Who will the Avs actually take at #2?

[tucker3434]

Hm, good to know that avsboy has been a Landeskog hater since day 1.

 

[Celery Man]

For me, I always scout based on highest talented player. I haven't read my posts in this thread, but I believe I wanted Huberdeau knowing the Avs will select Landeskog. Going back I still think Huberdeau is more talented than Landeskog, but Gabriel's game fits the NHL better. And also remember, Huberdeau was coming off one of the best performances we will ever see in the Memorial Cup, it was even better than MacKinnon's. Even though he only scored 7 points in 4 games, I remember how dominant he was with the puck and every one of his points was absolutely clutch.

Something about Larsson's personality never struck with me, never saw that desire to get better.

What a lot of people don't understand, and as someone who follows the Devils extensively, this is not a case of Larsson not being good enough to make it in the NHL. It's a matter of two young D-men EXPLODING WAAAAAY ABOVE the potential originally expected from them. Damon Severson and Eric Gelinas are two of the best young defenders in the game today. Eric Gelinas is a PP specialist on the same level as any other defenseman in the league today. While Severson has grown quickly into a great transitional D-man and makes very little mistakes while he also has a shocking offensive upside that was not originally expected to transfer all that well to the NHL plus they have some great veterans that they cant move out yet. So honestly, while sure the 21 year old Larsson hasn't exactly taken the NHL by storm yet. I don't see any reason for concern yet. He's still got all that potential and if Jersey trades him before seeing him all the way through, the team that gets him is going to be VERY happy.

 

[Bender]

What a lot of people don't understand, and as someone who follows the Devils extensively, this is not a case of Larsson not being good enough to make it in the NHL. It's a matter of two young D-men EXPLODING WAAAAAY ABOVE the potential originally expected from them. Damon Severson and Eric Gelinas are two of the best young defenders in the game today. Eric Gelinas is a PP specialist on the same level as any other defenseman in the league today. While Severson has grown quickly into a great transitional D-man and makes very little mistakes while he also has a shocking offensive upside that was not originally expected to transfer all that well to the NHL plus they have some great veterans that they cant move out yet. So honestly, while sure the 21 year old Larsson hasn't exactly taken the NHL by storm yet. I don't see any reason for concern yet. He's still got all that potential and if Jersey trades him before seeing him all the way through, the team that gets him is going to be VERY happy.

I would guess that John Merrill also EXPLODED and past him on the depth chart. That's three. Lots of exploding going on in Jersey.

Great for you if you're not concerned and it's true that he may still one day become a top-4 guy but his development so far or lackthereof isn't really tracking that way and I think Devil fans would be extremely disappointed with the return should he be traded before he shows more at the NHL level.

This isn't the first time other prospects pass a highly promising player on the depth chart. Happens all the time. Here in Colorado, Tyson Barrie flew by Stefan Elliott and established himself as a top-4 guy. However, to blame Barrie because of Elliott's failure to step up and grab a roster spot is wrong and I don't think it's right in your case either. Call a spade a spade and say he hasn't been good enough. Could he be in the future? Maybe...maybe not. Daniel Briere was put on waivers by the Coyotes and pass straight through with no one picking him up before establishing himself as a solid NHLer and then becoming a star in Buffalo when traded for Chris Gratton.

Larsson could still end up being an important part of some team but he's headed more towards where Briere was at this point in his career then trending towards being a top-4 guy with the Devils.