then wanting to get bigger up front could influence them in Barkov's favor.

Of the top skaters, he and Nichuskin are probably the guys that everyone has the least history and over all information on.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

No, not really. People don't remember how big and physical Lindros was. He played like a more skilled Milan Lucic, except he skated like Matt Duchene.

Yea, Lindros' physicality was absolutely off the charts, don't think we'll see someone like him for quite some time. He was skilled, but people were terrified of him.

 

[Freudian]

Barkov has alot of character. He works really hard off the ice aswell. Mike Morreale saw went to gym at combine at 6AM. Barkov was only one who was already there working out(Mike tweeted about it).

That's probably more jetlag than dedication. Most normal people sleep at that hour and I suspect so does Barkov normally.

 

[Ivan13]

I think one of the things the Avs may have been impressed with was his awareness of the weaknesses in his game, and a strong willingness to improve on them to be as good as he can possibly be.

He mentioned in that interview he was 6'3" but thought he played as if he was 6'1" (clearly someone said this to him somewhere along the line) and that he wants to play more physically to take use of his size. Someone else mentioned before about him wanting to play more physically, and he's also acknowledged he could improve his skating.

These are the kinds of things teams love to hear, and why they do the interviews. It's very easy to downplay your weaknesses, or even give lip service to improving them, but when a guy sounds highly committed to improving them, especially physical play which many players don't talk about improving, it shows a lot of character and commitment to doing everything they can to help the team win.

Take Seth Jones for example. I'm not knocking him that much, because I wanted him as the Avs pick, but he all but said he would never change his passive style much when it came up in interviews. He'd always point to Nick Lidstrom as being successful without doing so, as if every defenseman can be one of the top five best defenseman in history by playing a more passive game.

From reports out there Jones' interview was average at best, and I'm not too surprised. He doesn't come off all that great. It doesn't seem to be a case of him being too serious, or trying to give standard boring answers ala Tavares. It's something else, and it's tough to know what to make of that. Is it an example of him being cocky, like a lot of people accused him of being when he pronounced his USA team would win early in the tournament? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it's just an example of him being forced to overcompensate for being naturally shy or something.

Maybe they had some concerns over how coachable Jones would be, and whether he thought he knew how to play the game more than his coaches, and wouldn't let the team develop his overall game. Maybe they started to have too many unanswered questions, and saw how great Mac and Barkov played, and then saw how great they came off in interviews, and that put it over the top.

Just speculation on my part, but I think something happened somewhere along the line, and it wasn't just the Memorial Cup, or a preference to taking a forward over a D.

I agree, it means he can accept what the coach is telling him and adjust accordingly, coaches just love those kind of players.

 

[PAZ]

That's probably more jetlag than dedication. Most normal people sleep at that hour and I suspect so does Barkov normally.

If that's from jetlag, I give him even more props. I know when I have jetlag, I literally don't want to leave my room, let alone go work out.

 

[the_fan]

Barkov has alot of character. He works really hard off the ice aswell. Mike Morreale saw went to gym at combine at 6AM. Barkov was only one who was already there working out(Mike tweeted about it).

When you watched him at 16 he was very lumbering skater, struggled at times with skates, fell alot etc. After last summer he was such a solid skater, strong balance, smooth long stride, he was really hard to knock off the puck. He developed with huge leaps in his skating and physical condition. It's obvious that he worked his ass off at last summer. Barkov is kind a player who is never satisfied with himself or his game. He was asked once "are you satisfied with your developement during the season(he was leading the league in goals at the time and etc)" Barkov answered "no absolutely not, i have alot of room to grow. When you're satisfied with yourself you stop developing"

Thats not all. I love how he commitment he is to team concept and system. I don't know any player in FEL who plays as well the team concept as Barkov and that is pretty special for 17 year old. He does all the little things what the coach want to. He is so focused on the ice in all situation. His ability to block passing lanes, shooting lanes and do all the small things correctly is very impressive. He is that focused. He's a guy who buys every word that coach says and show it on the ice. His team mates was pretty lazy and struggled at the beginning of the season. Didn't play focused or hard for the team but Barkov was. He showed example to 30+ year old veterans that how the game should be played. He basically carried his team on his back. Once the team started playing as a team they finished 2nd in FEL.

His personality, willingness to develope and his commitment for the team is special. I've seen him blocking shots when his team leads by alot of goals in the end of the game when the game is basically already over. These things reminds be alot from Jere Lehtinen who was a warrior. Barkov could be very well a much more skilled warrior as Lehtinen who was criminally underrated player.

Barkov has such a passion for the game. He still goes to outdoor rinks to play against ordinary kids. He treats his fans like any other people. He has played scramble against his fans in twitter etc. He's a guy who signs autographs till everyone has gotten one.

Barkov isn't just very skilled and talented two-way player. He is a big team player and very coachable. That might the biggest reason Avs like him. Ville Nieminen is his mentor. Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy won stanley cup with him. They will get all info from Nieminen. To me it's not impossible that avs drafts him #1.

Wow, he signs autographs and shows up first for practice. ...lets draft him with 1st overall cuz thats a brilliant reason to waste the 1st overall pick.

Just like lets draft Landeskog 2nd overall because he gives good interviews and he's a good guy. Never mind that there are much more skilled players available like Huberdeau, Mackinnon.

After all you need good autograph signers and good interview givers to win in NHL.

 

[Ivan13]

Hawks fan strikes again.

 

[the_fan]

You guys can justify all this Barkov hype coming from the Avs all you want, but the fact is 29 other teams would take either Jones or Mackinnon with 1st overall.

Avs have been doing things their way while ignoring the general rules of drafting talent first, but Avs go for character first.

This is why 3 years in a row no playoffs, and a slow moving rebuild, cuz Avs want to be unique and do things their way.

Im not saying they are picking Barkov 1st overall, I hope they dont, but yet I wont be surprised if they do.

And if they do pick Barkov 1st that's just another couple of years set back for this organization.

 

[Avsboy]

Avs will probably pick Mackinnon. Sakic listed him first in the players being brought up internally, and considering that he is trying to be transparent, that could mean that Mackinnon is leading the board.

 

[R S]

You guys can justify all this Barkov hype coming from the Avs all you want, but the fact is 29 other teams would take either Jones or Mackinnon with 1st overall.

Avs have been doing things their way while ignoring the general rules of drafting talent first, but Avs go for character first.

This is why 3 years in a row no playoffs, and a slow moving rebuild, cuz Avs want to be unique and do things their way.

Im not saying they are picking Barkov 1st overall, I hope they dont, but yet I wont be surprised if they do.

And if they do pick Barkov 1st that's just another couple of years set back for this organization.

- How do you just make a number and call it a fact? You don't have access to all 29 teams personal draft boards bud.

- Say what you want about Barkov, but in no way does him going first show a "character first" pick. He's just as much a character guy as someone like MacKinnon is.

- You have no idea if picking him first will be another setback for the organization. Nobody knows that, especially you.

 

[Avs_19]

Avs will probably pick Mackinnon. Sakic listed him first in the players being brought up internally, and considering that he is trying to be transparent, that could mean that Mackinnon is leading the board.

You can't be serious....

 

[R S]

Some of the posters around these parts lately have just been flat out embarrassing.