Caniacforever said:
For those claiming Knyazev is a defensive defenseman, he's a -33 in his two years in the AHL so far. It's just that he has shown no signs of development, and i've heard people say his play actually regressed this season instead of improved.
I was surprised to see Knyazev there as well. He hasnt done anything special. I would caution he is still very young.. he was the youngest rookie in the AHL last season and he has had to play on the worst team in the AHL with McSorely as his coach. McSorely is not likely to be back because almost all the prospects had a bad time in Springfield. Still I havent heard anyone say Knyazev has regressed.. only that he is unspectacular and steady.
However Taffe is a very different matter altogether.. perhaps I can answer some of your questions..
Jeff Taffe is 23 years of age as well, and has shown no significant increase in his production in order to grant him a slot on the Top 50 prospects list or even for consideration.
As well as who? Knyazev or Kahnberg perhaps? Knyazev isnt 23, he's just turned 21 and Taffe himself has only just turned 23 and is a year younger than Kahnberg.
Increase in what production? In his rookie year in the AHL Taffe was an All-Star and put up 23 goals and 49 points in 57 games, by far and away the best player on a bad team. This season he was rated the #1 prospect in the AHL and he was dominant. He notched 10 goals in 15 games before he was promoted to the NHL which shows a clear improvement. I noticed you put Kahnberg's production on a level with the AHL. Taffe matches that production level at a younger age and is now already in the NHL while Kahnberg still has to come over and show he can be successful in NA pro hockey.
He has played 79 NHL games as well, which is about the same or more than Eric Staal, Patrice Bergeron, and Nathan Horton. Is there something i'm missing about Taffe that would merit his name mentioned in such high regard?
Staal has the same number of goals and Bergeron/Horton only have a few more. In any case I'd agree Taffe isnt right up there with Staal and Horton who are true elite prospects but he hasnt embarrassed himself.
I've heard Coyotes fans this season say that Taffe hasn't progressed as fast as they expected and are not expecting him to be a major impact player anymore. He hasn't even done much in order to be considered a top prospect since he left Minnsota besides put up a season of just below a point per game at the AHL level. Heck, Mike Zigomanis did that this year and was named the MVP of the AHL all-star game. I'd think him more deserving than Taffe, who has consistantly failed to solidify a spot on the Coyotes for the past three seasons. Not saying Zigomanis deserved to be on the list, but if one could argue for Taffe, one could argue that point as well.
The difference is Taffe reached that near-PPG level in his first season in the AHL. Zigomanis took three years before he reached a similar level of point production. This year Zigomanis had 17 goals in 61 games. Taffe had 10 in 15. Its not really very close.
Taffe has failed to make the Coyotes for three years? He's only been a pro for two years. He spent his first year in the AHL and had a solid year. Started in the AHL this year mainly because the Coyotes had too many bodies they couldnt demote but after 15 games he was called up and never went back.
Also you may not be aware but Taffe is not playing in his natural centre position but being fitted in as a LW.. so he is basically learning a new position at the same time. His ice time is also not as high as someone like Staal gets.. he averages around 11 minutes a game and it is only that high because of the nosedive the Coyotes had at the end. When he did get a lot of ice time he had a nice scoring streak. I actually worked out that if given the ice time of a 2nd line forward, his numbers project to a 20-20-40 season which is pretty good for a rookie or sophomore and is what I am expecting him to do next season if he is given that role. Hopefully he will build on that and become the top line center we need. Although he wont be any more than another Brian Savage if he doesnt show a bit more determination. His numbers in the NHL may not be spectacular but he has definitely shown progress in the AHL and is now a NHLer in all but name. To be honest Im actually surprised he's not considered graduated.
Must not be much of a playmaker.
