GAME DAY:Ottawa Senators @ New York Rangers - 7:00pm ET - THU. Mar. 24, 2011

Thanks, my mistake. I was looking at a review of the game on Red Line Report and he wasn't mentioned. Guess the reviwer didn't notice him enough to talk about him (either negatively or positively).

Big Ev wrote:Thanks, my mistake. I was looking at a review of the game on Red Line Report and he wasn't mentioned. Guess the reviwer didn't notice him enough to talk about him (either negatively or positively).

Sounds like he was fairly quiet in the game...

http://www.thescoutingreport.org/chl-feature-nhlchl-top-prospects-game/

"Ryan Strome was fairly quiet in this game, when I was hoping he would show his offensive abilities like he has done with the Niagara IceDogs this season. There were a couple plays where he went for a fancy dangle, but just didn’t seem to have it all on this night. Strome brightest quality when he is on is his ability to make spectacular moves at top speed. Strome sees the offensive zone very well, which enables his natural playmaking ability to shine. His biggest flaw at the current time is similar to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins where his overall strength takes away from his skill set. In effect, Strome struggles when it comes to board play, which is something he will have to work on."

RNH and Strome are the two guys with the biggest upside in the draft. Strome has a little more room to put on some weight though and could probably play around 195-200 lbs which is plenty.

The crappy thing about drafting a guy like RNH or Strome is you know they will be too good for their respective leagues next year but are they physically mature enough to be in The NHL? Tough to say. Sometimes you gotta throw them into the fire and see what comes of it.

I am still not used to Anderson, having a goalie that can match Lundqvist in save % ...

Did they take Butler off Spezza's line last night ?

NEELY wrote:
The crappy thing about drafting a guy like RNH or Strome is you know they will be too good for their respective leagues next year but are they physically mature enough to be in The NHL? Tough to say. Sometimes you gotta throw them into the fire and see what comes of it.

Reminds me of how McKenzie compared RNH to Patrick Kane. He didn't think Kane was physically to ready to play in the NHL right away but he was and won the Calder in the process.

He conceded RNH might be the same.

Well Strome wasn't even on the "Top Prospects" list that Murray showed the season-ticker holders at the hotstove event last Saturday.

(He said it was just Central Scouting's list though hehe)

Hoags wrote:

NEELY wrote:
The crappy thing about drafting a guy like RNH or Strome is you know they will be too good for their respective leagues next year but are they physically mature enough to be in The NHL? Tough to say. Sometimes you gotta throw them into the fire and see what comes of it.

Reminds me of how McKenzie compared RNH to Patrick Kane. He didn't think Kane was physically to ready to play in the NHL right away but he was and won the Calder in the process.

He conceded RNH might be the same.

I would throw Strome into that convo as well. Playing protected mins behind Spezza and having some pretty good wingers in Alfi/Butler/Michalek/Foligno going into next year will help a guy like Strome or RNH really develop.

If they can avoid a lot of the physical contact then he will be fine for the most, skill wise they are both NHL ready IMO.

Big Ev wrote:Well Strome wasn't even on the "Top Prospects" list that Murray showed the season-ticker holders at the hotstove event last Saturday.

(He said it was just Central Scouting's list though hehe)

Exactly. I always look at a guy like Karlsson as the example of an "off the board" pick. There isn't a GM in the league that would put his own teams actual list for the public to see.

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Well Strome wasn't even on the "Top Prospects" list that Murray showed the season-ticker holders at the hotstove event last Saturday.

(He said it was just Central Scouting's list though hehe)

Exactly. I always look at a guy like Karlsson as the example of an "off the board" pick. There isn't a GM in the league that would put his own teams actual list for the public to see.

We're dealing with a Top 5 pick here. Can't screw it up. Go with the safe pick, save the home run for the next pick.

Big Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Well Strome wasn't even on the "Top Prospects" list that Murray showed the season-ticker holders at the hotstove event last Saturday.

(He said it was just Central Scouting's list though hehe)

Exactly. I always look at a guy like Karlsson as the example of an "off the board" pick. There isn't a GM in the league that would put his own teams actual list for the public to see.

We're dealing with a Top 5 pick here. Can't screw it up. Go with the safe pick, save the home run for the next pick.

Safest pick is Landeskog by a mile.

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Well Strome wasn't even on the "Top Prospects" list that Murray showed the season-ticker holders at the hotstove event last Saturday.

(He said it was just Central Scouting's list though hehe)

Exactly. I always look at a guy like Karlsson as the example of an "off the board" pick. There isn't a GM in the league that would put his own teams actual list for the public to see.

We're dealing with a Top 5 pick here. Can't screw it up. Go with the safe pick, save the home run for the next pick.

Safest pick is Landeskog by a mile.

Larsson, then Landeskog, but I'm assuming we won't have the chance to draft either of them. If we're 4th and RNH is also gone, the safest pick is Couturier.

Couturier is not the safest pick for a lot of reasons, after the top 3 it's Hamilton, no doubts about it. There are a ton of doubts about Couturier and for good reason. Like I said before, I think he falls out of the top 5 for sure. Strome is a better player at this point and more dominate.

Neely, why is it in your opinion that you have ranked the prospects the way you have?

NEELY wrote:Couturier is not the safest pick for a lot of reasons, after the top 3 it's Hamilton, no doubts about it. There are a ton of doubts about Couturier and for good reason. Like I said before, I think he falls out of the top 5 for sure. Strome is a better player at this point and more dominate.

Dominant. Dominate is a verb.

The only doubts are his mononucleosis. If he didn't get that he would have finished with more points, but his PPG is dam good anyway. I just don't think Strome is a better prospect because of one dominant season. SC is up for MVP of the Q as well.

I don't like how Strome is not as good as SC away from the puck, and he is prone to being invisible a lot of times. He may one-dimensionalish.

Dash wrote:Neely, why is it in your opinion that you have ranked the prospects the way you have?

Larsson I haven't seen enough of so I have to go by what everyone else says. Top 3 for sure. RNH is an offensive powerhouse that has the highest potential in the draft and playing in a very tough league. Landeskog IMO has more Iginla in him than Morrow, can score goals, lead, skate, so on and on. Safest pick IMO based on what I personally have seen and know. Those are the top 3 for those reason.

After that, I think Strome has the highest upside in terms of forwards and it isn't close. Hamilton has size, speed, skill, toughness, everything you want in a D man and he is the safest pick after the top 3 for those reason, he's pretty much can't miss in terms of a top 4 D man. After that, that's when I look at Couturier and Huberneau, those 2 IMO are neck in neck in terms of who will go next. They both look to be legit picks. Couturier looks to me to be a number 2 center at worst and a number 2 center at best, he will be a number 2 center. He's a safe pick in that sense because I think he is the most obvious prospect in terms of what he will be in The NHL. Huberneau is a guy that could be a home run or bunt... not sure which way he will go but he is indeed on par with Couturier at this point.

I think the top 3 in this draft are obvious and Strome and Hamilton go 4, 5 (interchangable) based on what I just commented on. I think at this point if The Sens draft 4th Strome is a Sen, Hamilton is a Islander, and Couturier is a Devil.

Big Ev wrote:

NEELY wrote:Couturier is not the safest pick for a lot of reasons, after the top 3 it's Hamilton, no doubts about it. There are a ton of doubts about Couturier and for good reason. Like I said before, I think he falls out of the top 5 for sure. Strome is a better player at this point and more dominate.

Dominant. Dominate is a verb.

The only doubts are his mononucleosis. If he didn't get that he would have finished with more points, but his PPG is dam good anyway. I just don't think Strome is a better prospect because of one dominant season. SC is up for MVP of the Q as well.

There is a lot of stat padding where he plays, I'm not convinced he can put up the points he does in tight games or games that there is a lot ridding on. You will see Strome's stock go up or down based on his playoffs coming up.

Also Hoffman won the MVP in the Q and he is barly an AHL player. Winning the MVP in that league is almost a curse.

I think the consensus top 3 is Larsson, Nugent-Hopkins and Landeskog.

That is why after that it's a tough choice. You really do not want to make the wrong one.