Best 91's?

[Scout]

Courtesy Alan Caldwell:

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Best '91s?
My attention was called the other day to a post on a WHL message board regarding who the best 16 year old (1991-born) players in the league were this year. There must have been a good half-dozen names up for discussion.

So far this year, there have been 37 16 year olds who have played at least 15 games in the league this year. Here they are, with position, team, and stats:

Brayden Schenn (F-BRN) 29gp, 26pts, 43pim, +11
Tyson Barrie (D-KEL) 29gp, 20pts, 18pim, +7
Stefan Elliott (D-SAS) 29gp, 20pts, 21pim, -15
Evander Kane (F-VAN) 29gp, 17pts, 39pim, +4
Landon Ferraro (F-RDR) 30gp, 16pts, 30pim, -6
Scott Glennie (F-BRN) 23gp, 15pts, 16pim, +2
Jared Cowen (D-SPO) 28gp, 11pts, 22pim, +16
Cam Braes (F-LTH) 29gp, 10pts, 18pim, +7
Linden Vey (F-MH) 20gp, 8pts, 0pim, +3
Adam Hughesman (F-TRI) 23gp, 8pts, 7pim, +1
Jimmy Bubnick (F-KAM) 28gp, 8pts, 16pim, -2
Brandon Herrod (F-PA) 30gp, 8pts, 17pim, -2
Cody Carlson (D-MH) 22gp, 6pts, 19pim, +7
Brad Hoban (F-SC) 28gp, 6pts, 11pim, -5
Brodie Melnychuk (D-BRN) 22gp, 5pts, 23pim, +5
Matt Mackenzie (D-CGY) 24gp, 5pts, 6pim, +8
Justin Maylan (F-MJ) 15gp, 4pts, 6pim, -3
Jason Gardiner (F-TRI) 16gp, 4pts, 35pim, -2
Ryan Howse (F-CHI) 22gp, 4pts, 0pim, -6
Cody Eakin (F-SC) 26gp, 4pts, 33pim, -1
Curtis Hamilton (F-SAS) 28gp, 4pts, 12pim, -5
Garrett Mitchell (F-REG) 29gp, 4pts, 47pim, 0
Brenden Silvester (F-SEA) 17gp, 3pts, 4pim, +2
Ryan Kowalski (F-PG) 29gp, 3pts, 29pim, -7
Brayden McNabb (D-KTN) 30gp, 3pts, 21pim, +4
Alex Pym (D-REG) 17gp, 2pts, 16pim, -1
Ryan Button (D-PA) 22gp, 2pts, 16pim, -8
Collin Bowman (D-KEL) 25gp, 2pts, 20pim, +5
James Henry (F-VAN) 16gp, 1pts, 18pim, +2
Brett Ponich (D-POR) 20gp, 1pts, 8pim, -7
Charles Wells (F-SEA) 22gp, 1pts, 9pim, -2
Steve Chaffin (D-SEA) 26gp, 1pts, 37pim, -10
Art Bidlevskii (D-PG) 28gp, 1pts, 33pim, +1
Joe Antilla (F-KTN) 28gp, 1pts, 23pim, -3
Chase Schaber (F-CGY) 19gp, 0pts, 2pim, -2
Joel Rogers (D-SC) 21gp, 0pts, 21pim, -6
Brennan Yadlowski (D-LTH) 23gp, 0pts, 25pim, +5

The list is ordered by points, but at least in the case of defencemen, you don't need to have a lot of points to be doing your job. So take that into consideration.

One thing jumps out: when it comes to points, Brayden Schenn is dominating. A six point lead at this point translates into a 15-20 point lead at the end of the year. He is also a +11 on a team which many pundits didn't think would be that good. At least among forwards, he has no equals in the "best 16 year old" category. He's big, he scores, he's scrappy, what's not to like here.

Among the defencemen though, there's at least three obvious, serious candidates for "best": Barrie, Elliott, and Cowen. Personally, I think Elliott's -15 is a bit high for my liking, even considering the overall weakness of the Blades defensively. This is a guy who, while he is scoring a lot of points, is probably having some problems defensively if he is a -15. And on the other side of the coin, it's hard not to be impressed by Jared Cowen's big +16.....but in a reverse of Elliott, Cowen is playing for an overall strong team defensively. So you have to consider that too - if the two were to switch teams, their +/- numbers would probably be a bit different. And then right smack in the middle is Barrie, who has both Elliott's scoring numbers as well as Cowen's strong +/- number. Hard to pick just one, I like them all for different reasons. But Barrie seems to be a good compromise choice. Overall though, I have to go with Schenn as the best '91 in the league so far this year. My opinion only though.....your opinion is no less right or wrong.

I also want to single out a guy like Cody Carlson, who does not have a lot of points but is a strong +7 on a Tigers team that is allowing as many goals as it scores.

[HomerSimpson]

Courtesy Alan Caldwell:

Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Best '91s?
My attention was called the other day to a post on a WHL message board regarding who the best 16 year old (1991-born) players in the league were this year. There must have been a good half-dozen names up for discussion.

So far this year, there have been 37 16 year olds who have played at least 15 games in the league this year. Here they are, with position, team, and stats:

Brayden Schenn (F-BRN) 29gp, 26pts, 43pim, +11
Tyson Barrie (D-KEL) 29gp, 20pts, 18pim, +7
Stefan Elliott (D-SAS) 29gp, 20pts, 21pim, -15
Evander Kane (F-VAN) 29gp, 17pts, 39pim, +4
Landon Ferraro (F-RDR) 30gp, 16pts, 30pim, -6
Scott Glennie (F-BRN) 23gp, 15pts, 16pim, +2
Jared Cowen (D-SPO) 28gp, 11pts, 22pim, +16
Cam Braes (F-LTH) 29gp, 10pts, 18pim, +7
Linden Vey (F-MH) 20gp, 8pts, 0pim, +3
Adam Hughesman (F-TRI) 23gp, 8pts, 7pim, +1
Jimmy Bubnick (F-KAM) 28gp, 8pts, 16pim, -2
Brandon Herrod (F-PA) 30gp, 8pts, 17pim, -2
Cody Carlson (D-MH) 22gp, 6pts, 19pim, +7
Brad Hoban (F-SC) 28gp, 6pts, 11pim, -5
Brodie Melnychuk (D-BRN) 22gp, 5pts, 23pim, +5
Matt Mackenzie (D-CGY) 24gp, 5pts, 6pim, +8
Justin Maylan (F-MJ) 15gp, 4pts, 6pim, -3
Jason Gardiner (F-TRI) 16gp, 4pts, 35pim, -2
Ryan Howse (F-CHI) 22gp, 4pts, 0pim, -6
Cody Eakin (F-SC) 26gp, 4pts, 33pim, -1
Curtis Hamilton (F-SAS) 28gp, 4pts, 12pim, -5
Garrett Mitchell (F-REG) 29gp, 4pts, 47pim, 0
Brenden Silvester (F-SEA) 17gp, 3pts, 4pim, +2
Ryan Kowalski (F-PG) 29gp, 3pts, 29pim, -7
Brayden McNabb (D-KTN) 30gp, 3pts, 21pim, +4
Alex Pym (D-REG) 17gp, 2pts, 16pim, -1
Ryan Button (D-PA) 22gp, 2pts, 16pim, -8
Collin Bowman (D-KEL) 25gp, 2pts, 20pim, +5
James Henry (F-VAN) 16gp, 1pts, 18pim, +2
Brett Ponich (D-POR) 20gp, 1pts, 8pim, -7
Charles Wells (F-SEA) 22gp, 1pts, 9pim, -2
Steve Chaffin (D-SEA) 26gp, 1pts, 37pim, -10
Art Bidlevskii (D-PG) 28gp, 1pts, 33pim, +1
Joe Antilla (F-KTN) 28gp, 1pts, 23pim, -3
Chase Schaber (F-CGY) 19gp, 0pts, 2pim, -2
Joel Rogers (D-SC) 21gp, 0pts, 21pim, -6
Brennan Yadlowski (D-LTH) 23gp, 0pts, 25pim, +5

The list is ordered by points, but at least in the case of defencemen, you don't need to have a lot of points to be doing your job. So take that into consideration.

One thing jumps out: when it comes to points, Brayden Schenn is dominating. A six point lead at this point translates into a 15-20 point lead at the end of the year. He is also a +11 on a team which many pundits didn't think would be that good. At least among forwards, he has no equals in the "best 16 year old" category. He's big, he scores, he's scrappy, what's not to like here.

Among the defencemen though, there's at least three obvious, serious candidates for "best": Barrie, Elliott, and Cowen. Personally, I think Elliott's -15 is a bit high for my liking, even considering the overall weakness of the Blades defensively. This is a guy who, while he is scoring a lot of points, is probably having some problems defensively if he is a -15. And on the other side of the coin, it's hard not to be impressed by Jared Cowen's big +16.....but in a reverse of Elliott, Cowen is playing for an overall strong team defensively. So you have to consider that too - if the two were to switch teams, their +/- numbers would probably be a bit different. And then right smack in the middle is Barrie, who has both Elliott's scoring numbers as well as Cowen's strong +/- number. Hard to pick just one, I like them all for different reasons. But Barrie seems to be a good compromise choice. Overall though, I have to go with Schenn as the best '91 in the league so far this year. My opinion only though.....your opinion is no less right or wrong.

I also want to single out a guy like Cody Carlson, who does not have a lot of points but is a strong +7 on a Tigers team that is allowing as many goals as it scores.

I like this discussion; hopefully it will lead to many strong debates. One point I will argue, being a Chiefs fan (obviously) is what you said about Cowen being on an overall strong defensive team. It's hard to call the Chiefs a strong defensive team when you look at what we have defensively:

Justin Falk: 19yo; our only defenseman with over 100 games of WHL experience before the season at 119. Drafted in the 5th round by Minnesota.
Jared Spurgeon: 18yo; 84gp in the WHL before the season. Extremely injury prone, the team kept 8 defensemen around for a long time until Spurgeon proved he could remain healthy. We all knew about his talent, it was just a matter of whether or not he could show it this year.
Michael Reddington: 17yo, our only other experienced WHLer this year. Played in 73 WHL games before this season.
Brett Bartman: 18yo, 0 WHL games before '07-'08.
Jace Coyle: 17yo, 0 WHL gp
Stefan Ulmer: 17yo, 0 WHL gp...maybe the only defender in the league smaller than Spurgeon.
Jared Cowen: 16yo, 6 WHL regular season games before this year.

I think the Jareds (Cowen and Spurgeon), who have been our top pairing since day 1, are the main reason we're at the top of the WHL right now. Sure, that Bowman/Wahl/Bruton line has stepped up as maybe the top line in the league, but it's due in large part to the fact that they usually have the Cowen/Spurgeon pair playing behind them. The big concern for Spokane before the season was our young defense, and it was said that if Jared Cowen could step right in and prove his worth right off the bat, we'd be a contender.

As far as importance to their team goes, I would put Jared Cowen right along side Braydon Schenn. Being a die-hard Chiefs fan, I'd love to say Cowen all the way...but it's hard to overlook Schenn, so I'll give my best of the forwards and the defensemen.

1f. Schenn
1d. Cowen

[WHEATMAN]

This is how I see it:

1.Schenn- Brandon
2.Barrie- Kelowna
3.Cowan- Spokane
4.Glennie- Brandon
5.Elliott- Saskatoon

[Bocephus]

I am really looking forward to seeing the Chiefs here on Wednesday. Go Canes Go.

[hobster]

Ok here's mine

1. Schenn
2. Elliott
3. Barrie
4. Cowan
5. Kane

[WHEATMAN]

Ok here's mine

1. Schenn
2. Elliott
3. Barrie
4. Cowan
5. Kane

How do you think Kane is better than Glennie? And how is Elliott better than Barrie?

[hobster]

Sorry it's hard too please everybody

[AlanC]

It's hard to call the Chiefs a strong defensive team when you look at what we have defensively:

Defensive hockey is more than just the defencemen though. If the forwards aren't committed to playing hard without the puck, coming back hard into their own zone when they lose the puck and picking up their checks, the best group of defencemen in the world can't look good on a team like that. Conversely, if everyone on the team is committed to playing well defensively, that makes the job of an average defence that much easier.

Spokane has allowed by far the fewest goals in the league which to me, means they have a good team commitment to defensive hockey. That makes the job of everyone on their defence, including Cowen, much easier than the defencemen on some other teams.

It's really, really hard to pick one out of that group of Cowen, Elliott, and Barrie. They are all going to be huge stars in this league by the end of their careers here, and probably in the NHL as well. It's a tough group and they're all great players.

And for the guy who keeps bringing up Niemi in these discussions - he's 17, not 16.

[hobster]

Iv never said he's 16 iv always said he was 17 and that he will be drafted high into the nhl draft next year

[sbtatter]

I'm a Brandon fan so I'm biased I guess, but I think Schenn is the best 16 year old in the league. I hear a lot of unbiased others say the same though, even players from other teams are saying it....
Glennie, I love the way he scores, but he's unconventional. He was a bit injury prone in AAA, so if he recovers from this concussion ok I'll be happy. I think he doesn't always know what he's doing, so it confuses the other team!! He's a pure goal scorer, who, if he keeps it up could crack the top 5 as a 16 year old.
Having said all this, defence is harder to play as a 16 year old than forward.
Schenn is the real deal, the next Getzlaff maybe? Ferraro is also very, very good, just on a bad team. Ashton is also good, Bubnick and Eakin too. Elliot, Barrie, Melnychuk are all having great seasons as 16 year old d-men.... Schenn is by far the best 16 year old so far though.....