The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
This is not purely about who is the best. Which five prospects involvement generally make you cringe in trade discussions? Who do you want protected?
My List:
1.) Calle Järnkrok - A future top 6 center, importantly a guy that shoots right and is an outstanding PP QB guy. We have needed a righthanded center for a little while now. Has improved on his faceoffs and all zone play from what I have seen this year. Still putting up impressive numbers on a team that is struggling while carrying an injury from what it appears as he has been held out of the last two EHTs over the course of the last couple of months.
2.) Petr Mrazek - I was flamed pretty hard for putting him in this kind of thread before his WJC performance. His place a year and change later is almost always in the top 5. The kid has an it factor and is enjoying an outstanding transition to the professional ranks. He has a star quality and could make things uncomfortable for Howard in the near future. He is a future number 1, could be the Czech's number 1 goalie in the 2018 Olympics, I think he will pass Pavelec.
3.) Xavier Ouellet - Almost already NHL ready. A coaches best friend, rarely makes mistakes and has great leadership qualities. I don't see him getting the kind of seasoning we are getting used to with prospects. A rock solid two way defenseman reminds me of Vlasic out in San Jose.
4.) Ryan Sproul - So many gifts. Has huge upside and is already realizing a lot of it on offense. Will have a top 10 shot in the NHL as far as D-man on whatever day he shows up. A gifted skater that is filling out nicely. He has the same amount of points that the much hyped Dougie Hamilton had in the OHL in the same number of games and with 14 goals instead of 8. An absolute force on the powerplay but shows a great understanding on when to jump into the play and for a guy of his size has really outstanding explosion in his skating and is very fast. The defense has a ways to go, but any trade involving him I think we will regret big time. Likely will lead the OHL in D-man scoring this year when all is said and done. Also that big shot is right handed.
5.) Riley Sheahan - The offense is coming in nicely at the pro level. Great positionally and plays a very mature game. A big body that could stand to be a little more physical, but rarely if ever loses a board battle and is great at sheilding the puck and making plays. A sneaky good wrist shot and a special teams monster on both PP and in particular the PK so far. A player that can move up and down the lineup and reminds me a lot of Jarret Stoll. Pretty good on draws and skates boarderline elite for a guy his size.
The Wings have a lot of depth on the wing. So while it would pain me to see a Nyquist or Tatar leave, as long as they both don't go the same deal I will be okay with it. In fact somewhere in that protection process pretty high up for me is the 2013 first round pick don't want to see that go anywhere. I don't think it's panic time yet, but if a deal should come we should be attempting to ship wingers especially with Ferraro developing into a nice NHL winger option. It makes Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Frk, Pulkkinen and Jurco expendable in the right package. I protect the five players listed above before anyone else. I probably put the 2013 draft pick at 4 assuming we make the playoffs because it is a very deep draft, but wanted this more to be about the prospects we already own rights to. Thoughts?
My List:
1.) Calle Järnkrok - A future top 6 center, importantly a guy that shoots right and is an outstanding PP QB guy. We have needed a righthanded center for a little while now. Has improved on his faceoffs and all zone play from what I have seen this year. Still putting up impressive numbers on a team that is struggling while carrying an injury from what it appears as he has been held out of the last two EHTs over the course of the last couple of months.
2.) Petr Mrazek - I was flamed pretty hard for putting him in this kind of thread before his WJC performance. His place a year and change later is almost always in the top 5. The kid has an it factor and is enjoying an outstanding transition to the professional ranks. He has a star quality and could make things uncomfortable for Howard in the near future. He is a future number 1, could be the Czech's number 1 goalie in the 2018 Olympics, I think he will pass Pavelec.
3.) Xavier Ouellet - Almost already NHL ready. A coaches best friend, rarely makes mistakes and has great leadership qualities. I don't see him getting the kind of seasoning we are getting used to with prospects. A rock solid two way defenseman reminds me of Vlasic out in San Jose.
4.) Ryan Sproul - So many gifts. Has huge upside and is already realizing a lot of it on offense. Will have a top 10 shot in the NHL as far as D-man on whatever day he shows up. A gifted skater that is filling out nicely. He has the same amount of points that the much hyped Dougie Hamilton had in the OHL in the same number of games and with 14 goals instead of 8. An absolute force on the powerplay but shows a great understanding on when to jump into the play and for a guy of his size has really outstanding explosion in his skating and is very fast. The defense has a ways to go, but any trade involving him I think we will regret big time. Likely will lead the OHL in D-man scoring this year when all is said and done. Also that big shot is right handed.
5.) Riley Sheahan - The offense is coming in nicely at the pro level. Great positionally and plays a very mature game. A big body that could stand to be a little more physical, but rarely if ever loses a board battle and is great at sheilding the puck and making plays. A sneaky good wrist shot and a special teams monster on both PP and in particular the PK so far. A player that can move up and down the lineup and reminds me a lot of Jarret Stoll. Pretty good on draws and skates boarderline elite for a guy his size.
The Wings have a lot of depth on the wing. So while it would pain me to see a Nyquist or Tatar leave, as long as they both don't go the same deal I will be okay with it. In fact somewhere in that protection process pretty high up for me is the 2013 first round pick don't want to see that go anywhere. I don't think it's panic time yet, but if a deal should come we should be attempting to ship wingers especially with Ferraro developing into a nice NHL winger option. It makes Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Frk, Pulkkinen and Jurco expendable in the right package. I protect the five players listed above before anyone else. I probably put the 2013 draft pick at 4 assuming we make the playoffs because it is a very deep draft, but wanted this more to be about the prospects we already own rights to. Thoughts?
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