Hello there Dobber community,

I've been searching the forums and the magical interwebz for information in these two guys, among other blue liners from the 2012 draft class, looking for some overlooked talent.

So basically, what are your thoughts on the fantasy potential and 3YP / NHL ETA of both Jacob Trouba and Olli Maata.


Second question, related topic. Do you guys feel like Jonathan Blum is really a legit fantasy prospect in a league as shallow as mine (8 farm slots / team x 12 teams) Is he worth owning in my league format in signature since, on average, teams only carry 2 prospect D-men? Would any of these guys be a better guy to own, with considerably higher upside or chance of reaching it?

Trouba
Maata
H. Lindholm
Koekkoek
Schmaltz
Postma
Larsen
Brodin
Klefbom
Merrill
Barberio

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Not going to bother with projections, because likely as not it will be wrong. But I like Trouba way better than Maatta. He's underrated offensively (not to say he's going to be a dynamo by any means) and has a clearer path to the NHL than Maatta.

As far as your list, it depends what you're looking for - Blum still has a lot of LTU but even with Suter gone, the blueline is crowded and there's still Ellis, Josi, and soon enough Ekholm to compete with. Pure offensive upside/opportunity I'll take Barberio in that list above... he's also close to the NHL.

Klefbom is actually my favorite overall from the list though, followed by Brodin, but there's both question marks around their offensive game.

I like Lindholm's situation as well.

Thanks for the comments, keep 'em coming guys. I'm looking to solidify this prospect D corps.

Cheers

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

Sorry Dyz but im gong to disagree. Id rather have Maatta then Trouba. Ive seen Olli play for london numerous times and i just like how he sees the ice so well. He reads plays and almost know whats gong to happen before it happens. Maatta is very good offensively and defensively, he easily was the best d-man on the london knights and just looked he was controlling the game most of the time. I agree though that i like klefbom the most.

My top 3:
klefbom
lindholm
brodin

I guess the question is: in terms of LTU (although ideally around 3 years ETA) are these guys better to own than Jonathan Blum.

I really don't know much about Blum, aside from his ranking on Dobber's prospect list and a couple games I've seen. I suppose it's a combination of doubting the upside, opportunity, and situation in Nashville.

What do you guys think about Blum in relation to some of the other names discussed in this thread?

Thanks guys

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

You're allowed to disagree

I still think Blum arguably has the highest pure upside of the group... however, if I had the choice between Blum and Klefbom, I'd probably take Klefbom to be honest - but his offensive upside is still a HUGE question mark as he is projecting to be a two-way d-man. Basically I feel Blum has higher upside (by a fair bit) but Klefbom is a far safer bet to hit his upside.

Unless the player has some legit offensive upside, you're usually better off getting a dman that plays a regular shift and could get 30 pts instead of some long shots. With only 8 farms slots, I wouldnt waste my time with those names.

That's going to be a bit difficult, since there are 72 starting defenseman in the league, and all relevant young players are owned. Getting "30 point guys who play a regular shift" isn't exactly an option for the farm team.

Hence, I am looking for players with upside.

** please: if you aren't going to tailor your response to my format and the specifications I provided, you're better off not responding.

Thanks

__________________
mounD: 2011-12 Champs // 2012-13 Champs
12 Team H2H Keeper (Keep 18)
3C, 3LW, 3RW, 3F, 6D, 2G, 5BN (IR)
G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, SOG, FoW // W, Sv%, GAA, SHO

C: Getzlaf, Backes(RW),B. Richards,
LW: Parise, Hall, Kunitz, Ladd, Marchand(C,LW)
RW: Kessel, Neal(LW) Hossa, Burrows(Lw)
D: Karlsson, Chara, Burns, Boyle
G: Rinne, M. Smith
Bn: Jussi Jokinen(C,LW), Cammalleri(C,LW), Weiss(C), Timonen, Visnosky

Farm: Kadri, Coyle, Gallagher, Järnkrok - Barrie, Trouba, Vatanen - Khudobin

As far as Trouba vs. Maata, I like Maata by a slight margin offensively. Trouba has some scoring upside, but so does Maata. Point is neither player will be a big producer on the score sheet, 40 points max out of either of them. Maata should be in the NHL sooner, since 9 times out of 10 when a player goes to U of Michigan, they stay all 4 years. Maybe Trouba leaves early but it could be as many as 4-5 years with him.

To the other question, the only player I would take from that list over Blum is Lindholm, and maybe Postma. Lindholm has a decent upside at around 45 points, and he could very well be in the NHL next season....the Ducks considered keeping him if there had been a season, and he's staying in the AHL instead of Sweden. So Lindholm over Blum for me.

Postma is a maybe, but I think I'd rather have Blum. He'll figure it out and be back in the NHL. Young players slump he just happened to slump in an organization with a ton of depth on defense. He's still a very good prospect.

__________________
20 Team Dynasty (points per) - G (25, 50 for defense) A (25) PIM (3) +/- (5) PPG (15) SHG (25) OTG (15) GWG (25) HTr (50) GP (2) HIT (1) BLK (1) Use actual NHL salary

F: Malkin, Tavares, E. Kane, Parenteau, Havlat, Tarasenko, Galchenyuk, Brunner, Boyes, Kruger, Helm, M. Martin, Bergenheim, Carcillo, Stajan

D: Green, Ehrhoff, Ekman-Larsson, Coburn, Daley, Postma

G: Fleury, Mason, Montoya

Farm: Grigorenko, Grimaldi, Kucherov, D. Shore, Hartikainen, Stransky, Kerdiles, Joensuu, Pageau, Murphy, Ceci, Klefbom, Thrower, Donovan, Ekholm, Lehner, Dansk, Poulin, Nilsson, Andersen

Brodin, Lindholm, and Koekkoek would be my Top 3 and I'd rather own them than Blum.

As for the first question, I'd pick Trouba if you had to pick between those two. Both are pretty similar though, not too much offensive upside. Trouba will have a greater role and he was more highly regarded at the draft.