So I was bored at work last night and I was just going back through some of the prospects threads on this forum. Some of the expectations people have for our young kids are insane. Everybody likes to keep tabs on our prospects, but it's hard to do for most NHL fans when they don't know enough about the junior, minor pro and European leagues. Which is better, 100 points in 50 games in the BCHL or 10 points in 50 games in the SEL? I had some time so thought I'd come up with a guide for those who are hardcore Sens fans but not big prospect buffs to give you an idea what to expect this year from some of our top prospects this season.

Jared Cowen: Some think he'll make the Sens out of camp, this is possible, but I believe it is highly unlikely. Should he return to Spokane as expected, we are obviously all hoping for him to improve on his puck-movement and show it in his point production, but don't expect much of an increase in assists as Spokane lost two of the best forwards in the WHL this summer, Kyle Beach (last year's league leading goal scorer) and Mitch Wahl. More importantly than what he does in the WHL, watch for the WJCs. It will be a successful tournament for Cowen if he is Canada’s best defenseman. It might sound like setting the bar too high but Canada always looks to our 19 year olds to lead the defence and Cowen is the highest drafted 19 year old on the team so, logically, anything less cannot be considered a success.

Patrick Wiercioch: After being named to the WCHA first all-star and all-academic teams, he had little left to prove at the college level. Keep in mind he is still a project and needs to learn how to use the size he has put on since being drafted. He is behind Brian lee, David Hale and perhaps Eric Gryba and Derek Smith on the call-up list so don't expect him to see more than a couple of games in the NHL this year. He is still just a kid now playing among men, so while his size will help him a lot he is going to have growing pains. In junior and college he was always an offensive defenseman but that offence will take time to translate to the pro game. He'll probably start slow but finish somewhere in the 25-35 point range.

David Rundblad: Rundblad has been playing in Sweden’s top professional league since he was 17. He still needs to get stronger and work on his defensive game but he has the poise and offensive tools to be a force to be reckoned with. With many of Skelleftea’s veteran defensemen aging or departing, Rundblad will see a great increase in ice time this year, especially on the powerplay, so his point totals could increase enormously. Upwards of 20 points is probable and 25+, while a stretch, might not be impossible.

Andre Petersson: Had 10 goals for a very deep HV71 team last year despite playing mostly on a 3rd or 4th line. This year he should get a bit more of a chance on the powerplay and in a top 6 forward role, especially with fellow young star Mattias Tedenby crossing the pond for Albany. In order for Petersson to continue on the right track, look for something in the 20-25 point range, upwards of 30 is possible, but would be a pleasant surprise and shouldn't be expected as he is still a ways down his team’s depth chart.

Jakob Silfverberg: While Brynas isn’t as deep as HV71, Silfverberg, like Petersson, was stuck mostly on the 3rd and 4th lines last season but still put up respectable numbers. With more ice time and greater responsibility this season, Silfverberg should see a slight increase in productivity. He is a strong two-way forward and so will play mostly on the third and occasionally the second line, as well as killing penalties, which doesn’t bode well for an offensive breakout. Still, 25 points is in his sights.

Marcus Sorensen: Hard to say what to expect from this hopeful diamond in the rough. We don’t know a whole lot about him as he wasn’t even ranked by NHL central scouting or International Scouting Services. I still can’t help but wonder what the hell Forsberg and Burda were thinking on this one, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. One thing we do know is before he can even be considered a legitimate prospect he has to put on at least 15-20 pounds and that could take a couple of years. Until then he will be playing in Sweden’s top junior league. Anything less than a point per game this season will be a major disappointment and in order for me to take him seriously as a potential NHLer, he’ll have to be among the league’s leading scorers.

Robin Lehner: He'll start out as Mike Brodeur's backup in the AHL but if (read: when) Leclaire gets injured Brodeur will get called up and Lehner will get a chance to take over the starting job and run with it. Look for him to play 30-40 games and put up pretty solid, but unspectacular numbers (ie: 2.75, .905) as it will take some time to adjust to the pro game. He also should get the chance to start in net for Sweden at the WJCs, which will be a great opportunity to get experience in high-pressure situations and maybe even a Gold medal game.

Jakub Culek: He’ll play in Rimouski again this year and will look to build on last year’s decent point totals. Vaclav Burda stated that they expect him to be a 3rd line shutdown forward and penalty killer at the NHL level due to his excellent hockey IQ, awareness, vision, size and reach. But even though he’s not expected to score much in the NHL, you don’t make the big leagues without being highly skilled so he is going to have to show that he can dominate at the junior level first. The actual domination won’t come until his 19 year old season; as for this year, look for a modest offensive increase, to around a point per game

Louis Caporusso: Got off to a very slow start last year after losing all-star linemate Aaron Palushaj to the pros. But after recording only 5 goals and 9 assists in first 20 games, he finished with 16 goals and 13 assists in final 25 games, including 7 goals in 6 tournament games. Michigan is extremely deep with forwards and could be one of the highest scoring teams in NCAA this year. Caporusso developed good chemistry with Devil prospect David Wohlberg late in the year and the two will look to carry that success into this season. A wizard on the powerplay and in the faceoff circle, an NCAA scoring championship and Hobey Baker award are not out of reach for Caporusso in this, his final year of NCAA eligibility.

I tried to stay away from players playing in the AHL this year as it is next to impossible to predict who will get called up and for how long based on injuries and slumps to NHL players. As an outline though, we know Zach Smith will likely make the big league full time at some point during the season. Butler and Wick will both get some number of games over the course of the year. I know how excited everyone is about Hoffman and Cowick but they have to start at the bottom of the depth chart and work their way up, so don’t expect much offence from either this year.

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That's awesome! Its good to know what we've got out there!!! Thanks!!!

I think Wiercioch will get more points than that tbh. Some where around a M.Karlsson rookie season.

speaking of mattias karlsson,
any news on him??? :S


anyways, thanks IB.
very good post, and gave lots of info on our prospects

Well, Karlsson was 23 his rookie season and had already played 4 years of pro hockey. Wiercioch is 20 and coming out of college. He is gonna need some time to adjust.

I understand but Wiercioch was just too much of a force in his years @ the NCAA. He was extremely consistent and very effective as he beat out Boston's top forward prospect Joe Colborne in points in the first season as a defense man. Only reason why he slowed down the next season a little was due to the injury.

I'm not expecting 50 points. But somewhere around 40-45.

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My expectation points wise for Weircioch are probably about 20-35 points.

He's probably going to be more of a bottom six player, but I'd add that every time I've seen Erik Condra play he's impressed me a lot. He was buzzing all over the ice, had some good dekes, had a good wrist shot and played well defensively.

Well exactly. That's why you're the optimist and I'm the realist. If everyone listened to you all the time they would often end up disappointed. Sure, maybe Wiercioch will get 40-45 points, but then I would say "wow, awesome, that is better than expected", but if he gets 25-35, we can still say "ok, cool, that's about what was expected from him".

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To tell u the truth, a guy who was PPG in the NCAA as a 18 year old going into Bingo next year with a great bunch of extremely skilled players(Hoffman, Wick, Butler)

I don't think 40 is being too optimistic.

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Agreed.

Umm... EK is everything alright?

Yea my bad. Cousins were on last night arg.

Youngins?

Haha you betcha.