(HFNHL) The Hockey News rates HFNHL top prospects

[Ohio Jones]

According to The Hockey News, teams like Minnesota and Chicago boast strong development systems, but without question the strongest collection of prospects belongs to the Colorado Avalanche, who have seven prospects rated among the league's top 75, led by #3 Jonathan Huberdeau.

COL 7
MIN 5
CHI 5
LAK 4
NAS 4
PIT 4
MTL 4
VAN 4
STL 4
WAS 4
NJD 3
CBJ 3
PHX 3
TOR 3
FLA 3
CGY 2
DAL 2
BOS 2
EDM 2
WPG 1
NYI 1
ANA 1
TAM 1
DET 1
CAR 1
BUF 1
NYR 0
OTT 0
PHI 0
SJS 0

One shouldn't read too much into this, since recent graduates and rookies with 25 games under their belts are not counted on this list, but this still has to be particularly concerning for teams like the Rangers and Sharks who have both embarked on a rebuilding process. With cupboards this bare, it looks like those rebuilds will take a long time. The Senators have yet to begin their rebuild, so hopefully they'll be able to pick up some young talent in the off-season to make up for their departing vets.

THN Top 75 - HFNHL

1 E. Kuznetsov NJD
2 Mi. Granlund MIN
3 J. Huberdeau COL
4 D. Hamilton CBJ
5 M. Zibanejad PHX
6 V. Tarasenko TOR
7 M. Scheifele LAK
8 J. Markstrom NAS
9 R. Strome PIT
10 B. Gormley COL
11 R. Ellis WPG
12 J. Brodin MIN
13 Z. Kassian CGY
14 C. Coyle CHI
15 S. Baertschi DAL
16 B. Smith LAK
17 T. Erixon MIN
18 J. Colbourne MTL
19 N. Bjugstad PIT
20 R. Lehner COL
21 J. Schultz CBJ
22 O. Klefbom PHX
23 C. Kreider MTL
24 J. Armia NYI
25 B. Saad CHI

26 R.Murphy LAK
27 J. Morrow MTL
28 J. Schwartz ANA
29 J.T. Miller VAN
30 J. Caron STL
31 C. Eakin CHI
32 C. Jarnkrok TAM
33 N. Beaulieu FLA
34 G. Nyquist DET
35 M. Hackett MIN
36 R. Rakell COL
37 C. Ashton WAS
38 J. Larsson STL
39 T. Toffoli FLA
40 K. Palmieri VAN
41 J. Campbell CAR
42 J. Namestnikov BUF
43 S. Despres EDM
44 T. Rattie TOR
45 M. Stone BOS
46 B. Bennett VAN
47 L. Leblanc NAS
48 D. Savard FLA
49 C. deHaan DAL
50 J. Tinordi NJD

51 D. Siemens WAS
52 M. McNeill NAS
53 Z. Dalpe WAS
54 V. Khokhlachev WAS
55 P. Cormier CBJ
56 J. Morin NJD
57 T. Tatar CHI
58 P. Danault COL
59 J. Oleksiak MIN
60 N. Jensen STL
61 J. Merrill NAS
62 B. Jenner COL
63 N. Petrovic PIT
64 D. Forbort EDM
65 J. Hishon TOR
66 B. Nelson MTL
67 J. Silfverberg COL
68 T. Barrie PIT
69 B. Bulmer CHI
70 M. Foligno PHX
71 M. Goncharov STL
72 S. Noesen BOS
73 S. Galiev CGY
74 J. Allen VAN
75 B. Holtby LAK

For Columbus, prospects listed in teams' top-10 include:

ANA 1: D Justin Schultz
BOS 1: D Dougie Hamilton
CGY 2: G Leland Irving
CAR 3: D Brian Dumoulin
DAL 6: D Patrik Nemeth
NAS 4 (now MTL): C/LW Blake Geoffrion
TOR 10: LW Marcel Mueller
WPG 2: C Patrice Cormier
WPG 4: LW Carl Klingberg

Jackets prospect Devante Smith-Pelley would have been rated #2 in Anaheim's system (behind Schultz), but he is considered to have established himself in the NHL and so was not included in the rankings.

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[Vagrant]

Nice work here! Really interesting to see Dalpe and Khokhlachev on the list for Washington. Especially considering Dalpe has played 25 games in the NHL already. Brett Connolly not being there is interesting as he must have just missed the cut off for games.

 

[Canuck09]

Awesome to see Colorado, Minnesota and Vancouver near the top of the list.

I didn't expect to see my results be any better, though I do have 2 players (Despres & Forbort) on the list not 1 as initially counted. Hopefully I can add a good piece in the draft this year.

 

[Ville Isopaa]

7 out of 75 is nice.. it would have been 8 if the ranking would have been published a bit earlier, as Barrie was traded to the Pens this season.

Also, with Silfverberg being named the MVP of SEL at the age of 21, he should be much higher than 67th on that list. Only Forsberg has won that award at a younger age (back-to-back at 19 and 20 years).

 

[Ohio Jones]

Also, with Silfverberg being named the MVP of SEL at the age of 21, he should be much higher than 67th on that list. Only Forsberg has won that award at a younger age (back-to-back at 19 and 20 years).

At a guess, the scouts they talked to may not have been especially up to date on Silfverberg's accomplishments overseas. (One could argue that Kirill Petrov should have been on this list too, after putting up 16 goals and 29 points in the KHL this season.) I might suggest that the other limitation may be upside, but there are a lot of third-line types ahead of him in the list (my own Cormier included), so who knows.

 

[Fooladelfia]

i guess my prospect list suck...I have to work on it this draft.

 

[Circulartheory]

Yay me!

 

[Hossa]

In terms of the four Canucks on the list, I'm a bit surprised by two things.

First, while Bennett has progressed nicely (significantly adding strength and improving his skating), he has also only played ten games this year and missed last year's WJC with injuries as well. He'd be a pretty easy prospect to forget. Frankly I do sometimes, and I probably wouldn't have him in my top 50, so I'm surprised he's so high.

Second, I think Jake Allen's early season struggles led him to be underrated. He started to turn it around in December and January with .920 and .918 save percentages, and since Ben Bishop was dealt and Allen was named starter again, he's been lights out. In March he's got a .955 SV%. I'm not sure why Markstrom and Lehner are 8th and 20th while Allen 74th. I know his WJC performance is still in people's minds, but in the two years since, he's won CHL Goalie of the Year, been starter at the AHL All-Star Game, and proven he can play at an elite level in the AHL, if not consistently. All three goalies have definite starter potential and has had periods where they're outstanding, but Markstrom wasn't great last year and Lehner hasn't been great this year. Maybe Allen isn't quite as exciting because he's not 6'6" or 230lbs though.

Otherwise, I think Mattias Ekholm is easily deserving of a spot, but if Silfverberg's going to be ranked in the 60s, I'm not surprised Ekholm is nowhere to be seen. How Goncharov cracks the list over Ekholm (or over Maxim Chudinov for that matter) is beyond me.

 

[kasper11]

i guess my prospect list suck...I have to work on it this draft.

Maybe the problem is just that none of your prospects stick around long enough for the scouts to get a look.

 

[Fooladelfia]

Maybe the problem is just that none of your prospects stick around long enough for the scouts to get a look.

maybe i don't give a ***** what you think the problem is.... too
U better concentrate on bringning kuznetsov of the KHL cause he's sticking there one more time.
http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/336987.html
http://www.russianmachineneverbreak...etsov-says-he-will-remain-in-khl-next-season/

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Yeah, the inclusion of Goncharov is a surprise to me. While he has a good overall game and is physical, he has been seen primarily as a big offensive and PP guy, and his failure to put up numbers this year seems like a step back in the AHL, although the commentary on the guy seems to be good. I keep thinking he's headed back to Russia next year, especially given how crowded the Coyotes blueline is with offensive d-men. I didn't think he'd get a sniff in the top 75.

Meanwhile, a guy like Reilly Smith i thought would get a lot more love. Just 20 and has already put up 30 goals in the NCAA this year, despite the loss of both his linemates from last season. He is one of my best forward prospects, although you wouldn't know it from that ranking. Also surprised Erik Gustafsson didn't get in the top 75, although he was the Flyers top ranked prospect (not saying much, that). Still, Gustafsson is clearly ahead of Goncharov on my prospect list.

Nice to see Johan Larsson finally get some respect in the top 40 overall. By declaring him my top prospect a few months back, I was having some doubts given I see to have 10 guys ranked ahead of him on HF, but finally people are taking notice. Puck Prospectus also recently had him in their top 25 overall.

 

[kasper11]

Yeah, the inclusion of Goncharov is a surprise to me. While he has a good overall game and is physical, he has been seen primarily as a big offensive and PP guy, and his failure to put up numbers this year seems like a step back in the AHL, although the commentary on the guy seems to be good. I keep thinking he's headed back to Russia next year, especially given how crowded the Coyotes blueline is with offensive d-men. I didn't think he'd get a sniff in the top 75.

Meanwhile, a guy like Reilly Smith i thought would get a lot more love. Just 20 and has already put up 30 goals in the NCAA this year, despite the loss of both his linemates from last season. He is one of my best forward prospects, although you wouldn't know it from that ranking. Also surprised Erik Gustafsson didn't get in the top 75, although he was the Flyers top ranked prospect (not saying much, that). Still, Gustafsson is clearly ahead of Goncharov on my prospect list.

Nice to see Johan Larsson finally get some respect in the top 40 overall. By declaring him my top prospect a few months back, I was having some doubts given I see to have 10 guys ranked ahead of him on HF, but finally people are taking notice. Puck Prospectus also recently had him in their top 25 overall.

I think Larsson's play at the WJC is what pushed him into the list. My biggest problem with the future watch issue every year is that they do the polling immediately after the WJC and the tournament ends up weighing too heavily in the rankings.

There is no other way to explain how Emerson Etem is scoring at will in juniors (I think he had 50 in 50 when the list was released) and actually fell out of the rankings.

It is probably also the only reason that Kuznetsov is ranked so far ahead of Tarasenko while their play has been pretty even throughout the season. The top-5 all had a good tournament, while Tarasenko was too old.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

I think Larsson's play at the WJC is what pushed him into the list. My biggest problem with the future watch issue every year is that they do the polling immediately after the WJC and the tournament ends up weighing too heavily in the rankings.

There is no other way to explain how Emerson Etem is scoring at will in juniors (I think he had 50 in 50 when the list was released) and actually fell out of the rankings.

It is probably also the only reason that Kuznetsov is ranked so far ahead of Tarasenko while their play has been pretty even throughout the season. The top-5 all had a good tournament, while Tarasenko was too old.

I actually think Larsson's play at the WJC was only average. I'm sure it was noted he was captain etc, and he did look good overall, but he has looked even better in the SEL (more than twice as many points as any other teenager).

I also think Tarasenko is the better prospect than Kuznetsov. Etem is a strange one too, although a few sources seem to be ranking him lower than his production would justify.

 

[canucksPK]

Jurco should be on this list.....

 

[Fooladelfia]

Jurco should be on this list.....

Nah Jurco not good only a youtube sensation.........