top goalies of the draft

[fzusher]

wondering about people\'s take on the top goalies taken in this draft (will start another thread for lower goalies once I gather more info about them).

Chet Picard - Is he the real deal or just the best in a good but not great bunch? Legitimate mid first round pick in a keeper? Where does he rank within the Nashville system (Rinne - Smith - Dekanich)? How close is he?

McCollum/Markstrom - who will make the better NHL goalie just looking at potential, discounting the fact that Markstrom is by far the best goalie in the FLO system while McCollum is stuck behind Howard and maybe Larsson? How close is Markstrom?

Jake Allen - Is he now just another body for the STL pipeline, competition to Bishop for a future NHL spot, or the undisputed goalie of the future, and is he good enough for that? How close is he [I presue, pretty far]?

General - If you could have only one of the four, which one would you have?

Here\'s the info I did dig up on them from TSN, Sportsnet, THN, but any further opinions welcome.

Chet Picard (NAS/18) 6’2’’/195 and commonly compared to Kolzig.
TSN: Highly fit, calm, good puck handler.
From his junior coach: \"Where do you begin with him? Tremendous attitude, sat behind (Montreal Canadiens starter) Carey Price for a couple years and bided his time and when he was given the chance to play he was ready for the moment. He\'s a big guy, moves around the net real well, real competitive, works extremely hard in the weight room and off the ice. He\'s technically sound and continues to get better every day.\"

Thomas McCollum (DET/30) 6’1’’/205
TSN: Good size, athletic, good fundamentals, but inconsistent and goes down too quickly; considered having the best glove in draft.
An unnamed OHL coach: \"There\'s a goalie that probably didn\'t know his potential until he came to the league … I think he\'s athletic, real good rebound control and got a lot of confidence. I think that\'s what makes him a good goalie is his confidence, rebound control and being very athletic\"
Grant McCagg (McKeen\'s): \"He\'s a big kid that really came on in the second half of the season … Has a good attitude, has some athletic ability, needs to work on his technique but might have starter potential at the NHL level.\"

Jacob Markstrom (FLO/31) 6’3’’/180
TSN: good technique and positioning, athletic, proven himself in pressure situations in international and league competition; the scouting services note that he may not be as polished in his technique as some of the top North American goaltender prospects, but has enough raw talent to draw strong first round consideration.
McCagg: \"He\'s got NHL starter potential … He\'s got the size, athleticism and quickness that you would look for in a starting goalie. His technique is decent and he\'s competitive. Weaknesses would be that he has a tendency to let in a soft goal on occasion. Maybe he needs to work on his mental toughness.\" [my note to this: the fact that he was fantastic in the playoffs in Sweden and reportedly very good in international competition undermines the concern about mental toughness].

Jake Allen (STL/34) 6\'2\'\'/175
TSN: Best puckhandler among goalies and tops in under 18

[lockedge]

fzusher wrote:

wondering about people\'s take on the top goalies taken in this draft (will start another thread for lower goalies once I gather more info about them).

Chet Picard - Is he the real deal or just the best in a good but not great bunch? Legitimate mid first round pick in a keeper? Where does he rank within the Nashville system (Rinne - Smith - Dekanich)? How close is he?

McCollum/Markstrom - who will make the better NHL goalie just looking at potential, discounting the fact that Markstrom is by far the best goalie in the FLO system while McCollum is stuck behind Howard and maybe Larsson? How close is Markstrom?

Jake Allen - Is he now just another body for the STL pipeline, competition to Bishop for a future NHL spot, or the undisputed goalie of the future, and is he good enough for that? How close is he [I presue, pretty far]?

General - If you could have only one of the four, which one would you have?

Here\'s the info I did dig up on them from TSN, Sportsnet, THN, but any further opinions welcome.

Chet Picard (NAS/18) 6’2’’/195 and commonly compared to Kolzig.
TSN: Highly fit, calm, good puck handler.
From his junior coach: \"Where do you begin with him? Tremendous attitude, sat behind (Montreal Canadiens starter) Carey Price for a couple years and bided his time and when he was given the chance to play he was ready for the moment. He\'s a big guy, moves around the net real well, real competitive, works extremely hard in the weight room and off the ice. He\'s technically sound and continues to get better every day.\"

Thomas McCollum (DET/30) 6’1’’/205
TSN: Good size, athletic, good fundamentals, but inconsistent and goes down too quickly; considered having the best glove in draft.
An unnamed OHL coach: \"There\'s a goalie that probably didn\'t know his potential until he came to the league … I think he\'s athletic, real good rebound control and got a lot of confidence. I think that\'s what makes him a good goalie is his confidence, rebound control and being very athletic\"
Grant McCagg (McKeen\'s): \"He\'s a big kid that really came on in the second half of the season … Has a good attitude, has some athletic ability, needs to work on his technique but might have starter potential at the NHL level.\"

Jacob Markstrom (FLO/31) 6’3’’/180
TSN: good technique and positioning, athletic, proven himself in pressure situations in international and league competition; the scouting services note that he may not be as polished in his technique as some of the top North American goaltender prospects, but has enough raw talent to draw strong first round consideration.
McCagg: \"He\'s got NHL starter potential … He\'s got the size, athleticism and quickness that you would look for in a starting goalie. His technique is decent and he\'s competitive. Weaknesses would be that he has a tendency to let in a soft goal on occasion. Maybe he needs to work on his mental toughness.\" [my note to this: the fact that he was fantastic in the playoffs in Sweden and reportedly very good in international competition undermines the concern about mental toughness].

Jake Allen (STL/34) 6\'2\'\'/175
TSN: Best puckhandler among goalies and tops in under 18

Allen: Amazing puckhandler. I don\'t think I\'ve ever seen him make a bad move. He reads plays and pays real close attention to detail, and it shows. He lacks some of the basic foundation that some of the other prime goalies have, much like how Turco did when he was drafted, but Allen will have plenty of time learning that with Bishop ahead of him in the pipeline. He\'ll break into the league late. Around 26-28 years old, but he\'s IMHO a sure thing. His rebound control is pretty excellent. You only get one shot with this kid in net. Too smart not to make it. All depends on how he\'s developed, in terms of him being simply a good backup, or a great starter.

Chet Pickard: Solid goalie prospect. I don\'t think he has Markstrom\'s upside in terms of talent level, but he\'s starter quality. Solid in most aspects of his game. Really confident kid, but at times he gets cocky or lazy, and misreads a play or lets in a softie. If he\'s brought down to earth, he\'ll be a good goalie. Probably about as good as Chris Mason at top gear(and Chris mason at top gear is just under average starter). About even with Rinne in potential, better than Smith, and just edging Dekanich out...if Dekanich can put the puzzle together.


Jakub Markstrom:
I agree he\'s mentally pretty sharp, minor confidence issues aside. His issue is that he overplays angles at times, in clutch situations. Maybe thinking he\'s not in the right position, or second-guessing himself, or undermining his ability...but it happens when his confidence is down. That\'s really all. Strangely enough, he rebounds from soft goals, so...it\'s pretty odd. Needless to say though, when he\'s on his game, he\'s near unbeatable...at least at the level he was playing at.
With a few years experience and some grinding out minor details, he\'ll be ready for the bigs. He\'s close. 3 years?

Thomas McCollum: I\'ll be frank, I\'m kind of embarrassed about my knowledge on the kid. I think I\'ve seen him play, MAX, 3 times. For an OHLer, I should be on top of things. From the little I\'ve seen, he has a great glove, and pretty quick reflexes. Good, sound rebound control, but he\'ll need to work on not giving rebs off point shots and the like. He smothers up close and works very well there, but someone peppers him off the boards or at the blueline and he\'s usually(from the little I\'ve seen) content to let that bounce away wherever, and occasionally gives away a good scoring chance because of it. Not the best puckhandler, but he has good enough lateral movement and even though his glove is fantastic, his stick-side is underrated. He seemed really strong at the bottom, and almost always knew where the puck was. People say he\'s really confident and I can\'t say that his play discredits that. Poised kid. I\'d put him a ways behind Larsson and Howard. This kid is a project. Could be starter, I don\'t know. I haven\'t seen him enough.


If I had to pick one.....I don\'t know. Between Allen and Markstrom. Those guys were my 1 and 2(often swapping spots) respectively all year.

[fzusher]

Thanks a bunch, lockedge; great info as usual.

[lockedge]

Now if only I could scout forwards and Dmen better D:

Thanks though. I like me some goalie watching. They\'re easy to scout too, since they aren\'t moving all about the ice and changing shifts and whatnot. :P