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

[WHEATMAN]

Sorry it's hard too please everybody

I wasn't critisizing you or anything, I was just wondering why you think Kane is better than Glennie and Elliott better than Barrie.

[WHL Crazy]

Elliott is better than Barrie on the mere fact that Barrie has a far superior supporting cast on defense and offence on his team. Stefan Elliott has always been a better prospect and that hasn't changed. Elliott was BC Midget Allstar defense, BC minor hockey player of the year the year before and has been on scouts radar for yrs.

As for Kane being better than Glennie....I don't even think we have to go there! Kane could be on par with Schenn even.

[WHL Crazy]

1. Jared Cowen
2. Brayden Schenn
3. Stefan Elliott
4. Evander Kane
5. Landon Ferrero
6. Adam Hughesman
7. Scott Glennie
8. Tyson Barrie
9. Cody Carlson
10. Matt Mckenzie