Us Versus Them Prospects(work in progress)

[Micklebot]

When has he been a number 1G in the NHL?

Most starters in the NHL today weren't even backups at his age.

 

[The Fuhr*]

Most starters in the NHL today weren't even backups at his age.

I agree but I'm not going to project Lehner to be a number 1G when he has not done it... I've watched hockey for a while now, I've seen plenty if highly touted goalies unable to take that step to become a number 1G

Should Lehner become a number 1G, then I'll talk about him as being more then a secondary piece... But as a backup he's nothing more then that

 

[Sensinitis]

Top prospects
Trochek, Shore, Howden, Mcfarland, Weeger, Brittien, Matheson, mccoshion, Hyman, Grimaldi, Ekblad, Haweryluk

I'd say the Cats defense blows the Sens away with forwards looking equal

What the Cats have tho is a lot of young graduates
Bjustad (21), Hurbedeau (21), Barkov (19)

What do the Sens have young and have made an impact like those three? Zibanejad, that's about it and he's the worst of the four players there

All that means is that our best players are slightly older.

Turris and Karlsson are 24. Those two are better than everyone on the Cats and better than anyone on the Cats will probably ever be.

 

[Micklebot]

I agree but I'm not going to project Lehner to be a number 1G when he has not done it... I've watched hockey for a while now, I've seen plenty if highly touted goalies unable to take that step to become a number 1G

Should Lehner become a number 1G, then I'll talk about him as being more then a secondary piece... But as a backup he's nothing more then that

It seems you operate on a double standard; young players on other teams are viewed as pieces that can be counted on towards building a champion, but young players on our team are secondary pieces until they prove otherwise.

 

[The Fuhr*]

It seems you operate on a double standard; young players on other teams are viewed as pieces that can be counted on towards building a champion, but young players on our team are secondary pieces until they prove otherwise.

I watched Bjustad lead his team in scoring... He looks like he can be a wicked 2C... I talk about Zibanejad the same way... I had a thread comparing the potential of Turris-Zibabejad to Krejci - Bergeron

But other then Zibanejad, the Sens have nothing close to Barkov or Huberdeau (31Pts in 48GP during the lockout at 19)

How are the Sens supposed to compete with that? Is Lazar going to be as good as them? I don't see it

The Sens have decent piece but if everything comes together it's a bottom playoff seed... I'm not seeing a team that can compete with the top teams in the league...

And that should be the goal... Not to just sneak in and prey

 

[The Fuhr*]

I was looking at prospect rankings and can't help but notice Ottawa is 19th

When Lazar and Ceci graduate, probably 25-30

Team has no re-enforcements coming

 

[Sensinitis]

Didn't answer me Fuhr?

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

I was looking at prospect rankings and can't help but notice Ottawa is 19th

When Lazar and Ceci graduate, probably 25-30

Team has no re-enforcements coming

prospect ranking mean very little. production and execution is whats important

 

[aragorn]

I watched Bjustad lead his team in scoring... He looks like he can be a wicked 2C... I talk about Zibanejad the same way... I had a thread comparing the potential of Turris-Zibabejad to Krejci - Bergeron

But other then Zibanejad, the Sens have nothing close to Barkov or Huberdeau (31Pts in 48GP during the lockout at 19)

How are the Sens supposed to compete with that? Is Lazar going to be as good as them? I don't see it

The Sens have decent piece but if everything comes together it's a bottom playoff seed... I'm not seeing a team that can compete with the top teams in the league...

And that should be the goal... Not to just sneak in and prey

I tend to disagree a little, I think Stone has the potential to be as good as Huberdeau & any of the others you have mentioned. IMO so does Puempel & maybe Schneider with Guptil, Paul & Dzingel as dark horses. I think Ceci has top 4 potential as does Wiercioch with Claesson & Harpur as dark horses. Notice I haven`t mentioned the Swedes yet. I like that the Sens seem to be going for a bigger team & drafting bigger players.

In order for the Sens to draft elite prospects they have to be one of the worse teams in the NHL for a few yrs & that hasn`t happened since they joined the league & I don`t see that happening next yr either. In fact, I think they will make the playoffs next yr, they may not go far but I think they will be good enough in the East anyway, to get in. Then there is the question of ownership`s committment to winning & spending the money to win. I thought if he would have kept Spezza & signed Michalek & Hemsky, Ottawa would have had two very good lines with a very good young line coming in Zibanejad, Stone & Hoffman. But if the owner is having money problems & won`t spend than you can`t blame the GM. He can only do the best he can with what he is given to work with & Melnyk doesn`t give him much any more.

 

[dumbdick]

Also worth noting that Bobby Ryan was converted directly from 3 high value prospect pieces. He's better than any player in the pipe or on the roster for Florida. Is that worth nothing?

 

[Micklebot]

I was looking at prospect rankings and can't help but notice Ottawa is 19th

When Lazar and Ceci graduate, probably 25-30

Team has no re-enforcements coming

Well we added Chaisson, Guptill and Paul, as well as Englund, and the rest of our picks from this years draft since that ranking was released. Some teams traded away prospects, and graduated more than us, so I wouldn't be surprised if we held at the same ranking or even moved up.

 

[Micklebot]

Also worth noting that Bobby Ryan was converted directly from 3 high value prospect pieces. He's better than any player in the pipe or on the roster for Florida. Is that worth nothing?

No because he'll walk as a UFA, it has been prophesied.

 

[FireDJ]

Also worth noting that Bobby Ryan was converted directly from 3 high value prospect pieces. He's better than any player in the pipe or on the roster for Florida. Is that worth nothing?

Well said.

On another note, I too am a little concerned with our high end talent in the prospect pool. I think Stone will break out this year (around 40 points), but other than that, it seems like we have a lot of third line tweeners, that wouldn't be able to produce in an NHL top 6 playoff team. Hoffman has speed that kills, but his sense seems to be a little behind at the NHL level. I'll give him more games before he's labelled as a third line tweener too. Our defence is not only scary at the NHL level, but looks shaky organizationally.

I'm very happy with the playoff runs we had 1-2 years ago, but our pesky play sure took a nose dive this year. The sad part is the problems haven't been addressed. Greening, Smith, Phillips and Michalek are all back.

The only hope I'm holding out on is how we tend to play without Spezza in the lineup. If we can get back to our pesky ways and get some solid goaltending again, I could see us sneaking in the playoffs.

However this team is NO WHERE near a cup team anytime soon.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

We're not going to be a team that has a lot of top flight players

We're going to be the Arsenal of the NHL: put together good, young cheap teams that do pretty good but never win it all and the team with the best financials standings once the debts have been cleared (which is where I hope a lot of the money is going)

 

[dumbdick]

The spending and the prospect depth are totally related. In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that the only reason our team "looks" like we draft well is because our prospects have better opportunities with so many holes in the roster where we didn't spend.

By the same token our prospect pool looks weak because we're rushing prospects into holes so fast. How many of Condra, Greening, Hoffman, Gryba, Stone, or Weir have roster spots on a cap team?

 

[scallionjj11]

You have to admit Fuhr when comparing our immediate future or players playing at the pro or NCAA level our future imo looks better then that of the habs. Our elites ahler and secondary scoring players are more productive and mostly younger then that of the habs. Personally i think we've done very well with our late picks.

i agree, if anything late picks are somewhat of our strength in drafting

 

[Xspyrit]

That's funny how the wealthiness of the youth on the team is not even considered in this subject.

Cody Ceci 20
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 21
Mika Zibanejad 21
Mark Stone 22
Robin Lehner 22
Alex Chiasson 23
Jared Cowen 23
Patrick Wiercioch 23
Mike Hoffman 24
Kyle Turris 24
Erik Karlsson 24
Mark Borowiecki 25

Too bad the old Bobby Ryan (27) couldn't make that list

But be reassured, a lot more young guys will be on that list in the next few years (Lazar, Puempel, Claesson, Guptill?, Englund? Wikstrand? Dzingel? Prince? ...)

Oh right, because when a GM says the rebuild is over that means that no further signings or trades can be made to continually improve the team. I guess we're stuck with this roster forever or until the next "rebuild" comes.

Oh my, it's so funny that you actually HAVE to write that.

Also worth noting that Bobby Ryan was converted directly from 3 high value prospect pieces. He's better than any player in the pipe or on the roster for Florida. Is that worth nothing?

In some people's agendas, yes you're right.

Well we added Chaisson, Guptill and Paul, as well as Englund, and the rest of our picks from this years draft since that ranking was released. Some teams traded away prospects, and graduated more than us, so I wouldn't be surprised if we held at the same ranking or even moved up.

HF prospects rankings are basically worth not much... Habs are 10th... compare their pool with ours for fun, using facts (like production)

I'm very happy with the playoff runs we had 1-2 years ago, but our pesky play sure took a nose dive this year. The sad part is the problems haven't been addressed. Greening, Smith, Phillips and Michalek are all back.

Ya, comparable players are not on other teams, even playoff teams. Smith and Michalek really suck.