Prospect Info: Where does Rudolf Balcers fit in the pool?

[aragorn]

1. Tkachuk
2. Brown
3. Batherson
4. Lajoie
5. Gustavsson
6. Chlapik
7. White
8. JBD
9. Norris
10. Wolanin
11. Jaros
12. Formenton
13. Hogberg
14. Balcers
15. Harpur
16. Paul
17. Nurmi
18. Gagne
19. Daccord
20. Kelly
21. Crookshank
22. Bergman
23. Novak
24. Englund
25. Loheit
26. Tychonick

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Yeah it makes this poll very hard to answer because Lajoie surprised everybody and look like he should be much higher in our ranking, but let's try to have a "summer mindset", where would we have ranked Balcers and Norris in our pool the day that the trade happened?

Looking back, I should have made that poll in the following days of the trade, my fault for waiting.

All that being said, I'd have Balcers at #10 and Norris at #11

We will remake this series of polls this winter. I'm sure Lajoie and a few others will rocket, while White will go down a bit

Anything else we should pretend .. I don't want to go thru this numerous time.. Please list all the things we should pretend before actually voting... I would like to pretend the voting is done as it was.

 

[aragorn]

Where does Balcers fit? In the AHL.

 

[Sens]

He’s going to be a 50-60 point guy... not a doubt in my mind

How many prospects do we have that will be better then that.

Balcers has Havlat type dangling ability

 

[Micklebot]

He’s going to be a 50-60 point guy... not a doubt in my mind

How many prospects do we have that will be better then that.

Balcers has Havlat type dangling ability

So did Linus Omark.

 

[Sens]

1. Tkachuk
2. Brown
3. Batherson
4. Lajoie
5. Gustavsson
6. Chlapik
7. White
8. JBD
9. Norris
10. Wolanin
11. Jaros
12. Formenton
13. Hogberg
14. Balcers
15. Harpur
16. Paul
17. Nurmi
18. Gagne
19. Daccord
20. Kelly
21. Crookshank
22. Bergman
23. Novak
24. Englund
25. Loheit
26. Tychonick

I find it hard to believe the 2-3 best prospect in the Sharks system is 14th here

 

[Sens]

So did Linus Omark.

Did Omark ever preform in world competition like Balcers for Latvia this past summer.

I was high on Balcers well before the trade. I’ve watched the dude dangle 2-3 players in OT scoring game winning goals

He was 20 last year and led the Barricuda in production despite not playing with constant line mates or High end talent

Balcers is legit

 

[Micklebot]

Did Omark ever preform in world competition like Balcers for Latvia this past summer.

I was high on Balcers well before the trade. I’ve watched the dude dangle 2-3 players in OT scoring game winning goals

He was 20 last year and led the Barricuda in production despite not playing with constant line mates or High end talent

Balcers is legit

10 pts for Sweden in 9 games at the world cup 08-09 at the same age I think (might be off by a year). 55pts in 53 games in the SHL that same year leading the team.

 

[BonkTastic]

Did Omark ever preform in world competition like Balcers for Latvia this past summer.

Not for Latvia, no.

You should check out Omark's international career with Sweden, though. It's pretty impressive. Omark had hype for a reason.

 

[mianjo]

Scored his first goal for Belleville tonight

 

[KnuckChuckinTkachuk]

Scored his first goal for Belleville tonight

Apparently his line of Balcers - Brown - Batherson (the B Sharps) were causing havoc. Love how Mann loaded up that top line.

 

[Sens]

10 pts for Sweden in 9 games at the world cup 08-09 at the same age I think (might be off by a year). 55pts in 53 games in the SHL that same year leading the team.

So because one Europe kid failed... Balcers will fail?

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Scored his first goal for Belleville tonight

#SenatorsRising

 

[Karl Prime]

1. Tkachuk
2. Brown
3. Batherson
4. Lajoie
5. Gustavsson
6. Chlapik
7. White
8. JBD
9. Norris
10. Wolanin
11. Jaros
12. Formenton
13. Hogberg
14. Balcers
15. Harpur
16. Paul
17. Nurmi
18. Gagne
19. Daccord
20. Kelly
21. Crookshank
22. Bergman
23. Novak
24. Englund
25. Loheit
26. Tychonick

I think you're severely underrating Tychonick.

 

[KnuckChuckinTkachuk]

I think you're severely underrating Tychonick.

Imagine rating Harpur and Englund above Tychonick... like why? How?

 

[Alf Silfversson]

Imagine rating Harpur and Englund above Tychonick... like why? How?

Tychonick is not 6'3 or taller?

Pretty obvious.

 

[Micklebot]

So because one Europe kid failed... Balcers will fail?

No, he's a nice prospect, he's just not by any means a sure thing.

 

[Sens]

No, he's a nice prospect, he's just not by any means a sure thing.

Just like every prospect...

 

[Micklebot]

Just like every prospect...

People don't make claims of 50-60 point futures for every prospect, all im saying is pump the breaks a bit.

 

[Sens]

People don't make claims of 50-60 point futures for every prospect, all im saying is pump the breaks a bit.

Sure they do...

Balcers a 20 year old kid led his AHL team in production last year by 10 points playing with nobodies

And then proceeded to have an exceptional world championships where former Stanley Cup Winning Coach praises Balcers as a fantastic talent
Balcers Shines For Latvia At Worlds

"I followed Rudolfs basically all season, watching his videos, and he's gifted. Just look. He finished first in scoring on his AHL team. I've been in the AHL for five years. Best development league in the world.
"He's spending his time there and he's getting stronger, he's getting quicker. He's very gifted. Great shot. Great sense for offense. He has a nice confidence about himself. It's inside of him, but you can see it. You can feel it.
"It's just a matter of time, maybe a year or two, and he'll definitely be there."

"He has a nice confidence about himself," said Hartley, who has dispatched Balcers for an average of 20:26 per game -- tops among forwards and third overall for the Latvians.
"He's not that kid that thinks he's somebody else, but you can tell he's enjoying the moment. He's really taking advantage of the situation. Power play, penalty killing…we're giving him lots of ice time. We count on him and he's been unbelievable for us."

"He wants to learn," Hartley said.
"He's a good young man. I think that he's definitely an NHL player. He just has to keep improving his game away from the puck and keep working on his strength, on his speed.
"His potentials and abilities will definitely make him an NHL player.
"There's no doubt in my mind.
_____

Hey there Hartley, Micklebot thinks you’re pumping him up to much... he can’t be as good as you say

 

[Micklebot]

Sure they do...

Balcers a 20 year old kid led his AHL team in production last year by 10 points playing with nobodies

And then proceeded to have an exceptional world championships where former Stanley Cup Winning Coach praises Balcers as a fantastic talent
Balcers Shines For Latvia At Worlds

"I followed Rudolfs basically all season, watching his videos, and he's gifted. Just look. He finished first in scoring on his AHL team. I've been in the AHL for five years. Best development league in the world.
"He's spending his time there and he's getting stronger, he's getting quicker. He's very gifted. Great shot. Great sense for offense. He has a nice confidence about himself. It's inside of him, but you can see it. You can feel it.
"It's just a matter of time, maybe a year or two, and he'll definitely be there."

"He has a nice confidence about himself," said Hartley, who has dispatched Balcers for an average of 20:26 per game -- tops among forwards and third overall for the Latvians.
"He's not that kid that thinks he's somebody else, but you can tell he's enjoying the moment. He's really taking advantage of the situation. Power play, penalty killing…we're giving him lots of ice time. We count on him and he's been unbelievable for us."

"He wants to learn," Hartley said.
"He's a good young man. I think that he's definitely an NHL player. He just has to keep improving his game away from the puck and keep working on his strength, on his speed.
"His potentials and abilities will definitely make him an NHL player.
"There's no doubt in my mind.
_____

Hey there Hartley, Micklebot thinks you’re pumping him up to much... he can’t be as good as you say

Coach gives favourable review on one of his players, more at 6. Hartley isn't the first guy to overhype a player and won't be the last.

It's great that you like him, I like him too, but the reality is 50-60 pts players are rare and there have been plenty of prospects with glowing reviews that haven't panned out. He still has a lot to prove, hopefully you are right about him.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Apparently his line of Balcers - Brown - Batherson (the B Sharps) were causing havoc. Love how Mann loaded up that top line.

Chlapik.. Brown didn't play

 

[Xspyrit]

I agree with Fuhr , I heard Hartley totally raved about Balcers. Exciting prospect, he needs to be able to become a consistent threat game after game and then you've got a top-6 forward. It's not easy to become a good NHL player, wherever you had success before but Rudolf definitely has everything that's needed. Up to him to put it all together

If he succeeds then the return for Karlsson might be better than people think. There's a lot of IFs though, so we'll need a few years to properly assess it.

- Balcers : 21 y/o, top-6 scoring threat?
- Norris : 19 y/o, nice toolset to become a pretty solid NHL player, what's his ceiling?
- Tierney : 24 y/o, Pageau level player, maybe more productive?
- DeMelo : 25 y/o, good 3rd pairing D-man?
- 1st round pick : if the Sharks miss the playoffs once in the next 2 seasons, could end up with a relatively high pick. Good chance to get another very good prospect
- 2nd round pick : could get another good prospect, particularly when you look at our recent 2nd rounders from the last 4 drafts (Formenton, Chlapik, Dahlen, Tychonick, Gagne)
- Maybe we're lucky and the Sharks bomb their season and trade EK back to the East, giving us another 1st from the Sharks (wouldn't bank on it though)

Considering the corner the Sens paint themselves in (trading EK at the worst timing possible and as a 1-year rental with no extension in place), that's a pretty solid return. However, I will never understand why the focus was not to get the best D-man possible. We already had several good forward prospects so I would rather have a good young NHL D-man instead of Norris and Balcers.

Let me try to be more clear before some people jump on this. I'm not saying that the return was "great", I'm saying that I have no problem with the return but more with the WAY they traded Karlsson : worst timing (deadline before training camp) + UFA status (didn't wait to get a team he'd agree to sign an extension with).

Trade deadline would have been a better timing as teams have injuries and/or think they could go all the way, so a bidding war could ensue. Work all season to find teams that EK would agree to extend with. In the meantime, you have Karlsson helping your team being more competitive in a year where you don't have your own first.

Why force that trade Melnyk? Why force a rebuild so much too? I know money but the $ saved could have been made back just in tickets as we could have a pretty exciting team with EK instead of DeMelo. Chabot, Lajoie, Tkachuk + the vets.

 

[Sens]

Coach gives favourable review on one of his players, more at 6. Hartley isn't the first guy to overhype a player and won't be the last.

It's great that you like him, I like him too, but the reality is 50-60 pts players are rare and there have been plenty of prospects with glowing reviews that haven't panned out. He still has a lot to prove, hopefully you are right about him.

Prospect Of Interest: Who is Rudolfs Balcers? - Sportsnet.ca
“Most of the reaction I’ve got is if there is a guy here who is going to be their best return, it’s Balcers,” Elliotte Friedman said on the day of the trade. “That he’s a guy who was kinda unknown, under-appreciated. He came over and had a really good debut AHL season. And they think he’s got a chance. They said if you’re a Sens fan that’s the guy you’re hoping for who turns out to be the top player you get back out of this deal.”
___

“Balcers, Balcers, Balcers. There isn’t much left to say about Balcers. As the Barracuda’s best player last season, he’ll almost undoubtedly see some NHL games this year. Using (Emmanuel) Perry’s NHLe and adjusting for peak age (25 years old), one projection method suggests Balcers might be a 51-point forward in his prime.”

 

[Acidrain66]

Prospect Of Interest: Who is Rudolfs Balcers? - Sportsnet.ca
“Most of the reaction I’ve got is if there is a guy here who is going to be their best return, it’s Balcers,” Elliotte Friedman said on the day of the trade. “That he’s a guy who was kinda unknown, under-appreciated. He came over and had a really good debut AHL season. And they think he’s got a chance. They said if you’re a Sens fan that’s the guy you’re hoping for who turns out to be the top player you get back out of this deal.”
___

“Balcers, Balcers, Balcers. There isn’t much left to say about Balcers. As the Barracuda’s best player last season, he’ll almost undoubtedly see some NHL games this year. Using (Emmanuel) Perry’s NHLe and adjusting for peak age (25 years old), one projection method suggests Balcers might be a 51-point forward in his prime.”

Woww, you really think we got a Pavel Bure in our hands!!! Hype away!