Can somebody give me a bit more insight into his upside? I've read some places that he's a stay-at-home guy but then others say he's got some offensive potential. And where does he rank for the 2011 draft?
Saw him live tonight. Had to pick my jaw up off the floor a few times. Very impressive total package on this kid. 6'4. Tough. Great skater. Good passer. Hard shot. He fought. Good offensive skills with 16 pts in 32 games this year as a 16 year old. The Oil Kings have a real good player on their hands.
Might be the best 16 year old in the WHL this year. Him and Ryan Murray are likely the top 2 in my mind.
Is he in anyway related to Max Reinhart? Cause if he is, I wouldn't overly be surprised to see Calgary try to get him. Big defenseman and we already have his brother?
Is he in anyway related to Max Reinhart? Cause if he is, I wouldn't overly be surprised to see Calgary try to get him. Big defenseman and we already have his brother?
He is already better then Mark Pysyk on his team. He is an absolute stud. He blows my mind with his calmness and smooth skating ability. He roams the ice freely but is never caught low in the offensive zone when the other team gets possession. His hockey sense is that good already. To watch a 16 year old have the smarts to know when to pinch and when not to is pretty special
Absolutely blown away by this kid when he played in Kelowna earlier in the year. Couldn't believe how young he is. No doubt that he will be a top 5 in '12. Rarely does a d-man this young play over 20 mins a game, PP and PK. Oil Kings pulled their goalie late in the game and he was the man running the show trying to tie the game up.
He is a mountain of a man/kid as well. At first glance you expect him to be a big awkward slug out there but wow, does he move well for a guy that big. Granted I only saw him play the one game, but was overblown by how good he is now and thinking about his potential. He will have to really struggle next year not to be a top 5 pick IMHO.
best dman on the ice when i last saw him play(vs rebels). funny thing is for how good his numbers is his defensive game is amazing. there were a few times nugent-hopkins came flying down on him and he just shut it right down lol he is absolutely huge. could be 6'5 225 when drafted
So far I have three LOCKS for the top 5 in the 2012 draft.
Ryan Murray
Nail Yakupov
Griffin Reinhart
My top 5 are Murray, Yakupov, Ebert, Reinhart, and Galchenyuk, though if you look a year and a half before last year's draft, you would see names like McFarland, Kabanov, etc.
Right now though, Yakupov is my front runner...could potentially put up 50 goals and 100 points this year as a 16 year old in the O, very impressive
Could really come down to preference because a guy like Ryan Murray is a tough guy to pass on right now
My top 5 are Murray, Yakupov, Ebert, Reinhart, and Galchenyuk, though if you look a year and a half before last year's draft, you would see names like McFarland, Kabanov, etc.
Right now though, Yakupov is my front runner...could potentially put up 50 goals and 100 points this year as a 16 year old in the O, very impressive
Could really come down to preference because a guy like Ryan Murray is a tough guy to pass on right now
Yakupov turned 17 about half a month into the season, still a really impressive rookie season. I'm just nitpicking a little bit .
Nick Ebert im going on here now, he is something special, I will say I think Ebert is better than Reinhart, Murray, Pouliot, Matheson and Reilly. To me Ebert is going to give Yakupov a run for 1st overall, offensive skills like Ebert have and good defensive play does not come around everyday this guy in my mind is just as good as Drew Doughty.
Nick Ebert im going on here now, he is something special, I will say I think Ebert is better than Reinhart, Murray, Pouliot, Matheson and Reilly. To me Ebert is going to give Yakupov a run for 1st overall, offensive skills like Ebert have and good defensive play does not come around everyday this guy in my mind is just as good as Drew Doughty.
I think Ebert is better than all of them, except for Murray. Ryan Murray has been every bit as impressive this year as Ebert and I think those 2 and Yakupov will make for a very interesting top 3 come draft time if they all continue to excel from now till then.
Ryan Murray will drop out of the top 5 come draft day. To me, he's just a guy that's older than most of the other guys and developed early. Others will catch up.
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