Nichols looks at Pierre Dorion’s recent comments on prospects, but there’s not much to say about it. Nichols is absolutely correct that Binghamton’s recent improved play isn’t a true sign of development or growth (albeit I find it interesting how defensive Dorion is about the team’s performance). For those who don’t watch the BSens the primary difference the last month or so is better player usage (more starts for Chris Driedger, benching Zack Stortini, etc–of late Kleinendorst is getting much more value out of dressing seven defensemen instead of six). Nichols is right that neither Nick Paul nor Francis Perron are anywhere near ready for the NHL and that most of the production on the BSens comes from veterans with no potential (the addition of KHL castaway Jason Akeson has helped a lot). Nichols comments on where the Sens draft from (Sweden, US, etc) might have benefited from some extra reading, and I think his idea about Melnyk’s background influencing a lack of Russians as far-fetched (how would that jive with the Gonchar and Kovalev additions?), but on the whole the substance is fine.
It’s been interesting reading all the praise this season for Ryan Dzingel, given all the doubt expressed in the off-season (as I point out in that link, I had no such qualms). He’s yet another example that if you draft for skill the potential payoff is always better than what you get out of guys who are ‘good in the corners’.
Here’s a look at how various Sens prospects are doing (players are organised by points-per-game, PPG; I highlighted those who played in the WJC):
CHL
Filip Chlapik (Charlottetown; 2-48/15) 26-20-24-44 (1.69, 1st in scoring)
Played for the Czech’s in the WJC (5-2-1-3), tied with four others for 3rd in scoring; he’s 17th in scoring in the QMJHL, but 2nd in PPG
Tomas Chabot (Saint John; 1-18/15) 14-5-15-20 (1.42, 1st in blueline scoring)
Played for Canada in the WJC (7-4-6-10), tied for first in scoring and was named tournament MVP; he’s second among blueliners in PPG in the Q (admittedly it’s a small sample size)
Logan Brown (Windsor; 1-11/16) 21-8-21-29 (1.38, 3rd in scoring)
Roughly on par with 17-year old Gabriel Vilardi for production on the team, he’s among the top-15 in the OHL (PPG)
Filip Ahl (Regina; 4-109/15) 29-18-14-33 (1.13, tied for ninth in scoring)
Played for Sweden in the WJC (7-0-2-2), tied with three other players for 12th in scoring; as one of the older players on the Pats his numbers aren’t remarkable (he’s 6th in PPG)
Cody Donaghey (Charlottetown/Sherbrooke; T-16) 37-10-25-35 (0.94, 1st in blueline scoring)
He’s 4th in blueline scoring in the Q (8th in PPG); Sherbrooke is a bad team so his pace is likely to slow down
Maxime Lajoie (Swift Current; 5-133/16) 40-7-19-26 (0.65, 2nd in blueline scoring)
He’s top-20 in the WHL for blueline scoring (19th), although lower when it comes to PPG (23rd); he’s on a similar pace to his production when he was drafted
NCAA
Colin White (Boston; 1-21/15) 18-10-7-17 (0.94, sophomore; 3rd in team scoring)
Played for the US in the WJC (7-7-1-8), tied for 2nd in scoring; he’s essentially tied for first in team scoring in PPG with Matt Gaudreau (Johnny’s brother)
Robert Baillargeon (Arizona; 5-136/12) 22-9-9-18 (0.81, senior; 1st in team in scoring)
Playing for an atrocious Arizona team that’s not that interested in winning
Christian Wolanin (North Dakota; 4-107/15) 19-2-10-12 (0.63, sophomore; 2nd in blueline scoring)
A distant second to blueliner Tucker Poolman (Win) in scoring, it’s been a good season for him
Chris Leblanc (Merrimack; 6-161/13) 10-3-2-5 (0.50, senior; tied-9th in scoring)
Habitually praised by Sens management at rookie camps he’s in the midst of yet another unremarkable season; by PPG he’s third on the team in scoring, but it’s a small sample size
Shane Eiserman (New Hampshire; 4-100/14) 20-3-6-9 (0.45, junior; 9th in scoring)
Essentially no improvement since his freshmen year
Miles Gendron (Connecticut; 3-70/14) 21-3-6-9 (0.42, sophomore; 1st in blueline scoring)
Steady improvement over his freshmen year; leads a fairly limp blueline
Kelly Summers (Clarkson; 7-189/14) 21-1-8-9 (0.42, junior, 2nd in blueline scoring)
He’s actually third in PPG on the blueline, although top-scorer James De Haas (Det) isn’t far in front of him; he continues to show gradual improvement
Todd Burgess (RPI; 4-103/16) injured (freshman)
Expected to miss the entire season
Joel Daccord (Arizona; 7-199/15) 2-7-0 4.74 .863 (freshman; worst of three goaltenders)
The team is giving all three of its goaltenders a chance and he’s struggled the most (he is the youngest, however); clearly the team isn’t concerned with winning this year
Europe
Markus Nurmi (TPS Jr; 6-163/16) 21-10-11-21 (1.00, 1st in scoring)
TPS is in the midst of a rebuild and most of the key players on their roster are older players (with the exception of undrafted 22-year old Jasper Lindsten and 20-year old Patrik Virta); the 18-year old Nurmi is the youngest forward to suit up for the men’s team (3-0-0-0)–the next youngest being 19-year old Teemu Vayrynen (18-1-1-2); among his peers in Finnish junior he’s 10th in overall scoring (or tied with several for fourth in points-per-game), with a healthy lead over his junior teammates
Jonathan Dahlen (Timra; 2-42/16) 27-12-9-21 (0.77, 2nd in scoring)
it’s important to note that he’s currently in the Allsvenskan, not the SHL (so Sweden’s second division); he played for Sweden at the WJC (7-5-1-6), finishing 5th in scoring; the 19-year old plays for a very young roster, currently behind future high draft pick Elias Pettersson (he’s also second among players 19 and under in the league), but otherwise well ahead younger players and those close to his age (18-year old Jesper Boqvsit is closest 17-3-8-11)
Christian Jaros (Lulea; 5-139/15) 26-3-5-8 (0.30, 3rd in blueline scoring)
His team doesn’t score much (Johan Harju leads the team with just 18 points) and he plays a ton for a 20-year old, so his numbers are solid if not overwhelming
Marcus Hogberg (Linkoping; 3-78/13) 11-10-0 1.99 .928
Fifth in the league in save percentage; well ahead of his partner’s numbers (Jacob Johansson)
WJC performances aren’t great indicators of future performance (eg Louis Leblanc, Brandon McMillan, Luke Adam, Josh Godfrey, etc), however, thus far every MVP has gone on to be a good to great NHLer (with the possible exception of Slovakian goaltender Denis Godla, albeit it’s far too soon to say), so that bodes well for Chabot.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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[…] been a couple of weeks since my last update, so here’s a look at how various Sens prospects are doing (players are organised by […]