Now that more than myself and a couple others have seen this kid live on a number of occasions...can we squash the rumors that the kid is "only" 6'3"? That's the height I see listed for him all the time and barring him shrinking like...2-4 inches since I saw him last Thanksgiving...dude is a good 6'5"+.
Does he make the WJC team this year? I know he had a good camp but it'll be interesting to see if he makes the cut.
He was one of the better d-men at the US summer evaluation camp for the U20 team so I think he has a very good chance of making the team. That's especially true if Carolina doesn't release Justin Faulk.
Appears that Seth Jones is deciding between UND and some junior team or something. Everybody in Grand Forks is really hoping he decides to go to the NCAA route with UND even if he will only stay 1 or 2 years. If anybody knows anything more please let me know!
Appears that Seth Jones is deciding between UND and some junior team or something. Everybody in Grand Forks is really hoping he decides to go to the NCAA route with UND even if he will only stay 1 or 2 years. If anybody knows anything more please let me know!
He will probably make his decision at the end of Feburary.
But as gifted as Jones is, he's facing a crossroads in his life that Popeye never did. Had he followed in his dad's basketball footsteps, his path to the big time would have been clear-cut: high school, then college, then the pros. But elite North American hockey prospects like Jones have an alternative to the NCAA route: playing in one of the Canadian junior hockey leagues (Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League or Quebec Major Junior Hockey League). So every day, the intensely contemplative Jones debates in his head whether he wants to spend next season with the WHL's Everett Silvertips, who drafted his junior rights in 2009, or the University of North Dakota, which recently supplanted Boston University atop his college list. "I lose sleep over it," says Jones.
On a recent winter afternoon at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, the defenseman is trying to concentrate on a more pressing concern: a simple set of forearm raises. He's midway through a monthlong rehab for his separated right shoulder suffered in Team USA's final warmup game before December's World Junior Championships. Through the cinder block walls of the windowless training room, he can hear his teammates on USA's U18 squad running drills on the ice. As their captain, Jones belongs out there. Instead, he's in here alone dutifully doing his exercises. At least he can clear his mind. When he finishes for the day, he packs his shoulder in ice and sits quietly, his thoughts back to his decision, weighing the advantages and drawbacks of the Canadian juniors versus the NCAA.
If Jones joins the Silvertips, he will play a 72-game regular season, just 10 games short of an NHL workload. Proponents of junior hockey say nothing prepares you for the NHL like playing a similarly grueling schedule. The leagues are filled with draft picks, which means aspiring pro defensemen get constant in-game experience against many of the same skill players they'll end up facing at the next level. "It's not a slight against any other program," says Silvertips GM Doug Soetaert, "but the CHL is the leading producer of players in the NHL." Indeed, 56 percent of current NHL players -- including two of the league's most promising young D-men, the Kings' Drew Doughty and the Ducks' Cam Fowler -- played in Canadian juniors. But leagues in the CHL truly are "junior"; no player is older than 20.
Meanwhile, top NCAA teams like North Dakota play only 40 to 50 games, but that leaves more hours for practice and the weight room. The extra learning time spent on positioning and tactics is significant because defensemen typically take longer to develop. Likewise, the extra work with a specialized strength coach would likely help Jones get a pro-ready frame more quickly; the teenager needed two years of bulking up at the NTDP just to weigh over 200 pounds. Also, the NCAA has no age limit, so Jones would be opposing grown men as old as 25. Still, if he wants to play in the NHL in 2013, North Dakota may not be the quickest route -- only 30 percent of current NHL players have come from NCAA hockey, and one-and-dones are much less frequent than in Canadian juniors.
To ensure his academic eligibility, Jones is taking an accelerated course load at Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School (where he is technically a junior) so he can graduate this May. Of course, it may be a moot point -- Jones says he'll pick between the Silvertips and UND by the end of February. Until then, there will be last-minute visits and more sleepless nights.
"A year ago, I decided I wanted to make the NHL right after the draft," he says as he ices his shoulder back at the Ice Cube weight room. "But it could be two years. You never know." It's a crossroads for another time.
When I spoke to him last summer, he did he say he'd play the US program this year, and maybe change is mind for his draft year. I hope it happened. I'd like to see him play with potentially Ryan Murray next year.
When I spoke to him last summer, he did he say he'd play the US program this year, and maybe change is mind for his draft year. I hope it happened. I'd like to see him play with potentially Ryan Murray next year.
Seth come play at UND... The coaching staff has developed many NHL players... Names like Zach Parise, Drew Stafford, Travis Zajac, Jonathan Toews, Matt Green, Mike Commodore, Matt Frattin just to name a few, should come to mind.
Considering how they developed Ryan Murray potentially, I think it's a great suit escpically with their longer schedule that's more adapt to the NHL.
How much can you really say they "developed" Ryan Murray? They've been a pretty bad team the whole time he's been there and he was pretty much the man there since he walked into the door at age 16. It's not like he came out of midget AA on a camp invite and they developed him from the ground up.
Sure, he probably benefited a bit from Hartsburg being there but I don't know how much of a factor being in Everett vs. Swift Current had to do with his current stature as a prosepct.
He should go to Everett. The WHL is notoriously a strong defensive-factory (like the QMJHL is a strong Goaltending factory and the OHL is a superb forward factory).
Plus after seeing him DOMINATE against University of Denver in the preseason I know he is ALREADY NHL ready. He should go to Everett next year, go #2 overall in 2013, and then play in the NHL eating 20 minutes a game.
Honestly, it doesn't really matter which path this kid takes cause he'll develop none the less. Whether he chooses NCAA or CHL. It won't make a difference cause he's got the talent.
Either way, he'll be in the NHL after 1 or 2 years in the NCAA or CHL.
The kid can't go wrong choosing North Dakota or Everett. Both are very, very solid options.
He should go to Everett. The WHL is notoriously a strong defensive-factory (like the QMJHL is a strong Goaltending factory and the OHL is a superb forward factory).
Plus after seeing him DOMINATE against University of Denver in the preseason I know he is ALREADY NHL ready. He should go to Everett next year, go #2 overall in 2013, and then play in the NHL eating 20 minutes a game.
