There is something seriously wrong with your prospect pool when your 3rd best prospect is Erik Gustafsson.
Well that third best prospect has a higher chance then everyone else outside of the top 2 to be an impact player on this team. He couldeasily round out as a 3/4 d-man.
Also went Matt Read, but you cant go wrong with either Read/Wellwood/Ranford.
What is Ranfords and Akesons highest possible ceilings? what type of players are they?
I said Wellwood
Ranford's ceiling is a top six forward, but he is far from a lock to make it with his size and skating concerns.
Akeson has top six forward potential if all goes right, but I think he is an even longer shot to reach his ceiling as he was a 20 year old dominating younger players in juniors. He is like Pither last year. I'll need to see him score at the AHL level before I get excited.
Wellwood's ceiling is lower (bottom six), but is closer to making it. IMO Wellwood is overrated somewhat. I'd take Ranford and Cousins over him.
Ranford's ceiling is a top six forward, but he is far from a lock to make it with his size and skating concerns.
Akeson has top six forward potential if all goes right, but I think he is an even longer shot to reach his ceiling as he was a 20 year old dominating younger players in juniors. He is like Pither last year. I'll need to see him score at the AHL level before I get excited.
Wellwood's ceiling is lower (bottom six), but is closer to making it. IMO Wellwood is overrated somewhat. I'd take Ranford and Cousins over him.
I am not excited about Akeson at all. I see Akeson and all I think of is Jason Krog. Kid has career AHLer written all over him. i know the kid has his fans here, whatever. I am not seeing it.
Read is more overrated around here then Wellwood. Some are putting Read in the top 6 on the big club. Again, I am not seeing it. He needs more time in the AHL. He had a nice run in his short time in the AHL last year, but I want to see what happens when teams start making adjustments on him and they will.
right now for me Holmstrom is ahead of Read and Wellwood. I liked what I saw from Testwuide in the 2nd half last year. Hopefully he can build off it. Yes I voted for Wellwood at #4 but that was a mistake on my part. Holmstrom is getting the vote for me at 5.
I am not excited about Akeson at all. I see Akeson and all I think of is Jason Krog. Kid has career AHLer written all over him. i know the kid has his fans here, whatever. I am not seeing it.
Read is more overrated around here then Wellwood. Some are putting Read in the top 6 on the big club. Again, I am not seeing it. He needs more time in the AHL. He had a nice run in his short time in the AHL last year, but I want to see what happens when teams start making adjustments on him and they will.
right now for me Holmstrom is ahead of Read and Wellwood. I liked what I saw from Testwuide in the 2nd half last year. Hopefully he can build off it. Yes I voted for Wellwood at #4 but that was a mistake on my part. Holmstrom is getting the vote for me at 5.
I agree on Akeson. I'd be shocked if he is anything more than a career AHLer.
I also agree on Read. I think Read gets overrated because the Flyers are high on him. Much like Bodrov in the past. Read was impressive in his short stint, but it's a small sample and he's 25. He's old for a prospect. Not convinced he will be anything more than a bottom six forward at the most.
I like Holmstrom, too, but I tend to rank the players with higher ceilings (Ranford, Cousins) higher. Though Holmstrom is much safer bet to make it.
I agree on Akeson. I'd be shocked if he is anything more than a career AHLer.
I also agree on Read. I think Read gets overrated because the Flyers are high on him. Much like Bodrov in the past. Read was impressive in his short stint, but it's a small sample and he's 25. He's old for a prospect. Not convinced he will be anything more than a bottom six forward at the most.
I like Holmstrom, too, but I tend to rank the players with higher ceilings (Ranford, Cousins) higher. Though Holmstrom is much safer bet to make it.
Believe it or not...
Ranford and Akeson are probably the only forwards (outside of Couturier and Schenn obviously) that have the potential to be more than just third line forwards.
You also have to stop saying "bottom six." Bottom six doesn't exist.
There is a fourth/checking line and there are average/mediocre/role-playing/complimentary forwards that play up and down an NHL top nine. We have a ton of prospects that project to be that guy including Nodl, Wellwood, Read, Testwuide, etc.
Ranford and Akeson are the only ones with more potential than that, but I doubt they ever realize anything more than that. It's certainly a long shot. They could both however end up very good third line forwards.
So don't make it out to seem like everyone's excited about players because they're "overrating" them.
Like Nodl...people seem to think that I believe he's some important and offensively gifted winger for our team. No, I like Nodl because of what he brings to the table. I like Read because I see him fitting well on our wing as a low-key/cheap complimentary forward.
People overreact and look for things to overreact to far too much around here.
Last edited by Chris Shafer: 08-03-2011 at 02:43 PM.
Ranford and Akeson are probably the only forwards (outside of Couturier and Schenn obviously) that have the potential to be more than just third line forwards.
You also have to stop saying "bottom six." Bottom six doesn't exist.
There is a fourth/checking line and there are average/mediocre/role-playing/complimentary forwards that play up and down an NHL top nine. We have a ton of prospects that project to be that guy including Nodl, Wellwood, Read, Testwuide, etc.
Ranford and Akeson are the only ones with more potential than that, but I doubt they ever realize anything more than that. It's certainly a long shot. They could both however end up very good third line forwards.
So don't make it out to seem like everyone's excited about players because they're "overrating" them.
Like Nodl...people seem to think that I believe he's some important and offensively gifted winger for our team. No, I like Nodl because of what he brings to the table. I like Read because I see him fitting well on our wing as a low-key/cheap complimentary forward.
People overreact and look for things to overreact to far too much around here.
I totally agree, every team needs its role players/complementary forwards as well as it's checking forwards. IMO having a number of these guys is not a bad thing and it's not like the flyers lack guys with the potential to be more then that. Not every team can have a future star in their system (even though the flyers might in schenn and couturier). Plus JVR, Giroux and Voracek are still young. Flyers are not in a bad spot at all when it comes to young talent or their prospect pool.
I went with Ranford because he has the highest ceiling.
Which is why I picked Ranford LAST time (as well as this one). I figured asking what the top 20 prospects are is asking where they'll rank once they peak...not who's most NHL ready, which many seem to be going with Gustafsson, Read, Akeson, and Wellwood....
Ranford and Akeson are probably the only forwards (outside of Couturier and Schenn obviously) that have the potential to be more than just third line forwards.
You also have to stop saying "bottom six." Bottom six doesn't exist.
There is a fourth/checking line and there are average/mediocre/role-playing/complimentary forwards that play up and down an NHL top nine. We have a ton of prospects that project to be that guy including Nodl, Wellwood, Read, Testwuide, etc.
Ranford and Akeson are the only ones with more potential than that, but I doubt they ever realize anything more than that. It's certainly a long shot. They could both however end up very good third line forwards.
So don't make it out to seem like everyone's excited about players because they're "overrating" them.
Like Nodl...people seem to think that I believe he's some important and offensively gifted winger for our team. No, I like Nodl because of what he brings to the table. I like Read because I see him fitting well on our wing as a low-key/cheap complimentary forward.
People overreact and look for things to overreact to far too much around here.
agreed.
but im wondering why you left out cousins? His ceiling is probably higher than Ranford, and maybe even akeson
(like you said though, reaching their ceiling is a long-shot)
Ranford and Akeson are probably the only forwards (outside of Couturier and Schenn obviously) that have the potential to be more than just third line forwards.
You also have to stop saying "bottom six." Bottom six doesn't exist.
There is a fourth/checking line and there are average/mediocre/role-playing/complimentary forwards that play up and down an NHL top nine. We have a ton of prospects that project to be that guy including Nodl, Wellwood, Read, Testwuide, etc.
Ranford and Akeson are the only ones with more potential than that, but I doubt they ever realize anything more than that. It's certainly a long shot. They could both however end up very good third line forwards.
So don't make it out to seem like everyone's excited about players because they're "overrating" them.
Like Nodl...people seem to think that I believe he's some important and offensively gifted winger for our team. No, I like Nodl because of what he brings to the table. I like Read because I see him fitting well on our wing as a low-key/cheap complimentary forward.
People overreact and look for things to overreact to far too much around here.
Believe it or not, but I already know that Ranford, Akeson (whom I am not high on), and perhaps Cousins are the only ones with top six potential.
You can call them whatever you like. All I am saying is these players project to be nothing more than role/utility type players that aren't going to contribute much offensively. You're not really saying anything different than what I've said.
No one is overreacting to anything except for you. You saw the word overrated and reacted based on that. I never once said or implied that people are excited for these prospects. I just feel there are prospects with higher ceilings in the system (even if they are long shots) that are getting overlooked. I feel the Reads, Akesons, and Wellwoods of the system are a dime a dozen. The AHL team is littered with old college prospects and overaged juniors. Most of them won't ever contribute to the Flyers on any meaningful basis.
Ranford and Cousins may be long shots, but I prefer young high ceiling prospects with room for improvement instead of the old low ceiling prospects that are closer to their peak potential.
Just kidding I like this kid a lot.
