C Alex Turcotte - USNTDP, USHL (2019, 5th, LAK)

[Dominance]

I don’t even think he was in the top-5 of every draft list at the start of the year. How you expect him to go there while missing potentially almost an entire year of development is beyond me.

 

[kroypuck]

I don’t even think he was in the top-5 of every draft list at the start of the year. How you expect him to go there while missing potentially almost an entire year of development is beyond me.

He's still #4 on Hockey prospect and Future considerations lol. Most lists had him top 5.

 

[S E P H]

I don’t even think he was in the top-5 of every draft list at the start of the year. How you expect him to go there while missing potentially almost an entire year of development is beyond me.

I wonder if you said the same thing about Morgan Rielly? Torn ACL during his draft year, yet went 5th to Toronto. Nonsense post.

 

[TimeZone]

I wonder if you said the same thing about Morgan Rielly? Torn ACL during his draft year, yet went 5th to Toronto. Nonsense post.

That Draft was a disgrace. I played house league at the time and I'm offended I didn't get drafted in the first round.

 

[S E P H]

That Draft was a disgrace. I played house league at time and I'm offended I didn't get drafted in the first round.

Saying that you could've been drafted to deem a year terrible doesn't really do any good in terms of the position/opinion you're taking or changing my mind. Rielly is a fantastic NHLer and deserved to be taken top 5 regardless of how many games he missed - you can make the same argument with Turcotte. He's continued to be a top 5 ranked player by certain scout agencies for a reason.

 

[93LEAFS]

I wonder if you said the same thing about Morgan Rielly? Torn ACL during his draft year, yet went 5th to Toronto. Nonsense post.

While, I agree with your general point, 2012 was a strange draft in that so few players actually improved their draft stock during the season. Rielly also was breaking out prior to the injury, a better comparison would be Galchenyuk who tore his knee in pre-season.

I don't think its ever been cleared up what is wrong with Turcotte. I don't think he's expected to miss the entire year. He probably slips out of the top 5 if he misses the entire year as it wasn't like he was far ahead (or even ahead in the first place) of certain guys who have gained on him since the beginning of the season (Cozens, Dach. Krebs, Zegras, Boldy, Podkolzin, etc).

I'm trying to think of other Rielly/Galchenyuk situations, but I can't think of any other high-first rounders in recent years. I know Connelly missed a bunch.

 

[Mercedes Benn]

Saying that you could've been drafted to deem a year terrible doesn't really do any good in terms of the position/opinion you're taking or changing my mind. Rielly is a fantastic NHLer and deserved to be taken top 5 regardless of how many games he missed - you can make the same argument with Turcotte. He's continued to be a top 5 ranked player by certain scout agencies for a reason.

What about Galchenyuk and Brett Connolly? Those picks didn't work out so well. You can argue both sides of the coin...

 

[S E P H]

While, I agree with your general point, 2012 was a strange draft in that so few players actually improved their draft stock during the season. Rielly also was breaking out prior to the injury, a better comparison would be Galchenyuk who tore his knee in pre-season.

I don't think its ever been cleared up what is wrong with Turcotte. I don't think he's expected to miss the entire year. He probably slips out of the top 5 if he misses the entire year as it wasn't like he was far ahead (or even ahead in the first place) of certain guys who have gained on him since the beginning of the season (Cozens, Dach. Krebs, Zegras, Boldy, Podkolzin, etc).

I'm trying to think of other Rielly/Galchenyuk situations, but I can't think of any other high-first rounders in recent years. I know Connelly missed a bunch.

I don't disagree that was a bad draft nor disagree with what you're saying either. However, as you noted there was a comfortable enough level to draft Rielly regardless of what happened during his year. I am trying to make that same argument for Turcotte, a ton of scouts saw him last season since a ton of scouts normally watch the USNTDP and that he was there with Hughes. There is a certain amount of time that scouts do look ahead simply because they're fortunate to play on a team where they're watching another player and see "y" player play. Second, which ties in with the first aspect is that he's in a very watched league like the USHL is in. If, for example, Alex Texier was injured during his draft year there is a good chance he would not have been picked in the top 60 by CBJ (since scouts don't normally scout the French league). Galchenyuk posted an 80 point season in the OHL the year prior, so the Habs comfortably took him 3rd overall. I argue that the jury is still out on him, but he's still a pretty solid player even if he does have issues.

I am not saying that he won't bust to Connelly's level, but that scouts have watched him play a ton, watched him in the U18 which he was one of USA's best players, and probably share that same level of comfortably to draft him high even if he only plays nine games. Maybe it is not in the top 5 where certain players are making their cases, but high enough to max out his ELC.

 

[UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY]

I don’t even think he was in the top-5 of every draft list at the start of the year. How you expect him to go there while missing potentially almost an entire year of development is beyond me.

Because when you draft these players you don't care as much about their short term development, you care about his long term development. He's going to go to Wisconsin and playing in a good program, with good talent around him and good coaches for at least 2 years, probably 3. That development path is what the team that drafts him is interested in.

Now if you want to talk about how having a reoccurring hip injury effects his draft stock, that's a valid debate to have. Jake Wise missed a lot of time last season and fell down some draft rankings and managed to move up as the season progressed once he returned. When Turcotte returns it won't take long for him to remind people why he is deemed a top 5 prospect for this draft....

 

[William H Bonney]

He's back in the lineup tonight against Michigan State.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

First point since returning. Scored one point today in a 7-3 loss to Lake Superior state. They were shutout yesterday 1-0 against Michigan State.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Turcotte looked fine skating out there yesterday versus LSSU. The U18's got him back just in time, as Jack Hughes wasn't there -- he and Spencer Knight are at the U20 WJC camp.

 

[Nabrules]

Good to see him back! has the whole new year to show what he's got

 

[UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY]

Turcotte looked fine skating out there yesterday versus LSSU. The U18's got him back just in time, as Jack Hughes wasn't there -- he and Spencer Knight are at the U20 WJC camp.

I heard that was the plan all along, he could have came back earlier but they gave him a little extra time and then steps in when Hughes leaves for WJC camp.... I agree, he looked very good and very little rust in his game. he will get it going in the 2nd half and anyone who dropped him because he was hurt will likely look like idiots because of it... at least that's my prediction!

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Goal and an assist yesterday against the best team in college hockey, St. Cloud State. They were missing Poehling, but thats still pretty good.

 

[AmericanDream]

Goal and an assist yesterday against the best team in college hockey, St. Cloud State. They were missing Poehling, but thats still pretty good.

I think this is the best thing for him with Hughes out..Turcotte is going to get top line minutes and build back up his confidence and conditioning while being out for as long as he has been. There are still going to be some scouts watching kids outside the WJC and I would imagine he is going to get a lot of attention the next week.

 

[Killerjas]

Is he injury prone?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Is he injury prone?

He plays a very-injury prone style of play.

He takes an inordinate amount of hits. He's too often off-balance battling for pucks in the corners often due to taking an extra effort type of approach to puck battles and he's always going to the dirty areas of the ice.

 

[Killerjas]

He plays a very-injury prone style of play.

He takes an inordinate amount of hits. He's too often off-balance battling for pucks in the corners often due to taking an extra effort type of approach to puck battles and he's always going to the dirty areas of the ice.

Thats not good. Sounds to me that he is quite a risky pick. Is he Vilardi 2.0?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Thats not good. Sounds to me that he is quite a risky pick. Is he Vilardi 2.0?

I don't think Vilardi is injury-prone. He's had really bad luck with injuries. Happens to some players.

Turcotte is injury prone because of how he plays the game. There are some players like that. I'm sure you could name one or two on every team that always are falling awkwardly near the boards, very painfully blocking shots, limping back to the bench, taking a lot of maintenance days. For some players, it never result in any serious injuries.

 

[UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY]

He plays a very-injury prone style of play.

He takes an inordinate amount of hits. He's too often off-balance battling for pucks in the corners often due to taking an extra effort type of approach to puck battles and he's always going to the dirty areas of the ice.

if by playing the right way is "playing and injury prone style" then you can say that for a lot of the kids at the top end of this draft.... ridiculous comment! so these kids should give up on pucks out of fear their draft stock may drop according to bloggers and twitter scouts?!?!?! get real!

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

if by playing the right way is "playing and injury prone style" then you can say that for a lot of the kids at the top end of this draft.... ridiculous comment! so these kids should give up on pucks out of fear their draft stock may drop according to bloggers and twitter scouts?!?!?! get real!

I suspect I have Turcotte ranked higher than anyone on this website, so you shouldn't get so upset about an analysis of his game. It doesn't mean he should drop in the draft, but I think you'd agree that this style is more likely to lead to injuries. There are a lot of players who avoid contact and won't be as injury-prone. Does that improve their draft stock? I don't think it should. I'll take the best hockey player.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He's playing really well right now.

8 points in 6 games since returning, but I think the best representation of what these NTDP players can do is against the college teams. Its a higher level of competition.

Turcotte has 7 points in 5 against the college teams.

I decided to look at how all the big names have done against the college teams.

13 in 9: Hughes
18 in 14: Zegras
12 in 14 (10G): Caufield
11 in 14: Boldy

Hughes, Turcotte, Zegras, Caufield, Boldy is how it would be ordered if you took into account their PPG average, although Caufield really should not be judged on points. He should be judged on goals. They all also haven't played the same number of games. Turcotte has only played in 5 of the college games, while Hughes has only played in 9 of them.

 

[bigdog16]

I don't think Vilardi is injury-prone. He's had really bad luck with injuries. Happens to some players.

Turcotte is injury prone because of how he plays the game. There are some players like that. I'm sure you could name one or two on every team that always are falling awkwardly near the boards, very painfully blocking shots, limping back to the bench, taking a lot of maintenance days. For some players, it never result in any serious injuries.

Coincidentally i feel like Pavel Buchnevich is one of those players

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Coincidentally i feel like Pavel Buchnevich is one of those players

We have a lot of injury-prone players.

Fast, Kreider, Howden all are like that. Zib and Buch pick up some injuries, although I don't know if its due to being injury-prone as opposed to bad luck with injuries.