Islanders Top 25 Under 25: Anders Lee at #9, fittingly

Well, not a zillion, but so many different things. And even the slightest weighting of different things can manipulate this list quite a bit.

but the one in IPB didn’t say anything (these criteria and really how they were weighted…which I would expect from a pro scout). I will tell you I am mostly looking at ceiling probability of reaching that ceiling, but also position, NHL readiness etc…which I thought I had explained in another one.

I thought about codifying it more clearly a few times, but ultimately I wanted a cross-section of views to take the temperature.

With a lack of real data, it’s fun (for me) to see a bunch of opinions and spur more opinions … especially since so many of them are inevitably based on articles and a few viewings at best.

That there is some blurry middle between extremes that can turn on many unforeseen events?

Here’s what I mean: When Rob Schremp or Robert Nilsson just try to be Rob Schremp or Robert Nilsson, they end up out of the league. That may be as much of a fault with how coaches, GMs and their teammates view and react to their overall performance, but it is how it goes. If you are Manny Malhotra or Marty Reasoner, you reflect, adapt, and stick around. If you don’t, no one plays you. Kabanov (whom I like very much), for example, strikes me as someone less likely to adapt if he’s not used in an offensive role.

For this topic, once a prospect is gone or returns no asset, he becomes useless.

But I certainly like them there because I know they’re more objective (depending on the stat) than human eyes. But I don’t have trustable numbers for prospects so you see less of a focus on them from me.

(For an example of what I’m talking about, see my thoughts on Matt Martin last year – despite my provocative title, I didn’t say he couldn’t be a valuable asset to the team, but that last year he WASNT being valuable Two different things).

(Also, fine if you want to discount those sources – which of course you have a point on – then lets go with Pronman for now, and then you give me your scouts so I can get a proper opinion. I don’t mind getting alternate evidence).

I don’t think YOU would have brought up size and blamed us for overvaluing him if he put up similar numbers as a 5’8" guy. Maybe you would think his numbers suck (I don’t), but the size is like a nice little bonus feature to me. I have some small guys coming up.

And I’ve never been a fan of equivalencies, even on the MLB level where they’re at least stable and somewhat ground in repeatable work. Hockey equivalencies tend to be kind of crazy and a work in progress at best. Hockey Prospectus has a post on equialencies in the AHL this week in which you can see this – the equivalencies are all over the place based on age.

Moreover, equivalencies, if we trust them, simply give you the value of a prospect if in theory you were to transport them from league A to league B. Not future #s. And I don’t trust them (they barely work for baseball, I don’t think they work for hockey due to the different nature of games and how styles matter, not to mention positions.)

Nobody is saying A is better than B really because they’re prospect ranks…for that matter right now I would’ve put Rakhshani and Dibo up way further. This is to some degree opinion…and personally, I’ve stated that I expect these to change year to year and really within season also.

Tom Gulitti
@TGfireandice Tom Gulitti
Devils announce Josefson has a broken right clavicle.

I always thought he was the injury prone type. :-)

But then I’d feel like I was rec’ing an injury, which is poor form.

Two NHL-drafted overage underclassmen playing together on a powerhouse…gotta amplify their stats, no?

He did play football. It may have slowed his development (he was drafted overage). But slowing development doesn’t mean simply that he will have the same career as otherwise, just a year later. It can’t fully be made up, and does limit his potential.