An interesting read, and, looking over the list, I'm quite impressed at how strong our system is, given that we've been a dominant team for so long, we've been picking high, and have traded some other capable prospects (Gleason, Klepis, Laich, etc.) to help us contend, yet, we have a system that's feeding us capable NHL talent on a perpetual basis. Having a few internal options for our bottom defensive pairings, as well as having Emery in the back-up role is a huge asset. Plus, we have enough strong forward prospects to really add youth to our line-up, without sacrificing talent levels.
I still say that strong drafting will be one of the big difference makers in the new NHL, and, I'm quite impressed with our record in the post-Jarmo Kekailenan years. I was worried when he left, thinking that our great scouting record would go with him, but, those fears are now gone. It really reflects well on our management team to have a period of 10 years of great drafting.
My only guess is that Ottawa has a very good scouting "system", which allows us to evaluate players better than most other teams. Good scouts are important, but I think its the system that allows us to do so well, not an individual scout.
Those ratings are really tough to come up with I find. What I basically used to decide that is comparing him to the rest of the Senators prospects. In my opinion, his upside may be a bit higher than Meszaros' for example, but he has more developing to do, hence the C. At the end of the day, that rating means a lot more compared to other Sens prospects than prospects from around the league.
Those ratings are really tough to come up with I find. What I basically used to decide that is comparing him to the rest of the Senators prospects. In my opinion, his upside may be a bit higher than Meszaros' for example, but he has more developing to do, hence the C. At the end of the day, that rating means a lot more compared to other Sens prospects than prospects from around the league.
This explains a lot. IMO, I thought Ottawa's prospects are rated a little too high on HF. I would rate Brian Lee a 7.5C personally.
Thanks for the great read Hossa. I can't disagree with much. I also feel sorry for you having to assign numbers and letter grades to these guys. It's like HF wants editors to get attacked - those grades are way too specific for something as uncertain as prospect development.
I do find Platil too high. I think that his complete lack of puck skills in the AHL points to a guy not being able to make it.
I still can't wrap my head around Schubert. Every time I've seen him, he's been awful. I do hope I'm wrong.
I'm really glad to see Mirnov getting a good write up. I swear that guy is the most underrated prospect around.
Quietly, the Sens have really accumulated a lot of interesting guys and so I can understand some ommissions.
What about some of the following players?
-Luttinen: He has established himself in Finland. Is he at least a reasonable prospect as a depth guy?
-McKenzie: Pretty good numbers for a college rook. Any chance he could be some version of a PF?
-Megalinsky: I'm sure one of the Sens management mentioned he was a year from the AHL. Possible 5-6th guy?
Thanks for the great read Hossa. I can't disagree with much. I also feel sorry for you having to assign numbers and letter grades to these guys. It's like HF wants editors to get attacked - those grades are way too specific for something as uncertain as prospect development.
I do find Platil too high. I think that his complete lack of puck skills in the AHL points to a guy not being able to make it.
I still can't wrap my head around Schubert. Every time I've seen him, he's been awful. I do hope I'm wrong.
I'm really glad to see Mirnov getting a good write up. I swear that guy is the most underrated prospect around.
Quietly, the Sens have really accumulated a lot of interesting guys and so I can understand some ommissions.
What about some of the following players?
-Luttinen: He has established himself in Finland. Is he at least a reasonable prospect as a depth guy?
-McKenzie: Pretty good numbers for a college rook. Any chance he could be some version of a PF?
-Megalinsky: I'm sure one of the Sens management mentioned he was a year from the AHL. Possible 5-6th guy?
-Regin: Do we have any sort of read on this guy?
Thanks much.
Thanks for the feedback Alfie.
With respect to the four guys you mentioned, Luttinen is defenitely the type of guy who could come over and play on our fourth line for a little while. He's already 22, so he's not a kid anymore. He's short but stocky, and plays hard. Another solid and productive season and he could come over and try to carve out a checking-line career in the NHL.
McKenzie is coming off a strong season. Considering he was 20 last year and had played a few years in the USHL, I'm not that surprised he made a smooth adjustment. Even then, he played his best at the end of the year, even spending time on the top line with two seniors, one being Thrashers prospect Jim Slater. I don't think he's the answer to our power forward dreams yet, but a strong sophomore season and he'll start to gain more notice.
You're right in suggesting Megalinsky is not far away from coming over and competing at the AHL level. He has very limited Super League experience though, and isn't playing there so far this year. As an aside, it's encouraging to see Lyamin, Gimayev, Nikulin, Anikienko and Zubov all playing in the Super League this year. That Megalinsky isn't in the Super League may in fact make it very easy for the Senators to get him to commit to playing in the AHL, but it also means it's less of a lateral move in terms of the quality of play.
Peter Regin is a tough guy to get a read on. It really is too bad he didn't come over to play with St. Mikes this year, but he certainly had a great season in Denmark anyways, being one of the league's top scorers. What he does when he leaves Denmark will determine his status. It appears he'll play in Sweden, with Timra IK. That's a team that lost, among others, Henrik Zetterberg and Fredrik Modin, so he has a chance to play a key role on that team. It'll be interesting to see how he does against tougher competition.
Sean, I do not envy your task. IMHO you provide the best coverage on the Sens prospects and I think I speak for everyone on this board in saying THANK YOU for providing coverage that you just can't get anywhere else!
The actual ratings being relative to other Sens prospects clears things up for me. In retrospect it seems ridiculous to think that the mods would be able to sit down and grade thousands of prospects relative to each other...unless your business is in pro scouting!
I would be interested in knowing if you have ever had the opportunity to discuss the prospects and/or get any input from Sens management or scouting staff or whether you handle all the research on your own?
Sean, I do not envy your task. IMHO you provide the best coverage on the Sens prospects and I think I speak for everyone on this board in saying THANK YOU for providing coverage that you just can't get anywhere else!
The actual ratings being relative to other Sens prospects clears things up for me. In retrospect it seems ridiculous to think that the mods would be able to sit down and grade thousands of prospects relative to each other...unless your business is in pro scouting!
I would be interested in knowing if you have ever had the opportunity to discuss the prospects and/or get any input from Sens management or scouting staff or whether you handle all the research on your own?
Thanks again for the high praise. I don't know if I fully deserve it, but I'll take it.
With respect to the ratings, they are intended to be more than simply a way to compare prospects of a certain team. If Player A on Team A is a 9.0C, then Player B on Team B should be the same as that player to get that rating. The problem is that some people get too focussed on the numbers, and these little ratings become blown out of proportion. Therefore, in my opinion, they're really only particularly useful when compared against prospects from the same organiation. It's all a work in progress though.
As to whether or not I have ever discussed anything with the Senators organization or its scouting staff, the answer is unfortunately no. While a good number of my fellow staff members (such as the incomparable Guy Flaming for example) have half the NHL's executives on their speed dial, I don't. The reason for that is pretty simple really...I don't live in Ottawa most of the year. I attend university in Atlantic Canada, so I'm at a disadvantage. That is not to say I go simply on my own research though. That is why HF's big staff is so useful. I know I can't see the NCAA players live, or the Russian guys of course, but others can. The Senators throw me a nice curveball by taking players from just about every European country aside from Luxembourg though, so it can be tough.
