Nobody is physically going to ask me questions it seems, so I head back to my keywords to get to the site and think of that as someone asking me a question. I think that's fair... and not a bad idea, either! This next question comes from Toronto, "Jakob Markstrom or Chet Pickard?" I am going to assume that this is going to be in regards to a keeper pool and who you may want to pick up as your picking for the future. Both goalies were taken this past summer in the Draft, Pickard was the first goalie taken in the Draft by Nashville, 18th overall. Markstrom was projected to be a first rounder, but ended up going as the first pick in the second round to Florida. Both players represented their country in the World Junior Championships over the Christmas holidays, Pickard for Canada and Markstrom for Sweden.
If I was to wager a guess as to who is going to make an impact earlier than the other, I would have to say it's Pickard, just because of the team he was picked by and the situation there. Pickard, chosen by the Preds, will be looked at on a team that is never quite sure about their goaltending situation from one year to another. They've been through Tomas Vokoun (who is in Florida, holding up Markstrom's progress to the pros), Chris Mason, Dan Ellis and now Pekka Rinne. The Predators do have a lot of talent in their prospective nets, with Jeremy Smith waiting in the wings as well, so all it takes is a good camp to really make that jump.
Markstrom will be joining a Panthers outfit that is quite content on riding Vokoun and Craig Anderson for a while. Markstrom will likely stay in Sweden until the Panthers are ready for him to take on a big role and he may have to overcome that black eye he gave to himself (in the eyes of the North American viewership) when he was diving around the ice against Canada in the World Junior finals.
Take Pickard, solely on the fact that the Preds like to give opportunities to young goalies when their current crop is struggling.
No comments:
Post a Comment