Prospect Info: Philip Tomasino, C, 24th Overall, Niagara IceDogs

[PredsV82]

Last game of the season tonight for the AdWolves... I would imagine that means a few guys will be flying down to be Black Aces for our playoff run. Obviously Tomasino leading the pack in that sense.

No AHL playoffs? Or did they not make it?

 

[Kat Predator]

No AHL playoffs? Or did they not make it?

AHL canceled their playoffs.

 

[PredsV82]

AHL canceled their playoffs.

I see. Well they did win the division, anyway

 

[NoNecksCurse]

this kid has developed better than anyone here could have expected. what a season for him and chicago.

he’s going to start making an impact next year. i have high hopes he can be our first drafted #1 C.

 

[sparkle twin]

AHL canceled their playoffs.

So they played the whole (half, whatever) season just to cancel the playoffs?

That sucks.

 

[Predsanddead24]

So they played the whole (half, whatever) season just to cancel the playoffs?

That sucks.

They never intended to have them in the first place. They played a really limited and weird schedule too. It was more about getting ice time for prospects than anything else this season.

 

[BigFatCat999]

No AHL playoffs? Or did they not make it?

No playoffs

 

[drwpreds]

Unless something has changed, they are having what they are calling "playoffs"- but it only involves one division (Pacific) and it is a mess. Most of the players don't even want to do it.

 

[OldFan]

The AHL this year wasn’t about winning and playoffs. It was about ice time for prospects. There were probably(I don’t know) a number of AHL vets that did not play this year. Then there was the taxi squads of maybe 5 players average, 30 some odd teams; so maybe 150 + potential AHL players not playing there. It was not representative AHL competition so take care in evaluating prospects.

 

[Scoresberg]

Tomasino with the primary assist on the goal.

 

[drwpreds]

i have high hopes he can be our first drafted #1 C.

Man oh man, please let that happen- if he winds up being a true #1 (or anything close to it) it makes the next few years look so much more promising....

 

[triggrman]

The AHL this year wasn’t about winning and playoffs. It was about ice time for prospects. There were probably(I don’t know) a number of AHL vets that did not play this year. Then there was the taxi squads of maybe 5 players average, 30 some odd teams; so maybe 150 + potential AHL players not playing there. It was not representative AHL competition so take care in evaluating prospects.

In the flip side there were a lot of very talented prospects like Tomasino that were allowed to play in the AHL that normally would not be able too. Also fewer teams so way fewer average players. Especially with goalies and defenseman

 

[PredsV82]

In the flip side there were a lot of very talented prospects like Tomasino that were allowed to play in the AHL that normally would not be able too. Also fewer teams so way fewer average players. Especially with goalies and defenseman

This season has to be definitive proof that it is a waste and a gross disservice to talented 19 yo players to force them to stay in juniors. Costs them development by keeping them playing against inferior competitors and a year of earning potential.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

This season has to be definitive proof that it is a waste and a gross disservice to talented 19 yo players to force them to stay in juniors. Costs them development by keeping them playing against inferior competitors and a year of earning potential.

I don't think that conclusion can be drawn using this season as the benchmark. The AHL was significantly weaker this season than it would usually be. The top half of the league was skimmed away to NHL Taxi Squads. So all those impressive teenager stats in the AHL this year need to be taken with a large grain of salt.

 

[PredsV82]

I don't think that conclusion can be drawn using this season as the benchmark. The AHL was significantly weaker this season than it would usually be. The top half of the league was skimmed away to NHL Taxi Squads. So all those impressive teenager stats in the AHL this year need to be taken with a large grain of salt.

Six players per team isnt quite the top half, especially when a lot of teams didnt put their starting AHL goalie on the taxi squad. And replacing them with a bunch of 19 yo first and second round picks probably rebalanced that scale somewhat. It would have been a waste of a year of Tomasinos life had he been forced to play junior this year. Its grossly unfair to the kids who are talented enough to play against men, for money, to tell them, "tough shit go hang out with the kids, and oh by the way do it for free."

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Six players per team isnt quite the top half, especially when a lot of teams didnt put their starting AHL goalie on the taxi squad. And replacing them with a bunch of 19 yo first and second round picks probably rebalanced that scale somewhat. It would have been a waste of a year of Tomasinos life had he been forced to play junior this year. Its grossly unfair to the kids who are talented enough to play against men, for money, to tell them, "tough shit go hang out with the kids, and oh by the way do it for free."

Most NHL teams did put their 3rd best goalie on their taxi squad. And most teams didn't just use the same 6 players on their Taxi Squad the whole year, they swapped them around and there were often Covid situations keeping players in transit and in limbo, and some players opted to stay in Europe as well. If it wasn't precisely mathematically 50% of players out of the AHL at any given moment just on numbers, it was certainly >50% on weighted average given that it was the best ones who were usually out. If you take the top 200 players out of the league, whether that's exactly "half" or not, it's still more than half the talent. Anyway...

The main problem with the age rule is that without it NHL teams would abuse it to the overall detriment of player development on the whole. Yes, there have always been a very small number of players who are a little too good for junior and not quite good enough for the NHL. That very tiny number of players, which may include Tomasino, are not being hurt by playing an extra year of junior. But the problem has always been that if you did away with that rule, then you would fundamentally change the nature of the AHL, as teams would then bring in practically ALL of their signed junior players, and you'd have the double whammy of diluting both the junior leagues AND the AHL at the same time.

No system is perfect, but the current one is less damaging than that would be. My ideal has generally been that each team could exercise 1 exception per year. Although even then, there aren't 30 players in that category in any given year, there are usually less than a dozen. But NHL teams would all still use their 1 exception if they had it. So then you are maybe hurting 20 players and all the junior teams they could instead be playing for, all for the sake of the 10 or so players who would perhaps benefit from the early AHL start. So at the end of the day, I think the current system is just fine. It wouldn't have harmed Tomasino to score 120 pts and play for the Memorial Cup this year in Oshawa, lots of highly successful NHL players have dominated junior without having it set them back.

 

[triggrman]

Six players per team isnt quite the top half, especially when a lot of teams didnt put their starting AHL goalie on the taxi squad. And replacing them with a bunch of 19 yo first and second round picks probably rebalanced that scale somewhat. It would have been a waste of a year of Tomasinos life had he been forced to play junior this year. Its grossly unfair to the kids who are talented enough to play against men, for money, to tell them, "tough shit go hang out with the kids, and oh by the way do it for free."

Totally agreed. Talent wasn’t diluted due to split AHL teams. Lots of guys that would have been bottom line or pairing AHL guys didn’t even make it this season

 

[PredsV82]

Totally agreed. Talent wasn’t diluted due to split AHL teams. Lots of guys that would have been bottom line or pairing AHL guys didn’t even make it this season

Yeah I wasnt even considering the fact that some teams didnt play and that served to concentrate the AHL level talent.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I wouldn't mind this being more than some time practicing with the team.

 

[101st_fan]

I wouldn't mind this being more than some time practicing with the team.

It comes down to what "non-game group" means and how long he must stay there.

 

[Kat Predator]

Coaches want a first hand look at the kid.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

 

[Raistlin]

HI Preds fans, how has he looked at training camp and in games so far? was he given a fair shake by the coaching staff before rotating him out? wonder if hes a 9 games and out candidate so far from what you've seen?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

HI Preds fans, how has he looked at training camp and in games so far? was he given a fair shake by the coaching staff before rotating him out? wonder if hes a 9 games and out candidate so far from what you've seen?

Tomasino is 20... The 9 games doesn't apply. He has been given a very fair shake. Probably he would have been sent back already by most conservative NHL organizations. At the same time... he shows flashes. Those wouldn't be enough to keep him up with most teams, probably. I think he'll end up back in Milwaukee at some point. But who knows. It really wouldn't bother me if he did. He's a great prospect for us either way. I'd rather have him in Milwaukee on the 1st line than playing sporadically here.