Before we go team by team, let’s talk Ryan Johansen situation for a second… Johansen and his agent feel that he is worth 5-7 million after only three years in the NHL in which he has scored half a point per game on average (.31, .30 & .77) at only 22 years old. [...]
Monday, September 15th
Buckle up folks and get your bookmarks ready, today’s prospect camp and tournament updates/thoughts are coming in the form of a massive hockey avalanche.
NHL prospect tournaments are in full swing and it’s that time of the year where we start taking down names on players whose hard work in the summer is translating into great things on the ice. In fantasy hockey, any bit of progression (good or bad) news is a chip in your hand.
After attending several junior training camps and even more exhibition games, here are a few names of draftees who may be ready to step into stardom in their respective leagues.
Prospect camps have started in several cities, most only last 3-5 days. They are a good opportunity to see some of the freshest prospects in a team’s system, younger invites that have been passed on their first year of draft eligibility and a few pro tryouts. I don’t hold much value in the results [...]
We aren’t far away from rookie and training camps opening, with that in mind, Dobber Prospects will look at the names you need to know and may see emerge into roles with the big club or set themselves up for near future recalls through battles in camps. Most of the time rookies are not [...]
Tuesday, August 19th
Congratulations to Team Canada on winning it’s seven consecutive Ivan Hlinka Memorial gold medal after defeating the Czech’s 6-2 last weekend! The Canadians remain a dominant force at the Hlinka tournament sending it’s best (well, nearly their best) to this event every year. With Hockey Canada’s established rules, Connor McDavid was not in the lineup despite being eligible because he has already played with the U20 squad. Imagine how silly he’d make the opposition look? Regardless, this event provides scouts with its first scouting outing of the 2015 NHL Draft season and there were certainly some standouts that came to the surface.
Matthew Barzal – Playing on a line with 2013 OHL 1st overall pick and Rookie of the Year, Travis Konecny, Barzal racked up two goals and six points to place second in Team Canada in scoring. The Seattle Thunderbird is a 2012 1st overall pick of the WHL’s Bantam Draft and has been a highly touted prospect for several years now. He’s in the discussion as a potential Top 5 pick for the upcoming 2015 draft because of his quick hands, creativity and lethal playmaking abilities.
Mitchell Marner – Anyone who follows my work, knows how much I raved about this undersized forward last year during his outstanding OHL rookie campaign. It took Marner some time to find the game sheet with consistency at the Hlinka tournament but he was a threat everytime he touched the ice and eventually launched himself to the top of Canada’s scoring charts (5-2-5-7). Slippery and creative, he enters the 2015 draft as one of the elite playmakers and his ability to create chances with astonishing consistency is very rare.
Travis Konecny – As mentioned about, Konecny is known for his dynamic skating abilities and weapon of a shot, that he unleashes in top flight. With five goals and six points, Konecny was among the leading scorers and should challenge for the 2nd OHL player selected at the draft (McDavid has #1 locked up).
Major minor realignment, a dash of stats and a bushel of prospect rankings.
I'm just getting back on my feet from my vacation, the publishing of the awesome fantasy guide (buy it here) and getting hired for a full-time co-op job as part of my degree at UBC!
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The biggest news of the last week is the possible reconstruction of the AHL, which could see five teams moving west and the establishment of a true western conference. You can read Travis Hughes’ guess on how things will shake out here.
With the loss of Abbotsford to New York, the two westernmost AHL teams are now Texan and still closer to Florida than California. That may soon be rectified, as a true AHL western conference could take shape through the acquisition of some ECHL teams (no that doesn’t stand for East Coast Hockey League, or anything else anymore). The ECHL would offset those losses by acquiring the remaining Central Hockey League (a league that is likely to be defunct soon anyways).
Friday, July 11th After coming down from the NHL Draft high, it’s time to do a little analysis. I am currently (slowly) working on producing draft grades for each team and will post them in groups over the next few weeks. With that said, here are some initial thoughts that come to [...]
Monday, June 23rd
Austin Wallace here:
Today is Draft Day! It is basically another holiday here at DobberProspects, and we can't wait to keep you updated on what gifts await us today!
The Dobber Sports mock draft is finished, all four pages and 8000+ words of it! Give it a read and a comment, a lot of our dedicated scouts writers slaved over each and every pick.
Join Dobber, Brendan and I for a live chat tomorrow, as the draft unfolds.
Buy Dobber's eighth annual Prospects Report here. Includes Mock Draft and nearly 500 prospect profiles. Yep, 500. About 200 more than you'll ever consider for your league - but part of the information is telling you which guys 'not' to go after, right?
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We have gone from counting down months to weeks to days and now we are counting down the hours until the 2014 NHL Entry Draft – 105 hours or less.
In this edition of the ramblings, I address questions posted from the DobberHockey Prospect Forum and want to personally thank each and every person who submitted a question. Look for this to become a regular element of my posted ramblings.
Here we go!
Monday, June 23rd We have gone from counting down months to weeks to days and now we are counting down the hours until the 2014 NHL Entry Draft – 105 hours or less. In this edition of the ramblings, I address questions posted from the DobberHockey Prospect Forum and want to personally thank each [...]
Monday, June 16th Come check out our mock draft here. The first surprise pick is Leon Draisaitl at number three, by Steve Laidlaw of DobberHockey. Well, hockey is done. It was an amazing playoffs, but now the NHL has caught up to the fantasy offseason. Don't worry though, we have some awesome stuff up our [...]