vibes down. have you considered that??? /s
cole sillinger's slump last year permanently altered the brain chemistry of 90% of this fan base
Rank the Young Guys
- Thread starter EspenK
- Start date
koteka
Registered User
Cole Sillinger had a sophomore slump. KJ might be having a sophomore slump. Next year Fantilli could have a sophomore slump and people will lose their minds.
WannabeFinn
Beloved One
1. Adam Fantilli 9.0C
2. David Jiricek 8.0B
3. Kent Johnson 8.0C
4. Kirill Marchenko 7.0C
5. Yegor Chinakhov 7.0D
6. Dmitri Voronkov 6.5A
7. Cole Sillinger 6.5C
2. David Jiricek 8.0B
3. Kent Johnson 8.0C
4. Kirill Marchenko 7.0C
5. Yegor Chinakhov 7.0D
6. Dmitri Voronkov 6.5A
7. Cole Sillinger 6.5C
KJ Dangler
Registered User
Chinakhov extremely unlikely to reach the second - third liner level ?
Because 7.0D means his absolutely ceiling is the second liner and he could drop 3 levels which I guess would make him a fringe AHLer
No, I haven’t seen much of him. I believe I’ve seen “enough”, however. I also don’t think you can take away THAT much from (regular season) Juniors, as there’s just a bunch of not that good hockey players out there, especially in relation to the NHL.
I do believe much more can be taken out of the TC Prospect Tournament (and somewhat the WJC)) rosters and a players play in that, along with their NHL preseason play, and while it hasn’t been much, Mateychuk has passed the “eye test” in essentially every way at the “NHL level”. And he seems to produce more than enough in the WHL, for people who take much out of that also.
Now, we can talk Jiricek and “upside”. But, before that, I want to bring up another person that (while I don’t have my HF member preferences notebook with me) I believe you used to be a huge fan of, Ryan Murray. There’s some aspects or qualities in prospects, young players or players in general that can be “developed” or improved, and some things that cannot. Murray and other players similar to him, along with most of the true “elite” players in the league pretty much “think” the game at 17-18-19 years old the same way they will their entire career. Sure, there will be physical/mental hurdles and issues that impact their effectiveness or apparent “effort levels” at times, and the speed and skill of the other players in the NHL will give them problems early on, like with Fantilli or a young Murray, but they almost always know what they should or shouldn’t do at a given time.
The point I’m trying to get at is that I think Mateychuk THINKS the game much more similar to Ryan Murray than Jiricek does. And I think this is the MOST IMPORTANT quality of a hockey player. The 2nd most important quality, I believe, is skating. You and others can now understand quite simply why I’m a huge fan of guys like Mateychuk and Murray, and not a fan of guys like Laine and Peeke. When it comes to skating with the puck and “controlling” the play, making passes out of the defensive zone, I don’t see how you could ever look at Jiricek as possibly being better at it over Mateychuk in the future.
Just “hockey IQ” and skating ALONE, looking at Jiricek as having “comfortably higher upside” seems ridiculous. Is it the same reason people LOVE Laine? Harder shots from the blue line?? ~Dingers, dingers.~
What’s the one thing most people agree/think both Kent Johnson and Jiricek need to improve on? Strength, yes or no? How will this impact their agility and skating in the future when they put on more weight/strength??
What is your opinion on Jiricek’s skating and DEFENSIVE ability/skill??
To the 1st couple points Id say Jiricek stood out more for Czechia than Mateychuk did for Canada. Against his peers Jiricek really shows hes a top level prospect. Ill also say Murray and Mateychuk have some loose similarities but Murray was much more mature defensively and Mateychuk is much more dynamic offensively
I think there are many ways to show hockey IQ, it wont always come through the same. Im not so sure Mateychuk thinks the game that much better than Jiricek just different. Jiricek's issue is the feet dont get him where the brain wants to be all the time. Jiricek has good reads but also has an aggressive but youthful enthusiam that gets him in trouble against speed. I like the aggression and like that hes in the AHL, I want him to keep that while things like lower body development continue. His finishing ability is really good and its much more than just his one timer.
I dont know exactly what will happen with Jiricek's skating but adding strength will add power and stability while they continue to work on mechanics.
Hes an aggressive and confident kid and I think he can be a Burns like player.
His defense is up and down now, reads are the same. Sometimes he breaks plays up before they begin and other times he gets himself out of position. Thats part of being a 20 year old defenseman.
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,597
- 6,523
When Jarrod Skalde-who was a second round pick for NJ-was the head coach of the Cincinnati Cyclones, I had a chance to talk with him for many hours over the course of his time in Cincinnati. He would agree with this assessment of most important qualities completely.
I'd ask him about certain players on the Cyclones and their chances at AHL or NHL success and invariably he'd mention these two qualities as reasons why or why not a given player could or could not be successful at higher levels. He would also mention their "coachability".
One of the things that I often see on this board is how player X or Y needs to improve their skating. I'm of the belief that very few professional players can improve their skating ability much more than on the margin. By the time a player has hit drafting age, it's pretty safe to say that their skating ability is their skating ability and not much will change from that point.
I think players can improve their understanding of the game and what they need to do better at a higher-paced game with experience and good coaching, but elite vision/thinking can't be taught. A player either has it or he doesn't. Some players can see/think the offensive side of the game well but are woefully deficient on the defensive side of the equation. The opposite is true as well.
It's too bad that Murray was so injury prone and never did stay healthy for an extended period of time. He was an incredibly smooth skater and could make some brilliant stretch passes.
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