st_roland
Guest
Homer pick, unresearched pick but I say the Aves: Liles, Boychuk, Slovak, Ballard, Liffiton, Gilbert. I see a few possible #2 D-men in that group.
SensGuy said:Preds
Enoch said:The Avalanche do have a good defensive crop.
Nashville, IMO, also deserves some consideration.
Stehlik, Klein, Suter, Hamhuis, Shea Webber, Hutchinson just to name a few.
Burke's Evil Spirit said:Prospects only? Pittsburgh would win it rather easily, IMO (Whitney, Welch, Orpik, Lupaschuk) with Nashville coming in second.
Foppa said:The Avs have stockpiled some impressive depth with defensive prospects, but their lack of a true stud #1 type would keep them being in the Top 5 imo. Liles has a bright future and I really like Ballard's upside a lot considering his track record in college and stocky build. But Ballard, who imo has the most upside of any Avs defensive prospect, would rank a #3 or so on a lot of these teams prospect depth charts in terms of potential.
I think the Avs have a lot of potential second/third pairing potential guys, but really nobody outside Ballard that has flashed the tools to be a #2 type guy, let alone a #1, at this point in time.
Still pretty interesting how defense, once the weak point of the Avs system, is now its strength, and high-flying scoring forwards, once its strength, is now probably its weakness. Offnesive prospects are dropping like flies (Vrbata, Nedorost, Johansson) and trades and top picks keep bringing in young defenders (Ballard, Slovak, Liffiton) Total change in philosophy it seems.
bruins8152 said:I cant believe no one said the Bruins, i think they have the most depth at d in the league as far as prospects go. Check this out:
Jeff Jillson (23) Nick Boynton (24) Jonathan Girard (23) Milan Jurcina (20) Zdenek Kutlak (23) Lars Jonsson (21) Shaonne Morrisson (21)
Andrew Alberts, (22) Mark Stuart (19)
Now thats young talent at d. Jillson and Boynton are future top 2 dmen. Jonsson is a great offensive defenceman prospect. Morrisson is off to a slow start but is still highly regarded. And Alberts and Stuart are both studs on d in the mold of scott stevens. What more could u ask for??
Habsfunk said:I would say Nashville has the best crop of D prospects, followed by Pittsburgh.
Homer talk: Montreal has two great prospects in Komisarek and Hainsey but after that it falls off. I think Andrew Archer will develop into a solid 5/6 defenceman in the mould of a Jassen Cullimore. Nothing spectacular, but he'll get the job done. Another intriguing prospect is Oskari Kopiskari, who's managed to hold down a regular spot in the starting lineup in the Finnish Elite League as an 18 year old - no small feat at all. There's also Konstantin Korneev who's got good skills and smarts but is on the small side. Lastly is Ryan O'Byrne, who seems to be quite the project but does have potential to develop into an NHL defenseman.