Location: The not quite neutral zone Joined: 01.31.2019
May 21 @ 7:58 AM ET
Tremendous potential cut short. What a shame. - Fenrir
Yeah, it was a shame. I don't think it's a stretch to say that we might have won the cup that season if it wasn't for sloppy seconds hit that ended his career. That 11-12 team was really good and we had a dumpster fire on the third pair in the playoffs.
Yeah, it was a shame. I don't think it's a stretch to say that we might have won the cup that season if it wasn't for sloppy seconds hit that ended his career. That 11-12 team was really good and we had a dumpster fire on the third pair in the playoffs. - 2sticks1puck
Location: Jesus saves! Satan picks up the rebound...AND SCORES!!, NJ Joined: 04.02.2015
May 21 @ 8:31 AM ET
Yeah, it was a shame. I don't think it's a stretch to say that we might have won the cup that season if it wasn't for sloppy seconds hit that ended his career. That 11-12 team was really good and we had a dumpster fire on the third pair in the playoffs. - 2sticks1puck
Just watched that video again. Love his father's proud reaction to the hit to the head.
Location: The not quite neutral zone Joined: 01.31.2019
May 21 @ 8:39 AM ET
Just watched that video again. Love his father's proud reaction to the hit to the head. - Fenrir
Yeah, I can't watch that again. Everytime non Ranger fans give me crap about why a decade later I will forever call him sloppy seconds, I will direct them to this video. It's a bigger travesty this guy keeps milking multiple franchises for an obscene amount of money.
Location: Jesus saves! Satan picks up the rebound...AND SCORES!!, NJ Joined: 04.02.2015
May 21 @ 9:33 AM ET
Yeah, I can't watch that again. Everytime non Ranger fans give me crap about why a decade later I will forever call him sloppy seconds, I will direct them to this video. It's a bigger travesty this guy keeps milking multiple franchises for an obscene amount of money. - 2sticks1puck
Clean hit, my ass.
Matt Johnson's sucker punch on Beuk still pisses me off.
Kakko had a fantastic season in Finland, playing significant minutes in the country’s top league and showing flashes of dominance versus men in Liiga and at the World Championships. Kakko has a ton of skill in his game. He’s got the high-end hands to make plays through defenders and the cute dangles that will make highlight reels. Kakko can make the real tough passes and makes a lot of great decisions, but his creativity is what impressed me most. He improvises very well, with the high offensive IQ to know how to create offense versus men. Kakko has good size, and he’s not afraid to lean on guys. He’s not a crash and bang type, but he protects pucks very well, he takes pucks hard to the net and he already showed that he can power his way past pro defensemen as a 17-year-old. His speed is just average for me. He’s not slow, but his skating is not the selling point of his game. Despite average speed, he gets inside to the net so well because of how fearless and strong he is. Kakko could be an impact forward in the NHL, whether at the wing and possibly even at center, and should transition quickly into that role.
TPS manager Antero Niittymaki on Kakko: “His stick handling and overall skill level is one of the best I’ve ever seen at his age. We put him on the top line early in the year, and even though he was this young, skinny guy, you could see right away he’s strong with the puck in the corners. He’s really balanced on his skates. It’s tough to knock him off the puck. Since the world juniors, he was dominant in regards to (his physical play). He can hang onto the puck as long as he wants. He’s NHL ready.”
and this is his explanation on how he ranks/grades them:
Last season I introduced the tiering system I used in my draft rankings and farm system rankings. I split players up into these tiers:
Special prospect: Projects to be one of the very best players in the league at their position.
Elite prospect: Projects to be top 10-15 percent of the league at their position.
High-end prospect: Projects as a top-line forward who can play on your PP1/top pairing defenseman. This is an upper half of the first round quality prospect.
Very good prospect: Projects as a top-six forward/top-four defenseman/starting goaltender. A prospect I would endorse using a first-round pick on.
Legit NHL prospect: Projects to be a regular player in the league, likely in a bottom half of the roster role. A prospect who I would endorse using a second-round pick on. Has a chance: Has a chance to be a regular NHL player, if something about their game changes substantially. This is a prospect I would endorse selecting in the second half of the draft. This tier could theoretically extend the list to 150-plus players, but I cut it off at the point where I lost excitement in the available players as NHL prospects.
I will grade tools on the 20-80 scale. In this scale, 50 projects as pro average, 55 as above-average, 60 top third, 70 as elite and 80 as among the very best, 45 is below-average and 40 is fringe pro quality. I will have grades on skating, puck skills, physicality and hockey sense for every player. I will grade their shot if it is notably good or poor.
Kakko had a fantastic season in Finland, playing significant minutes in the country’s top league and showing flashes of dominance versus men in Liiga and at the World Championships. Kakko has a ton of skill in his game. He’s got the high-end hands to make plays through defenders and the cute dangles that will make highlight reels. Kakko can make the real tough passes and makes a lot of great decisions, but his creativity is what impressed me most. He improvises very well, with the high offensive IQ to know how to create offense versus men. Kakko has good size, and he’s not afraid to lean on guys. He’s not a crash and bang type, but he protects pucks very well, he takes pucks hard to the net and he already showed that he can power his way past pro defensemen as a 17-year-old. His speed is just average for me. He’s not slow, but his skating is not the selling point of his game. Despite average speed, he gets inside to the net so well because of how fearless and strong he is. Kakko could be an impact forward in the NHL, whether at the wing and possibly even at center, and should transition quickly into that role.
TPS manager Antero Niittymaki on Kakko: “His stick handling and overall skill level is one of the best I’ve ever seen at his age. We put him on the top line early in the year, and even though he was this young, skinny guy, you could see right away he’s strong with the puck in the corners. He’s really balanced on his skates. It’s tough to knock him off the puck. Since the world juniors, he was dominant in regards to (his physical play). He can hang onto the puck as long as he wants. He’s NHL ready.”
and this is his explanation on how he ranks/grades them:
Last season I introduced the tiering system I used in my draft rankings and farm system rankings. I split players up into these tiers:
Special prospect: Projects to be one of the very best players in the league at their position.
Elite prospect: Projects to be top 10-15 percent of the league at their position.
High-end prospect: Projects as a top-line forward who can play on your PP1/top pairing defenseman. This is an upper half of the first round quality prospect.
Very good prospect: Projects as a top-six forward/top-four defenseman/starting goaltender. A prospect I would endorse using a first-round pick on.
Legit NHL prospect: Projects to be a regular player in the league, likely in a bottom half of the roster role. A prospect who I would endorse using a second-round pick on. Has a chance: Has a chance to be a regular NHL player, if something about their game changes substantially. This is a prospect I would endorse selecting in the second half of the draft. This tier could theoretically extend the list to 150-plus players, but I cut it off at the point where I lost excitement in the available players as NHL prospects.
I will grade tools on the 20-80 scale. In this scale, 50 projects as pro average, 55 as above-average, 60 top third, 70 as elite and 80 as among the very best, 45 is below-average and 40 is fringe pro quality. I will have grades on skating, puck skills, physicality and hockey sense for every player. I will grade their shot if it is notably good or poor. - eichiefs9
So he uses the MLB method of grading prospects...they are all about that 20-80 scale
Kakko had a fantastic season in Finland, playing significant minutes in the country’s top league and showing flashes of dominance versus men in Liiga and at the World Championships. Kakko has a ton of skill in his game. He’s got the high-end hands to make plays through defenders and the cute dangles that will make highlight reels. Kakko can make the real tough passes and makes a lot of great decisions, but his creativity is what impressed me most. He improvises very well, with the high offensive IQ to know how to create offense versus men. Kakko has good size, and he’s not afraid to lean on guys. He’s not a crash and bang type, but he protects pucks very well, he takes pucks hard to the net and he already showed that he can power his way past pro defensemen as a 17-year-old. His speed is just average for me. He’s not slow, but his skating is not the selling point of his game. Despite average speed, he gets inside to the net so well because of how fearless and strong he is. Kakko could be an impact forward in the NHL, whether at the wing and possibly even at center, and should transition quickly into that role.
TPS manager Antero Niittymaki on Kakko: “His stick handling and overall skill level is one of the best I’ve ever seen at his age. We put him on the top line early in the year, and even though he was this young, skinny guy, you could see right away he’s strong with the puck in the corners. He’s really balanced on his skates. It’s tough to knock him off the puck. Since the world juniors, he was dominant in regards to (his physical play). He can hang onto the puck as long as he wants. He’s NHL ready.”
and this is his explanation on how he ranks/grades them:
Last season I introduced the tiering system I used in my draft rankings and farm system rankings. I split players up into these tiers:
Special prospect: Projects to be one of the very best players in the league at their position.
Elite prospect: Projects to be top 10-15 percent of the league at their position.
High-end prospect: Projects as a top-line forward who can play on your PP1/top pairing defenseman. This is an upper half of the first round quality prospect.
Very good prospect: Projects as a top-six forward/top-four defenseman/starting goaltender. A prospect I would endorse using a first-round pick on.
Legit NHL prospect: Projects to be a regular player in the league, likely in a bottom half of the roster role. A prospect who I would endorse using a second-round pick on. Has a chance: Has a chance to be a regular NHL player, if something about their game changes substantially. This is a prospect I would endorse selecting in the second half of the draft. This tier could theoretically extend the list to 150-plus players, but I cut it off at the point where I lost excitement in the available players as NHL prospects.
I will grade tools on the 20-80 scale. In this scale, 50 projects as pro average, 55 as above-average, 60 top third, 70 as elite and 80 as among the very best, 45 is below-average and 40 is fringe pro quality. I will have grades on skating, puck skills, physicality and hockey sense for every player. I will grade their shot if it is notably good or poor. - eichiefs9
His grading doesn't make sense. If he is special/elite on the fence, how is he only at 1 tool that's within 5 of being elite? I usually think Pronman does a pretty good job at evaluating prospects, but at the top he projects special/elite, then his whole write up/grades just suggests a good player.
Kakko had a fantastic season in Finland, playing significant minutes in the country’s top league and showing flashes of dominance versus men in Liiga and at the World Championships. Kakko has a ton of skill in his game. He’s got the high-end hands to make plays through defenders and the cute dangles that will make highlight reels. Kakko can make the real tough passes and makes a lot of great decisions, but his creativity is what impressed me most. He improvises very well, with the high offensive IQ to know how to create offense versus men. Kakko has good size, and he’s not afraid to lean on guys. He’s not a crash and bang type, but he protects pucks very well, he takes pucks hard to the net and he already showed that he can power his way past pro defensemen as a 17-year-old. His speed is just average for me. He’s not slow, but his skating is not the selling point of his game. Despite average speed, he gets inside to the net so well because of how fearless and strong he is. Kakko could be an impact forward in the NHL, whether at the wing and possibly even at center, and should transition quickly into that role.
TPS manager Antero Niittymaki on Kakko: “His stick handling and overall skill level is one of the best I’ve ever seen at his age. We put him on the top line early in the year, and even though he was this young, skinny guy, you could see right away he’s strong with the puck in the corners. He’s really balanced on his skates. It’s tough to knock him off the puck. Since the world juniors, he was dominant in regards to (his physical play). He can hang onto the puck as long as he wants. He’s NHL ready.”
and this is his explanation on how he ranks/grades them:
Last season I introduced the tiering system I used in my draft rankings and farm system rankings. I split players up into these tiers:
Special prospect: Projects to be one of the very best players in the league at their position.
Elite prospect: Projects to be top 10-15 percent of the league at their position.
High-end prospect: Projects as a top-line forward who can play on your PP1/top pairing defenseman. This is an upper half of the first round quality prospect.
Very good prospect: Projects as a top-six forward/top-four defenseman/starting goaltender. A prospect I would endorse using a first-round pick on.
Legit NHL prospect: Projects to be a regular player in the league, likely in a bottom half of the roster role. A prospect who I would endorse using a second-round pick on. Has a chance: Has a chance to be a regular NHL player, if something about their game changes substantially. This is a prospect I would endorse selecting in the second half of the draft. This tier could theoretically extend the list to 150-plus players, but I cut it off at the point where I lost excitement in the available players as NHL prospects.
I will grade tools on the 20-80 scale. In this scale, 50 projects as pro average, 55 as above-average, 60 top third, 70 as elite and 80 as among the very best, 45 is below-average and 40 is fringe pro quality. I will have grades on skating, puck skills, physicality and hockey sense for every player. I will grade their shot if it is notably good or poor. - eichiefs9
I get Jagr from his game, tidbits and what I’ve seen. We can only hope he turns into Jagr 🤞
So he uses the MLB method of grading prospects...they are all about that 20-80 scale - TPC
Yeah, in the past he's talked about how he believes it's important to pay attention to other sports in order to get a good grasp on prospect evaluation. I don't agree with everything Pronman says/believes but I do think he is usually pretty fair and open about how he comes to his conclusions.
I get Jagr from his game, tidbits and what I’ve seen. We can only hope he turns into Jagr 🤞 - Slimtj100
Not telling you what to believe, but I am very much of the opinion that comparing prospects to current/former NHL players does nothing but perpetuate absurd overvaluation by fans and create unrealistic expectations.
Location: I would rather see a dudes hairy balls than his hairy feet-Jimbro Joined: 12.13.2013
May 21 @ 10:33 AM ET
Yeah, in the past he's talked about how he believes it's important to pay attention to other sports in order to get a good grasp on prospect evaluation. I don't agree with everything Pronman says/believes but I do think he is usually pretty fair and open about how he comes to his conclusions. - eichiefs9
His grading doesn't make sense. If he is special/elite on the fence, how is he only at 1 tool that's within 5 of being elite? I usually think Pronman does a pretty good job at evaluating prospects, but at the top he projects special/elite, then his whole write up/grades just suggests a good player. - 2sticks1puck
That's fair, but I think that cumulative effect of having so many high-end/close-to-elite skills is what makes the player on his "special/elite bubble"
Location: The not quite neutral zone Joined: 01.31.2019
May 21 @ 10:40 AM ET
Not telling you what to believe, but I am very much of the opinion that comparing prospects to current/former NHL players does nothing but perpetuate absurd overvaluation by fans and create unrealistic expectations. - eichiefs9
I'm with you on this. Even more absurd is when they start saying he is a combination of multiple players.
Honestly, if he was just a consistent 30 goal scorer, that would be a huge win for the franchise. The fact that he could be more than that is pretty exciting.
