Sleeper/Riser for the 2012 draft

[AmericanDream]

I ****ing love these kind of threads. Great stuff peeps, especially AD, keep it coming.

another player I like in your neck of the woods is:

Josh Hanson - Portland Winterhawks

I liked the way the kid played this year in a limited role on a stacked team. I have to imagine his role expanding more this year (though that blueline is still deep), he has to be a player to keep an eye on as he has highend ability and very solid size.

Maybe you can talk about him some, but his play at the Ivan Hlinka tournament impressed me even more...

I know Pouliot has stepped up and taken some of that spotlight from Hanson, but maybe the kid finds some room on that blueline to show off his skills.

 

[Jamie Benn]

Add Brendan Troock, Damon Severson to the list. Troock was injured all of last season.

 

[AmericanDream]

Yes Donnay was a healthy scratch most of the season, the kid is a long term project for the Knights who I would give a fairly slim chance of getting drafted next spring. He's very tall and he can skate, but he's a beanpole who's simply not a very good hockey player at this point. It wouldn't surprise me if he's still a healthy scratch for some of the season this year.

he fits the mold of sleeper to a T, thats why I included Donnay...

not every 6'7 player gets at these early stages like a Tyler Myers or Jamie Oleksiak did...

I agree with your view of Donnay this year, but I will say this, this kid is going to surprise many this year.... he has to learn to play the game no doubt, he needs to get stronger and put on weight, and he also needs to use his frame and size much better...but if he does put it together (not a complete stretch), he is a player that could skyrocket up the charts bigtime.

Donnay was a freak for Belle Tire a few years back, I have faith he does put a lot of it together and becomes a viable name for this draft again.

 

[AmericanDream]

Add Brendan Troock, Damon Severson to the list. Troock was injured all of last season.

been hearing more and more about Troock of late... kid could be a bigtime riser next year, I am starting to like him a lot if fully healthy

 

[AmericanDream]

One I'd look for is Brady Skjei from the NTDP U18 squad. He's 6'2 and 200 lbs and skates like the wind. He gets overlooked because he plays on the same team as Seth Jones and Jacob Trouba but Skjei is considered vastly underrated by those that have seen him by the majority of the pre-season scouting rankings that have come out so far.

as much as Skjei is criminally underrated according to CSS (who didnt even rate the kid...pure horse ****), I would even dare say the bigger riser will be Connor Carrick from that blueline.

Not as deep as the 2010 US blueline, but I really do think there will be a lot of early attention going to Carrick and Skjei. Carrick is just a wonderfully gifted offensive dman with a mean edge to his game. The kid loves to hit as much as he can, and though he is under 6 feet tall, I think Carrick is going to go very high in this draft...

 

[Rshields]

- Both good candidates and I've seen quite a bit of both of them. I really do question their "high end" potential, though. I heard the buzz last fall about Seaman seemingly coming out of nowhere to make Brandon. He made the team but I never saw too much out of him. Kind of big, kind of slow, not much for hands. Let's hope he's developed since last season. Stephenson is a fun player to watch. He's small, but he's very smart. Doesn't shine in any area of the ice really in my eyes but the Pats are going to need him to have a huge production jump for them to be anywhere near the playoffs.

- I wouldn't call Seaman "right off the radar". The guy was invited to try out for Canada's Under 18 team at the Ivan Hlinka. The guy is getting noticed...

I guess we agree my guys were sleepers when you saw them!
I think they didn't quite have their mojo last year and hope it shows up on a more consistent basis this year.
Stephenson is short but not real small. Weighs in the same as Dumba.
I don't think Seaman is slow, maybe just tentative at times. Check it out for me next time Brandon comes in.

 

[R S]

been hearing more and more about Troock of late... kid could be a bigtime riser next year, I am starting to like him a lot if fully healthy

That's the thing..."when fully healthy". Nobody knows when that time will be...if it's now or what.

I guess we agree my guys were sleepers when you saw them!
I think they didn't quite have their mojo last year and hope it shows up on a more consistent basis this year.
Stephenson is short but not real small. Weighs in the same as Dumba.
I don't think Seaman is slow, maybe just tentative at times. Check it out for me next time Brandon comes in.

Will do.

 

[pdxshark]

another player I like in your neck of the woods is:

Josh Hanson - Portland Winterhawks

I liked the way the kid played this year in a limited role on a stacked team. I have to imagine his role expanding more this year (though that blueline is still deep), he has to be a player to keep an eye on as he has highend ability and very solid size.

Maybe you can talk about him some, but his play at the Ivan Hlinka tournament impressed me even more...

I know Pouliot has stepped up and taken some of that spotlight from Hanson, but maybe the kid finds some room on that blueline to show off his skills.

He has size, skill and intelligence. I tried to avoid mentioning Hanson because I always seem to in these threads, he's just a prototypical sleeper. Stacked team and a coach who is taking the safe path with his development. He could have played a lot more minutes last season but whats the rush? Morrow and Wotherspoon were in their draft year and needed exposure. I think one big thing for his development would be Brett Ponich returning for an O/A year (something I don't see happening). Another defensive defenseman who's gone through the ups and downs of the WHL and has some real talent and leadership to him. Wrenn would be another good mentor. I think sometimes we underrate the importance of having an older player to play under for a few years. Look at the run of defenseman that came out of Vancouver and Kelowna, they always had someone to learn from.

 

[AmericanDream]

He has size, skill and intelligence. I tried to avoid mentioning Hanson because I always seem to in these threads, he's just a prototypical sleeper. Stacked team and a coach who is taking the safe path with his development. He could have played a lot more minutes last season but whats the rush? Morrow and Wotherspoon were in their draft year and needed exposure. I think one big thing for his development would be Brett Ponich returning for an O/A year (something I don't see happening). Another defensive defenseman who's gone through the ups and downs of the WHL and has some real talent and leadership to him. Wrenn would be another good mentor. I think sometimes we underrate the importance of having an older player to play under for a few years. Look at the run of defenseman that came out of Vancouver and Kelowna, they always had someone to learn from.

very good post. thank you.

do you think Hanson will get the opportunity to showcase those hidden skills? he was behind Morrow and Wotherspoon as you stated, but Portland also has another highend kid in Pouliot....how does he get any more icetime on this team?

 

[playthetrap*]

he fits the mold of sleeper to a T, thats why I included Donnay...

not every 6'7 player gets at these early stages like a Tyler Myers or Jamie Oleksiak did...

I agree with your view of Donnay this year, but I will say this, this kid is going to surprise many this year.... he has to learn to play the game no doubt, he needs to get stronger and put on weight, and he also needs to use his frame and size much better...but if he does put it together (not a complete stretch), he is a player that could skyrocket up the charts bigtime.

Donnay was a freak for Belle Tire a few years back, I have faith he does put a lot of it together and becomes a viable name for this draft again.

I really hope you're right, but there are 7 or 8 defensemen on the Knights that are ahead of him on the depth chart. i could see Donnay being expendable which would probably be the best for him if he can't get playing time.

 

[hfboardsuser]

Spencer Graboski from Chilliwack (BCHL). Tall, lanky kid who is going to fly under the radar but should be a 30-40 goal scorer by year's end. I see a lot of Jamie Benn in him- both on and off the ice. Graboski's WHL rights are owned by Kelowna and he's yet to commit to an NCAA team. He's a '93 but was his team's leading scorer on a really poor club.

As well, Zane Jones acquitted himself well as a '94 in Junior A last year and is that kind of darkhorse that seems to emerge every year in the WHL. He's Chilliwack property and could surprise.

 

[Aaron Vickers]

For me, I really came away impressed with Matt Finn from Canada's U18 Hlinka camp in Calgary earlier this month (or was it late last month? Time flies). he was one of the more physical defenders and while he didn't show the higher upside of a Matt Dumba at that camp, he continually made the right play at the right time.

Another defenseman from that camp, Jesse Graham, also showed well at times for me. He's definitely dynamic offensively and when he has the puck, he's a constant threat. Now, at times in the camp he showed very poor decision making skills with the puck, typically with errant passes. I'll chalk it up to nerves at this point.

I had both these players making my Canadian Hlinka team coming out of the camp.

In our preliminary ranking, Finn is listed at 54, while Graham is 20th. Not sure if you count Graham as a riser given his current ranking.

(Full prelim ranking here: http://futureconsiderationsdotca.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/fc-releases-preliminary-ranking-for-2012/)

 

[stormtracker]

Watch for Scott Kosmacuk of the Guelph Storm. (Spelling). He was a second round pick last year who steadily improved as the year went on . He was at the R & D camp and is reported to have impressed. He is a solid winger who has potential to continue to improve, is solid in front of the net, and looks like he can score.

 

[Canuck71*]

Ryan Rupert and Matt Rupert of the London Knights. Twin brothers actually have some good chemistry and feed off each others play. Ryan finished off strong last year and put up some good numbers for a rookie. They don't have that explosive top end speed but they are both gritty small forwards with a lot of skill and aren't afraid to get into the corners with the bigger defenseman. I could see these two rising quite a bit with a strong season and having to play bigger roles this year.

 

[S E P H]

another player I like in your neck of the woods is:

Josh Hanson - Portland Winterhawks

I liked the way the kid played this year in a limited role on a stacked team. I have to imagine his role expanding more this year (though that blueline is still deep), he has to be a player to keep an eye on as he has highend ability and very solid size.

Maybe you can talk about him some, but his play at the Ivan Hlinka tournament impressed me even more...

I know Pouliot has stepped up and taken some of that spotlight from Hanson, but maybe the kid finds some room on that blueline to show off his skills.

Hanson was very solid as a 4th-6th spot defenseman. Played on the 2nd unit PK at times and didn't look out of place. As you mentioned has very solid size and was pretty physical in the corners. He does make a good first pass, but I don't know how good his offensive game is due to the deepness of the Winterhawks. How I see him in the future is in a shutdown role like Ryan O'Byrne.

I still think the unsung hero of Portland has to be Wotherspoon.

 

[DangerMan]

Colton Sissons is a guy that flies under the radar a bit in the WHL. Pretty big kid who had surprisingly good numbers for Kelowna last year.

Jaynen Rissling is lost in the shuffle often when it comes to the WHL's crop of defenders next year.

Both of those guys aren't huge sleepers, per say.

One guy that would be more of a sleeper is Tommy Stipancik of the Blades. He missed the first half of last year bc of a concussion suffered in bantam but played the second half of the year in Saskatoon. He's big (atleast 6'3) and has a long reach. He plays nice and physical and makes a very nice first pass. Could be a guy that develops into a nice bottom pairing NHL defender if he works on his footspeed a little more.

Colten Scissons is a player that looks to have a game that will be easily translatable to the pros. If I was to draw up a typical 3rd liner it would look like Colten Scissons. Doesn't need the puck in order to be effective but can do some damage when he does.