My top 50 prospects

EagleBelfour

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... speaking of which ... Does anyone here feel like starting a "fans top 50 prospects" series of polls? We did one two years ago (can't recall one last year), and it was some fun ... especially when we got to compare to the "official" HF list. I'd start it, but I'm lazy.

It would be a great idea! If the things was organize in a proper manner, I'm sure it would get a lot of attention and debates.
 

Dominator13

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Feb 20, 2003
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Dominator13
He sure has potential but how likely do you think it is that he reaches it?

that's the million dollar question, every year since his draft he has become eithe more reliable defensively, improved his shot, become faster, more physical.... but one day he's gonna have have to put it all together and become the Naslund, Kovalev type he can be, he's probably the biggest gamble in the NHL cause he won't last as a third liner, but it still remains that he is only 21 years old, it's not like he HAS produce this year, next year will be a good indecation of how good he will be imo
 

Jason MacIsaac

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Jan 13, 2004
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that's the million dollar question, every year since his draft he has become eithe more reliable defensively, improved his shot, become faster, more physical.... but one day he's gonna have have to put it all together and become the Naslund, Kovalev type he can be, he's probably the biggest gamble in the NHL cause he won't last as a third liner, but it still remains that he is only 21 years old, it's not like he HAS produce this year, next year will be a good indecation of how good he will be imo
He is not all that big a gamble IMO. I just don't see the elite skills that Habs fans have been talking about. I seen flashes of it with Perezhogin but not Kastitsyn. He seems like a slower prototypical russian style player with ok size. Atleast his brother has a little sandpaper with his game and can make plays.
 

stmikes76

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List smhits, Jacksons Domain could quite possibly have the best avatar with his True Romance picture complete with the Safari Motel, dude thats awesome!

To keep things related Zajac, I am hearing some really good things about him, expect him to be 2nd line material for NJ as early as this season!
 

Dominator13

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He is not all that big a gamble IMO. I just don't see the elite skills that Habs fans have been talking about. I seen flashes of it with Perezhogin but not Kastitsyn. He seems like a slower prototypical russian style player with ok size. Atleast his brother has a little sandpaper with his game and can make plays.

ok so he was drafted 10th in the most deepest draft ever for......
 

Dominator13

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Dominator13
Same reason why Braydon Coburn was drafted high that same draft and Nystrom was drafted so high in 2002 and Svitov in 2001...the GM and scouts seen something in the player they liked.

ya sure..... first of all Coburn was drafted on the safe side, and 2nd Kostytsin is FAR from breing labeled*a bust, so cut it! Timmins know's how to find talent, you must of been the type of guy who called Bertuzzi and Naslund busts before there time as well... it'l just be more fun seeing you eat crow in a couple of years, that's all
 

Jeffrey

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ok so now let's clean that thread and please habs fans calm down and stop whining on everything and habs hater give it up and move on please.

my top 50 list:
1. Evgeny Malkin Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Jack Johnson Carolina Hurricanes
3. Eric Johnson St.Louis Blues
4. Hannu Toivonen Boston Bruins
5. Shea Weber Nashville Predators
6. Gilbert Brulé Columbus Blue Jackets
7. Patrick O'sullivan Los Angeles Kings
8. Anze Kopitar Los Angeles Kings
9. Alexander Radulov Nashville Predators
10. Phil Kessel Boston Bruins
11. Bobby Ryan Anaheim Ducks
12. Robbie Schremp Edmonto Oilers
13. Jonathan Toews Chicago Blackhawks
14. Tuuka Rask Boston Bruins
15. Dustin Penner Anaheim Ducks
16. Jordan Staal Penguins Pittsburgh
17. Niklas Bakstrom Washington Capitals
18. Marc Staal New York Rangers
19. Ondrej Pavelec Atlanta Trashers
20. Steve Bernier San Jose Sharks
21. Ladislav Smid Edmonton Oilers
22. Cam Barker Chicago Blackhawks
23. Roman Voloshenko Minnesota Wilds
24. Wojtek Wolski Colorado Avalanche
25. Derrick Brassard Columbus Blue Jackets
26. Niklas Bergfors New Jersey Devils
27. TJ Oshie St.Louis Blues
28. Mike Green Washington Capitals
29. Justin Pogge Toronto Mapple leafs
30. Travis Zajac New Jersey Devils
31. Luc Bourdon Vancouver Canucks
32. Andrew Ladd Carolina Hurricanes
33. Alexander Semin Washington Capitals
34. Anthony Stewart Florida Panthers
35. Benoit Pouliot Minnesota Wilds
36. Andrei Kostitsyn Montreal Canadiens
37. Steve Downie Philadelphie Flyers
38. Peter Mueller Phoenix Coyotes
39. Noah Welch Pittburgh Penguins
40. Jakub Kindl Detroit Red wings
41. Carey Price Montreal Canadiens
42. Eric Fehr Washington Capitals
43. Jack Skille Chicago Blackhawk
44. Alvaro Montoya New York Rangers
45. Devin Setoguchi San Jose sharks
46. Andrew Cogliano Edmonton Oilers
47. Guillaume Latendresse Montreal Canadiens
48. Kyle Okposo New York Islanders
49. Jeff Tambellini New York Islanders
50. Loui Ericksson Dallas Stars
 
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JT8888

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Kings fan here, just wondering is Kopitar and O'Sullivan ranked that high by none King Fans?? :dunno:
I have listen to countless kings fans tell me that Kopitar and O'Sullivan are going to be stars but i have been very slow to warming up to it. But seeing some of these ranking are making me start to believe that we have 2 elite prospects.
Just want to confirm this with non-bias fans
 

LetsGOJackets!!

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Mar 23, 2004
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Nicely done

Kryoptics... lot of talent on this board... if you are right do you know off hand who has the most prospects listed in the top 50?

Thanks to all.. very interesting thread.
 

Amadeus

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Jun 21, 2004
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the guy's a project, was before he was drafted and still his, still has more potential then 80% of the players on this list, he's Habs property so he sucks, we know the drill...

No one bashes enough prospects than Leafs prospects, you have to admit. I'm just saying you really overrated your underachiever by saying you'll take him over 30 players that are mentioned. He's a project...still ? That guy hasnt even had a good season in the minors yet. He's still a fine prospect but where he was selected, and after this time, you expect more from him.
 

Jeffrey

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Kings fan here, just wondering is Kopitar and O'Sullivan ranked that high by none King Fans?? :dunno:
I have listen to countless kings fans tell me that Kopitar and O'Sullivan are going to be stars but i have been very slow to warming up to it. But seeing some of these ranking are making me start to believe that we have 2 elite prospects.
Just want to confirm this with non-bias fans

I factored lots of things in this ranking,
I went with potential and chance of reaching it as my #1 priority
followed by chance to make the team
and finally the deciding factor is age.

I beleive skilled player would have easier chance than ever due to new nhl rules.

O'sullivan should play this year in the NHL and could make a run at the calder
Kopitar is a longshot to make the team out of camp but he has a good combination of skills and still has plenty of time to work on his weaknesses in sweden or the ahl.
 
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JT8888

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I factored lots of things in this ranking,
I went with potential and chance of reaching it as my #1 priority
followed by chance to make the team
and finally the deciding factor is age.

I beleive skilled player would have easier chance than ever due to new nhl rules.

O'sullivan should play this year in the NHL and could make a run at the calder
Kopitar is a longshot to make the team out of camp but he has a good combination of skills and still has plenty of time to work on his weakness in sweden or the ahl.

Thx for the response. I have heard a lot more about Kopitar and agree with your assessment, but O'Sullivan i know had a great year in the AHL and put up Spezza type numbers in a much weaker AHL, but i am surprised to say that you think he is good enough to challenge Malkin for the calder. As a Kings fan that makes me a happy camper. I hope you are right. :yo:
 

Amadeus

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ok so now let's clean that thread and please habs fans calm down and stop whining on everything and habs hater give it up and move on please.

my top 50 list:
1. Evgeny Malkin
2. Jack Johnson
3. Eric Johnson
4. Hannu Toivonen
5. Shea Weber
6. Gilbert Brulé
7. Patrick O'sullivan
8. Anze Kopitar
9. Alexander Radulov
10. Phil Kessel
11. Bobby Ryan
12. Robbie Schremp
13. Jonathan Toews
14. Tuuka Rask
15. Dustin Penner
16. Jordan Staal
17. Niklas Bakstrom
18. Marc Staal
19. Ondrej Pavelec
20. Steve Bernier
21. Ladislav Smid
22. Cam Barker
23. Josh Harding
24. Wojtek Wolski
25. Derrick Brassard
26. Niklas Bergfors
27. TJ Oshie
28. Mike Green
29. Justin Pogge
30. Travis Zajac
31. Luc Bourdon
32. Andrew Ladd
33. Alexander Semin
34. Anthony Stewart
35. Benoit Pouliot
36. Andrei Kostitsyn
37. Steve Downie
38. Peter Mueller
39. Noah Welch
40. Jakub Kindl
41. Carey Price
42. Eric Fehr
43. Jack Skille
44. Alvaro Montoya
45. Devin Setoguchi
46. Andrew Cogliano
47. Guillaume Latendresse
48. Kyle Okposo
49. Jeff Tambellini
50. Jiri Hudler

Great job man. This is a fine list. I have some comments though. I believe Price is lower than he should be. He should be around Pogge. In my books Pogge is higher than Price, but they're both similar in terms of potential. They shouldnt be more than 3 apart IMO.

Ryan Parent should definitely be in there. He's a fine prospect. A sure lock IMO to become a fine top 4 in the league someday.
 

Jeffrey

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Great job man. This is a fine list. I have some comments though. I believe Price is lower than he should be. He should be around Pogge. In my books Pogge is higher than Price, but they're both similar in terms of potential. They shouldnt be more than 3 apart IMO.

Ryan Parent should definitely be in there. He's a fine prospect. A sure lock IMO to become a fine top 4 in the league someday.

The list is so thight you have no idea ..
there are so many good prospects that should be there but I went with the guy I liked the most at the end.
Parent was barely out of my list the reason: current nashville defense situation .. you have timmonen (who's still good for some times), Hamhuis, suter, weber, Zidlicky. They have an amazing defensive corps and parent would have a hard time to crack top 4 times but hey you never know.
As for price I agree that he's not far from pogge, actually I see more potential in price than pogge but next year would be a great race between these two, pogge would have to prove himself in the AHL and Price would have to prove if he can rebound from last year and maybe help the canadian team to another gold medal.
 

leafaholix*

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Top 10:

Evgeny Malkin
Jack Johnson
Eric Johnson
Hannu Toivonen
Phil Kessel
Alexander Radulov
Jordan Staal
Marc Staal
Niklas Backstrom
Shea Weber

11-20

Jonathan Toews
Steve Bernier
Gilbert Brulé
Tuukka Rask
Patrick O'Sullivan
Bobby Ryan
Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Frolik
Anze Kopitar
Perttu Lindgren

21-30

Justin Pogge
Josh Harding
Alvaro Montoya
Ladislav Smid
Wojtek Wolski
Carey Price
Robbie Schremp
Derrick Brassard
Roman Voloshenko
Mike Green

Guys who are RARELY listed, if ever, who should be given atleast HM:

Thomas Greiss
Matt Carle (SJ)
David Backes
 

Grizzly Adams

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May 28, 2002
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Is it just me or did everybody start jocking Shea Weber overnight? I think he will be a good defenseman, but a top 5-10 prospect for the NHL he is not.
 

montreal

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More warning points will be handed out if you can't stay on topic. Please stop whinning when someone disagrees with what you say, either discuss the post or don't reply if you can't handle someone saying something bad about a prospect on your favorite team. Please stop going off topic with childish replies that have no bearing other then to stir up others. Consider this a warning to everyone cause if you can't stop on topic the thread will be closed.
 

leafaholix*

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Is it just me or did everybody start jocking Shea Weber overnight? I think he will be a good defenseman, but a top 5-10 prospect for the NHL he is not.

he performed as well as dion phaneuf while they were on team canada, and phaneuf was a top 5 on a much deeper list. weber is barely a notch below phaneuf.
 

EagleBelfour

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Jun 7, 2005
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Top 10:

Evgeny Malkin
Jack Johnson
Eric Johnson
Hannu Toivonen
Phil Kessel
Alexander Radulov
Jordan Staal
Marc Staal
Niklas Backstrom
Shea Weber

11-20

Jonathan Toews
Steve Bernier
Gilbert Brulé
Tuukka Rask
Patrick O'Sullivan
Bobby Ryan
Ondrej Pavelec
Michael Frolik
Anze Kopitar
Perttu Lindgren

21-30

Justin Pogge
Josh Harding
Alvaro Montoya
Ladislav Smid
Wojtek Wolski
Carey Price
Robbie Schremp
Derrick Brassard
Roman Voloshenko
Mike Green

Guys who are RARELY listed, if ever, who should be given atleast HM:

Thomas Greiss
Matt Carle (SJ)
David Backes

Best list I saw so far, very accurate. and you are absolutely right about Lindgren and Greiss. I would only do a couple of change with Weber, Wolski and Jordan Staal.

:clap:
 

Qui Gon Dave

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Aug 3, 2005
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He is not all that big a gamble IMO. I just don't see the elite skills that Habs fans have been talking about. I seen flashes of it with Perezhogin but not Kastitsyn. He seems like a slower prototypical russian style player with ok size. Atleast his brother has a little sandpaper with his game and can make plays.

He does have ok size as you mentioned, and some people over-rate his speed. He certainly isn't slow, but it's not like he could outrun a guy like Perezhogin.

But i'm curious as to how you came to the opinion that he doesn't play with an edge or can't make plays? Have you had a chance to watch him at all or is your opinion based on what you've read/heard? Because he most certainly can play with an edge and create plays. Now, the problem with him is that he isn't consistant in doing both these things. Sometimes, he can shy away and try and do too much on his own, but when he is playing well, he can play the body very well, both in terms of using it to protect the puck or separate an opponant from it and occassionally, he can level people with his hits. A few people found that out in the AHL last year. The easiest way of firing him up, that i saw last year, is if someone tries to cheapshot him, or even just checking him hard. He wakes up, plays with more determination and looks a lot more like the player Habs fans want him to be.

during the course of last season with the Hamilton Bulldogs, he had 2 big slumps from what i saw. The first month of the season, he wasn't playing close to his best hockey (its been suggested he had his mind set on making the Habs out of camp, when that didn't happen, he went to the AHL and struggled the first month). Then his coach called him on it and he stepped up his game, earning him several trips to and from Montreal. The other big slump he had was towards the end of the season when the Bulldogs were eliminated from playoff contention, although to be fair, almost half the team disappeared at that point so it wasn't something he alone had difficulty with. But the rest of the season, he may only disappear for a game or three every now and again but he played fairly consistantly the rest of the time and put up decent numbers for a 21 year old on a team with little veteran help, 2 NHL teams making callups and which struggled and battled for virtually anything they could get all year long. He is a good player but he is still learning and there is only so much he can do on a team that struggled so much last year.

When he got time in the NHL, he looked sharp, alert, and as far as some people were concerned, as though he belonged where he was. Some people were saying he was one of the better players on the team at the time. Some games he got limited ice time (39 seconds in his first game, for example) and others he got considerably more. He managed 2 goals (including a wrap-around on Brodeur) and an assist and played well for the most part. Even when he got sent back to Hamilton for the last time, he dominated the first 2 or 3 games he played back in the AHL before settling into more of a rhythm.

So as for his physical play, yes, his kid brother brings it more consistantly than Andrei, but he certainly isn't incapable of it. And the playmaking issue? Trust me, (which you may not be willing to do since i'm clearly a big AK fan, but all the same) this side of his game is under-rated. People hear comments that he tries to do to much on his own and think 'Ah, he's selfish, he relies on his shot to finish other players good work, he isn't a team guy'. Which is nonsense. He is capable of making a range of quick, subtle and intelligent passes and he can do so accurately. And when he plays the point on the PP, his teammates know that he can use his shot from the point, or he can take the puck down low with his stickhandling and try to set someone up, or he can just stand at the blue line and feed passes to anyone standing upright holding their stick correctly. And not just the easy, tape to tape pass to the wide open player. He can thread it between players, over sticks and to the player in the best position to do something with it.

The problem with him is that he is inconsistant, not that he is selfish, can't play physically, can't make plays or defend, etc. He can do all the things required of an NHL player (to an extent, obviously he has strengths and weaknesses) but he just needs to learn how to make the right decision most of the time. but that shouldn't be an issue because he is still developing and every year in North America, he has shown improvement. And while he may never reach the level of an Ovechkin or Crosby, there is no reason why he might not be able to hit the 70-80 point mark with decent regularity.
 

leafaholix*

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Nah, just nah. Phaneuf has proved way much than Weber so far.

i agree whole hartedly, but as i said, he performed as well as phaneuf in the biggest tournament in their age group, and he's done extremely well in juniors and minors, he's a hell of a defenceman and deserves a top 10 ranking, top 15 at the absolute worst.
 

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