Hmmm, this is a loaded question. First off, I have seen Moncton a great deal this season. They are my "HF Speciality" with the staff, and soon I will begin producing interviews from the Wildcats players and their visiting teams.
Anyhow, for your question. Pineault has looked extremely good this year. He has shown, in my opinion, that he should have been a first round pick in the 2004 draft, and honestly, maybe even pushed for Top 20. I've been incredibly impressed with his play at the times which I've seen him. He has been phenomenal. He has a good all around offensive game, possessing both good playmaking skills and the ability to thread the needle and a good shot with puck handling skills that makes him a sniper as well. He's got good speed and size, and has played both C and wing this year, although I'd say he's best suited as a centre because of his size and wheels.
As for a ranking...well, it's difficult to say. They ALL have, I believe, legitimate shots at the NHL. The potential is there in each of the cases.
1a)Steve Bernier
1b)Adam Pineault
3)Martin Karsums
4)Bruce Graham
Here's the reasoning. Bernier has sick skill, the moves he has the ability to pull are disgusting. I realize this isn't really detailed or professional language, but honestly, what he can do with the puck is just mind boggling. Men his size are not supposed to be able to be that skilled. HOWEVER, sometimes he gets a little too caught up in playing with the puck and doesn't play straight ahead hockey like his strength and frame allows him. His potential is the highest on teh team, but he can be a bit inconsistent at times, and doesn't always play the right blend of brute force and touch.
Pineault is, on a game in, game out, basis, more present than Steve (who admittedly gets more attention because what he has done with the team and his size). Pineault has showed all the skill the scouts were excited about before his unsuccessful NCAA season. More consistent than Bernier, with good skills, but doesn't have quite the ceiling of Bernier. I predict Pineault will be a Top 50 HF Prospect by November 2005.
Karsums is ahead of Graham because I don't see any chance of Karsums not making the NHL. He is short, yes, but built like a fire hydrant. On the ice he is the Cats more dangerous hitter. Yes, the short Euro is more dangerous I think than the physically intimidating Nate Saunders (ANA) because Karsums is the master of the open ice hit. Anyhow, he's fast and has decent skills. Really effecting on the PK, he has offensive ability for sure. However, if that doesn't pan out at the NHL level, he's got third line PK specialist written all over him.
Graham is a bit of an enigma. Putting up good goal scoring numbers this year, he plays really well in spurts. He is awkward looking like I said, but he's huge, so what can you expect. He doesn't crash and bang, but his size and strength make him really difficult to move out from in front of the net. He has a good snap/wrist shot in the slot area that he's scored with a coupe of times that I have seen. He is the most inconsistent I think, and his lack of initiating contact is a little frustrating at times. he's still effective at the Q level and has a future in professional hockey. He could be a second line centre in the NHL or a 2nd line centre in the AHL, it's tough to tell right now.
