McKeen's top 12 for December

GKJ

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Feb 27, 2002
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hawksfan -- I think that JVR might be one of the safest players, as well. He's big enough and smart enough that he can be slotted anywhere from the 1st line to the 4th line that he can contribute on any of them. Doesn't shy away from contact, likes to go to the net a bit, etc etc.

No one drafts a guy with the 2ndish overall pick just because he could be a 4th liner.
 

scoutman1

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Feb 19, 2005
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No one drafts a guy with the 2ndish overall pick just because he could be a 4th liner.


that is true but if he fails to be the offensive top 2 liner that he could be then not all is lot he can still be used on the 3rd or 4th. What he is saying is that JVR is a top talent but if he does fail he is able to be used else where so its not like its a waste.

Alexandre Volchenkov, Pavel Brendl are some names that come to mind who if they had that attribute to them they would not have been a wasted pick.
 

BlueJays

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Dec 12, 2005
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A few notes on some of these prospects whom I've had occasion to watch this year:

Gagner & Kane. Lumped together because they now play together. Both are very skilled stickhandlers and are shifty with some highlight reel moves at times. Defence is not a priority to them. Skating ability is not yet outstanding but they still get from A to B. Both are less than 6' and will never surpass that size barrier but it's now less of an issue as we all know. Both receive unlimited icetime with the green light to remain on the ice as long as they want to, often well over 3-minute shifts and I've heard of 7 minutes plus on the PP in a couple of games. They make up the heart of the most potent powerplay unit in all of junior hockey and are almost always surrounded by very talented skilled players (Kostitsyn, AJ Perry, Meckler, Drummond and now Montgomery). Both play with the knowledge that they'll never be benched for anything, so they have the freedom to do what they want to and be as creative as possible with no repercussions. Of these two Kane has improved the most over the past month IMO and he's overtaken Gagner in the scoring race. Gagner has benefitted the most this year from living at home and having his father as his coach for what is the 6th or 7th season including minor hockey. Will his Dad coach him at the next level to maintain that incredibly comfortable comfort zone? Not likely. That comfort can't be underestimated as most other juniors have to deal with living with billets and all the other nuances of moving away from home. Gagner does well most games in the face-off circle. Both should be high picks with the small edge to Kane IMO.

Turris: Dynamic player, swift skater, good puckhandler, great shot. Love to see him play at the CHL level to guage his effectiveness with the better challenge than BCJHL competition. The nearest thing to good competition was last years's Under 17 tourney where he faded badly in the playoff round. In all other Tier II all-star & playoff games he's excelled. A true sniper, should add a few pounds in time.

Esposito: Heralded as the next Crosby for some time now and in all fairness to him, that's a lot to have on one's shoulders for the past couple of years. As stated previously, he is very skinny at under 180, not much potential for adding bulk if you've seen him shirtless you'll understand why I say this. But he skates well, sees the ice well and distributes the puck well although he could be a bit more selfless at times. Defence is a liability and you can pretty much tell what he is thinking about when he's out there....offense and more offense. Can anchor the PP and play on the PK where he is dangerous as an ever-present offensive threat. Usually plays with high-end talent (see Radulov, Aubin) and icetime is almost at his discretion ala Gagner/Kane, as Roy has a long leash with him. Not impressed with his shot as it could improve in velocity/accuracy. Not very strong on face-offs, where he should dominate but doesn't. This year's top prospects game in Quebec City has been structured to promote/benefit Espo more than any other player, so we'll see what he does with this opportunity. Playoff time will ultimately tell the tale of how high/low Espo will move in the final rankings.

MacMillan: Good size, speed, decent hands. Skating is not truly fluid but he can generate good speed once he gets moving. Haven't seen enough of him lately to comment much more.

Voracek: Another player who provides a bit of everything, decent size, good skater, adept stickhandler, good shot. Haven't seen enough of him lately to comment much more.

Alzner: Agree that he is a very safe pick, will depend on team needs as to where he will be picked. Good size & mobility, good hard & accurate shot, sees the ice well. Could be more physical IMO. Has come on strong this season.

Couture: Was one of, if not the best player at the Team Canada Under 18 camp in the summer until he was cut for over 30 stitches on his knee at the end of the final scrimmage. Returned to start this season after his injury rehab only to be sidelined with mono. It may be unfair to rate him now as he is still surely affected by mono which can take up to a year to completely go away. Yet he's been putting up some impressive numbers this month and has made his linemates much better with his return. He is selfless even though not surrounded by high-end talent on an overall weak junior team, nor does he benefit from unlimited PP/icetime from Brian Kilrea who is well known for rolling all his lines. Skating seems to be improving as he regains his strength. Very strong defensive instincts although his wingers often seem to be huge liabilities defensively, and many games he dominates in the face-off circle. As with many others listed he could benefit from playing with an edge at times but he seems to just be a very self-disciplined player who would rather stay on the ice.

JVR: On a good U-18 team surrounded by talented players, he performs well against usually older competition. Good shot, nice reach, good forechecker and a PPG player with good size & mobility for his size. If he played with an edge he'd be very dangerous IMO, as he could do much more with a little more space & time that an edge often provides. Hard worker and a good attitude and a pleasure to coach from all accounts.
 

X-SHARKIE

Registered User
I think Van Riemsdyk could be anything from this years Erik Johnson to this years Brian Lee... as how high he will go will greatly depend on his WJC performance.

If he steps in, and drops every bodies jaw with a Johnson like rookie performance in the WJC's where by the end of the tournament, he's one of USA's go to guys.. he could go as high as #1.

However, if he gets lost in the shuffle or somewhere in between, and doesn't take the WJC's by storm .. he'll still go around 7th-12th overall, but he won't be the top 3 pick some are predicting .. even with a big U-18 tournament.
 

Blind Gardien

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Apr 2, 2004
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Esposito: Heralded as the next Crosby for some time now and in all fairness to him, that's a lot to have on one's shoulders for the past couple of years. As stated previously, he is very skinny at under 180, not much potential for adding bulk if you've seen him shirtless you'll understand why I say this.
I think I speak for the vast majority of HFBoardsdom when I say that I have never seen Esposito shirtless (nor ever will, hopefully). However, I did see him in the recent ADT Challenge, including the interview, all on TV, and I was sort of thinking that he looks like a guy who *has* filled out quite noticeably since the last time I saw him (the Mem Cup). From that, for whatever little it's worth, I was thinking he was clearly a guy who would play at 190+, and didn't look particularly "skinny" at all anymore. I have vague recollections that this also formed some part of the interview repartee, but I couldn't say for sure anymore. He seemed to have made notable progress, anyway, just by TV-camera-eye. :dunno:
 

turnbuckle*

Guest
I think Van Riemsdyk could be anything from this years Erik Johnson to this years Brian Lee... as how high he will go will greatly depend on his WJC performance.

If he steps in, and drops every bodies jaw with a Johnson like rookie performance in the WJC's where by the end of the tournament, he's one of USA's go to guys.. he could go as high as #1.

However, if he gets lost in the shuffle or somewhere in between, and doesn't take the WJC's by storm .. he'll still go around 7th-12th overall, but he won't be the top 3 pick some are predicting .. even with a big U-18 tournament.


Good call.

i just spent the afternoon with a scout poring over McKeen's top 250 (tentative list).

He likes van Riemsdyk in his top three right now actually, but he noted that JVR could fall down to number ten in a hurry. When he first saw our list with JVR at 10 , he said he didn't have a problem with him in that position. As we talked he admitted that right now he likes him better than the London duo and Ellerby, who he hasn't seen this year, and Voracek, who he's only seen once, and he's got him third right behind Alzner and Esposito.

He did say that he could easily drop to 10th or so if he doesn't pick up his consistency, and all of the players McKeen's had in its top ten except for Korostin (he hasn't seen him) were players he had in his top ten. JVR hasn't always performed well for him, but the skill package is so enticing that he projects to be a top ten player.

It's looking more and more like Ellerby, Gagner, Kane, Alzner, Turris, JVR, Espo, Voracek and Couture will all be top 12 picks unless their games fall apart.
 

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