Prospect Info: Grand Rapids Griffins 2019-20

[lilidk]

I dont think Smith will ever be considered fast but I think his skating is definitely getting to the point where it shouldnt be a big worry anymore. In the preseason he looked really good and his skating didnt hold him back. Now hes having a really good start to his second pro season. He wasnt some top 5 pick thats supposed to light the NHL up this quickly,but hes a guy who is looking like he can develop into a solid NHL player and not a wasted pick.

Some people make an opinion and live or die by it on here without room to change. Makes them look dumb in the long run

I remember him were slow and this year he looks fast . His speed is similar to Bertuzzi , but hockey IQ has huge difference. He looks like going to be bottom 6 in the future

 

[Henkka]

Smith scored a goal and we have a discussion how bad or slow he is?

C'mon guys. Are you fans or just whiners?

 

[MBH]

I remember him were slow and this year he looks fast . His speed is similar to Bertuzzi , but hockey IQ has huge difference. He looks like going to be bottom 6 in the future

Smith's stride is choppy. His top end speed is OK. It's the acceleration that kills him.

 

[MBH]

I dont think Smith will ever be considered fast but I think his skating is definitely getting to the point where it shouldnt be a big worry anymore. In the preseason he looked really good and his skating didnt hold him back. Now hes having a really good start to his second pro season. He wasnt some top 5 pick thats supposed to light the NHL up this quickly,but hes a guy who is looking like he can develop into a solid NHL player and not a wasted pick.

Some people make an opinion and live or die by it on here without room to change. Makes them look dumb in the long run

I kept Smith in my top 20, mostly because he's almost always good when I watch him. I really don't understand how his stats are so bad based on what I see.
Regardless, the issue with Smith, for me, is, where does he fit?
Maybe on a third line? Does he have netfront powerplay ability?
He doesn't look like PK material. usually, your fourth liners kill penalties.
So, is he good enough to survive in the NHL without being a PK guy?

 

[lhsgolf19]

No surprise... Larsson in goal tonight

 

[lhsgolf19]

 

[lilidk]

how to watch this game?

 

[Christien]

how to watch this game?

Hard to find streams for the AHL, I think Ahl tv is the best way

 

[MBH]

Griffs fall 3-0
Seider 0-0-0 2 shots
Svech 0-0-0 7PIM 3 shots -1
Zadina 0-0-0 4 shots -2
Veleno 0-0-0 -2 2 shots
Ras 0-0-0 1 shot -1

Through 5 games
Ras 2-3-5 +0
Smith 2-2-4 -1
Svech 1-3-4 -4 11 PIM (3 games)
Kuffner 1-0-1 -1
Kaski 1-0-1 -3
Zadina 1-0-1 -5
Seider 0-1-1 +2
Veleno 0-0-0 -5
Lindstrom 0-0-0 -3 6PIM

Saarijarvi, 1 game
Pearson, 1 game

 

[Filppula]

GR start every season slowly and with an inability to score. Grows tiresome TBH.

Simon can’t coach, I’ll stick by this one.

 

[Christien]

Tough loss tonight. Texas' goalie Jake Oettinger was really solid, and their defense really shut the team down and blocked a lot of shots. Simon shuffled the lines to try and get some offense going but nothing ended up resulting from it. The best chance of the game was when Svechnikov had a breakaway for a chance to tie it at 1-1, but he just couldn't make it happen. Seider was very good, and played a lot. He's looking more and more comfortable. Zadina looked good as well, had a wide empty net, but the puck rolled on him. I think the ice there was pretty ass tonight. Larsson kept the team in it mostly all game long. Smith just keeps on impressing me, even though he didn't get any points tonight.

 

[Oddbob]

Is Zadina ever going to get going? Seems like a similar start as last year, which is a little concerning coming from someone who is on the more patient side of Zadina. Reality is unfortunately the good NHL players generally do quite well in short order down in the AHL, and he has 1 goal and -5 in 5 games.

 

[Fil Larkmanthanasiou]

I kept Smith in my top 20, mostly because he's almost always good when I watch him. I really don't understand how his stats are so bad based on what I see.
Regardless, the issue with Smith, for me, is, where does he fit?
Maybe on a third line? Does he have netfront powerplay ability?
He doesn't look like PK material. usually, your fourth liners kill penalties.
So, is he good enough to survive in the NHL without being a PK guy?

He is off to a good start with 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games.

 

[Claypool]

Is Zadina ever going to get going? Seems like a similar start as last year, which is a little concerning coming from someone who is on the more patient side of Zadina. Reality is unfortunately the good NHL players generally do quite well in short order down in the AHL, and he has 1 goal and -5 in 5 games.

I've got bad news for you.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Zadingdong 4 shots, and no goals.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Only 1 goal for 1 point in 5 games. Yikes.

 

[Killerjas]

You would have expected GRG to be very competitive just by looking at the roster. What is happening?

 

[waltdetroit]

You would have expected GRG to be very competitive just by looking at the roster. What is happening?

There are 12 players who did not play with the team last year and 7 rookies. May take some time to gel

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Only 1 goal for 1 point in 5 games. Yikes.

Veleno is even worse tho, looks like qmjhl is garbage league.

 

[Henkka]

You would have expected GRG to be very competitive just by looking at the roster. What is happening?

Too many kids? You probably need more vets to win at AHL level.

Also, road-weighted start is not the easiest one. 4 games on road and only 1 at home...

 

[Henkka]

I kept Smith in my top 20, mostly because he's almost always good when I watch him. I really don't understand how his stats are so bad based on what I see.
Regardless, the issue with Smith, for me, is, where does he fit?
Maybe on a third line? Does he have netfront powerplay ability?
He doesn't look like PK material. usually, your fourth liners kill penalties.
So, is he good enough to survive in the NHL without being a PK guy?

I thought you watched Traverse City tournament games, where Smith was used as PP net-front and also on penalty kill ?

Like, you had tens of millions of opinions of our prospects based on what did you "see", and now you don't remember these?

Why are you questioning these obvious things we others saw there?

 

[Christien]

If you watch the games Veleno and Zadina actually look good out there, just can’t get any good offense going. The whole team just can’t score as a whole and the PP is looking rough. They’ve been running Hicketts on one unit and then shuffling between Kaski, Lindstrom, and Seider, but it’s primarily been Kaski. All the vets look shaky too, so it’s not just the kids.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

If you watch the games Veleno and Zadina actually look good out there, just can’t get any good offense going. The whole team just can’t score as a whole and the PP is looking rough. They’ve been running Hicketts on one unit and then shuffling between Kaski, Lindstrom, and Seider, but it’s primarily been Kaski. All the vets look shaky too, so it’s not just the kids.

If these prospects were any good, they would tear apart ahl like Chytil is doing right now. It was just unlucky draft from Holland. I don´t blame him, because Veleno was projected as sure nhl center and Zadina as elite sniper, we just got unlucky that´s all i want to say. Anyway just look at my nick, i had allways soft spot for Zadina, i really though he will pan out this season, and i really liked how he played 2nd half of the season before.

 

[newfy]

I kept Smith in my top 20, mostly because he's almost always good when I watch him. I really don't understand how his stats are so bad based on what I see.
Regardless, the issue with Smith, for me, is, where does he fit?
Maybe on a third line? Does he have netfront powerplay ability?
He doesn't look like PK material. usually, your fourth liners kill penalties.
So, is he good enough to survive in the NHL without being a PK guy?

Hes got enough talent to stick as a tough fourth liner who isnt just a goon I think at the minimum. Could be a Reaves type on the fourth line. But ya the eye test is always better on Smith than the points last season. Might be changing this year

 

[DatsyukToZetterberg]

If these prospects were any good, they would tear apart ahl like Chytil is doing right now. It was just unlucky draft from Holland. I don´t blame him, because Veleno was projected as sure nhl center and Zadina as elite sniper, we just got unlucky that´s all i want to say. Anyway just look at my nick, i had allways soft spot for Zadina, i really though he will pan out this season, and i really liked how he played 2nd half of the season before.

While I tend to agree that good prospects produce at the AHL level, it's not fair to compare Veleno to Chytil who is 21 and has 2 years on him. If you look at the past 20 years of production in the AHL for U20 players a player with a point per game above 1 usually leads to a superstar level forward, 0.8-0.99 looks to be at around a top 6 forward level, 0.5-0.79 a middle 6 role, and less than that it's either a bottom 6 or a AAAA player. Veleno has started slowly, though I'm sure he can pick up the pace and end the year in at least the 0.50 range given his previous levels of production.

Zadina on the other hand will need to pick up his production to maintain his status as a true top prospect. Almost all top 6 players score at a > than 0.75 p/gp in their U21 season, anything less than that from him would be a disappointment. Given his production last year and the pick used to select him I think everyone has high expectation for him this season.