ISS Top 30 Draft Rankings

[Axeman33]

Dont get me wrong, he showed an excellent jump in his second full season in the OHL but considering he isn't even scoring at a point-per-game pace in Jr hockey doesn't scream "offensive upside" to me.

It's not like it gets easier to score once you turn pro, quite the opposite actually. If he comes around next year and puts up gaudy numbers then maybe my tune may change but right now I see him as a solid NHL player who will play a good two-way game but nothing special as far as his offense goes.

To me, when I see Crouse, I see someone like Benoit Pouliot. A decent Jr scorer, nothing special but loads of "upside" coming out of the draft. meh.

[petegreg21]

Dont get me wrong, he showed an excellent jump in his second full season in the OHL but considering he isn't even scoring at a point-per-game pace in Jr hockey doesn't scream "offensive upside" to me.

One thing worth noting is he led his team in scoring. I'm sure if he had Sam Bennett feeding him the puck, he would have easily potted 10-15 more points.

At the risk of being repetitive:

Jamie Benn - 53GP, 42G, 23A, 65Pts (BCHL - 2007)
Max Pacioretty - 60GP, 21G, 42A, 63Pts (USHL - 2007)
Corey Perry - 67GP, 25G, 53A, 78Pts (OHL - 2003)
Ryan Getzlaf - 70GP, 29G, 39A, 68Pts (WHL - 2003)
Andrew Ladd - 71GP, 30G, 45A, 75Pts (WHL - 2004)

Some of the best power forwards in the game today weren't exactly the highest scorers in their draft year. It's all about how well a game can translate. Hell, even Kyle Beach had 60 points in 60 games in his draft year and we all know what happened to him.

[Jouko-Pouko]

If he comes around next year and puts up gaudy numbers then maybe my tune may change but right now I see him as a solid NHL player who will play a good two-way game but nothing special as far as his offense goes.

Another issue with his offensive upside is that he may make the jump directly to the NHL because of his size and two-way game. If that happens, there's a real possibility he gets stuck into a checking role and he's not given ability to develop his offensive game properly. We've seen it happen before.

The best comparables I can think of quickly are:
Landeskog - 2nd overall - 66 in 53 during draft year (1.25 PPG)
Ladd - 4th overall - 75 in 71 during draft year (1.06 PPG)

But even those players had better numbers than Crouse (0.91 PPG). That doesn't automatically mean anything but I have a hard time thinking he would become a better player than Landeskog or Ladd. Depending on team needs, Crouse could be a great pick at 7th even but not really before that. If he turns into Ladd or Landeskog, that's great. If he turns into Benoit Pouliot, then it's not great. In fantasy hockey... well, depends on league settings but I wouldn't really want him in the top 10.

[Axeman33]

True enough. He could turn into the prototypical NHL power forward, but that's what scares me from him a bit. In a draft as deep as this one is, with as much talent as there appears to be, he seems like a riskier pick if you are looking for the offensive upside. Every draft pick is a bit of a gamble, and there's not doubting his size and his skating are his key attributes, but his offense still hasn't managed to catch up to all his other high skill assets.

Funny, out of all those guys you just listed, only Andrew Ladd was drafted higher than 19 overall in their draft year (Ladd was the 4th overall in his draft year), yet Crouse is supposedly considered to be a high draft pick, top 5-10.

I don't see it happening.

[petegreg21]

Funny, out of all those guys you just listed, only Andrew Ladd was drafted higher than 19 overall in their draft year (Ladd was the 4th overall in his draft year), yet Crouse is supposedly considered to be a high draft pick, top 5-10.

For what it's worth, I fully expect him to fall out of the top 10. Outside the obvious top 5, I still think Barzal, Werenski, Provorov, Zacha Rantanen and even Meier are better prospects.

[Big Ev]

Not much separates him and landeskog as prospects. Landeskog went so high for a reason. Kingston had nobody on the team for crouse to work with to put up bigger points. I think here's zero chance he doesn't go top ten and he can even go top 5.

[Axeman33]

Not much separates him and landeskog as prospects. Landeskog went so high for a reason. Kingston had nobody on the team for crouse to work with to put up bigger points. I think here's zero chance he doesn't go top ten and he can even go top 5.

Who do you see him bumping out of the top five from McDavid, Eichel, Marner, Strome or Hanifin?

[2014olympicgold]

Who do you see him bumping out of the top five from McDavid, Eichel, Marner, Strome or Hanifin?

McDavid-Edm
Eichel-Buf
Marner/Strome-Yotes
Strome/Marner-Leafs
Hanifin/Crouse-Canes
Crouse/Hanifin-I forget.

If Toronto gets the 5^th overall, then Crouse falls out of the top 5, if Carolina gets the 5^th overall, I can see them taking Crouse, but hard to pass up Hanifin.

[Big Ev]

Who do you see him bumping out of the top five from McDavid, Eichel, Marner, Strome or Hanifin?

I think Hanifin or Strome would be the most likely but I will say Crouse goes 6-10. I'd be happy if he falls to Ottawa's pick

[4horsemen]

Meier at #14 ahead of Schevnikov is laughable also to anyone who watch some Q hockey this season. If Schevnikov was name Adam Jones, he would be a top10 pick IMO.

Interesting, I live in Halifax and got to see lots of Meier this year and he is a guy I feel is still being under rated. That being said, sell me on Schevnikov because if it's laughable that Meier is ranked above him then I've been missing out on something great!

[ultrawhiteness]

Another issue with his offensive upside is that he may make the jump directly to the NHL because of his size and two-way game. If that happens, there's a real possibility he gets stuck into a checking role and he's not given ability to develop his offensive game properly. We've seen it happen before.

The best comparables I can think of quickly are:
Landeskog - 2nd overall - 66 in 53 during draft year (1.25 PPG)

Not much separates him and landeskog as prospects. Landeskog went so high for a reason. Kingston had nobody on the team for crouse to work with to put up bigger points. I think here's zero chance he doesn't go top ten and he can even go top 5.

Agree with Ev. Crouse may have been able to easily add another 10 points if he'd been playing with the Knights or Otters or Greyhounds.

To me he's one of the safest players in the draft. Maybe not high-upside, so that's the gamble teams will face... but he's almost guaranteed to be an NHLer and that's a nice thing to draft. Every team in the league would love to have Sean Couturier right now.