How about another prospects list?

[pixburgher66]

The winner of the 2016 CJHL Top Goaltender Award is Matthew Murray of the Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL).



Matthew Murray, Spruce Grove Saints, AJHL (29 GP, 23 W – 4 L – 2.59 GAA – .910 S% – 3 SO) - Matthew Murray had a season filled with awards and recognitions beginning in December as he won a Gold Medal with Team Canada West at the 2015 World Junior A Challenge. In January, Murray was selected to participate in the 2016 CJHL Prospects Game and soon after was identified in the NHL Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings. In addition, Murray was awarded the Alberta Ford Dealers AJHL Goaltender of the Week in November 2015 and was selected as the Viterra AJHL Star of the Game twice for the Saints. In his second year with the Saints, Matt has compiled a record of 23-4-0 with 3 shutouts, a 2.59 GAA and .910 Save Percentage. Through the month of November 2015, Murray recorded 7 consecutive wins for the Saints. Last season Matthew backstopped Spruce Grove to their second consecutive AJHL Championship as a rookie, while also sharing in the AJHL Top Goaltender award, which is awarded to the AJHL team with the lowest GAA. The 18 year old from St Albert, Albert has committed to the University of Massachusetts of the NCAA Division I.

There's another Matt Murray in goal.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Lets see the Isles don't have a two, three or five. Can we say trade down or what?

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Lets see the Isles don't have a two, three or five. Can we say trade down or what?

If the Isles aren't trading everything they can to build a contender now they're hopeless.

 

[dash]

Latest TSN Mock draft:

 

[esls79]

So TSN is basically saying the Blues will beat the Pens for the Cup?

/gotta say I like the Bellows to Minny thing though

 

[puckhead]

So TSN is basically saying the Blues will beat the Pens for the Cup?

/gotta say I like the Bellows to Minny thing though

He lies on the ice like a bitch.


/from memory, it's been a while since I've heard it

 

[KennyBanyeah]

He lies on the ice like a bitch.
Like a broad. But close enough.

/from memory, it's been a while since I've heard it

 

[DragonfromTO]

He lies on the ice like a bitch.


/from memory, it's been a while since I've heard it

You're close but you're being too harsh... he was just acting like a broad, not a bitch

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So TSN is basically saying the Blues will beat the Pens for the Cup?

/gotta say I like the Bellows to Minny thing though

I think they're going by regular season standings amongst the 4 remaining teams.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

If the Isles aren't trading everything they can to build a contender now they're hopeless.

From what I've read they're going to look to trade Halak, Bailey amongst others to create cap space so they can possibly be active in free agency.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I'll be surprised if Fabbro is available at 17. I won't be surprised if he goes in the top 10.

 

[puckhead]

that's a decent year

 

[dash]

that's a decent year

View attachment 120593

The reward for that fine year - he's heading to Winnipeg.

 

[forty_three]

The reward for that fine year - he's heading to Winnipeg.

View attachment 120597

Can I get, ummmmm


snacks in Winnibego?

 

[dash]

Lot of talk that the Blue Jackets might take Matthew Tkachuk instead of Jesse PullyourRV...

 

[KennyBanyeah]

that's a decent year

View attachment 120593

I think he'll be the best player in this draft. Not that Matthews will be a slouch or anything, I just see Laine as having an Ovechkin type of impact.

 

[DragonfromTO]

I think he'll be the best player in this draft. Not that Matthews will be a slouch or anything, I just see Laine as having an Ovechkin type of impact.

You certainly may be right that Laine will someday develop into something like Ovechkin but I definitely don't think he's as good a prospect right now as Ovechkin was in his draft year. I think of it this way: when Ovechkin was draft eligible there was a #1 centre prospect available right alongside him, one that was probably even better than Matthews. And yet despite that I don't remember anyone having Malkin #1 and Ovechkin #2 at any point in time... that's how good a wing prospect Ovechkin was. And if 18 year old Malkin were in this draft he'd almost certainly push Laine down to the 3rd pick.

This isn't a knock on the kid at all, Ovechkin is just an almost impossibly high bar to clear for a prospect (especially if he's a winger too).

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

This isn't a knock on the kid at all, Ovechkin is just an almost impossibly high bar to clear for a prospect (especially if he's a winger too).

Yeah but, why? Was it just scouts' opinions of him? Because if we're going by numbers Laine has Ovechkin by most metrics I can see:

Laine had 12 pts in 10 games at the Worlds, Ovechkin had 2 pts in 6 games in the Worlds prior to his draft

Laine had 13 pts in 7 games at the WJC, Ovechkin had 7 pts in 6 games

Laine averaged .71 PPG in his final league season before his draft, Ovechkin .73. This is the only stat OV has Laine beat in.

I know different eras but what was it about Ovechkin at the time of his draft that makes him something Laine isn't?

 

[DragonfromTO]

Yeah but, why? Was it just scouts' opinions of him? Because if we're going by numbers Laine has Ovechkin by most metrics I can see:

Laine had 12 pts in 10 games at the Worlds, Ovechkin had 2 pts in 6 games in the Worlds prior to his draft

Laine had 13 pts in 7 games at the WJC, Ovechkin had 7 pts in 6 games

Laine averaged .71 PPG in his final league season before his draft, Ovechkin .73. This is the only stat OV has Laine beat in.

I know different eras but what was it about Ovechkin at the time of his draft that makes him something Laine isn't?

It's both, the scouts' opinions and the numbers. Remember that they did not put up their numbers in the same league, the Russian league was better. You can't compare those numbers straight up without any adjustment. And you know me well enough by now to know that I don't let week long tournaments sway me too much, even if they're literally all the data I have.

Although if you want to look at league numbers that can be compared straight up there was actually a player drafted a few years ago who played in the same league as Laine and performed even better in his draft year (48 points in 53 games). He was a centre too, and was similarly sized. And Sasha Barkov was a hell of a prospect and is a hell of a player who any team would absolutely love to have, but he wasn't and isn't Ovechkin.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Yeah but, why? Was it just scouts' opinions of him? Because if we're going by numbers Laine has Ovechkin by most metrics I can see:

Laine had 12 pts in 10 games at the Worlds, Ovechkin had 2 pts in 6 games in the Worlds prior to his draft

Laine had 13 pts in 7 games at the WJC, Ovechkin had 7 pts in 6 games

Laine averaged .71 PPG in his final league season before his draft, Ovechkin .73. This is the only stat OV has Laine beat in.

I know different eras but what was it about Ovechkin at the time of his draft that makes him something Laine isn't?

I mentioned the league being better but didn't have NHL equivalent point data available. I did a little googling and found them though (all data is for 82 games)

03-04 Ovechkin: 16 goals, 12 assists
15-16 Laine: 9 goals, 8 assists

The SM Liiga just isn't that good a men's league. Hell, the NLA (where Matthews played) is also rated as remarkably better than SM Liiga and Matthews scored well over a point a game there. In case you're curious, here's the NHL equivalencies for his 17 year old season in Switzerland (once again per 82 games):

15-16 Matthews: 22 goals, 20 assists

Now you see part of why I'm excited about Matthews.