Dumba? #7 and rising. Redline: When you combine his exciting skills with the type of passion and intensity he displays, the potential is there for something special.
He's 6.0, 183 and eligible for the 2012 entry draft. Brendan Ross from dobber hockey offered this scouting report on him during the summer.
- Ross: Dumba could be one of the best skaters in the entire 2012 draft class at this point as he possesses elite agility and can be extremely elusive. His offensive skills should definitely excite fantasy addicts in the near future but on the ice he is a fan favourite for his bone crushing hits earning him comparisons to former Red Deer Rebel Dion Phaneuf (good or bad). Dumba registered a remarkable 12 assists in six games for the Team Pacific at the U-17 WHC. Keep this exciting defenseman on your radar as I feel he could become one of the best offensive defensemen of the 2012 draft. Dumba’s defensive game is nothing to sneeze at either but his elite skating skills, great puck control and hard accurate shot are a rare combination. The Calgary-native’s rookie production of 15 goals, 26 points and 83 penalty minutes are an indication of his potential to eventually become a multi-cat stud.
- Age 15: 6, 0-2-2 -1
- Age 16: 62, 15-11-126 +24
- Age 17: 22, 7-11-18 +8
Isn't Dumba 6'0" even? I recall that size was the primary concern with him.
ReplyDeleteI think there's hope in the fact that Musil was pretty high up the list this time last year but the Oilers took him 31st overall. That being said, I have faith in our scouting department too but I wouldn't be surprised if management takes another forward instead and our defense is cobbled together with 5,6 and 7th D-men, injured veterans, and raw rookie until our more promising defensive prospects are ready to go. I just hope RNH, Hall, and Eberle are still around when that happens...
ReplyDeleteI don't think that getting a player like that will be as hard as you describe LT.
ReplyDeleteThere's only one thing the team needs to do to improve their chances: Get more 1st rounders.
Draft picks are universal currency in the NHL. Every team has them, and every team can use them as they see fit - either to address current needs, or to invest them in prospects in the hopes of addressing future needs.
There are a lot of teams who have needs that Oilers could fill. Cornet is lighting the world on fire in the A, and I have trouble seeing a spot for him in the bigs, MPS is struggling and may look better on a different team, Gags is starting to pla better, but may want more than a 3rd line scoring role... hell teams might even want Linus or Brule - with their injuries. There would likely be interest in our young defensemen as well - both professional and prospect.
I'm not going to suggest that any of these players would get us a first, but one of these players and a 2nd? Maybe add in a salary dump player as well? Or perhaps just get more 2nd rounders that may help land that 1st rounder at the deadline/draft day.
With potentially the best draft in a decade depth-wise ariving in 6 months, it only makes sense to position the team to take advantage of it. Having as many bullets before the teams are sure where they will likely end up is the best way to do so. The last thing this team needs is to trade down again to acquire more bullets at the draft table.
Especially early on in deep drafts.
What is the pick situation for 2012right now? Do the Oilers have any extra ones? Missing any?
ReplyDeleteEliteprospects lists him at 5'11, 165 and HockeyDB as 6'0, 166. He no doubt will pack on quite a few more pounds, but I've seen this kid in street shoes and he's no 6'3.
ReplyDeleteI've also seen him on the ice a few times (all in his 16 year old season), and he is one dynamic package. Skates, hits, scores, fights, you name it. He's young too, won't turn 18 'til a month after the draft. Very interesting prospect to say the least.
@BDHS: I believe Oilers have LA's third-rounder (third asset from the Penner trade) this June. It was a conditional pick, but I think the condition was that it would move up to a 2nd if the Kings made the SCF or some such, which obviously didn't happen. But there's no option to move it back to another year as far as I know. (Wikipedia, which normally has a fairly complete record of traded picks, doesn't show it as yet, probably somebody got buggered up by the "conditional" aspect.)
ReplyDeleteOilers have also traded their seventh rounder of the upcoming draft to the Kings in exchange for some guy named Smith or Smyth or something like that.
Further ahead, Oilers have Anaheim's second rounder in 2013, their return for Cogliano.
Oops, found it. Scroll down on that link to "Information on conditional picks" and that third rounder is mentioned there. It lists the condition as "unknown" but I'm fairly sure it's as I described above, it could have been upgraded if the Kings had gone on a run in Last spring's playoffs, but they didn't.
ReplyDeleteI don't think a playoff roll by LAK in 2012 will affect it, I'm pretty sure it was just the 2011 playoffs that were written into the condition. But that's just going by memory.
Sorry guys. Typo.
ReplyDeleteJordan: Cornet is an interesting prospect. Despite scoring all those goals, I don't know that anyone trusts it. Oilers, math people, everyone seems to be cautious about it.
Still like Griffin Reinhart. Love to watch Dumba, but the big question is can he play his type of game in the NHL.
ReplyDeleteD-men like Fowler and Hamilton have slid further then they should in recent years. And for good reason. Lowetide's post on Oilers nation about Smid climbing Everest was bang on.
ReplyDeleteI really hope a good defender or 2 is willing to sign here at reasonable dollars over the next year. Acquire them btw now and the deadline and sell them on potential?
OT
ReplyDeleteWas looking over the scoring chances for the Nashville game, and came up with some questions I was hoping someone could answer.
1 - At what rate should a team be expected to score when generating scoring chances? 1 goal ever 4chances?
2 - By eye, it looks like the Oil are finishing more of their chances this year, as compared to last year. Is this the case?
3 - If they are finishing more chances, is this because of the higher skill level (as I suspect) or is this an unsustainable abberation away from the mean?
Appreciate any thoughts you folks have.
Re: Dumba - There's a lot to like about him. I think the Oil are in the best place to look at Reinhart, what with him technically already being part of the Junior Oilers.
It will be a big tell if the team goes out and gets him - or not.
Perhaps Ollie Maata will be around for the mag bastard. Looks to be on the rise so we will see.
ReplyDeleteBruce,
ReplyDeleteFrom Helene Elliot - LA Times, Feb 28, 2011:
Kings acquire left wing Dustin Penner from Edmonton
The Kings finally made a splash on the NHL's trade deadline day, acquiring left wing Dustin Penner -- a former Anaheim Duck — from Edmonton for minor-league defenseman Colten Teubert, a first-round pick in the June entry draft and a third-round pick in 2012. If the Kings win the Stanley Cup this year, Edmonton would instead get a second-round pick that year.
Thanks, WG. I was pretty sure it was just the 2011 playoffs that could trigger the conditional upgrade, this confirms it.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else think it doesn't really matter since the Oilers, while improved, are still probably a lottery team?
ReplyDeleteIf Griff is available at 10, I personally expect the Oil to pick inside that. Khabibulin won't be this good forever.
A few notes on current prospects:
ReplyDeleteTobias Rieder moved into 2nd in OHL Goal Scoring with 18 in 23gp (behind only Yakupov) with a hat-trick of PP goals last night.
Martin Marincin was named the first star in a 4-2 loss to Kelowna on Saturday. Cougars PbP guy had this to say about his game: "Even though he didn’t score any goals or put up any helpers, Martin Marincin was a man among boys through spurts of Saturday’s game with Kelowna. Marincin proved once again that when he wants to, he can be the most effective and lethal player on the ice. He’s fast, strong, smart and skilled, and has the ability to take a game over. If Marincin puts forth a similar performance tonight against Kootenay, the Cougars will have a great chance to win."
Frans Tuohimaa has started 8 straight games for Jokerit in the SML with their regular starter out with an injury. The results have been middling (.900sv% on the year), but they continue to give him starts and he's 6-3-1.
Olivier Roy was named ECHL Goaltender of the week, and has posted some incredible numbers.
David Musil was named to the Czech WJHC team.
Dillon Simpson has 3 assists in his last 4 games at UND, unfortunately those are his only 3 points in 12gp. He is getting ample PP time though, as UND runs 3 Dmen on the PP (Simpson, Forbort, Blood).
Bigos' Merrimack team is ranked #1 in the nation in both the USA Today and USCHO polls. Eagle Tribune beat writer covering the team had this to say about Bigos usage/mobility: "As far as how he is being used, he's used in all three phases of the game, including a few different ways on the PP. Sometimes he's setup at the point or on the left circle, where they'll try to work him the puck for a big one-timer. Then, though not recently, there have been times that he sets up right in front of the net to create screens and work rebounds. Both ways have been effective. For a bigger player, he has good hands. From a mobility standpoint, I never thought it was much of an issue. Earlier in his Merrimack career, he would get caught out of position from time to time but that wasn't so much due to a lack of mobility, and more to him going for the big hit, and taking himself out of the play. While he still hits like a Mack truck, he's done a much better job staying in the play, which he told me in an interview a few weeks ago was part of his focus."
Saw Dumba play in Victoria a few weeks ago - so dominant at the WHL level, controlling play, quicker to the puck, shifting from R to L effortlessly. He's small-looking but the game has changed: like his fellow Rebel alumnus, he just doesn't get hit (because the puck or he is gone). A pipe dream for these tweening Oilers, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ironsight.
ReplyDeleteI was worried about Marincin as he was not putting up the numbers on a bad PG team. Sounds like he is still on track.
126 points as a 16 year old defenseman!? I'm surprised he's not the runaway favorite to go 1st overall! ;)
ReplyDeleteAll jokes aside, he could very well be the 1st defenseman taken this year if he continues to go the way he has been (but passing Yakupov seems unlikely for anyone in this draft).
What is the pick situation for 2012right now? Do the Oilers have any extra ones? Missing any?
ReplyDeleteGood website laying out Edmonton's future draft pick status:
What about Dumba's passing and playmaking abilities? It's kind of unusual to see a D put up more goals than assists like he did last year, where he only had 11 assists on the season.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bruce and Clay.
ReplyDeleteP-Ow - I figured the Oilers for ~ 25th if they stayed reasonably healthy, up a few spots if everything broke right for them.
They are outperforming that even though they've had injury and suspension issues on the backend, Hemsky and Gagner were out and quite a few guys are underperforming offensively.
They look to be very good at home. If they can put together a few more road games like last night they will compete for a playoff spot if Whitney comes back and stays healthy and the blue gets shored up, either by Petry or Potter emerging as a top four guy with Whitney or Tambellini making a move for same.
Ted may hit a wall and Smyth won't keep up that pace likely but then again Hemsky is going to get hot and Gagner, Belanger and the Swedes should chip in at some point.
Only way they are a lottery team is if injuries wipe out the team again. Could happen of course.
Two extra 3rds is a nice starting point for the Oilers, especially if they want to move up. With so many picks over the last few years, they have a lot of prospects. Considering how highly they are trending, it makes a lot of sense to me for them to focus on quality over quantity. (especially since they seem to have both right now!)
ReplyDeleteLot's of interesting dmen that can be taken in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. For guys I watch that would fit that criteria. Dalton Thrower of Stoon is pretty solid.
ReplyDeleteI like Dumba. Watching the games on Shaw TV last year, one could always tell when he was on the ice. The tough question with him, as alluded to above, is will his offense carry over and if not, can he be an effective defender anyway?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I would pick him, given the opportunity. After seeing spirited under-sized guys ike Brule and Hamill and such fail to gain traction in the Bigs, I'm leery of travelling down that road. Intensity seems to translate into success at lower levels more than it does at the top level.
He sure is fun to watch though.
With the number of injuries to the top end of the prospect pool, Oil might find a steal with a mid-round pick. Murray could fall, or concerns over Dumba's size could Fowler his draft slot.
ReplyDeleteI would love it if Murray fell even though I see more Brewer than Niedermayer in him (it could also be that he looks a lot like him, though).
ReplyDeleteKeith is 6'1, Doughty is 6'0
ReplyDeleteThey are both thick bodied and have strong gluts and legs that Pierre McGuire probably has pictures of in his bed side drawer next to pics of Crosby's (only 5'11 btw) "strong, musculer thighs"
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Is Dumba built like these guys or is he slight?
CROSBY.
ReplyDeleteequisses - horses making out
Totally OT, but I don't see this story anywhere on the MSM.... According to Stratfor, the aircraft carrier George H W Bush has just parked itself off the coast of Syria. Some of the MSM is reporting that the US Embassy is advising US citizens to leave the country and there are rumours of an impending no-fly zone.
ReplyDeleteAs said previously, Redline as about accurate with defenseman as picking random names out of a hat.
ReplyDeleteIIRC something like 3-4/10 of their top ten ends up having an NHL job.
Hmm... The Damascus Embassy does have this travel message up on their page today...Link
ReplyDeleteDefensemen 6'0 and under worry me, but there is still time for growth. Damned defensemen are just about as hard to draft as goalies are. Theres a lot of intangibles there.
Send Crosby to Syria. He'll score 10 poins in 5 seconds and all problems there will disapear.
ReplyDeleteI too raised an eyebrow at Dumba's odd splits for a D last year. I do know he spent some time up front when Jesse Wallin was sending a message - "you wanna play like a forward, why don't you just play forward". He loves to jump into the rush, but 11 A makes you wonder about puck distribution skills.
ReplyDeleteThat said, his stats for team Pacific say something else entirely - 6 GP, 0-12-12. Odd that he got more assists in that 6-game tourney than in a 62 game season, eh.
Looks like the Rothschild's and Rockefeller's are creating another problem/reaction/solution.
ReplyDeleteLet me guess? Citizens give up more rights for "protection"? LOL
Better tune in conglomerate media for all the updates!
As for Dumba, who compared him to Weber? I don't see it AT ALL.
Dumba is a PK Subban clone.
I think the Weber comparison was in reference to Reinhart.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder about dmen like Dumba - fast with great offensive skills - why don't coaches try them on a wing more often? Especially if they are undersized, and even more so if they have question marks defensively.
Someone like Ryan Murphy is another example.
Am I the only one who thinks Dumba kinda looks like Hans Moleman there?
ReplyDeleteCan we not draft a guy who will at the first mistake be nicknamed Dumbass?
ReplyDeleteCornet is an interesting prospect. Despite scoring all those goals, I don't know that anyone trusts it. Oilers, math people, everyone seems to be cautious about it.
ReplyDeleteCornet: 2006 Sylvain Turgeon trophy Quebec Midget league top Scorer. Selected Second overall in QMJHL Draft.
06-07: fourth in 16YR Production in the Q behind Tessier, Caron, Doyle.
07-08: 10th 17Yr points; 4th G/Gm behind Tessier, Adam, Doyle.
08-09 1st 18 YR scoring in the Q. 3rd G/Gm behind Doyle, Caron
09-10 2nd 19 yr scoring Behind Kugryshev.
10-11: 20 YR OKC 3rd line play. top 100 for drafted players.
11-12: 21 Yr OKC 56th point production 1st in Goals.
1. So the best scorer in Midget in Quebec.
2.Top 3 in his age group all thru the Q.
3.Top
100 in scoring versus peers as a third liner in 30 team AHL.
This year leading goal scorer in the league.
12th in scoring for U22 forwards behind:
two top 10-Schenn, Kadri
Five top 30 - Colburne, Palmeri, Ashton, Caron, Nemisz.
two 2nd RD- Pirri, Klingberg
two in 5th/6th- Vincour, E. Wellwood.
Behind 7 centers and 4 wingers(two curently in the NHL)
Were does he sit in RW depth?
Eberle, Hemsky, Jones, Omark, who after that?
There's never enough good prospects. Good for Cornet.
ReplyDeleteSomeone's really shitting the bucket tough (Martindale).
Might be me, but maybe a lot of MBS' pick looked good because he took a lot of old guys.
Off topic, but in case any of you were wondering what happened to Jason Soules.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fryfraud.com/2011/06/24/jasons-story/
Dumba's 12 points at the Under 17s actually lead the tournament in scoring, easily the first defenceman to do so. And the list of previous scoring champions at the U17s has some nice names on it like Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Toews.
ReplyDeleteI don't think his size will be a major issue as unlike other small players, he's very sturdy in the corners and doesn't get pushed off the puck easily. He seems to have a lot of natural strength which will only improve as he bulks up.
The main question with him is if he can adjust and play his aggressive offensive game at the NHL level like a Doughty, Subban, Visnovsky etc.
Kris, I'm not sure Damascus has the press facilities for a Crosby visit.
ReplyDeleteJust a bit of context on Cornet. He has 12 goals on 32 shots, for a 37.5 SH%.
ReplyDeleteIf he is really elite, he should score at about 15% over the year. If he had shot at that reasonable (but still excellent) rate over these last 20 games or so, he would have about 5 goals.
He has a chance at being an NHL'er, but it's a ways off.
I'd argue Hartikainen, Brule, and even Keller are better callup options right now.
Pitlick is likely to be a better callup option by next year, too, IMO. Not sure about Hamilton.
I am rooting for Cornet, though.
Just a bit of context on Cornet. He has 12 goals on 32 shots, for a 37.5 SH%.
ReplyDeleteIf he is really elite, he should score at about 15% over the year. If he had shot at that reasonable (but still excellent) rate over these last 20 games or so, he would have about 5 goals.
Rickibear, here is the forest that was blocked out by those trees you were talking about.
That said, his stats for team Pacific say something else entirely - 6 GP, 0-12-12. Odd that he got more assists in that 6-game tourney than in a 62 game season, eh.
The Nuge stole all the assists on Dead Rear last year. There were none left for Dumba
Looks like the Rothschild's and Rockefeller's are creating another problem/reaction/solution.
ReplyDeleteLet me guess? Citizens give up more rights for "protection"? LOL
Better tune in conglomerate media for all the updates!
No doubt they stirred this up while wearing their Illuminati robes.
I now understand all your posts.
woodguy:
ReplyDeleteYour understanding has little in common with truth or fiction.
Those who sacrifice liberty for security will have neither.
ReplyDeleteToo late.
ReplyDeleteAfter going with forwards early the last 5 years, I surely hope the Oilers draft a defenseman first next year.
ReplyDeleteMarincin, Musil and Klefbom are good prospects, yet none of them projects to a first pairing franchise defenseman at this point, and we need one of those to become a cup contender in the next 5 years.
I really hope they don't pick a goalie first, as plenty are available in the early rounds and we can't wait the 3-5 years it takes these guys to develop.
I would love to have Dumba; saw him damn good last season while eyeballing Ninja Hopkins.
ReplyDeleteHis size shouldn't be an issue. If you watch him hit, you can tell he knows how to use his skating and muscle to maximum effect. With a little experience and discipline he could be great.
As for Reinhart, I'll take Paul's kid. One of the few ex-Flames I actually admired; Paul was such a smooth skating D-man that you enjoyed watching him play. But that connection is incidental, as Griffin has all the tools you want to see in a young D. He is playing close to home for us in Edmonton, so Oil King fans chime in on your thoughts, please.
That is with our first pick. I sure don't want us picking first again, unless it's some kind of miracle in the lottery.
ReplyDeleteRick: They're tracking very well. A lot of elite guys had similar numbers.
ReplyDeleteMajority of elite NHL d-man only show their promise in AHL/NHL.
Oilers tanking for the past five years is starting to get noticed around the league, like in Nashville last night.
ReplyDeleteOilers in playoff contention, which is as much as anyone dared before the season.
Whereas a team like the Flames would kill to get a 22 year old Gagner, on the Oilers he's almost redundant.
I hope Gagner gets to stay an Oiler until at least next summer. And if they trade him it's part for a Pronger level defenceman.
How tall is Dumba?
ReplyDeletePass.
Rick, it's supposed to be a horrible year for goalies, and we already have a few young'uns in the system.
ReplyDeleteWith all the emphasis on D, there might be a few nice Fs available at the top 10. I'm trying not to get too escited about any of the early prospects considering the flux the list went through last year.
I think the last time a 1/3 season draft prediction was correct was in 2003.
ReplyDeleteLast year was supposedly ''Weak'', and it looks like one of the best ever.
Don't hear much from the ones who called me a fool.
Time to assemble a killer package for either Suter or Weber. It will cost lots (for a signed Weber) and a little less for Sutter. Nashville will really want to keep both of them. But absent an incredible talent like Hall/Nuge, a drafted D man (at 7th thru 12th) is not going to help us for 3-4 years.
ReplyDeleteEven in the year of the D man!
I would trade Gagner, our first, a D man prospect of their choice for Weber. I do not want to trade Gagner but would for a very good top pairing guy. And yes that is alot but if we could move Gilbert and Smid down to a second pairing we would have a reasonably good team. Weber would be here for ALL of the kids early glory years and I do not think teams would take liberties with our smurfs if they knew Weber would go hunting.
Weber would absolutely love having Nuge/Eberle pass to him on the PP.
Two guys I feel sorriest for: Smytty who will not be around to see the SCF again and Horcoff who's ridiculous contract will preclude the oilers keeping him for the glory years. He will still be an effective player at 35-36 just way too expensive
The Robe of the Illuminati is a little overdressed where Americans are concerned. In the typical American grasp of geography, all turbans come from pretty much the same place: if you get attacked by Saudis, bomb Iraq. Same difference. And, hey, we had that plan handy just in case.
ReplyDeleteThe acid test of human progress is that some day a president gets up and says "weapons of mass destruction" on a national broadcast, and the next day the search term dies on page two, because no-one is dumb enough to repeat it unsubstantiated. The power of the presidential pulpit is the four word thread-jack of the MSM echo-chamber. No robes required.
Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box.
I'm sure there are power-mad control freaks out there who keep a special robe in a special closet, just in case. But in real life, these kinds of manipulations behind the scenes are about as hard to pull off as feeding Bond into a giant laser while citing the Bogdanov brothers as part of your PhD defense in quantum mechanics. It's a lot easier to skulk around in the shadows of power and act like you deserve the credit people bandy about while the elephant reads them to sleep.
From The New Nostradamus:
Which illustrates the next incontrovertible fact about game theory: In the foreboding world view of rational choice, everyone is a raging dirtbag. Bueno de Mesquita points to dictatorships to prove his point: "If you liberate people from the constraint of having to satisfy other people in order to advance themselves, people don't do good things."
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is a controversial fellow, the Gabriel Desjardins of politics.
One thing I've learned from the sage ruminations of LT/WG/Bruce this season is that sports is a lot more circular than contemplated in the dull heavens of regression to the mean. I would be have been right[ish] if the players were ignorant of their performance statistics (as of today, both our GF and GA numbers lie in the fat hump). But the players do know, and it affects them, and the coaches and managers know that the players know, and the fans know all of the above. Our cynics of closely spaced tree rings feel repercussions in their bones that pass unnoticed by gadfly wonks.
[BBdM's] only concern is with what the political actors want, what they say they want (often two very different things), and how each of their various options will affect their career advancement.
Sounds a lot like sports, adding this new wisdom that the best timing for a dramatic yet worthless intervention is right before the negative outliers guzzle some Joe.
Bruce: I'm not sure trying MPS on defense is a good idea while we hover in the WC 8/9 spot, unless fandom agrees to a moratorium on checking the standings. Attribution bias is a harsh mistress.
Rickibear, here is the forest that was blocked out by those trees you were talking about.
ReplyDeleteHe is has been elite with his peers 5 of 6 years.
Corrected goals and corrected assist ratio. 5 and 10 would be close. he is still a .84 point/gm guy at 21.
Forest, trees sure.
Ignoring 04-05 were everyones young guy was in the A. and 05-06 were the A was depleted.
We get a nice list of .80-.89 20 about to turn 21 and 21 about to turn 22 players from the A.
06-07
Potylny
Skille
Oreilly
Grabowski
F. Neilson
07-08
Downie
Seteguchi
A. Gordon
J. Hansen
K. Versteeg
08-09
S. Kostitsyn
P. Regin
D. Dorsett
Paioretty
Bergfors
09-10
Gerbe
Ferriero
Edler
Mcginn
10-11
P. Byron
M. repik
I am liking the cornets 6 year trend and see alot of NHL in .8 ppg AHL 21 year olds.
It is important to know what trees you are looking at when looking at a Forest. problem is you pointed out there are larger leaves on the tree than normal. Problem this tree is a type with nice base and leaves just takes longer to grow.
Pass on a 6' 183 lb 17 year old because he isn't big enough, even if he is one of the top 4 defense prospects in the draft?
ReplyDeleteWhat do Bourque, Coffey, Chelios, Leetch, MacInnis, Niedermayer, Keith & Lidstrom have in common? Besides some obscure trophy they all share, they are all listed at 6'1" or less. Most of them are not bad at skating, some of them are what you would call great at it.
Or we could draft some more coke machines that skate like fence posts frozen in a slough.
I guess Ryan Ninja Hopkins hasn't proven the size is everything argument wrong yet. Don't get me wrong, all things being equal, size is the difference, but it doesn't trump ability. There are lots of big players, and far fewer good ones.
What do Bourque, Coffey, Chelios, Leetch, MacInnis, Niedermayer, Keith & Lidstrom have in common?
ReplyDeleteAre you saying that Dumba is going to be as good as one of these guys? I haven't read anything of the sort so far. If so, then by all means, draft away.
If not, be wary of the size issue with NHL defensemen these days. If your offense doesn't translate to the NHL, your usefulness is limited.
And that's the hard part. Figuring out if these guys can put up the same kind of numbers in the big league as they do in junior. It's tough.
Ribs,
ReplyDeleteI hoped that the readers of this blog were intuitive enough that I wouldn't have to put the standard disclaimer; "not saying he is going to be a Norris winner like these men, but..."
I guess I hoped for too much, and I should have known better after the English debate that raged here earlier.
I never said size didn't matter in the decision, I was pointing out that you don't necessarily rule out skill for size if the skill is significant.
I listened to that same BS all last season about RNH, and lo and behold, that skinny 6' guy with skill is doing OK.
Hey hoil,
ReplyDeleteI was being a bit sarcastic when I asked if you thought he would be that good. The point is, unless you come across a guy that looks to be a future all-world player, you're taking a risk with a smaller defenseman. A bigger risk than if you were drafting a forward.
Now, is Dumba that good? I guess that's still up in the air. But I agree with you that if he (or any other player) looks to have that kind of potential, that the Oilers should pull the trigger when called to the podium, no matter what his physical stature may be.