Holy crap we have a lot of prospects that could be legit NHLers. I went with Guptill. Don't know much about Bystrom, but from the sound of it he is my vote for 13.
Went Molin based on a relatively early jump to the SEL, raw talent, and blood lines.
I love the fact that Molin has already got to understand first hand what it takes to win a championship in a Pro league. Also doesn't hurt having learned from a pro since the first time he put skates on. Based on the number second generation talents we see who either earn their way to the NHL or other very high levels of hockey, I'd say it's relatively easy to assess how strong of an impact former Pro players have had on their sons' hockey upbringing.
By all accounts (that I've read here) the skills are in place, so he's my vote for the 12 spot.
I keep looking at this list and wondering when Austin Smith will get picked. I haven't picked him yet and I understand why he's this low, but I'm surprised no one is excited enough to pick him at this point. I'm not sure what else he could have done to garner more hype, just wanted to get some thoughts from everyone as to why you think he isn't going higher on this list.
I'm not sure what else he could have done to garner more hype
Aside from being three years younger, nothing.
A lot of prospects are criminally low... but if they weren't, there would be even better prospects in the bottom half.
I think he belongs in the same tier as Ritchie, Guptill, Stransky and Molin. Unfortunately he's older and not as "prospecty" as the other four, so it's no surprise that they're all on their way before him. Glennie is another story though. I can't believe he got into the top 10. We might as well vote Angelo Esposito in next.
Last edited by hairylikebear: 08-02-2012 at 12:00 AM.
Reason: forgot guppy
Can I ask why? Don't know a whole hell of a lot about him.
John Klingberg is an average sized, right shot D with a slight frame. More importantly he's the coveted 5th round prospect (drafted in 2010). He's one of Dallas' recent draft picks out of the seldom scouted J18 leagues in Sweden. Emil Molin also spent the majority of his draft year in that league.
He's an offensive D who is willing to throw hits, but his light body doesn't offer much resistance. Many people have described him as a 4th forward, and his defense leaves quite a bit to be desired. He was a surprised addition to the 2010/11 Swedish WJC team, and he made the team again the following year. In both tournaments, better offensive options were available on the blueline, and his defensive deficiencies meant he had a short leash. He just didn't earn the trust of the coaches which translated to limited ice time.
After surprisingly playing 26 games with Frolunda in the SEL the year after Dallas drafted him, Klingberg made the decision to leave Sweden for the 2011-12 season to take his chances with Jokerit in the top Finnish league. It ultimately proved to be a major mistake. Home sickness and a slow start saw his ice time limited and him even being dropped to playing in the junior league in Finland a bit. Both the team and Klingberg admitted the mistake, and Klingberg was loaned to the Swedish team Skellefteå to finish the season. Despite limited production, he gained valuable experience in a long playoff run. His team ultimately lost in the finals to Brynas (Emil Molin's team).
In the playoffs, Klingberg suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss a few games, but after the season he required surgery in Dallas for a hip injury. The recovery will keep him off the ice until around November. Because of a wasted half season in Finland last year with a wasted half season to injury this season, I'd actually expect Klingberg's arrival in NA to be delayed until 2014-15 in hopes that he can play a full, healthy season in Sweden in 2013-14.
Plus, I think you can tentatively pencil in Jordie Benn, Jyrki Jokipakka, Hubert Labrie, Jamie Oleksiak, and Troy Vance down in Austin for 2013-14. Since Dallas likes a veteran or two playing with their young D, I could see Sloan, Fortunus, or a new veteran joining Benn as veteran leaders on the blue line to fill out the roster. That would then set up nicely for Klingberg and Ludwig Bystrom to make the jump to the AHL together in 2014-15.
Klingberg's upside right now seems to be a PP specialist that could play 3rd pair minutes at ES. His best assets are his offensive vision and skating. The thing that could prevent him for ever playing in the NHL is his poor decision making in the defensive zone.
I keep looking at this list and wondering when Austin Smith will get picked. I haven't picked him yet and I understand why he's this low, but I'm surprised no one is excited enough to pick him at this point. I'm not sure what else he could have done to garner more hype, just wanted to get some thoughts from everyone as to why you think he isn't going higher on this list.
You can lump me in with the Hobey Baker voters that were concerned about his level of competition in the ECAC. His goal totals were impressive, but he's just not facing the quality competition like the WCHA, CCHA, or Hockey East provides.
For me it's very much let's wait and see what he does in the AHL. Guys like Alex Chiasson (Hockey East), Reilly Smith (CCHA), and Alex Guptill (CCHA) were dominating power house hockey conferences. Their smaller offensive totals are much more impressive based on their conferences IMO. In football terms, the ECAC is sort of like Conference USA or Mountain West.
Fair enough, all of these things are out of his control unfortunately. Your explanation makes sense but I think putting up near historical numbers should be an eyebrow raiser. Guess we'll see what he's made of at training camp and in the AHL.
Fair enough, all of these things are out of his control unfortunately. Your explanation makes sense but I think putting up near historical numbers should be an eyebrow raiser. Guess we'll see what he's made of at training camp and in the AHL.
What he did was impressive. I respect the stats, but you're not talking historical numbers. 36 goals as 23 year old in the ECAC just doesn't impress me nearly as much as what younger Dallas NCAA prospects are doing. Plus, I'm always a bit skeptical of the senior NCAA phenom. I get that he was injured as a junior, but he wasn't a great goal scorer as a freshman or sophomore either. He was able to rack up assists and points as an underclassmen, but he has only one season of big time goal scoring.
I just think his age and conference make me want to see him in the pro game before I put him in the same league as the guys we're talking about right now like Guptill, Ritchie, Stranksy, and Molin.
EDIT: To be 100% upfront I should say I think I saw him play twice ... maybe three times in 4 years. I saw Guptill play more in one season, and I watched a ton of Miami and BU games. The ECAC just doesn't get coverage. I actually wasted time watching more Nico Sacchetti games than Austin Smith ... .
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