nuck said:
Allright never say a ZERO chance BUT Iggy was a CHL first team allstar 63 goals and 136 points. He was in the NHL as a 19 year old. I don't recall being thrilled at them getting him for Niewendyk but Jarome was in the middle of a huge season when the trade was made and had franchise player written all over him. Nobody was saying he wasn't a potential star.
Chucko wasn't even the best player on his team in tier two or college. You can pretend he is going to be a star but I can't get behind that. By his age most future NHLers were tearing up their College leagues or already in the pros. I certainly wish him luck.
Actually, no.
In the papers the day after the Joe Nieuwendyk trade, the headline wrote "Jarome who?"
Iginla played in the WHL, Chucko in the NCAA. You can't even being to compare the two league.
Chucko wasn't the best player with Salmon Arm? While Zajac had more points, many Silverback fans feel that Chucko was more valuble to their team then Zajac. Either way, whoever was better, there is nothing wrong with comparing Chucko to a top prospect like Zajac at all. In Collage, totally different story... your playing on a roster that is much older team, with top prospects like Phil Kessel. In Minnisota, you have to earn every inch you get. Thats why the Goalden Gophers hockey program is so highly respected around hockey circles.
As for his development, I have said multiple times that power forwards take longer to develop then skilled forwards (in this case, compared to Robbie Schremp). And, once again, Iginla is a perfect example of this... thought to be a 3rd line grinder with 2nd line upside (20 goals).
You want to look at other top prospects, and their stats in the NCAA? Let's take another Goalden Gopher alumni,
Jeff Taffe
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=00049573
20 points his first season. Hmm... sounds awfully familiar to Chucko's stats.
And, Chucko is a late bloomer, for a power forward.
Look, I'm not saying Chucko will be anything big, but I'm taking a wait and see attitude. Your comment that he has zero chance to be a scorer is absolutely rediculous; how can you possibly give a ceiling on a prospects potential when he has
a) the physical tools
b) has shown the skills (see: prospect talent reports)
c) showed continuous improvement
d) is being developed in one of the top development programs in the country
e) shown the positive attitude of both (c) and (d) for his development
What an absurd post to already say that he has no offensive potential. If you want to say something like that, say it about Eric Nystrom who was drafted to be a "character forward." But every single talent scout report of Kris Chucko has him out to be a power forward player.