St. Louis Blues Top Prospect #6
 

Jake Allen takes the 5th spot with 73.33% of the vote

Top Prospects
#1 Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, 6'0, 191, 12/13/1991
#2 Jaden Schwartz, LW, 5'9, 179, 6/25/1992
#3 Ty Rattie, RW, 6'0, 167, 2/5/1993
#4 Ian Cole, D, 6'1, 225, 2/21/1989
#5 Jake Allen, G, 6'2, 195, 8/7/1990

Please both vote and comment on who you'd like to be added next. (Sergei Andronov is my thought)

Jani Hakanpaa

Hakanpaa for sure. Great size, calmness with the puck, and he was willing to cross the pond.

Gotta go with Fairchild. Dude had a great year in Peoria and didn't look out of place in his short call-up. I'm high on Hakanpaa too, but I'm going with the guy who's proven that he can compete in the NA game.

I went with Schmaltz here...... great offensive upside could be an extremely strong PMD... Good size as well.

Got to go with Schmaltz and his first round potential. McRae and Fairchild may see NHL time this year and Hakanpaa has the size but I have seen very little of his play.

Have to go with Fairchild here. He's been consistently underrated for years now. At worst, I think he'll develop into a Russell impact type of player. I like Hakanpaa's potential but Fairchild is the much safer bet IMO.

Hakanpaa. Has the size, and possibly a top 4 shutdown Defender , and is willing to come to North America.

Finally things will start to get interesting.

Hakanpaa. Rationale: Hakanpaa has Erik Johnson's physicality and will absolutely be a top four defenseman if he conquers just a tad more on his skating. I really think this is one of those boom/busts that's gonna boom. Very excited about this kid.

Why not Fairchild or Schmaltz, who should also get consideration? Fairchild strikes me as a Russell type. Smallish, puck-moving offensive D. PP specialist maybe. That's not bad, Russell is a decent defender. I like Fairchild. But Hakanpaa's ceiling is higher even if Fairchild is closer to being ready. As for Schmaltz, when your two big knocks are that you need to improve in your own end and you're not physical at all, you're a ways away from the show. Let's see how he does at North Dakota first. He's 3-4 years away. He's got the smarts and the offensive instincts. Still a bigger project than either Hakanpaa or Fairchild.

And this is the point in the polls at which I can't vote. The player that I'd vote for at this point is Allen, but he was overwhelmingly voted as the #5 prospect and subsequently he is not on this poll.

Schade.:(

I went with Fairchild because he's a safe bet to be a good player. Like Russell as many have pointed out. I haven't seen Jani play, so it's hard for me to vote off what I've read. I am very encouraged that he crossed the pond though.

Hakenpaa hasn't crossed the pond just yet. The Blues signed him to a contract to retain his rights but he's still playing this next season in Finland.

I understand the point you're trying to make, and the statistical limitations to running the poll this way. But you have to acknowledge that its not hard to understand the intent is for you to vote for the best remaining player. Whoever you voted for at #5 is still available if Allen would be your choice for #6.

Don't we have this complaint every year? Its just a fun exercise to generate some discussion and anticipation. Do we have to revisit the statistics lessons again?

I prefer to just enjoy all the player assessments and speculation about how great they'll look in a Bluenote.

Yeah, I know. I'm just being fussy. I suppose I could play along.

Surprised Schmaltz is ahead of Fairchild

First round pick with a ton of offensive talent compared to someone who will probably be similar to Russell.

IMO, it's Schmaltz, Hakanpaa, and Fairchild for the next 3. I'm tempted to make Edmundson my pick after those, but McRae and Kurker are also in the mix for me.

At this point, there's a lot of guessing and gambling. Haakenpaa has the body and game to be an effective player, especially in his own end. He needs to improve his skating and add some offence to his game. But, I had to go with Schmaltz, despite his being so far away and needing a lot to go right, because his offensive sense is so great, and, although he is not a physical player now, he has that potential, with his big body. I'm gambling that he'll fulfill a good portion of his high topside potential.

I'd have to have a whole lot more confidence in the opinions of the random fans who are voting before I'd care about the statistical method that much. :) Most of us are just a bunch of jackasses who really love the Blues, with a handful of guys who actually know what they're talking about (or have seen most of these guys play more than 30 seconds on Youtube).

Agreed. Coming from a hard science background I apply the scientific method even in my current social science context, but don't take it too seriously in everyday life.

It annoys the heck out of me when some stranger I meet wants to prove their handle on methodology. I was just being a snarky whiny baby who temporarily became one of those annoying people who I just described.:p:

I will add, however, that the standards and level of quality of the commentary on this board are higher, imo, than other boards.

Schmaltz - First round pick, top two ceiling

Hakanpaa - later round pick, #5-6 ceiling.

I think you are seriously underrating Hakanpaa's potential - he could perhaps be a 2nd pairing (#3-4) defenseman. While the likelihood of him reaching his potential isn't great, the potential is quite high.

I think people are over playing the first round pick thing with Schmaltz as I feel like he was a decent reach there.

lolwut – is that how it's done? Your ceiling is determined by your draft position at age 18, eh?

Hakanpaa's ceiling is not 5-6. And even if it were, it's not because of where he was drafted when he was 18. Hakanpaa could turn into anything, even a top pairing defenseman. He's got the physicality and can play tons of minutes. He's getting better and better in the offensive zone. Schmaltz is a lesser Shattenkirk, one who doesn't play good D or is physical at all. Hakanpaa is definitely closer to being a top pairing defenseman right now.

does anyone else love the fact that we are debating as to who is our 4-6th best prospect and we have 4-5 diff defensemen we could choose from who can be nhl ready in 2-4 years (cole, fairchild, hakanpaa, schmaltz, edmunson)

thank you scouts and DA!!