According to this guy they are looking at him pretty hard:
Before we all get Filatov jerseys, Los Angeles, despite defensive needs, is looking hard at Nikita at the #2 spot. Moreover, the Ranger loom as some have been saying they might be interested in moving up to add him to their own Russian line of Cherepanov and Anisimov. With Prucha and some young kids still of value in their system, the NYR could churn Isles stomachs to a nauseous goo and sweep in. Also add to this mix, Toronto, who has been taking a long look and might also try to come in near the top of the draft from their 7th spot. Columbus is also purported to be interested, hoping to add someone to the Nash line.
Filatov is and continues to be the biggest question mark in this draft. It certainly looks like this kid will be off the board by 6, if not by LA then most certainly by the Islanders, but that's not all that bad because that just means one of the big 4 d-men will slide to us.
Alex Pietrangelo seems to be the guy whose stock is dropping at the last minute:
Luckily, this draft is heavy with something else MUCH NEEDED. Something the Isles lack. A TOP defensive prospect. This draft is ripe with them. Doughty. Bogosian. Schenn. Tyler Myers, who is a monster at 6"7'. Only questionmark is Alex Pietrangelo, who some scouts and fans wonder about his overall work ethic and are just not sold on as the very top dman. Of course, as an long-suffering Isles fan, I wonder like you, that somehow we'll then definitely hear "The NY Isles pick....Alex Pietrangelo". Anything is possible.
I tell ya what, if Pietrangelo slips to us at 6 and we retain that pick I think we take him and run like we stole somethin.
Here is CSS's breakdown of this player:
NHL Director of Central Scouting, E.J. McGuire
Strengths: "Alex is very poised out there on the ice. A tall player, who is still growing in to his body, Alex brings a keen ability to know when to pass the puck out of the zone, when to carry the puck out of the zone and he’s unflustered in the face of a hard forecheck."
Areas to improve: "Alex probably needs to get a little more assertive. There are times that he plays with that calm, cool and collective attitude and scouts might often question his assertiveness. But believe me that is there and he certainly doesn’t play with any kind of fear for what is coming at him."
Outlook: "He might have the best top-end (potential), and he might have the most under the cover that an 18-year-old could blossom into maybe the best player in the entire 2008 draft. He has (Chris) Pronger-like size and visibility attributes. A lot of scouts say that he might be playing better now than Pronger played when he was in his last year of junior."
I think its safe to say we could use a player like this in our system.
Before we all get Filatov jerseys, Los Angeles, despite defensive needs, is looking hard at Nikita at the #2 spot. Moreover, the Ranger loom as some have been saying they might be interested in moving up to add him to their own Russian line of Cherepanov and Anisimov. With Prucha and some young kids still of value in their system, the NYR could churn Isles stomachs to a nauseous goo and sweep in. Also add to this mix, Toronto, who has been taking a long look and might also try to come in near the top of the draft from their 7th spot. Columbus is also purported to be interested, hoping to add someone to the Nash line.
Filatov is and continues to be the biggest question mark in this draft. It certainly looks like this kid will be off the board by 6, if not by LA then most certainly by the Islanders, but that's not all that bad because that just means one of the big 4 d-men will slide to us.
Alex Pietrangelo seems to be the guy whose stock is dropping at the last minute:
Luckily, this draft is heavy with something else MUCH NEEDED. Something the Isles lack. A TOP defensive prospect. This draft is ripe with them. Doughty. Bogosian. Schenn. Tyler Myers, who is a monster at 6"7'. Only questionmark is Alex Pietrangelo, who some scouts and fans wonder about his overall work ethic and are just not sold on as the very top dman. Of course, as an long-suffering Isles fan, I wonder like you, that somehow we'll then definitely hear "The NY Isles pick....Alex Pietrangelo". Anything is possible.
I tell ya what, if Pietrangelo slips to us at 6 and we retain that pick I think we take him and run like we stole somethin.
Here is CSS's breakdown of this player:
NHL Director of Central Scouting, E.J. McGuire
Strengths: "Alex is very poised out there on the ice. A tall player, who is still growing in to his body, Alex brings a keen ability to know when to pass the puck out of the zone, when to carry the puck out of the zone and he’s unflustered in the face of a hard forecheck."
Areas to improve: "Alex probably needs to get a little more assertive. There are times that he plays with that calm, cool and collective attitude and scouts might often question his assertiveness. But believe me that is there and he certainly doesn’t play with any kind of fear for what is coming at him."
Outlook: "He might have the best top-end (potential), and he might have the most under the cover that an 18-year-old could blossom into maybe the best player in the entire 2008 draft. He has (Chris) Pronger-like size and visibility attributes. A lot of scouts say that he might be playing better now than Pronger played when he was in his last year of junior."
I think its safe to say we could use a player like this in our system.
Baring trades (of which we seem the most likely to trade our pick out of this group) my top 6 hasn't changed from the last time I posted:
1. Tampa - Stamkos
2. LA - Bogosian
3. Atlanta - Doughty
4. St. Louis - Schenn
5. NYI - Filatov
6. Columbus - Pietrangelo
If you haven't seen this yet, watch some videos on Pietrangelo here.
-LTL
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2 comments:
I see a win-win situation here... if Filatov goes before #6, we get one of the good defensemen. If the defensemen are gone by our turn, we get Filatov (or a damned good trade, you hear me Howson?)
I know we all want to win now, but the more I read about these top 6 prospects, it better be a pretty darn good trade b/c all 6 of these guys look very, very good. I just don't want to end up w/ a 3-year stop gap when we could have gotten a 10-year franchise player.
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