(HF Story) OHL Top 40 Eligible Players for 2005

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Guy Flaming

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http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=7764&mode=threaded&order=0

After numerous hours of research, interviews with several scouts OHL team executives, Hockeys Future is proud to release it's list of the top 40 players from the Ontario Hockey League who are eligible for the upcoming 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Note: The order of players was determines by the HF writers who researches and wrote the feature and not ISS or the other professional hockey people we consulted. Our list will differ from the upcoming and as of yet unreleased ISS Draft Guide so do not consider this a replacement for the ISS product. To order the ISS Draft Preview: http://internationalscouting.com/product3.html

As you know, HF began it's draft preview with the Top 40 QMJHL list in May (http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=7717&mode=threaded&order=0) and followed that up with the Top Swedish Prospects (http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=7749) and the Top Prospects from Finland (http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=7754). Already nearing completion is the WHL Top 40 which should be released inside the next 10-14 days.
 
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HSHS

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Apr 5, 2005
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I read the article in ESPN the Mag about Benoit Pouliot. Suprised me a bit but he's a heart warming story whatever the sport.

Question though I had when reading. How can this kid go from being cut one year to #1 OHL draft prospect?? Just the weight he added? I sure would like some additional info.

Also, apparently the HF staff isn't concerned that he'd be a one hit wonder, but would a team take him #2 overall with just a one year track record??

Thanks for your input in advance.
 

X-SHARKIE

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heshootshescores said:
I read the article in ESPN the Mag about Benoit Pouliot. Suprised me a bit but he's a heart warming story whatever the sport.

Question though I had when reading. How can this kid go from being cut one year to #1 OHL draft prospect?? Just the weight he added? I sure would like some additional info.

Also, apparently the HF staff isn't concerned that he'd be a one hit wonder, but would a team take him #2 overall with just a one year track record??

Thanks for your input in advance.

I think he's the 2nd best player in the draft, overall excellent stuff. One of the best articles HF has done in awhile.. Kudos!
 

TheFinalWord

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heshootshescores said:
I read the article in ESPN the Mag about Benoit Pouliot. Suprised me a bit but he's a heart warming story whatever the sport.

Question though I had when reading. How can this kid go from being cut one year to #1 OHL draft prospect?? Just the weight he added? I sure would like some additional info.

Also, apparently the HF staff isn't concerned that he'd be a one hit wonder, but would a team take him #2 overall with just a one year track record??

Thanks for your input in advance.

It isn't just HockeysFuture that has Pouliot as number 2, but ISS, Central Scouting and the Hockey News. That doesn't mean he'll go number 2, but it's a pretty good indication of what the majority of scouts and scouting services believe. He's got to work on his consistency, but he's got all the tools to have an impact in the NHL.
 

SPORTSMANIAC

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I was reading the OHL Top 40 by the way well done my question is why is Bobby Ryan playing in the OHL if he is from New Jersey I thought the Q had the rights to New Jersey? Did the Q teams didn't draft him and he cleared waivers to play in the OHL?
 

bert

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They clearly made a mistake by cutting him when they called him up and scored at a ppg pace. He has all the tools to be a superstar, size, incredible offensive instincts he is more hit or miss then a guy like Ryan but its looking like its going to be very hard for him to miss.
 

FearTheFlyers

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I still can't understand Pouliot ahead of Ryan, but no-one's exlained it to me yet so I'm not expecting anything.

Pretty horrible list all told i'd say.
 

djscooter

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I still can't understand Pouliot ahead of Ryan, but no-one's exlained it to me yet so I'm not expecting anything.

Pretty horrible list all told i'd say.
Bobby Ryan CANNOT skate worth anything. Pouliot is one of the best skaters in the draft plain and simple. Yes Ryan had more points, but ryan has been in the league for two years now, this is pouliot's first, just the fact he can come out of nowhere and earn chl rookie of the year honors is amazing, he deserves all the hype he gets
 

Guy Flaming

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GagneOwnsYou said:
Pretty horrible list all told i'd say.

Please expand on your thoughts. Disagreeing is great but not giving reasons is kind of pointless.

I might think the Moon is made of cheese but unless I say why...

I have Benoit Pouliot ahead of Bobby Ryan simply because, in my case, the scouts I regularly consult with and the others I talked to for this project, all were unanimous in having them that way too. By the sounds of it both should be top 3-5 so I don't think it's a slap in the face by any stretch of the imagination.
 

Rabid Ranger

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djscooter said:
Bobby Ryan CANNOT skate worth anything. Pouliot is one of the best skaters in the draft plain and simple. Yes Ryan had more points, but ryan has been in the league for two years now, this is pouliot's first, just the fact he can come out of nowhere and earn chl rookie of the year honors is amazing, he deserves all the hype he gets



These comments make me think that Ryan's skating isn't as bad as many are making it out to be:

Scout #1: I believe Bobby Ryan is unaware of how good he could be. His skating is not loaded with glide, he’s not really smooth, and yet he’s so powerful in everything that he does that skating doesn’t become a weakness because he’s pushing people over and going through checks even though he’s not going really fast. At the start of the year I thought his skating was going to be a concern, but as average as it is, it’s not going to be a problem because he can so everything else. He sees the ice, next to Crosby, the best in the draft; his vision and knowledge of the game and natural hockey smarts are a gift. The biggest thing that I noticed about him early was that he’ll do more with the puck with one hand on his stick than most people can do with two. He’ll fight people off with one hand and still make a great touch pass with one hand on his stick.

ISS (Jan.): Ryan’s commitment to fitness has allowed him to become lighter and although he’ll never beat Ilya Kovalchuk in a foot race, he has become an adequate skater. Ryan’s real genius is his ability to carry guys to the net and he has hands that are too good for a kid of his size. Ryan has become someone that ISS could see becoming a franchise player.
 

FearTheFlyers

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Ryan's skating, as it says in the report, is not an issue, plain and simple. Is he a good skater? no. Does his skating hamper his game? No. It doesn't because he dominates the game so much physically and with his awareness that opponents are forced to slow down to him. He has an excellent first step and many people are very surprised when he blows by defenders with his acceleration.

Pouliot is a very skilled player. does he dominate like Ryan? No.

I'll elaborate my full thoughts on the list later, Guy.
 

Guy Flaming

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Rabid Ranger said:
These comments make me think that Ryan's skating isn't as bad as many are making it out to be:

And that's why we wanted very strongly to include scouting reports from genuine SCOUTS. We're writers, they do that job and we do ours. If I say "Bobby Ryan can't skate" and then a pro scout says "Yes he can". who do you believe?

:handclap:
 

Rabid Ranger

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Guy Flaming said:
And that's why we wanted very strongly to include scouting reports from genuine SCOUTS. We're writers, they do that job and we do ours. If I say "Bobby Ryan can't skate" and then a pro scout says "Yes he can". who do you believe?

:handclap:


Exactly. I don't know what people are complaining about anyway. Ryan is still the number two ranked OHL player in this report and is a likely top 5 selection in the draft. Clearly, his skating isn't that much of an issue.
 

Hossa

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Rabid Ranger said:
Exactly. I don't know what people are complaining about anyway. Ryan is still the number two ranked OHL player in this report and is a likely top 5 selection in the draft. Clearly, his skating isn't that much of an issue.

His skating is not an asset for Bobby Ryan, but he's not Dave Andreychuk either, although if he scores as many goals as Andreychuk, whoever drafts him will be happy. He's a top five pick, and the conscensus #2 guy from the OHL. We recieved glowing scouting reports on the guy, and this is by no means a slap in the face of Bobby Ryan.
 

KH1

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:yo: I love you Hockey's Future!

Seriously, I was surprised to see Kindl below Lashoff. Kindl proved his worth in Europe and I see it as a positive that he came over to NA even though he knew it would hurt his draft status. It's just a year of adjustment now as opposed to later. Plus, I personally don't see Lashoff as being a great prospect--he'll be an NHL defenseman but doesn't have nearly the potential of Kindl.
 

Rabid Ranger

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King Henry I said:
:yo: I love you Hockey's Future!

Seriously, I was surprised to see Kindl below Lashoff. Kindl proved his worth in Europe and I see it as a positive that he came over to NA even though he knew it would hurt his draft status. It's just a year of adjustment now as opposed to later. Plus, I personally don't see Lashoff as being a great prospect--he'll be an NHL defenseman but doesn't have nearly the potential of Kindl.


Potential only amounts to so much.
 

orangeandblack

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new jersey, as well as new york and pennsylvania are ohl territory. the reason he is in the ohl is because he is from south jersey, it has nothing to do with him playing for honeybaked for 1 year.
 

Guy Flaming

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King Henry I said:
:yo: I love you Hockey's Future!

Seriously, I was surprised to see Kindl below Lashoff. Kindl proved his worth in Europe and I see it as a positive that he came over to NA even though he knew it would hurt his draft status. It's just a year of adjustment now as opposed to later. Plus, I personally don't see Lashoff as being a great prospect--he'll be an NHL defenseman but doesn't have nearly the potential of Kindl.


Kindl VS Lashoff was a sticking point in our process but I think the latter came ahead because there's a bit less risk with him. Kindl's probably more of a boom/bust than Lashoff. 6-8th place were very close.
 

Wonder Boy

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Guy Flaming said:
See: Andrew Ladd; one year with the Calgary Hitmen, 4th overall selection by Carolina at the end of that season. I'd say there's a good precident.

I see why you compare them as power forwards, but I have to disagree beyond that. Pouilot is twice the skater Ladd is. His vision and ability to beat players one-on-one is the best I've seen in years coming from the OHL. He has the best first 3 steps in the OHL, maybe CHL even. His hands are smooth around the net, he likes to find the puck and go to the net. Sometimes he fakes and passes, but overall has the makings of a top NHL Power Forward.

He got his nose dirty as the season progressed. He was a marked man for 3/4 of the season and playoffs and managed to produce on a thin Sudbury team.

IMO he's a top 3 pick.

Ladd reminds me of Pyatt. :deadhorse
 

Blind Gardien

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Great list. On the Ryan vs. Pouliot issue, the one thing I'd emphasize is this: Pouliot is very much a work in progress. No, he wasn't always dominant. But he's growing so much and improving, and you can sort of try to imagine what he'll be like a couple years down the road when he's filled out some and gained more experience...

Whereas Ryan is already pretty well developed physically, he does dominate more right now, but it's hard to believe he has much room to dominate much more in the future than he does now. You get a pretty good view of the great player he is and will be, right now.

So for me, personally, even though I tend to like Ryan better, I can totally see why the scouts generally go with Pouliot. It goes back to the Blake Wheeler debate too. You don't always just pick a player based on how good he is when he's 17-18 years old. You also try to imagine what he'll be like a few years down the road. And probably most people see more room for Pouliot to grow as a player than Ryan. :dunno:
 
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