Taking a look at prospects making a statement at the World Cup of Hockey in this Sunday Ramblings…

---

***

Friday afternoon, I get a text from my dad saying "looks like the Blackhawks have a good guy in the works". I knew he recently read the DobberHockey and DobberProspect guides and responded, "Yeah, Pokka and Schmaltz could both surprise this year, I think they're good picks". He resplies: "I meant this Kempny guy".

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Kempny goal <a href="https://t.co/c7L1Dq2Bd1">pic.twitter.com/c7L1Dq2Bd1</a></p>&mdash; Stephanie (@myregularface) <a href="https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/773926632482537473">September 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

 

Its safe to say that whether good or bad, prospects have a real chance to make an impression when playing aginst some of the best the world has to offer. For Michal Kempny, along with big minutes and some points, he's also put on display some bad decision-making, notably a late-1st-period giveaway against Canada yesterday leading to a goal against. These are typical ups and downs seen throughout a player's development, but he's done enough to put himself on peoples' radars now and thats a big step. I do think he is a solid depth piece for the Hawks to have around and help develop, but he's a late round gamble in your prospect drafts for the time being. Prior to the World Cup, he was taken in the 10th round of the DopperProspects scouts' prospect draft for anyone wondering exactly whereabouts we value him. On a side note: you can read about him being on our managing editor's radar in this Ramblings from before the tournament even started…

 

So who else has made a mark so far in the World Cup early-goings? Most observations so far are based only on the pre-tournament so should be taken with a grain of salt, but good play is good play and being a standout at this level of play is never worth ignoring.

 

• Good: David Pastrnak is showing why we should ignore his post-injury 2015-16 season and stay on the hype train. I peg him to stay in the top-six for the majority of the season and hit 50 points for several years.

 

• Good: Similarly, Olli Maatta owners should keep holding on. The youngster is playing relatively big minutes for Team Finland and looking fully recovered from injuries
• {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Olli Maatta goes just under the bar in OT. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Finland?src=hash">#Finland</a> wins <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldCup?src=hash">#WorldCup</a> of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hockey?src=hash">#Hockey</a> preseason game. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pens?src=hash">#Pens</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WCH2016?src=hash">#WCH2016</a> <a href="https://t.co/YO51SCQsnN">https://t.co/YO51SCQsnN</a></p>&mdash; ПБХ (@PBHocky) <a href="https://twitter.com/PBHocky/status/773955461838151680">September 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
  <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

 

• Good: Not a prospect so much as a depth fantasy player – PE Bellemare has played very well all tournament, showing he is smarter and better complimentary player than he may get credit for

         {youtube}t5B4EzyKyEQ{/youtube}

• Good: Alexey Marchenko has been receiving decent ice-time for Team Russia. Not much to show for it but for a prospect, the learning experience is invaluable

 

• Good: Dmitry Orlov. Like above but with more offense shown so far. Another 30 point season for Washington looks likely…if he signs (there's a concerning amount of buzz around the possibility he wont)

 

• Bad: Tobias Rieder has value for an up-and-coming Arizona club based on him being a potential high-volume shooter and goal scorer. He is doing niether of those so far and doing little to earn any extra TOI. Not good for the RFA's negotiations

 

• Bad: Dmitrij Jaskin set my bar high last year when he showed how dynamic of a player he can be. Haven't seen the level I expected of him yet, but he also hasn't seen many minutes.

 

***

In very exciting news, DobberProspects Radio, our new fantasy podcast focused exclusively on prospects, aired its first episode this week. It features outstanding content from some of our editors and special guest Gus Kataros. This is an easy to listen to podcast to give you helpful tidbits as you prepare to draft. Check it out HERE when you feel like some Sunday coffee and contemplation.

 

***

In the World Cup this afternoon you can watch Sweden vs. Russia and North America vs. Finland. These are the 4 teams with the most youngsters to show off so it will be a good day for our fantasy prospect scouts!

 

***

With the fantasy season quickly approaching, I can't emphasize enough how valuable the DobberProspects and DobberHockey Guides are for preparing to win your leagues. Its not just about point projections, its about why they will or wont meet expectations, player trends throughout the season, development progress…so much information packed into these things. You can check the out here.

 

***

As always, thank you for reading and best of luck in your upcoming drafts. 

Hayden Soboleski

@soboleski_h