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Post by jimmy on Apr 10, 2014 8:42:05 GMT -4
Hodge's article today looked at the Cats top 10 prospects, interview with Shannon offering commentary on each ... Ranked as follows:
1)Johnathan MacLeod: big nasty two-way d-man, hope is if he gets drafted in first two rounds of NHL draft may opt for major junior to accelerate transition to pros. Shannon says he would have been a top 5 pick in the Q draft were it not for the college hockey plans.
2) Anthony Florentino: will be 19 next season - big, smooth skating D ... if my memory is right, already playing NCAA, drafted by Buffalo - probably a real long shot we ever see him in Moncton.
3) Miles Gendron: 6'3 d-man (converted from forward this year), amazing skater, NHL draft eligible this year, currently committed to play jr A in BC next year.
4) Zachary Malatesta: small d-man, smooth skater - compared him to Kevin Gagne.
5) Eric Leger
6) Alexandre Jacob
7) Lane Cormier: apparently he is very strong and physical - compared to Zach Sill.
8) Jamie Dorsey: Big d-man, good skater - they claim he has really improved in past year.
9) Kyle Tibbo
10) Benji Curtis: Playing junior A in Dieppe, tough kid - maybe a younger option for Halabi's role next year?
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Post by Captain Obvious on Apr 10, 2014 9:11:57 GMT -4
Hodge's article today looked at the Cats top 10 prospects, interview with Shannon offering commentary on each ... Ranked as follows: 1)Johnathan MacLeod: big nasty two-way d-man, hope is if he gets drafted in first two rounds of NHL draft may opt for major junior to accelerate transition to pros. Shannon says he would have been a top 5 pick in the Q draft were it not for the college hockey plans. 2) Anthony Florentino: will be 19 next season - big, smooth skating D ... if my memory is right, already playing NCAA, drafted by Buffalo - probably a real long shot we ever see him in Moncton. 3) Miles Gendron: 6'3 d-man (converted from forward this year), amazing skater, NHL draft eligible this year, currently committed to play jr A in BC next year. 4) Zachary Malatesta: small d-man, smooth skater - compared him to Kevin Gagne. 5) Eric Leger 6) Alexandre Jacob 7) Lane Cormier: apparently he is very strong and physical - compared to Zach Sill. 8) Jamie Dorsey: Big d-man, good skater - they claim he has really improved in past year. 9) Kyle Tibbo 10) Benji Curtis: Playing junior A in Dieppe, tough kid - maybe a younger option for Halabi's role next year? Not a good sign when your top 4 prospects and 5 of the top 8 may never play a game in your uniform. It's nice to have high end US kids to try and bring over but when you have to count on them coming it's not good...
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Post by jimmy on Apr 10, 2014 10:38:57 GMT -4
Hodge's article today looked at the Cats top 10 prospects, interview with Shannon offering commentary on each ... Ranked as follows: 1)Johnathan MacLeod: big nasty two-way d-man, hope is if he gets drafted in first two rounds of NHL draft may opt for major junior to accelerate transition to pros. Shannon says he would have been a top 5 pick in the Q draft were it not for the college hockey plans. 2) Anthony Florentino: will be 19 next season - big, smooth skating D ... if my memory is right, already playing NCAA, drafted by Buffalo - probably a real long shot we ever see him in Moncton. 3) Miles Gendron: 6'3 d-man (converted from forward this year), amazing skater, NHL draft eligible this year, currently committed to play jr A in BC next year. 4) Zachary Malatesta: small d-man, smooth skater - compared him to Kevin Gagne. 5) Eric Leger 6) Alexandre Jacob 7) Lane Cormier: apparently he is very strong and physical - compared to Zach Sill. 8) Jamie Dorsey: Big d-man, good skater - they claim he has really improved in past year. 9) Kyle Tibbo 10) Benji Curtis: Playing junior A in Dieppe, tough kid - maybe a younger option for Halabi's role next year? Not a good sign when your top 4 prospects and 5 of the top 8 may never play a game in your uniform. It's nice to have high end US kids to try and bring over but when you have to count on them coming it's not good... I think you will see Leger, Jacob, and Cormier all on the team next year - sounds like all have the potential to develop into decent players. If we can land one or two out of the top 4, it would be gravy, and a big boost to our blueline going forward. It is not like most teams have an excess of great prospects not on their current roster - for the most part, if your drafted players are that good, they are already on your team. I think quantity wise, we have done a decent job rebuilding our 16 and 17 y/o player pool - the problem is that we lack 3 or 4 future stars that other teams seem to possess ... we have plenty of 2nd/3rd line types ...
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Post by Captain Obvious on Apr 10, 2014 10:52:26 GMT -4
Not a good sign when your top 4 prospects and 5 of the top 8 may never play a game in your uniform. It's nice to have high end US kids to try and bring over but when you have to count on them coming it's not good... I think you will see Leger, Jacob, and Cormier all on the team next year - sounds like all have the potential to develop into decent players. If we can land one or two out of the top 4, it would be gravy, and a big boost to our blueline going forward. It is not like most teams have an excess of great prospects not on their current roster - for the most part, if your drafted players are that good, they are already on your team. I think quantity wise, we have done a decent job rebuilding our 16 and 17 y/o player pool - the problem is that we lack 3 or 4 future stars that other teams seem to possess ... we have plenty of 2nd/3rd line types ... True, that's a good point. When you shortcut the rebuild it makes it very hard to have the 4-5 all-star caliber core needed to go all the way. Out of all the "younger than 1995" crop, only Garland is a kid you can say may be a Q all-star but his size is an issue at 5'5". The others best case scenario is likely 2nd 3rd or 4th liners and #3-6 d-men. The high end talent is mostly 1994 and a couple 1995 which should all be gone in 12-13 months.
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Post by jimmy on Apr 10, 2014 12:08:41 GMT -4
I think you will see Leger, Jacob, and Cormier all on the team next year - sounds like all have the potential to develop into decent players. If we can land one or two out of the top 4, it would be gravy, and a big boost to our blueline going forward. It is not like most teams have an excess of great prospects not on their current roster - for the most part, if your drafted players are that good, they are already on your team. I think quantity wise, we have done a decent job rebuilding our 16 and 17 y/o player pool - the problem is that we lack 3 or 4 future stars that other teams seem to possess ... we have plenty of 2nd/3rd line types ... True, that's a good point. When you shortcut the rebuild it makes it very hard to have the 4-5 all-star caliber core needed to go all the way. Out of all the "younger than 1995" crop, only Garland is a kid you can say may be a Q all-star but his size is an issue at 5'5". The others best case scenario is likely 2nd 3rd or 4th liners and #3-6 d-men. The high end talent is mostly 1994 and a couple 1995 which should all be gone in 12-13 months. I think that is one of the reasons you saw the Cats gamble in last year's draft - if you get a kid like MacLeod or Gendron to show up, those are players the calibre of which you otherwise don't get with the picks we had. Similar argument with Jacob - concerns about size and injuries caused him to slide ... the Cats are on record as saying they felt he was a first round calibre player - I am not sold on that yet ... but if he does develop into a top-line talent, that is another possible cornerstone at some point. It will be interesting to look back at the 2013 draft in 3 or 4 years and see how the Cats off the wall strategy played out with the benefit of hindsight ...
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Post by Captain Obvious on Apr 10, 2014 13:00:23 GMT -4
True, that's a good point. When you shortcut the rebuild it makes it very hard to have the 4-5 all-star caliber core needed to go all the way. Out of all the "younger than 1995" crop, only Garland is a kid you can say may be a Q all-star but his size is an issue at 5'5". The others best case scenario is likely 2nd 3rd or 4th liners and #3-6 d-men. The high end talent is mostly 1994 and a couple 1995 which should all be gone in 12-13 months. I think that is one of the reasons you saw the Cats gamble in last year's draft - if you get a kid like MacLeod or Gendron to show up, those are players the calibre of which you otherwise don't get with the picks we had. Similar argument with Jacob - concerns about size and injuries caused him to slide ... the Cats are on record as saying they felt he was a first round calibre player - I am not sold on that yet ... but if he does develop into a top-line talent, that is another possible cornerstone at some point. It will be interesting to look back at the 2013 draft in 3 or 4 years and see how the Cats off the wall strategy played out with the benefit of hindsight ... I think think things went off the rails with the Gormley deal and being a buyer last year. You end up on a wing and a prayer trying to pick up frontline players.
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Post by Arnold Slick on Apr 10, 2014 13:24:24 GMT -4
I think you will see Leger, Jacob, and Cormier all on the team next year - sounds like all have the potential to develop into decent players. If we can land one or two out of the top 4, it would be gravy, and a big boost to our blueline going forward. It is not like most teams have an excess of great prospects not on their current roster - for the most part, if your drafted players are that good, they are already on your team. I think quantity wise, we have done a decent job rebuilding our 16 and 17 y/o player pool - the problem is that we lack 3 or 4 future stars that other teams seem to possess ... we have plenty of 2nd/3rd line types ... True, that's a good point. When you shortcut the rebuild it makes it very hard to have the 4-5 all-star caliber core needed to go all the way. Out of all the "younger than 1995" crop, only Garland is a kid you can say may be a Q all-star but his size is an issue at 5'5". The others best case scenario is likely 2nd 3rd or 4th liners and #3-6 d-men. The high end talent is mostly 1994 and a couple 1995 which should all be gone in 12-13 months. I think you might be selling Holwell a bit short. He was very good for a 16 year old defenceman this season and I definitely think he has the potential to be a #1 pairing dman. Other than that I do agree with you.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Apr 10, 2014 13:26:11 GMT -4
True, that's a good point. When you shortcut the rebuild it makes it very hard to have the 4-5 all-star caliber core needed to go all the way. Out of all the "younger than 1995" crop, only Garland is a kid you can say may be a Q all-star but his size is an issue at 5'5". The others best case scenario is likely 2nd 3rd or 4th liners and #3-6 d-men. The high end talent is mostly 1994 and a couple 1995 which should all be gone in 12-13 months. I think you might be selling Holwell a bit short. He was very good for a 16 year old defenceman this season and I definitely think he has the potential to be a #1 pairing dman. Other than that I do agree with you. He is more likely to be a #3-4 though. At least he won't be a Gormley/Yandle type guy, which they have none in the system.
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Post by SteveUL on Apr 10, 2014 13:51:45 GMT -4
True, that's a good point. When you shortcut the rebuild it makes it very hard to have the 4-5 all-star caliber core needed to go all the way. Out of all the "younger than 1995" crop, only Garland is a kid you can say may be a Q all-star but his size is an issue at 5'5". The others best case scenario is likely 2nd 3rd or 4th liners and #3-6 d-men. The high end talent is mostly 1994 and a couple 1995 which should all be gone in 12-13 months. I think you might be selling Holwell a bit short. He was very good for a 16 year old defenceman this season and I definitely think he has the potential to be a #1 pairing dman. Other than that I do agree with you. I also think Olivier will surprise. He reminds me so much of a 17 YO Jerome Sampson ... except being 16 he is a year ahead of him.
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Post by SteveUL on Apr 10, 2014 13:52:40 GMT -4
I think that is one of the reasons you saw the Cats gamble in last year's draft - if you get a kid like MacLeod or Gendron to show up, those are players the calibre of which you otherwise don't get with the picks we had. Similar argument with Jacob - concerns about size and injuries caused him to slide ... the Cats are on record as saying they felt he was a first round calibre player - I am not sold on that yet ... but if he does develop into a top-line talent, that is another possible cornerstone at some point. It will be interesting to look back at the 2013 draft in 3 or 4 years and see how the Cats off the wall strategy played out with the benefit of hindsight ... I think think things went off the rails with the Gormley deal and being a buyer last year. You end up on a wing and a prayer trying to pick up frontline players. You've said that close to 300 times now ... we know your position on that topic.
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Post by jimmy on Apr 10, 2014 14:09:29 GMT -4
I think think things went off the rails with the Gormley deal and being a buyer last year. You end up on a wing and a prayer trying to pick up frontline players. You've said that close to 300 times now ... we know your position on that topic. And I think we all agree ... That said, nothing anyone can do to change it at this point ... Need to make the best moves possible going forward.
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Post by Penguins23® on Apr 10, 2014 14:12:46 GMT -4
I think that is one of the reasons you saw the Cats gamble in last year's draft - if you get a kid like MacLeod or Gendron to show up, those are players the calibre of which you otherwise don't get with the picks we had. Similar argument with Jacob - concerns about size and injuries caused him to slide ... the Cats are on record as saying they felt he was a first round calibre player - I am not sold on that yet ... but if he does develop into a top-line talent, that is another possible cornerstone at some point. It will be interesting to look back at the 2013 draft in 3 or 4 years and see how the Cats off the wall strategy played out with the benefit of hindsight ... I think think things went off the rails with the Gormley deal and being a buyer last year. You end up on a wing and a prayer trying to pick up frontline players. What's your thoughts on the dispersal draft. Do you think the Wildcats made the right picks?
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Post by Captain Obvious on Apr 10, 2014 16:27:18 GMT -4
I think think things went off the rails with the Gormley deal and being a buyer last year. You end up on a wing and a prayer trying to pick up frontline players. What's your thoughts on the dispersal draft. Do you think the Wildcats made the right picks? They should have taken a chance on Makarov with their 2nd pick. Goaltending was weak the last 2 years until Dubeau stepped up this year.
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Post by bois on Apr 11, 2014 9:37:29 GMT -4
I think think things went off the rails with the Gormley deal and being a buyer last year. You end up on a wing and a prayer trying to pick up frontline players. What's your thoughts on the dispersal draft. Do you think the Wildcats made the right picks? also what are your thoughts on every move the Leafs have made in comparison to the ones the Habs have made in the past say 10 years? and then if you have time please tell me if you think Lucic is tough
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Post by Penguins23® on Apr 11, 2014 9:47:44 GMT -4
What's your thoughts on the dispersal draft. Do you think the Wildcats made the right picks? They should have taken a chance on Makarov with their 2nd pick. Goaltending was weak the last 2 years until Dubeau stepped up this year. Thanks for your insight. I'll add it to the list. Surprise surprise. Another Makarov thread by Billy.... Lalonde I can kind of see it, but why the heck draft Zafiris instead of Makarov? Makes no sense at all... Billy talking about WIll... Why the heck did we pass on Makarov 3 times to draft a 19 year old goalie? This guy better be a natoch above. Nothing against Will but Andrey Makarov would look better in a Cats uniform than Zafiris... 4-0-0 1.76 and .946% so far...plus he is only 18. www.whl.ca/roster/show/id/8776]Regardless...Flynn misjudged and based last midseason and this past summer on this year being a contender and it failed, next year the core is much weaker. Too bad they didn't move Hrivik a year ago and added 2 younger Euros(Makarov plus 17 year old at the draft). The best chance at contending is to build around Shea and hope he develops into a big #1 center at 18 and 19. Makarov the guy the Cats passed on for...Lalonde and Zarifis... I think the proper course last year(midseason) would have been to offload Hrivik for 2 young assets(pick + prospect) and gone younger with Euros instead of a 19 and a 20 yaer old why not a 17 and an 18(Makarov?) year old. They also kept a lot of 19 year olds on the roster instead of playing guys like Malone or Johnston more. Draft Makarov and spend a week or so trying to convince him to report. I agree Hrivik shouldn't be here taking 2 spots, but that was an issue from last year. He should have been moved at midseason instead of a half assed attempt to contend this year. That being said Dyk is not the answer to anything, he looked pretty average in camp and preseason, I doubt he would be much of an upgrade on what is already there like Robichaud and Lalonde. The Euro drafting is definitely an issue...missing out on Makarov(as much as Will has been great, Makarov is younger and wouldn't have required trading Gormley for Dubeau), missing out on a ton of solid guys small market teams got like Kamaev. Andrighetto, Beran, Hyka, Sedlak etc Bottom line, if they are serious about "loading up" for a run they better do ~something~ in nets. Goaltending so far has been well below championship calibre. Still frustrating to watch Andrei Makarov playing for a WJHC powerhouse and the Cats passed on him for Lalonde and...Alex Zafiris!!! Dubeau was good enough at 17 to think maybe he could progress and be taht calibre of goalie. that being said the big mistake was passing on Makarov in the SECOND ROUND of the dispersal draft. That one still baffles me to this day. Nothing against Will or Barbashev but he was a no brainer. I'm not too concerned about the age as long as the guy can do the job. Right now Dubeau doesn't look like he can. We get it Billy but that happened almost 2 years ago. It's probably time to get over it now. If you aren't able to do it yourself there are professionals out there that may be able to help you.
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