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One of the draft eligible players that seems to have some growing buzz around him these days is Niagara IceDogs forward Brendan Perlini.
We first spoke with Perlini on the October 29th edition of TPS after which I immediately extended the invite to blog with us this year. Brendan quickly agreed and not long after, we received Part 1 of his guest blog series. It was a terrific read bringing us all up to speed on his background in England, his strong family roots within the game and his outlook at the year ahead.
Today we are happy to bring you the second chapter of the blog written by Brendan Perlini. That comes after the jump.
I also wanted to direct you to a NHL.com Perlini story written by my friend Aaron Vickers and another from The Hockey Writers, both coming out today.
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We first heard from Camrose Kodiaks forward Tanner MacMaster back in September during the 2013 AJHL Showcase. The talented forward appeared on The Pipeline Show that weekend (Listen Here) and then accepted and offer to blog with us this season. You can read Tanner's first entry to the blog HERE.
Three months have passed and Tanner has put a few more thoughts down for fans to read. The Boston College recruit continues to lead the Kodiaks in scoring having scored 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points through 46 AJHL games this year.
The second entry to the blog courtesy Tanner MacMaster comes after the jump.
Love them or hate them, the alternate jersey introduced by the Edmonton Oil Kings this year is here to stay. The look has produced both positive and negative response from the fanbase with most opinions coming in at either end of the approval spectrum.
What will be interesting over the next few years is to see how those fans react should the traditional uniform slowly fade away into history.
More on that after the jump.
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Each season we extend a blogging invitation to a select few players entering their NHL Draft year. Frequent visitors to The Pipeline Show know the extensive list of players who have taken us up on the offer over the last half a dozen years.
This year we have already been introduced to Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender Jordan Papirny and forward Tanner MacMaster of the Camrose Kodiaks.
Today we get the first entry from our guest blogger playing in the Ontario Hockey League. Niagara IceDogs forward Brendan Perlini shares us his back story, one that is definitely one of the more unique paths a NHL-bound player has been on.
Are you ready? After the jump, the first chapter in the 2013-14 Guest Draft Blog from a sure-fire 1st round pick, in his own words.
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I did not purposefully leave the best for last but it is just a coincidence that Ottawa is the final team to come up in the One To Watch series and the Sens have one of my personal favorite prospects.
While they haven't become established NHL players yet, late picks like Mark Stone and Jean-Gabriel Pageau have increased their value since draft day. Others that had more hype as 18-year-olds such as Robin Lehner, Mike Zibanejad and Cody Ceci still project to be main pieces in the NHL one day so all in all, kudos to the Sens.
2012 Choice: Mark Stone - His first professional season was OK, I'd hesitate to say it was more than that because I didn't see him play with my own eyes. Judging by his stats line, 15 goals and 38 points in 54 AHL games, Stone's numbers certainly don't wow me but I don't know that big production was expected of him in year one. Last year I wondered if he might stick with the big club out of camp but Sens fans wrote in saying not to expect it and they were right. A fair bar for him to beat this year should be a full season and increased production with improved skating.
My selection for One to Watch in 2013-14 will come as no surprise and it's after the jump.
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I think a person could make a pretty good argument that Toronto's prospect strength comes on the blueline. Perhaps the Buds would agree considering they didn't add to that particular position at the 2013 NHL Draft.
Obviously Morgan Rielly leads the pack of would-be future NHL blueliners and he's proving early on this year that that future could be sooner than some expect. Stu Percy and Matt Finn are fine prospects in their own right and Jesse Blacker provides depth in the organization.
I'm not selling the organization short at other positions though as there are a number of young players that I have liked through their junior careers and a few that I like even still as pros.
2012 Choice: Joe Colborne - I figured that last year was going to be the breakthrough season for the former Camrose Kodiak and Denver Pioneer. He overcame a wrist injury that hampered his productivity and confidence and it seemed to me that Colborne was an opportunity away from sticking with the big club. It didn't happen though and the Calgary native eventually found himself playing for the Flames this year and he's having a modicum of success with his third NHL organization.
My pick for 2013-14 One to Watch with the Leafs comes after the jump.
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Excellent drafting has helped Montreal stay competitive in a tough division for most of the last few years. Sure they have had their lottery pick year but for the most part the Habs are picking in the second half of the first round.
Now the organization is reaping the benefits of that drafting as their last 4 1st round picks are all contributing at the NHL level and deeper picks are finding their way too. Jarred Tinordi, Alex Galchenyuk, Louis Leblanc and Nathan Beaulieu are the high picks panning out but Brendan Gallagher has had as big of an impact as any of them and he was a 5th round swing for the fence.
2012 Pick: Mike Cichy - Montreal fans were all over me for singling out the mostly forgotten collegian but it was his decent into relative obscurity that intrigued me. It was his first season playing with Western Michigan after beginning his college career at North Dakota but leaving after his sophomore year. Unfortunately it was a pretty vanilla campaign with the Broncos, 4 goals and 18 points. I believe it's safe to say that unless he has a massive year at WMU this season, Cichy won't be offered a deal in the spring of 2014.
My pick for One to Watch this year for Habs prospects comes after the jump.
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Hockey's Future currently ranks San Jose in the bottom third for prospect depth but I have a feeling the Sharks are laughing about that these days. Tomas Hertl leads the NHL in rookie scoring right now and Matt Nieto is also having a productive first year in the NHL.
The HF write up is right though when the subject of depth comes up; there isn't much in the Sharks' system. Freddie Hamilton, Sean Kuraly and Rylan Schwartz lead the short list of notables. And then there's the players they took in the 1st round this past June.
2012 Choice: Sean Kuraly - The freshman had a decent year at Miami although his 12 points was dwarfed by fellow rookie Riley Barber's 39. Already this year Kuraly has 6 points although the RedHawks are only 4 games into the campaign. The former Indiana Ice forward was a dangerous offensive weapon in this final year in that league.
My selection as One To Watch for San Jose this year comes after the jump.
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The bad news for the Buffalo Sabres is that they have a single win in the first ten games of the year and look far from a playoff caliber team. The good news is that this may be a temporary thing as the club has the means to kick off a serious rebuild and quality youth is already on the way.
Already this year the Sabres have dressed 6 rookies including defenceman Nikita Zadorov who has played just once. Rounding out that group are Zemgus Girgensons, Mikhail Grigorenko, Johan Larsson, Rasmus Ristolainen and the guy who was featured in this write up a year ago.
2012 Choice: Mark Pysyk - They don't get much more humble or likeable than defenceman Mark Pysyk who I've had the good fortune to get to know over the last 6 years in Edmonton. He made his professional debut last year and played 19 games with the Sabres last year at the end of the shortened season. Pysyk joined me in studio for an hour this past summer and told me that he didn't necessarily expect to make the team out of camp this year but a month in and he's played on the top pairing with veteran Christian Ehrhoff.
My selection as One To Watch for Buffalo this year comes after the jump.
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Last month we were introduced to Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender Jordan Papirny. He introduced himself to us with the first chapter of his 2014 Draft Blog which he's agreed to share with us and our audience over the course of this season.
If you missed Part I you can find it HERE. And now here is a quick follow up from Jordan Papirny.
