Kirk- NEHJ said:
I agree. Kessel is the most dynamic and explosive player in this draft class. End of story.
One NCAA coach told me that Kessel is pretty solid defensively, and that the mistakes he makes have more to do with inexperience than anything else.
But it's not the end of the story - it's your opinion.
If Kessel was being projected by everyone as being the most dynamic and explosive player unquestionably at the NHL level, there would be no question of his going second overall - unless you've been ignoring the signs, there is a very distinct possibility that Kessel won't be the first forward chosen at the draft, in large part because some scouts are not convinced he will be the most prolific at the NHL level. For every Chris Pronger -players who were projected to become great even if they weren't realizing their full potential yet when they were drafted - there is a Daniel Cleary - players who were great when they were 15-17 but not improving at the same rate as others when they reach their late teens.
Don't misquote me here - I'm not saying Kessel will be another Dan Cleary - he's too talented for that - but which player showed more improvement in the past season Staal or Kessel? Or Johnson, or Brassard, or Okposo, or.....
When a players "slows" his development in his draft year, it sets off alarms with some scouts no matter how impressive that player may have been at a younger age.
All that said - Kessel by no means had a poor year, and that's why he's still going to be a top 6 pick, but if he had improved as much last season as he had in the previous two years, he'd likely be the consensus top pick.
Just my opinion of course; I'm sure the "Kessel Krew" will dispute these notions with fervor as always.