Highlander
Active member
That may be a bit of over inflated self indulgence, don't ya think Nik?Nik the Trik said:
2017 Draft Review
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
herman
Well-known member
herman said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6bzvuBnJWY
These are just his offensive plays, but the skills and drive and opportunistic streak are clear. If he plays defense even half as well, he'd be the player I hoped Soshnikov (and Komarov) would become (grind, pass, and shoot). The slot play, tips, and garbage cleanup looks like it can carry over. Blind wristers from the blue line probably won't. Good snapper, strong wrister (but will need to speed up or make more deceptive the release), moves around the ice pretty easily.
Similar profile to Korshkov, Grundstrom, with a slightly different flavour. Reminds me of a 1/3 skilled Matthews actually.
Wow is that ever a bad league.
herman
Well-known member
https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/toronto-maple-leafs-prospects/2017/6/29/15872622/toronto-maple-leafs-draft-pick-prospect-a-deeper-look-at-eemeli-rasanen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc7ryu_3S00 - a penalty and fight he took for being big.
Rasanen's growth outpaced his strength, but I think he'll catch back up in the next two years. Skating has already improved from the previous season, and will only improve with added strength.
Highlights video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAboQukUWQE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc7ryu_3S00 - a penalty and fight he took for being big.
Rasanen's growth outpaced his strength, but I think he'll catch back up in the next two years. Skating has already improved from the previous season, and will only improve with added strength.
Highlights video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAboQukUWQE
Highlander
Active member
Funny but I have a better feeling of this dude than the 2nd round pick.
WhatIfGodWasALeaf
Active member
Highlander said:
Very different players, Gordeev is a pretty good skating winger who is learning to play defense. Rasanen is a limited skater who is a tank defensively if you could combine the two you'd have an all world prospect.
It'll come down to who can fill out their game, but I get the sense both are infinitely more promising that Middleton and Mattinen from the year before.
herman
Well-known member
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Absolutely better bets than Middleton/Mattinen (who both improved, but that's not a high hurdle).
As WIGWAL pointed out, they're both projects approaching a similar target from different ends, but they have nearly the same physical profile.
They're both super tall with huge wingspans, which is what Hunter appears to be going for with picks like Nielsen, Desrocher, JD Greenway, and the aforementioned Middleton and Mattinen.
Rasanen sprouted up rather quickly and is still adjusting to his new size. His strength, especially lower half, hasn't caught up yet, but eventually it will. His skating technique will need improvement and adjustment as a result (he falls a lot), but his defensive instincts and skills are there. The Finnish hockey style is probably the closest of the European hockey styles to North America's.
Gordeev is pretty much a newb to playing full time defense, also sorting out new size issues and figuring out his limits. Fortunately, he already skates very well and with added strength could be really hard to deal with. He has the offensive instincts from his time as a forward (a la Gardiner), but needs to work on his defense reads, gap control, pivots, positioning, etc.
If they both max out their potential, we could be looking at players bordering on Parayko, or Franson with speed/physicality. They'll be given pretty long leashes to develop alongside Nielsen (who also needs skating and defensive instinct coaching).