My 2010-2014 drafts rankings.

[RickyR]

Again, just let Baertschi play around 18 minutes a game and he would help Flames a lot, even if he would not play defence. If you want defensive play from all your forwards explain to them right way why they should play it.

Baertschi has had many opportunities and has been mediocre to poor offensively each time. Heck I'd say even Poirier is ahead of him at this point. Not calling him a bust (yet), but he has not met expectations to date. If I were redrafting his draft class, I'd drop him from his drafted spot considerably.

 

[Namejs]

This is hilarious.

 

[Gamer2006]

You have Matt Finn, who's currently in the ECHL, ranked higher than Morgan Rielly.

I don't know what to say about that.

Yes, and if someone didn't understand from the rankings i think Rielly has very good chances to be next Green, Letang or Karlsson. But i think a 0,4 or 0,5 ppg D with good defence (Ryan Suter for example) is better than them.

 

[JackSlater]

Trying to understand hockey in more depth doesn't mean that i'm just started, i watch a lot of hockey and have come a long way before deciding to make rankings.



Here is few examples:

19 years old Ovechkin in 04-05 season scored 26 P in 37 GP (Russian League). Then 106 in 81 next season (NHL). He was year older and there was more 5 on 4 given in two seasons after lockout, but its a lot easier to score in RSL or KHL, few players from NHL doesn't change that. It just shows that Ovechkin calibre talent didn't receive appropriate time on ice. Somebody think he wasn't good enough for it?

16 years old Yakupov in 09-10 MHL season scored 6 in 14. Then 101 in 65 next season (OHL) and virtually all russian players don't play their best hockey in CHL even in second season, because of huge differences in game. They far better get used to NHL than CHL. If Yakupov didn't go to OHL there is a good chance he doesn't receive opportunity to show himself even to this point. In NHL this is also happen a lot. Hall, Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle were given opportunity, but not Yakupov, except at the end of his first season. And problem now is not only time on ice, it's mental state that Yakupov is in.

Or you think 20-22 years old Tarasenko wouldn't score much more in first two seasons if given opportunity? What about Stamkos in first season? And if he was treated like Yakupov in second and third seasons?

What Kucherov is doing now with time he gets is a rare thing. He is lucky to play on that line with Johnson and Palat, it is helping him a lot and there is very huge difference if he played same time on ice with third liners.

Dikushin always was a leader of 95 age group in Russia. He made a mistake by coming to USHL, there he wasn't given opportunity. And then pretty much everyone forgets about him.

Imagine if majority of best prospects in Canada wouldn't receive appropriate time on ice, would play 3, 4 line minutes in CHL. 16, 17, even 18 and 19 years old seasons. Top 6 minutes is given to players who is just older. This is that happen in MHL.

A lot of people don't understand how valuable time on ice is.

Speculation on how players should have been used is one thing, but to rank a player like Kuznetsov over clearly superior players (at the moment) like Hall or Seguin is nonsense. They all play in the same league, and we can clearly see who is better.

Given how little some of the Russian players you have ranked highly have accomplished individually, it's difficult to give you any credibility.

 

[Gamer2006]

Alright, without sounding off on how terrible the rankings are, please explain how Kuznetsov can be projected as a superior player to Seguin. Hearing the rationale for even just one example would be enough.

I can't give you rationale in this case, because only stats can prove something. You can expect best hockey from player only if you give him around 18 minutes a game. Barry Trotz is a good coach, it means he organizes hockey right way, he is good motivator. He proved it in Nashville. But it doesn't mean he can evaluate prospects/players. He prefers Johansson to Kuznetsov, give him more PP time and it shows its not easy to distinguish even Kuznetsov like talent. His combination of hockey IQ, skills, instincts are on Forsberg or Malkin level, i just see it, but can't give you rationale right now. We will see how good he is when he would get opportunity.

 

[Matt Ress]

Anyone else read that in a Russian accent?

 

[Nithoniniel]

I'm sorry to say this, but this might be the most biased list I've seen from someone putting in anything close to this amount of work. And the arguments you have made has been weak enough to actually strengthen that impression.

Wow.

 

[ulvvf]

Wait, so if you're not working as a scout and only trying to understand hockey in more depth, what's the point of this thread?

You learn a lot more from observation than you do by reinforcement of your own opinions.

A guy like Dikushin, for example, hasn't produced at any level at any rate similar to any of the players you've listed behind him. Yet somehow a guy who, at 20 years old, has 9 points in 25 games in the Russian junior leagues (U20, which logically should mean he's in the best possible position to produce) has a 90% chance of scoring in the NHL at the same rate as John Tavares, Ryan Getzlaf and Evgeni Malkin?

As much as you claim it's not complicated and you're trying to make the best possible rankings, there is literally no way to think of what you typed as an educated opinion. It's absolutely needlessly complicated in how you structured your rankings and your "best" rankings, quite simply, make children look smarter.

I'd recommend watching other games other than Russian junior leagues via the internet. That's the bare minimum you'd have to do in order to understand hockey in more depth. As of right now you're clearly either letting your bias cloud your judgment or quite simply have never watched other hockey leagues.

A good start would be to look at the success of the Russian national team and consider why they're not immediately the most dominant team in the world when they should have all the best players in the world.

Maybe you should take lesson from yourself? So many canada fanboys here that do not see any strange in having over 50% from one country in your top 50 raknings and so on.

Canada is also pretty far from dominating the game (no one is close to dominating the game), but still you could think that when we watch your differnt kinds of rankings of the best players, that pretty much always has more then 50% from canada. So maybe it is you that should think about why canada is not dominating international hockey and watch other games and players other then your team and canadians and not only listing to what propaganda hype that NA media releases.

He maybe be a fanboy, but he not a much bigger fanboy then anyone else here.