Capitalhawk
Registered User
- Jul 18, 2004
- 20
- 0
What exactly is the criteria? Age, number of games played? Draft year? This is the way I look at it.Drake1588 said:Well, Eminger and Semin are only 20 years old, and have appeared in only 57 and 52 NHL games, respectively. Both finished the season in the AHL working on their games, honing the rough edges.
Now Brian Sutherby is 22 and he is the closest to shedding the prospect label... but on the other hand, he only played 30 games in the NHL last season, with minimal fourth-line ice time, and finished the 2003-04 season in the AHL, before he sustained a groin injury. He may be getting a little older, but he has hardly reached the level of an NHL regular yet.
If one were to remove them...
Alexander Ovechkin - Jakub Klepis - Eric Fehr
Tomas Fleischmann - Jared Aulin - Jonas Johansson
Owen Fussey - Brooks Laich - Boyd Gordon
Steve Werner - Mikhail Yunkov - Chris Bourque
Extra: Peter Guggisberg, Pasi Salonen, Andreas Valdix
Shaone Morrisonn - Mike Green
Jeff Schultz - Sami Lepisto
Nolan Yonkman - Jakub Cutta
Extra: Oscar Hedman
Maxime Ouellet
Maxime Daigneault
Rastislav Stana
Eminger and Semin I think get in under the guidelines, but Semin could almost be graduated. He would've stuck in the NHL if it weren't for the Caps being so terrible and Portland working towards the AHL playoffs. Why waste his talent (and salary, I presume) on a lost cause? Get him some experience in meaningful games. Eminger, still a prospect, even though he made the team as an 18 year old last year. Sutherby, I would no longer consider a prospect. He's been given many chances to stick and hasn't been consistent enough. But he's had his chances, so he loses "prospect" status, IMO.
It's why I could consider Igor Radulov (22) a graduated player as opposed to Vorobiev and Yakubov (both also 22). Radulov came in and almost made the team from training camp as a 19 year old. He's had stints that if he showed enough consistency the Blackhawks could (desperately) use him. He hasn't, and many wonder whether he'll pan out at all. Same goes for Leighton and Anderson. Even though Thibault should be back for the whole season, and one of the two will be in Norfolk, they've played enough games in the bigs to have lost "prospect" status.
Finally, in all, Washington and Pittsburgh edge Chicago out because the Hawks don't have a potential homerun guy. Was- Ovechkin and (fine!) Semin are dynamic. Pitt- Malkin and Fleury are also gamebreakers possibly. But Chi has such quality depth, they'll have a pipeline of NHL players pretty much at every position that I wouldn't trade my team's prospects for anyone's.