TSN Ranks Riley Nash #33 for the upcoming draft

[pfibiger]

Bob McKenzie (hockey commentator and father of SLU's Mike McKenzie) put together a 1-60 ranking of draft prospects. He echoes the sentiment that a lot of draft watchers have, which is that Riley is unlikely to be a top-line or even top-two line player, but is a very safe bet to play in the NHL.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=11080&hubname=

Their table also includes numeric rankings from other publications:

TSN                  : 33
Central Scount Bureau: 64 (North American List)
Intl Scouting Service: 35
Red Line Report      : 24
The Hockey News      : 94

[evilnaturedrobot]

mckeens puts him at #46.

[scoop85]

USA Today says Riley will go at #17 to my NY Rangers ::woot::

Much higher than any other prediction I have seen.

[scoop85]

Some more love from Kyle Woodllief of USA Today and the Red Line Report in a Q & A:

Vancouver, BC: What are your thoughts on some of the "other" BCHL forwards, like Riley Nash and Casey Pierro-Zabotel?

Kyle Woodlief: At Red Line, our staff loves Riley Nash, and I think he could go off the board possibly as high as #15 overall. A really well schooled, all-around player who can play it any way you want. Pierro-Zabotel is big and has a real good touch around the net and fine instincts at the offensive end of the rink. He has some other areas to work on, but with those tools I'd see him going in the 2nd round

[DILLIGAF]

If he goes that high the pressure for him to play major junior instead of cornell will be huge.

[Tom Lento]

[quote DILLIGAF]If he goes that high the pressure for him to play major junior instead of cornell will be huge.[/quote]

Not necessarily - I think that largely depends on the team that drafts him, how far down the depth chart he is, what they want him to work on, and whether or not they offer him a contract of some kind to jump ship - but if he goes that high, plays well, and stays healthy, it's all but guaranteed that he won't be at Cornell for more than 2 years. Pokulok and LeNeveu were both drafted pretty high and they both left early to go straight into the AHL without any public discussion of major junior as an intermediate possibility. Then again, I don't think they were drafted until *after* they came to Cornell, but my memory is a bit fuzzy on these things.

[DILLIGAF]

I think you are right, it will depend somewhat on who drafts him and somewhat on who his "family advisor" is.  Drafted that high, he stands to get a decent Major Junior contract too, which could sway him immediately.  

Also, I think you are right, if he does make it to Cornell, it will not be a full 4 years.  It will be a one and done or 2 and out for him.  

The top programs deal with that every year.  You count yourself lucky for what time you get with the very best players.  See Minnesota, Maine, North Dakota, etc.  The all recruit with the idea of losing freshmen and sophs.  

It is the price of success.

[Jacob 03]

[quote DILLIGAF]Also, I think you are right, if he does make it to Cornell, it will not be a full 4 years.  It will be a one and done or 2 and out for him.  

The top programs deal with that every year.  You count yourself lucky for what time you get with the very best players.  See Minnesota, Maine, North Dakota, etc.  The all recruit with the idea of losing freshmen and sophs.  

It is the price of success.[/quote]Cornell's had its share of players bolting  early to the pros, but it will never see a rate of this comparable to the schools you mentioned.  Even if it matched those schools' rate of success, they still have one large advantage over Cornell in the ability to offer scholarships.  That is not diminished when a player leaves early (he still got to play for free).  Cornell's largest recruiting advantage over those schools is the value of the degree, and this is signficantly diminished when one leaves after a season or two.  


Players leaving early might happen more than it used to, but it'll never be that common.  Those players are just less likely to come to Ithaca in the first place.

[Rita]

BTW, the first round of the NHL draft is Friday 6/22 at 7 pm and is being televised on Versus, TSN and the NHL Network.

Is the NHL Network new? Is it available in the US or is it a Canadien thing? I'm just curious since I haven't seen it on my Direct TV programming guide.

[jkahn]

[quote Rita]

Is the NHL Network new? Is it available in the US or is it a Canadien thing? I'm just curious since I haven't seen it on my Direct TV programming guide.[/quote]
The NHL Network has been around for about six years (that's a guess).  As far as I know, it's only been available in Canada.  We need to start campaigning to get it included in either the Directv SportsPak or as part of the CenterIce package.

[Josh '99]

[quote Tom Lento][quote DILLIGAF]If he goes that high the pressure for him to play major junior instead of cornell will be huge.[/quote]

Not necessarily - I think that largely depends on the team that drafts him, how far down the depth chart he is, what they want him to work on, and whether or not they offer him a contract of some kind to jump ship - but if he goes that high, plays well, and stays healthy, it's all but guaranteed that he won't be at Cornell for more than 2 years. Pokulok and LeNeveu were both drafted pretty high and they both left early to go straight into the AHL without any public discussion of major junior as an intermediate possibility. Then again, I don't think they were drafted until *after* they came to Cornell, but my memory is a bit fuzzy on these things.[/quote]I have to figure that the opportunity to keep playing with Brendon will continue to be important to Riley - it was (presumably) part of why he decided to come play at Cornell instead of UND or somewhere else, and it's a factor that wasn't present in the decisions of guys like Lenny and Sasha to leave early.

[Tub(a)]

I remember reading that Comcast was bringing the NHL Network to the US, but apparently that was a lie.

[JordanCS]

Well, off to the draft....heading downtown to see what the action is like.    I'll report if anything interesting goes down on the floor..

[evilnaturedrobot]

[quote DILLIGAF]If he goes that high the pressure for him to play major junior instead of cornell will be huge.[/quote]

Not nessisarily, it all comes down to what the team that draft's him thinks of the Cornell program.  Toews played two years and so will Okposo, and both are huge prospects (drafted #3 and #6 overall last year.)

What is so disturbing about the recent two defections is that neither Milo or Romano was offered a pro contract, but instead left to join teams on the junior level.  It's hard to blame a kid when he inks a deal with an NHL team, but when they leave to join other youth teams it's a vote of no confidence in the Cornell program.  Lets hope that Milo and Romano where isolated incidents and not indicative of a greater trend.

[Josh '99]

Nobody?

OK, I'll do it.  Riley Nash to Edmonton at #21 (traded up from #30 to get him).  Lowe says they had him in their top 13.