yave1964 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Columbus drafted the 6.2 220 pound defenseman as the 8th pick in the draft in 2015, he has played for the University of Michigan under legendary college coach Red Berenson Werenski seems in awe when speaking of Berenson who has nothing but great things to say about Werenski as well. "I have debated retiring for the past several years, but this bunch of kids which includes Werenski and Kyle Connor have made me glad to stick around a little longer." Werenski was nearly a point a game player on the back end for the past two season in college. Werenski has signed with the Jackets and has taken the AHL by storm. In 11 playoff games he has 4 goals (including the game winner in overtime that finished off the 2nd round series against Grand Rapids) and 7 assists for a point a game and his defense has been nearly flawless. I watch my fair share of AHL games, this kid is the real deal, he got turned around and out of position a few times against the Griffins and was left standing still by Bertuzzi once on a goal, but overall his defense is strong. He seems to have a short memory when things go bad. And the few mistakes I watched him make could likely be attributed to not knowing his partner. That will come with time. You could tell that in college he was the offensive player and would release the puck carrier to his partner, the few times he did that he was burned and by the end of the Griffin series he seemed to have made the adjustments. So he seems smart enough to bounce back from rare mistakes. I sat amazed that here is an 18 year old kid carrying the puck out of his own zone with the confidence of a ten year vet. He runs the power play, his vision for someone so young and just getting used to his teammates is insane. And his slap shot is a thing of beauty, he does not lift his stick above his shoulder but still gets power behind it and accuracy as well without giving the other team a chance to set up or block it. Noah Hanifin was the only defenseman taken ahead of him and he played with the Hurricanes and did not embarrass himself last year and i sa truly solid prospect, but my money is on Werenski. He is not physical as he should be for his size but his skill level is off the charts. Keep an eye on him. He is the real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 2 minutes ago, yave1964 said: Noah Hanifin was the only defenseman taken ahead of him and he played with the Hurricanes and did not embarrass himself last year and i sa truly solid prospect, but my money is on Werenski. He is not physical as he should be for his size but his skill level is off the charts. Keep an eye on him. He is the real deal. Ivan Provorov at #7? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 4 minutes ago, AJgoal said: Ivan Provorov at #7? My bad, gpood catch. Still go with Werenski as the one to watch, but those three are one hell of a trio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 9 minutes ago, yave1964 said: My bad, gpood catch. Still go with Werenski as the one to watch, but those three are one hell of a trio. I'll take Provorov over both...he likes to hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagerMeister Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 On 5/24/2016 at 0:17 PM, flyercanuck said: I'll take Provorov over both...he likes to hit. You would take a Russian over those two? Is that still you, FC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 6 hours ago, JagerMeister said: You would take a Russian over those two? Is that still you, FC? Crazy huh? This 19 year old Russian plays a North American style game and speaks English better than most NBA players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 On 5/26/2016 at 6:01 AM, flyercanuck said: Crazy huh? This 19 year old Russian plays a North American style game and speaks English better than most NBA players. I still go with Werenski but all three are damn solid picks, nothing wrong with any of them. IMHO all three landed in the right spot for their career. I am partial to NA college kids, especially big ten players, Wisconsin, U of Michigan seem to churn out more than their fair share of top tier talent and they are fun to watch usually. Of Course the Buckeyes have an occasional stud as well, I believe one of them toils for your boys right now, goes by his initials, R. J. ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 42 minutes ago, yave1964 said: I still go with Werenski but all three are damn solid picks, nothing wrong with any of them. IMHO all three landed in the right spot for their career. I am partial to NA college kids, especially big ten players, Wisconsin, U of Michigan seem to churn out more than their fair share of top tier talent and they are fun to watch usually. Of Course the Buckeyes have an occasional stud as well, I believe one of them toils for your boys right now, goes by his initials, R. J. ........ I'm partial to OHL. It's produced some decent defencemen...Bobby Orr, Drew Doughty, Larry Robinson, , Brent Burns, Paul Coffey, Alex Pietrangelo, Denis Potvin, PK Subban, Scott Stevens, Aaron Ekblad, Chris Pronger, Larry Murphy, Brad Park, Tim Horton, Doug Wilson, Darnel Nurse, Paul Reinhart, Al MacInnis, Randy Carlisle, Craig Hartsburg to name a bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 30 minutes ago, flyercanuck said: I'm partial to OHL. It's produced some decent defencemen...Bobby Orr, Drew Doughty, Larry Robinson, , Brent Burns, Paul Coffey, Alex Pietrangelo, Denis Potvin, PK Subban, Scott Stevens, Aaron Ekblad, Chris Pronger, Larry Murphy, Brad Park, Tim Horton, Doug Wilson, Darnel Nurse, Paul Reinhart, Al MacInnis, Randy Carlisle, Craig Hartsburg to name a bunch. Show off. Yeah the OHL has produced a ton of players, seriously tho in recent years, especially the past decade the Big Ten has produced a ton of NHL talent, not saying they are as strong as the powerhouse Canadian farm boy factories, but they hold their own against most folks. Craig Hartsburg??? Randy Carlyle?????? Mentioned among that bunch, the Mount Rushmore of NHL defensemen. Sacrilege. No seriously, Hartsburg and Carlyle were damn good defensemen who are largely forgotten today because the organizations that they spent most of their career with up and moved off to other cities. Good on you for remembering them in your comment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 On 5/26/2016 at 5:01 AM, flyercanuck said: Crazy huh? This 19 year old Russian plays a North American style game and speaks English better than most NBA players. Lol, it's true. Ivan has played in North America since he was 14. He's more a product of that than he is of his Russian birth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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