trent hunter aside, who's this seasons next best rookie forward?

[#44_delivers]

since everyone is saying nice things about malone i thought id join in the fun.
the first time i saw him play i thought nothing of him but for somebody that has those types numbers on that team deserves an immence amount of consideration for ROY.
im a biased ryder fan, biased in the way that everyone is biased towards there faivoret team, but when i say this i say it with no bias: ryder will be a future 30+ goals 70+ points man for years, if he elivates his hitting he will be a premier power forward in this league for many years, this kid has alote of class not giving up after his stint in the echl, he worked harder and eched his flaws and got called up he has soo much hart and determination that it'll push him over the top.
i cant wait to see him elivate his game for the playoffs, he's a cherecter player with tonnes of skill and its cherecter players who make the biggest splash in the playoffs.

i havnt seen enough of malone but i hear nothing but good things about him, especialy from posters who i respect, THOSE are incredible numbers to have on that team, i cant wait to see more off him.
as for hunter ive liked him from the first time ive seen him play.

my point is, 2003-04 is one amazing year for first year players, not all will pan out but this year is special.

 

[PSUhockey34]

A year or two down the road, Semin could be one of the top guys to come out of this season's rookie class

 

[insider]

i think patrice bergeron could make a huge impact... he has great vision... he probably reads the play better than anyone in the nhl right now, he's one of the leading rookie scorers and most of his playing time is with the 3rd line (forgive me if im wrong). in the next couple of years, i hope the bruins will play him with samsonov bergeron's passes and samsonovs speed could make a great combination... o yeah, and hes the youngest player in the nhl.

 

[Epsilon]

Sorry, but Malone, a 20 goals scorer would make ANY team.

Malone wouldn't make the Red Wings' roster at this point. Don't know if he would make Colorado's healthy roster either, or Ottawa's, but fans of those teams probably would have a better idea.

 

[EroCaps]

A year or two down the road, Semin could be one of the top guys to come out of this season's rookie class

I was about to add, Semin has massive upside. His stickhandling, vision, and awareness are just phenomenal for a 19 year old. No homerism.

He has a mean streak, when this kid gets older, he's going to be a star, mark my words. He's already the fan favorite in DC, and may have more pure talent than any rookie I've seen. Eric gets the nod for his size.

1.Staal
2.Semin
3.Zherdev
4.Ryder

 

[Evilo]

I believe Malone would make the Wings' roster because he also has enough grit and physical ability to play on the checking lines.
So yes, IMO he would make the Wings' roster, and might even score as many if not more goals.

 

[stardog]

i think patrice bergeron could make a huge impact... he has great vision... he probably reads the play better than anyone in the nhl right now, he's one of the leading rookie scorers and most of his playing time is with the 3rd line (forgive me if im wrong). in the next couple of years, i hope the bruins will play him with samsonov bergeron's passes and samsonovs speed could make a great combination... o yeah, and hes the youngest player in the nhl.

I like Bergeron alot, but c'mon....he reads the play better than ANYONE in the NHL right now???? I find that INCREDIBLY difficult to believe. He is a good young player with a VERY good future ahead of him, but seriously think about that statment and the guys you are saying he is better than.
If you meant rookies only then you would have a legitimate claim. If not, I think that is really a bold and innacurate statment.

 

[stardog]

I was about to add, Semin has massive upside. His stickhandling, vision, and awareness are just phenomenal for a 19 year old. No homerism.

He has a mean streak, when this kid gets older, he's going to be a star, mark my words. He's already the fan favorite in DC, and may have more pure talent than any rookie I've seen. Eric gets the nod for his size.

1.Staal
2.Semin
3.Zherdev
4.Ryder

Speaking of Bergeron, where is he on that list? I like Semin alot as well. How has Jagr and Bondra leaving affected his play/ice time (you can add Lang now to)? Has he been drawing the top d-men from the opposing teams?

I think when it is all said and done, Zherdev will be the best of them, but thats just my opinion.

 

[stardog]

Malone wouldn't make the Red Wings' roster at this point. Don't know if he would make Colorado's healthy roster either, or Ottawa's, but fans of those teams probably would have a better idea.

I think he would make all three of those teams roster for the reasons Evilo said as well. He isn't one diminsional, therefor he doesnt have to play on one of the top two lines.

This is all my opinion, and is quite speculative of course, but.....

For Colorado, he'd play over McCormick, Cummings, Brigley and Moore pretty easily IMO and probably a few others as well.

For Ottowa Vermette, Van Allen, Schaefer and White (and possibly others).

For Detroit he would play over Devereaux, Mowers, Williams and again, possibly a few others.

 

[V for Voodoo]

Schaefer and White (and possibly others).

Good lord no.

 

[stardog]

Good lord no.

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. For my money, I'd take Malone over either of those two. His numbers are better and he plays a physical brand of hockey. True he is a rookie, and prone to lapses in defense, but those are seldom.

I stand by my statement that he could play for any team in the league... including Ottowa.

 

[sandman08]

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. For my money, I'd take Malone over either of those two. His numbers are better and he plays a physical brand of hockey. True he is a rookie, and prone to lapses in defense, but those are seldom.

I stand by my statement that he could play for any team in the league... including Ottowa.

i understand where you are coming from fully but with jacques martin and his reluctance to play rookies or younger players over vets is something that i do think comes into effect.. although it is quite possible he might play malone and this isnt intended to be a knock on malone for the record, i also dont think ryder or hunter would play for them w/o time spent in the minors (although ryder does fit that bill)

and for those that are using the argument that malone "was pencilled in as an ahler" so was michael ryder, he was also pencilled in as the 4th liner to begin the year, in addition to being an echler for a while before working hard and making his own breaks to become the player he is today. once again, i like malone, he seems like a great kid but if you are going to credit him for doing what hes done, the same credit has to be given to ryder because he has done the same stuff, although i do think ryder is older and does have some really good players on his team, but he does seem to earn a lot of points for himself and when his current line (himself and mike ribeiro + a pylon with a sweet shot [pierre dagenais]) are not performing well, its almost always not his fault, basically, he tends to carry that line when they arent doing anything and manufactures points for himself through hard work and that very sweet shot of his ... furthermore ryder seems to be the one who will get moved when ribs or koivu arent playing well to pick up the "older" guys play actually

and for the record.. i looked it up on nhl.com, ryder has more pp goals then anyone else and is tied w/ malone for 2nd in the GWG dept w/ 4, Hunter leads that category w/ 6.. ryder also is really good at passing, as can be seen by his 32 assists (good for 1st by 9 assists).. in terms of goals, ryder has 19 (8 ppg) as compared to 22 for hunter (3 ppg) and malone's 20 (4 ppg and 4 sh)

having said all of that i do think raycroft will win the calder but at the same time, ryder, malone, pitkanen and hunter should all get consideration

 

[V for Voodoo]

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. For my money, I'd take Malone over either of those two. His numbers are better and he plays a physical brand of hockey. True he is a rookie, and prone to lapses in defense, but those are seldom.

I stand by my statement that he could play for any team in the league... including Ottowa.

It's all rather moot, because Malone would not have made the Senators out of camp, and we never would have known what he is capable of. Now that we know he's a fine young player, I don't disagree that he has the skill to play on Ottawa, but Schaefer and White are two very important components of the team. While Malone is certainly proving that he can become significantly better than those two, right now their contributions are, and will be, more valuable to the team down the stretch and into the playoffs.

That said, Malone is a great young player and any team in the league should be happy to have him.

 

[Remax]

If we are talking about what they bring offensively then I think in the future that Staal, Stajan, Malone and Zherdev. Malone because he is doing great this season with relatively little help, Stajan is there for the same reason. Although Zherdev is not near the top of the points list he has showed that he can be a dominating player at times, expecially playing with someone like Nash. I have seen Staal play in the OHL and now in the NHL, many games and I know that he can dangle and put the puck in the net, and I think that he is just having an off year along with the rest of the team, moral (sp) can really hurt a players ability. If we are talking about overall ability I think that I would have to say that I think that Horton will be near the top if not at the top, but I will also have to put Stajan and Ruutu there. I left Staal, Malone and Zherdev off because from what I have seen they are not very physical players and are poor defensively. I put Horton at the top because not only does he crash and bang and stand in front of the net but he also has a strong defensive game. I also put Stajan and Ruutu there because they also are not affraid to go into the corners or go out in front of the net, and Stajan is strong defensively. I don't know how Ruutu is on defense because I have only seen half a dozen or so blackhawks games this season. I left Ryder and Hunter off of this list because I don't see how they can be compared to these other rookies. Ryder and Hunter have both played 3 full seasons of pro hockey prior to this year which gives them a huge advantage over the other rookies, not only in experience, but also in age with them bot being 4-5 years older than a lot of the rooks. I think that if they were all the same age or if you look a few years down the road once the other rookies have more pro experience, they will have caught up to these two and passed them in ability. That what I think anyways . Sorry for the long post

 

[stardog]

It's all rather moot, because Malone would not have made the Senators out of camp, and we never would have known what he is capable of. Now that we know he's a fine young player, I don't disagree that he has the skill to play on Ottawa, but Schaefer and White are two very important components of the team. While Malone is certainly proving that he can become significantly better than those two, right now their contributions are, and will be, more valuable to the team down the stretch and into the playoffs.

That said, Malone is a great young player and any team in the league should be happy to have him.

How do we know? He wasnt susposed to make the Penguins out of camp either, yet he was far and away the best forward. The same could have happened on another team easily. He earned his way onto the team, perhaps he could have earned his way on to ottowa.

 

[YellHockey*]

How do we know? He wasnt susposed to make the Penguins out of camp either, yet he was far and away the best forward. The same could have happened on another team easily. He earned his way onto the team, perhaps he could have earned his way on to ottowa.

Who would he have beaten out of a job? There's no way that the Sens would lose White to make room for an unproven rookie.

He wouldn't have even beaten Antoine Vermette for a job because they would have wanted Malone to get some AHL experience before making the NHL full time.

 

[stardog]

If we are talking about what they bring offensively then I think in the future that Staal, Stajan, Malone and Zherdev. Malone because he is doing great this season with relatively little help, Stajan is there for the same reason. Although Zherdev is not near the top of the points list he has showed that he can be a dominating player at times, expecially playing with someone like Nash. I have seen Staal play in the OHL and now in the NHL, many games and I know that he can dangle and put the puck in the net, and I think that he is just having an off year along with the rest of the team, moral (sp) can really hurt a players ability. If we are talking about overall ability I think that I would have to say that I think that Horton will be near the top if not at the top, but I will also have to put Stajan and Ruutu there. I left Staal, Malone and Zherdev off because from what I have seen they are not very physical players and are poor defensively. I put Horton at the top because not only does he crash and bang and stand in front of the net but he also has a strong defensive game. I also put Stajan and Ruutu there because they also are not affraid to go into the corners or go out in front of the net, and Stajan is strong defensively. I don't know how Ruutu is on defense because I have only seen half a dozen or so blackhawks games this season. I left Ryder and Hunter off of this list because I don't see how they can be compared to these other rookies. Ryder and Hunter have both played 3 full seasons of pro hockey prior to this year which gives them a huge advantage over the other rookies, not only in experience, but also in age with them bot being 4-5 years older than a lot of the rooks. I think that if they were all the same age or if you look a few years down the road once the other rookies have more pro experience, they will have caught up to these two and passed them in ability. That what I think anyways . Sorry for the long post

Like I said about Malone, his defense is nothing to write home about but it has improved alot since the beginning of the season. You dont really see him making many defensive mistakes.
As for his physical play, while he is no Ruutu or Horton, he is pretty good in that department as well. He has fought a few times this season and he will crash and bang, take a hit and go into the corners.....
Dont worry about a long post, just as long as it is informative!
Good post!

 

[EroCaps]

Speaking of Bergeron, where is he on that list? I like Semin alot as well. How has Jagr and Bondra leaving affected his play/ice time (you can add Lang now to)? Has he been drawing the top d-men from the opposing teams?

I think when it is all said and done, Zherdev will be the best of them, but thats just my opinion.

I haven't seen Bergeron enough to rank him, but he's a good one.

Semin's ice-time has gone up marginally since the trading began. The coaching staff is handling him well, making him earn his ice-time. He plays on average about 11 minutes a night, but has been the best player for the Caps for a while now.

 

[No Quarter*]

Like I said about Malone, his defense is nothing to write home about but it has improved alot since the beginning of the season. You dont really see him making many defensive mistakes.
As for his physical play, while he is no Ruutu or Horton, he is pretty good in that department as well. He has fought a few times this season and he will crash and bang, take a hit and go into the corners.....
Dont worry about a long post, just as long as it is informative!
Good post!

I disagree, I think Malone plays very well in his own end.
One mistake he tends to make sometimes is he drops down to early to block a shot while he's trying to defend the point man, and ends up either getting skated by or the point man makes a good pass. But other than that, I think he plays good "D".

 

[stardog]

I disagree, I think Malone plays very well in his own end.
One mistake he tends to make sometimes is he drops down to early to block a shot while he's trying to defend the point man, and ends up either getting skated by or the point man makes a good pass. But other than that, I think he plays good "D".

I dont think he plays "good" D. Maybe for the Pens, but comparitivley to an average NHL player, that is about what he plays. Average D, IMO.

 

[Epsilon]

I think he would make all three of those teams roster for the reasons Evilo said as well. He isn't one diminsional, therefor he doesnt have to play on one of the top two lines.

This is all my opinion, and is quite speculative of course, but.....

For Colorado, he'd play over McCormick, Cummings, Brigley and Moore pretty easily IMO and probably a few others as well.

For Ottowa Vermette, Van Allen, Schaefer and White (and possibly others).

For Detroit he would play over Devereaux, Mowers, Williams and again, possibly a few others.

A lot of those guys are either 1. injury fill-ins or 2. enforcers and other more specialized role players. Sure, Malone could make a team as an injury call-up, but when the Wings for instance are healthy now the Grind Line is the 4th line. He sure wouldn't make the team over any of those three, nor would be displace guys like Steve Thomas, Ray Whitney, etc.

 

[stardog]

A lot of those guys are either 1. injury fill-ins or 2. enforcers and other more specialized role players. Sure, Malone could make a team as an injury call-up, but when the Wings for instance are healthy now the Grind Line is the 4th line. He sure wouldn't make the team over any of those three, nor would be displace guys like Steve Thomas, Ray Whitney, etc.

I could be wrong, but most of the guys I mentioned have played in most of the teams games have they not?

And even if they are specialized role players, they are still members of the team regardless, and if Malone could beat them out (which I am confident he could) that would still make him a member of said team.

As of right now, if the Wings were healthy, do you still feel Malone could not make the team?

 

[Epsilon]

I could be wrong, but most of the guys I mentioned have played in most of the teams games have they not?

And even if they are specialized role players, they are still members of the team regardless, and if Malone could beat them out (which I am confident he could) that would still make him a member of said team.

As of right now, if the Wings were healthy, do you still feel Malone could not make the team?

No, he absolutely could not. The Wings' healthy forward lineup looks something like this:

Steve Yzerman - Robert Lang - Brendan Shanahan
Steve Thomas - Pavel Datsyuk - Brett Hull
Ray Whitney - Henrik Zetterberg - Thomas Holmstrom
Kirk Maltby - Kris Draper - Darren McCarty

Now who there is going to get moved out for a rookie forward? Don't say guys like Thomas and Holmstrom either because they bring intangibles and abilities others just can't offer.

 

[Evilo]

Lang might not have been traded for, and Thomas is definately not better than Malone right now.
I wouldn't substract Holmstrom, but Thomas, yes.
He wouldn't have been signed ot being with.

 

[Jeff Goldblum]

No, he absolutely could not.

So what you're saying is that if the Wings acquired Malone right now, he would be sent to the AHL? I don't see that happening.