C Hendrix Lapierre - (2020, 22nd, WSH)

[Wintersun]

Watched most of Chicoutimi's games and Shawinigan's games in the pre-season and Lapierre is the best of the bunch easily for me (compared to Mercer and Bourque). Can't wait to see who gives him a chance at the draft.

 

[twotonfrankie1]

Lapierre is an interesting case..I could see him really landing anywhere from 15-30.

 

[Number 57]

Button doesn't look so crazy now putting him in the pre-season top-5 last year with Askarov.

 

[Peasy]

Button doesn't look so crazy now putting him in the pre-season top-5 last year with Askarov.

People ripped on him for having him higher than most for the entire year.

I also remember people ripping on Button for not having Turcotte anywhere near the top 5 last year. Now people are not as fond of Turcotte as they were before he was drafted a year later.

 

[CraigBillington]

People ripped on him for having him higher than most for the entire year.

I also remember people ripping on Button for not having Turcotte anywhere near the top 5 last year. Now people are not as fond of Turcotte as they were before he was drafted a year later.

I've often found that Buttons list is pretty good. He's fairly accurate with his personal list in retrospect.

I kind of want to dig up previous lists and see just how accurate he was

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

People ripped on him for having him higher than most for the entire year.

I also remember people ripping on Button for not having Turcotte anywhere near the top 5 last year. Now people are not as fond of Turcotte as they were before he was drafted a year later.

He also had Dach at 12. At this point that's probably worse miss than Turcotte was a hit

 

[HC7]

Wow a good preseason better put him in the top 10 even though he scored 2 goals last season... lol

 

[majormajor]

Wow a good preseason better put him in the top 10 even though he scored 2 goals last season... lol

It is my sincerest hope that NHL GMs are as skeptical as you are so that Lapierre falls to my Jackets at #21.

All he has done this pre-season is return to the dominance he showed before his neck injury, at the Hlinka and in the Q the year prior.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I’ll still say that Button is not a proper expert, and TSN does their audience a big disservice by trotting him out as one. Maybe he has the background for the role, but he doesn’t seem to put the time in for the role. He bases his opinions almost entirely on a few junior international tournaments throughout a season, and it’s reflected in his rankings. I don’t really care if he gets one or two right. I also don’t think he’s vindicated about any of those things right now. I don’t know why people pump his tires.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

I’ll still say that Button is not a proper expert, and TSN does their audience a big disservice by trotting him out as one. Maybe he has the background for the role, but he doesn’t seem to put the time in for the role. He bases his opinions almost entirely on a few junior international tournaments throughout a season, and it’s reflected in his rankings. I don’t really care if he gets one or two right. I also don’t think he’s vindicated about any of those things right now. I don’t know why people pump his tires.

2 things

1) Bolded might be correct. He does hits for every TSN game during the regular season, and every cup game. This combined with the one off pieces TSN does, organizational rankings, offseason plans, etc. He also does free agent and trade reactions. He's spread too thin, but I'm assuming he wants to do that much stuff.

2) The competition (SN) puts out sam cosentino, who writes the most vague scouting reports in the industry.

Seriously. read this: Sportsnet's 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: Lottery edition - Sportsnet.ca

"3. Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL): Great player already with great size and a ton of growth potential still ahead of him."

"9. Alexander Holtz, RW, Djugarden (SHL): Elite shooting and goal-scoring ability should translate to the NHL."


That could literally describe almost anyone. So there isn't really anywhere for casual fans, who don't own The Athletic or other draft guides to read about prospects.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

2 things

1) Bolded might be correct. He does hits for every TSN game during the regular season, and every cup game. This combined with the one off pieces TSN does, organizational rankings, offseason plans, etc. He also does free agent and trade reactions. He's spread too thin, but I'm assuming he wants to do that much stuff.

2) The competition (SN) puts out sam cosentino, who writes the most vague scouting reports in the industry.

Seriously. read this: Sportsnet's 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: Lottery edition - Sportsnet.ca

"3. Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL): Great player already with great size and a ton of growth potential still ahead of him."

That could literally describe almost anyone. So there isn't really anywhere for casual fans, who don't own The Athletic or other draft guides to read about prospects.

I don’t think Consentino is great either, but you’d expect TSN to provide a better product to their fans as the leader around the world in hockey coverage. Button might not even be a bad person to be in that role, but it seems pretty widely believed that Button does scouting prospects for TSN part time.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

I don’t think Consentino is great either, but you’d expect TSN to provide a better product to their fans as the leader around the world in hockey coverage. Button might not even be a bad person to be in that role, but it seems pretty widely believed that Button does scouting prospects for TSN part time.

Onus is on SN, NHL draft rights holder, to put out something better than this"

"9. Alexander Holtz, RW, Djugarden (SHL): Elite shooting and goal-scoring ability should translate to the NHL."

Like what? Atleast Button seems like he's watched the major tournaments. I could read half the stuff from Consentino off Elite prospects.

 

[majormajor]

2 things

1) Bolded might be correct. He does hits for every TSN game during the regular season, and every cup game. This combined with the one off pieces TSN does, organizational rankings, offseason plans, etc. He also does free agent and trade reactions. He's spread too thin, but I'm assuming he wants to do that much stuff.

2) The competition (SN) puts out sam cosentino, who writes the most vague scouting reports in the industry.

Seriously. read this: Sportsnet's 2020 NHL Draft Prospect Rankings: Lottery edition - Sportsnet.ca

"3. Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL): Great player already with great size and a ton of growth potential still ahead of him."

"9. Alexander Holtz, RW, Djugarden (SHL): Elite shooting and goal-scoring ability should translate to the NHL."


That could literally describe almost anyone. So there isn't really anywhere for casual fans, who don't own The Athletic or other draft guides to read about prospects.

I don't think the Athletic is any better in that respect, maybe a little bit but I also find that Pronman and Wheeler are vague and don't say much. Pick a late 1st type prospect and look up what they have published about them, it could be shorter than your post. Compare that to the thousands of words that some youtube scouts will put out there, or the huge draft guides floating around. Cosentino was a recent guest on, I believe Dobber prospects podcast (?), and he can also expand well in that setting. I tried Button's tracking the draft podcast and it was maddingly vague. The playstyle details were missing and then he'd go on about character for 10 minutes.

 

[Byron Bitz]

It is my sincerest hope that NHL GMs are as skeptical as you are so that Lapierre falls to my Jackets at #21.

All he has done this pre-season is return to the dominance he showed before his neck injury, at the Hlinka and in the Q the year prior.

Draft eligible players are treating this preseason like it’s the Stanley cup final while everyone else is just getting loose.

 

[57special]

And there's something wrong with that? I would worry about prospects who aren't trying, myself.

 

[majormajor]

Draft eligible players are treating this preseason like it’s the Stanley cup final while everyone else is just getting loose.

The production is not why his performance is interesting. He's moving more comfortably. Last year when he was hurting he would steer clear of traffic and grimace if anyone touched him. It was so bad I think he'd have gotten wrecked even in a pre-season style game.

 

[bert]

I’ll still say that Button is not a proper expert, and TSN does their audience a big disservice by trotting him out as one. Maybe he has the background for the role, but he doesn’t seem to put the time in for the role. He bases his opinions almost entirely on a few junior international tournaments throughout a season, and it’s reflected in his rankings. I don’t really care if he gets one or two right. I also don’t think he’s vindicated about any of those things right now. I don’t know why people pump his tires.

But you are? He has shown far more knowledge than you and its not remotely close. He actually knows what he is talking about. I saw him at multiple 67 and Gatineau Olympic games. Did you make it to any of those?.... Nope. He actually watches players in person and was an NHL GM, but ofcourse you know better lol. He also has no nationality bias's when evaluating players because he does it for a living. He actually has something riding on his opinions and lists.

 

[Brobust]

But you are? He has shown far more knowledge than you and its not remotely close. He actually knows what he is talking about. I saw him at multiple 67 and Gatineau Olympic games. Did you make it to any of those?.... Nope. He actually watches players in person and was an NHL GM, but ofcourse you know better lol. He also has no nationality bias's when evaluating players because he does it for a living. He actually has something riding on his opinions and lists.

Yeah, I agree. He does the work. He's just bad at it.

Plus he's a dinosaur.

 

[untouchable21]

Watched most of Chicoutimi's games and Shawinigan's games in the pre-season and Lapierre is the best of the bunch easily for me (compared to Mercer and Bourque). Can't wait to see who gives him a chance at the draft.

Jets please!!!!! And Thank you!!!

 

[Joe Hallenback]

But you are? He has shown far more knowledge than you and its not remotely close. He actually knows what he is talking about. I saw him at multiple 67 and Gatineau Olympic games. Did you make it to any of those?.... Nope. He actually watches players in person and was an NHL GM, but ofcourse you know better lol. He also has no nationality bias's when evaluating players because he does it for a living. He actually has something riding on his opinions and lists.

I used to say this years ago when I would attend Wheat King games regularly. I saw Button there at least once a year and he was always talking to the scouts that were in the building. I had a few conversations with him myself and he was always willing to talk hockey. He would get out to the Junior rinks a lot and he loved it. He is one of those guys and I know there a few on these boards that love to get out to the rinks and watch young guys play. He isn't a full time scout but man he could be if he wanted to

 

[bert]

Yeah, I agree. He does the work. He's just bad at it.

Plus he's a dinosaur.

Lol the HF mind set that a bunch of people that have never played hockey know more than Craig Button is absolutely hilarious to me. 'I looked at bunch of charts I know more about hockey than Craig Button'.

 

[Agent Zub]

I’ll still say that Button is not a proper expert, and TSN does their audience a big disservice by trotting him out as one. Maybe he has the background for the role, but he doesn’t seem to put the time in for the role. He bases his opinions almost entirely on a few junior international tournaments throughout a season, and it’s reflected in his rankings. I don’t really care if he gets one or two right. I also don’t think he’s vindicated about any of those things right now. I don’t know why people pump his tires.

Button is a very good hockey mind. It's just because he doesn't follow the HF hive mind to a tee that people here get so offended.

 

[HC7]

The production is not why his performance is interesting. He's moving more comfortably. Last year when he was hurting he would steer clear of traffic and grimace if anyone touched him. It was so bad I think he'd have gotten wrecked even in a pre-season style game.

You got an 8K TV that you can see him grimace when someone touched him?

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

The thing I like about button is you can tell he actually watches players. Or he gets a tip from someone... cause he’ll often go out on a limb and rank some consensus guys low, like in the second.

I think people like consensus, because it’s pretty easy to see at the top. But after that it’s a complete mess and most people are full of it.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The thing I like about button is you can tell he actually watches players. Or he gets a tip from someone... cause he’ll often go out on a limb and rank some consensus guys low, like in the second.

I think people like consensus, because it’s pretty easy to see at the top. But after that it’s a complete mess and most people are full of it.

McCagg does the same thing. Both are hot take artists. They get 3 out of 10 right. People criticize McCagg for it, but don’t with Button. They’ll remember the ones he got right. His record is bad. An example is that he had Kravtsov his #1 rated prospect a year and a half ago. Now he’s claiming that he has middle six upside. He can’t even keep up with his own opinions.