Tuesday FTB: Our 7th round picks are better than your 1st round picks

Pierre Engvall is having himself quite the season for a 23 year old rookie and former 7th round pick just called up from the Marlies. Now, with 22 games under his belt, he’s at 7 goals and 5 assists. Don’t tell Katya I pulled the “on pace for” card, but that’s an 82 game pace of 26 goals and 44 points for a third liner who gets no PP time.

Funnily enough, that’s pretty much what Andreas Johnsson did as a 24 year old winger and former 7th round pick last season.

In fact, Pierre Engvall is already better than many NHLers this year. In terms of goals, he has as many or more in his 22 games than:

1. Kappo Kakko - 7 goals in 37 games
2. Nick Suzuki - 7 goals in 43 games
3. Nikita Gusev - 7 goals in 38 games
4. Connor Sheary - 7 goals in 36 games
5. Patrick Marleau - 7 goals in 40 games
6. Josh Leivo - 7 goals in 36 games
7. Mikael Backlund - 6 goals in 44 games
8. Jordan Staal - 6 goals in 42 games
9. Jack Hughes - 6 goals in 36 games
10. Vincent Trochek - 5 goals in 35 games
11. Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 5 goals in 27 games
12. Sidney Crosby - 5 goals in you know we don’t need to talk about how many games he’s played it’s not important

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that Pierre Engvall, a former 7th round pick, is better than former top 5 picks like Kotkaniemi, Hughes, Kakko, and Suzuki.

However, I asked four NHL scouts who they think is the better player in the NHL. 420 said Engvall, the other 69 didn’t specify, but they did say this: “Suzuki and Kotkaniemi can’t score. They will struggle with everything. Engvall is better than both of them”.

I will not be taking any questions about my sources don’t @ me.

ONTO THE LINKS

Maple Leafs make too many mistakes on defense in 6-4 loss to Edmonton Oilers | by Hardev

The Leafs are in a playoff spot: How secure is it? | by Katya

Why I Believed In Mike Babcock Too Long | by Fulemin

2020 World Juniors Recap: Rasmus Sandin Named Top Defenseman of the Tournament, Nick Robertson impresses, Team Canada Wins Gold | by Kevin Papetti

Leafs prospects Rasmus Sandin and Mikko Kokkonen endure a weird bronze-medal experience | by Scort Whiler at the Athletic

You... love to see it?

lmao mikhail abramov has more goals than the second highest scorer on his team has points pic.twitter.com/bZd6pXPMJx

— dylan (@dylanfremlin) January 5, 2020

AROUND THE NHL

Predators announce firing of head coach Peter Laviolette | by Sportsnet

Countdown to TradeCentre: Pageau a hot commodity | by TSN

DGB weekend power rankings: Penguins and Sharks remind us of the two ways a veteran contender can go | by Down Goes Brown

Some international confusion about the result of the World Junior gold medal game...

Funny story about today's #WorldJuniors final. Lots of posts on Russian internet today celebrating victory, congratulating the Russian team with gold, very celebratory, very patriotic, all taunting hapless Canadians. Why, do you ask? Well, here is the reason...

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

At one point the score of both games was 3-3, adding to the confusion. So, while many fans saw the actual game end 4-3 in Canada's favor, many others saw a 5-3 win for Russia, never realizing they were watching something that happened nine years ago...

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

So, as the final siren blew in both broadcasts, the ones who watched Channel 1 sulked and logged off, but the ones who watched Match TV flooded the interwebs in jubilant gloating. "Thank you, lads! You've ripped Canada again!" Some prominent Russians were among the revelers...

— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020

Have a happy Tuesday everyone!

Who is the better player?