Draisaitl, Reinhart the cream of the NHL-drafted center crop in the WHL

HF Article

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Nov 16, 2005
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Photo: Kelowna Rockets forward and Edmonton Oilers prospect Leon Draisaitl has played in 13 playoff games for the Rockets, scoring six goals and 13 assists while posting a +9 rating (courtesy of Marissa Baecker/Getty Images)


</p>There are many different kinds of centers – those who primarily excel offensively and those who contribute in other ways to the success of their respective teams. One of the biggest challenges across major junior hockey is taking into consideration the versatility of many top forwards. It is not uncommon for the best players down the middle to take a few turns on the wing on a regular basis.… read more

The post Draisaitl, Reinhart the cream of the NHL-drafted center crop in the WHL appeared first on Hockey's Future.



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McGoMcD

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Aug 14, 2005
15,688
668
Edmonton, AB
Great read, I think Drai should start on the Wing. He would be dominant in our top 6. Drai-McDavid-Yak and Hall-Nuge-Ebs. That would be one sick top 6.
 

Mr Positive

Cap Crunch Incoming
Nov 20, 2013
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It's nice to see an unbiased source say that Drai does in fact have a lot of value. It seems like no one else wants to give him his due credit outside the Oilers fanbase.
 

OilerOlli*

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Is he still 6'1? A year ago I thought that he could end up being 6'2 hopefully.
 
Jul 16, 2013
4,195
699
Edmonton
It's nice to see an unbiased source say that Drai does in fact have a lot of value. It seems like no one else wants to give him his due credit outside the Oilers fanbase.

Undervaluing Drai helps them sleep at night, it scares them to think our team could actually be that good. He was drafted 3rd overall for a reason, I really don't understand why people trash him so much either.
 

Toydarian

Registered User
Jun 2, 2009
2,732
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Draisaitl's value has taken a hit because most fans see 37 NHL GP, 2 Goals, 9 Points, and -14. That doesn't look very good at all. Only Oiler fans are aware that the circumstances Drasaitl played in were far from ideal.
 

Perfect_Drug

Registered User
Mar 24, 2006
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Montreal
Draisaitl is going to be a dynamite player and will be better for the Oilers, but Bennett is the better player.
For the Oilers, Bennett would have represented "more of the same".


We didn't need any more small forwards in our top 6. Especially because we had drafted LD we had both Gagner and Arcobello in our top 9, and we were desperately in need of some size.


We can see the dimension and dynamic Pouliot adds to RNH and Eberle over what Hall brought to that line. Hall is a better player, but Pouliot is what that line needs.
 

Toydarian

Registered User
Jun 2, 2009
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If Draisaitl remains in EDM long term, he will most likely be a second line LW or C and play on the second power play unit. Conversely, Bennett will most likely supplant Monahan as CGY's top line centre. Based on that alone, it will appear that CGY got the better player. Assuming Drasaitl develops, he will complement a froward group of McDavid, Hall, RNH, Eberle, and Yakupov far more than Bennett would.
 

DipsyMcDoodles

Registered User
Apr 6, 2014
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Edmonton
If Draisaitl remains in EDM long term, he will most likely be a second line LW or C and play on the second power play unit. Conversely, Bennett will most likely supplant Monahan as CGY's top line centre. Based on that alone, it will appear that CGY got the better player. Assuming Drasaitl develops, he will complement a froward group of McDavid, Hall, RNH, Eberle, and Yakupov far more than Bennett would.

I see your point but what if you reverse it? If Bennett comes here and Drai goes to Calgary is there not a good chance that Drai could pass Monahan one day too? As for Bennett, he would likely be the second line player you suggest as well in Edmonton; so by that logic, wouldn't Drai be the better player?
 

Toydarian

Registered User
Jun 2, 2009
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I'm not suggesting Bennett will be the better player. Frankly I don't know who will be. They play the game so differently. I do think that if both players develop, fans league wide will think Bennett is better because he'll have better offensive stats.
 

Dazed and Confused

Ludicrous speed, GO!
Aug 10, 2007
6,082
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Berlin, Germany
The only thing I ask is why is Bennett seen as the much better player, yes he's "flashier" but outside of that want aspects does he beat Draisaitl in? Is he better offencively? defensively? Does he play more of a pro-style game?
 

Toydarian

Registered User
Jun 2, 2009
2,732
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The only thing I ask is why is Bennett seen as the much better player, yes he's "flashier" but outside of that want aspects does he beat Draisaitl in? Is he better offencively? defensively? Does he play more of a pro-style game?

I'll hazard a guess and say for the same reasons people think Patrick Kane is better than Patrice Bergeron.
 

Gone

Fire KLowe
Aug 9, 2005
4,098
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Earth
The only thing I ask is why is Bennett seen as the much better player, yes he's "flashier" but outside of that want aspects does he beat Draisaitl in? Is he better offencively? defensively? Does he play more of a pro-style game?

Bennett is 6' 180 lbs at last year's draft. The perception was he was too small and we had lots of forwards like him. What people ignored was he was one of the youngest in his draft class, being 8 to 9 months younger than Draisaitl. Given that, the comparison's to Bennett that many made should of been his results from last year (2013/14) to Draisaitl's (2012/2013) season.

Anyway, IMHO, Bennett is going to be the best of the centers for years to come, and we still got a heck of a player.

Here is a great article by Lowetide on the 3 centers:

http://oilersnation.com/2014/4/17/make-the-call
 

LTIR

Registered User
Nov 8, 2013
26,400
13,491
McDavid - Draisait - Nuge down the middle
vs
McDavid - Nuge - Bennet down the middle

I will take option 1.

Calgary has Monahan so Bennet compliments them better.
 

Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
72,188
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Is he still 6'1? A year ago I thought that he could end up being 6'2 hopefully.

He was 6 1.5 at the combine so just a shade under 6'2.

Anyways I really don't care. If we had taken Bennett then it's quite possible we don't have McDavid right now.

You can't change one thing with something else changing, in that scenario, likely Mac T would have given up an asset to get a veteran center last summer as it was clear Bennett was likely going to need at least a year of junior and then when it was found out he needed shoulder surgery it likely would've pushed the Oilers to trade a future pick or something for a center.

And that could be the difference between us getting McDavid or the no.4 pick.

Leon will be a good player too if he wants it bad enough. He has talent, a good shot, and world class vision. You could even in his stint here that he can process the offensive side of the game very well, he just needs to get stronger and work on the skating.
 

OilerOlli*

Guest
The only thing I ask is why is Bennett seen as the much better player, yes he's "flashier" but outside of that want aspects does he beat Draisaitl in? Is he better offencively? defensively? Does he play more of a pro-style game?

They are totally different Player types, so it makes not much sense to compare both.
I would say the pro's for Bennett is his speed, grit, 2 way game and mental qickness. That are probably things Draisaitl can't match.
I said a year ago Draisaitl reminds me a bit of Toni Kroos in Football. The opinions goes wide. You like that style of game or you don't like it. Some thinks you need a player like Kroos for a Top Football team.
You can say he is too iconsistent, too slow in his decision makings, other say he is just smart and reads the game well, slows the game a bit down when it's needed etc.
I find it hard to find a good comparision for Draisaitl in hockey. He is his own player. Some parts of Kopitar, Weight, Thornton, Malkin or Jagr I see in him.
Not saying he will be as good as thise Players, but he surely has the potential to becoem a starplayer in the NHL.
How you like his game is a matter of taste.
 

LTIR

Registered User
Nov 8, 2013
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Hopefully the best C in WHL gets to go against the best C in OHL in Mem Cup
 

Aerchon

Registered User
Jul 20, 2011
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There are a couple things that effected my opinion about Bennet.

His extreme hype is only supported by the proven over exagerting and very biased eastern media group. Billing him as the next Gilmore.

In scouting reports was often said to have no single elite skill. Not skating, shooting, passing, two way, hockey iq.... Nothin Except compete. Elite compete is great but in todays NHL I would prefer some aspect of a top pick besides compete to be elite.

What convinced me that Leon was the better pick for the Oilers despite being the slightly worse ranked prospect was the combine. Ekblad, Leon, and Reinhart all crushed Bennet in the combine and pictures of Bennet made rnh look massive in his draft year.

All these players are going to be solid top 6 guys but I just can't see any of them cracking ppg or being considered a superstar.
 

Aceboogie

Registered User
Aug 25, 2012
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I though reinhart was far and above the better prospect t. At least that's what I read in hf
 

dem

Registered User
Mar 17, 2002
6,834
2,697
Make no mistake.. Sam Bennett is a very good hockey player. Not sure why you guys are trying to downplay him.

He's fast, he's skilled, and he competes. And that compete level can be infectious.

They say you can't teach skill.. but I can also guarantee you aren't going to get Leon to compete like Bennett does.
 

Soundwave

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
72,188
27,942
We got McDavid.

So everything for that to happen had to happen and couldn't have happened any other way.

Morpheus2.jpg
 

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