Prospecting Prospect - End of Season 18/19

My prayers answered.

The DEL not starting until mid November and icing Stutzle is a positive for mocks. Byfield not playing same.

Ev wrote:The athletic beat writers just did a mock draft and have it exactly how I would do the mock for the top 5 today. Lafreneire, Stutzle, Byfield, Perfetti, Raymond

This is how I see it going too. 2 and 3 are a coinflip but there is a lot suggesting LA takes Stutzle over Byfield. I'd be shocked if Detroit passes on Perfetti but Yzerman is not a conventional drafter as Lagoon pointed out. However, they do need a 1C and the links between Perfetti and Detroit are hard to ignore

Man, all this sounds so familiar. Very interesting. I could’ve sworn this was on this site 3 months ago.

3. Marco Rossi — C, Ottawa 67’s, 5-foot-9

Rossi was busy this summer. He skated with the ZSC Lions. He skated privately with Rob Schremp. He got fully healthy for the first time in a while and worked harder than ever in the gym. And now he has decided against signing in Europe, despite considerable interest, because he, his family, and his agent Serge Payer believe he’s going to make his NHL club this winter. Rossi has also reached agreements to practice with the EBEL’s Graz99ers and their head coach Doug Mason, as well as the DEL’s Straubing Tigers and their head coach Tom Pokel.

I don’t know how much more I can say about Rossi. He’s not far off from my idea of a perfect hockey player. He can break teams down through seams, he can beat defenders one-on-one both off the cycle (with strength) and the rush (with finesse and touch). He can score with his release or his hands and footwork. He plays in the middle of the ice but knows when to take the outside lane. And he’s the best defensive forward in the draft. Some evaluators point to his height and question whether he’ll stick at centre, his natural position. Others question his late birthday and dominant Ottawa 67’s team for the effect they had on his remarkable production. And while the latter has some effect on my evaluation, the former is lazy and doesn’t account for how strong he is or the way his low centre of gravity in his stance helps him fight off bigger defenders. He’s also one of the most determined, focused prospects I’ve ever interacted with and is probably the most NHL-ready player in the draft after Lafreniere, so the team that selects him is potentially getting an impact player from Day 1.

I always come back to Ottawa 67’s general manager James Boyd telling me this about Rossi:

“He’s a phenomenal player. Phenomenal. A few teams that have picked up on it. I’m biased but I think he’s the best player in our league. It’s not often you’ve got a player on your team who is the best offensive player, the best defensive player, the best guy on faceoffs, the best guy on the power play, the best guy on the penalty kill and probably your No. 1 shootout shooter. And the thing is he doesn’t cheat, so as the game goes along, he takes over. The No. 1 thing for me is his skating — which was a concern for some people — is phenomenal. Some guys are interested in getting better, he’s obsessed. If I told him to eat a pound of sunflower seeds every day because it would help him get to the NHL, he’d be right on it. It’s only going to continue. You hear this sort of stuff about Sidney Crosby or Shea Weber when they were juniors, it’s almost like a disorder, the striving to get better. I see the same thing in Marco. Nothing’s going to stop him.”

Delicious. The Kings just loaned 5 of their NA prospects to the DEL. That’s in Germany for those that don’t know. Add that to their Marco Sturm German connection and their greater need for a W over a C and there is just one more reason to believe a scenario for Stutzle to get called 2nd overall.

I want to read into this as a positive sign but perhaps the DEL has a higher threshold for NA players? I know in Switzerland you can only have 3 international players, the KHL is already up and running (and probably doesn't have out clauses), which leaves the Finnish and Swedish leagues whose start dates keep getting pushed back?

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I want to read into this as a positive sign but perhaps the DEL has a higher threshold for NA players? I know in Switzerland you can only have 3 international players, the KHL is already up and running (and probably doesn't have out clauses), which leaves the Finnish and Swedish leagues whose start dates keep getting pushed back?

Lots of reasons for it. The Kings owner has a German family lineage. Robitaille sits on some German board too. Conspiracy theories abound in order for me to hope and pray for the Kings to fill by positional need instead of my BPA.

And Sweden is already playing. Raymond says hi.

Let's hope you're right. And I thought SEL was in pre-season? Maybe it was the DEL that was having delays getting going? Anyway, not holding my breath but hope you're right.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Let's hope you're right. And I thought SEL was in pre-season? Maybe it was the DEL that was having delays getting going? Anyway, not holding my breath but hope you're right.

Raymond already torched the preseason, he scored in game 1 of the season. He’s added 20 pounds and worked on his shot. The only real questions with him were those two things.

Trust me, I’d like to see LA miss on a prospect for once. They’ve built the best prospect pool in the NHL by not missing though. They can afford to look at all the positives in Stützle’s game and hope they hit another homerun if they take him. He gives them immediate help that Byfield most likely won’t. Add in all the German connections and the glut of C’s they already have, I will give it minimum odds of us drafting Byfield. I don’t know. I’m a dreamer who constantly gets woken up from nightmares as most Sens fans do.

These ties have been known for months. Kings fans just wished to ignore them. At least we don't have to make the decision like LA does.

Yup and that says a lot regarding the different calibre of player the two are.

I see the Sens with two option: Stutzle and Rossi or Byfield and Raymond.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I see the Sens with two option: Stutzle and Rossi or Byfield and Raymond.

There are far more options that that for #5. I have heard/read the following names only: Byfield, Stutzle for 3 and Raymond, Drysdale, Sanderson, Perfetti, and Quinn for 5. We will see what happens. It will be extremely hard to pass on Perfetti if he makes it by Detroit (and I think he won't be passed on by them). I would only guarantee the two choices for #3, like you said.

I think they will leave with a 1C and a 1 winger. If they end up with Stutzle I think the end up taking a center just in case. If they end up with Byfield they will lean towards a winger - though a dman may not be out of the question. I've heard that Drysdale maybe isn't the clear cut #1 dman anymore and I'd prefer not to take another LHD

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I think they will leave with a 1C and a 1 winger. If they end up with Stutzle I think the end up taking a center just in case. If they end up with Byfield they will lean towards a winger - though a dman may not be out of the question. I've heard that Drysdale maybe isn't the clear cut #1 dman anymore and I'd prefer not to take another LHD

I don’t think position will matter at all to be honest. They will take the top player on their list. Drysdale hasn’t been the clearcut dman for a long time now. It’s neck and neck between him and Sanderson. I think both will be picked in the top 7-8.

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I see the Sens with two option: Stutzle and Rossi or Byfield and Raymond.

I don’t see those pairs as ones we need to pick one from. That actually doesn’t make sense to me.

If anyone can make sense of 3-11 in a mock, I’d give my praise.

Raymond, Rossi, Holtz, Askarov, Drysdale, Perfetti, Lundell, Stutzle, Sanderson.

I’d love to see someone get 4 of those 9 right.

Lagoon wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I see the Sens with two option: Stutzle and Rossi or Byfield and Raymond.

I don’t see those pairs as ones we need to pick one from. That actually doesn’t make sense to me.

If anyone can make sense of 3-11 in a mock, I’d give my praise.

Raymond, Rossi, Holtz, Askarov, Drysdale, Perfetti, Lundell, Stutzle, Sanderson.

I’d love to see someone get 4 of those 9 right.

I only care about top 5 but will publish a mock before the draft. I’ll be wrong a lot for sure.

Ev wrote:

Lagoon wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:I see the Sens with two option: Stutzle and Rossi or Byfield and Raymond.

I don’t see those pairs as ones we need to pick one from. That actually doesn’t make sense to me.

If anyone can make sense of 3-11 in a mock, I’d give my praise.

Raymond, Rossi, Holtz, Askarov, Drysdale, Perfetti, Lundell, Stutzle, Sanderson.

I’d love to see someone get 4 of those 9 right.

I only care about top 5 but will publish a mock before the draft. I’ll be wrong a lot for sure.

Six pack of the claw. Your top 5 vs mine.