Best team to build upon

[Pantokrator]

Atlanta. Kovulchuk and Lehtinen alone seal the deal for me.

 

[letsgojackets]

Bluejackets

Nash - 21 Will be in NHL in 05-04
Zherdev - 20 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Fritsche - 20 Best overall player for USA at WJC Will be in NHL in 05-06
Svitov - 22 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Pinaeult - 19
Picard - 19 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Johnson - 22 Will be a top 6 Dman this year top four in 2 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Methot - 20 Shut Crosby down in Memorial Cup
Wharton - 19
Kosmachev - 20 Great Dman if we can get him out of Russia.

Add Leclaire and Klesla at 23.

Forget about it.

 

[HockeyCritter]

1) Atlanta (Kovalchuk, Lehtonen, Valabik, Coburn, etc..)
2) Washington (Semin, Ovechkin, Eminger, Green, Schultz, Morrisone, etc....)
3) Florida (Bouwmeester, Horton, Weiss, Stewart, Krajicek, Olesz etc....)
Atlanta far and away, but Washington and Florida aren't too shabby either to say the least.

SE is going to be a beast to play against (and in) in the very near future.

 

[moosefan]

Columbas is a good team:

Pascal LeClaire
Nikolai Zherdev
Rick Nash
Dan Fritisch
Adam Pineault
Alexander Picard

Chicago is good as well with:

Cam Barker
Brent Seabrook
Cory Crawford
Tummo Ruutu
David Bolland
Jakub Sindl
Anton Babchuk
Michael Barinka
James Wisnieswki
Ryan Garlock

 

[Levitate]

is leclaire really still considered a top goalie prospect?

 

[CurtisJD13]

Ivan Baranka
Nigel Dawes
Hugh Jessiman **
Maxim Kondratiev
Lauri Korpikoski
Henrik Lundqvist
Al Montoya

^^ IMO, those 7 prospects can become huge players for the Rangers if they're used correctly. Not sure if some of them are prospects anymore.. atleast they're young!

[didn't include my favorite player, Fedor Tyutin, since he played a season already.]
----
I think the Atlanta Thrashers will defintely be one of the 'stronger' teams in a few years. Ilya Kovalchuk, Dany Heatley, Braydon Coburn, Boris Valabik, Kari Lehtonen, Grant Lewis, Petteri Nummenlin, Michael Vannelli, etc.

What about Dubinsky? Give some props to the next great agitator in the NHL...the guy is only in juniors and he's already frustrated me so many times just from watching him that he's on my "Richard Simmons all-time hit list"

If I'm picking teams, I'd go with Washington at this point. With really 4 guys who could become top D-men in the NHL in the near future (Eminger, Green and Schultz most notibly) and guys like Ovechkin, Fehr, Semin and others up front, you can't argue with their odds of being an elite team in the near future.

2nd would be Nashville, they have a knack for just drafting guys who will make it to the NHL on some level, not necessarilly just looking for the most talented guys in the draft. Guys like Suter and Hartnell will always bring longevity.

3rd, Columbus with guys like Nash, Fritsche, Zherdev and Picard, they have 3 potential perrennial 60-70 point guys, and 1 who has already proven himself. Add in some young defense in the next couple of seasons, and this team will be one to beat.

 

[Levitate]

What about Dubinsky? Give some props to the next great agitator in the NHL...the guy is only in juniors and he's already frustrated me so many times just from watching him that he's on my "Richard Simmons all-time hit list"

I think Dubinsky is one of those guys that you're not completely sure about how he'll work out in the NHL...I'd like to see him in the AHL, but he's got some skill and is an agitator...it'd be great if we got Matt Barnaby #2 or something

 

[ftyutin51]

I think Dubinsky is one of those guys that you're not completely sure about how he'll work out in the NHL...I'd like to see him in the AHL, but he's got some skill and is an agitator...it'd be great if we got Matt Barnaby #2 or something

that's why I didn't put Dubinsky in the list.. he'll probably be a good agitator, but if he can get offensive/defensive skills, that's even better.

 

[MAF]

If Pittsburgh had one or two good players/prospects more together with Malkin and MAF, they could be mentioned as well. Two great prospects aren't enough. But future franchise center backed up with possible franchise goalie is something good to start of.

How about Ryan Whitney (22), Colby Armstrong (22), Maxime Talbot (21) and Johannes Salmonsson (19) ??

 

[Jacob]

How about Ryan Whitney (22), Colby Armstrong (22), Maxime Talbot (21) and Johannes Salmonsson (19) ??

Yeah, I was going to mention at least Whitney and Welch in response.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Not to mention Orpik, Malone, Koltsov and Kraft. While not prospects, they are still young, potentially valuable building blocks. Though, not to be a complete homer, I would probably still take Atlanta and perhaps Columbus over the Penguins to build upon.

 

[Vatican Roulette]

I'd take Atlanta.

They have a stud at each position. Lehtonen in goal, best prospect in goal IMO. Kovalchuk already has a Richard trophy at 21(wow), and Corburn has the potential to be a #1 d-man. Valabik has the potential also, but Corburn is much more likely to reach it.

Pittsburgh has the same thing with MAF, Whitney and Malkin, but i believe that Atlanta has a better top 3.

Lehtonen>MAF
Kovalchuk>Malkin
Corburn=Whitney

 

[The Maltais Falcon]

Bluejackets

Nash - 21 Will be in NHL in 05-04
Zherdev - 20 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Fritsche - 20 Best overall player for USA at WJC Will be in NHL in 05-06
Svitov - 22 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Pinaeult - 19
Picard - 19 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Johnson - 22 Will be a top 6 Dman this year top four in 2 Will be in NHL in 05-06
Methot - 20 Shut Crosby down in Memorial Cup
Wharton - 19
Kosmachev - 20 Great Dman if we can get him out of Russia.

Add Leclaire and Klesla at 23.

Forget about it.

Never even heard of half these guys. Forget about it, indeed.

 

[Hedberg]

Thrashers. They have everything
Imagine how good they would be in the future if they selected Phaneuf insted of Coburn

 

[CurtisJD13]

that's why I didn't put Dubinsky in the list.. he'll probably be a good agitator, but if he can get offensive/defensive skills, that's even better.

This is what I said...definate NHL potential as an agitator...just because he was picked early in the draft doesn't mean he has to be a scoring threat. Think of him in the mold of Steve Ott or Sean Avery.

 

[katodelder]

Two sleeper teams no one's mentioned yet:

Buffalo (Vanek, Miller, Roy, Pominville, Stafford, MacArthur) & LA (Frolov, Brown, Cammalleri, Grebeshkov, Gleason).

If Buffalo can pick up a blueline stud and LA can get a goalie, then their group of prospects will look even better.

 

[AnThGrt]

Two sleeper teams no one's mentioned yet:

Buffalo (Vanek, Miller, Roy, Pominville, Stafford, MacArthur) & LA (Frolov, Brown, Cammalleri, Grebeshkov, Gleason).

If Buffalo can pick up a blueline stud and LA can get a goalie, then their group of prospects will look even better.

For LA you forgot about Tukonen, Pushkarev, Tambs, and Boyle

 

[CurtisJD13]

For LA you forgot about Tukonen, Pushkarev, Tambs, and Boyle

And Lukacevic

 

[borro]

This WILL change based on who gets top picks, esp. if high picks are "stolen" by teams like Toronto and Boston.I like where the Caps are...

Ovechkin, Semin, Fehr, Ouellet, Klepis, Bourque, Eminger, Green, Schultz, Yonkman, and some pretty good second level guys...

Fleischmann, Johannson, Daigneault, Stana, Fussey, Gordon,

and flexibility to ADD A FEW FREE AGENTS

Another team that has to be considered: The Small Flightless Birds
Malkin, MAF, Orpik, Whitney, Welch, Armstrong, Ouellet, Tarnstrom,

and flexibility to ADD A FEW FREE AGENTS

Atlanta is good but my third team would be the Chicago Black Hawks
Barker, Babchuck, Seabrook, Barinka probably makes the best young defense in the NHL. That alone puts the upper echelon. Ruutu and Arnason with Bolland and Sindl up front.

 

[al3x]

1 Atlanta
2 Pittsburgh
3 Washington

 

[Ismellofhockey]

No love for Ottawa? not even a little for this list?

Spezza
Vermette
Emery
Meszaros
Eaves
Kaigorodov
Lyamin

Not better than Atlanta but as good as Pittsburgh?

 

[jmelm]

No love for Ottawa? not even a little for this list?

Spezza
Vermette
Emery
Meszaros
Eaves
Kaigorodov
Lyamin

Not better than Atlanta but as good as Pittsburgh?

Not as good as Pittsburgh, as good as Chicago and L.A., maybe better, especially if you include Volchenkov.

 

[Skk82]

I'd take Atlanta.

They have a stud at each position. Lehtonen in goal, best prospect in goal IMO. Kovalchuk already has a Richard trophy at 21(wow), and Corburn has the potential to be a #1 d-man. Valabik has the potential also, but Corburn is much more likely to reach it.

Pittsburgh has the same thing with MAF, Whitney and Malkin, but i believe that Atlanta has a better top 3.

Lehtonen>MAF
Kovalchuk>Malkin
Corburn=Whitney

atlanta may have a better top 3, but they have no answer for guys like orpik, koltsov, armstrong, welch and ryan malone.

 

[jb**]

Not as good as Pittsburgh, as good as Chicago and L.A., maybe better, especially if you include Volchenkov.

Flyers:
Carter , Richards, Ruzica, Ben Eager, Alexandre Picard, Ryan Potulny, RJ Umberger just turned 23 last month, Goalie-Rejean Beauchman(spelling is off). That is not bad since Carter and Richards will be with the Flyers next year. and possibly Umberger.
I will put that group with against any other team. There will be a lot of talent in the next few years for sure if these guys pan out for a lot of teams.

 

[The Maltais Falcon]

atlanta may have a better top 3, but they have no answer for guys like orpik, koltsov, armstrong, welch and ryan malone.

Atlanta has an decent second tier of prospects in guys like Jim Slater, Boris Valabik, Michael Garnett, Karl Stewart, and Derek MacKenzie. Not quite as good as Pittsburgh's second tier, but I think Atlanta wins out overall.