|
Meltzer's Musings: Perlini, Virtanen, Drafting Wingers, Quick Hits |
|
|
|
|
|
VIRTANEN, PERLINI AND DRAFTING WINGERS
When it comes to scouting and drafting players, there are rules of thumb but no absolutes. For instance, as a rule of thumb, the Flyers tend to give preference to natural centers over wingers at the top end of the draft. That is not set in stone, of course. If the organization feels that a natural winger's upside makes him the best available player at the time their first pick comes up, they will make the selection.
It should also be noted that there is some fluidity to which forward position some players will end up playing as they become established in the NHL. Simon Gagne was drafted as a center and played in the middle as an NHL rookie before spending most of his career as a left winger. Claude Giroux was drafted as a right winger but eventually switched to center and has become a superstar in the middle. Although he did play some left wing before coming to Philadelphia, John LeClair mostly played center until he joined the Flyers and Terry Murray placed him on what would become known as the Legion of Doom.
At the time James van Riemsdyk was drafted, there was thought that center might eventually be his best position; at the pro level, however, he has mostly played left wing. Meanwhile, Brayden Schenn has shuttled back and forth between center and wing (mostly left wing but also has had brief stints at right wing) in the NHL and has yet to find a semi-permanent spot.
In my opinion, a team needs to be decisive and then stick to it in order to allow a fair chance for the player to settle in to his new position. Changing it up again after three games isn't a reasonable sample size to determine if the arrangement can work.
Positional switches are best done while a player is still young. After many years as NHL center, for instance, neither Danny Briere nor Vincent Lecavalier felt comfortable when moved to wing. They were noticeably ineffective.
There is also a psychological component to some degree. A player has to embrace the positional change and believe it can work.
Rod Brind'Amour reluctantly played left wing when the Flyers asked him to -- and he was pretty good at it -- but let it be known he wanted to center. Chris Gratton, another natural center, was moved to left wing in order to allow Brind'Amour to go back to center. That worked fine with Brind'Amour but Gratton was every bit as reluctant to make the switch as Brind'Amour had been the previous year. Gratton quickly proved to be a disaster at wing despite playing a straightforward north-south power game that seemed well suited to playing the left side.
At any rate, the 2014 NHL Draft may be one of those years where the best available player with the 17th overall pick may be a natural winger in the estimation of Flyers scouts. I have already discussed a handful of candidates in previous blogs. Today, I will talk about two others.
It appears questionable that Niagara Ice Dogs (OHL) left winger Brendan Perlini will still be on the board when the Flyers' make their first pick. He is widely projected as a top-10 to top-12 pick and an NHL scout whose team is picking outside that range said he would be "pretty surprised" if Perlini slips much beyond the consensus range.
"He is big and skilled," said the scout of the 6-foot-3, 205 pound left winger. "Good hands, strong on the puck and he skates well. That is a tough combination to pass up."
Central Scouting ranked Perlini eighth on its final North American list. International Scouting Services had Perlini ninth overall. TSN's Craig Button had Perlini 11th overall on his final Craig's List prospect rankings. TSN's Bob McKenzie also had him 11th overall. The Hockey News had Perlini seventh overall at midseason, adding "Don’t be surprised if Perlini goes higher than this." Although Red Line Report's Kyle Woodlief ultimately did not include Perlini in his top 10 draft-eligible forwards list, he praised the player's emerging power game throughout the season.
Perlini had a so-so rookie OHL season in 2012-13. This year, he started rising quickly and never looked back, en route to compiling a 34-goal, 71-point season in 58 games for Niagara. He had three goals and four points for Team Canada at the Under-18 World Championships.
If there is one knock on Perlini, it is that he does not always play with much of a mean streak; he is not "that" type of power forward. However, he uses his frame to get to the net and is good down low in the offensive zone.
No one would ever say that Calgary Hitmen (WHL) right winger Jake Virtanen lacks a mean streak. He plays a style that combines grit, speed and size (6-foot-1, 212 pounds) and compiled 45 goals and 71 points in 71 regular season games this season. He also had three goals and six points in seven games at the Under-18 World Championships.
There is a chance that Virtanen could drop a bit from his standard source draft rankings. He underwent shoulder surgery, which held him out of the NHL Combine.
Central Scouting ranked Virtanen sixth on its final North American skater list. ISS had Virtanen seventh overall. Bob McKenzie ranked Virtanen eighth overall. THN had Virtanen 10th overall at midseason, saying that he is a versatile player who can be effective on a variety of different lines. Red Line Report ranked Virtanen sixth overall among draft-eligible forwards and projects him as a top-10 pick.
One notable dissenter on Virtanen's upside is Button. The TSN commentator and former NHL general manager says that he expects Virtanen's actual Draft position to be much higher than his personal ranking (which is not intended as a mock draft), but rates Virtanen as the 43rd best player in the Draft class over a three-to-five year projection. He projects Virtanen's NHL upside being along similar lines to Raffi Torres, who is of similar size and playing style and was originally the fifth overall pick of the 2000 NHL Draft.
Last week, I asked an NHL scout about the Torres comparison.
"That's possible," he said. "But if that's a conservative projection on a kid his age, that's not a bad thing. Say what you will about Torres, but he can play in this league. Also let's say [Virtanen's] ceiling is along the lines of [Anaheim Ducks star Corey] Perry-- and I'm not saying it is. That is setting the bar probably too high but my point is that power forwards can take a little longer til you truly know what you have. Would you take on the chance for something in the middle? Is that a projection range worthy of a first round pick?"
********
SUNDAY QUICK HITS
* Current and Alumni Flyers Birthdays: Zac Rinaldo turns 24 today. Sandy McCarthy celebrates his 42nd birthday today. Dean McAmmond is 41.
* Today in Flyers history: On this day in 1994, the Flyers officially completed and announced their agreement with the Florida Panthers to allow Bob Clarke to re-sign as Florida general manager and return to the Flyers as GM and club president. The Flyers sent a 1994 second-round pick (used in order to select Ryan Johnson) and an undisclosed amount of cash to the Panthers in exchange for releasing Clarke from his contract.
* On this day in 2009, veteran defenseman Derian Hatcher officially announced his retirement and was hired as a player development coach. Hatcher, whose bad knees no longer allowed him to play, spent the 2008-09 season on injured reserve. He finished the Flyers portion of his playing career with 203 regular season games and 21 playoff matches. Overall, Hatcher played 1,045 regular season games in the NHL plus 133 playoff games.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»