HF Spring 2007 Organizational rankings (1-15)

[Live in the Now]

The only team with more depth than the Habs is the team ranked above them. To look past that is to deny the truth. Depth is the most important thing. Everyone forgets that not all big time prospects pan out. When you have many good prospects like the Habs do, it's like holding a lot of tickets in a raffle. More chance of hitting the big one. More chance of getting a smaller prize. More chance of getting second prize.

The fact is, the more prospects you have, the better chance you have of one booming, you can live with some of them busting, and you will have more future NHL players out of that group. It's plain and simple. Montreal holds a lot of lottery tickets right now. Lucky team with good drafting, to be sure. Also, the disclaimer at the top of the rankings says that this is an evaluation of the OVERALL state of teams prospect systems. It does not say that this is a ranking of the teams with the most big name prospects, or high end prospects. Even if the rankings were written that way, they'd likely be very similar to what is there.

 

[montreal]

I don't care where teams are ranked, since it doesn't mean anything. The Habs have drafted well since Andre Savard and Trevor Timmins took over. Half the roster is made up of draft picks from the '01-'05 drafts. Komisarek, Plekanec, Higgins, Perezhogin, Streit, Latendresse, Kostitsyn, Halak, Lapierre.

In nets this year they had the top rated goalie in the AHL in Halak. One of the top goalies in the ECHL in Cedrick Desjardins and one of the top goalies in the CHL in Carey Price (who's been impressive in the AHL playoffs and he's still only 19) In addition they have Yann Danis who was great in the NCAA. Christopher Heino who should be a starter in the SEL next year and Michael Leighton who was the 2nd rated goalie in the AHL this year behind Halak.

On defense, they have a big weakness but have improved that lately. Ryan O'Byrne has been really impressive in Hamilton as a rookie, he's in the mold of Komisarek, maybe a little bigger and faster. David Fischer is likely years away but he's got good upside, very smooth skating with the puck, I was impressed with his defensive play this year as a true freshman, hopefully his offensive game picks up. Mathieu Carle was one of the top scoring defensemen in the QMJHL this year. Alexei Emelin looked decent at the WC's for Team Russia, Pavel Valentenko made good strides, Habs are really high on him. There's also Philippe Paquet, still a ways a way and likely not many will talk about him, but he's something in the mold of O'Byrne/Komisarek, not as big but he's just turned 20 so he might add some more to his tall frame. He's another good skating/fast physical defensemen. Nothing flashy but an interesting prospect imo.

Forwards are also a strong point for the Habs. There's the Belarus trio, Andrei Kostitsyn was easily one of Hamilton's top players this year and was a good when he got called up to the Habs, will be a full timer next year. Mikhail Grabovski had a solid rookie year in Hamilton and looked good when called up. Siarhei Kostitsyn was one of the top players in the OHL this year. Chipchura is a steady center, not flashy but he will play in the NHL. Ryan White and Ben Maxwell were at the top of the WHL in scoring until Maxwell got injured. Matt D'Agostini had a good rookie year in the AHL after an impressive year in the OHL. Mathieu Aubin was impressive in the QMJHL with Lewiston and he had a decent year in the ECHL as a rookie.

It doesn't matter where the habs are ranked, I'm sure that management is happy with the progress of most of their prospects.

 

[Plager05]

OK ... I'll say it.

October 2005: 29th
April 2006: 22nd
October 2006: 14th
May 2007: 4th

So ...
1. Did the Blues really have the 2nd worst prospect pool just 18 months ago?
2. Do the Blues really have the 4th best prospect pool now?
3. Can anyone else recall a team jumping like this in just 18 months?

Berglund, Oshie, Johnson, and Schwarz are all consensus top 50 prospects for the Blues now and they weren't then.

 

[Rise from the Ashes]

I don't care where teams are ranked, since it doesn't mean anything. The Habs have drafted well since Andre Savard and Trevor Timmins took over. Half the roster is made up of draft picks from the '01-'05 drafts. Komisarek, Plekanec, Higgins, Perezhogin, Streit, Latendresse, Kostitsyn, Halak, Lapierre.

In nets this year they had the top rated goalie in the AHL in Halak. One of the top goalies in the ECHL in Cedrick Desjardins and one of the top goalies in the CHL in Carey Price (who's been impressive in the AHL playoffs and he's still only 19) In addition they have Yann Danis who was great in the NCAA. Christopher Heino who should be a starter in the SEL next year and Michael Leighton who was the 2nd rated goalie in the AHL this year behind Halak.

On defense, they have a big weakness but have improved that lately. Ryan O'Byrne has been really impressive in Hamilton as a rookie, he's in the mold of Komisarek, maybe a little bigger and faster. David Fischer is likely years away but he's got good upside, very smooth skating with the puck, I was impressed with his defensive play this year as a true freshman, hopefully his offensive game picks up. Mathieu Carle was one of the top scoring defensemen in the QMJHL this year. Alexei Emelin looked decent at the WC's for Team Russia, Pavel Valentenko made good strides, Habs are really high on him. There's also Philippe Paquet, still a ways a way and likely not many will talk about him, but he's something in the mold of O'Byrne/Komisarek, not as big but he's just turned 20 so he might add some more to his tall frame. He's another good skating/fast physical defensemen. Nothing flashy but an interesting prospect imo.

Forwards are also a strong point for the Habs. There's the Belarus trio, Andrei Kostitsyn was easily one of Hamilton's top players this year and was a good when he got called up to the Habs, will be a full timer next year. Mikhail Grabovski had a solid rookie year in Hamilton and looked good when called up. Siarhei Kostitsyn was one of the top players in the OHL this year. Chipchura is a steady center, not flashy but he will play in the NHL. Ryan White and Ben Maxwell were at the top of the WHL in scoring until Maxwell got injured. Matt D'Agostini had a good rookie year in the AHL after an impressive year in the OHL. Mathieu Aubin was impressive in the QMJHL with Lewiston and he had a decent year in the ECHL as a rookie.

It doesn't matter where the habs are ranked, I'm sure that management is happy with the progress of most of their prospects.

Dan is very unbiased.. and it is true; Habs do have good prospects, but not #2. Sorry.

 

[BuddehJuS]

Following a major catastrophe in this year's draft, I could see Phoenix and especially Edmonton moving up in the rankings. PHX has the third overall and Dallas' pick which is 21st or 22nd I believe. I believe Edmonton has 3 1st round picks so they will definitely be adding to an already impressive prospect pool.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Minnesota is a bit of stretch in the top 10...Our forward corps don't look good, we have no defensive depth whatsoever and the less said about our goaltending depth, the better. Now in the NHL, that's different.

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Do rankings really matter? When you can pull Dustin Penners and Paul Stastnys and M-E Vlasics out of nowhere it really is just a crapshoot.

Not that being ranked 30th is a good thing, but if you're first or third or fifth the idea is you have a very strong prospect pool and its up to other factors to see if they pan out.

 

[5mn Major]

Oshie says he will play in the NCAA next year. If so, he should be a preseason top 5 favorite for the mvp hobey award next year.

Minnesota is a bit of stretch in the top 10...Our forward corps don't look good, we have no defensive depth whatsoever and the less said about our goaltending depth, the better. Now in the NHL, that's different.

I was wondering about this too - although the Wild didn't 'graduate' anyone this last year and most teams did...which is one knock against its development.

Sure they have some good players. But I think back over the last several years at all the great prospects that they just missed...Mueller, Okposo and Carman.

 

[Mr. Hab]

HF is great for factual information and looking up a teams prospects.. but when it comes to scouting report, ranking, and most written articles they are terrible. I mean they are a total joke. Half of their teams dont have writers and the ones that do hardly ever see the prospects and base everything on hear-say.

I feel a lot of love from you Mr.Sunshine!!

Keep it bright, keep shining! Gotta have more of your sunshine...!!

The world definitely needs more happy people like you (you're in demand)





P.S.: all of a sudden "Hockey's Future" can't do scouting reports, rankings, and write articles, and HF is also a "total joke" NOW...??!!
Wow!! Lots of (sudden) hatred towards HF!! Does this have anything to do with a certain team being ranked #25, and another being ranked #2...?!?! you know...these are rankings, it's flattering, it's fun/interesting, but these rankings do not win you Cups. Just have fun with these type of rankings, instead of raising your blood pressure for nothing...(if you hate HF so much, you can always choose another prospects' website...it's a free world, or most of the time it is!!).
Maybe YOUR team will be ranked #2 next year OR the year after, and you can curse all you want at "HF" again next year!! (example: "why the heck are The LEAFS #2??? WHY?? That team doesn't deserve it! HF doesn't know a thing," etc, etc...).

Keep shining!!

 

[Mr. Hab]

Rask and Toivonan....

For sure...

Rask and Toivonen will/should be a great duo.
If I were a Bruin, I'd be very excited for this Finnish duo.

Boston's goaltending shouldn't be a problem for a long, long time...





The old rivalry will be spiced up again (in the near future...):


Price, Halak

VS

Rask, Toinoven

 

[Dwight]

With Montreal at #6 last time and Pittsburgh falling so far, I thought the Habs would be 4th or 5th.

Didn't expect them to be ahead of Chicago..

 

[eddy]

I wasn't expecting the Habs to be quite that high, but I didn't think somewhere in the top 5 was outta the question thats for sure. As for top end talent besides Price theres not a lot but as far as overall depth goes Habs have a lot of that and especially at the goaltending postion. Halak was arguably the best goalie in the AHL before being promoted to the NHL and now Price is doing a spectacular job for a 19 year old thrown into the AHL playoffs from his junior team. They have a very solid group of forward prospects and an improving group of D propspects which has been there weak spot for quite some time but there slowly building on that and I expect them to continue to at the next draft. Realisticly i'd say atleast the Blackhawks should be above them.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

OK ... I'll say it.

October 2005: 29th
April 2006: 22nd
October 2006: 14th
May 2007: 4th

So ...
1. Did the Blues really have the 2nd worst prospect pool just 18 months ago?
2. Do the Blues really have the 4th best prospect pool now?
3. Can anyone else recall a team jumping like this in just 18 months?

Flyers went from 30th to 10th, and after the #2 overall pick they'll be borderline top 5 in th enext ranking as well.

 

[ranold26]

Is there any stock into these lists anyways? They're always subjective.
Its like going to Rolling Stone and believing their list accurately portrays whom are the bestestestests rock bands evar!!1. Even if your band made the top of the list, your band still sucks.

 

[CanuckistanFlyerfan]

Flyers went from 30th to 10th, and after the #2 overall pick they'll be borderline top 5 in th enext ranking as well.

And Holmgren did this in less than a full season. Also upgraded the goaltending. I think everyone on the board should take a moment and...

 

[GKJ]

Holmgren has done an excellent job to this point. I can say I'm surprised, back when he was doing interviews in November and December he looked like a deer in headlights.

 

[mooseOAK*]

Jason Menard, Habs writer, seems to be an accomplished writer that has most likely spoken to scouts, and watched prospects first hand. I'm pretty sure all the writers are as well. I mean how else would they even get the job.

Agree to work for free?

 

[znk]

Minnesota is a bit of stretch in the top 10...Our forward corps don't look good, we have no defensive depth whatsoever and the less said about our goaltending depth, the better. Now in the NHL, that's different.

Habs do have defensive depth...Emelin, Valatenko and O'byrn and Fishcher down the line all looke like solid D. Not the offensive kind mind you....And the forward crop does look good would you care to elaborate on this and compare with other teams?

 

[PensFan101]

Maybe it's him and the emergence and rise of Oshie(sp?) and Kana. Coupled with they graduation of a lot of prospects on teams ahead of the Blues.

Dear god...

I'm sorry, as an Attack fan, his name burns my ears. Obviously a talented prospect, but he screwed over my junior team THREE times this year:

1) His agent said he was gonna be fine for TC... Had to cancel.

2) After a 12-5 start, his agent said he was going to finally come over... We traded Igor Gongalsky, a solid defensive forward (at junior level anyway, he was unbeatable along the walls), and the heart and soul in the dressing room (true stuff), for an 8th Round pick to make room for him but he cancelled again... We could have traded Bartanus way before Igor...

3) At the trade deadline, his agent said he was definitely gonna be there (this after the fact we had dropped to 500, and barely won 3/10 games at any point..), so we traded hard working, gritty Swedish overage Anton Hedman to a DIVISION RIVAL for an 8th round pick... Low and behold, Kana didn't come again...

So I just felt I had to post this somewhere on the Net...

As for the Habs, I think this site undervalues S Kostitsyn and Emelin, and overrates Grabovsky slightly. He has 1st line potential, but not really star power... And 2 is still rather high. I agree with other people, 6-10 is a much better range for them, but then again it is a ranking so it is their opinion.

But hey, I'm a Pens fan, and I'm not complaining. We just had a boat load of high end talent graduate the last two seasons, so naturally our prospect pool is a little thin, but still underrate IMO...

 

[salty justice]

When Chicago picks Kane, do they vault over Montreal and/or LA?


People need to relax about the Habs being at #2. The top 5 teams are arguably interchangeable. It might have been a little bit of bias that put Montreal at 2, but who cares if it only moved them up a spot or two?

 

[le_sean]

Rask and Toivonan....

Toivonen hasn't really shown anyone much of being a good #1 goalie in the league. He lost his job to friggin' Tim Thomas. Rask is a great young goalie, but there is a reason why Price was chosen 5th and Rask chosen 21st, because Carey has more potential. Not that Boston's goalies are crappy, but I think Price/Halak > Rask/Toivonen.

Anyways, we're not just talking goalies, we're talking all prospects. I think the two great young goalies Montreal helped propelled them to #2 on the list. And it's logical because most people would still choose the #1 goalie to have on their team rather than, say, a #1 centre. Goalies alone can win games for you. A centre alone cannot.

 

[SOLR]

Holmgren has done an excellent job to this point. I can say I'm surprised, back when he was doing interviews in November and December he looked like a deer in headlights.

He did a very damn good job.

 

[usiel]

As many others here have already expressed just the montreal position seems like an aberration. Maybe it is just me but their prospects underwhelm me.

 

[theone17]

"Jack Johnson (D), Patrick O'Sullivan (LW), Jonathan Bernier (G), Brian Boyle (C), Lauri Tukonen (RW)"

all of em will be with the Kings next year ....u can argue Bernier wont but non-the-less these guys are top prospects and too see em with Kopitar, Brown and Cammalleri in years to come .... if only we can get Drury and Hannan in the off season and draft the "Siberian Express" Alexei Cherepanov with the 4th pick

 

[goleafsgo987]

I feel a lot of love from you Mr.Sunshine!!

Keep it bright, keep shining! Gotta have more of your sunshine...!!

The world definitely needs more happy people like you (you're in demand)





P.S.: all of a sudden "Hockey's Future" can't do scouting reports, rankings, and write articles, and HF is also a "total joke" NOW...??!!
Wow!! Lots of (sudden) hatred towards HF!! Does this have anything to do with a certain team being ranked #25, and another being ranked #2...?!?! you know...these are rankings, it's flattering, it's fun/interesting, but these rankings do not win you Cups. Just have fun with these type of rankings, instead of raising your blood pressure for nothing...(if you hate HF so much, you can always choose another prospects' website...it's a free world, or most of the time it is!!).
Maybe YOUR team will be ranked #2 next year OR the year after, and you can curse all you want at "HF" again next year!! (example: "why the heck are The LEAFS #2??? WHY?? That team doesn't deserve it! HF doesn't know a thing," etc, etc...).

Keep shining!!

MY thoughts have absoutely nothing to do with Toronto. I know they dont have a great prospect base. But theres no way Montreal is #2.