The Athletic - Boston Wheeler’s 2020 NHL prospect pool rankings: No. 30 Boston Bruins

[Montecristo]

I still am a fan of that jo sang ho dude in ny and his crazy skill set... although that kid that was doing the youtube videos a few years ago and ended up with the oilers was probably even better
I know that Dmitri kvaltalnov and vladamir rudzicka became immortal in those 70 games they played together for the bruins and I felt every confidence they would both go down in bruin history as top 5 players after watching their skill set together

compare that to some slug like chara who can barely skate with the top 50% nhl skaters and is not a very good stickhander either... I know where I would rank a lot of these guys if I was ranking potential nhl impact

Pastrnak is skilled. I’d take him over Jared Knight. Krejci is skilled. I’d take him over Byron bitz. I’d take Sergei Samsonov over Boris valabik.

but the perfect comp is that I’d take anders bjork over Danton heinen. 2 pretty similar players in terms of offensive impact. Bjork-more skilled, heinen, more all around solid defensively. I’ll take the skill please!

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Pastrnak is skilled. I’d take him over Jared Knight. Krejci is skilled. I’d take him over Byron bitz. I’d take Sergei Samsonov over Boris valabik.

but the perfect comp is that I’d take anders bjork over Danton heinen. 2 pretty similar players in terms of offensive impact. Bjork-more skilled, heinen, more all around solid defensively. I’ll take the skill please!

good is good... mediocre is mediocre... useless is useless

if you gave me a guy with the skill of kent nielson and the heart of terry oreilly, id present you with the greatest player of all time

too many skillz guys get rated too highly in these prospect lists when they have hearts the size of an ant

the guys you mentioned though... are able to play...

ive never seen any heart player rated in the top 50 who flamed out... because heart players are never rated in the top 50 to begin with. the reason the top 50 has 10-15 fails every season is all the skillz players who had no heart at all being rated there.

if a skilz player has some heart to go with his skilz… then sure... thats great

Bergeron is a skilz player but clearly a heart player too

I like all rounded combo players who have heart and brain and dedication and skillz

 

[Montecristo]

good is good... mediocre is mediocre... useless is useless

if you gave me a guy with the skill of kent nielson and the heart of terry oreilly, id present you with the greatest player of all time

too many skillz guys get rated too highly in these prospect lists when they have hearts the size of an ant

the guys you mentioned though... are able to play...

ive never seen any heart player rated in the top 50 who flamed out... because heart players are never rated in the top 50 to begin with. the reason the top 50 has 10-15 fails every season is all the skillz players who had no heart at all being rated there.

if a skilz player has some heart to go with his skilz… then sure... thats great

Bergeron is a skilz player but clearly a heart player too

I like all rounded combo players who have heart and brain and dedication and skillz

I’ll rate skillz 1st. Then all that other junk tied for last

 

[Say Hey Kid]

...compare that to some slug like chara who can barely skate with the top 50% nhl skaters and is not a very good stickhander either... I know where I would rank a lot of these guys if I was ranking potential nhl impact

Chara's a slug!?! He's a top 50 dman all time, better than Blake. You sound like an Oilers fan living in Edmonton.

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

do you look at draft re-dos? this site has a forum that puts them together all the time

you ill usually find around 60% of first round picks are still first round picks in a re-do. ill let you go find me some examples where the number is higher

if your numbers are correct... that means 20% of guys picked are 'ok' but not actually the best available. and then letting those second rounders fall into the second round is a mistake too.

so its a double mistake... first taking the wrong guy... then not taking the right guy

when I was tossing numbers out of my butt... I said my mock drafts usually identify around 60% of the right first rounders too. what I meant is when I dig up one of my old mock drafts and then compare it to a draft re-do I get around 60% of the names right

now did I do the scouting myself? hell no... I dont watch any junior games. I just read 20-50 various scouting reports on different guys from some people that know what they are talking about and a lot of people that dont know anything they are talking about... and I get a 'feeling'

tsn used to have a monkey predict the playoffs... but then they learnt that the money was almost as accurate as the guys being paid big dollars to be educated experts

playoffs arent quite the same as prospects... but there is a certain randomness to it all

eventually who wins the playoffs is a fact... its proven
who becomes a good prospect/player will always remain nothing other than an opinion

im glad there are people out there scouting and watching games and sharing opinions or id still wonder who cam neely and barry Pederson were. I like to be educated in todays world. but I have never seen anyone getting much better than 50% success rate over any period of time when it comes to their talent evaluations

remember that when a team drafts someone in round 1... it means their decesion maker wanted that guy. but when you watch behind the scenes you will see that many voices went into the decesion and some of them wanted a different player

I look at things like nhl future watch... red line... mckeens… that pronman fella at espn… they all entertain me... and none turn out all that accurate in the grand scheme of things

So you read scouting reports from people paid to scout since they are considered experts, then form your opinion?

So you admit the scouts/experts know what they are doing since you use their reports to make your picks? That and a"feeling" (random guess).

Drafting is just one part of it. Development is the other huge part. I firmly believe there are players that were highly skilled but just went to the wrong team.

I think if a guy like Yakupov or Puljujarvi ended up on different teams instead of the losing culture of the Oilers they could have been carving out decent careers by now. 18-22/23 are some of the most important years in a persons life and if you are getting mishandled, it's hard to get back on track.

 

[BruinsNetwork]

To be fair I’d say most of us slant towards rather having fancy skill sets than boring ones. I’d rather have debrincats fancy skill set over frederics antiquated one. Or Thomas chabots showboating skulls vs zborils yawn inducing.

That’s fine, but it’s about team building too. Look at the Leafs and Lightning for example. Bruins value different things in their prospects and would rather have a Coyle type than a Donato type, they made that trade based on that logic, I’m sure. Zboril is far from a “yawn,” by the way. He had displayed plenty of high-end skill and ability even in juniors.

 

[Montecristo]

That’s fine, but it’s about team building too. Look at the Leafs and Lightning for example. Bruins value different things in their prospects and would rather have a Coyle type than a Donato type, they made that trade based on that logic, I’m sure. Zboril is far from a “yawn,” by the way. He had displayed plenty of high-end skill and ability even in juniors.

I meant its as if he is yawning as he passes the puck to the wrong jersey since he’s so lazy with it sometimes. I’ve always liked zboril; but he was the safer pick with less offensive ability compared to chabot pre draft. And Chabot is the better player now

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Chara's a slug!?! He's a top 50 dman all time, better than Blake. You sound like an Oilers fan living in Edmonton.

What

 

[neelynugs]

Wow! It’s only January and we get another list from a writer that’s never steeped foot in Providence and is hyper-focused on fancy skill sets? Score!

wait, so you're saying wheeler never actually went to a providence game? that seems odd,
he comes off as so knowledgeable

the lauko miss is ridiculous. if he saw any of the pbruins games this year, it'd be pretty
obvious to anyone watching that this kid has upside. and forget about pronman, that
guy is a habs fan who used to pass off other people's work as his own.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

So you read scouting reports from people paid to scout since they are considered experts, then form your opinion?

So you admit the scouts/experts know what they are doing since you use their reports to make your picks? That and a"feeling" (random guess).

Drafting is just one part of it. Development is the other huge part. I firmly believe there are players that were highly skilled but just went to the wrong team.

I think if a guy like Yakupov or Puljujarvi ended up on different teams instead of the losing culture of the Oilers they could have been carving out decent careers by now. 18-22/23 are some of the most important years in a persons life and if you are getting mishandled, it's hard to get back on track.

I read movie reviews... i goto rottontomatos. Icheck the daily paper. I ask friends who saw the movie

Then i form my opinion

Then i go see the movie

Around 90% of the time the movie is around what i expected because i gathered a wide variety of opinions

But if i relied on a single persons input i daresay it would be a 50-50 crapshoot if i agreed with them about the movie.

Now in movies... maybe the experts can predict what makes money, better than i can... (although based on how many money losers get made, i wonder)

And in hockey... there are scouts out there that can identify skillz in a player better than i can

But when you add up a scorecard for a scout... you will find a lot of misses. When you go back in history for a bob mckenzie list or a future watch or a hfboard top prospect list, you will find alot of misses

When you read fans opinions of untouchable prospects... you will find alot of misses

Remember when brett ritchie was untouchable in a tyler seguin trade?

Prospect grading is very speculative and way too much weight is given to skilz over heart and appetite

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

I read movie reviews... i goto rottontomatos. Icheck the daily paper. I ask friends who saw the movie

Then i form my opinion

Then i go see the movie

Around 90% of the time the movie is around what i expected because i gathered a wide variety of opinions

But if i relied on a single persons input i daresay it would be a 50-50 crapshoot if i agreed with them about the movie.

Now in movies... maybe the experts can predict what makes money, better than i can... (although based on how many money losers get made, i wonder)

And in hockey... there are scouts out there that can identify skillz in a player better than i can

But when you add up a scorecard for a scout... you will find a lot of misses. When you go back in history for a bob mckenzie list or a future watch or a hfboard top prospect list, you will find alot of misses

When you read fans opinions of untouchable prospects... you will find alot of misses

Remember when brett ritchie was untouchable in a tyler seguin trade?

Prospect grading is very speculative and way too much weight is given to skilz over heart and appetite

At the end of the day the scouts are right more often than they are wrong. To dismiss their opinion because they have misses is crazy. 80% of first rounders are every day NHL'ers. All the scouts can do is tell you if a kid has potential, its up to the team to work with the player to take that potential and turn it into actual results.

 

[DKH]

Lauzon looked pretty good for #9 prospect on The worst prospect team

 

[DKH]

In 10 minutes I find Scott Wheeler a Leafs fan

stunned

 

[The don godfather]

Lauzon changes everything. What I saw tonight is a stud dman.for years to come.

 

[DKH]

The only thing I know about Scott Wheeler is what I’ve researched and read and he’s a lock for being on HF under assumed name as a Leafs honk.

Scott Wheeler - The Athletic

Looking over his list he has no Senyshyn or Lauko and Jeremy Lauzon 9th

I been reading guys like Scott saying the Bruins are dead since 2015 while the Leafs are on the cover of the Hockey News picked as Cup champs.

 

[DKH]

For reference here is this board's rankings: Prospect Info: - HF Bruins Top 25 Prospects: #21-25 (choose 5)

I'm surprised he left Lauko, Keyser, and Senyshyn off. You may not agree with the ranking (overall and players listed, I don't), but it's good to see how someone who doesn't report on the Bruins views their prospects.

Yes - good to see where a Leafs fanboy would put the Bruins

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Steen over TFred and Lauzon. I mean these writers get paid to mail in these lists.

 

[UncleRico]

Steen over TFred and Lauzon. I mean these writers get paid to mail in these lists.

steen had an incredible year last year. I remember someone posting the short list of names that put up the production steen did at that age and it was an outstanding list.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Lauzon looked pretty good for #9 prospect on The worst prospect team

Lauzon didn't even make Pronman's list.

 

[LouJersey]

this is so odd lou

I like you... but you responded to me... 1 steal in 13 years

where the hell did I say 13 years... or 1 steal

if we are worried over what we said... your first response to me was bizzaro land. so you were the one that brought up how many 'steals' we had in 13 years

I decided to respond to your post

I showed how many active one time prospects we have in the nhl now... the quality of them... and I say we are number 1.

you are more than welcome to look at some other organization and build a list of their top players and try to suggest that team is better than boston

im not afraid

you listed our “steals” and only Carlo was in the past 13 years. So what other draft steals have they had since 2006?

as far as building teams...Tampa? Pittsburgh? Chicago? Not sure don’t have they time but they would seem to measure up?

 

[The don godfather]

We must be bad when McAvoy carlo pastrnak debrusk bjork henein grezlyk and now lauzon just made the team. We suck.

 

[PlayMakers]

Lauzon looked pretty good for #9 prospect on The worst prospect team

 

[PlayMakers]

These lists are garbage.

 

[PB37]

These are the home-grown prospects the Bruins have playing for them now ( draft or college free agent )

Marchand -- Bergeron -- Pastrnak

DeBrusk -- Krejci -- Bjork

Heinen -- XXXX -- Kulhman

Blidh -- XXXX -- XXXXXX


XXXX -- McAvoy

Krug -- Carlo

Grz -- Lauzon

XXXX
Miller


Yeah, this spans across different iterations of Bruins management, but Sweeney has been around for most of them. I trust the Bruins' draft process and their ability to identify talent at the drafting table. I think Mr Wheeler needs to do better.

 

[ODAAT]

ill look at the last 5 bruin drafts... and i will let anyone defend some other teams last 5 drafts... im not using this year because its just too new for anyone to project... so 2014-2018

-we got the leagues leading goal scorer
-we got 5 forwards all playing top 9 roles in the nhl
-carlo/McAvoy are total stud dmen

lets look at what sort of 23 man roster we can put together

debrusk/studnicka/pastrnak {feels like 3 pretty safe bets for top 6 studs here}
Heinen/Donato/Bjork {at worst looks like solid 3rd liners}
lauko/Federic/shynshyn {kind of reaches... projects... who knows i suppose?}
steen/Hall/hughes {probably long shots to become more than 4th liners}
karlsson

McAvoy/Vaakainenen
Carlo/Lauzon
Axelsson/Lingren
Zboril

swayman
vladar

i see a full 23 man roster that is likely to all play at least some games in the nhl… 6 guys with good potential to be first liners... a defense that could be really outstanding/cup caliber

i will take this group... you pick any other team... lets archieve it and come back in 5 years and see just who has the more established nhl regulars/stars

Great post, let us not forget that the highest this team has picked in the first round recently is 13th, not that there aren`t good players drafted then but....

does this team have any high end or dynamic prospects in the AHL? Umm, nope, the majority of those kids tend to be playing NHL minutes. This team also has a 4th rounder(116th) in Heinen, Bjork , 5th round, 140 something, Carlo and more than a few others then chuck in the college signings of Krug/Grizz.

I dunno, I have little issues with the prospects, not a fan who believes or expects the farm team to be loaded. This team hasn`t had a pick inside the top 10 since 2011 I believe and has continually pumped out some nice kids.