Change the leagues name to the OCHL

Ontario Charmin Hockey League

Dave's a mess wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 10:06 am What if he would've called him a dick? No suspension? Death penalty?

Saying "Cunt" gets you 25-life in the Greater Toronto Area

BluesSK wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 9:16 am This is ridiculous.

I keep thinking there has to be more to this. 5 games for calling someone a pussy? He would've been better off just cross checking him in the teeth.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 2:15 pm

BluesSK wrote: Thu May 16, 2024 9:16 am This is ridiculous.

I keep thinking there has to be more to this. 5 games for calling someone a pussy? He would've been better off just cross checking him in the teeth.

Pronman Pipeline has been posted. He has the Blues ranked 16th.

He's got a few surprises for me. Snuggerud doesn't pop up til #3. He has Holloway rated higher than Neighbours?? Jiricek is number 1.

He's clearly lower on the Blues prospect than a lot of others and the fanbase. I think the article is a harsh assessment.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/563274 ... ings-2024/

The St. Louis Blues are treading water as an organization. They’re a middling NHL team with an average farm system. They may have rosier evaluations of their three 2023 first-round picks, but while I see a lot of talent in this system, I don’t see truly elite prospects. If I’m wrong about 2023 No. 10 pick Dalibor Dvorsky, that would obviously change things on that front.

Player Ranking
1. Adam Jiricek, D

June 28, 2006 | 6-foot-3 | 167 pounds | Shoots right

Drafted: No. 16 in 2024
Tier: Bubble top and middle of the lineup player

Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average

Analysis: Jiricek was one of the best players at the Hlinka Gretzky last year. His play in the top Czech league wasn’t as impressive, and then he got injured in the opening game of the world juniors. The knee injury cost him the rest of the season. When healthy, he’s a 6-3 right shot who skates quite well. His skating allows him to make stops and get back to retrieve pucks. He uses his big body well and competes for pucks. Offensively he doesn’t stand out, but he has some skill and moves pucks efficiently. It’s hard to tell which version of Jiricek we’ve seen recently is the real one, but it’s probably somewhere in the middle: a potential top-four NHL defenseman.

Just finished reading that. I think he probably gives a great deal of weight to skating, and some of the Blues high end prospects aren't high end skaters (DD, Snuggerud). I was surprised to see Lindstein rated 8th, thought he'd be higher. Overall I think 16 is reasonable for a group that doesn't have an elite prospect among them, though he noted he could be off on Dvorsky as he's lower on him than most of the industry.

Dave's a mess wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 9:55 am Just finished reading that. I think he probably gives a great deal of weight to skating, and some of the Blues high end prospects aren't high end skaters (DD, Snuggerud). I was surprised to see Lindstein rated 8th, thought he'd be higher. Overall I think 16 is reasonable for a group that doesn't have an elite prospect among them, though he noted he could be off on Dvorsky as he's lower on him than most of the industry.

Pronman would love a team of Nail Yakapov's. All skate no game.

With that said, if he consider's Dylan Holloway as only an average skater, then you basically have to be McDavid and McKinnon to be above average by that metric.

I do some prospect writing on the side, and he's generally off on skating for a lot of guys, one example being Thomas. In my opinion we're in the 10-12 range, he's too low on several of our top guys. Bolduc/Neighbours/Lindstein most notably for me. I feel Lindstein is pretty well destined to be a steady top-four for several years at worst.

Jecho over Bolduc is some bit of work.

Is Jiricek really a better prospect than Dvorsky? I admittedly haven't known any of these guys until after the Blues drafted them, but from everything I've read, Dvorsky has the highest ceiling right?

Alex ferrario just said on 101 espn "dvorsky isn't gonna 'wow' anyone but he's gonna be like a nicklas backstrom" and i thought to myself....that would wow me!

Ozzies09tc wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2024 12:12 pm Alex ferrario just said on 101 espn "dvorsky isn't gonna 'wow' anyone but he's gonna be like a nicklas backstrom" and i thought to myself....that would wow me!

I don’t get that comparison even a little bit but if he has a thousand point career that’s pretty dang wow factor.

What is Corey Pronman's professional experience as an evaluator of NHL prospect talent?

BluesSK wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2024 1:07 pm What is Corey Pronman's professional experience as an evaluator of NHL prospect talent?

Well he's employed by the Athletic to be a prospect analyst if that is what you mean?

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2024 2:31 pm

BluesSK wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2024 1:07 pm What is Corey Pronman's professional experience as an evaluator of NHL prospect talent?

Well he's employed by the Athletic to be a prospect analyst if that is what you mean?

People seem to put a lot of stock into his insights and there's a lot of discussion about his rankings.

I'm trying to determine if he has any kind of professional experience to determine whether his opinion has any actual merit or whether he is just talking out of his ass.

Did he play hockey? Did he coach? Did he work for any teams be they amateur or professional? That's what I'm asking.

Everyone should also bear in mind that these rankings include NHL level players that are under 23. That gives big boosts to organizations that have high draft picks that crack the lineup early on, and the Blues don't really have any of those guys. Neighbours qualifies, but his ceiling isn't superstar level like some other kids that make it at a young age.

I am enjoying all of this, but please keep in mind Dave’s signature.

Dave's a mess wrote: Everyone should also bear in mind that these rankings include NHL level players that are under 23. That gives big boosts to organizations that have high draft picks that crack the lineup early on, and the Blues don't really have any of those guys. Neighbours qualifies, but his ceiling isn't superstar level like some other kids that make it at a young age.

Yeah I noticed that. I almost don't view Neighbours as a prospect anymore. It's pretty established that he is an NHLer at this point.

Based on my horrendous knowledge of our prospects, I always just viewed them as:

1. Dvorsky
2. Snuggs

And then the rest with a group of 4-5 guys who should definitely be mid range NHL talent. But I could be way off base. I feel like it's pretty tough to find a true top 6 center and everything I have seen paints the picture that Dvorsky will turn into that one day. I have Snuggs below him because he is more of a skilled leader with a sick shot, but not being a center isn't quite as unique of a talent. I haven't seen anything that states Jiricek is a game changing defensemen. More of a high floor can't miss draft choice who will at least be a solid D man.
Again, I've also been know to be completely wrong with the things that spew out of my mind.

BluesSK wrote: Thu Aug 29, 2024 1:07 pm What is Corey Pronman's professional experience as an evaluator of NHL prospect talent?

I have never respected Pronman's judgement as a pseudo scout. When he goes strictly off his own view of the players, he is often off the mark. His assessment of The Blues' current prospects doesn't bother me because I haven't trusted his opinion much at all vs. my own eyes and my own distillation of all the scouts' assessments I've read of a prospect player's upside and floor(and thus derived "estimated value as a prospect based on averaging upside and floor, and weighted by risk)".

I think he does a pretty good job overall and always enjoy his reads. Think he is just a bit harsh on some Blues prospects but he may end up being right.

I don't think we have a prospect the caliber of Robert Thomas or Vlad in our pool so I agree right now it doesn't look like we have any elite guys. A great depth of 2nd and 3rd line guys though which you can truly never have enough of.

Everyone seemed to think Pronman was a lot smarter when he ranked the Blues in the top 5 a handful of years ago.

Czech's initial WJC roster features four Blues prospects. Becoming our new Slovakia.

Jecho, Stancl, Kos, Jiricek.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2024 10:25 am Czech's initial WJC roster features four Blues prospects. Becoming our new Slovakia.

Jecho, Stancl, Kos, Jiricek.

Blues prospect pool: NOT ALL SWEDES!!!

Great news. I am always a fan of getting our prospects out of Euro pro leagues who are there to win and not develop NHL teams prospects.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 8:02 am Great news. I am always a fan of getting our prospects out of Euro pro leagues who are there to win and not develop NHL teams prospects.

Good news that he'll have the rest of this season to get used to The North American game.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sat Jan 11, 2025 8:02 am Great news. I am always a fan of getting our prospects out of Euro pro leagues who are there to win and not develop NHL teams prospects.

Yes. We've seen too many prospects have their development stall in Europe and they never reach their full potential.

I'd much rather see them get into the Canadian junior hockey league system or the AHL and develop there.