Prospect Info: Phantoms (AHL), Reading Royals (ECHL), NCAA, Jrs., Int'l, etc.

[Magua]

On the other hand, he's only 20, scoring goals at a high rate with a body that probably won't fill out, and body control mature for another 2-3 years.
We're not talking a clunky big guy with straight line speed who you're projecting without production.
He has really good hands, if he fills out and learns to play a big man's game, he could be much better than Simmonds, who wasn't bad in his prime.

I don't know what "much better than Simmonds" means. 40 goals and 70 points? Seems realistic.

Everything I say goes in one ear and out the other, so I'm going to shut up now.

 

[Doodootheclown]

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

AHL officiating is a million times worse than the NHL.
That has never changed in my years watching minor league hockey

 

[gertbfrobe16]

AHL officiating is a million times worse than the NHL.
That has never changed in my years watching minor league hockey

son's mens league games had a guy, who got kicked out of the ahl, because he was so bad. he sucked doing mens league too.

 

[deadhead]

I don't know what "much better than Simmonds" means. 40 goals and 70 points? Seems realistic.

Everything I say goes in one ear and out the other, so I'm going to shut up now.

There's more than scoring, Simmonds was great on the PP, and at least somewhat solid at 5x5 in his younger days, but not a well rounded player and disappeared in the playoffs.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Farabee is in the top 15 in U20 scoring for the NCAA. He’s got 5 points (2G & 3A) in the 3 games since his return from the WJC. He’s currently at a 0.84 PPG pace.

Elite Prospects - NCAA Stats 2018-2019

 

[Curufinwe]

Hextall relied on injuries at the NHL level for call-ups. The Varone call-up was merit-based.

Was it? Weal is a better NHL player than Varone, but Varone played ahead of him. NAK's speed and shooting ability would have been a better fit for the 4th line then Varone's playmaking which is elite at the AHL level but doesn't translate to the NHL level.

I'd rather have a GM who made call ups when injuries happen, than a GM who went with only six healthy dmen on the roster for TWO f***ING WEEKS because he's too much of a chicken shit to call up Phil Myers.

 

[macleish1974]

Was it? Weal is a better NHL player than Varone, but Varone played ahead of him. NAK's speed and shooting ability would have been a better fit for the 4th line then Varone's playmaking which is elite at the AHL level but doesn't translate to the NHL level.

I'd rather have a GM who made call ups when injuries happen, than a GM who went with only six healthy dmen on the roster for TWO ****ING WEEKS because he's too much of a chicken **** to call up Phil Myers.

The Flyers Management Team will bring up when is ready at the age of 25. He needs to be grilled, roasted, toasted and baked before he comes up. He is halfway there already.........;-)

To be serious, I just do not understand why he is not called up. I mean what more can he learn up here in the LV? Myers and Friedman both. Varone is a place holder. Love him up here on the first line where he is quite effective and feeds Carey with either a great pass or a one-timer. NAK is also a puzzle, other than they need bodies up here. Getting quite thin......plus the fans will not show up if the Phantoms go in a tailspin. They are razor thin point-wise as it is in the playoff race.

 

[deadhead]

The injuries on the Phantoms has probably played some role in decision making, along with the TDL.

Given the Flyers are out of the playoffs, they probably don't want to sink the Phantoms as well, as they need to showcase veterans before the TDL if they want to move them. It's not like anyone on the Phantoms is playing lights out where they're wasting their time there, all the prospects at LHV could use the more intensive coaching you get at the AHL level (b/c the schedule is conductive to mid-week practices).

 

[Curufinwe]

Promoting Varone based on his AHL production is only slightly better than if they had promoted Brennan.

 

[deadhead]

It's a nice reward for hard work and improving his game, sets a good example for the organization.
Varone knows it's his last NHL shot, and he hasn't done enough to stick, but the extra $100K or so will help his retirement savings.
I'd expect him back at LHV as a mentor for the prospects next year.

The AHL veterans have gotten fair shots at winning a job, Cousins, Weal, Leier, Varone, I think that does help morale down there and to attract veteran AHL guys on the right side of 30 (i.e. depth guys you like to have when you don't want to rush prospects).

In a year or two, there will be no opportunity for these kinds of guys to make the team when prospects are stacked up like planes over Laguardia.

 

[Flyerfan13]

I Went to the phantoms game yesterday tough game to judge players when ur short players and backup goalie komm gave up 3 goals in the first 7 minutes of the game. Lyon had to come in and play again his 3rd game in 3 days also didn't help but Myers and friedman stood out on defense. Friedman had plenty of practice covering 2 on 1's playing with tj on his I'll advised pinches. The 2 handed slash he took and embellishment call on friedman were ridiculous. Leier had a good game with 2 goals 1 asst. Nak showed flashes thru the game but didn't show up on the score sheet. Vorobyev with some really nice passes to set up scoring chances. Both power play units play about equal time .Bunny looks good as the net front on pp1. They used misha as net front on pp2 not sure that is the best spot for him.

 

[baudib1]

Promoting Varone based on his AHL production is only slightly better than if they had promoted Brennan.

I liked it when Fletcher said he wanted to send the right message by calling up Varone but following it up by not promoting anyone while we play Folin and Weise (not to mention a half-dozen other more popular players who aren't producing) renders it all meaningless.

Also, I love Ratcliffe but projecting him to be better than Simmonds is hysterical. Simmonds has scored 200 goals for the Flyers, I'd set Ratcliffe's over-under around 60. And really, 60 is too high.

 

[Curufinwe]

Some guy said on here last summer that Bunnaman and Tarywnski shouldn't have gotten ELCs.

 

[Tripod]

Dan Silver's top 20 Flyers prospects and write ups.

Flyers Top 20 Prospects – January 2019

 

[deadhead]

Also, I love Ratcliffe but projecting him to be better than Simmonds is hysterical. Simmonds has scored 200 goals for the Flyers, I'd set Ratcliffe's over-under around 60. And really, 60 is too high.

No one is projecting Ratcliffe to be anything, he has intriguing raw tools, but years away from knowing how they'll develop.
But you don't find a lot of forwards with his size, speed and hands.
And he has good body control for a 6'6 20 year old, something that often develops late for big guys.

Size and straight line speed isn't enough, see Morin, but it's obvious Ratcliffe has a scorer's touch.

Ratcliffe's edge over Simmonds (since fighting has limited value in today's NHL) is it looks like he's already a better shooter, Simmonds was never that good away from the net, wonder what % of those 200 goals were deflections and put backs within five feet of the net?

Ratcliffe has a long way to go, but given his age he's progressing about as well as you'd hope for a D+2 player, especially given the lack of talent around him until Suzuki arrived.

Simmonds 42 Playoff games, 8-13 21 -9, only 4 of those goals were ES. Corsi 5x5 44.3%, CFrel -2.6

 

[Appleyard]

No one is projecting Ratcliffe to be anything, he has intriguing raw tools, but years away from knowing how they'll develop.
But you don't find a lot of forwards with his size, speed and hands.
And he has good body control for a 6'6 20 year old, something that often develops late for big guys.

Size and straight line speed isn't enough, see Morin, but it's obvious Ratcliffe has a scorer's touch.

Ratcliffe's edge over Simmonds (since fighting has limited value in today's NHL) is it looks like he's already a better shooter, Simmonds was never that good away from the net, wonder what % of those 200 goals were deflections and put backs within five feet of the net?

Ratcliffe has a long way to go, but given his age he's progressing about as well as you'd hope for a D+2 player, especially given the lack of talent around him until Suzuki arrived.

Simmonds 42 Playoff games, 8-13 21 -9, only 4 of those goals were ES. Corsi 5x5 44.3%, CFrel -2.6

I think Ratcliffe's likely upside is ~25-25-50 forward. But if he gets to peak Simmonds level that would be amazing.

 

[Tripod]

I think Ratcliffe's likely upside is ~25-25-50 forward. But if he gets to peak Simmonds level that would be amazing.

My hope is that maybe he replaces JVR after the expansion draft fallout....lol.

Give him 2 years in the AHL to keep developing the offensive side of his game.

 

[Stizzle]

Dan Silver's top 20 Flyers prospects and write ups.

Flyers Top 20 Prospects – January 2019

I didn't read the whole thing. Just thumbed through it. A few thoughts...

Samuel Ersson over Jay O'Brien? I don't know about that. A lot of people are sleeping on O'Brien. For pure dynamic ability and skill for forwards, he's probably behind Frost and that's it. I don't really care if he's been hurt for a couple weeks, benched by an idiot WJC coach, or started slow coming from Prep school. That's all meaningless in the long-term.

----------

Him: "Tanner Laczynski and Noah Cates are pretty similar prospects".

Well, I don't see how that's true. Also, a lot is made about a slight drop in production for TL this year so far. In fact, a lot of the points he makes seem very knee-jerky overall. Including stating Rubtsov went from being almost written off, all the way to number 8 because of 14 games.

------

He states Kalynuk's skill is very raw. I'd like to know, how so? Also, if he believes his upside is 2nd pair defenseman, how are forwards with 3rd line upside rated ahead of him? Skilled, 2nd pair defensemen are practically worth gold.

--------

Overall, I'm always interested to know just how often someone who does these rankings has actually seen a certain player. Personally, I try to note the players I haven't seen much, or not recently. I have access to a lot of games, yet even I have some serious blind spots.

 

[Tripod]

I didn't read the whole thing. Just thumbed through it. A few thoughts...

Samuel Ersson over Jay O'Brien? I don't know about that. A lot of people are sleeping on O'Brien. For pure dynamic ability and skill for forwards, he's probably behind Frost and that's it. I don't really care if he's been hurt for a couple weeks, benched by an idiot WJC coach, or started slow coming from Prep school. That's all meaningless in the long-term.

----------

Him: "Tanner Laczynski and Noah Cates are pretty similar prospects".

Well, I don't see how that's true. Also, a lot is made about a slight drop in production for TL this year so far. In fact, a lot of the points he makes seem very knee-jerky overall. Including stating Rubtsov went from being almost written off, all the way to number 8 because of 14 games.

------

He states Kalynuk's skill is very raw. I'd like to know, how so? Also, if he believes his upside is 2nd pair defenseman, how are forwards with 3rd line upside rated ahead of him? Skilled, 2nd pair defensemen are practically worth gold.

--------

Overall, I'm always interested to know just how often someone who does these rankings has actually seen a certain player. Personally, I try to note the players I haven't seen much, or not recently. I have access to a lot of games, yet even I have some serious blind spots.

I thought you would be proud of the Zamula placing

 

[tictactoe]

If you want Rat to replace JVR he better eat cheessteaks non-stop..

 

[JojoTheWhale]

I didn't read the whole thing. Just thumbed through it. A few thoughts...

Samuel Ersson over Jay O'Brien? I don't know about that. A lot of people are sleeping on O'Brien. For pure dynamic ability and skill for forwards, he's probably behind Frost and that's it. I don't really care if he's been hurt for a couple weeks, benched by an idiot WJC coach, or started slow coming from Prep school. That's all meaningless in the long-term.

----------

Him: "Tanner Laczynski and Noah Cates are pretty similar prospects".

Well, I don't see how that's true. Also, a lot is made about a slight drop in production for TL this year so far. In fact, a lot of the points he makes seem very knee-jerky overall. Including stating Rubtsov went from being almost written off, all the way to number 8 because of 14 games.

------

He states Kalynuk's skill is very raw. I'd like to know, how so? Also, if he believes his upside is 2nd pair defenseman, how are forwards with 3rd line upside rated ahead of him? Skilled, 2nd pair defensemen are practically worth gold.

--------

Overall, I'm always interested to know just how often someone who does these rankings has actually seen a certain player. Personally, I try to note the players I haven't seen much, or not recently. I have access to a lot of games, yet even I have some serious blind spots.

I took a quick look as well and thought there was a heavy emphasis on exactly what a player is today at this very second in the rankings. I wouldn't push that concept so hard, but I guess don't think it's insane if you're consistent about it as long as you wouldn't rank them the same when discussing trade value.

That's not the same concept as valuing closeness to the NHL, which is often my problem with the BSH lists.

 

[Stizzle]

I thought you would be proud of the Zamula placing

Watching Big Z right now is a treat. I had to pull back from ranking him higher.

 

[Tripod]

Watching Big Z right now is a treat. I had to pull back from ranking him higher.

If he is the real deal...what a find. He already has surpassed expectations...but to become a legit top prospect would be a great add.

 

[wankstifier]

If he is the real deal...what a find. He already has surpassed expectations...but to become a legit top prospect would be a great add.

It's amazing that Myers and Zamula, who both possess rare skillsets and good frames, slipped through the draft and then development camps of different teams.