Prospect: Paul Postma

[Samus44]

Hi there this is an Oilfan I just have a few questions regarding Postma. This is a guy who seems to be heavily overlooked as a prospect and i'm wondering why. It seems to me he is probably as good if not better a prospect than Blum in Nashville is. However he seems to suffer from differences in opinion on his ability. The Hockey news describes him as a potential "depth defenseman" which seems harsh to me, however the fact that he has played in only 3 games so far this season and with the acqusition of Clitsome i wonder how highly regarded he really is. Then again Hockeys Future seems to see him good as he's ranked 3rd in the rankings and has a very respectable scouting report.

Looking at his last season i am rather suprised he hasn't had more of a chance, of course it could just be a case of patience on the Jets end after all they have some young defenseman and a PP guy isn't a pressing need by any means.

So here are the questions:
Where do you see his ceiling?

Do you think he will make some of your other dmen expendable in the near future, and if so how soon?

What would it take to acquire him?

How has he looked in his brief callup(s)?

Ever since his days in junior i've been intrigued by this player, so thanks in advance for the replies.

Click to read more...

 

[King Woodballs]

Eberle for postma

 

[wpgsilver]

Hi there this is an Oilfan I just have a few questions regarding Postma. This is a guy who seems to be heavily overlooked as a prospect and i'm wondering why. It seems to me he is probably as good if not better a prospect than Blum in Nashville is. However he seems to suffer from differences in opinion on his ability. The Hockey news describes him as a potential "depth defenseman" which seems harsh to me, however the fact that he has played in only 3 games so far this season and with the acqusition of Clitsome i wonder how highly regarded he really is. Then again Hockeys Future seems to see him good as he's ranked 3rd in the rankings and has a very respectable scouting report.

Looking at his last season i am rather suprised he hasn't had more of a chance, of course it could just be a case of patience on the Jets end after all they have some young defenseman and a PP guy isn't a pressing need by any means.

So here are the questions:
Where do you see his ceiling?

Do you think he will make some of your other dmen expendable in the near future, and if so how soon?

What would it take to acquire him?

How has he looked in his brief callup(s)?

Ever since his days in junior i've been intrigued by this player, so thanks in advance for the replies.

You're right that the approach is largely one of patience. His services aren't really needed, and to be honest his defensive game isn't where it needs to be at this point. I found that his offensive upside is where he'll make his mark, but he would be somewhat redundant on this team. He may have been given more of an opportunity this year if not for the play of Mark Flood, who pretty much sealed the position of 8th d-man.

In terms of prospects, I have him behind Artus Kulda in our system (again because of defensive play).

It's tough to say where his ceiling is to be honest, I see him as a 5th d-man but others may disagree.

I'm not sure what the return would have to be to acquire him, but I would say that a deal could be struck.

 

[BigZ65]

I think a good comparable for him would be Gragnani, now in Vancouver. Not really NHL-ready in his own end. I think Postma has more upside in his own end but I doubt he's ever a regular top 4, PK guy. He'll be a PP specialist and bottom pairing guy.

 

[Wpgpage]

I still think Franson is a good comp, bottom pairing PP specialist. Limited defensive upside but a serious asset on the PP.

 

[Samus44]

Suprised thus far by the coments, i had always gotten the impression there was more of a two way game there.

 

[Huffer]

Suprised thus far by the coments, i had always gotten the impression there was more of a two way game there.

There might be at some point, we just haven't seen enough of him at the NHL level yet to know for sure.

Most of the insights are coming from guys who get to see him in St. John's.

 

[Saitama]

We can't trade Postma! We need him next year as a part of our PST line with Scheifele and whoever we can draft whose name starts with a T!

 

[Ulf Hullberg]

Right handed defenseman are not in large supply, so keeping Postma in the Jets organization would be a wise thing to do. That said, I do see him paired with Stuart when he is ready for the big club.

 

[Bane99]

Suprised thus far by the coments, i had always gotten the impression there was more of a two way game there.

He's improved his defensive game since the start of the season.

 

[Gm0ney]

We can't trade Postma! We need him next year as a part of our PST line with Scheifele and whoever we can draft whose name starts with a T!

Telegin?

 

[YWGinYYZ]

Telegin?

Just need to draft Tanner Pearson, and there you have it: P-S-T

 

[Holden Caulfield]

We can't trade Postma! We need him next year as a part of our PST line with Scheifele and whoever we can draft whose name starts with a T!

Your gonna move him to forward...?

 

[Saitama]

Your gonna move him to forward...?

Sorry, it has to be done unless we find another person with a P name.

 

[Grind]

Just need to draft Tanner Pearson, and there you have it: P-S-T

this would be hilarious.

and if it happens i think TNSE might as well just buy the barrie colts

 

[Auror]

Lol. So we have a team that taxes other teams with both PST and GST.

 

[Jets]

Lol. So we have a team that taxes other teams with both PST and GST.

Not to mention half our team would be ex Barrie colts...

 

[Cousin Eddie]

as somebody who attends IceCaps I think he is without a doubt the best Offensive defenceman the team has. I see him as at least a future number 3 or 4 defender in the show.

 

[HannuJ]

still waiting for Evgeni Davidov to be brought back so we can play him with Slater and Thornburn.

S-T-D! S-T-D!

 

[Samus44]

How has Potsma played this year? How would you value him now?

 

[garret9]

Hi there this is an Oilfan I just have a few questions regarding Postma. This is a guy who seems to be heavily overlooked as a prospect and i'm wondering why. It seems to me he is probably as good if not better a prospect than Blum in Nashville is. However he seems to suffer from differences in opinion on his ability. The Hockey news describes him as a potential "depth defenseman" which seems harsh to me, however the fact that he has played in only 3 games so far this season and with the acqusition of Clitsome i wonder how highly regarded he really is. Then again Hockeys Future seems to see him good as he's ranked 3rd in the rankings and has a very respectable scouting report.

Hey Eskimo. I've seen a couple of your posts on the main boards. I don't really respect the Hockey News as a good source for anything true myself anyways haha.
Clitsome is the main piece in Postma's way for grabbing the #6 spot this year and the loser will most likely be the #7. Postma was signed to a one-way contract last season showing that they have some faith in the guy.

Looking at his last season i am rather suprised he hasn't had more of a chance, of course it could just be a case of patience on the Jets end after all they have some young defenseman and a PP guy isn't a pressing need by any means.

I read somewhere (I believe it was an interview of Chevy) that they wanted to give Postma a lot more NHL trial time during the end of the season but due to them being so close to the playoffs it never happened.

So here are the questions:
Where do you see his ceiling?

I'll quote the Hockey Prospectus last thing on Postma because it almost exactly matches my own:

"The Good: Postma skates very well, especially for a somewhat bigger defender, as he is very agile, fast, and mobile in all directions. He's a very good offensive defenseman with solid hands, with the ability to do a lot from the blue line. Postma has a bomb from the point, and when I've seen people track it in skills competitions, he gets logged in the mid to high 90s in miles per hour. He's started to physically fill out and could be average in that department.

The Bad: Hockey sense is Postma's Achilles heel, and while I think he's shown notable defensive improvement, he still makes some pretty bad decisions either with the puck or in terms of his defensive play.

Projection: He could be a decent second pairing defender who is great on the power play."​

He's basically all but a 3rd pairing 2nd PP guy already without any real NHL experience. If this guy improves the two things in "The Bad" section (which IMHO if anyone can do it Huddy can), then he can be a second pairing D with primary PP guy.

The problem is currently with the way Jets currently use their defensive pairings he is unlikely to be a 2nd pairing for us.
(We split the QoC evenly between 1st and 2nd pairing but push 1st into the O-zone and push the 2nd into the D-zone... I've seen you use adv-stats before so I know you know what I'm talking about)

Do you think he will make some of your other dmen expendable in the near future, and if so how soon?

Well Byfuglien, Bogosian, Postma, Redmond and Trouba are all RHD with lots of offensive upside (placed in my personal opinion of current offensive ability). In defensive order I'd say Redmond and even 18 year old Trouba may be ahead... So I'm not sure if he'll ever make any of them expendable.

What would it take to acquire him?

I'm terrible at the trade game but I'll say this. He's probably our best trade chip within players that are very movable. I know THN wasn't too nice but HockeyProspectus had him in the top100 prospects (albeit at dead last 100th spot).

How has he looked in his brief callup(s)?

I can only speak for last years pre-season and this and last seasons IceCaps. And I can summarize this way:
*already above-average NHL skater and shooter
*can mentally get knocked off his game at times
*defensive abilities have substantially improved but he will need a full-time sheltered NHL role for at least 1-2 years IMHO.

Ever since his days in junior i've been intrigued by this player, so thanks in advance for the replies.

No problem and thanks!

 

[allan5oh]

Do you think he will make some of your other dmen expendable in the near future, and if so how soon?

I think he could be the expendable one. We currently have 2 offensive RHD regulars (Byfuglien, Bogosian), Postma is now getting a shot, Redmond will get his soon, and Trouba hanging in the background. All 5 of them are RHD with offensive skill.

In the future I'd love to have Buff, Bogosian, and Trouba on our right side. Demand is always high for offensive RHD, so I can see Postma being trade bait, especially if he has a good year. I don't see him sticking around long term.

 

[ps241]

How has Potsma played this year? How would you value him now?

The guy he gets compared to (or at least what I have heard) is Jeff Petry although I believe Paul is better and getting his shot through from the point. Jeff is a bit more physical and more solid defensively right now but their careers have tracked in a similar fashion. as you have seen from the post we are stacked with RHD which is one reason why he had to wait until this year and also he wasn't quite physically ready last year.

I have no idea what his trade value would be but I could see him getting bundled after he is established in the NHL. I am really looking forward to having Huddy work with him. when I heard Meech being interviewed he was asked about Postma and specifically how he is progressing and Meech said "Paul is becoming a more vocal leader and demanding more of teammates in practice". He also said "Paul is getting much better in his own end and works really hard on it in practice".

 

[Bob E]

still waiting for Evgeni Davidov to be brought back so we can play him with Slater and Thornburn.

S-T-D! S-T-D!

 

[Samus44]

The guy he gets compared to (or at least what I have heard) is Jeff Petry although I believe Paul is better and getting his shot through from the point. Jeff is a bit more physical and more solid defensively right now but their careers have tracked in a similar fashion. as you have seen from the post we are stacked with RHD which is one reason why he had to wait until this year and also he wasn't quite physically ready last year.

I have no idea what his trade value would be but I could see him getting bundled after he is established in the NHL. I am really looking forward to having Huddy work with him. when I heard Meech being interviewed he was asked about Postma and specifically how he is progressing and Meech said "Paul is becoming a more vocal leader and demanding more of teammates in practice". He also said "Paul is getting much better in his own end and works really hard on it in practice".

If he's as good as Jeff Petry you have a possible top pairing defenseman, that seems like a pretty lofty comparison. People don't realize but Jeff Petry actually led the Oiler defense in ice time and played very well against tough competition. Petry reminds me of a young Alex Edler. If hockey sense is an issue for Potsma comparisons to Petry probably aren't all that apt. Stylistically i could understand some comparisons, big smmoth skating dman with an excellent breakout pass and a bullet from the point, but their ability to execute and play within themselves seems a little different. In saying that Potsma sure seems like quality at least superficially so perhaps everyone else is underrating him and Petry really isn't unreasonable. Based on what i've heard may i suggest Grebeshkov as a comp.?

It was mentioned before too, but yeah Huddy is probably the best defense coach in the league. Edmonton's D hasn't been the same since he left, he always got the most out of his players.

Thanks everybody for the answers.