Prospect Info: 2017 HF Devils Top 20 Prospect Rankings: #7

[Zippy316]

Pops is already on there

I'm doing the polls and I don't even know who is up there.

Add Sissons then.

 

[Bleedred]

2013 top 10

1. Jon Merrill
2. Reid Boucher
3. Damon Severson
4. Eric Gelinas
5. Stefan Matteau (forgive me father, for I forgot this epic bust even existed)
6/7. Steve Santini
6/7. Alexander Urbom
8. Scott Wedgewood
9. Brandon Burlon
10. Reese Scarlett

2015 top 10
1 Pavel Zacha
2 Steve Santini
3 John Quenneville
4 Reid Boucher
5 Stefan Matteau
6 MacKenzie Blackwood
7 Blake Coleman
8 Joshua Jacobs
9 Blake Speers
10 Joseph Blandisi

I'm having a really hard time finding the 2014 threads for some reason. I know we had one of these that year, but I'm not sure why I can't find them?

The 2015 list isn't so bad, with only Matteau, Coleman and Jacobs not being NHL caliber. Boucher still remains to be seen, as does Blandisi, though I like what I've seen from Blandisi so far.

The 2013 top 10 is really bad. Merrill looks to be okay. Only Severson and Santini look pretty good, and them and Wedgewood are the only ones left that are still in the organization from that top 10. No Helgeson, but ****in Urbom, Burlon and Scarlett all in the top 10. I was surprised Burlon was still in the top 10 by 2013.

 

[Zippy316]

We didn't have a poll for 2014.

If we did, whoever did it did not use the prospect tag.

 

[HBK27]

Boqvist edges this for me, I'll definitely be voting Anderson & Blackwood next though, the three of them are very close.

After that it gets a little trickier, right now i'd probably lean towards Walsh, he looked fantastic at the development camp.

Wood is supremely overrated, i'm surprised he's getting any votes. I can't fault the intensity with which he plays, but his game has so many deficiencies that he'll need to overcome if he wants to be anything more than a fourth line sparkplug going forward. I simply can't overlook those in the context of these rankings, he really needs a full year in the AHL to develop the weaker aspects of his game in an easier environment, unfortunately I don't think he'll get that which may further pigeonhole him into the one-dimensional role he fills currently.

Agree that Walsh may be in the next grouping.

I don't get the Wood hate - granted, I didn't watch a lot of him last season. I've been a fan of this team a long time, but last season was probably the fewest games I've watched in over a decade. Was just too frustrating, as I was expecting them to be more competitive and with a family now, etc. it just wasn't worth the time.

That being said, he must be doing something right to make the jump straight from college after only a year (granted, he was older) and play 60 games in the NHL as a 21-year old. His stats from last year aren't all that bad, so I'm not sure why so many people are already writing him off instead of seeing room for improvement. I just don't get it.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Yeah I guess they were right to call us the worst prospect pool back then.

 

[R8Devs]

And the way that prospect pool looked is why people didn't want this team to gun for the playoffs when it needed high picks. Thankfully Shero plays the long term game

 

[njdevils1982]

remember when our future D was thought to be

larsson
gelinas
merrill
severson
santini
urbom

…still have 2 of them at least….and got hall from the oil.

still high on severson and santini

man, gelly was a one trick pony, damn that shot

 

[My3Sons]

Agree that Walsh may be in the next grouping.

I don't get the Wood hate - granted, I didn't watch a lot of him last season. I've been a fan of this team a long time, but last season was probably the fewest games I've watched in over a decade. Was just too frustrating, as I was expecting them to be more competitive and with a family now, etc. it just wasn't worth the time.

That being said, he must be doing something right to make the jump straight from college after only a year (granted, he was older) and play 60 games in the NHL as a 21-year old. His stats from last year aren't all that bad, so I'm not sure why so many people are already writing him off instead of seeing room for improvement. I just don't get it.

I think it is more that people believe that playing in the NHL so quickly has stunted his growth. I agree he is young and has more upside. That said it seems unlikely to me he will get much better playing fourth line minutes rarer than on a top line with Bingo. I won't say he can't but it will be much harder and require something of an organizational commitment to making it happen.

 

[Devils Dominion]

I think it is more that people believe that playing in the NHL so quickly has stunted his growth. I agree he is young and has more upside. That said it seems unlikely to me he will get much better playing fourth line minutes rarer than on a top line with Bingo. I won't say he can't but it will be much harder and require something of an organizational commitment to making it happen.

Wood should start the season in Bingo, IMO.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

It's a little humbling to look around the league and its history of drafted players and think how few of them will make any sort of meaningful NHL impact, but despite that, this still feels a hell of a lot better when we were all clamoring to see Tyler Eckford or Alex Urbom get a taste of the NHL. Shero's done a really great job so far.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Well the big difference is you have 10 guys that actually have a chance to become impact players vs like 3 or 4 at best.

Plus I imagine we might be sleeping on a few guys who are going to go outside the top 10

 

[Bleedred]

We didn't have a poll for 2014.

If we did, whoever did it did not use the prospect tag.

Well that explains that.

I figured that had to be the case because I couldn't find it for the life of me.

 

[njdevils19]

remember when our future D was thought to be

larsson
gelinas
merrill
severson
santini
urbom

…still have 2 of them at least….and got hall from the oil.

still high on severson and santini

man, gelly was a one trick pony, damn that shot

Were correct on 3 of them. Merrill is the real disappointment there. If he had worked out our D situation would, obviously, be a lot better.

 

[Tretyak 20]

Wood. Add Dyblenko.

 

[britdevil]

People sleeping on Mac Black

 

[MadDevil]

People sleeping on Mac Black

To be fair, goalie prospects are kind of hard to judge compared to skaters, and can take the longest to develop.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Boqvist add the other Jesper

 

[OmNomNom]

macblack

add Senn

 

[Devils Dominion]

Why are we wanting to add Senn so quickly?

 

[HBK27]

Why are we wanting to add Senn so quickly?

Well, if you're going to add anyone from the 2017 draft class he should be the next one since he was the highest drafted player this year not currently on the list.

 

[OmNomNom]

because Senn is supposed to be the top Swiss goalie now, i suppose. i mean he's older, but he's still a prospect, and definitely further developed

 

[AfroThunder396]

Anderson for the 3rd time. I don't think people are really looking at what he's done, because if they had they'd be taking him a lot more seriously.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Anderson for the 3rd time. I don't think people are really looking at what he's done, because if they had they'd be taking him a lot more seriously.

I think it's more that we actually have other prospects worth considering. Blackwood has done really well for a young goalie. Boqvist could have been considered a first round talent this past season and has shown well in multiple different competitions/leagues. Anderson has been really impressive since his draft for sure, I just prefer someone else.

 

[devilsblood]

People sleeping on Mac Black

Anderson for the 3rd time. I don't think people are really looking at what he's done, because if they had they'd be taking him a lot more seriously.

We just have a good amount of solid prospects now. I've been going Wood, but I don't dismiss that Anderson and Blackwood had promising seasons.

 

[devilsblood]

Well, if you're going to add anyone from the 2017 draft class he should be the next one since he was the highest drafted player this year not currently on the list.

Given he is way older then the other guys from that draft I'm not sure that holds water.