Bergfors vs B. Pouliot vs Bobby Ryan

[captaincheat]

I hope your joking...Isbister never had the hands that Ryan has..Ryan has the best hands of power forward prospect in a long time.

No Joke.
I still don't think he skates well enough to be great. Maybe the Isbister thing was a little harsh...only time will tell....

 

[THE LUBE]

The Kopitar love right now is getting a little out of hand on HF.

the thing is Kopitar was the most NHL ready player of his draft class other than Sidney...Bobby Ryan may have a higher ceiling but the question is if he can reach it...so with Ryan he can boom or bust...where as with Kopitar as a Kings fan your wondering if this is pretty much the player he will be for the next 10 years since he is NHL ready and has been NHL ready...or is there a higher ceiling that he can reach. If he can take his game to another level then you have yourselfs a franchise player...if this is close to the player he is always going to be then enjoy your second line center.

we will see.

Kopitar is getting way too much press lately, especially since Kings fans are bored and don't have much to look forward to if the roster stays the way it is. Kopitar did look awesome in the rookie tournament though, even if it was only one game. Also, I never heard that Kopitar was supposed to be the most NHL-ready player other than Crosby. Where did you hear that? I'm not trying to sound like I'm attacking you; this is a serious question. I heard Kopitar was a risky pick as he was from a country that doesn't really produce NHLers and hadn't played in the Swedish elite league yet. I think that a buch of Kings fans said that he was ready last year, which I never believed. Kings management has said that he'll probably play in the AHL this year.

As for Bobby Ryan, Ryan is being underrated here on HF. Isbister is a joke comparison. Isbister had stone hands while Ryan has AMAZING hands. He'll get tons of points on the power play even in the NHL. We'll have to see about even strength though. Skating has always been a problem. I always hear from Ducks fans that the Ducks organization is good at improving players' skating, but Ryan is a much tougher case than they are used to. He was a poor skater even at the Bantam level when he played for the Junior Kings. Though he's improved by leaps and bounds, I don't think he'll become an above-average skater in the pros. If he does, the Ducks have an absolute gem on their hands.

 

[Randall Graves*]

No Joke.
I still don't think he skates well enough to be great. Maybe the Isbister thing was a little harsh...only time will tell....

All he has to do is get his skating to an average level and I think that is well within his grasp. I have heard people here who watch him on a regular basis say his skating speed is not bad just his style. In a way he reminds me of how Bernier was talked about here..you either really liked him or you didn't.

 

[Baisleyens]

All he has to do is get his skating to an average level and I think that is well within his grasp. I have heard people here who watch him on a regular basis say his skating speed is not bad just his style. In a way he reminds me of how Bernier was talked about here..you either really liked him or you didn't.

That I agree totally with you! I remember the Bernier bashing days without him even playing a single NHL game. The case with Bobby Ryan reminds me of the same situation...

Let's just wait until he plays in the NHL before being overly critical of him... because you never know how he might surprise (or disappoint) you in the big show.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Ryan should go see Jason Ward's skate instructor who basically completely rejuvinated Ward's career and completely changed his skating.

 

[Transported Upstater]

Ryan should go see Jason Ward's skate instructor who basically completely rejuvinated Ward's career and completely changed his skating.

Better than seeng Jason Allison's skating instructor. He gets a new one every year.

It's the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

 

[HOCKEY_GURU]

my gut feeling is that Bergfors is the safest bet, where as Pouliot and Ryan could have huge upsides but theres also the higher risk factor that they wont achieve it...essentially rankings could go anywhere based on weather a person prefers them now ..or they wanna take the chance on upside..essentially any ranking here could be correct.
as for Kopitar...I agree the hype now is in full force and shouldnt be in this thread...and Ive been pumping up Kopitar for a while now on other threads... Grabovsky also getitng that kinda attention..which is fine.. but Id rather wait and see them in the main camp.

 

[One Winged Angel]

its not than i dont like ryan, but ive seen him play a few times and it seems like he is skating in mud. I dont think his game will translate very well

I had center ice and watched A LOT of the 06 WJC, and Ryan played VERY soft. He played like he was scared. I don't know if it was his lack of speed that made him borderline useless or not, but he just was not the player I was expecting to see. He played on a line with Kessel, and I thought that line was going to rip apart opposing defenses, but they weren't too impressive. Kessel was good, generating a lot of offense nearly by himself, but Ryan was anything but impressive.

Bobby Ryan = Brad Isbister only shorter and slower.

Bergfors
Pouliot
Ryan

Wow, and there goes the neighborhood.

All he has to do is get his skating to an average level and I think that is well within his grasp. I have heard people here who watch him on a regular basis say his skating speed is not bad just his style. In a way he reminds me of how Bernier was talked about here..you either really liked him or you didn't.

I agree, 110%. People were saying the same things about Brendan Shanahan before he came to the NHL level. Some people were asking if his skating was good enough to translate, and others said it needed improvement. Either A. it improved greatly, or B. he was good enough to get by as it is. Bernier REALLY improved his skating though. He was quicksand on ice in the Q, and when I saw him on that line with Marleau and Michalek, he was EXCELLENT, and was flying. He really did a hell of a job to improve his foot speed.

Better than seeng Jason Allison's skating instructor. He gets a new one every year.

It's the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

Bravo, Bravo.

 

[One Winged Angel]

And seeing how I didn't even comment on the topic itself...

1. Ryan
2. Pouliot
3. Bergfors

I really don't think Bergfors is the safe bet, I think Pouliot is. I just don't know if Pouliot and Bergfors will be top line talents. They could end up being borderline 1st liners, or two of the best 2nd line players in the game.

As for Kopitar, I think his ceiling is just as high as Ryan's, and in this new game, his advantage in footspeed can take him A LOT further than Ryan, considering at this point from what I've seen, Kopitar plays A LOT more physical, and isn't even a power forward by any means.

 

[Jerky Leclerc]

Bobby Ryan in the prospect game against the Kings was very physical. He threw his body and played strong down low. As for his skating, it will improve. However, I don't think Ryan's skating will ever improve enough to be effective in Anaheim's transition game.

 

[Randall Graves*]

I had center ice and watched A LOT of the 06 WJC, and Ryan played VERY soft. He played like he was scared. I don't know if it was his lack of speed that made him borderline useless or not, but he just was not the player I was expecting to see. He played on a line with Kessel, and I thought that line was going to rip apart opposing defenses, but they weren't too impressive. Kessel was good, generating a lot of offense nearly by himself, but Ryan was anything but impressive.



Wow, and there goes the neighborhood.



I agree, 110%. People were saying the same things about Brendan Shanahan before he came to the NHL level. Some people were asking if his skating was good enough to translate, and others said it needed improvement. Either A. it improved greatly, or B. he was good enough to get by as it is. Bernier REALLY improved his skating though. He was quicksand on ice in the Q, and when I saw him on that line with Marleau and Michalek, he was EXCELLENT, and was flying. He really did a hell of a job to improve his foot speed.





Bravo, Bravo.

I don't think he's soft some of the reports coming back from the rookie tourney are that he can play a physical game, I didn't see it first hand so I can't say that I know for sure. As for WJC he had a lower body injury apparently and still put up some points, at this point even a sprained ankle will hamper him quite a bit but right now, I don't think Anaheim picked the best player. He could end up being on the same level as Kopitar/Brule but he's a notch behind right now.

I'm not sure if it's true that power forwards take a long time to develope. I see him getting the 9 game try out and being sent back to captain a very good Owen Sound team.