Ranking Prospects - 2017-18

[herman]

Starting to reconsider lining him up on paper with Matthews.

Hmm? I thought you were always pro-Grundstrom, this article makes you NOT want him on Matthews' line?

Right?

It's because he's a shooter; not just a shooter, but a indiscriminant spray and pray shooter. I don't doubt that Matthews could pick up some rebound goals off that, but I think Grundstrom is better suited to Kadri's line where the net is crashed with regularity and pucks are tucked into open sides.

He's DeMar DeRozan.

Matthews is an in-tight (and outside) shooter, and I'd like his wings occupied by a playmaker and a defense clogger who at least wants to get his linemates the puck.

 

[herman]

Wait, so the Marlies dressed Colin Greening, Ben Smith and Rich Clune over Bracco in both games this weekend?  Why?

Game fitness has been most people's guess. He's a smaller body to begin with, and has been dummying junior hockey on skill.

Top shelf of the roster is also gummed up with Kapanen, Johnsson, Rychel, 11 shots in 2 games Soshnikov, Moore, Aaltonen, Brooks, Timashov.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Right?

It's because he's a shooter; not just a shooter, but a indiscriminant spray and pray shooter. I don't doubt that Matthews could pick up some rebound goals off that, but I think Grundstrom is better suited to Kadri's line where the net is crashed with regularity and pucks are tucked into open sides.

He's DeMar DeRozan.

Matthews is an in-tight (and outside) shooter, and I'd like his wings occupied by a playmaker and a defense clogger who at least wants to get his linemates the puck.

Ah, gotcha. I figured Grunstrom's ability to shoot like that and create rebounds would be beneficial BECAUSE Matthews scores so many goals from close around the net.

A little further to this point though, I'm not sure we should be going ahead and labelling Matthews as any specific type of offensive player. Yes, in his time here so far he's definitely been more of a shooter but I think that's specifically because of the situation he's in with Hyman and at times Brown. His play with Nylander sure makes him look like an elite playmaker as well.

It reminds me of how when Crosby stepped into the league and he was putting up consecutive seasons of 30 goals+/70 or 80+ assists and people said he'd never end up beating Ovi in goals or winning the Rocket. Then in his 5th season he went out and led the league in goals with 51. I have no doubt that type of talk motivated him to do that. Players like Crosby or Matthews or McDavid aren't just elite in one part of the offensive game.

 

[herman]

A little further to this point though, I'm not sure we should be going ahead and labelling Matthews as any specific type of offensive player. Yes, in his time here so far he's definitely been more of a shooter but I think that's specifically because of the situation he's in with Hyman and at times Brown. His play with Nylander sure makes him look like an elite playmaker as well.

You know, that's a really good point. I'm basing my label of Matthews on his existing body of work with ZSC and his first season with the Leafs, but we're really still at the ground floor of his career arc and everything I've seen so far shows me that Matthews will put in the work to do whatever it takes for his team to score (even when he's not on the ice).

Your theory that he's a shooter largely because, in his assessment of what's going on on the ice, he usually has the best shot (position, execution) makes sense. He also leveraged Brown's smart positioning and pretty good shot a few times last season (face off 'loss' play).

Not to put him into such lofty territory right away, but, moreso than McDavid and Eichel and other top picks this past decade, Matthews has that similar quality to Crosby in adaptability to styles. He has shown he can start/score those fancy dancer fast break plays; he is one of the better players on the boards with his tight stickwork and quick hands; he can bomb it from a distance with either the one-timer or the snapper or the heavy wrister; he can tip it netfront any which way.

 

[Coco-puffs]

Wait, so the Marlies dressed Colin Greening, Ben Smith and Rich Clune over Bracco in both games this weekend?  Why?

Game fitness has been most people's guess. He's a smaller body to begin with, and has been dummying junior hockey on skill.

Top shelf of the roster is also gummed up with Kapanen, Johnsson, Rychel, 11 shots in 2 games Soshnikov, Moore, Aaltonen, Brooks, Timashov.

Bracco had Mono earlier this summer and he still hasn't full recovered his strength/conditioning.  Considering how much of a lightweight he was to begin with he's gotta spend even more time bringing it back up to snuff.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-prospect-bracco-case-mono/

 

[herman]

Bracco had Mono earlier this summer and he still hasn't full recovered his strength/conditioning.  Considering how much of a lightweight he was to begin with he's gotta spend even more time bringing it back up to snuff.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-prospect-bracco-case-mono/

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Thanks, Coco-puffs. Brooks had it too, but has been seeing game time (centre depth).

 

[Coco-puffs]

Bracco had Mono earlier this summer and he still hasn't full recovered his strength/conditioning.  Considering how much of a lightweight he was to begin with he's gotta spend even more time bringing it back up to snuff.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-prospect-bracco-case-mono/

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Thanks, Coco-puffs. Brooks had it too, but has been seeing game time (centre depth).

I'm not going to postulate much about how mono might affect people differently, but Bracco was down almost 20 lbs from last years medical to this years.

https://theathletic.com/108256/2017/09/23/mirtle-every-season-the-leafs-get-new-heights-and-weights-but-are-they-right/

Brooks wasn't listed in the chart in that article, which according to Mirtle, means his weight did not change from last year.

EDIT:  Link with listed info from Marlies website:

http://marlies.ca/roster/335/57

Bracco was listed at almost 190 on hockeydb, down to 171 at this years testing.  (Brooks was 175 on hockeydb, up to 181 at this years testing).  Not sure when the info on hockeydb was updated, but Bracco definitely lost a lot of weight.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

In addition to Bracco's potential strength/conditioning issues right now, it should be noted that the Marlies are damn deep right now on the wing. Even when he gets into the line-up he's likely looking at just 4th line minutes, at least as long as Kapanen and Soshnikov are taking up the top-2 RW spots.

 

[herman]

Sounds like mono is the ticket for me to losing some weight. I tried food poisoning earlier this year and that only worked temporarily.

 

[Bender]

Sounds like mono is the ticket for me to losing some weight. I tried food poisoning earlier this year and that only worked temporarily.

A strict diet and exercise regimen works pretty well

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

[herman]

Sounds like mono is the ticket for me to losing some weight. I tried food poisoning earlier this year and that only worked temporarily.

A strict diet and exercise regimen works pretty well

 

[herman]

https://theathletic.com/129280/2017/10/18/pronman-a-look-at-how-three-maple-leafs-defence-prospects-are-progressing/

Pronman dropping some observations on three Leafs defence prospects: Liljegren, Gordeev, and Rasanen.

Liljegren looks like a cross between Gardiner and Nylander (stylistically). Let's see if he can put it all together like they have.

 

[Highlander]

Thanks Herman, I have been sitting on the fence for a long time to sign up to The Athletic but it is a really great site and don't mind paying for the great writing and the ad free environment.  So you got me involved, time to claim commission.

 

[Bender]

Thanks Herman, I have been sitting on the fence for a long time to sign up to The Athletic but it is a really great site and don't mind paying for the great writing and the ad free environment.  So you got me involved, time to claim commission.

Old model is failing. Good writers and good content deserve to be paid. Esp when you see sports sections get cut everywhere these days.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

[herman]

https://theathletic.com/132446/2017/10/19/i-couldnt-sit-frederik-gauthiers-long-gruelling-road-back-to-marlies/

Scott Wheeler got to speak to Gauthier about his recovery from the gruesome injury that ended his last season, an injury that rendered him unable to sit or stand for a week preceding the surgery that would reattach the hamstring that had been torn loose from his left femur.

He suited up last weekend for two games, well ahead of his projected recovery schedule.

Highlander, you can read this now!

 

[Highlander]

Hey Herman
Read it yesterday and good for Freddie, and although I have tried to learn not to love long shots (Frattin, etc.) I would sincerely hope that Freddie can be 4th line Centre down the road a bit.  He has shown a ton of character and resolve.

 

[princedpw]

Thanks Herman, I have been sitting on the fence for a long time to sign up to The Athletic but it is a really great site and don't mind paying for the great writing and the ad free environment.  So you got me involved, time to claim commission.

Old model is failing. Good writers and good content deserve to be paid.

+1

 

[herman]

Jeff Veillette did a long-form review of our prospects before the season started and they are now publicly available for your perusal.

http://faceoffcircle.ca/2017/10/28/public-release-2017-leafs-prospect-rankings/

Things have changed a bit since then.

Korshkov especially! They had a coaching change about 8 games ago, and since then, he scored 8 pts (4G/4A).

 

[herman]

Joseph Woll making life interesting for himself:
https://twitter.com/bcinterruption/status/926985944384835584

 

[herman]

https://theathletic.com/150306/2017/11/10/wheeler-the-complete-maple-leafs-prospect-ranking-first-edition/

Wheeler takes a walk down the Leafs' prospect pipeline.