Philadelphia Flyers prospects will use 2014-15 season to prove they can play at next

[HF Article]

Photo: Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere is one of several Philadelphia prospects making their professional debut with the Flyers organization. (courtesy of Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)


 

Several of the Philadelphia Flyers‘ top prospects will begin their professional careers in 2014-15, including former NCAA standout Shayne Gostisbehere.



In addition to Gostisbehere, the AHL will welcome*Scott Laughton and Anthony Stolarz. Those players impacted their previous teams, but will now have to prove they can replicate those performances at the professional level. Other players like*Michael Parks and*Samuel Morin are looking to build off solid seasons, while other prospects will try to bounce back from sub-par years in 2013-14.… read more

The post Philadelphia Flyers prospects will use 2014-15 season to prove they can play at next level appeared first on Hockey's Future.



More...

Click to read more...

 

[Tankadelphia]

Pretty good article, but I don't think the Flyers have just a "trio" of elite prospects. Sanheim is definitely an elite prospect in addition ghost, morin and laughton.

 

[Sombastate]

Pretty good article, but I don't think the Flyers have just a "trio" of elite prospects. Sanheim is definitely an elite prospect in addition ghost, morin and laughton.

Are Sanheim and Morin really ELITE prospects though?

I remember people not being too thrilled when we drafted them

 

[dats81]

Are Sanheim and Morin really ELITE prospects though?

I remember people not being too thrilled when we drafted them

Noone drafted outside the top 3 of the first round can be considered ELITE unless he breaks a scoring record and plays like a standout at the international level or similar.

Elite prospects normally make the NHL roster the year they are drafted or the next season since they are able to contribute immediately...

 

[macleish1974]

After watching the game yesterday: Morin, Ghost, Sanheim, Hagg are elite. Laughton,
AK-47, Leier, Cousins, Straka extremely good. Fazleev will be a face off specialist. Stolarz the goalie was very good. The rest of the rookies were ALL defensively aware and shut down the Caps rookies that included their last 2 1st rounders: Vrana and Burakowsky. This is the best group of Flyers rookies since the days of Richards, Carter,
Umberger and Giroux.

 

[flyershockey]

Noone drafted outside the top 3 of the first round can be considered ELITE unless he breaks a scoring record and plays like a standout at the international level or similar.

Elite prospects normally make the NHL roster the year they are drafted or the next season since they are able to contribute immediately...

That's not true at all. The way players develop post-draft can certainly make them an elite prospect. I wouldn't say Morin or Sanheim are elite prospects though. They're very, very good prospects.

Gostisbehere is about the only one that might be considered elite, and that's only because his skill set is off the charts. He can already do a lot of things that most NHL'ers can only dream of.

 

[Stizzle]

Are Sanheim and Morin really ELITE prospects though?

I remember people not being too thrilled when we drafted them

Judging a prospect by generic fan reaction during the draft is about the most asinine thing ever. 99% of people had never even seen these guys before then.

 

[RinaldoZac]

@NHLFlyers: The #Flyers have released the following players from NHL Amateur Try-Outs: Nikita Jevpalovs, Louick Marcotte, and Beau Rusk.

 

[Curufinwe]

Sad for them, but not surprising.

 

[Embiid]

It is sounding more and more like we have a potential stud in Sanheim. Bill had some pretty cool observations today in his blog about the rookie game. Obviously, all these guys have a lot more to prove particularly at the AHL and NHL level but it really sounds like we finally got a very promising crop of talent....particularly on D. I'm cool with being a middle pack team which is likely until these guys are properly developed and ready.....stay the course Hexy and Flyers fans. No impatient moves or reactions .....particularly from boss man Snider.

 

[HighOFFHockey]

Noone drafted outside the top 3 of the first round can be considered ELITE unless he breaks a scoring record and plays like a standout at the international level or similar.

Elite prospects normally make the NHL roster the year they are drafted or the next season since they are able to contribute immediately...

That's definitely not true. Our own Giroux didn't experience that.

 

[Curufinwe]

I think Giroux became a truly elite prospect when he blew up the Q playoffs with 51 points in 19 games.

 

[dats81]

That's not true at all. The way players develop post-draft can certainly make them an elite prospect. I wouldn't say Morin or Sanheim are elite prospects though. They're very, very good prospects.

Gostisbehere is about the only one that might be considered elite, and that's only because his skill set is off the charts. He can already do a lot of things that most NHL'ers can only dream of.

I agree on the importance of the development curve past draft day. Sure one can find elite talent even past the first round. But in that case it mostly takes more than a good Junior season or nice stats for them to get noted as Elite outside their own organization.

Even Giroux was not considered Elite until he started tearing up the NHL... and even today there are still people who think he is very good but not elite! (I disagree on that..)
I for myself do not want to use the term unless we are talking about extraordinary talent, maybe future franchise players, All Stars or the like.

Currently, none of our prospects are can't miss future All-star calibre players. They could be but it's a long shot. Sorry, no elite talent in sight in my view.

 

[Random Forest]

Currently, none of our prospects are can't miss future All-star calibre players. They could be but it's a long shot. Sorry, no elite talent in sight in my view.

Is that really your definition of an elite prospect?

I don't think I could classify any prospect as being a "can't miss future all star". Not even Drouin.

EDIT: An "elite prospect" doesn't have to be a prospect that is going to be an "elite NHLer". An elite prospect is someone who is elite for his peer group, imo. Still not a well-defined term, but not as exclusive as your definition.

 

[ILoveStephanieBrown]

I agree on the importance of the development curve past draft day. Sure one can find elite talent even past the first round. But in that case it mostly takes more than a good Junior season or nice stats for them to get noted as Elite outside their own organization.

Even Giroux was not considered Elite until he started tearing up the NHL... and even today there are still people who think he is very good but not elite! (I disagree on that..)
I for myself do not want to use the term unless we are talking about extraordinary talent, maybe future franchise players, All Stars or the like.

Currently, none of our prospects are can't miss future All-star calibre players. They could be but it's a long shot. Sorry, no elite talent in sight in my view.

Well your view is wrong.

 

[dats81]

Well your view is wrong.

Well, if not over-using the term ELITE for every promising prospect out of excitement equals being wrong in your mindset, I'll gladly admit that I am wrong

 

[OrangeAndBlackMetal]

Id say that Sanheim has the potential to be an elite prospect if he takes the step we all think he's capable of taking this season. Morin has the talent to be an elite prospect, but his lack of offense will hinder him from gaining that tag. Honestly, in my opinion id say that Sanheim and Gostisbehere both have elite prospect ability. Laughton and Morin have ceilings that could make them extremely good players, but I don't think either of them have the potential to be game breakers like I think Sanheim and Ghost do.

 

[beetee15]

Sanhiem will prove to be the steal of the 2014 draft. After watching his lateral movements with the puck moving across the blueline and his skating ability im sure of this. The flyers in 2/3 years will have both fast/offensive D "Ghost/Sanhiem" and a hulking stay at home D "Morin". Id put Sanhiem in the "Elite" category because im pretty sure he's going to continue to improve and have a monster year with Calgary and could end up playing in the World Juniors for Canada. In 5 years ppl will say "why didnt anyone take him sooner"

 

[Prongo]

I still think Morin has the ability to be a game changing defender. I am one who is not that worried about his offensive production and when he is given PP time he usually thrives. He moves the puck well for someone his size and skates extremely well for a guy his size. With all bigger players lateral movement is always a struggle but look at the bigger NHL defenders who can skate fare? They do well because of positioning and gap control. Corner battles wont be a struggle for him simply because he uses his size and is mean, which will always help out. Morin's slapshot should be enough to get him power play time at the big level. Sorta like Kimmo and Pronger I am hoping Morin and Ghost patrol our blue line on the PP in 2-3 years. Let everything else sort it's self out up front there.

The one person who writes for the hockey writers stated he doesn't think Morin will get over 20 points a year consistently. I disagree, Morin is better instinctively than Coburn and he gets 25 points on a regular basis. Morin's shot, unlike Coburns, will also help create second chance opportunities in front of the net because it's so hard and accurate. I am very high on Morin, and wasn't even a big fan of the pick. I know I am not an "expert" but in the viewings I have seen of him in the Q I have come away more and more impressed. The development is there, we need to watch it translate to the pro levels, which I think will of course. Of course though, I could be wrong haha.

 

[Stizzle]

Sanheim is definitely an elite prospect

After watching the game yesterday: Morin, Ghost, Sanheim, Hagg are elite.

It is sounding more and more like we have a potential stud in Sanheim.

Id say that Sanheim has the potential to be an elite prospect if he takes the step we all think he's capable of taking this season. Morin has the talent to be an elite prospect, but his lack of offense will hinder him from gaining that tag. Honestly, in my opinion id say that Sanheim and Gostisbehere both have elite prospect ability. Laughton and Morin have ceilings that could make them extremely good players, but I don't think either of them have the potential to be game breakers like I think Sanheim and Ghost do.

Sanhiem will prove to be the steal of the 2014 draft. After watching his lateral movements with the puck moving across the blueline and his skating ability im sure of this. The flyers in 2/3 years will have both fast/offensive D "Ghost/Sanhiem" and a hulking stay at home D "Morin". Id put Sanhiem in the "Elite" category because im pretty sure he's going to continue to improve and have a monster year with Calgary and could end up playing in the World Juniors for Canada. In 5 years ppl will say "why didnt anyone take him sooner"

I just went back and read through this forums GDT that took place during the draft. It's pretty funny. Very few people were pushing for him. The initial negative reaction by some is hilarious. Now that we got to see him in the WJC summer games and the rookie game it's understood why a couple of us were on Sanheim so hard. I also think he'd get better consideration for higher votes in the Flyers prospect voting if it were held now.
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1697575&highlight=draft

 

[Random Forest]

Obviously a lot of that is due to cognitive biases, though (in addition to new information). When you make a long-term commitment, your perception of the item you just received goes up significantly (and your perception of all the other foregone alternatives goes down).

There've been numerous studies done proving such a relationship. I'd safely assume that every fanbase in the league collectively increased their valuation of their respective prospects (relative to their predraft valuation) the second the player was drafted. Even a team that near unanimously hated their pick (eg, Vancouver/Virtanen) likely has grown to appreciate Virtanen MUCH more than they did earlier.

That's why I'm tempered on Sanheim. When assessing him, I tend to remind myself of my pre-draft perception of him rather than my current feelings. I've always been intrigued by him, but I still had him in the 18-20ish range on my list, so I would not classify him as an elite prospect.

 

[ILoveStephanieBrown]

I never even heard of Sanheim before the draft so I had no opinion on him one way or the other. As soon as Button made the Ryan McDonagh comparison, I watched his highlight reel (I know, highlight reels only show the good but I was able to see his physical abilities for myself), and did further reading on him. Everything I've read/watched leads me to believe he has a good chance at becoming an elite prospect. I'd say the same if he was a Pens' prospect. If he breaks out next season and has a monster year like a lot are predicting, no one will be able to deny that he's elite.

 

[Striiker]

Yeah, I didn't know anything about Sanheim before/during the draft, but I'm very very happy with the pick now.

 

[kelmitchell]

I'm joining the I knew nothing about him, I heard of him but knew nothing, I remember me and my brother watching the draft and I was hoping milano fell to us and when he was picked I flipped the remote up n started to walk away, lol but I stayed and when we drafted Travis sanheim I remember saying why the hell did we do that till I did research on him

 

[Appleyard]

I remember the rumblings of Sanheim a few months before the draft and remember maybe 2 posters here who were on the Sanheim wagon as a riser due to his physical gifts. (I cannot remember who they were but there were a few advocating his selection as a steal)

That being said I wanted Kapanen when that pick came.

I do love the Flyers recent ideology in drafting D though... Ghost, Sanheim, Morin and Hagg should all be NHLers in the new NHL simply due to their skating ability so long as they do not completely drop off a cliff.