Belle Vs. Klein: a year later

The St.Louis Blues had two fairly highly rated defensive prospects on the boards when it came their time to pick in last years entry draft, Shawn Belle and Kevin Klein. They chose Belle, as you all know. One year later, who is the better pick?

thanks for your feedback. And now, a little red man bashing his head against a brick wall:

 

Well, Kleins game is certainly more well rounded, but Belle still looks to have a ton of potential. Personally i'd pick Klein.

 

Belle played a role for Canada at the WJC, Klein didn't even see the ice...

 

I think this is a good point under the circumstances. Klein's main assets (to me) are his tremendous adaptability, smarts and the safe play he can give you in most circumstances. There are three things you usually loook for in your bottom selections for a short tournament.

The fact they elected to use Belle a lot tells me they saw just how great he can be sometimes. He's very raw but I prefer him to Klein as a prospect because the upside is just huge. Klein was still one of my favorite players last year, though. But Belle holds so much promise still... tough to ignore him.

I thought at 30th overall, he was a great pick.

 

Well I'm just honestly not a fan of Shawn Belle. So I could be completely bias because Klein is one of my favourite prospects. Opposite ends of the pole.

Klein does everything so well, and he doesn't have a flaw. He's going to be an NHL defenseman, its just under what capacity. But his offensive game is rawer then most give him credit for and I think he could surprise a lot of people by putting up pretty decent offensive numbers in the pro's. I think he'll eventually settle into a role of a number 3 defenseman, possibly even captain material down the road.

 

To me, Klein has always been the better hockey player, so I prefer Klein. But Belle's a much more tempting package of size and speed, so his potential is most likely higher. I think Klein is the safer bet, but neither would have been a bad pick at #30.

 

After watching Belle numerous times, the short falls in his game are huge, he is a homerun or nothing prospect. If that is what you like, great, but I give him about a 30% chance of being a good NHL dman. I have never seen Klein live, but from what I hear I give him about a 70% change of being a good dman.

So you get a 30% chance at a top 3 dman, or a 70% chance of a top 5 dman. Which is a better prospect?

 

I'm pretty certain I would lean towards Shawn Belle as my choice.

Belle is a scary speciman of a man. Everyone focused on Anthony Stewart's physique during the WJC, but Belle is in incredible shape.

Belle has great wheels and size, like has been mentioned before. Klein is much more consistent though, a very careful defender I've seen in the 5-10 times I've watched him play.

The thing with Belle that I sort of thought, and others have told me, is that Belle is dumb as mud when it comes to hockey smarts, while Klein seems very bright by always making the simple play, etc.

Just my thoughts.

 

I agree with just about everything you have said here. I do not, however, think that his offense is rawer than given credit for. I saw him several times last year and a couple times this year. Klein will be an NHL defenseman no doubt in my mind. I think he could be a #2 or #3 one day. As for his offense, it is great. He can make tape to tape passes when carrying the puck up with little effort it seems. His only downfall is that he tries going through too many players when carrying out of his own zone which sometimes he loses the puck. He also has a great shot, underrated if you ask me. He seems reluctant to use it though because he's more of a passer. But he really is good at finding the net from the point shot.

 

To furtrher talk about the two, I kind of agree with Brock and Dr.Sens but not completely.

I guess it depends on what you are looking for, how long you are willing to wait, etc.

I see Klein as that ultra smart roleplayer on a championship team. I highly value smarts. I do not think his offense is *that* raw. I just think he is an amazingly intelligent player who knows how to grab opportunities without putting his team into trouble.

Shawn Belle is more of a dominant guy *when he's making the good decisions*. Roll of the dice from game to game and almost play to play. He's a much better bet to become a top pairing defenseman but he is also a much better bet to be a player plagued with flaws, unable to be effective on a winning team.

And yes, as another poster said, the guy is a physical monster. Extremely athletic. He will take many years and could even be traded a few times before he puts it together.

Belle is a Bertuzzi-like gamble of a defenseman. I think he will be ruled out a few times but given some chances. Could blossom or not but 30th overall, it's a choice the Blues can be comfortable with. In a few years, a Belle-Pronger duo could be pretty good.

Klein, you just can't *not* like players like him if you love good smart hockey in today's NHL context, where understanding of systems, positioning and collective play are vital. I see him more as a Keith Carney type. Provides a bit of everything, extremely safe and could have a lenghty career and morph himself over time to become an invaluable guy. The kind of player that winners are after. I don't know if the Wings, Stars etc. will still be powerhouse but those are the kind of teams Klein would have thrived on.

I like them both but they are opposites. Not easy to compare them, it's like night and day.

 

Shea Weber.

What?

 

I think you have to look at the whole team as well......Who is Belle playing with? And Klein? your teammates make a difference,,,,,i see the advantage to Klein, so I wonder if he might look better than he really is? [not saying it's a fact,,,,i'm just wondering]

 

Well when you look at the team's performance then Klein has been on a good one each year he has played in the CHL. His team has never finished lower than the Conference finals in each year with this year going to the Memorial Cup. You could argue the team was strong but with that argument comes the argument that Klein made each of those teams strong. Looking back on last year when he was with the Majors, he did everything for them. He was just as valuable to them (if not more) than Andy Chiodo was in that playoff run.

 

Exactly. This kid was supposed to be pure defense, yet he put up some amazing numbers on both ends of the ice, crushed people with his size, and led his team to the Memorial Cup. I wouldn't be surprised if he is better than both Klein and Belle.

I'm very pleased with the Preds draft last year

The defensemen drafted by the preds last year:

Suter
Klein
Weber
Stehlick
Sulzer
Mukhachev

And we still nabbed Glazachev and Lassila!

*Sorry for the homer insert, but after seeing the Preds drop mutliple places on HF's ranking, while having arguably their best draft ever....leads me to make random plugs *

 

to the "shea weber what" people...

named to the all-memorial cup team today, and was voted "best defensive defenseman" and "most underrated defenseman" by his peers

sorry, OT..but...i'm stoked about this kid

 

I think there's some sarcasm in Leafaholix's response. Weber might have leapfrogged both as prospects, who knows? But Leafers seen him play and came away rather impressed.

 

Not sure about the timing but I believe that Klein was coming back from an injury about the time the WJC happened. Could someone confirm that?

p.s. The only way I'd rate Belle over Klein is taking the WJC into account. Both good picks at that point in the draft though.

 

I had a chance to watch the WJC prelimenary camp at FDB arena in August and Belle was by far the best D-man after Phaneuf and Coburn. He moves up the ice like a stallion, although he needs to work on his outlet passes.

I'm not sure who is better between Klein or Belle, but I can say this much: If St.Louis got Belle at #30, Chicago wasted a pick on Seabrooke at #14.

 

While I'm a huge fan of Belle, Seabrooke delivered -arguably- a better overall performance than Belle at the WJC's.

 

The same way he can be held accountable for a few of those goals in the finals right? Seabrook had by far his worse game in the final. Practically let Sully get right around him and the first goal by Fritsche he was bad positionally. I don't think he's all he's cracked up to be.