Prospect News – Ramble – May 07, 2009
Dobber Sports
2009-05-07
The Sens have signed top d-man prospect Erik Karlsson to an entry-level deal. There is little doubt that he is NHL ready and he is precisely the puck-moving rearguard that they need. To start, I can see a 40-point season right off the hop. Karlsson is ranked 87th on my Prospects List.
Thanks to letnry for pointing to the Enstrom footage I added below…
The Stars signed James Neal's younger brother Michael to an entry level deal yesterday. Michael was drafted in the fifth round in 2007. He lacks the skill of James, but plays a similar physical game. He will need at least two years in the AHL before being considered. A bit of a project.
Eric Fehr missed last night's game with an undisclosed injury.
It's amazing how Malkin turns it on like that after being invisible. After an incredible shift in which the Caps couldn't get the puck from him until he drew a penalty, I turned to the wife and said "Malkin will score on this power play – I guarantee it." Because you just know. When he's in that zone there is nothing like it. He did score, of course, and the wife was impressed.
Toronto prospect Chris Didomenico crashed hard into the boards Tuesday and broke his thigh bone – he will be out for a very long time. Obviously, if his team Drummondville gets to the Memorial Cup he will unfortunately lose out on the experience. Didomenico is ranked 115 on my prospects list.
The amount of people who have signed up on the "makeitseven.ca" website has topped 61,000 and counting. DobberHockey is behind Balsillie 100%! Sorry Phoenix fans – especially Ryenforcers, who is fairly active in our forum.
I place the odds of Balsillie seeing his vision through this time at about 10%. Bettman is a pit bull and he secretly (I'm certain) has the might of MLSE pressuring him.
The Islanders would love to see their prospect Kiril Petrov at their prospects camp this summer. Petrov has another three years left on his deal in the KHL so we won't see him for a while, but the team needs to see some glimmer of interest from him that he would like to eventually cross the pond. Petrov is ranked 159th on my prospects – mostly due to the wait. His upside is quite high.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Thrashers defenseman Tobias Enstrom suffered facial fractures that required surgery while competing in the World Hockey Championships in Switzerland. Enstrom is expected to make a full recovery and won’t miss the start of training camp, according to Thrashers general manager Don Waddell. Enstrom, who also lost several teeth, was representing Sweden in a first-round game against Latvia Monday. He was hit from behind by Martins Karsums (Tampa Bay) and landed face first where the boards meet the glass. He underwent surgery Tuesday."
Florida prospect Evgeni Dadonov intends to go to Florida's development camp. He is ranked 280 on my prospects list and has decent second-line potential.
Enstrom's injury footage:
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAyrL-RXZ48]