Rate your prospects using the new HF' system

[dem]

I'm an Oilers fan.. but O'Sullivan>Schremp
Schremp hasnt really shown that much..

 

[gerbilanium]

The new HF system or the old calgarypuck system? They seem quite the same???

 

[NewHabsEra*]

Part1:

Your opinion based on your ratings:

Kastsitsyn: Upside: Superstar HOF Downside : First-line winger

From what I heard... Timmins... Pierre Gauthier... Red line (forgot his name)... Finnally I appreciated Montreal's comment (one of the few who saw him live on HF)Perezhogin: Upside: First-line winger Dowside: Second-line winger

From what I saw... To me Perezhogin is one of the most underrated prospects on HF, he certainly has the skills and creativity to be a great offensive winger

Plekanec: Sure-shot second-liner

From what I saw... Will have the efficiency of a good second liner but could play anywhere from the third to the first line... is a sure bet for several reasons I already said and that you probably dont want read again. THN rank him 6th best AHLer

Higgins: Sure-shot second-liner

From what I saw... Higgins has been named 10th best AHLer at his first pro year.. enough said

Danis: Upside: No 1A Downside: NHL backup

Never saw him play... relying on his accomplishments and Habs talent evaluators... I'm also relying on people's comments after Pierrefond... You maybe think he cant be a decent backup in the NHL?

Hainsey: upside: No 1 defenseman Downside: No 4 or 5 defenseman

Im not a big Hainsey fan but he certainly has the offensive skills and shot to be a great PP quarterback... If ever this kid begin to work hard to improve his "improvable" weakness, then could turn in a top pairing defenseman... I however gave him a "C"... May reach his potential, may not.. Hainsey has his destiny in his own hands.

Chipchura: sure-shot above-average third-line forward

Guess from the WHL posters and Pierrefond attenders' comments I read and the very little I saw... He looks like the complete package... If ever you find Chipchura 6.5A too much optimist, then any 18 years old prospects should never be given a "A" rating, even Crosby!
Hossa: Upside: Second-line forward Downside: Third-line forward

From what I saw yes, this guy will be a NHLer for sure despite having consistency probs... Likely average second line winger talking about effectiveness..
Urquhart: Upside: Elite second line forward Downside: Third-line forward

I rated Urquhart 7.5C since I think he has great offensive skills, could have rated him 7 but from what I saw he does have very impressive stickhandling and playmaking skills, he also has a big frame even if he doesnt use it much and a very strong shot... He however has some weakness to work on, thats why I gave him a "C" rating. "May reach his potential, may not" ... 7.5-2=5.5, not third liner like you said BTW.. He wil have to play on an offensive line or will bust

Lapierre: Upside: above-average third-line forward Downside: Third-line forward

Downside = above average fourth liner and Im quite well with this rating, Lapierre does have all what it takes to make it at the NHL level IMO.. From what I saw and what I know about the individual

O'Byrne: Upside: no 4 or 5 defenseman Downside: Third-pairing defenceman

Downside 7th defenseman if Im not wrong... Im really high on his chances to make the NHL one day... I saw this kid and he is quite impressive... He is very solid and amazingly physical...

Korneev: Upside: No 2 defenceman Downside: Depth defenceman

Upside: no 3 defenseman.. you still try to make it look worse... This is a highly skilled kid but very unlikely to reach the NHL one day for several reason...

Lambert: Upside: Second-line forward Downside: Depth forward

Another quality prospect having the skills to be a second line winger in the NHL.. May reach it, may not.

Locke: Upside: Elite second-line Downside: Depth forward

Very little chances he reach his potential, most likely a bust
Korpikari: Upside: No 4 or 5 defenceman Downside: Depth defenceman
Yemelin: Upside: No 4 or 5 defenceman Downside: Depth defenceman
Halak: Upside: No 1A Downside: Below-average backup
Lindberg: No 1A Downside: Below-average backup

Concerning Halak and Heino Lindberg... Still, whats wrong? They are obviously very skilled, solid technic... But at the moment several factors could play against them... Very tough for a goaltender to reach the NHL, 2 spots per team only...

 

[NewHabsEra*]

Part2

Some of them are acceptable but otherwise wow just wow.

Very little of our top 20 prospects do have almost 0 potential, I rather like to say they are unlikly too reach that! See "d" and "f" explaination..

Not a lot of people will agree with your ''fair'' ratings IMO. Kryoptix's rating are not perfect but by far more realistic.

And about Urquhart, he certainly didn't do anything to earn a 7.5, the big softie is certainly not known for his physical play, defensive awareness and his showing at the development camp wasn't all that encouraging either. It's not because you play in a defensive system that you are good defensively and seeing how fast Urquhart is and how soft he is, I'm sure his defensive play needs as much work as Hennessy's and it's not like a lot of skill Q forward are known for being great defensive player either. Urquhart should thank his good star he isn't 5'11. He has a good talent base to work with but I don't see why you rate him so highly when he doesn't particularly stand out in the Q.

Good luck with your Hennessy is a cheater and the +/- arguement. I'm sure Sharks fans will have a lot of fun with that one.

Did you ever see them play? Thank you...

As for Kastsitsyn, why don't you stop saying he is a top-5 NHL prospect screaming to everybody how he is the next stud first-line forward when you never saw him play and never saw most of the top-20 prospect play? If you base your opinion on everything the HF writers say, go back in 2-3 years ago and go read what our writers were saying about Buturlin & co, you'll end up understanding that maybe prospects are very unpredictable and saying they are all great with great NHL potential without hesitation isn't the smartest way to go. Making the NHL isn't a walk in the park.

Ive saw maybe 15 of our 20 top prospects at least once.. I very rarely affirm things when I did'nt see those kids play... Again, on this one I'm reffering to what I think are very reliable sources and knowledge people who saw Kostitsyn play!

Go to Russianprospects.com, you will see they don't talk about Kastsitsyn as highly as Dan Linn and I consider them to a be a good source of information. Dan is doing a great job and he knows more than me about our prospects but I'm open-minded enough to understand Dan Linn doesn't own a crystal ball. I've heard you say Komisarek is the next Scott Stevens so many times I don't even care to count anymore. Marcel Hossa is powerforward, Jason Ward will score 50 points this year etc. Heck, you even think Mike Ribeiro, our leading scorer, will have to earn his ice time because of the great Habs prospects.

Strange but I personnally dont trust russianprospects.com

Yes I said Komisarek was gonna be a Stevens type of defenseman but bigger... I still say it and im very confident about this comment.

All what I said about Hossa is that he is probably the best player in the organisation to protect the puck along the board, he also sometime give some nice bodychecks and use his size effectively... It was confusing about the definition of what a powerfoward is... You could even not give an accurate one when asked to..

I was wrong with Ward, he did'nt play last season like he did when called up the year before... I think he totally lost confidence in himself offensively.. At the moment he is a nice fourth line player... We were lacking skilled foward on the top 2 lines, I expected Ward to play on one of it and playing the way he did the year before but I was obviously wrong...
Don't you think you are overly optimistic sometimes because I hardly ever see you say anything negative about our prospects (beside if a great poster says otherwise) while you seem to be easily able to point out the flaws of a lot of other teams prospects and not being sold on them.

I've been on Milroy's back since the first times I saw him play (Kootenay) when he was overrated by everybody... a top prospects in people's mind...

Did you never heard me talk hardly against Hainsey? Saying he was maybe our worst defensive defenseman with the Bullogs?

Saying I was desapointed with Hossa's progression and inconsistency probs?

Urquhart lacking intensity ect ect...

You missed some nice debates because its not rare I do not quite agree with some knowledge posters, mainly our writer for exemple... Munchusen is also in my mind a very knowledge poster.. You are one as well and Im actually debating with you...

How much time did you "see" our prospects play? Which ones?

I appreciate your enthusiasm about our prospects but you are clearly over-rating some of them but it's not like I'm the first one to say this to you and I will not be the last one I'm pretty sure of that. [/QUOTE]

Its your opinion, I think you underrate them as most of posters here..

Have a nice day!

 

[King'sPawn]

Kings:
Grebeshkov - 8B
Though he didn't do too much in his first few games, he still has the smarts to make a good transition into the NHL.

Brown - 8B
He earned himself a roster spot during training camp, but he would have been better off developing in Guelph for one more season, and not getting hurt.

Gleason - 7A
Has shown good speed and great strength, definitely plays like a top 4 defenseman. He just needs to fine tune his positioning, as that was his biggest downfall last season.

Tukonen - 7.5B
Already physically and mentally mature enough to compete in the NHL, and he's only 17. Won't be a superstar, but he's going to be a solid player.

Kanko - 6.5A
A great pest and grinder who already made a bit of an impact in a few games for Manchester.

Pushkarev - 7B
A dark horse sniper. Hopefully what he's been doing in Russia will transcend now that he's coming to North America (I think he's playing for the Hitmen next season?)

Cammalleri - 7.5C
As I said in another thread, he has flashes of brilliance, but I think his size will be an issue.

Tambellini - 7.5C
He played injured last season, so his numbers are slightly deflated. He still has the upside of a good second-liner, but I have a hard time giving him a higher probability because I don't know which Tambellini will develop... this year's or last year's.

Boyle - 8D
Simply hit or miss. He apparently played pretty decently at the prospect camp. He's a big guy with big upside, but he hasn't shown any clear indication he can become that good of a player.

Hogeboom - 6.5B
Seems pretty likely he'll be a third line grinder. He's got some skills, but nothing spectacular.

Am I overrating/underrating? I only did the top 10. Thanks for the input

 

[MrMastodonFarm*]

The new HF system or the old calgarypuck system? They seem quite the same???

 

[DownFromNJ]

1. Parise 8.5B
2. Ahonen 8B
3. 2. Suglobov 8C/7.5B
4. Pihlman 7B
5. Vrana 7.5C
6. Foster 7.5D
7. Zajac 7.5B (hard to tell until he hits NCAA)
8. Kadeykin 7C
9. Khomutov 7B
10. DeMarchi 6.5B
11. Tallackson 7.5F
12. Voros 6.5A
13. Laine 6.5D
14. Pikkarainen 6A

 

[Baron Von Shark]

1. Michalek 8.5A
2. Bernier 7.5B
3. Goc 7A
4. Hennessy7A
5. Ehrhoff 7C
6. Kaspar 7B
7. Carle 6.5B
8. Elechener 7C its hard to rate him i guess a 6.5 B also works
9. Morris 6.5A
10. Joseph 6.5B

Here's my stab at the Sharks.

1. Michalek 8B
2. Bernier 7.5B
3. Goc 6.5A
4. Hennessy7.5C
5. Ehrhoff 8C
6. Kaspar 7B
7. Carle 7B
8. Elechener 7C
9. Morris 6.5B
10. Joseph 7C

 

[Patty Ice]

Here's my stab at the Sharks.

1. Michalek 8B
2. Bernier 7.5B
3. Goc 6.5A
4. Hennessy7.5C
5. Ehrhoff 8C
6. Kaspar 7B
7. Carle 7B
8. Elechener 7C
9. Morris 6.5B
10. Joseph 7C

This one is way more on-base...although I'd have Joseph a "D" at best if you are goin to give him a 7. Personally, I'd give him a 6C. Ehrhoff you have ranked perfectly.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I'm an Oilers fan.. but O'Sullivan>Schremp
Schremp hasnt really shown that much..

Thank you...

 

[Chimaera]

From the look of some of these rankings, the NHL is going to have a glut of Hall of Famers in a few years.

 

[triggrman]

From the look of some of these rankings, the NHL is going to have a glut of Hall of Famers in a few years.

 

[DutchLeafsfan]

I wonder what happen though when we have 30 dynasty calibre teams simultaneously

 

[CaptainBure]

Looks like the Rangers will have some pretty sick players,accoridng to hockeys future

 

[Pepper]

buddy you have no clue what you're talking about. First off, Salmelainen is the closest to the NHL of those 3 and it's been said over and over that he has a shot for the team this year. The other two dont. Infact i think it's stupid, infact borderline Pejorative Slured of you to think so highly of Jesse Niinimaki. Niinimaki has taken a backseat to a mediocre prospect like Bergenheim at every international competition. To add to that he's not physical, he's not a goal scorer and his speed is waaaaaay overrated. As for Poulliot he's injury prone just like Niinimaki and if he does make it, he just doesnt have the tealent or abilities in my eyes (YES I've actually seen them both play and you havent) to be a top 6 forward. Good try though. It's not good to guess. It's best to base judgement using your opinions, not some garbage you read in a newspaper.

Uhhuh, where do I start...Let's just say that telling others that they are totally wrong and insulting them like that isn't too mature, especially when you're totally out of the loop yourself.

Salmelainen being closest to NHL doesn't say anything about his potential, I thought that was pretty obvious to everyone. His potential is not even near that of Rita and Niinimäki who both have atleast 2nd line potential, Salmelainen most likely will never be anything 'better' than a 3rd line grinder. He has never scored a lot in any level and has never showed enough offensive talent to be considered a scorer. He's a 3rd line energy player and that's it.

Niinimäki and Rita have both shown A LOT more offensive potential and whereas they are much more unlikely to reach their potential they still should be atleast a full grade above Salmelainen in the rankings (potential-wise that is).

Oh and btw, I have most certainly seen them play more than you have so I suggest you change your tone before you make a complete ass out of yourself.

 

[Saku K]

NewHabsArea, this is your problem, you pick up whatever will float your boat and ignore the rest. Concerning Kastsitsyn, why do you ignore his (lack of) accomplishements? You rely on it to rate Danis but when it comes to Kastsitsyn, it doesn't matter anymore. It is not strange that you ignore Russianprospects.com, because they simply do not share your point of view. Russianprospects specialize in Russian prospects and they saw more than you, me and Dan Linn, why ignore them? It is not like there is a ton of informations on Kastsitsyn around the world either. Dan saw a couple of tapes while RP are an affiliation based in Russia itself, they do not predict how the kids will perform in North America but they have everything to be a solid source. I know you don't think they are a reliable source even though everything is pointing in the other direction.

Kastsitsyn is at best a 8.5C or a 8B IMO. Dan Linn, Russianprospects, heck I never saw anybody but you rank Kastsitsyn as a top-5 prospect in the league, there is good reasons nobody thinks like you. You probable disagreed with db23 when he told us Kastsitsyn was going to be a bust, he's at one extreme and you are at the other. What people see here is the overall picture of Kastsitsyn with the little known, an extremly talented player with a lack of accomplishement & a lot of differences sources with different opinions which leads to question marks. If you think he is the next stud first line forward, a top-5 prospect in the league, whatever floats your boat but don't expect anybody who tries to make a balanced analysis with the little known to agree with you. You think Komisarek will be a bigger Scott Stevens? At age 20, Stevens was already an All-star dominating two-way defenceman, Komisarek will have without a doubt a great NHL career but will not be even close to Stevens' career IMO. Komisarek's upside is a smaller Zdeno Chara IMO & nothing close to Stevens.

I don't need to watch Urquhart play 10 times play to have an opinion on him, everybody who watches the Q beside you saw Hennessy having a better season, being the better offensive player period. PEI had a group of great forward, with great coaching & chemistry, no superstar. Urquhart has done little to improve his stock this year and did not particularly stand out in the Q. I know you prefer sources that says ''he stickhandled through 2 defencemans yesterday wow'' as sources but unfortunately Urquhart's rating is far closer to 7C, 7D or 6.5C than anything close to 7.5. ''Did you ever see them play? Thank you...'' isn't enough when most posters & people I know who watches the Q regularly disagree with you. Saying Hennessy is product of ice time and system while Urquhart is a victim of Vigneault just show you don't give credit where credit is due, I guess Ilya Kovalchuk is a product of Dany Heatley, ice time and system?

Halak and Lindberg have a long long way to go, based on developement camp, they have now legit starting goaltender potential after one year? That's a little premature don't you think?

 

[montreal]

NewHabsArea, this is your problem, you pick up whatever will float your boat and ignore the rest. Concerning Kastsitsyn, why do you ignore his (lack of) accomplishements? You rely on it to rate Danis but when it comes to Kastsitsyn, it doesn't matter anymore. It is not strange that you ignore Russianprospects.com, because they simply do not share your point of view. Russianprospects specialize in Russian prospects and they saw more than you, me and Dan Linn, why ignore them? It is not like there is a ton of informations on Kastsitsyn around the world either. Dan saw a couple of tapes while RP are an affiliation based in Russia itself, they do not predict how the kids will perform in North America but they have everything to be a solid source. I know you don't think they are a reliable source even though everything is pointing in the other direction.

Kastsitsyn is at best a 8.5C or a 8B IMO. Dan Linn, Russianprospects, heck I never saw anybody but you rank Kastsitsyn as a top-5 prospect in the league, there is good reasons nobody thinks like you. You probable disagreed with db23 when he told us Kastsitsyn was going to be a bust, he's at one extreme and you are at the other. What people see here is the overall picture of Kastsitsyn with the little known, an extremly talented player with a lack of accomplishement & a lot of differences sources with different opinions which leads to question marks. If you think he is the next stud first line forward, a top-5 prospect in the league, whatever floats your boat but don't expect anybody who tries to make a balanced analysis with the little known to agree with you. You think Komisarek will be a bigger Scott Stevens? At age 20, Stevens was already an All-star dominating two-way defenceman, Komisarek will have without a doubt a great NHL career but will not be even close to Stevens' career IMO.

I don't need to watch Urquhart play 10 times play to have an opinion on him, everybody who watches the Q beside you saw Hennessy having a better season, being the better offensive player period. PEI had a group of great forward, with great coaching & chemistry, no superstar. Urquhart has done little to improve his stock this year and did not particularly stand out in the Q. I know you prefer sources that says ''he stickhandled through 2 defencemans yesterday wow'' as sources but unfortunately Urquhart's rating is far closer to 7C, 7D or 6.5C than anything close to 7.5. ''Did you ever see them play? Thank you...'' isn't enough when most posters & people I know who watches the Q regularly disagree with you. Saying Hennessy is product of ice time and system while Urquhart is a victim of Vigneault just show you don't give credit where credit is due, I guess Ilya Kovalchuk is a product of Dany Heatley, ice time and system?

Halak and Lindberg have a long long way to go, based on developement camp, they have now legit starting goaltender potential after one year? That's a little premature don't you think?

Well to be fair I don't agree with the comments that Kostitsyn has a lack of accomplishments. That's very off base. The guy was the top scorer at the Euro Ice Hockey Challenge which his team won (against weak comp though). His line was the top scoring line at the U-20's (which his team won). He was 3rd in scoring in the WC's (which his team won, and he was 1 of only 2 junior aged players on the team) He racked up the goals for CSKA-2 and came back in time to play in the champhionship series, helped CSKA-2 win the 1st league championship. He also helped his team in the EEHL in Minsk win the league champhionship. I could be the only one that's very impressed to see a 18-19 kid be a part of so many winning teams in one season. Yes he did jack in the RSL, as a 17 year old and the next year as an 18 year old. I can see why some question his abilities since he hasn't proven anything in the RSL. Time will tell. For the record I think he's the most skilled prospect I've seen for the Habs for some time. Who knows what success he will have. As for Russian prospects, Kosty only played in 11 games, and I saw 2 of them, so they couldn't have seen too many more games then me, since there's only 9 others. But Eugene and RP have been very helpful over the years. And he's a 8.5C now.

And I have to say I was very very impressed with Heino-Lindberg, he was the biggest surprise to me at the development camp. Very solid skills, I look forward to seeing him at the wjc's. same with Halak.

 

[417]

Well to be fair I don't agree with the comments that Kostitsyn has a lack of accomplishments. That's very off base. The guy was the top scorer at the Euro Ice Hockey Challenge which his team won (against weak comp though). His line was the top scoring line at the U-20's (which his team won). He was 3rd in scoring in the WC's (which his team won, and he was 1 of only 2 junior aged players on the team) He racked up the goals for CSKA-2 and came back in time to play in the champhionship series, helped CSKA-2 win the 1st league championship. He also helped his team in the EEHL in Minsk win the league champhionship. I could be the only one that's very impressed to see a 18-19 kid be a part of so many winning teams in one season. Yes he did jack in the RSL, as a 17 year old and the next year as an 18 year old. I can see why some question his abilities since he hasn't proven anything in the RSL. Time will tell. For the record I think he's the most skilled prospect I've seen for the Habs for some time. Who knows what success he will have. As for Russian prospects, Kosty only played in 11 games, and I saw 2 of them, so they couldn't have seen too many more games then me, since there's only 9 others. But Eugene and RP have been very helpful over the years. And he's a 8.5C now.

And I have to say I was very very impressed with Heino-Lindberg, he was the biggest surprise to me at the development camp. Very solid skills, I look forward to seeing him at the wjc's. same with Halak.

I have notes several times on this board how he's been part, a key part mind you, of all these winning teams....

 

[Saku K]

Well to be fair I don't agree with the comments that Kostitsyn has a lack of accomplishments. That's very off base. The guy was the top scorer at the Euro Ice Hockey Challenge which his team won (against weak comp though). His line was the top scoring line at the U-20's (which his team won). He was 3rd in scoring in the WC's (which his team won, and he was 1 of only 2 junior aged players on the team) He racked up the goals for CSKA-2 and came back in time to play in the champhionship series, helped CSKA-2 win the 1st league championship. He also helped his team in the EEHL in Minsk win the league champhionship. I could be the only one that's very impressed to see a 18-19 kid be a part of so many winning teams in one season. Yes he did jack in the RSL, as a 17 year old and the next year as an 18 year old. I can see why some question his abilities since he hasn't proven anything in the RSL. Time will tell. For the record I think he's the most skilled prospect I've seen for the Habs for some time. Who knows what success he will have. As for Russian prospects, Kosty only played in 11 games, and I saw 2 of them, so they couldn't have seen too many more games then me, since there's only 9 others. But Eugene and RP have been very helpful over the years. And he's a 8.5C now.

And I have to say I was very very impressed with Heino-Lindberg, he was the biggest surprise to me at the development camp. Very solid skills, I look forward to seeing him at the wjc's. same with Halak.

Good post. I was not talking about his pre-draft accomplishements but more with his struggles in the RSL. He did have good playoffs run against weaker opposition, I am aware of that. I do think he has a bit more offensive upside than Perezhogin with Perez having the edge defensively and being the more hard working player even though smaller. It will be interesting to follow his progression against stiffer competition in the AHL and I'm pretty optimistic about his capacity to suceed. I just don't think we should bank Kastsitsyn as a sure-shot first-liner with upside as a future HOF.

I saw Halak at the WJC, I thought he was solid but he has several things to work on and the Q will be a great place for him to learn even though he isn't sucessful so far in the pre-season. Slovakia never produced great goaltenders, Budaj has likely the highest upside & developed in the OHL while Lasak doesn't seem to be in the plans of the Predators. Halak was definitely a steal in the 9th round and has some upside to be a back-up goaltender one day IMO and being in the Q will only help him IMO. Like you said, time will tell how they develop I just think NewHabsArea over-rate our prospects or is very premature (even though discussing 19 years old prospects is always premature ) at the very least saying how Heino & Halak are potential starter after one year or by saying Kastsitsyn is a top-5 prospects in the league or giving Urquhart a 7.5 even though he did little to stand out in the Q etc.

 

[NewHabsEra*]

NewHabsArea, this is your problem, you pick up whatever will float your boat and ignore the rest. Concerning Kastsitsyn, why do you ignore his (lack of) accomplishements? You rely on it to rate Danis but when it comes to Kastsitsyn, it doesn't matter anymore. It is not strange that you ignore Russianprospects.com, because they simply do not share your point of view. Russianprospects specialize in Russian prospects and they saw more than you, me and Dan Linn, why ignore them? It is not like there is a ton of informations on Kastsitsyn around the world either. Dan saw a couple of tapes while RP are an affiliation based in Russia itself, they do not predict how the kids will perform in North America but they have everything to be a solid source. I know you don't think they are a reliable source even though everything is pointing in the other direction.

Maybe the fact he is'nt Russian but Belarussian? They could even not give him the appropriate medication for his epileptic probs... Do you seriously think they would have been as negligent if Zherdev or Ovechkin had this bad desease? Im probably paranoying... I rather trust Timmins, Woodlief and Gauthier than russianprospect.com

Kastsitsyn is at best a 8.5C or a 8B IMO. Dan Linn, Russianprospects, heck I never saw anybody but you rank Kastsitsyn as a top-5 prospect in the league, there is good reasons nobody thinks like you. You probable disagreed with db23 when he told us Kastsitsyn was going to be a bust, he's at one extreme and you are at the other. What people see here is the overall picture of Kastsitsyn with the little known, an extremly talented player with a lack of accomplishement & a lot of differences sources with different opinions which leads to question marks. If you think he is the next stud first line forward, a top-5 prospect in the league, whatever floats your boat but don't expect anybody who tries to make a balanced analysis with the little known to agree with you. You think Komisarek will be a bigger Scott Stevens? At age 20, Stevens was already an All-star dominating two-way defenceman, Komisarek will have without a doubt a great NHL career but will not be even close to Stevens' career IMO. Komisarek's upside is a smaller Zdeno Chara IMO & nothing close to Stevens.

Again... You are living in the past where the game had absoluly nothing comparable to how its played now... THere was alot more space on the ice, no trap, less overall skilled players, mainly goaltenders ect ect... You just cant compare numbers about 2 different generations... Komisarek will be a bigger Scott Stevens, him you saw in the last few years, thats all what I meant! Chara is sometime lazzy and not very compact, I really dislike this comparaison!

I don't need to watch Urquhart play 10 times play to have an opinion on him, everybody who watches the Q beside you saw Hennessy having a better season, being the better offensive player period. PEI had a group of great forward, with great coaching & chemistry, no superstar. Urquhart has done little to improve his stock this year and did not particularly stand out in the Q. I know you prefer sources that says ''he stickhandled through 2 defencemans yesterday wow'' as sources but unfortunately Urquhart's rating is far closer to 7C, 7D or 6.5C than anything close to 7.5. ''Did you ever see them play? Thank you...'' isn't enough when most posters & people I know who watches the Q regularly disagree with you. Saying Hennessy is product of ice time and system while Urquhart is a victim of Vigneault just show you don't give credit where credit is due, I guess Ilya Kovalchuk is a product of Dany Heatley, ice time and system?

You still try to make it look worst than it really is... Yes I gave a 7.5 rating to him since I think he has great offensive skills and upside, but I gave him a "C" rating (may or may not reach his potential)... Still, I was hesitating between a "C" or a "D" (unlikely to reach his potential)... You just said his rating is closer to 7C, 7D... So you are annoying me for a 0.5 more? About Hennessey Ive no more to say, he is just not one of my favorites and was given more ice time playing for a less skilled bunch of fowards, what explain his better numbers...

Halak and Lindberg have a long long way to go, based on developement camp, they have now legit starting goaltender potential after one year? That's a little premature don't you think?

They are very skilled, great technic from what I saw but like my ratings mean, they are far from the NHL for several reasons... Thats why I gave them a "D" rating.

 

[Guig]

For the Habs:
- Andrei Kostitsyn 9C
- Alexander Perezhogin 8C
- Chris Higgins 7.5A
- Tomas Plekanec 7.5A
- Kyle Chipchura 7.5A
- Ron Hainsey 7.5C
- Corey Locke 7.5D
- Marcel Hossa 7C
- Yann Danis 7C
- Cory Urquhart 7C
- Michael Lambert 6.5C
- James Wyman 6.5C
- Konstantin Korneev 6.5D
- Duncan Milroy 6B
- Ryan O'Byrne 6B
- Alexei Yemelin 6B
- Maxim Lapierre 5.5A
- Jaroslav Halak 5.5B
- Oskari Korpikari 5.5B
- Chris Heino-Lindberg 5.5B
- Andrew Archer 5.5C
- Jonathan Ferland 5B
- Danny Stewart 5C
- Mikhail Grabovsky 5C
- Gregory Stewart 5C
- Mark Flood 5C
- Loic Lacasse 5C
- Jimmy Bonneau 3.5B

 

[montreal]

Good post. I was not talking about his pre-draft accomplishements but more with his struggles in the RSL. He did have good playoffs run against weaker opposition, I am aware of that. I do think he has a bit more offensive upside than Perezhogin with Perez having the edge defensively and being the more hard working player even though smaller. It will be interesting to follow his progression against stiffer competition in the AHL and I'm pretty optimistic about his capacity to suceed. I just don't think we should bank Kastsitsyn as a sure-shot first-liner with upside as a future HOF.

I saw Halak at the WJC, I thought he was solid but he has several things to work on and the Q will be a great place for him to learn even though he isn't sucessful so far in the pre-season. Slovakia never produced great goaltenders, Budaj has likely the highest upside & developed in the OHL while Lasak doesn't seem to be in the plans of the Predators. Halak was definitely a steal in the 9th round and has some upside to be a back-up goaltender one day IMO and being in the Q will only help him IMO. Like you said, time will tell how they develop I just think NewHabsArea over-rate our prospects or is very premature (even though discussing 19 years old prospects is always premature ) at the very least saying how Heino & Halak are potential starter after one year or by saying Kastsitsyn is a top-5 prospects in the league or giving Urquhart a 7.5 even though he did little to stand out in the Q etc.

All the tournaments I talked were played this year, post draft. He has a lot more offensive upside over Perezhogin, as he not only has a wicked shot, but he's a very good passer and solid on ice vision, something Perezhogin lacks is good vision to set up players. He can make good passes, but doesn't see the ice as well as Andrei imo. But Alex is way ahead of Kostitsyn in defensive play. To me Kostitsyn looks similar to a 19 year old Ribeiro when he play for the Habs for 19 games. When Ribs was in his own end he looked clueless, just as Kostitsyn does.

Right now I consider Halak and Lindberg to be on the same level, but I can see that changing. I can't stress how impressed I was with Lindberg as he was very agggressive and positionally sound, whereas Halak was the opposite. But we'll get to see Halak a lot more since he's the starter or should be for Lewiston.

 

[DutchLeafsfan]

Maybe the fact he is'nt Russian but Belarussian? They could even not give him the appropriate medication for his epileptic probs... Do you seriously think they would have been as negligent if Zherdev or Ovechkin had this bad desease? Im probably paranoying... I rather trust Timmins, Woodlief and Gauthier than russianprospect.com

Kastitsyn plays for a Russian team in the Russian Superliga. That team will do anything in their power to make their players perform as good as possible. If you think they were negligent just because Kastitsyn is from Belarus I think you may have read a bit to much on conspiracy theory.

Again... You are living in the past where the game had absoluly nothing comparable to how its played now... THere was alot more space on the ice, no trap, less overall skilled players, mainly goaltenders ect ect... You just cant compare numbers about 2 different generations... Komisarek will be a bigger Scott Stevens, him you saw in the last few years, thats all what I meant! Chara is sometime lazzy and not very compact, I really dislike this comparaison!

While the game obviously has changed, this does not change the fact that Scott Stevens was on the NHL All Rookie team in his first season as an 18 year old, was an NHL All-Star aged 20 and a First Team All Star at age 23. While Mike Komisarek has all the tools to have a long and succesful vareer in the NHL, he is now 22 and has yet to emulate the achievements (as well as offensive spark) of Scott Stevens at a similar age. No slight to Komisarek, but a highly doubt any likelihood of Komisarek having a career comparable to Scott Stevens.

 

[NewHabsEra*]

Kastitsyn plays for a Russian team in the Russian Superliga. That team will do anything in their power to make their players perform as good as possible. If you think they were negligent just because Kastitsyn is from Belarus I think you may have read a bit to much on conspiracy theory.
.

When Gainey commented about Kostitsyn's possible probs to crack the Russia first division, he stated some reasons including the possibility that Kostitsyn was a stranger who did'nt grew up in the Russian system.

About Komisarek... I see in him the same great defensive sense, the same caractere, leadership, winner mind, physical presence that Stevens bring on the ice and off ice... Komisarek wont hit open ice as much but will at time and will give the opponents a hard time along the board.

 

[DutchLeafsfan]

When Gainey commented about Kostitsyn's possible probs to crack the Russia first division, he stated some reasons including the possibility that Kostitsyn was a stranger who did'nt grew up in the Russian system.

I'll leave the Stevens-Komisarek bit to Saku K. as it is getting way too late here, but it seems you have misunderstood Bob Gainey. When he said this, he obviously meant that due to Kastitsyn not growing up in the Russian system and coming through the youth ranks of a team like CSKA or Dynamo, he would need to first adapt to it (much like Europeans have to adapt to the North American game once they come over), thus lessening his chances of making the team. He never pointed to a possible conspiracy where his Russian team wouldn't care about his performance simply because he is from Belarus...