As I said, if you want to gauge the quality of future talent in an organization, you take into consideration players that are just beginning their NHL careers (with age/contract status in mind). You can call guys like Gardiner (Nugent-Hopkins, Couturier, Cowen, Kruger, Schenn, etc.) whatever you want, but they're each deemed a 'prospect' in the true definition of the word.
Gardiner has not peeked and is still younger than 95% of the NHL.
Call them Prospects if you like, doesn't mean they are.
1. Jake Gardiner 2. Nazem Kadri 3. Joe Colborne 4. Carter Ashton 5. Matt Frattin 6. Jesse Blacker 7. Tyler Biggs 8. Joshua Leivo 9. Brad Ross 10. Stuart Percy 11. Korbinian Holzer 12. Nicolas Deschamps 13. Mark Owuya 14. Jerry D'Amigo 15. Greg McKegg 16. Ben Scrivens 17. Marcel Mueller 18. Tom Nilsson 19. Garret Sparks 20. Sondre Olden 21. Josh Nicholls 22. Jussi Rynnas 23. Tony Cameranesi 24. Daniel Brodin 25. Juraj Mikus
Why do you have Leivo so high but Holzer so low? Holzer is close to making the NHL right now, Leivo is still in the OHL and is still pretty raw. I watch him every week and he's not THAT good.
Why do you have Leivo so high but Holzer so low? Holzer is close to making the NHL right now, Leivo is still in the OHL and is still pretty raw. I watch him every week and he's not THAT good.
Holzer is 24 years old.
Leivo is 18 years old.
Holzer isn't ranked "low", I have him at 11th (3 spots lower than Leivo).
I feel that Holzer's upside is limited but he fills a necessary role very effectively.
I am high on Leivo's combination of size and skill. I share David Morrison and the scouts' optimism in this prospect.
According to Hockeysfuture.com, yes. According to the true definition of 'prospect', no.
To gauge the true quality of organizational depth, you can't punish them for having top notch talent that contribute at the NHL level before most in their age group. Gardiner is still 21 years old and on a two-way contract.
Guys at that age on their entry level contracts are deemed 'prospects' in my books.
Whether they've played 50 games in the NHL this season or 50 games in the AHL.
My take was always that "prospect" was short for "prospective NHLer" (or NFLer, major leaguer, whatever). At this point Gardiner is an NHL player.
My take was always that "prospect" was short for "prospective NHLer" (or NFLer, major leaguer, whatever). At this point Gardiner is an NHL player.
I think you've got to look at it in terms of when a full season is played.
How can you call Gardiner an NHL player when he was sent down less than 2 months ago? Would you have called Kadri an NHLer at the end of last season? Is he a prospect now again?
A player is still a prospect until they've played a "full" (60+ game) season.
For example, Kadri is still a prospect, he's played parts of nhl seasons but not a full one yet. He will still be a prospect next season
Gardiner is still a prospect, he has yet to play a full NHL season, but won't be a prospect after this season is over.
Tyler Seguin is not a prospect, he's played a full NHL season last year, and is now in his second full season.
We needed a natural RW prospect badly. After Frattin and Nicholls to a certain degree, it was pretty bare. Biggs is also a great RW prospect but he's a few years away.
I found it interesting that when I checked the 2009 North American final draft rankings, Ashton was actually ranked ahead of Kadri.
A quick Youtube tour shows him holding his own in a scrap against Gudbranson, winning a couple of others and scoring a beautiful goal against Russia in the WJC final.
I think we're looking at something like this:
Colborne
Kadri
Ashton
Frattin
(Gardiner is not a prospect at this point. But if you're including him, he's #1)
Sorry guys, I just don't see Kadri as higher than any of those guys. One on one, and either of those guys would kill Kadri. Just because Kadri has a few nice dangles doesnt mean he is complete. Physically, not even close to those guys. Not a power forward, what is he?
How do you over-rate a prospect? No one is calling him a future Cam Neely or anything?
Saw this in another thread, not sure who the reviewer is but
Quote:
15. Carter Ashton – Saskatoon, SK – 6’4″ – 212 lbs – WHL – Lethbridge – RW
One-Timer: The son of former NHLer, Brent Ashton, who played 2 games shy of 1000 in the NHL, Carter has the “hockey gene” embedded. To go with that, he has a great physical frame (6’4”-ish, 210 lbs-ish) with which to build on. The budding 2-way power forward out of the “Dub” has seen his stock rocket as this season went on. The physical forward doesn’t shy away from the rough stuff and established himself as a 30-goal scorer this year. He also skates well and has smooth “hockey hands”. He has great character and quite versatile as well. As noted below he was the VO-2 Max “Champ” highlighting his super endurance level. Although some current draft eligible prospects are at a higher level right now, this ranking is based on the immense potential Ashton possesses. For the same reason, against many ”expert” rankings, I have Ashton ahead of Kassian for the top ranked true power forward. NHL Player(s) Comparison: Mike Knuble, Ryan Malone, Kevin Stevens, Cam Neely
Scouting Combine Performance:
• Gare Joyce reported: “The best VO 2 max numbers were posted by Lethbridge’s Carter Ashton, the only prospect to last the 17-minute duration.”
International Tournaments: Ashton registered 3 points in 4 games for Canada at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in Canada’s gold medal win. He also notched 1 goal and added 5 assists in 6 games for Team West at the 2008 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
ETA = 2 to 3 years
Risk-Reward Analysis: Risk = 2.5/5 Reward = 4.5/5
NHL Potential: 1st or 2nd line goal-scoring power forward
Fantasy Hockey Potential: Offensive = 8.5/10 Defensive = 8/10
