Hokeys future changed RNH prospect grade from 8.5C to a 9.0B. Definitely moved up, just wanting to see what you guys think. If this was already posted, mods can erase it ; I never seen it though.
Hokeys future changed RNH prospect grade from 8.5C to a 9.0B. Definitely moved up, just wanting to see what you guys think. If this was already posted, mods can erase it ; I never seen it though.
Never done been seen it myself, but dang, that's good news!
Based on what? I mean, let's look at Petry- here's a 6'3 defenceman management was falling themselves over to thrust into the #1 PMD role based on 17 points in 55 games. He averaged the second-most TOI with Gilbert (21:22) and without him he's now the team's leader in ES TOI/G.
This has been a break-out season by every measure for Petry, and I think even the most pessimistic Oilers fan would conclude great things are in store for him.
Now look at Larsson. He's having a near-identical season (16 vs. 17 points, NJ's ES TOI leader, 2nd in PP TOI/G vs. 4th) and brings a near-identical physical package to the table. He's arguably the #1 defenceman at age 19 on a playoff-bound team.
Based on what? I mean, let's look at Petry- here's a 6'3 defenceman management was falling themselves over to thrust into the #1 PMD role based on 17 points in 55 games. He averaged the second-most TOI with Gilbert (21:22) and without him he's now the team's leader in ES TOI/G.
This has been a break-out season by every measure for Petry, and I think even the most pessimistic Oilers fan would conclude great things are in store for him.
Now look at Larsson. He's having a near-identical season (16 vs. 17 points, NJ's ES TOI leader, 2nd in PP TOI/G vs. 4th) and brings a near-identical physical package to the table. He's arguably the #1 defenceman at age 19 on a playoff-bound team.
And he's five years younger.
Larsson's gonna be a fantastic player, obviously happy with our pick though.
What? He'd never played in North America and he's a top pairing d-man on a team that's going from being a horrible team last year to a playoff team this year.
Larsson's gonna be a fantastic player, obviously happy with our pick though.
RNH has proven to be what I expected- the #1 forward by a mile from the class- and he's out-performed my wildest expectations as an NHL player.
But man, until this team wins a Stanley Cup, I'm going to always wonder what might have been had this team eschewed offense for defense last and this year.
Look at it this way: our top line remains the same. Hall-Gagner-Eberle stays together. Hemsky still gets re-signed and plays well with Paajarvi, as they have for the last few games. We got a glimpse of life without RNH during his two trips to the IR this year and while it wasn't pretty, the kids still proved they could score.
Meanwhile, imagine having Smid and Larsson eating the tough minutes back there. Then the Oilers add Murray in the summer. You hope to address the need for a premier center either via FA or trade, with the result being this:
Smid-Larsson
Murray-Petry
Sutton-Potter
(Whitney in when healthy)
Worst case scenario, the Oilers enter 2012-13 with Gagner as their #1 center and end up in the lottery again, with MacKinnon on tap.
I don't know. It's tough. RNH could score 100 points, but if our rebuild doesn't lead to the ultimate prize on account of never addressing the need for a premier #1 defenceman or two, I will look back on June 2011 with regret.
RNH has proven to be what I expected- the #1 forward by a mile from the class- and he's out-performed my wildest expectations as an NHL player.
But man, until this team wins a Stanley Cup, I'm going to always wonder what might have been had this team eschewed offense for defense last and this year.
Look at it this way: our top line remains the same. Hall-Gagner-Eberle stays together. Hemsky still gets re-signed and plays well with Paajarvi, as they have for the last few games. We got a glimpse of life without RNH during his two trips to the IR this year and while it wasn't pretty, the kids still proved they could score.
Meanwhile, imagine having Smid and Larsson eating the tough minutes back there. Then the Oilers add Murray in the summer. You hope to address the need for a premier center either via FA or trade, with the result being this:
Smid-Larsson
Murray-Petry
Sutton-Potter
(Whitney in when healthy)
Worst case scenario, the Oilers enter 2012-13 with Gagner as their #1 center and end up in the lottery again, with MacKinnon on tap.
I don't know. It's tough. RNH could score 100 points, but if our rebuild doesn't lead to the ultimate prize on account of never addressing the need for a premier #1 defenceman or two, I will look back on June 2011 with regret.
Nah, I still gotta think RNH was the better pick. There is no possible way I regret that decision. We have the ability to develop an excellent D core with the pieces we have now not to mention the possible addition of UFA.
Sure that core would be better with someone like Larsson on the back end as well but I am more happy with something like that then I am with center depth of Gagner, Horcoff, Belanger, and Lander with the possibilty of getting a guy like Grigorenko and who knows how he turns out with the recent talk of compete issues.
In the end we got the BPA and we can't regret that. I'd honestly much rather have RNH + Dumba/Murray than Larsson + Grigorenko/Galechnyuk, wouldn't you? I think part of the allure of the first combo is the Western Canadian ties (Used to the weather, population, etc) and I just think in general these guys mesh with our core better. Not to mention I believe they will be better players but that is up for debate as well.
I think the thought of not drafting RNH would be a disaster. Such a humble guy plus he's from west coast as someone else noted. I think if we drafted Larsson and COL took RNH and he started to light it up, I'd feel like we made the wrong choice. No jab at Larsson, he is good and will become better, I just think hopper was a better fit.
And to the posters above; I agree his grade was low to begin with! 9.0B sounds about right
RNH has proven to be what I expected- the #1 forward by a mile from the class- and he's out-performed my wildest expectations as an NHL player.
But man, until this team wins a Stanley Cup, I'm going to always wonder what might have been had this team eschewed offense for defense last and this year.
Look at it this way: our top line remains the same. Hall-Gagner-Eberle stays together. Hemsky still gets re-signed and plays well with Paajarvi, as they have for the last few games. We got a glimpse of life without RNH during his two trips to the IR this year and while it wasn't pretty, the kids still proved they could score.
Meanwhile, imagine having Smid and Larsson eating the tough minutes back there. Then the Oilers add Murray in the summer. You hope to address the need for a premier center either via FA or trade, with the result being this:
Smid-Larsson
Murray-Petry
Sutton-Potter
(Whitney in when healthy)
Worst case scenario, the Oilers enter 2012-13 with Gagner as their #1 center and end up in the lottery again, with MacKinnon on tap.
I don't know. It's tough. RNH could score 100 points, but if our rebuild doesn't lead to the ultimate prize on account of never addressing the need for a premier #1 defenceman or two, I will look back on June 2011 with regret.
How about RNH/Murray vs Larsson/Grigorenko?
I still take RNH and Murray but it's really close.
What about Seguin/Larsson/Yakupov vs Hall/RNH/Murray?
A lot of things could be different for this team going forward.
Larsson's gonna be a fantastic player, obviously happy with our pick though.
yeah exactly... larsson is gonna be JUST FINE... leads his team in ice time as a 18/19 year old on D, that is pretty damn impressive, especially considering his team is in the playoffs
RNH has proven to be what I expected- the #1 forward by a mile from the class- and he's out-performed my wildest expectations as an NHL player.
But man, until this team wins a Stanley Cup, I'm going to always wonder what might have been had this team eschewed offense for defense last and this year.
i don't know that RNH is the #1 forward by a mile... i would agree that so far he is the best forward, but landeskog sure looks like a complete player and his size will by a bonus moving forward... in fact, landeskog looks almost *exactly* like his scouting reports said he would look (as does RNH for that matter).... looks like the scouts got the 1/2 picks pretty much exactly right in terms of playing style 2 years in a row (they got halls and seguins playing style right as well in 2010)... i think RNH is better than landeskog, but i just don't know how *much* better
i was a pretty huge larsson supporter most of last year, so i too have thought about "what would have happened".... but i think we picked the right guy... there are intangibles with RNH (western kid, gets along really well with the other young guys) that larsson might have had trouble duplicating.... i also agree with people who say that getting a #1 C is harder than getting a #1 D (via trade or UFA)
when i saw RNH lay the body to big buff vs wnpg i knew he was for reals, dude just came off a shoulder injury that probably cost him a 70pts season and he isnt afraid to lay some body. I was all about picking larsson and still think he is good but RNH is world class
The biggest question mark for RNH was if he was physically able to handle the NHL game. I'm a little concerned about the shoulder injuries, but otherwise he's shown he's capable of giving and taking contact.
