Ashes by Now (2)
By Lowetide
12 years ago
The moments of pleasures Never do last
Are gone like a suitcase full of your past
Long gone and in a hurry
Rob Schremp’s signing in Sweden brought it all home this week: first round picks burn scouting directors quicker than anything else. Blow a 5th rounder and no one says a word. Watch your first rounder go sideways and it’s one more nail in the coffin. According to a draft study done several years ago (using the years 1979-95) the odds of drafting an impact player are very low:
Are gone like a suitcase full of your past
Long gone and in a hurry
Baby, I can’t go through this again
I don’t need to go down more then I’ve already been
Just like a wild fire you’re running all over town
As much as you burn me baby I should be ashes by now
-Rodney Crowell
I don’t need to go down more then I’ve already been
Just like a wild fire you’re running all over town
As much as you burn me baby I should be ashes by now
-Rodney Crowell
Rob Schremp’s signing in Sweden brought it all home this week: first round picks burn scouting directors quicker than anything else. Blow a 5th rounder and no one says a word. Watch your first rounder go sideways and it’s one more nail in the coffin. According to a draft study done several years ago (using the years 1979-95) the odds of drafting an impact player are very low:
- 2% turned out to be a elite players (the Kurri family)
- 4% turned into impact players (the Smyth family)
- 15% turned out to be average NHLers (the Stoll family)
- 24% played less than 200 games (the Schremp family)
- 55% never played a game in the NHL (everyone else)
Rob Schremp qualified under category 4. He did better than 2002 Jesse Niinimaki (still waiting to play his first NHL game). Scouting directors often save disaster in the first round by delivering in later rounds.
This is Kyle Bigos. He’s a tough guy to track but may one day pay off for Stu MacGregor and the Edmonton Oilers. He’s a huge defender, an absolute monster; Bigos clocks in at 6.05, 235 last I checked and the scouting report from MBS after the club drafted him looked very good.
- MacGregor: "His game has done nothing but get better. A young man whose development curve is just beginning to move forward. Great shot, skates well for a big guy, he’s someone we see huge potential in down the road."
Bigos is a player who knows how he can make a difference. He told Guy Flaming his role is "to be as physical as I can and establish a presence on the blueline. I love to move the puck and play 5-on-5 with the team we have, but I’m also getting a chance on the powerplay. I’m mainly used as a shooter. I also get to play PK which is a blast! I think to go out and block shots and to try and stop the talent-filled teams in HE is a great challenge and a lot of fun."
Bigos is halfway through his college career with Merrimack and has shown improvement.
- Mike Sillinger: "His big thing is mobility. He’s got to work on his mobility and his puck skills a bit. Watched him play a few times the last couple of years. He’s a big guy, hits hard. We need to get him to put fear in the opposition."
Bigos has been under the radar compared to other Oiler prospects–it seems as though he is the only prospect not in the CHL. Bigos is an attractive prospect for the Oilers: A big guy who can efffectively play at evens on the penalty kill, fight a little and punish opposition forwards on their sorties into the Oilers zone.
Kyle Bigos doesn’t have a draft pedigree–hell he can only pray to have the kind of career enjoyed by third rounder Alex Henry–but he has two things that bode well for his future. He can turn pro in any of the next two summers depending on the Oilers having an immediate role for him, and he’s part of an organization in dire need of useful defensemen over 21 years old.
Kyle Bigos has several arrows pointing in the right direction.
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