C Frederik Gauthier (2013, 21st, TOR) II

[buttman*]

Best case scenario -- 4th line center.

 

[Leafidelity]

As for Freddy, he looked good enough in the NHL last year that he should still have a real chance of playing bottom 6 minutes. He didn't look nearly as slow or out of place as one might have thought. His skating has made big improvements with Barb Underhill.

 

[GTA]

I projected Gauthier as a bottom six shutdown center who could take on heavy minutes, important draws, be a great PKer, while being able to minimize scoring chances against with a decent possession game.

He was a slightly above average faceoff man in the Q, what makes you think he will excel at this in the NHL?

 

[67Cup]

He was a slightly above average faceoff man in the Q, what makes you think he will excel at this in the NHL?

Well, there's the fact he played that role for Team Canada in the World Juniors and for the Marlies in the AHL. No guarantee, of course, but an indication, though he certainly has to develop in this as in other areas.

 

[Whileee]

He was a slightly above average faceoff man in the Q, what makes you think he will excel at this in the NHL?

Do we really think there's an important role for "face-off specialists" in the NHL? I think a player contributing to a good team has to do an awful lot more than that. Without being able to think and act quickly with the puck, and without enough quickness, players get dominated and pinned in their own end in the NHL as it moves more and more to quickness as a weapon.

 

[HarrisonFord]

Do we really think there's an important role for "face-off specialists" in the NHL? I think a player contributing to a good team has to do an awful lot more than that. Without being able to think and act quickly with the puck, and without enough quickness, players get dominated and pinned in their own end in the NHL as it moves more and more to quickness as a weapon.

Well he's really not just a face-off specialist. He's also a PK guy. Cullen was very important to the Pens last year. Brian Boyle is the one who immediately comes to mind for me though

 

[Whileee]

Well he's really not just a face-off specialist. He's also a PK guy. Cullen was very important to the Pens last year. Brian Boyle is the one who immediately comes to mind for me though

I thought maybe Adam Lowry was a comparable when Gauthier was drafted, but Gauthier's fallen behind Lowry's trajectory.

 

[Kelly]

I thought maybe Adam Lowry was a comparable when Gauthier was drafted, but Gauthier's fallen behind Lowry's trajectory.

Lowry:
WHL PPG: 0.87
AHL PPG: 0.49

Gauthier
QMJHL PPG: 0.94
AHL PPG: 0.32

Meh, barely. Lets not forget he's been playing on a deep Marlies team too.

I don't think reasonable Leaf fans expect much out of Gauthier, if he becomes a staple as a 4th line C for us, then great. If not, then it meant one of our other prospects beat him out for his job. In hindsight, Gauthier looks like a bad pick. But at the time he was expected to go mid to late 1st. There was hope Gauthier was gonna take a jump in offensive production the next year, that just never happened. Oh well, at 21st OA, it's not the end of the world.

 

[Whileee]

Lowry:
WHL PPG: 0.87
AHL PPG: 0.49

Gauthier
QMJHL PPG: 0.94
AHL PPG: 0.32

Meh, barely. Lets not forget he's been playing on a deep Marlies team too.

I don't think reasonable Leaf fans expect much out of Gauthier, if he becomes a staple as a 4th line C for us, then great. If not, then it meant one of our other prospects beat him out for his job. In hindsight, Gauthier looks like a bad pick. But at the time he was expected to go mid to late 1st. There was hope Gauthier was gonna take a jump in offensive production the next year, that just never happened. Oh well, at 21st OA, it's not the end of the world.

Lowry's trajectory in junior was much better than Gauthier's and he carried that forward to the AHL level. Gauthier stagnated in junior - Lowry was the WHL player of the year in his last junior season.

Lowry's AHL team lost in the finals... it was a deep team, too.

 

[KingTux]

Paul Gaustad ?

 

[The Thin White Duke]

Lowry's trajectory in junior was much better than Gauthier's and he carried that forward to the AHL level. Gauthier stagnated in junior - Lowry was the WHL player of the year in his last junior season.

Lowry's AHL team lost in the finals... it was a deep team, too.

Gauthier was behind arguably the 2 best centers in the AHL for most of the season. There really just wasn't any realistic opportunity for him to succeed offensively outside of injury/callups. No (realistic) amount of development would have led to him being played ahead of Nylander or Arcobello, and Sam Carrick plays a similar game but had the advantage of age and experience in the Marlies system.

Maybe I'm missing something with the Moose's roster, but Lowry doesn't seem to have had the same kinds of roadblocks in front of him regardless of how well the team did overall.

 

[Whileee]

Gauthier was behind arguably the 2 best centers in the AHL for most of the season. There really just wasn't any realistic opportunity for him to succeed offensively outside of injury/callups. No (realistic) amount of development would have led to him being played ahead of Nylander or Arcobello, and Sam Carrick plays a similar game but had the advantage of age and experience in the Marlies system.

Maybe I'm missing something with the Moose's roster, but Lowry doesn't seem to have had the same kinds of roadblocks in front of him regardless of how well the team did overall.

Lowry was behind a couple of experienced AHLers. Regardless, I don't think Gauthier's problem has been just usage. His offense stagnated in junior whereas Lowry's blossomed, and that trajectory continued at the AHL level.

Maybe Gauthier will make a big leap, but he's considerably behind the curve you'd expect from a bona fide solid NHL prospect.

 

[McMatthews]

Gauthier is going to be a pretty important piece of this organization in the coming years.

His upside is a very good 4th line centre and penalty killer.

The combination of size, defensive play and his much improved skating could present a match up nightmare for opponents.

 

[Nithoniniel]

He was a slightly above average faceoff man in the Q, what makes you think he will excel at this in the NHL?

Excel is maybe too strong a word. Useful in that role is more what I believe in. And I think he can become that since it's a skill that you can definitely improve on quickly with dedication, and he'll play that role and gain experience while developing.

Do we really think there's an important role for "face-off specialists" in the NHL? I think a player contributing to a good team has to do an awful lot more than that. Without being able to think and act quickly with the puck, and without enough quickness, players get dominated and pinned in their own end in the NHL as it moves more and more to quickness as a weapon.

The face-off specialist is a dying breed, just like the enforcer. However, having players that can do it as part of their repertoire of skills can still be useful. Like you said, most situations you want a player that can move the puck out as well as just win the draw, but I think Gauthier has the potential to be able to deliver both. Plus, there will always be important last minute draws and such where shutdown, rather than puck-moving, is the key.

 

[Tripod]

Gauthiers value won't come from points anyways so using PPG is useless. There is still a use for good, solid defensive players. If he can get better on FO, that would really help.

Look at the a Flyers and Boyd Gordon. We are very happy to add him for FO and defensive play in the 4th line....despite him only getting 4 points last year. He filled a need we had.

Was FG picked too early? Yes. But he can still be a useful NHLer for many years.

 

[McMatthews]

Gauthiers value won't come from points anyways so using PPG is useless. There is still a use for good, solid defensive players. If he can get better on FO, that would really help.

Look at the a Flyers and Boyd Gordon. We are very happy to add him for FO and defensive play in the 4th line....despite him only getting 4 points last year. He filled a need we had.

Was FG picked too early? Yes. But he can still be a useful NHLer for many years.

Gauthier was a bad pick and many Leafs fans were upset when Dave Nonis and Brian Burke drafted him. But he absolutely still shows promise to fill a very particular need. 6'5 centres that can skate and play plus defence aren't easily attainable. Gauthier likely has the offensive upside to score 30 points at some point but his value is solely in his ability to play a tight defensive game up the middle and kill penalties.

I'm still pretty excited about what Mike Babcock can do with Frederik Gauthier.

 

[Brewsky]

Fred Gauthier = David Steckel

 

[Countryjunkie]

Gauthiers value won't come from points anyways so using PPG is useless. There is still a use for good, solid defensive players. If he can get better on FO, that would really help.

^
This.

Freddy "the goat" has always been projected to be an elite defensive prospect. So to crap on him for not putting up big numbers is pointless (see what I did there, LOL. Anyways....).

It's well known that Mike Babcock loves to have strong defensive/checking players on his team. As long as Gauthier continues to develop his defensive game in the AHL, this kid is going nowhere. In fact I'm sure it's almost safe to say that he'll be given every opportunity to crack the Leafs line up within the next year (2017-18) or so.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

I don't get the hate on him. We are stacked with offensive forward prospects but we have a kid who is elite defensively and good on the draw as well as being huge. These are all attributes that the leafs will need down the road. There is a reason Team Canada chose him two years in a row. Having Mathews, Nylander Kadri down the middle we dont need a ppg center on the fourth line. Gauthier's role will be important taking key defensive zone faceoffs and shutting the other team down late in a game

Who cares about his draft position. Our past management screwed up alot of draft choices but Freddy is still here and i am happy we have him

 

[Captain Timo]

I don't get the hate on him. We are stacked with offensive forward prospects but we have a kid who is elite defensively and good on the draw as well as being huge. These are all attributes that the leafs will need down the road. There is a reason Team Canada chose him two years in a row. Having Mathews, Nylander Kadri down the middle we dont need a ppg center on the fourth line. Gauthier's role will be important taking key defensive zone faceoffs and shutting the other team down late in a game

Who cares about his draft position. Our past management screwed up alot of draft choices but Freddy is still here and i am happy we have him

Draft position does matter because the Leafs could've gotten a better player where he was selected, that's not debatable, that's pretty well set in stone at this point in time.

I agree, I don't necessarily care about the pick because it should fill a future need, but saying the draft position doesn't matter is wrong.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Draft position does matter because the Leafs could've gotten a better player where he was selected, that's not debatable, that's pretty well set in stone at this point in time.

I agree, I don't necessarily care about the pick because it should fill a future need, but saying the draft position doesn't matter is wrong.

At the time he was picked right around where he was ranked. In hindsight, yes there were better players available, but it wasn't seen as a reach at the time.

 

[LV*]

Fourth line shutdown center that plays on the first PK unit. It'd be great if thats what he becomes.

Matthews - All around stud
Nylander - Offensive #2C
Kadri - Gritty two-way center with skill
Gauthier - Shutdown center

Looks good to me.

 

[exporta]

Doubtful he is an NHLer. No more than a 4th liner if he is.

Today's 4th line plays a much larger role than it ever has, if he becomes a solid per and 4th line centre we can count on for defensive zone draws then that's great.

Not good value for a 1st round pick, but still useful.

 

[Captain Timo]

At the time he was picked right around where he was ranked. In hindsight, yes there were better players available, but it wasn't seen as a reach at the time.

He was a weird one, because he was ranked anywhere from 20-25 on a lot of lists, to out of the top 30 on others. Oh well, like I said, I'm not that cheesed. The likelihood of getting a good NHL player from pick #21 is low regardless.

 

[93LEAFS]

He was a weird one, because he was ranked anywhere from 20-25 on a lot of lists, to out of the top 30 on others. Oh well, like I said, I'm not that cheesed. The likelihood of getting a good NHL player from pick #21 is low regardless.

If I remember correctly, most people wanted Shinkaruk who is already on to his 2nd franchise. Granted, we'd be ecstatic if we chose Theodore over him.