He may not make it back to #2 with CSB, as they have always loved size.
Johnson may end up ahead of Brule despite Brule's best efforts. He too has been great this year and has a great blend of speed, size and toughness.
Pouliot is probably the most intriguing package of speed, size and skills in the draft, and if he can keep his production up over the next few months despite the heavy checking he is receiving, he might also stay ahead of Brule. This would be according to CSB's thinking.
Ryan is posting similar production per game to Brule, and given his size, he may stay ahead of Brule if he picks up where he left off after returning from injury. Many would make the skating argument of Brule v Ryan, but CSB is less inclined to listen to that argument.
Bourdon is also a major size-skill package, especially considering his performance in the skills competition. One would think he might drop after his performance in the game, but one game doesn't effect CSB's thinking too much.
Personally, I really think Brule is the safest pick in the draft after Crosby, but CSB might keep him where he is based on the 'potential' argument, in that those other players have better upsides. If CSB does stand by that at the end of the year, I wouldn't get too upset about it - their rankings have always been a little slanted towards size (even more than others). RLR is at the opposite end (they like skill and aren't afraid to rank smaller forwards high) and TSN simply attempts to create an average based on all scouts feedback (they don't rank the players themselves per se). I don't have a particular read on any tendency with ISS yet, but they do seem to value skill quite high (they had Schremp quite high last year). I'm pretty sure Brule will be #2 or #3 on a few of the rankings at the end of the year, even if CSB isn't one of them.
