Follow @james_tanner123 Max Domi is a great prospect - about that no one is arguing. But some serious eyebrows were raised the other day when TSN's Craig Button released his list of the top 30 affiliated NHL prospects (meaning guys who are drafted but not in the NHL).
So, is Max Domi the best prospect in the NHL?
It beats the hell out of me, but I seriously doubt it.
Let us think about it a bit:
First of all, how can you know? These lists are fun and all - and it makes me happy to see Domi head the list, obviously - but objectively, who knows? Not me.
Here is a list of players on that list I've seen play enough to actually remember things about them: Max Domi, Darnell Nurse, Leon Draisaitl.
So, when you couple that with my extreme bias towards the team I cheer for, I obviously have to recluse myself from the conversation. Might as well ask me if I like your kids or my kids better.
(The answer is my kids; you're kids are monsters).
If Craig Button says he's the best, who am I to argue? You have to assume Button watches more junior players than almost anyone, since that is his job and all. So let's give him some credit - but not that much.
I am not saying he doesn't have integrity or isn't knowledgeable, because I don't know anything about him but I can at least give him the benefit of the doubt: he's a hockey expert and knows more about the game than I ever will. I do, however, understand something about the Media, headlines and writing. So, whether or not it's fair, we must at least consider the fact that a controversial list with Domi topping it will generate both hits and conversation.
Now, is Craig Button going to risk his reputation just to get some attention? I highly, highly doubt it. However, Domi has the unique ability here to be both a controversial pick (because he's small, drafted 12th, hasn't made the NHL yet, is the oldest on the list and is projected by many as more of a second line winger than an elite #1 C) but also at the same time a safe pick because he's popular, averaging two points per game in the OHL, and just lead Canada to a Gold at the WJC where he was named MVP.
If you've had any Media classes in highschool or college, you can see how deconstructing this narrative is both easy and revealing.
So does Button himself even believe Domi is the best non-NHL prospect in the NHL? Hard to say. Certainly this reminds one of the massive overrating of Braydon Schenn after his WJC, or Justin Pogge or any number of players who never because the stars we thought they would be after a fanciful December performance at the WJC.
Then, you have to consider Max Domi is one of the oldest guys on this list. Most of the people drafted ahead of him in 2013 are already in the NHL. But Button seems to be saying that the 2013 draft was so great that the twelfth pick would have gone #2 a year later. This seems hyperbolic and disingenuous to me.
It seems here that an extra year of development is being given more credit than potential.
We know Domi went lower than he should have because of concerns about his diabetes, but this is the first I've ever heard of anyone suggesting he'll be a better pro than say Sam Bennett or Sam Reinheart.
And what about Darnell Nurse from the same WJC and draft? Unless you believe Domi is a lock to be an elite #1 C, then how do you consider him superior to Nurse? I think the odds of Nurse becoming a top pairing defenseman are probably better than those of Domi being a centre on the first line. (I see him as a first line wingers, which....Shea Weber > Phil Kessel all day, every day).
Button apparently thinks there are 12 players better currently that are drafted but not in the NHL than Nurse. That seems ridiculous. But it only SEEMS that way, I can't know for sure, because my knowledge comes from reading and stats and I haven't seen these guys play, as I am sure Craig Button has.
However, when you put the collective knowledge I have been able to obtain and consider it in light of the tendencies of these lists to be hyperbolic at best and complete hack-jobs at worst, then multiply it by the WJC hype-machine, divide by the frankly criminally preposterous placements of William Nylander (who unlike Domi or anyone else on the list plays against fully grown men, in a better league and still put a PPG) or Darnell Nurse and then carry the one along with the bizzare top ten ranking Christian Dvorak (I WISH!!!!) I would have to say that I feel comfortable calling B.S on Criag Button: Max Domi is not the best affiliated prospect in the league.
Here's the list: http://www.tsn.ca/tsn-hockey-s-top-30-nhl-affiliated-prospects-1.183391
Thanks for reading