FanPost

Our first look at the draftees, via NHL Central Scouting


The actual article is interesting, with some details on the domestic prospects... but of course the big thing missing is anything European... forget any sort of in-depth look at overseas prospects, they don't even give you an overview, just a link to a list. (For you Adam Larsson enthusiasts - Sweden is awaaaay near the bottom of this list.)

Like anything else in the scouting game, the more eyeballs you have, the more informed the opinion tends to be. TSN's Bob McKenzie and the ISS prospect rankings (though that's just a list) are two more data points. Another resource - albeit one some have expressed reservations about - is Hockey's Future and their regular roundups. Finally, there's the fine work being done at Premium Scouting, in putting all the prospects on baseball's 20-80 scale - though there's one difficutly they're still ironing out. They don't have a single 2011 Entry Draft roundup anywhere on the site that I can find, making it hunt-and-peck for the information. (Corey Pronman does have a top-50 article on Puck Prospectus.)

Of course, back in the 70's and 80's "hunt and peck" was the call of the draftnik. It's amazing the kind of information to be had from the comfort of one's own cubicle... er, HOME (we'll go with "home") nowadays. Back then, even the franchises could have trouble getting eyeballs on all the available prospects, and with 12 or more rounds, there was a lot to try to figure out. One reason I really hope Premium Scouting can develop into a strong source is this 20-80 scale, with all the players graded out more-or-less standard to a single league, in the attempt to make comparables between leagues (or even coutries) a little simpler.

Take Larsson as an example. He's a kid with international experience from World Juniors, so we have more of an idea of how he compares with Canadians or Czechs or such - but even that's based on a half-dozen games, a small sample size. He's a consensus top-five kid right now, and World Juniors did nothing to cast doubt on that... but... well, there's always a but. It's why a lot of kids try to make it to major junior for 60+ games against the best of Canada, why players such as Gabriel Landeskog and Vladislav Namestnikov (and American Brandon Saad) are in the OHL. It's why it's hard to peg a guy like the Reverend Brock Nelson, who dominated American high schoolers, vis-a-vis a kid who pulled minutes in the Elitserien against grown men.

So - if Larsson's potential graded out to a 65 on his shot and 65 on his skating (50 is league average), and fellow defender Ryan Murphy graded out as 60/60, you could have a general idea of their respective ceilings in the league, a useful tool for the aspiring message-board GM.

Based on the above links and information, I'm forming a general idea of what to hope for in the next draft, depending on where the Isles finish this season. In a follow-up, I plan to outline some of the scenarios and various choices. In the meantime - is there anyone who intrigues you up there? I'm not just thinking about the first round, but the second as well... is there anyone you hope slides to the 30's?

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