Carter Ashton / Ashton Carter is he ready for the big team?

[ForSpareParts*]

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/carter_ashton/

Do you think he has a shot on the 3rd line?

Can he make the jump from what you've seen in terms of his development in the Marlies' system?

Click to read more...

 

[indigobuffalo]

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/prospects/carter_ashton/

Do you think he has a shot on the 3rd line?

Can he make the jump from what you've seen in terms of his development in the Marlies' system?

Doubtful. He's not committed enough to the game it seems. Still has a small frame despite having the tools in place to fill out.

 

[The Iceman]

12 Forwards are set with him penned in to the Marlies.
Only 2 injuries would have him make this years team out of camp as D'Amigo is ahead of him on the call-up radar.

 

[613Leafer]

Even if he doesn't make the team out of camp, injuries should get him into the lineup sooner rather than later.

He is what he is. He's strong defensively and can play the PK, but only has limited offence. 3rd liner at best, maybe just a 4th liner if his offence doesn't translate at all to the NHL.

 

[The Saurus]

I really don't think he has a chance. Jerry D'Amigo is ahead of him on the depth chart, especially for a third line role.

 

[Razz]

I doubt he's going to make the team in camp and don't believe he's the first callup choice either.

I think he's going to be traded to a team lacking depth (similar to how we got him) for a change of scenery. D'Amigo has surpassed him. I wouldn't be suprised if McKegg surpasses him as well.

Ashton is a bust in my opinion.

 

[FifthLine]

Doubtful. He's not committed enough to the game it seems. Still has a small frame despite having the tools in place to fill out.

He may look on the skinny side, but he's already 215lbs. How much bigger do you want him to get?

 

[QMJHLfollower]

Personally I really like Ashton. I find that he's very underrated by the Leafs nation.

He's big, a really good skater, hits hard, can drops the gloves, good defensive game and on the PK, and decent offense to go with that.

Should develops into a very solid 3rd liner.

 

[The Velvet Hammer]

He may look on the skinny side, but he's already 2015lbs. How much bigger do you want him to get?

holy balls, thats a big boy.

 

[Hotlanta]

Doubtful. He's not committed enough to the game it seems. Still has a small frame despite having the tools in place to fill out.

Small Frame? He just has a skinny head that makes him look small. The man is 215lbs and 6'3" and a great skater for that weight class.

To answer OP's question, no he is not ready for a full-time NHL role, but, he is ready to be a injury fill in on the 4th line. Big defensive forwards take time to reach the NHL. It took our Golden boy McClement 5 years of Juniors, Minors and Spot Starts to make it full time in the NHL. I'd give Ashton 1-2 more seasons before we figure out if he has 3rd, 4th or Minor league potential. He definitely has all the pieces to make the NHL though.

 

[Leafidelity]

I'd much rather see D'Amigo get a look, who - in my opinion - has earned himself a proper chance.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Ahh- maybe he'll be a Marlie leader like Hamilton

 

[Cor]

I could see Ashton getting dealt ala Luca Caputi.

 

[likeabosski]

In his 2011-12 campaign with the Leafs, he actually had good Corsi Against stats (so he's good at preventing shots. Which is the Leafs' absolute #1 weakness.) But his on-ice sv% was dreadful. Even when you try to account for quality of team mates and competition. Definite offensive liability. Corsi-wise and GF (Goals For) rate wise. No goals were scored while he was on the ice for 155 5v5 mins. Which is terrible.

With Matt Frattin being traded and David Clarkson likely to be used on the 2nd scoring line instead of the shut-down 3rd checking line role he is way more suited to and the Leafs having had the worst shot prevention rate and defense in the league last season, we could use a guy with Carter Ashton's skillset on the 3rd or 4th checking line (Colton Orr is a goon. He doesn't deserve to take spots away from actual hockey players). He may have just had a spell of bad luck or needs to improve his confidence. PDO is a stat that tends to stabilize with most hockey players but some players of elite quality tend to stabilize at a noticeably higher than average PDO over time while players who suck tend to stabilize at a noticeably lower than average.

Clarkson is used to playing 17 1/2 mins/g and he's costing us $5.25m/yr for 7 years (he is useful to our team for sure but we grossly overpaid for his services when we could have picked up a 3rd checking line right-winger on the cheap in the UFA market or a trade) so I would have Clarkson come in to help the scoring line guys on defense when protecting a lead instead of just giving him the standard 3rd line minutes. Or we could give our third line a lot of minutes when necessary (protecting a lead) if they aren't tired. So that we make sure that the defensive liabilities of our Top 6 don't get exposed.

 

[Darcy Tucker]

We probably should have just kept Keith Aulie.

 

[p.l.f.]

Personally I really like Ashton. I find that he's very underrated by the Leafs nation.

He's big, a really good skater, hits hard, can drops the gloves, good defensive game and on the PK, and decent offense to go with that.

Should develops into a very solid 3rd liner.

I agree
He could replace Kulemin in a yr
But there's no rush this yr

 

[Avec Fromage*]

Well there are two spots that are up for grabs on the fourth line if McClement takes the 3rd line wing.

Carlyle seems intent on playing Orr as often as possible, which leaves the centre spot and the other wing… but McLaren will probably take the left wing spot most nights.

The popular opinion seems to be that Colborne and D'Amigo make the team before Ashton. Maybe even a guy like Trevor Smith bumps him too.

 

[Atomos2]

I don't think he'll ever be ready tbh. I don't have much faith in him.

 

[Stringer Bell]

A lot of stat watchers in this thread! With Dallas Eakins teams you can usually add about 12 points to every players' totals to see how they would measure up on another team. Or do you really think Keith Aucoin and Kadri are below a point per game players in the AHL?

 

[diceman934]

Nope....

 

[Geese_Howard*]

He was pretty good last year, his biggest problem is he can't stay healthy.

 

[SprDaVE]

He was really good when he was healthy.

No doubt in my mind that Carlyle will want to keep him in the lineup.

 

[daveleaf]

What a waste of a trade that was. They traded a very serviceable big, young NHL d-man for him. Stupid trade.

 

[Kessely Snipes]

Yeah would have rather kept Aulie.

 

[Damisoph]

Not even close. He'll have to take a huge step to get a sniff at the big club.