Prospect Info: Top 20 DRW Prospect (Including 2020 Draft)

19 for president

Registered User
Apr 28, 2002
2,832
950
no im really not. im playing the fact that id personally rank veleno ahead of ras because i think veleno has a better chance at being an impact player in the NHL while Ras doesnt.

i personally see veleno as a middle 6 5on5 or a top 6 guy in temrs of ice time while i dont see ras as much more then a brian boyle clone. sorry if you disagree.

In that sense I think you answered your own question. Its really how you project Ras. Veleno I think has the lower ceiling but also the lower floor. As you said I could see him as a middle six guy, and is likely to achieve that. I think Ras has the higher ceiling. 6'6 guys often take quite a while to develop especially offensively. The guy is already excellent defensively, good on faceoffs, and a solid netfront PP option.

But yeah if you see Ras as a Boyle clone then yeah Veleno would obviously be above him. I think Ras may have a Franzen like development path, where he doesn't really hit his NHL offensive stride until his mid 20s.
 

Hen Kolland

Registered User
Feb 22, 2018
9,470
8,335
no im really not. im playing the fact that id personally rank veleno ahead of ras because i think veleno has a better chance at being an impact player in the NHL while Ras doesnt.

i personally see veleno as a middle 6 5on5 or a top 6 guy in temrs of ice time while i dont see ras as much more then a brian boyle clone. sorry if you disagree.

I am as big a fan of Veleno as any, but the way you made your statement is 100% favoritism. You made it sound like Veleno has been a perfect development, and Ras has made not a single improvement. That anyone who thinks Rasmussen has potential in the NHL is wrong.

Fact of the matter is, Veleno was behind Rasmussen, and was outperformed by Rasmussen the entire season when both were healthy and on the same team. If Veleno was this world beater with top 6 upside as you suggested, and Ras was no more than a bottom line grinder, which you implied, how the f*** did the GR coaching staff determine that Ras was a better player and should fill their 1C role?

Veleno may go on to be the better player, but right now they both look like middle 6 role players. And no, you aren't wrong for preferring either one over the other.
 

izlez

We need more toe-drags/60
Feb 28, 2012
4,576
3,462
no im really not. im playing the fact that id personally rank veleno ahead of ras because i think veleno has a better chance at being an impact player in the NHL while Ras doesnt.

i personally see veleno as a middle 6 5on5 or a top 6 guy in temrs of ice time while i dont see ras as much more then a brian boyle clone. sorry if you disagree.
You realize you're just stating your opinion without any evidence or substance and expect people to accept it?

I could just as easily say I'd rank Ras above Veleno because I think he has a better chance at being an impact player in the NHL while Veleno doesn't.

I could just as easily say I personally see Ras as a top 6 center while I don't see Veleno as much more than a Helm/Glendenning clone. Sorry if you disagree
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,957
11,577
Ft. Myers, FL
Excited to track these players this year, I think it will give us a much better idea of how to rank them all.

Is college hockey looking like a full go? We have quite a few players slated to play there this year.

It is until it has to be cancelled. I will be surprised if we have the anticipated spike in November and December that college hockey isn't impacted massively by it. Then again a bunch of schools seem to have placed a premium on athletics, not sure I get it. Really hard to predict, it could come down to individual conferences at some point. This is also really important for a couple 2021 draft picks.

If the CHL does play and the NCAA pulls the chute, I think we might get some pretty massive defections from the NCAA. I would look hard at getting Mastro out, he is the one NCAA guy I really don't want sitting a year. Luckily a couple of guys should be in a World Junior camp in 6 to 7 weeks anyway.
 

ricky0034

Registered User
Jun 8, 2010
14,863
6,943
I am as big a fan of Veleno as any, but the way you made your statement is 100% favoritism. You made it sound like Veleno has been a perfect development, and Ras has made not a single improvement. That anyone who thinks Rasmussen has potential in the NHL is wrong.

Fact of the matter is, Veleno was behind Rasmussen, and was outperformed by Rasmussen the entire season when both were healthy and on the same team. If Veleno was this world beater with top 6 upside as you suggested, and Ras was no more than a bottom line grinder, which you implied, how the f*** did the GR coaching staff determine that Ras was a better player and should fill their 1C role?

Veleno may go on to be the better player, but right now they both look like middle 6 role players. And no, you aren't wrong for preferring either one over the other.

you know Rasmussen was a year older than Veleno and had almost a full season of NHL experience rather than being a rookie pro right?

if he WASN'T better than Veleno in the AHL last year that would have been pretty f***ing alarming....like to the point where it would probably start being fair to question whether he would even stick in the NHL at all in the long run

the fact that you keep using "he was better than Veleno last year" as some sort of gotcha kinda shows just how disappointing Rasmussen is in a way
 

izlez

We need more toe-drags/60
Feb 28, 2012
4,576
3,462
you know Rasmussen was a year older than Veleno and had almost a full season of NHL experience rather than being a rookie pro right?

if he WASN'T better than Veleno in the AHL last year that would have been pretty f***ing alarming....like to the point where it would probably start being fair to question whether he would even stick in the NHL at all in the long run

the fact that you keep using "he was better than Veleno last year" as some sort of gotcha kinda shows just how disappointing Rasmussen is in a way
To frame this a different way: Despite being drafted a year before Veleno, Rasmussen is less than a year older than Veleno. They are not that far apart developmentally.


(Regardless, pointing to Rasmussen being more productive in a bigger role on the same team is infinitely more insightful than the original point: "Veleno is better because I feel like he is")
 
  • Like
Reactions: Crunchy

Hen Kolland

Registered User
Feb 22, 2018
9,470
8,335
you know Rasmussen was a year older than Veleno and had almost a full season of NHL experience rather than being a rookie pro right?

if he WASN'T better than Veleno last year that would have been pretty f***ing alarming....like to the point where it would probably start being fair to question whether he would even stick in the NHL at all in the long run

Both bullied the CHL in their D+1 year. One jumped to the NHL in his D+2 out of necessity and got very little opportunity before settling in the AHL for his D+3, and successfully manned the #1C role when healthy. The other was eligible to go to the AHL in his D+2, he had noticeable growing pains early on, and made good strides as the 2C mid year before the shut down.

I don't know how any of that can point to one being significantly better than the other.
 

ricky0034

Registered User
Jun 8, 2010
14,863
6,943
To frame this a different way: Despite being drafted a year before Veleno, Rasmussen is less than a year older than Veleno. They are not that far apart developmentally.


(Regardless, pointing to Rasmussen being more productive in a bigger role on the same team is infinitely more insightful than the original point: "Veleno is better because I feel like he is")

he's like 9 months older this is just dumb

Both bullied the CHL in their D+1 year. One jumped to the NHL in his D+2 out of necessity and got very little opportunity before settling in the AHL for his D+3, and successfully manned the #1C role when healthy. The other was eligible to go to the AHL in his D+2, he had noticeable growing pains early on, and made good strides as the 2C mid year before the shut down.

I don't know how any of that can point to one being significantly better than the other.

if you don't see how 60+ games of NHL experience can make you look better developmentally when you drop back down a level to the AHL I really don't know what to say

there's a reason fringe players that get called up to the NHL for a bit pretty much always put up better numbers once they get sent back down
 

izlez

We need more toe-drags/60
Feb 28, 2012
4,576
3,462
he's like 9 months older this is just dumb



if you don't see how 60+ games of NHL experience can make you look better developmentally when you drop back down a level to the AHL I really don't know what to say

there's a reason fringe players that get called up to the NHL for a bit pretty much always put up better numbers once they get sent back down
In their D+2

Rasmussen: 18 points in 62 games and -8
Veleno: 23 points in 54 games and -25

Veleno was a WHOPPING 3 months older, relatively speaking, while playing in a worse league. It's insulting to think one of these players might be better than the other.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ezekial

jaster

Unregistered User
Jun 8, 2007
13,086
8,215
This is why I often like to rank prospects in tiers. Given all the context around their career trajectories to date, there is little separation between Veleno and Rasmussen. The biggest difference is probably how you want to project them at the NHL level once they find their footing there (assuming they do at all).

Personally, I see them both as middle-6 types in the NHL, with both probably leaning more towards 3rd-line than 2nd. I put them in the same tier, along with probably Berggren and maybe more recent draft picks Johansson and Niederbach (though there's still time for those latter two to perhaps reach higher ceilings). To me the 5 guys I listed are all bouncing around in the 4-8 ranking range (behind Seider, Raymond, and Zadina), and I can see arguments for almost any order.
 

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,957
11,577
Ft. Myers, FL
you know Rasmussen was a year older than Veleno and had almost a full season of NHL experience rather than being a rookie pro right?

if he WASN'T better than Veleno in the AHL last year that would have been pretty f***ing alarming....like to the point where it would probably start being fair to question whether he would even stick in the NHL at all in the long run

the fact that you keep using "he was better than Veleno last year" as some sort of gotcha kinda shows just how disappointing Rasmussen is in a way

Rasmussen was Grand Rapids best player in well over half the games he played that I watched, does that sound better?

I think a bunch of the Ras stuff is still holdover from people disappointed over wanting someone else, whereas we were elated to get Veleno where we did. Now we did because a bunch of professional scouts said they didn't think he was more than a really good third line player and questioned his offensive upside at the NHL level. But I liked the player a great deal and had him at I think #11 or #12 don't fully remember but high. It was found money. I see this a lot in the analysis of both players in my opinion, one carries with him a glamorous feel the other is surrounded in foreboding comparisons to the players we might have liked more or downgraded to NHL players like Boyle by people that were on the negative train at the beginning.

We will see, Rasmussen was a longer-term project and a homerun swing by them. That they could develop his gifts and have a very unique weapon at the NHL level. I think he has higher upside than Veleno, we will have to see where both players get in the next 3 to 5 years. When including all of our prospects and dropping in a Cholowski and Rasmussen still, I have Ras at #4 and fairly comfortably. What he does well translates and he is steadily improving in other areas. I am really fascinated to see him when we get back going.
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
31,077
12,078
Tampere, Finland
Rasmussen was Grand Rapids best player in well over half the games he played that I watched, does that sound better?

I think a bunch of the Ras stuff is still holdover from people disappointed over wanting someone else

It's all that. Butthurt people who can't get over it.

And people are still judging Rasmussen with point-scoring, when he will be the shut-down center preventing points. He will never have high individual point-scoring values, but could have great GF%, because he shuts down opposite side best offensive players. Would be nice to see his GF% stats from AHL, that would be more telling.
 

Pavels Dog

Registered User
Feb 18, 2013
19,736
14,704
Sweden
In a vacuum I can understand wanting Necas over Rasmussen, but when taking into account the rest of our forward group I don't see it. Ras brings a different element.
Vilardi, even if he bounces back, I think was too risky with his injuries and reports that he might not take his conditioning seriously.

I think the size that we can add with Seider and Rasmussen will do huge things for us. Makes us a lot harder to play against.
 

Henkka

Registered User
Jan 31, 2004
31,077
12,078
Tampere, Finland
Martin Necas has been now all seasons a Winger in NHL, and Hurricanes did not hesitate to trade for Vincent Trocheck to lock the 2nd line Center. Now it's Aho-Trocheck-JStaal there locked for years to come, as Staal being their "Rasmussen".

So, most probably, Necas will be a career winger, if you get stuck for years on the wing. There is something wrong on his Center play if he doesn't get even a slightest chance.

They have Geekie and Luostarinen as real centers coming from behind and just signed Drew Shore as depth from KHL.
 
Last edited:

The Zetterberg Era

Ball Hockey Sucks
Nov 8, 2011
40,957
11,577
Ft. Myers, FL
Martin Necas has been now all seasons a Winger in NHL, and Hurricanes did not hesitate to trade for Vincent Trocheck to lock the 2nd line Center. Now it's Aho-Trocheck-JStaal there locked for years to come, as Staal being their "Rasmussen".

So, most probably, Necas will be a career winger, if you get stuck for years on the wing. There is something wrong on his Center play if he doesn't get even a slightest chance.

They have Geekie and Luostarinen as real centers coming from behind and just signed Drew Shore as depth from KHL.

I would love to get Geekie from them, he really impresses me almost every time I watch him play.

Him and Ras had insane chemistry in tri-city too, which is a bonus. I like just the player as well, just that would be a bonus.

I remember Necas in the middle at times in the playoffs. I think he plays center full time shortly.
 

OgeeOgelthorpe

Baldina
Feb 29, 2020
17,005
17,987
It's all that. Butthurt people who can't get over it.

And people are still judging Rasmussen with point-scoring, when he will be the shut-down center preventing points. He will never have high individual point-scoring values, but could have great GF%, because he shuts down opposite side best offensive players. Would be nice to see his GF% stats from AHL, that would be more telling.

I don't know about his GF% in the AHL, but he didn't look all that great in his own zone last season. He was great down low in the offensive zone and was sometimes a one man cycle from below the dots, but his defensive reads weren't all that great. Several times he was caught flat footed and his acceleration kept him from getting back in the play in time, or he pivoted in the wrong direction when a player was putting a move on him. Rasmussen looked to have really good chemistry with Svechnikov when they paired, though. I think Rasmussen's defensive game can be coached to be very good in the right hands.

I'm of the opinion that Grand Rapids needs a wholesale coaching change. Head coach, assistants, video coaches. Someone who is a real stickler for the minor details that can win or lose a game. I just don't think that Simon has it, or maybe he does but he's not good at getting the guys to pay attention to it.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->