James Sheppard

How long until he reaches his potential? Will he be centering the top line with Gaborik anytime soon?

All indications are that he will play but be eased into his role. Sounds like a good three or four years before you can expect upside, at least that's what I've read.

minny takes their time developing prospects. he will most likely be centering the 2nd or 3rd line, and eventually be groomed for the 1st line role once he masters lemaire's system.

Word out of Minny was that they were ready to give him more minutes. However, that will depend on camp. He will compete with Pouliot for the 2nd line assignment (centering Brunette and Nolan), so chemistry, talent, and ability to work the system will all be factors.

After this year, everything depends on Gaborik. If he stays without condition, or leaves unequivocally, Sheppard will take over the first line once he masters Lemaire's system and if Pouliot doesn't do it first and better. However, if Gaborik says - and i think this is likely - I will stay, but only if you get rid of Lemaire and bring in a more offensive coach, then Minny will have a new coach next year and all bets are off. He could land the 1st line then, or drop down to the 3rd.

As an owner, I am hopeful ...

he will center the 3rd line to start the year, and i would anticipate only a mild increase from his totals last year. minnesota prospects develop painfully slow... and he doesn't have the flash that bouchard has. then again.. he plays a more lemaire-friendly game than bouchard did during his first few seasons.

the big question is where pouliot fits. while i've always thought of him as a LW, for some reason I remember seeing or hearing him talked about by the minnesota webpage people as getting the opportunity to center the 4th line. i will try looking for confirmation of this.

Ultra, do you really see Belanger getting the 2nd line job over Sheppard?

Pouliot will have to slot in at C this year as that's where the opening is. PMB and Gaborik, Brunette and Nolan, Veilleux and Miettinen, Boogard and Weller/Schultz, none of whom is really movable to C. On the other hand, only Koivu, Sheppard and Belanger on the active roster are Cs.

So how many points do you guys see for Sheppard in 3-4 years?

fzusher wrote:
Ultra, do you really see Belanger getting the 2nd line job over Sheppard?
yeah, i do. it is easy for us to look at their depth chart and stats, and slot a semi-hyped kid above the older, hardly-done-anything-fantasy-wise veteran. but i don't think sheppard was overwhelming in his effectiveness last year, and he doesn't look to have packed on a ton of weight in the development camp vids i've seen. still tall and kind of lanky.

besides, i think lemaire really likes belanger. remember him being quoted at the beginning of last season saying that he thought belanger could get 80 points? not likely, but telling nonetheless.

Pouliot will have to slot in at C this year as that's where the opening is. PMB and Gaborik, Brunette and Nolan, Veilleux and Miettinen, Boogard and Weller/Schultz, none of whom is really movable to C. On the other hand, only Koivu, Sheppard and Belanger on the active roster are Cs.
ok, good to know that somebody else concurs. i wasn't at all confident with what i'd said.

Ari - i would predict that in 3-4 years, sheppard will be around 70 points. long term potential is about 80ish.

I was thinking about James Sheppard & David Perron as I was eating my hotdogs at lunch today. I haven't heard anything about these boys, which is nuts because they're 19 years old and in the NHL. Both high picks with snappy pedigrees.

With Sheppard, I would liken his developmental path to that of Bouchard or Koivu. I think Jacques will groom him carefully for success. He scored about 2 points per game as an 18 year old in Junior, so it's pretty reasonable to think he'll eventually be given top 6 forward opportunity. With Jacques though, he'll never be allowed to be defensively lax. Definitely he'll get more prominence than last year. Small chance they choose to groom him in the minors (might not be eligible). In Minny, he'll need to jump all the hoops 40pt, 50pt, 60pt. To call for more than 40 this year would be silly. Hoping he grows above 60, it's just to soon to say.