-The quiet that is the NHL right now can mercifully be interrupted by latest EA Sports NHL offering.
–Peter Raaymakers wonders who will lead the Binghamton Senators in scoring this year, suggesting it could be any one of Stephane Da Costa, Mike Hoffman, Andre Petersson, Shane Prince, Jakob Silfverberg, Mark Stone, or Mika Zibanejad. Every one of those suggestions is sensible except for Prince, who will likely be back with the Ottawa 67s. Dave Young wrote the follow-up piece on the defense and suggested Mark Borowiecki, Patrick Wiercioch, and Andre Benoit as the leaders (his list includes the assumption that Jared Cowen will lead them); the idea here does not seem to be about numbers (as Raaymakers is). Benoit will lead the Binghamton blueline in points if he stays healthy. My own projections are forthcoming.
–John Henkelman gives us his updated top-20 Sens prospects (with some comments of my own included):
1. Mika Zibanejad – the blurb suggests he needs to work on his faceoffs, which is an odd task for a winger
2. Jakob Silfverberg – assumes he will play in the top-six in the NHL this season, which is a reasonable assumption, but must be taken with a grain of salt
3. Robin Lehner
4. Stefan Noesen
5. Cody Ceci
6. Mark Stone – I agree with Henkelman that he likely tops out as a top-nine forward who can play on the powerplay
7. Mark Borowiecki
8. Andre Petersson
9. Patrick Wiercioch
10. Matt Puempel
11. Jim O’Brien – I’m not fond of the HF formula that includes a player like this as a “prospect”
12. Shane Prince – sensibly suggests that he’ll likely be returned to the junior ranks
13. Mike Hoffman
14. Stephane Da Costa – points out that the expectations were too high for him
15. Derek Grant
16. Eric Gryba
17. Jean-Gabriel Pageau
18. Fredrik Claesson
19. Ben Blood
20. Chris Driedger
Prospects of interest that didn’t make the cut: David Dziurzynski, Cole Schneider, Jarrod Maidens, and Michael Sdao.
When I first discovered Hockey’s Future years ago it was like mana from heaven–complete lists of prospects with analysis and grades for all of them. These days, when I read actual scouting reports and paying attention to organisational comments, the shine isn’t quite the same, but it continues to be a useful resource.
–Chris Phillips is suing his former agent (the same being sued by Dany Heatley)
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
eyeonthesens 