Both of these guys remind me of a young Ryan Smyth. Makes you wonder where Smytty might figure in the future.
LW could be Hall, Paajarvi, Hamilton and Hartikainen as early as next season. Though I think Hamilton will benefit greatly from 1 1/2-2 seasons in the AHL, just as Hartikainen will probably benefit from another season in OKC this coming season.
I think Smyth will be gone by the time Hamilton is in the NHL, and he'll definitely be gone by the time he's ready to make any sort of impact. Hartikainen is just fine as the #4LW as long as Smyth is here and out-performing him.
Both of these guys remind me of a young Ryan Smyth. Makes you wonder where Smytty might figure in the future.
LW could be Hall, Paajarvi, Hamilton and Hartikainen as early as next season. Though I think Hamilton will benefit greatly from 1 1/2-2 seasons in the AHL, just as Hartikainen will probably benefit from another season in OKC this coming season.
I'm not too worried about the future of Smyth. We will deal with it when that time comes. There is always the potential of Smyth going to RW or even retiring in a year or two.
I'll worry about Hamilton and Hartikainen's spots when they are dominating the AHL and proving they deserve to be in the NHL.
Hamilton, just because I think he is just as likely to turn into a 3rd/4th liner as Teemu is showing he can be, and more likely to be able to slot into a 2nd line type role.
Teemu is just a couple years ahead of Curtis in terms of development.
I really am a fan of Hartikainen, I just however think Hamilton has a higher ceiling.
Went Hamilton, because he's slightly younger and may still break out to legitimize top-6 potential. Hartikainen projects to be a bottom-6 grinding winger.
We will be skipping poll #7 after seeing what occured after the last tiebreaker where Lander dominated. Also with it being so close, it would seem people would choose Hamilton over the remaining prospects.
Goooo Teemu! Much more capable of reaching his ceiling. Moreau V2.0 my ass. Moreau took too many stupid penalties!
Moreau was actually a pretty useful player before injuries got the better of him and before he took on the captaincy.
But I think Hartikainen has the potential to be better than Moreau was even in the good years. He will be a guy that does it all for us. Hits, mucks it up, tough on the boards, down low, in front of the net, will chip in with some offense and could be relied upon in an agitator/checker role, or he could possibly even develop into a top six player.
I see Hamilton as a poor mans Bobby Ryan and Hartikainen as a rich mans Ethan Moreau. If both hit their potential I think Hamilton will be more successful but since Harti can do all the other things bottom sixers do, I think he's the most likely to play in the NHL.
I think Hamilton has a higher peak and even if he doesn't reach that peak has the right kind of game/physical abilities to carve out a career as a solid 3rd line hockey player.
Hartikainen I think as a peak player is that same 3rd line player.
