Four Prospects I should be hearing more about

[timlap]

I have heard very little about these guys, yet they seem to have had impressive seasons. Can anyone tell me more about them, and perhaps explain why they are not getting a lot of buzz (that i've heard anyway).

Cal O'Reilly- Windsor Spitfires
C 5'11" 190 68 24-50-74

Mike Duco- Kitchener Rangers
LW 5'10" 194 62 24-26-50

Ryan Wilson- Toronto St. Mike's
D 6'1" 212 68 13-24-37

Evan Brophey- Belleville Bulls
C 6'1" 195 68 23-41-71

--------------------------------------------

And then, as a bonus. two players I've heard some buzz about, but I don't understand why they aren't hyped even more:

Tom Fritsche- Ohio State
LW 5'11" 184 42 11-34-45

Paul Stastny- University of Denver
C 6'0" 200 42 17-28-45



Could Stastny be a first rounder?? Any other projections, or descriptions of their talent. Are they sleepers or duds?

Any help is appreciated.

Click to read more...

 

[CharlieGirl]

There are a couple of factors that caused Duco to drop in the rankings....

a) 5'10" is generous. I'd say he's closer to 5'8". The 194 is not far off though.
b) He had a terrible playoff run with Kitchener this year, and saw his icetime dwindle as the playoffs went on.

Despite his size, he's scrappy and will hit anything. He's a lot of fun to watch, but I don't see him playing in the NHL unless he experiences a major growth spurt.

 

[timlap]

There are a couple of factors that caused Duco to drop in the rankings....

a) 5'10" is generous. I'd say he's closer to 5'8". The 194 is not far off though.
b) He had a terrible playoff run with Kitchener this year, and saw his icetime dwindle as the playoffs went on.

Despite his size, he's scrappy and will hit anything. He's a lot of fun to watch, but I don't see him playing in the NHL unless he experiences a major growth spurt.

Ahh yes, now that you mention it I notice that he had 0 points in 15 playoff games. 5'8" 194 ought to be big enough to play in the NHL, but he would have to be a special player.

Thanks for the feedback on Duco.

 

[Spitfire11]

Some team is going to get a steal with O'Reilly. Size is one obvious reason he hasn't been talked about, but he's also considered extremely soft. That's despite the fact he has no trouble going into the corners or the front of the net, he just won't throw many(if any) hits. He reminds me a little of Pavel Datsyuk.

 

[timlap]

Some team is going to get a steal with O'Reilly. Size is one obvious reason he hasn't been talked about, but he's also considered extremely soft. That's despite the fact he has no trouble going into the corners or the front of the net, he just won't throw many(if any) hits. He reminds me a little of Pavel Datsyuk.

How is his skating?

 

[Chief]

timlap:

Ryan Wilson - In our YoungGunsHockey.com draft guide, we actually asked the same question about Ryan Wilson. We know he's not a blue-chip prospect but there's plenty there we like. The guy is always up for a challenge, he's big, plays physical, has character, will drop the gloves, can put up some points. Sounds pretty good, right? We know his skating needs work and to be honest, he didn't show much progress this past season as compared to the one before it but we still have him rated as a late 3rd rounder.

Evan Brophey - We've got him rated as an early 3rd rounder. Problem with him is that he just completed his 3rd full OHL season and his numbers took a big jump this past season compared to the first two. People are probably questioning his late-bloom.

Paul Stastny - We've got him as an early 3rd rounder too. I'm assuming that the reason there's not more buzz on him is that (1) he's an 85 birthdate and (2) he's more of a "hard-working" type than a "blessed with skill" type. There are plenty of draft commentators and NHL organizations that are seduced by "skills" rather than work ethic. Tom McVie once gave me a great quote. George Allen, the old Redskins coach told Tom: "Watch out for the guys that look like players. You'll get fired waiting for them (to get it together)." Meaning, he'd take a hard worker over an inconsistent skill player.

Tom Fritsche - He was damn close to cracking our Top 100. If he were a little bigger, there'd be nothing to dislike about him. As to why he didn't make it as opposed to a player of similar size like Vladimir Sobotka, who did - it just comes down to personal preferences. Some people prefer Dominos pizza, others like Little Ceasar's.

Hope that helps.

 

[timlap]

timlap:

Ryan Wilson - In our YoungGunsHockey.com draft guide, we actually asked the same question about Ryan Wilson. We know he's not a blue-chip prospect but there's plenty there we like. The guy is always up for a challenge, he's big, plays physical, has character, will drop the gloves, can put up some points. Sounds pretty good, right? We know his skating needs work and to be honest, he didn't show much progress this past season as compared to the one before it but we still have him rated as a late 3rd rounder.

Evan Brophey - We've got him rated as an early 3rd rounder. Problem with him is that he just completed his 3rd full OHL season and his numbers took a big jump this past season compared to the first two. People are probably questioning his late-bloom.

Paul Stastny - We've got him as an early 3rd rounder too. I'm assuming that the reason there's not more buzz on him is that (1) he's an 85 birthdate and (2) he's more of a "hard-working" type than a "blessed with skill" type. There are plenty of draft commentators and NHL organizations that are seduced by "skills" rather than work ethic. Tom McVie once gave me a great quote. George Allen, the old Redskins coach told Tom: "Watch out for the guys that look like players. You'll get fired waiting for them (to get it together)." Meaning, he'd take a hard worker over an inconsistent skill player.

Tom Fritsche - He was damn close to cracking our Top 100. If he were a little bigger, there'd be nothing to dislike about him. As to why he didn't make it as opposed to a player of similar size like Vladimir Sobotka, who did - it just comes down to personal preferences. Some people prefer Dominos pizza, others like Little Ceasar's.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Chief, that was helpful.

I missed the fact that Stastny was an '85. Oh well, I guess that helps explain his good statiscal season. Too bad. I was hoping to get a potential offensive star. I guess I just assume the name Stastny equates to NHL excellence.

I realise that Brophey is a late '86 with 3 full years of junior under his belt, but still that was a pretty impressive season in terms of numbers. However, I have never seen him play, so I am in no position to judge. However he reminds me of Matt Stajan, who never seemed to get any attention at all in his draft year. I'm not saying they're similar players. just that they both seem to be flying under the radar, as if people didn't quite believe the numbers they were putting up.

 

[Chief]

BTW - I didn't mean to blow the relevence of Stastny's birthdate out of proportion either, he was born 12/27/85.