Prospect Info: 2017-18 Prospects Thread (CHL, NCAA, Junior A, Europe)

[tigervixxxen]

2017 PROSPECT RANKING
[table="head;width=800]RANK|PREV|CHNG|NAME|POS|TEAM|DRAFT|VOTES

1|New|N/A|Cale Makar|D|Brooks (AJHL)|#4 overall 2017|133 votes, 54.14%|

2|3|+1|Tyson Jost|C|University of North Dakota (NCHC)|#10 overall 2016|111 votes, 96.40%|

3|4|+1| JT Compher|C|San Antonio (AHL)|#35 overall 2013TR|107 votes, 60.75%

4|5|+1| Nicolas Meloche|D|Charlottetown (QMJHL)|#40 overall 2015|117 votes, 37.61%|

5|2|-3| Chris Bigras|D|San Antonio (AHL)|#32 overall 2013|111 votes, 53.15%|

6|6|0| AJ Greer|LW|San Antonio (AHL)|#39 overall 2015|115 votes, 53.04%|

7|New|N/A| Conor Timmins | D| Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)|#32 overall 2017| 89 votes, 73.03%|

8|11|+3| Andrei Mironov|D|Dynamo Moskva (KHL)|#101 overall 2015|94 votes, 41.49%|

9|7|-2| JC Beaudin|C|Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)|#71 overall 2015|87 votes, 51.72% |

10|New|N/A| Igor Shvyryov| C| Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk (MHL)|#125 overall 2017| 89 votes, 28.09%|

11|8|-3| Cam Morrison|C|University of Notre Dame (Big10)|#40 overall 2016|79 votes, 43.04%|

12|9|-3| Spencer Martin|G|San Antonio (AHL)|#63 overall 2013|70 votes, 57.14%|

13|18|+5| Anton Lindholm|D|San Antonio (AHL)|#144 overall 2014|71 votes, 57.75%|

14|New|N/A| Alexander Kerfoot| C| Harvard (ECAC)|#150 overall 2012FA| 34 votes, 38.24%|

15|New|N/A| Nick Henry | RW| Regina (WHL)|#94 overall 2017| 67 votes, 68.66%|

16|New|N/A| Dominic Toninato| C| Univ. of Minnesota-Duluth (NCHC)|#126 overall 2012FA| 47 votes, 34.04%|

17|New|N/A| Denis Smirnov| RW| Penn State University (Big10)|#156 overall 2017| 55 votes, 32.73%|

18|19|+1| Nate Clurman|D|Culver Academy (USHS)|#161 overall 2016|51 votes, 27.45%|

19|12|-7| Sergei Boikov|D|San Antonio (AHL) |#161 overall 2015|61 votes, 36.07%|

20|15|-5| Duncan Siemens|D|San Antonio (AHL)|#11 overall 2011|51 votes, 45.10%|



[/table]


2016 HONORABLE MENTION
[table="head;width=800]RANK|PREV|CHNG|NAME|POS|TEAM|DRAFT|VOTES

21|10|-11| Julien Nantel|C/LW|San Antonio (AHL)|#204 overall 2014|44 votes, 61.36%|

22|16|-6| Josh Anderson|D|Prince George (WHL)|#71 overall 2016|49 votes, 55.10%|

23|New|N/A| Petr Kvaca | G|HC Ceske Budejovice (Czech2)|#114 overall 2017| 39 votes, 33.33%|

24|20|-4| Travis Barron|LW|Ottawa (OHL)|#191 overall 2016|37 votes, 35.14%|

25|New|N/A| Nicky Leivermann| D|Eden Prairie (USHS)|#187 overall 2017| 34 votes, 47.06%|



[/table]

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[tigervixxxen]

To mark the new season, Shvyryov gave us our first prospect goal on the very so timely date of September 1st.



Here's to many more!

 

[Avsblitzkrieg]

Which prospect do y'all think will have the most growth this year. I'm hoping it's bigras

 

[Foppberg]

I know it's an obvious choice, but I really think Makar is going to have a great year and put a lot of the questions wondered about him in the past, for the most part.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Which prospect do y'all think will have the most growth this year. I'm hoping it's bigras

One of Kvaca or Werner would be great.

 

[Avsblitzkrieg]

I know it's an obvious choice, but I really think Makar is going to have a great year and put a lot of the questions wondered about him in the past, for the most part.

he definitely answered some questions this summer. Hope he continues to grow.

One of Kvaca or Werner would be great.

have you seen any of kvaca? What do you think werners ceiling is?

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

have you seen any of kvaca? What do you think werners ceiling is?

Zip, zero, nada. Hoping he'll play versus one of the teams that are streaming during the rookie tournament and I'll get to see it. Hard to say on Werner because I haven't seen any of him either. Hard to criticize the Avs goaltending draft choices when we can't see them! This Euro goalie only drafting policy is working great for the Avs, don't have to spend high picks on goalies and no one can have eyes on the goalies enough to properly criticize the Avs if Kvaca/Werner start to slip up. The bar might be low for me but I'll be happy if they are better than Roman Will was in the AHL.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Which prospect do y'all think will have the most growth this year. I'm hoping it's bigras

Clurman will probably get a lot out of the USHL. I guess my hope is Meloche, looks like he's ready for some NHL time by the end of the year is my biggest hope.

 

[S E P H]

Which prospect do y'all think will have the most growth this year. I'm hoping it's bigras

That's a tough question because I can see either multiple players grow, or not very many of them. I personally hope that a lot of our defenders grow like Meloche, Bigras, Timmins, Clurman, and Makar. I am going to go off the board and say that Morrison sustains the most growth throughout the year. I know that I've been negative about him for the last couple of months, but he did do some solid things as well. He still has below puck and technical skills which I think he will develop once he gets more major minutes for Notre Dame and Coach Jackson.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Which prospect do y'all think will have the most growth this year. I'm hoping it's bigras

Yeah it's kind of a make or break year for Bigras. I could see him falling into the abyss if he does not make the team at some point this season.

 

[cgf]

Bigras has a chance to make a big step by solidifying himself in the NHL; where Barrie is crying out for a smooth, smart & safe partner like Woody.

Meloche should have a big year opportunity with the Rampage and could crack the senior team by season's end.

Makar has the opportunity to answer a lot of questions and really make a ton of progress in college.

Clurman is a good shout now that we'll see more of him & he's moving up in competition. Ditto Morrison now that he should get a scoring line gig with ND.

Beaudin might be the prospect I'm most curious about this season. I'm expecting something like Morrison's freshman year, where he starts off in a smaller role to adapt to the new league and wins a scoring line gig by season's end...but I won't be shocked if he progresses faster than I expect or if he only wins a scoring gig for next year.

Shvyryov is another guy who's season could go a lot of different ways...especially if his senior club continues to struggle the way they have been to start the year, and he continues scoring when given a look with the men.

 

[McMetal]

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with a lot of the guys near the end of the list. Can Smirnov keep up his points pace? Will Henry start driving more offense without Steel feeding him? What do Boikov and Nantel do with their second pro season? What does Clurman look like in the USHL? How does Kerfoot look in the AHL? Do Kvaca and Werner show growth in Europe?

Most of those guys are nothing but "potential" right now. I really want to see how many of those players start turning that potential into something substantial. The Avs could really use a late-round steal to come through.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Why would Henry not play with Steel again? I don't think Steel is staying in Anaheim.

 

[McMetal]

Why would Henry not play with Steel again? I don't think Steel is staying in Anaheim.

I thought he was expected to, no? After the season he just had I'm not really sure how much more benefit the WHL could be to him. Plus, don't the Ducks have somewhat thin center depth?

 

[Pokecheque]

I thought he was expected to, no? After the season he just had I'm not really sure how much more benefit the WHL could be to him. Plus, don't the Ducks have somewhat thin center depth?

Actually they've got depth up the middle. As to how good it is, well...

They currently have under contract Getzlaf, Kesler, Rakell, and Vermette, though I think Rakell has played plenty of wing for them as well. They also recently signed Dennis Rasmussen. It wouldn't be a terribly hard thing for Steel to crack that lineup if he's as good as I've heard, and a budget team like the Ducks needs all the cheap young talent it can get its hands on.

 

[henchman21]

Rakell prefers wing and played there almost exclusively last year. I'd expect that to continue. Steel will get every chance to stick in the NHL. Anaheim needs more scoring punch in their bottom 6 and Steel can likely provide that. Vermette is good at wing and would be a good 3LW/3C to help break in the kid. Taking most of the faceoffs and helping Steel out with positioning would probably be ideal for the first couple months.

Shyvy update... he has played a total of a minute the past 2 games and got a penalty. I'd expect him to be sent down soon.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Rakell prefers wing and played there almost exclusively last year. I'd expect that to continue. Steel will get every chance to stick in the NHL. Anaheim needs more scoring punch in their bottom 6 and Steel can likely provide that. Vermette is good at wing and would be a good 3LW/3C to help break in the kid. Taking most of the faceoffs and helping Steel out with positioning would probably be ideal for the first couple months.

Shyvy update... he has played a total of a minute the past 2 games and got a penalty. I'd expect him to be sent down soon.

Well maybe if he feels like hes getting blocked there, he'll come over sooner.

 

[landy92mack29]

It's less than 5% that Steel will stick with the Ducks

 

[McMetal]

Well maybe if he feels like hes getting blocked there, he'll come over sooner.

Eh, hard to say what his psychology is. If it was clearer, he probably would have gone higher.

 

[AvsFan2123]

Was on EP and stumbled across Shyvryov's page and looks like he's in the MHL, which brings up a question for me. Is the MHL or VHL better in Russia and do the leagues have a set distinction meaning like one developmental or something like that?

 

[UncleRisto]

Was on EP and stumbled across Shyvryov's page and looks like he's in the MHL, which brings up a question for me. Is the MHL or VHL better in Russia and do the leagues have a set distinction meaning like one developmental or something like that?

The MHL is a junior league while the VHL is just generally terrible.

 

[cgf]

The MHL is a junior league while the VHL is just generally terrible.

Basically. The MHL generally has more talent and is a better developmental league, even though the VHL allows older players. Problem is that the VHL is largely ignored and most older players who are worth a damn play in either the KHL, NA system, or go to other European leagues to take the next step if they can't find a lower level KHL team.

 

[henchman21]

Shyvy did get sent down for at least a game last week and had a goal and an assist. Looks like he will bounce around this year.

 

[cgf]

Shyvy did get sent down for at least a game last week and had a goal and an assist. Looks like he will bounce around this year.

I wish they had loaned him to a lower level KHL team this year, but at this point that's what we should expect.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

The good news is being bounced around like that constantly all year and not getting an opportunity to stick in one spot could be something that adds to his motivations to come to North America instead of sticking in Russia. As I could definitely see that getting frustrating pretty quickly for a kid who just wants to play.