Sports Forecaster top 125 prospects

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

tsf.waymoresports.thestar.com/thestar/hockey/extras.cgi?2004NHLDraft-Profiles1to25

[BadCompany]

Great find!

Just goes to show the total lack of agreement on where each player should be picked. Take Andrej Mezaros for example: Sports Forecaster has him 25th, IIS has him 4th, CSS 6th for European skaters, the Hockey News 20th (in their mock draft), TSN 10th (in their mock draft) and so on...

Could be some real, off-the-wall, Shaone Morrison/Adrian Forster/Derek Morris picks this year...

[Deleted]

How about this dude? He's listed as #23.

C
Bruce Graham
Age: 18
Date of birth: December 2, 1985
Place of Birth: Moncton, N.B., Canada
HT: 6-6 WT: 220
Shoots/Catches: L

"Impressed scouts at the 2004 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in January. Finished fourth on the Wildcats in scoring in 2003-04, and was second on the club with 11 power-play goals. However, he failed to score a goal in 18 playoff games (14 assists) during Moncton's QMJHL championship run--which fell just short in the finals. Is somewhat limited in terms of scoring potential. Owns a hulking frame for the pivot position and projects to be a quality checking-line center in the Keith Primeau mold at the NHL level. May develop later than many of his peers due to his imposing size."

I know we have too many centers, but if we just want hulking size, I don't think we have an awful lot to lose here.

Or perhaps this guy, listed as #26:

RW
Blake Wheeler
Age: 17
Date of birth: August 31, 1986
HT: 6-3 WT: 185
Shoots/Catches: R
NHL Seasons: 0-R

"Was the top-rated U.S. high-school player available for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, according to Central Scouting's final rankings. Has committed to the University of Minnesota for 2004-05, after registering a 100-point campaign with Breck in the United States High School West league. Has tremendous size but needs to bulk up during his formative years with the Golden Gophers. Will also be asked to use his big frame more and more, as he begins to play against top competition. Possesses scoring instincts and offensive savvy. Is considered one of the best pure right-wingers available in the 2004 draft."

That's around our range of where we'd be picking anyway, wouldn't it?

[mic]

I'm really looking forward to this draft, as it seems that even the Habs only have the 18th pick, some intersting prospects could fall to this spot. Chipchura, Korpikorski, Green, some even mentioned Thelen (although I don't see him still there when the Habs pick) or Graham as Mattias said. Should be interesting to see in a few years which teams had did the best scouting.
It would also have been great to have a second pick, as it seems that you can get good prospects even late in the draft (like Adam Pineault ranked here at 64, where as other rankings have him as a possible first round pick - can't remember which rankings though). But I guess that it was wiser to trade this year's instead of the one in 2005 which is supposed to be a deep draft. It's tough not to overhype a draft when you read these nice scouting reports.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

C
Bruce Graham
Age: 18
Date of birth: December 2, 1985
Place of Birth: Moncton, N.B., Canada
HT: 6-6 WT: 220
Shoots/Catches: L

"Impressed scouts at the 2004 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in January. Finished fourth on the Wildcats in scoring in 2003-04, and was second on the club with 11 power-play goals. However, he failed to score a goal in 18 playoff games (14 assists) during Moncton's QMJHL championship run--which fell just short in the finals. Is somewhat limited in terms of scoring potential. Owns a hulking frame for the pivot position and projects to be a quality checking-line center in the Keith Primeau mold at the NHL level. May develop later than many of his peers due to his imposing size."

I know we have too many centers, but if we just want hulking size, I don't think we have an awful lot to lose here.

Or perhaps this guy, listed as #26:

We may have too many centers, but we don't have too many 6'6" centers.