Johnny Gaudreau
 

As a Flames Fan I'd like to see what Dobberites think of this guy. He's an extremely small player only 5'8 but his skills are what make him very interesting.

- He played for Boston College last year and scored 1 less point than Kris Kreider. (44 points in 44 games)
- He's currently playing for Boston College again and is tearing it up with 19 points in 11 games.
- He is extremely slick and fast with and without the puck and has drawn comparisons to Martin St Louis.

What do you guys think, does he stand a chance to make the NHL? I would say he has more raw talent then Baertschi at this point in time.

The problem with the smallish players is that you don't know how it will translate at the next level. He is probably a few years away. The talent is definitely there though.

Way too early to say, but if your league has a large farm roster I'd take a shot on him.

After the World Juniors he'll be one of the players everybody is talking about. He's a special player.

See David Desharnais...

Gaudreau is definitely a player I have on my "watch list". I do think hes a strong candidate to stay with Boston College until he graduates. Hes a sophomore this season.

Best case scenario he leaves college after this season, and Calgary signs him, starting his pro career w/ Abbotsford. There I'd expect him to spend at least 2 seasons getting used to playing against smarter, bigger, faster, stronger AHL d-men...possibly 3 seasons of AHL seasoning. Depending how he does there and how he holds his own in future Flames training camps will determine if he gets a chance to prove himself at the NHL level.

Either way, hes a player that is at least 3-5 years away from making an NHL impact.

Everybody has a chance, he's still a few years away but I like what I see. I'd add him in deeper leagues to prospect rosters and watch him in shallow leagues.

I'm really looking forward to seeing him at the World Juniors.

Great responses so far especially from some of the marquee people on this forum. The World juniors is where this kid should turn some heads, I feel he will be the go to guy on that team.. it's just no one knows it yet :p

If that happens it's probably best to sell high. A short tournament won't suddenly cut a few years off of his development time. And in fantasy hockey time is important.

Exactly.

Even though the OP is a Flames fan, it would be better to use Gaudreau's raised status in a trade. He's got some time before he hits the NHL (if he does).

But as to what I think of him? The kid is real smart. I've heard lofty comparisons of his IQ to being the best for an American prospect in a long time. I'm not sure whether I agree or not, but the point being his IQ is incredibly high. He's also very shifty, which is important for a small player.

Yes he is small, but he's hard to get a bead on for defenders. And he's playing quite successfully against competition that is generally regarded as bigger and stronger than the CHL.

So far the kid has succeeded everywhere he's gone. Will he continue? It's definitely a high possibility but he's got a chance at missing like almost every other prospect.

Like others said, in a deep league I'd keep an eye on him/store him on the prospect bench. In a shallower league you might want to wait as you can get stronger prospects. But he's definitely one to watch. I mean he's 4th in the entire NCAA for scoring, one of only three player's in the top twenty who have less than two year's previous NCAA experience, and the second youngest of the top 20 scorers (Riley Barber is the youngest, with 15 points in 12 games)