The thing that is getting lost in all of this is the real definition of a franchise player, if you ask me. Leadership, Defense, Productivity, and Attitude all come into play here. There are players in this league that are fantastic talents that won't ever be considered franchise players due to the fact that they don't have the intangibles to match the talent level. Players like Kovalev, Havlat, Zherdev, O'Neill, Satan, Semin, and Amonte don't have the intangibles that it takes to be a player you would center a franchise around, in my opinion.
The few from this year that i'd consider to have Franchise player potential are these guys:
Nathan Horton
Eric Staal
Joni Pitkanen
Marc Andre Fluery
Players i've disqualified for some reason or another:
Tuomo Ruutu- The whole deal with his agent and the dispute over his entry level contract was enough to sour me on this kid. There is no player in their right mind that would alienate the fans of his team and the entire NHL by pushing for as much money as he wanted in an entry level contract. That is a character flaw if you ask me. I know his agent was the main one pushing for it, but who hires the agent? If he didn't like how he was dealing with it and these weren't his true intentions, he would have just fired the agent and signed on his own or gotten another agent.
Andrew Raycroft- One great season does not a franchise goalie make. If so, we'd have NHL superstars Jim Carey, Martin Biron, and Roman Checkmanek dominating the all-star voting. I'm still not convinced that he's going to be able to do this on the long term and i've seen average to good NHL goaltenders put up fantastic numbers in the Boston system before. (Dafoe, Shields, and Grahame come to mind). If he stays consistant enough to play his way into an all-star game next season, i'll consider it. But he's getting started a little too late as far as his level of play is concerned to garner himself franchise goaltender potential.
Patrice Bergeron- This kid has fantastic ability and he plays a very solid two way game. However, I don't see the potential leap in ability that it would take for this guy to elevate his game into the upper echelon of NHL talent. If this kid was as much of a slam dunk as everybody thinks, he wouldn't have slipped to the 2nd round. Now, I know everybody is going to start throwing names of players that have fallen to the 7th and 8th rounds that are superstars these days, but VERY few have come in that very next year and made an impact. The key to late round picks is the potential for progression in their game, and those players that were drafted late just stepped it up and worked on their game. Bergeron, in my opinion, has the very reachable potential of being a solid two way forward with 60-70 point potential. Boston for sure got a steal, but he's no franchise player. The Franchise player for the Bruins is Thornton.
Now, for the person that said Staal didnt have the talent level to become a franchise player. Staal's game isn't just offense. He is probably the most defensive centerman prospect that i've seen as an 18 year old. He draws a lot of comparison to Modano and Francis in his style of play and both of those guys are/were franchise players. The only differance between Staal and some of the others is that he has the attitude of a Franchise player. He doesn't talk himself up, he doesn't gloat after scoring a goal, he doesn't get an attitude at contract time from what i've seen, and he doesn't throw hissy fits in practice. It seems as if he's going to be the consumate professional and that is highly unusual for a player of his talent level. I've seen Staal make plays this year that glimpse at his immense talent level and it is just awe-inspiring. The talent level is there for sure, if you ask me.
This thread is about NHL rookies who have a chnce to become franchise players. Only Stall, Horton, and Zherdev have played in teh NHL this year of the players you mentioned. Suter, Coburn and Kastitsyn have had pretty mediocre seasons this year, so I wouldn't hold your breath on those three.
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