Quote:
Originally Posted by islandermaniac
strome has 15 points in 9 playoff games. 2, count 'em 2 of those points have come on the road when the other team has the defensive matchup they want. i would like to see a more consistent effort from young ryan. what say you, son? do have what it takes to produce in a hostile environment? i would like to see that before i'm overly impressed. heck, at this point his points per game average is only equal to what he did in last year's regular season! you have to step up in EVERY game in the playoffs. that's what will show nhl readiness.
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The Isles need to handle Strome the way Brayden Schenn, Alex Pietrangelo, etc were handled. In this day and age, almost all top 5 picks play in the NHL as 18 or 19 year olds. Here's a look at top 5 picks since 2006 and how many years they spent developing in Juniors/College/elsewhere before making NHL debut and their stats in that league after being drafted:
2006
1) Erik Johnson: 1 year in WCHA (4-20-24 in 41 GP)
2) Jordan Staal: NHL
3) Jonathan Toews: 1 year in WCHA (18-28-46 in 34 GP)
4) Nicklas Backstrom: 1 year in SEL (12-28-40 in 45 GP)
5) Phil Kessel: NHL
2007
1) Patrick Kane: NHL
2) James Van Riemsdyk: 2 years in HE (28-46-74 in 67 GP), 7 GP in AHL (1-1-2)
3) Kyle Turris: 1 year in WCHA (11-24-35 in 36 GP), 1 full disjointed AHL season after spending 1 season in NHL (28-43-71 in 86 GP)
4) Thomas Hickey: 2 years in WHL (27-69-96 in 120 GP), 3 years in AHL (11-51-62 in 176 GP)
5) Karl Alzner: 1 year in WHL (7-29-36 in 60 GP), 2 years in AHL (7-34-41 in 104 GP)
2008
1) Steven Stamkos: NHL
2) Drew Doughty: NHL
3) Zach Bogosian: NHL
4) Alex Pietrangelo: 2 years in OHL (17-41-58 in 61 GP); important to note that in both years post-draft AP was in the NHL for 8, and 9 games, and both times was sent down. This, along with WJC participation was the reason that he only played 61 games in 2 years.
5) Luke Schenn: NHL
2009
1) John Tavares: NHL
2) Victor Hedman: NHL
3) Matt Duchene: NHL
4) Evander Kane: NHL
5) Brayden Schenn: 2 years in WHL (56-100-156 in 88 GP), Short stints in AHL (9-10-19 in 14 GP); Much like AP, he too got NHL games (1+9=10) in before being sent down to juniors in the 2 years subsequent to getting drafted.
2010
1) Taylor Hall: NHL
2) Tyler Seguin: NHL
3) Erik Grudbransson: 1 year in OHL (12-22-34 in 44 GP)
4) Ryan Johansen: 1 year in WHL (40-52-92 in 63 GP)
5) Nino Niederreiter: 1 year in WHL (41-29-70 in 55 GP); 9 game stint in NHL (1-1-2) before being sent down last year
2011
1) Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: NHL
2) Gabriel Landeskog: NHL
3) Jonathan Huberdeau: 1 year in QMJHL (30-42-72 in 37 GP)
4) Adam Larsson: NHL
5) Ryan Strome: 1 year in OHL (30-38-68 in 46 GP)
In the last 6 years, this is how the 30 top 5 picks were handled:
Straight to the NHL: 16/30 players
Jordan Staal
Phil Kessel
Patrick Kane
Steven Stamkos
Drew Doughty
Zach Bogosian
Luke Schenn
John Tavares
Victor Hedman
Matt Duchene
Evander Kane
Taylor Hall
Tyler Seguin
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Gabriel Landeskog
Adam Larsson
1 developmental season before NHL: 8/30
Erik Johnson
Jonathan Toews
Nicklas Backstrom
Kyle Turris* (sent back to AHL after 1 NHL season)
Erik Grudbransson
Ryan Johansen
Nino Niederreiter
Jonathan Huberdeau* (will likely be in NHL next year)
Ryan Strome* (status for next year unknown)
2 developmental years before NHL: 5/30
James Van Riemsdyk
Kyle Turris* (belongs in this group too because of the AHL season he played in his 2nd pro season)
Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden Schenn
Nino Niederreiter* (will likely be in AHL next season, much like Kyle Turris)
Ryan Strome* (I put him here because I'm hopeful he stays another year)
2+ developmental years: 2/30
Thomas Hickey
Karl Alzner
Conclusions:
-Of the 30 top 5 picks, only 2 saw significant AHL time before becoming NHL regulars (Turris, Alzner), and 1 still being in the AHL (Hickey).
-Only 3/30 were allowed to play in a 2nd full season of juniors/college (van Riemsdyk, Pietrangelo, Schenn).
-24/30 top 5 picks are NHL regulars a year after they were drafted. That is 80 percent.
Of all the top 5 picks in the past 6 seasons, the best comparable to Nino is van Riemsdyk based on size, draft position and skill set. The latter was given 2 years at the college level before entering the NHL. Nino was given only 1. In JVR's rookie season he collected 15-20-35 in 78 gp in year 1, 21-19-40 in 75 gp in year 2, and 11-13-24 in 43 gp in year 3. In his first 3 years as a pro, JVR has averaged 41 pts/82 GP on a good team. That's hardly amazing, but good enough to be a 2nd/3rd liner. It also demonstrates that power forwards are a) more difficult to project and/or b) take a longer time to develop.
The Isles likely should have kept him in Portland one more year, but top 5 picks aren't usually kept in juniors for more than 1 season. In the past 6 years, only 2 forwards spent 2 seasons in juniors/college: Brayden Schenn and James Van Riemsdyk.
