Thrasher Draft Picks
First let me begin by offering this disclaimer: I have never watched any of these players skate and thus my comments are preliminary until we get a chance to see them at Prospect Camp or NHL camp later this year. (Hockeysfuture will post a more extensive review with quotes from team officials in the near future.) But for the moment here are the four Thrasher selections.
#67 Spencer Machacek Wing
Just looking at his stats I have a couple of observations. Spencer has played on one of the top teams in the WHL the last two years. His club finished in the top five each year. He has scored 45 points in each season--which is not exactly a terrific number. He ranked 6th and 7th in scoring on his WHL team the last two years. On the plus side he just turned in a great playoff run scoring 20 points in 22 playoff games.
Most players see a jump in between their 1st and 2nd season in juniors, Spencer scored the same number of points both season but he also played 7 fewer games so his scoring rate did increase slightly. But the low scoring rate in his age 17 season suggests he doesn't have much of offensive upside in the NHL. On the other hand it seems pretty clear that his future is that of checker. It is also possible that his point totals are lower because he was on a very good team and I'm guessing he rarely received power play ice time.
Here are some other things to read from McKeens, NHL Draftbuzz and Hockeysfuture.
#115 Niklas Lucenius Center
Hockeysfuture.com had Lucenius ranked as the top Finnish player in this year's draft so that is a plus. On the other it is a down year for Europeans generally. His profile indicates that he plays hard and hits but lacks the vision to be a scorer in the NHL. Looks like another potential checker. Central Scouting had him as the 13th best European Skater on their final rankings.
#175 John Albert Center
I think this is the first ever Thrashers pick from the US National Developmental Team. He will play for Ohio State next season. He is little 5'9" with some scoring touch. Perhaps the team is hoping to find another Brett Sterling type success story?
#205 Paul Postma Defenseman
He has a superstition of taping his sticks between periods. Awesome--he sounds NHL ready to me! Anyone take this late in the draft is a huge longshot to even play a single NHL game. Only time will tell.
#67 Spencer Machacek Wing
Just looking at his stats I have a couple of observations. Spencer has played on one of the top teams in the WHL the last two years. His club finished in the top five each year. He has scored 45 points in each season--which is not exactly a terrific number. He ranked 6th and 7th in scoring on his WHL team the last two years. On the plus side he just turned in a great playoff run scoring 20 points in 22 playoff games.
Most players see a jump in between their 1st and 2nd season in juniors, Spencer scored the same number of points both season but he also played 7 fewer games so his scoring rate did increase slightly. But the low scoring rate in his age 17 season suggests he doesn't have much of offensive upside in the NHL. On the other hand it seems pretty clear that his future is that of checker. It is also possible that his point totals are lower because he was on a very good team and I'm guessing he rarely received power play ice time.
Here are some other things to read from McKeens, NHL Draftbuzz and Hockeysfuture.
#115 Niklas Lucenius Center
Hockeysfuture.com had Lucenius ranked as the top Finnish player in this year's draft so that is a plus. On the other it is a down year for Europeans generally. His profile indicates that he plays hard and hits but lacks the vision to be a scorer in the NHL. Looks like another potential checker. Central Scouting had him as the 13th best European Skater on their final rankings.
#175 John Albert Center
I think this is the first ever Thrashers pick from the US National Developmental Team. He will play for Ohio State next season. He is little 5'9" with some scoring touch. Perhaps the team is hoping to find another Brett Sterling type success story?
#205 Paul Postma Defenseman
He has a superstition of taping his sticks between periods. Awesome--he sounds NHL ready to me! Anyone take this late in the draft is a huge longshot to even play a single NHL game. Only time will tell.
posted by The Falconer at
12:53 PM
1 Comments:
I loved Alberts when he was with the Tijuana Brass but after he broke them up in the late 60's, he just hasn't show me much.
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Anonymous, at 2:08 PM
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