Leaf Management Looking Towards The Draft
Posted 6:50 PM ET | Comments 7
Earlier today I attended the OHL game between the Niagara Ice Dogs and Peterborough Petes and was treated to a very lovely site. Leafs Interim General Manager Mr. Cliff Fletcher himself was in attendance for the Ice Dogs overtime win taking in the game and preparing himself for the upcoming NHL entry draft by scouting out some of the talent. The two prospects Fletcher was there scouting were undoubtedly Alex Pietrangelo of the Ice Dogs and Zach Bogosian of the Petes. Both players are defensemen and both are ranked in the top 5 of this years draft class.
This years draft projections show three very capable and promising defensemen in the top 5 rankings and depending on where the Leafs end up they could be making a run at either of these two players.
Putting my bias as an Ice Dogs fan aside, I believe the Mr. Fletcher was more so keeping his eye on Bogosian as he is more up the ally of what the Maple Leafs need on their defensive end. A gritty in your face defensive defensemen. With that said however I do believe that it would be wise if Fletcher also took a really good look at Pietrangelo. Some reports and reviews of his play have stated that he may not be as gifted offensively as the third top 5 ranked defenseman Drew Doughty and also a little inconsistent. However the big strength the Pietrangelo has is his puck control, and more importantly his hockey sense. He plays extremely smart with the puck and makes good decisions when he is getting rid of it. Each time he gets control of the puck he knows how to give himself multiple options to pass the to, by his patience drawing in opposing players before passing it off for his teammates to run up the ice.
I am extremely excited for the leafs to get any one of these players and hope they drop down in the standings to have a better shot at them. If they cannot win the lottery and get Steven Stamkos the leafs do have some very good options to go to after him, and they all have me equally excited.
Although Fletcher left after the second period just seeing him there scouting is a good sign that he is taking the rebuilding effort seriously, and is looking hard at the youth which is bringing back some of the excitement I've lost with the leafs.
This years draft projections show three very capable and promising defensemen in the top 5 rankings and depending on where the Leafs end up they could be making a run at either of these two players.
Putting my bias as an Ice Dogs fan aside, I believe the Mr. Fletcher was more so keeping his eye on Bogosian as he is more up the ally of what the Maple Leafs need on their defensive end. A gritty in your face defensive defensemen. With that said however I do believe that it would be wise if Fletcher also took a really good look at Pietrangelo. Some reports and reviews of his play have stated that he may not be as gifted offensively as the third top 5 ranked defenseman Drew Doughty and also a little inconsistent. However the big strength the Pietrangelo has is his puck control, and more importantly his hockey sense. He plays extremely smart with the puck and makes good decisions when he is getting rid of it. Each time he gets control of the puck he knows how to give himself multiple options to pass the to, by his patience drawing in opposing players before passing it off for his teammates to run up the ice.
I am extremely excited for the leafs to get any one of these players and hope they drop down in the standings to have a better shot at them. If they cannot win the lottery and get Steven Stamkos the leafs do have some very good options to go to after him, and they all have me equally excited.
Although Fletcher left after the second period just seeing him there scouting is a good sign that he is taking the rebuilding effort seriously, and is looking hard at the youth which is bringing back some of the excitement I've lost with the leafs.
no kidding, i was watching that game on Cogeco Tv.but yeah, i bet the leafs are going to be playing Raycroft a little more to get a better draft pick
How was Soryal looking? We just signed him.
I'm from Peterborough and have followed Bogosian's career with the Petes. I will probably have a report on him closer to the draft. He's got the Dion Phaneuf package less Dion's above-and-beyond ferocity. If that makes any sense.
Also... I know things can be blown out of proportion in these parts from time-to-time. I'm not suggesting Bogosian is the next Phaneuf. More like a poor man's Phaneuf... simply, he owns a similar package.
"How was Soryal looking? We just signed him." To be honest he did not do too much to stand out in the game and I did not take much notice of him.
You are right Alec, Bogosian is the same type of player, but does lack the major intensity that Phaneuf has. However I thing he will be a better skater, slightly faster but still able to dominate opponents. As of right now he is my second on my wish list for the leafs behind Stamkos, of course.
Don't worry Leaf fans. They will draft another European that won't come over to this side of the pond for years and the top 4 North American players will be in the NHL somewhere(hello Andrew Cogliano) They should worry about 09 draft with Tavaras and Hedman(who I think will go #1) being franchise players!