Top 5 draft prospects (fantasy value)

[Duncan]

fire sale only to pick up players who have no potential to get any better lols... better yet, lemme pick up pisani and joel ward

[tiger]

what's wrong with Joel Ward???

[joel]

he stole my name...

[tiger]

I like Hamilton's situation too. Not that he's going to make the team right away, but you have Chara who's also a 'big man' defenseman, who can teach Hamilton how to take advantage of reach, body positioning, size, etc. Plus he's going to come up with a few other good prospects.

I think you can't really miss with the guys on that list. Murphy is probably the riskiest, but has great offensive potential which is attractive in a hockey pool.

Here's my list of pro and cons with each player

1. RNH:
pro's: highly skilled and has filled out a little more. Good team situation.
con's: chance that he might get rushed and get owned/injured in the NHL which could affect his confidence. ie. Brule.
2. Landeskog:
pro's: Physically mature. Could step in the NHL right away.
con's: Strong play could be because of playing against smaller players.
3. Huberdeau
pro's: potential captain material. stepped it up in the playoffs and showed that he has another gear.
con's: I don't believe Tallon is good as his resume, so I think somehow they'll find a way to mess this kid up. Needs to fill out a bit more too.
4. Larsson:
pro's: very good all around game. playing for NJ who has few prospects.
con's: playing for NJ who has few prospects.
5. Strome:
pro's: I like his 1 on 1 skill. Very creative.
con's: May only get to be #2 center on the Isles.
6. Zibanejad:
pro's: Good size and skill. Not afraid of contact. Playing for Ottawa who has few prospects
con's: Playing for Ottawa who has few prospects.
7. Couturier
pro's: Great potential. Great situation landing in Philly.
con's: Was the concensus #1 pick going into last season. Dropped b/c he did not improve much. Beware of Daigle-effect. Believing all the hype about himself and getting lazy/feeling entitled. Cleary was the same. (at 16, was projected to be future #1 overall).
8. Murphy:
pro's: Good offensive upside.
con's: lack size and could be defensive liability
9: Hamilton:
pro's: Great all around game. Good situation and can be mentored by Chara.
con's: offensive upside could be limited, so may not be a great fantasy pick.

[joel]

[tiger]

Looking forward to the 2012 NHL entry draft. Yakupov and Forsberg are ranked 1 and 2 by Craig Button. Both are wingers (Nail - RW, Filip - LW).

For our hockey pool draft, that could influence how certain GMs pick, especially those that have higher picks this year and probably next. If a more elite player in the same position is available next year, why take a player with lower potential based on position? It would make more sense to take the best player available (in your opinion) in the strongest position for that draft year, especially if the following year looks to be a bit weaker or less depth.

[joel]

How many GMs in our hockey pool look beyond the current year though. Info is pretty thin on future years for most the newstand mags, etc. Unless they are tracking players year long most GMs in our pool just don't have that info at hand. In fact, a handful already have limited info on this draft class (10 names at most maybe).

As for both yaks and fors, it's still a season away and lots can happen in a season. there are so many cases of prospects falling in rankings, and other coming out from nowhere. Just check where Huberdeau or Zibs was listed in the rankings this time last year... Bob Mack's list from last Sept.
http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=29823

[joel]

[tiger]

Normally I would take that into account, but because CSS and NHL teams both downgraded his rating, I'd be a bit concerned. The fact that Winnipeg chose Scheifele instead of him raises questions. Either Winnipeg is going to be another Florida (with poor drafting), or their scouts have seen something that they don't like. Ottawa passed too. Strome was ranked lower than Couturier. All centers. Since other players have had significant development, there could be concerns that he developed early or benefitted by an early growth spurt which allowed him to dominate last year, but not this year when other players caught up in size/weight. It could mean his development curve has flattened while others look to still look more exponential.

Do I think he's going to be a bad player? No. But there's more to his drop. Is Philly fortunate to get him? Absolutely. He's still a great prospect with loads of potential. Don't know if his agent or whoever had whispered for him to play well, but just don't get injured, so that could have affected his numbers. Could have been nursing an injury. Dunno. Maybe, maybe not.

Since I'm picking so low, I haven't looked that closely at him. If he dropped to me, would I consider picking him up? For sure! But if there are other guys that have dropped, then I'll probably need a full minute to decide.

My head will explode if I had to choose between Strome, Z-bad, Couturier, and Hamilton. So Dunc is in for a lot of tossing and turning the night before as he tries to figure out which 2 of the 9 to choose from.

That's why sometimes it's nice to pick late b/c there's no real pressure to pick a sure-fire blue chip NHLer. Just whoever drops to me. Lottery picks usually have the expectation of becoming a superstar, so you'll hold on to them for years hoping that they'd reach their potential. Then they turn out to be a David Legwand only.

[Duncan]

i already told you guys, i'm picking Jagr and MacArthur... Maybe i'll tell Elle i'm picking Jagr with one of my picks to make her worry and pick him 1st overall lol

[Duncan]

So based on replies on this thread,

Joel picks: Landeskog and Strome
Dave picks: Landeskog and Larsson
Tyson picks: Landeskog and Huberdeau

Heh, seems like everyone likes Landeskog... i still don't know who i'm picking. I think it'll be a game time decision. Maybe i should tell Elle i'm picking Jagr with one of my picks so she takes him 1st overall lol...

[joel]

Maybe check on how each are doing in their respective rookie tourneys... let that help you decide.

[Duncan]

i don't think the avs/flyers have started any rookie tourney yet... didn't get much info from there... sucks...

[tiger]

I don't think you'll miss with any of those guys.

Landeskog is probably the closest to making the NHL. First, he's physically mature so he doesn't need to fill out a lot more to not be pushed around in the NHL. Second, the Avs don't have much depth on wing, so if Hejduk retires at the end of the year, he's probably penciled in already. But because he is already physically mature, it's hard to say what his potential actually is. The question will be whether you think he blossomed early, or still has a higher ceiling.

With that said, RNH has beefed up a bit more. I didn't like him as much at the start of last year, but he grew a bit and has bulked up. I think the Oilers made the correct choice.

Huberdeau: my type of player. Clutch and captain material.

Larsson: If he's anything close to what they are saying his potential is, then he's worth it.

Strome: See a lot of creativity. Plus Isles have a lot of very good prospects both on forward and d. Could be a very strong team in a few more years. Could potentially be moved to wing, depending on who he has chemistry with.


More stuff on 2012: There's quite a few potential top end d-men available next year.

[Duncan]

i think 2012 is going to be the year for wingers and dmen... normally the draft is dominated by centres but next year looks like a good year to load up on the d and wing... that being said, i don't know if i'd pass up on landeskog just for the sole reason that there are more wingers next year... we have 4 playing spots for wingers whereas we there are 2 for centres.

Heck, i still dunno who to pick... i've again changed my mind today from yesterday