Blake Parlett won round 20. Defenseman Peter Ceresnak will be added to our poll.
Don't forget to write-in who should be added in the next round. Also would be good to include a discussion/argument on why you voted for a particular prospect.
TOP PROSPECTS
1. LW Chris Kreider
2. D Ryan McDonagh
3. D Tim Erixon
4. RW Christian Thomas
5. D Dylan McIlrath
6. LW Mats Zuccarello
7. LW J.T. Miller
8. LW Carl Hagelin
9. RW Jesper Fasth
10. D Pavel Valentenko
SECOND-TIER PROSPECTS
11. C Oscar Lindberg
12. D Tomas Kundratek
13. LW Ryan Bourque
14. C Andrew Yogan
15. C Steven Fogarty
16. RW Shane McColgan
17. C Michael St. Croix
18. RW Dale Weise
19. D Mikhail Pashnin
20. D Blake Parlett
Blake Parlett
Defense
Born May 13 1989 -- Bracebridge, ONT
Height 6.01 -- Weight 205 -- Shoots R
“A good defenseman has to be able to move the puck, whether it’s in transition, regrouping, breaking out or making plays under pressure. He does all those things, and those are often skills that I try to polish in young defensemen who come here. If you have a kid who shows up and has that element in his game, it’s a good plus.” - Whale Assistant Coach J.J.Daigneault
“I like the way he moves the puck, and he’s a strong skater, so that’s always helpful when you’re defending and can close the gap and take away time and space. He’s really poised with the puck; he doesn’t just throw it away, which is part of being a good player. And he makes plays that make a difference in the course of a game." - Whale Coach Ken Gernander
Tough, banging winger projected to play on the bottom two lines as a physical player who can hopefully add some offense.
"Wilson is going to surprise some people. He can really play.”
-Gordie Clark
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D SAMUEL NOREAU
Huge, hard-hitting defenseman who is a decent skater for his size.
"Very mobile and very skilled [Samuel Noreau is] 6-5 and really tough."
- Gordie Clark
"Noreau is a 6-5, 215-pound tough-as-nails punisher who doesn’t have much in the way of high-end skill, but has the size and nastiness to be a shutdown guy in time. He’s not a bad skater, though needs to work on his lateral movement and pivots/turns like many big players on D. This dude can really fight, too. With his size and strength, he ragdolls guys and stands in and throws them against the tougher comers/enforcers in the QMJHL."
- Bruins Draft Watch
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RW ANDREAS THURESSON
A two-way player with good size and an aggressive, physical game, but has limited offensive skills.
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G SCOTT STAJCER
Put up good stats behind a bad team. Good size and good at controlling rebounds, but needs to improve his positioning.
"We had him scheduled to go earlier in that draft, but our scouts read the draft and we figured we could maybe grab some other guys and still get Scott. In the end it doesn't matter where you get him. For a fifth-round pick he's got a heck of a shot at the NHL."
- Gordie Clark
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G CAMERON TALBOT
Goalie with good size on a weak team. Did for his college team what Lundqvist did in his early days: keep a bad team in the game, giving them a chance. Dominated at every level he played at, though he was always in rather weak places (OPJHL, College Hockey America). Almost defeated the top ranked Miami-Ohio while backstopping the very weak UofA team.
"He has size and the athleticism we like, and he was able to keep a very weak team competitive... I told our scout I expected them to get spanked in the game, but they won," said Clark. "They won it and got to go to the NCAA tournament, so I sent another couple guys in to watch him. They got beat in that second game, but in both games, they were in it... Benoit (Allaire) really likes him."
- Gordie Clark
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D PETER CERESNAK
A very physical defenseman who needs to improve his skating and his positioning. Hits everything that moves. The Rangers traded just to draft him.
Voting for Noreau for his potential. He's the most likely to be a difference-making defenseman. Even a third pair blueliner who can punish the opposition is a difference-maker in a way a 4th line scrub isn't.
Jyri Niemi seems like the way to go as far as kids added to the poll. He was only 20 years old last season and held up very well in Hartford.
Prospects potentially left to potentially be added:
Lee Baldwin, D
Greg Beller, LW
Stu Bickel, D Max Campbell, C
Chris Chappell, LW
Tysen Dowzak, D
Tommy Grant, LW Danny Hobbs, C
Eric Hunter, LW
Sam Klassen, D Chad Kolarik, RW
David Kveton, RW
Matt McCue, LW
Randy McNaught, RW
Jason Missiaen, G Jyri Niemi, D
Roman Psurny, LW
David Skokan, C
Lukas Zeliska, C
The people in bold are those I personally regard as prospects worth watching.
Except for Thuresson, who has already played NHL games...
I'm a big Jason Wilson fan, but he's far from a lock to have an NHL career.
Eh, I don't like looking at stats, but with guys this far down on the depth chart I kind of have to. Thuresson has shown absolutely no improvement during his last 3 years in the AHL (with a few NHL games thrown in). Wilson, on the other hand, has shown consistent improvement in the OHL the past 4 years. I know they're 2 different leagues, but I'm going to take the guy who's showing that he's getting better each year over someone who is plateauing.
I don't see either Thuresson or Wilson being decent players. At most, I can see them being #13 forwards, maybe #12. Either way, they are not anything that will make a difference.
A #6 defenseman is much more important to the team than a #12 forward.
Thuresson - add Grant
Thuresson has already played in the NHL so I don't know how people can say he'll never play there. Wilson: good numbers in the juniors. He might be a younger version of Weise but for a player of his limited skill, I'd like to see what he can do at the pro-level first.
Goalie with good size on a weak team. Did for his college team what Lundqvist did in his early days: keep a bad team in the game, giving them a chance. Dominated at every level he played at, though he was always in rather weak places (OPJHL, College Hockey America). Almost defeated the top ranked Miami-Ohio while backstopping the very weak UofA team.
"He has size and the athleticism we like, and he was able to keep a very weak team competitive... I told our scout I expected them to get spanked in the game, but they won," said Clark. "They won it and got to go to the NCAA tournament, so I sent another couple guys in to watch him. They got beat in that second game, but in both games, they were in it... Benoit (Allaire) really likes him."
- Gordie Clark
Goalie with good size on a weak team. Did for his college team what Lundqvist did in his early days: keep a bad team in the game, giving them a chance. Dominated at every level he played at, though he was always in rather weak places (OPJHL, College Hockey America). Almost defeated the top ranked Miami-Ohio while backstopping the very weak UofA team.
"He has size and the athleticism we like, and he was able to keep a very weak team competitive... I told our scout I expected them to get spanked in the game, but they won," said Clark. "They won it and got to go to the NCAA tournament, so I sent another couple guys in to watch him. They got beat in that second game, but in both games, they were in it... Benoit (Allaire) really likes him."
- Gordie Clark
Yeah, after Noreau, I'm picking Talbot also. The kid was able to hold his team in games U of Alabama should have badly lost, even against the top-ranked Miami-Ohio.
Had he played on a top-ranked college team, I bet he'd be ranked much higher now because his college stats would look much better. It's always easier to look good on a good team than on a bottom-feeder.
That's right, Campbell is on an AHL deal. I'm usually anal-retentive with that stuff.
In that case, add Tommy Grant.
As far as Allaire being a fan of Talbot... Wasn't he also a fan of Antoine Lafleur?
Goalie are always high risk, which is why you should never draft them in the top 10. Teams stuck to that pretty well until Jamie Storr of all people opened the flood gates.
But at this point, when looking at our low-end prospects, I think Talbot deserves a spot in the top 25 for playing so well behind such a bad team.
I still find it hard to believe that we have heard nothing of Randy McNaught. I think he has a REAL shot of being a heavyweight in the NHL. That kid threw bombs.
I still find it hard to believe that we have heard nothing of Randy McNaught. I think he has a REAL shot of being a heavyweight in the NHL. That kid threw bombs.
He didn't play well in the first few games of the season as an overager and then got injured. I guess he had to show more.
Next season he'll be in the ECHL. Let's see what he does there. I want to see him establish himself as a power forward next season.
