Prospect Info: Jake Neighbours signs ELC

[GoldenSeal]

If coaching focuses on teaching him strategy, he might turn out to be one of the best players we’ve ever had.

 

[Majorityof1]

Oi vey.

Very good analysis and rebuttal. You have me thoroughly convinced. Neighbours is a future superstar. Thank you for showing me the error of my ways.

 

[Blueston]

Very good analysis and rebuttal. You have me thoroughly convinced. Neighbours is a future superstar. Thank you for showing me the error of my ways.

I didn’t want to say anything mean about you or your jump toconclusions. So you are welcome.

 

[Majorityof1]

I didn’t want to say anything mean about you or your jump toconclusions. So you are welcome.

Yes, sarcastic dismissal is less mean than reasonable disagreement with discussion. Valuing prospects is all about jumping to conclusions. You are jumping to the conclusion that he is worth more than a first because of potential or time to readiness or whatever (I don't know because you've only been sarcastic). If a first was on the table and you don't trade him, you made a conclusion.

 

[LGB]

You can buy a package to stream WHL games, or any CHL league. Just google CHL TV. There are daily, monthly and season options. I generally snag a month or even a day if I have some time and there are multiple interesting prospects playing. The day pass is like a buck more than renting a 4k movie on demand and you can watch a ton of hockey. There are game replays as well going a week or so back, so you can watch several games on your one day. Day and month passes are unfortunately only good for one league, but the yearly or playoff passes can be bought for all 3 leagues.

Then of course there are Blues events, like training camp, pre-season, Traverse city, etc. Plus highlight packages and scouting reports. Its really not hard to follow a CHL prospect if you have time and a little bit of money. Its much harder to follow the Europeans for me.

Thanks. I was hoping there were some videos where they just cut up the prospects shifts. I might check out some full games in the playoffs though. I should pay more attention to the prospect events the Blues do but I pretty much check out in the offseason.

 

[LGB]

His floor may be a 4th liner but I disagree his ceiling is higher. I have seen zero in the way of NHL offensive skill from him. He has good board work and decent passing from the boards. But that isn't making him more than a defensive 3rd liner. I don't care if we get ELC kids to play on the 4th line. You can go sign a vet for about the same to play on the 4th line. Walker costs the same as an ELC. Less even because of the bonuses. Walker has played better in his short stints than I think we'll ever see from Neigbours. Play Walker in the bottom 6, toss Neighbours to some other team for a draft pick and draft someone with actual high end potential that could fill a top 6 role while on an ELC or while cost-controlled.

I trust the Blues scouting and development, but EliteProspects also viewed him as nothing more than a bottom six guy. Not an outlandish take even if it's one we don't want to hear.

 

[Blueston]

Yes, sarcastic dismissal is less mean than reasonable disagreement with discussion. Valuing prospects is all about jumping to conclusions. You are jumping to the conclusion that he is worth more than a first because of potential or time to readiness or whatever (I don't know because you've only been sarcastic). If a first was on the table and you don't trade him, you made a conclusion.

Fine, I will explain. he is more valuable than a 1st bc he is closer to helping us (as early as coming year) and also bc he has made desired progress since draft do he is highly unlikely to bust. So dealing him for a 1st (other than at top of round) would be step backwards.

How good will he be? I don’t know and neither do you. I’m confident he will be at least solid 3rd liner, hopeful that he can be a guy like Morrow or doan and play higher productively.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Neighbours name got kicked around by fans of other teams before the TDL as a part of a potential trade akin to how Kyrou's name came up not too long before he started playing in the pros. That to me is a great sign that we're not the only ones who see the potential there. Army has this funny way of finding diamonds in the rough, so I trust him on this.

 

[GoldenSeal]

Fine, I will explain. he is more valuable than a 1st bc he is closer to helping us (as early as coming year) and also bc he has made desired progress since draft do he is highly unlikely to bust. So dealing him for a 1st (other than at top of round) would be step backwards.

How good will he be? I don’t know and neither do you. I’m confident he will be at least solid 3rd liner, hopeful that he can be a guy like Morrow or doan and play higher productively.

Funny enough that's what I'm hoping for.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Fine, I will explain. he is more valuable than a 1st bc he is closer to helping us (as early as coming year) and also bc he has made desired progress since draft do he is highly unlikely to bust. So dealing him for a 1st (other than at top of round) would be step backwards.

How good will he be? I don’t know and neither do you. I’m confident he will be at least solid 3rd liner, hopeful that he can be a guy like Morrow or doan and play higher productively.

And there is nothing wrong at all with drafting in the 1st round a future, solid 3rd-liner. Give me 8 solid seasons on the 3rd line with some 2nd line fill-in and we fans will look back on this draft selection with satisfaction.

 

[Thallis]

And there is nothing wrong at all with drafting in the 1st round a future, solid 3rd-liner. Give me 8 solid seasons on the 3rd line with some 2nd line fill-in and we fans will look back on this draft selection with satisfaction.

Idk if most people would answer yes to "would you draft Patrik Berglund in the first round knowing his career trajectory" and that's coming from perhaps the biggest Berglund defender on the board.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Idk if most people would answer yes to "would you draft Patrik Berglund in the first round knowing his career trajectory" and that's coming from perhaps the biggest Berglund defender on the board.

Depends on the draft, looking back at the 06 draft, Berglund is still probably the best of the plausible picks when we took him.

 

[BlueDream]

I think it's really hard to determine what Neighbours' offensive ceiling will be. Even if you think he doesn't have elite skill, he strikes me as a guy that can make a living in front of the net getting garbage goals and that's absolutely valuable. So I think his ceiling is a 2nd liner, which is good for a late 1st rounder. I think he can put up decent numbers playing that way.

I am also going to trust the Blues on this one. Their 1st round draft history is really good, and I don't think I've ever heard Craig Berube praise a player like he does Neighbours. They really like him, so there's a lot of good qualities there that give me hope.

One of his best qualities seems to be his work ethic and that can take you a long way. There's a long list of guys who have had tremendous careers even if they aren't the best skaters or most talented. But workhorses that play an all around game will always have a spot.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Idk if most people would answer yes to "would you draft Patrik Berglund in the first round knowing his career trajectory" and that's coming from perhaps the biggest Berglund defender on the board.

That's a good point, but I still think it was a good selection. It just happened to be at a time when the Blues were rebuilding and overhyped Bergy as the next Mats Sundin. Apologetic? Probably.

Looking back at the 2006 draft, I had to dig all the way into the 3rd round to find a player who I would draft before Berglund; Brad Marchand. And that is just hindsight, post de facto smarm.

Who else would you have drafted instead of Berglund at the #25 spot? That's a rhetorical question.

 

[BlueMed]

I think it's really hard to determine what Neighbours' offensive ceiling will be. Even if you think he doesn't have elite skill, he strikes me as a guy that can make a living in front of the net getting garbage goals and that's absolutely valuable. So I think his ceiling is a 2nd liner, which is good for a late 1st rounder. I think he can put up decent numbers playing that way.

I am also going to trust the Blues on this one. Their 1st round draft history is really good, and I don't think I've ever heard Craig Berube praise a player like he does Neighbours. They really like him, so there's a lot of good qualities there that give me hope.

One of his best qualities seems to be his work ethic and that can take you a long way. There's a long list of guys who have had tremendous careers even if they aren't the best skaters or most talented. But workhorses that play an all around game will always have a spot.

The Blues seem to love that hard-working 2 way player who puts in that effort on a nightly basis even if they don't have as much skill.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I'd draft Berglund again. I think people forget what the actual chances are for 1st rounders to be established NHL players. He was still a win.

 

[Blueston]

I'd draft Berglund again. I think people forget what the actual chances are for 1st rounders to be established NHL players. He was still a win.

He was damn fine pick. Taken 25th, he is 18th in games played, 14th in goals, and 15th in points among everyone drafted that year.

 

[BlueDream]

Going back all the way to 2005, really the only 1st rounders by the Blues that you can say were bad picks are Schmaltz and Rundblad.

And Rundblad netted us Tarasenko so that wasn’t actually bad.

So it’s literally just Schmaltz lol. That’s a pretty nice track record of at least getting a reliable player each year.

 

[Blueston]

Going back all the way to 2005, really the only 1st rounders by the Blues that you can say were bad picks are Schmaltz and Rundblad.

And Rundblad netted us Tarasenko so that wasn’t actually bad.

So it’s literally just Schmaltz lol. That’s a pretty nice track record of at least getting a reliable player each year.

Kostin and Bokk looking suspect, although Bokk yielded Faulk so that is a win.

 

[BlueDream]

Kostin and Bokk looking suspect, although Bokk yielded Faulk so that is a win.

Yeah and Kostin was the very last pick of that round, and we already got Thomas to cover that year so Kostin isn’t a bad gamble at all at 31st overall. I don’t consider that a bad pick.

Still too early to completely write them off although they probably won’t be impact players.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Kostin and Bokk looking suspect, although Bokk yielded Faulk so that is a win.

Kostin looks likely to be an NHL player, just more of a bottom 6 guy. Its not what we hoped for, but its not a bust either.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Kostin and Bokk looking suspect, although Bokk yielded Faulk so that is a win.

The Blues have done a masterful job of either developing good players with their 1sts or using them as currency even when they bust. Hard to complain.

 

[Blueston]

Kostin looks likely to be an NHL player, just more of a bottom 6 guy. Its not what we hoped for, but its not a bust either.

Jury still out on that. Feel like he was up bc he was 1st round pick. Let’s see if he can win and keep a job.

 

[Blueston]

The Blues have done a masterful job of either developing good players with their 1sts or using them as currency even when they bust. Hard to complain.

100% agree. Especially where we have been picking.

 

[rumrokh]

Jury still out on that. Feel like he was up bc he was 1st round pick. Let’s see if he can win and keep a job.

He brings more to the table than MacEachern at this point. And I don't mean in potential, he's just a more impactful player on a shift-by-shift basis. Not that Kostin will pan out as more than an energy player who can chip in some goals, but I'm perfectly happy with those players.

I can't explain the Blues' coaching staff's interest in energy guys who can't score, win faceoffs, OR kill penalties. A player like that had better abso-friggin-lutely wreck people on the forecheck.