Malone vs. Heard
 

After seeing the Pickard vs. Aittokallio thread, it inspired me to create another poll between a couple of our prospects. So moving forward who would you rather have on the Avs if you had to pick one, Brad Malone or Mitchell Heard?

I think Malone will be the better all around player. His offensive game will translate better than Heard's IMO.

Heard's a better follow on twitter.

malone for sure, heard got a lot of heart, but i dont see much else

Well, we're also comparing a 23 year old role player to a 20 year old role player. You learn a lot about the small details of playing that role, and also how to contribute offensively when you're not uber talented in those three years.

I don't think this is really a fair comparison all things considered. Malone is the more polished player right now and he's a safer bet right now, but IMHO Heard could be just as good if not better when he gets the pro experiance Malone already has.

Lets just hope we found two great bottom six players in them. Oh and lets not forget Nermark, sure his offensive game leaves a lot to be desired, but his defensive game is simply outstanding.

I see Heard in the Yelle mold, anchoring our 4th line (and hopefully sticking around for a little while) while I see Malone being more of a 3rd/4th line grinder that could step into the top 6 during injuries.

Maybe I'm a bit optimistic for Malone, but with McGinn/Downie on the roster (and to a lesser extent Landeskog) I think he has the right core of wingers to mold his game after once he makes it to the NHL. Those guys could very easily help Malone develop into his potential.

I'll always be bitter that we used a 2nd round pick to draft Heard.

Malone is probably NHL ready or close to it. Good size, a great motor and solid enough defensively.

Heard just turned pro and needs more time. I do like that he plays with a bit of sandpaper and is a scrappy guy.

What if he turns into O'Reilly 2.0?

as others have said, you are comparing a much more polished player with one who is currently used in a bottom 6 role at the AHL level. If Heard had the opportunities that Malone had his first season (when he was 22), we may have seen more out of Heard so far. Right now he is a spark plug/ pest working on his pro game while guys like Malone and company are seeing regular minutes and PP time. Love to think Malone could be someone who produces offensively along the lines of McGinn and Downie but I just don't see it. But anything can happen as guys like Foligno (Buffalo) have shown. Overall potential should lean slightly in Heard's favor as it currently stands.

i know , but he seems like he's got alot of work to hopefully be a role player , i would wager it takes 3 or 4 years before we see him play at a guy like malone's level. malone was similar in his ahl outings last year from what i can remember. and wasnt too bad when he played in his nhl games either from 2 years ago. i'm just taking a wild guess but if we have heard play 9 games next year he won't look near as ready as malone did to me.