9 players in the whl put up 40 goals or more
9 players in the qmjhl put up 40 goals or more
I always liked Lazar...since he dominated the Canada games. I wanted Monahan but knew that was unrealistic and then wanted one of Lazar or Shinkaruk. Although I actually predicted Ottawa would take Lazar in the prospect board.
Your point being? The whl produces nhl calibre defensemen at a rate only matched by the OHL, the Q struggles to get guys at that position into the next level every year. Mantha went down the path of least resistance.
Some of the best goal scorers in the W were Virtanen, Lazar, Bjorkstrand, Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart, Nic Petan, Samuelsson ie guys with futures in hockey.
mantha doesnt have leadership? that is hard to evaluate don't you think
Mantha just put up 81 goals in 81 games this year. That is insane and with his size...wow
Lazar will be good but I think Mantha will be a top line player and lazar will be a 2nd line player on a contender
I think it is precisely his size that allows that. I still have reservations on Mantha. He could translate this scroing ability to the next levels in Pro, but I think a lot has to do with being so big playing against younger and smaller players.
Not saying he will be a bust but curious to watch his progression.
when playing for team canada you can see offensively him and drouin would think that game at a different level they would make a lot of plays which you see from players who think the game at faster pace. So i don't think it is all size even with size 81 goals doesnt justt happen.
That is just my take
Anyway you slice it that many goals is amazing and signs of a real impressive talent. He was also team Canada's best producer in terms of pts
I am not saying lazar is bad I am happy with the pick but I think Mantha will be somewhat special
I didn't see that Mantha. I saw a one trick pony forcing the same play over and over.
that so called 'one trick' pony led canada in points so I am not sure if the stats can back up that argument
too bad we didn't have more offensive threats like him on that team
though lazar has a good tournament too
Whether it turns out right or wrong I don't know, but no scout our exec in hockey wasn't aware that mantha scored a lot, and none are probably all that surprised he scored more a year later.
He wasn't taken all that early because of questions of competitiveness. The NHL playoffs is one of the greater tests of competitiveness and character in all of sports, if an NHL exec passed on Mantha because of the thought he may end up being one of those big time regular season scorers that doesn't get it all done in the playoffs, I'd say Mantha won't get a chance to actually prove them wrong until he gets to the nhl playoffs. Well have people talking about teams that made a mistake if Mantha comes in and scores in the reg season, it won't be any sort of mistake until he proves he can do what many teams thought someone else was better suited to do.
Mantha may out score lazar in the games that matter less. But if we got the guy that makes a bigger difference when the chips are down, I don't care how much the other guy scores in the regular season.
Just a thought or two. Doubt many teams are thinking "damn we missed the boat on Mantha, you see all those goals he's scoring in junior". Sometimes you just gotta take the kid that looks every bit like a player that'll always show up...and take the odd miss if it comes.
Mantha has shown up in big games. I am not sure where you are getting your information from. Yes competitiveness was one of his negatives but so was getzlafs and he went late in the 1st. I am sure teams regret that now. If you look at this years playoffs and the WHJC Mantha was a big part of both those teams. Hell Mantha was seen as a extra forward in the WHJC and he played his way to the top line.
Lastly, people are saying the same thing about Lazar arent they? that he was a steal at the place we drafted him and that we might look back and think he should have gone higher? I think both these guys have increased their stock since being drafted
We dont know who will be more clutch in the NHL just saying i think Mantha has a better chance at being a game changer
Better chance at being a game changer, sure. I may not speaking directly to you, but there is a Mantha obsession going around. Just saying, none of these 18 year olds have played in games that come close to the intensity of the nhl playoffs....it just doesn't come around until you actually get there.
Getzlaf may have had similar questions, and so have other players that ended up as no shows when it matters. Getzlaf made people regret it, but they probably didn't start regretting it when he was 18-19 years old
Mantha won't get a chance to prove people wrong until he's actually there. Scoring against kids who mostly won't ever play the game for money doesn't prove much, mem cup, wjc, no matter.
Mantha has shown up in big games. I am not sure where you are getting your information from. Yes competitiveness was one of his negatives but so was getzlafs and he went late in the 1st. I am sure teams regret that now. If you look at this years playoffs and the WHJC Mantha was a big part of both those teams. Hell Mantha was seen as a extra forward in the WHJC and he played his way to the top line.
Lastly, people are saying the same thing about Lazar arent they? that he was a steal at the place we drafted him and that we might look back and think he should have gone higher? I think both these guys have increased their stock since being drafted
We dont know who will be more clutch in the NHL just saying i think Mantha has a better chance at being a game changer
That's not true at all. He fell because scouts were not sure his scoring would translate to the nhl as he was not a very prolific scorer in Calgary. You're probably thinking of perry.
I think Lazar needs to work on his puck-handling. I've seen the puck roll off his stick quite a few times this tournament.