Anytime someone suggests that a 7th round pick is looking comfortable playing with 1st rounders, it becomes inevitable.
Haha, that's true. Playing comfortable with first rounders is still not hyping him up to have exponential potential. Only one person made a projection about him in the future. Only people that are disagreeing are those that haven't watched him.
Sweden really don't seem to want to use the point when in the offensive zone in this game... winger cycles the puck along the boards and waits for someone to get in front of the net.
I like the way he plays - head up and makes nice passes. Good along the offensive blueline. Anyone else see a similar style to (good) Kuba? In general terms of style - not saying he's as good as Kuba. He might have a bit better hands for short area moves than Kuba but I see a similar style.
Also, anyone know who #27 is for Sweden? Is that Sandberg? Some slick hands on him.
He did the same move as his last shootout except this time it didnt work.
Also: all three Swedish shooters went mid-stick-side against the Swiss goalie. They must think that's where his weakness is. He went 2-for-3 though, not too bad when every shooter is trying to pick apart the hole in your game.
You wouldnt say this if the kid had been a first rounder. I just dont buy in to the thinking that the kid has to work his way up from the basement, just because we've spent more time watching the other prospects. I'm watching this kid aptly handle himself among the best in his class. Hes playing like a first round calibre player (small sample) so im willing to ignore his draft position and compare him to our other first round calibre prospects. Others are watching the same thing and either disagree with my assesment of his play or more likely are just afraid to trust their eyes over the all mighty draft position.
I hear you, that,s a fair point, I haven't had enough time/energy to analyze Wikstrand's potential deeply. I'll need more time on this one.
Another argument was also about Petersson... who still haven't made it and showed he had an elite skill-set before... However Wikstrand doesn't have AP problems, which is size and health... and maybe motivation/drive/determination
All of this remains to be seen
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minister of Offence
And again, there's nothing wrong with saying "he's played like this so far" and not jumping to Conclusions for better or worse.
Quoted for emphasis....
That's the point when we talk about prospects... either good or bad, nothing can be drawed as an absolute conclusion (errmmm, Zibanejad for example)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minister of Offence
Charles Hudon went in the 5th round out of the chl no less and made Canada's team as a lock as an 18 year old. Try and find another example of that happening. Crazy **** does happen.
And Xpyrit, AP and eberle may have been side by side on the top scorers list but it wasn't hard to see that one was a much better prospect than the other.
Yeah, of course Eberle was a much safer bet for a NHL career... But in that tournament, they were at least on par. Petersson was dominant, the way he controled the possession game, particulary under traffic, wowed me. And his shot was absolutely filthy
Petersson, who already lacks size, didn't have a lot of luck with his back injuries for 2 years and maybe more... If he was full healthy all the way, it could have done a big difference. I still believe in him (and well I'm biased since he has been a favorite of mine for a long time) but something positive has to happen in the near future
Quote:
Originally Posted by BonkTastic
It seems as though Mr. The Expert here and myself are in total agreement.
Wikstrand is exceeding expectations, and is playing at a level higher than that expected from a 7th round draft pick. Why do people feel the need to put a label on him this early?
End of the world?
Personally, I just don't have enough information and/or evidence for now
This is what happens with small samples. One day he looks like a first-rounder, the other he looks like he's someone's brother filling in because they were a bit short on D.
Today he was making terrible decisions, spreading pucks all over and did not look very focused at all. Also caught flat-footed on a few occasions. As good as he's been in his previous three games, this was a big stain of ink in his next-to-flawless protocol up until tonight.
This is what happens with small samples. One day he looks like a first-rounder, the other he looks like he's someone's brother filling in because they were a bit short on D.
Today he was making terrible decisions, spreading pucks all over and did not look very focused at all. Also caught flat-footed on a few occasions. As good as he's been in his previous three games, this was a big stain of ink in his next-to-flawless protocol up until tonight.
Shoot, so he didn't play like a 1st rounder today??? Does anyone know how to erase conclusions carved in stone???
This is what happens with small samples. One day he looks like a first-rounder, the other he looks like he's someone's brother filling in because they were a bit short on D.
Today he was making terrible decisions, spreading pucks all over and did not look very focused at all. Also caught flat-footed on a few occasions. As good as he's been in his previous three games, this was a big stain of ink in his next-to-flawless protocol up until tonight.
I was suprised though. I know you've watched a few HA games. He's been solid consistent and probably have had less turn-overs in the entire season than what he had today. Strange
Shoot, so he didn't play like a 1st rounder today??? Does anyone know how to erase conclusions carved in stone???
technology not available yet, so instead we just create a wikstrand bust thread and i guess management tries to trade him.
oh well it was fun while he had us fooled into thinking he was going to be as good as karlsson.
