Gauthier debuts at number two spot in Toronto Maple Leafs Top 20

[QMJHLfollower]

Like the depth and the mixtes of character and physical player.

We still lack of forward prospect with top 6 offensive upside.

Let's hope a few of our late round picks like Fabrice Herzog, Andreas Johnson, Connor Brown, Tony Cameranesi, Dominic Toninato, etc. or FA signing like Spencer Abbott can develop into top 6 forwards.

 

[SprDaVE]

Like the depth and the mixtes of character and physical player.

We still lack of forward prospect with top 6 offensive upside.

Let's hope a few of our late round picks like Fabrice Herzog, Andreas Johnson, Connor Brown, Tony Cameranesi, Dominic Toninato, etc. or FA signing like Spencer Abbott can develop into top 6 forwards.

McKegg is a bit of a long-shot but I think his ceiling is a top 6 forward.

He's very skilled and his skating has improved a lot since drafted. For the first time since he turned pro, he will be the "go to" center on the Marlies along with veteran Smith. This is the year we'll see where he is in his development and what's his potential.

Gauthier may also have that top 6 center potential. We'll see how he does in his sophmore year.

 

[zeke]

We still lack of forward prospect with top 6 offensive upside.

s.

We might not have any likely first liners there, but we have a good number of prospects with legit top-6 upside. Most if them also have the bonus of very good all-around games, which gives them the third line option until they reac h that top 6 upside.

But gauthier colborne leivo mckegg d'amigo all have legit top6 upside, and biggs brown and some of the ncaa and euro guys have some longshot upside there too.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Just took a quick look at that- hilarious.

Great job J-E. Very fair rankings.

They only have 4 guys at less than 6.5

 

[Mess]

With Burke's arrival in Calgary it has opened a new opportunity for Nonis to acquire some good draft picks and build up the Leafs prospect system.

 

[JEI]

Thanks to those who took the time to read through. These things are never easy. After the first handful (1-5) it really is a big group of linked prospects together where the positioning is fairly interchangeable (at least, my opinion of the Leafs group). When making these lists I like to take into account (among other things) how close they are to being NHL ready, their ages, where they played (and where they will be playing) and if they got any international recognition.

For those wondering, the players who missed the cut for my top 20 were: Johnson, MacWilliam, Loov, and Brown. I had a hard time leaving those guys out, but here's some of my reasoning:

Johnson - love this pick at the draft, still like it. I just think he's a longer term project. Want to see how he does in the SHL too against higher competition (he's off to a great start though). Similar for Loov. Nilsson could have fell into this category too, but made the list because of his play internationally and I always here/see very good standout things about him.

MacWilliam I'm a fan of. I like his style and he's come a long way since he was drafted. Think he can be a player, but likely a depth guy ala Mark Fraser (if you want to use a Leaf comparable). He's also older at 23 so I took that into consideration (same reason why I dropped Abbott off the list). Window of opportunity may not be as big as some of the other kids starting pro at 20.

Brown - high talent, and a good motor. Not the biggest guy or best skater so that hinders him a bit. Really debated switching him with someone like Rupert. But with Rupert, I find you get more of a total package that may squeeze him into an NHL spot. He was also recognized by Team Canada and I think that counts for something during a prospects development. Same could be said of Broll, but I think Broll is a guy the management group really likes and from what I've gathered, it seems Spott really likes him (so he'll get opportunity).

Again, the guys at the bottom of the top 20 you can probably swap in/out without much issue.

Granberg being ranked outside the top 10, for me because he's coming over from NA. I try to keep that in mind when making these lists that for some it'll be an adjustment. And really, he could have been placed as high as six or seven. I have Percy so high because I think he has the makings to be a better pro then he was junior. He has a high end hockey IQ and has great patience with the puck. He's fit in seamlessly with the Marlies in the handful of games I saw too. Granberg is no slouch and I consider them both around the same level of prospect (if that makes any sense). I just think if Percy hits his ceiling and Granberg hit's his, Percy offers more of an all-round (specifically offense) asset than Granberg. Would like to see both improve their footwork, but that's something that could happen naturally as they acclimate to the pro ranks (and in Granberg's case, NA smaller rinks).

Hope that clears a few questions up.

 

[Deebo]

With Burke's arrival in Calgary it has opened a new opportunity for Nonis to acquire some good draft picks and build up the Leafs prospect system.

Over Burke's tenure in Toronto he accquired 8 more picks than he traded away. Fletcher's fumbling of the Frogren contract cost the leafs one of those picks.

Nonis traded away 3 more picks than he has acquired since taking over.

 

[topched]

Over Burke's tenure in Toronto he accquired 8 more picks than he traded away. Fletcher's fumbling of the Frogren contract cost the leafs one of those picks.

Nonis traded away 3 more picks than he has acquired since taking over.

That's totally fudging the numbers though.

Burke traded two top 10 picks away in the same deal (#2 and #8) and "replaced them" with two picks in the 20's, giving up 2 more seconds at the same time.

Burke also was in the position to dump contracts like Versteeg and Kaberle at the deadline.

In Nonis first year his team was winning, so yeah be moved a mid rounder for a guy like Obyrne. Not comparable

 

[Joey Hoser]

Again, the guys at the bottom of the top 20 you can probably swap in/out without much issue.

Whoa there. Don't be so sure. When we were doing our top 30, there was people getting pissed off about how bad we were screwing up the 25-30 spots and how it was an embarassment to the team and fanbase how clueless and biased we were.

 

[Deebo]

That's totally fudging the numbers though.

No, it's what happened, they may not be comparable situations, but I didn't fudge anything. They are 100% accurate (if I didn't do a bad job in compiling the numbers).

Burke traded two top 10 picks away in the same deal (#2 and #8) and "replaced them" with two picks in the 20's, giving up 2 more seconds at the same time.

He did also bring in a top 10 NHL scorer in that same deal who was drafted at #5 just a few years earlier. A little bit nit picky here, but Hamilton was #9, not #9.

Burke also was in the position to dump contracts like Versteeg and Kaberle at the deadline.

In Nonis first year his team was winning, so yeah be moved a mid rounder for a guy like Obyrne. Not comparable

You're right, they aren't comparable situations. I probably shouldn't have included Nonis' draft pick trade totals since they are irrelevant to the point that I was trying to make - Burke wasn't trading constantly trading picks away like mess would suggest. Also in order for us to accquire "good draft picks" from Burke, we'd have to give up a potential top 10 NHL scorer to make a deal like that.

 

[Mojo19]

Do you think Toronto has improved, worsened or stayed the same with respect to team prospect rankings?

#24 out of 30 in the Spring Team Rankings 2012-2013...
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/team-rankings/spring-team-rankings-2012-13/page/1

Last year only Washington, Carolina, Vancouver, New Jersey, Colorado and Philadelphia were worse.

 

[highslot]

After seeing the rookie game, I would rate Leivo #2 at this point, and Finn #3.

correction: Colborne I'd rate at #4. while colborne is the most nhl ready forward having played in the show, i've seen more quickness for big man in leivo, who really can create his own chances and has around the similar level of on ice vision as colborne.

gauthier would be #5 just on his potential but during the game (yes it's just one game), he showed solid defense but was almost unnoticeable. I know he's the new kid on the block and needs time, but i'm ranking on the current display of skills as well as projection.

i would have put johnson at the bottom of the 20; he's the one to watch out for. broll will probably make it, but rupert is inconsistent.

I thought blacker, who's stagnated, and ashton were rated too high. both haven't shown that they can take it to the next level and i wouldn't rate either over biggs at this point.

 

[Frelimo]

A lot of those Cs should be a B as IMO most of our prospects are a safe bet to make it. I also agree Gauthier is #2 but I think his ratings a little to high, should be a 7.0B rather than a 7.5C

I like optimism but that's probably going too far, just setting yourself up for disappointment.

 

[Frelimo]

What I don't get is how some people talk about Clarkson as being a great top 6 guy that brings character etc. but at the same time completely disregard Biggs' potential and just label him as some bottom line guy. He's a guy who has the potential to be like a Clarkson or even better IMO.

I agree with you there but with those kind of players its hard to see why they're valuable until you starting seeing them on a regular basis. That's probably why he's underrated.

 

[pucci2001]

That's totally fudging the numbers though.

Burke traded two top 10 picks away in the same deal (#2 and #8) and "replaced them" with two picks in the 20's, giving up 2 more seconds at the same time.

Burke also was in the position to dump contracts like Versteeg and Kaberle at the deadline.

In Nonis first year his team was winning, so yeah be moved a mid rounder for a guy like Obyrne. Not comparable

I think its apples to oranges. Calgary is not in a 3 year rebuild phase, they are in a take as long as you need just for the love of god get some good young prospects phase like Edmonton was in 3-4 years ago. Prying away fiirst rounders from the Flames will be a near impossible thing unless we are sending away a young top 6 or top 4 roster player.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

That's totally fudging the numbers though.

Burke traded two top 10 picks away in the same deal (#2 and #8) and "replaced them" with two picks in the 20's, giving up 2 more seconds at the same time.

Burke also was in the position to dump contracts like Versteeg and Kaberle at the deadline.

In Nonis first year his team was winning, so yeah be moved a mid rounder for a guy like Obyrne. Not comparable

I think what is important to remember from the past 4 1/2 years can be illustrated in an earlier post of mine:

"Within roughly 4 1/2 years, we have gone from 5 first rounders either on the NHL club or amongst our recently drafted prospects to 13. Yes, you read that correctly, we have added 13 first rounders in about 4 1/2 years versus the 5 we started with.

85% of those players are 25 and under.

The only two who aren't in that age bracket are 28 and 29 years old and one is pretty consistently among the top 10 - 20 d-men in the league while the other has been top 10 in the league for points per game played the past 2 years.

Amongst the 25 and under are:

Kessel - Back to back top 10 in the league

Kadri - If not for falling slightly outside the criteria would have won the Calder in a landslide.

Gardiner - All Rookie team and when inserted to the playoffs, one of the best players on the ice

JVR - #2 overall who looks primed to have his breakout

Rielly - Draws comparisons in style to Leetch

How much more do people honestly expect? We've added almost three 1st round players per year, almost entirely 25 and under and people are complaining about our HF ranking because our guys selected in the twenties will take some time to develop whilst the rest are already playing well in the NHL?

Your first rounders 4 1/2 years ago consisted of:

Schenn - Decent d-man who we upgraded to #2 overall
Devereaux - Never played another NHL game
Antropov - One season better than 41 points since traded
Tlusty - Guy who is now putting it together (likely let go to character issues of exposing his schlong on the internet).
Van Ryn - Never played another NHL game

Out of all of that, the only one you would question the call on is Tlusty and as mentioned, I suspect that was a character call as much as anything."

 

[zeke]

After seeing the rookie game, I would rate Leivo #2 at this point, and Finn #3.

correction: Colborne I'd rate at #4. while colborne is the most nhl ready forward having played in the show, i've seen more quickness for big man in leivo, who really can create his own chances and has around the similar level of on ice vision as colborne.

gauthier would be #5 just on his potential but during the game (yes it's just one game), he showed solid defense but was almost unnoticeable. I know he's the new kid on the block and needs time, but i'm ranking on the current display of skills as well as projection.

i would have put johnson at the bottom of the 20; he's the one to watch out for. broll will probably make it, but rupert is inconsistent.

I thought blacker, who's stagnated, and ashton were rated too high. both haven't shown that they can take it to the next level and i wouldn't rate either over biggs at this point.

you shouldn't take that much out of one rookie game, and especially shouldn't draw too many conclusions about players at different ages.

the older guys are supposed to look better than the younger guys.

 

[dimi78]

you shouldn't take that much out of one rookie game, and especially shouldn't draw too many conclusions about players at different ages.

the older guys are supposed to look better than the younger guys.

Your right but to be fair to the poster when it comes to Leivo his body of work stretches into last season where he was very impressive with the Marlies at season end coming from jr's.

At the prospects camp he drew comparison from the brass to Lupul and I have to admit that's exactly how I would have compared his game vs the Chicago prospects... looks like a real keeper if he continues this type of play.

 

[highslot]

you shouldn't take that much out of one rookie game, and especially shouldn't draw too many conclusions about players at different ages.

the older guys are supposed to look better than the younger guys.

that's why i said it's one game in parenthesis, but i did check out gauthier's highlights in the international game as well as other draft picks. i also saw game 2, but my opinion doesn't change as much.

verhaeghe and brown made more of an offensive impact and both are maybe within a year of him.

 

[New Liskeard]

I still have faith in Kenny Ryan; would be suprised if he doesnt carve out an NHL career.

 

[TootooTrain]

(in regards to Gauthier) I think he's more of a project with a solid foundation. He did raise his compete level as the rookie tournament progressed so I think it's going to be 2-3 years before we truly see what his potential may be. If his skating improves, to go along with his big frame and reach, it sounds like a delicious combination.