Hey guys, Oilers fan here. I've always been a huge fan of Ryan Ellis and I'm just wandering how he has been for u guys lately? Especially in the playoffs so far. I rarely ever see him on the ice, maybe I'm just catching the game at the wrong time
There's no way that Blum or Ellis is better or has more upside than Josi.
As for the rest, I think Ekholm should be higher, Roussel should be lower, and the fact that Pickard is still in the top 20 suggests that the absolute best of our prospects have made their way up and/or out of the organization.
Josi and Bourque should be #1 and #2 respectively, imo.
I think this is why readers will never agree with the top 20... It's a lack of understanding of what the list is based on.
The top 20 is not meant to rank players based on who is putting up the most NHL points today. The top 20 looks at current stats but Also future upside, injuries, weaknesses, age, work ethic, etc of each player.
If you consider all of that you will realize that Bourque is not even close to being the 2nd best prospect the Preds have.
There's no way that Blum or Ellis is better or has more upside than Josi.
As for the rest, I think Ekholm should be higher, Roussel should be lower, and the fact that Pickard is still in the top 20 suggests that the absolute best of our prospects have made their way up and/or out of the organization.
I still think that Ellis has more upside then Josi, but Josi will probably be the one to reach his upside. When I've watched Ellis he just oozes hockey smarts, one of the smartest youngsters I've seen for us and I think at worst he'll be twice the PP specialist M.A. Bergeron is.
When I've watched Ellis he just oozes hockey smarts, one of the smartest youngsters I've seen for us
Terry Crisp, is that you speaking about youngsters ?
I think Ellis oozing offensive ability/smarts but I haven't been impressed with his defense reads at all. That's putting aside is total lack of size and strength. He's not fast either. I think he has a lot of things working against him being a top dman in the league. Time will tell, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to trading him for the right person. ]
I kinda hope he's not our top prospect. Who knows about guys like Beck, Ladda, Buddish, Watson, [insert name]. Total crapshoot with those guys. Maybe one or two turns into something.
I must admit, my fervor for Smith's ranking and comments at the start of the year rankings looks silly in hindsight. I think the initial rank holds more credence. However, I still maintain he has more top upside then given credit for. I also think his numbers tailed off for a variety of reasons, the largest of those being he went from 35-40 games to 82 games with a full preseason against the toughest competition in the world. Smith has grown a lot this year. I absolutely want him in this lineup next year.
Ellis over Josi is not a call I would make. Josi has top pairing potential. His speed and overall game is just something you don't see very often. He reminds me a lot of Ryan Suter - a little less fluid handling the puck through the neutral zone, not quite as stout, but a better skater. Both play a smart hockey game with good two-way skills. I say all this, and I am a big Ryan Ellis fan. I think Ellis absolutely hits closer to the higher-end of his ceiling than the lower end.
Ekholm got knocked down quite a bit this year, but he still has some fantastic skills. This guy would be a top 4-5 prospect on 20 teams in the league IMO. I'm not disagreeing with his positioning - just providing some food for thought .
Terry Crisp, is that you speaking about youngsters ?
I think Ellis oozing offensive ability/smarts but I haven't been impressed with his defense reads at all. That's putting aside is total lack of size and strength. He's not fast either. I think he has a lot of things working against him being a top dman in the league. Time will tell, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to trading him for the right person. ]
I kinda hope he's not our top prospect. Who knows about guys like Beck, Ladda, Buddish, Watson, [insert name]. Total crapshoot with those guys. Maybe one or two turns into something.
Well I'm not saying he's definitely going to play to his upside, but if he does he can be a great offensive d-man.
Do I really sound that drunk or senile by the way?
It's amazing how everyone has forgotten about Jon Blum.
Also I'm still holding out hope for Beck and Budish but no way either of them are better then Bourque
Last edited by Gnashville: 04-19-2012 at 08:25 PM.
It's amazing how everyone has forgotten about Jon Blum.
Also I'm still holding out hope for Beck and Budish but no way either of them are better then Bourque
What do you qualify as better?
Bourque is in the NHL, other two are not. So not the most fair comparison right now.
In terms of upside, Budish, if he stays healthy, can become an excellent second line power forward who can at times fill in on the 1st line.
Bourque does not have Budish"s size or power forward game(although he is physical). Considering how rare and important power forwards are, I'll take Budish any day of the week.
Beck is a wild card. If he improves his skating and individual play-making he can become a very solid scoring forward.
Again, half an NHL season and 4 playoff games do not make a player (see Craig Smith). The Rangers had Prucha score 30 in his rookie season... He is in the Khl now. I'm sure Bourque is an NHL player... I just don't see him scoring at this playoff pace long term.
Last edited by Evgeny Oliker: 04-20-2012 at 09:05 AM.
Health is a HUGE issue for Budish. I don't think he'll be a star, and neither will Bourque, but i'm very confident Bourque will be a steady 2nd/3rd line presence in the NHL for years.
While I appreciate the service that HF "scouts" provide, I like the opinions of the actual fan bases who watch these guys every game.
Terry Crisp, is that you speaking about youngsters ?
I think Ellis oozing offensive ability/smarts but I haven't been impressed with his defense reads at all. That's putting aside is total lack of size and strength. He's not fast either. I think he has a lot of things working against him being a top dman in the league. Time will tell, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to trading him for the right person. ]
I kinda hope he's not our top prospect. Who knows about guys like Beck, Ladda, Buddish, Watson, [insert name]. Total crapshoot with those guys. Maybe one or two turns into something.
I don't think Ellis has to become a top Dman in the league in order to meet his potential. A good PP QB who can put up points on the second pairing would be pretty good for him, but if Trotz continues to use the second pair as a shutdown pair (which he will as long as Weber and Suter are together) Ellis will likely stay on the third pair. At that point it becomes an issue of what is more valuable, Ellis on the third pair or what can be brought back in a trade.
I can't wait to see how Josi evolves in the next couple of years. I remember when Suter first came up I was a big time Suter hater and I thought he wasn't going to stick with us because he had a lot of young mistakes and wasn't impressing me all that much. He was alright, and the potential was there, I just wasn't buying into it until he started proving me wrong.
Not saying Josi will evolve into a Ryan Suter one day, but he certainly impresses me more right off the bat than Suter did at this point.
Also, it's funny I remember last preseason (like Sep. 2010), my friend in the Panthers organization was at one of those little rookie games or whatever teams play in when training camp starts, before the real pre-season games. I hadn't talked to her in several months and all of a sudden I get a text that says "Who the **** is Roman Josi?? Beast!!"
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