Rated prospects, 4th tier: the 8.5B's

[Vlad The Impaler]

Where did I get that from? For one thing my eyeballs.

The least I can say is your eyeballs see funny things.

I saw Kosty play at least 15 times this season, and the progression in his two-way game was highly impressive. By the end of the AHL season Jarvis didn't hesitate to play him in important situations because he had caught on to the system.

He really impressed me with his strength, hitting, two-way play, and offensive skill at the World juniors; he was a bull. The kid is built like a tank, and in a couple more years I can see him being a "bull" in the NHL that is not afraid to take or dish out a hit. All he needs is a little more muscle and confidence.

Recent quote from Pierre Gauthier after the Worlds - "They asked Kostytsin to play defensively, and he did it well. He worked hard."

I'd label his two-way game progression in the AHL as encouraging and not highly impressive. The kind of player you project him to be is simply not what's on track right now.

I'll be the first to say this guy can be recycled into a two-way threat with a lot of work but he projects much more to be a typical scoring forward (if he makes it) than the two-way bull you are talking about.

They're working on his two-way game because it's abyssmal. The guy is greatly lacking in hockey sense. They're working on it not for him to excel at it but rather for him not to plain suck at it and be a liability.

This guy has scoring tools predominantly. He's not a bull. Just strong and well-built for a player of that type. He's mostly wrists and wheels and that's what he projects to be, a scoring forward. They're going to try and round him a little, mostly because he is not able to compete against men. That's what coaches do with players who can't do what they are supposed to do. They make them work on other stuff hoping they will eventually put it all together.

Anything else he becomes other than a scoring forward will be recycling and is not on track right now.

 

[allin4466]

can somebody explain to me what these numbers/letters mean and how you come up with them, ive been trying to figure it out.. but no dice so far

 

[Legionnaire]

Look up a few posts, and click the link.

 

[CRUNK JUICE]

Ward dominated in the ahl in his first season, and basically anywhere he played. He is constantly rising, and I think he'll be a 9B soon enough. He is really underrated on these boards.

Not sure about 9B. That's awful lofty praise. That said, this kid is AWESOME. His selection is one of the few bright spots on Jim Rutherford's abysmal record. IMO, Ward deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as guys like Fleury and Toivonen. The kid just flat out wins.

 

[allin4466]

Look up a few posts, and click the link.

of course this would be the ONE thread i never read the whole thing before posting..

 

[Legionnaire]

of course this would be the ONE thread i never read the whole thing before posting..

It always happens that way. Been there.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

Where did I get that from? For one thing my eyeballs. I saw Kosty play at least 15 times this season, and the progression in his two-way game was highly impressive. By the end of the AHL season Jarvis didn't hesitate to play him in important situations because he had caught on to the system.

He really impressed me with his strength, hitting, two-way play, and offensive skill at the World juniors; he was a bull. The kid is built like a tank, and in a couple more years I can see him being a "bull" in the NHL that is not afraid to take or dish out a hit. All he needs is a little more muscle and confidence.

Recent quote from Pierre Gauthier after the Worlds - "They asked Kostytsin to play defensively, and he did it well. He worked hard."

Sounds a lot like Grigorenko.

 

[19 for president]

Lets put it this way right now Kronwall is a numero 1 in the AHL and prob a numero 4 in the NHL. At age 24. What is to say he won't be a number 2 by say 28. I don't really think it is fair judge him against 19-20 year olds in terms of who is a better prospect, but I do think the rating is fair in terms of his potential. A B rating means he may drop a level which would put him a 3/4 and as he is already a 3-4 dman I think that is fair. He may top out there but he could go up. He was excellent in his time with the Wings last year, best dman in the AHL this year, and argueably the best dman in the WC this year. I mean look at Datysuk he was older than Kronwall when he came over to the NHL, and has developed into a 1st/2nd line center. Just because he was older when he came over doesn't change the fact that he has the talent to be a top line center, same thing goes for Kronwall. Also to note the Wings for the past 3 years have been very deep at defense and that prob has as much to do with Kronwall comming over late as his playing ability did.