Prospect Info: Penguins Prospect Rating #1

[Ugene Magic]

Scott Young is saying that they see Hallander as a winger.

I went with POJ. I really liked what I saw from him last year.

That's interesting considering they need more centers coming up.

 

[Peat]

I've not seen Blomqvist or Clang play so I can only judge them on what I've read. Plus, goalies are all over the place and are unpredictable. Once or if they start posting good numbers in the AHL, that's when I'll start being more hyped about them. Same with Lindberg. His college stats are pretty dang good, but let's see how the AHL goes.



Yeah, I don't know much about Broz yet. And I think my list leans more towards NHL readiness than upside.

Regarding Robert, I think I'd have him ranked right above D'Orio.

In which case, why Lindberg so far ahead Clang/Blomqvist, with D'Orio at the rear? After all, D'Orio's the only guy who's played AHL, and he was 6th in save percentage in the league on a fairly bobbins team (I didn't know that until I looked it up, mildly surprised). Sure, only 11 games, and he's not got the pedigree, but he's walked the walk.

And comparing Lindberg with Clang and Blomqvist, sure Lindberg's older and about to be in the AHL, but they're both ahead of where Lindberg was at the same age and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see one in NA next year.

That's interesting considering they need more centers coming up.

Do they? Sid/Geno/Blueger seem set for ever. That leaves 4C, aka who cares. Sure, at some point Sid and Geno are going to leave a real big hole but if Geno resigns it's not for a while. Maybe if you think the plan should be for Geno to drift to wing with a new 2C?

 

[Gurglesons]

That's interesting considering they need more centers coming up.

Hallander is probably the prospect that pushes for an NHL position quickest next year. If he does it, it’ll be at W.

 

[LosingStreak06]

I voted Poulin but I think we will see POJ up with the big club sooner, of the two. And I think there’s a compelling argument to be made for either POJ or Hallander being at the top, so. It’s not a strong vote for Poulin.

 

[Giskard]

POJ has already shown a lot of NHL potential last season, Poulin has still to play a single professional hockey game, so for me at the moment POJ is #1 and Poulin #2.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I lean more towards NHL readiness. So it's gonna be a bit close between POJ, Zoho and Hallander for these first three, for me. I feel they all are close or have already played in the NHL and still have a bit of headroom for their development. I'm not nearly as high on Poulin as many and actually think his stock has dropped a bit. Or maybe it's just that he was sold too hard to begin with. Also after the last couple seasons and drafts the team suddenly has some really solid future options in net so Clang and Lindberg should factor in to a lot of people's lists in the top five, I figure.

Going with POJ, here.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I kinda view it as a mix of readiness and ceiling. Can't be too far one or the other or it gets real wonky, imo.

Hallander's probably NHL ready now and his ceiling is a good middle-6, swiss army knife forward. POJ is probably NHL ready now, likely more so than anyone else, and his ceiling is probably middle pairing. Poulin's not unlike Hallander in being a middle-6 guy, probably 3rd liner, but I think he's a solid year-plus away from having a legit shot. Legare's boom or bust and a season away or more. Everyone is else is either way away or decidedly meh.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

In which case, why Lindberg so far ahead Clang/Blomqvist, with D'Orio at the rear? After all, D'Orio's the only guy who's played AHL, and he was 6th in save percentage in the league on a fairly bobbins team (I didn't know that until I looked it up, mildly surprised). Sure, only 11 games, and he's not got the pedigree, but he's walked the walk.

And comparing Lindberg with Clang and Blomqvist, sure Lindberg's older and about to be in the AHL, but they're both ahead of where Lindberg was at the same age and it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see one in NA next year.

Lindberg is above the other goalies (B&C), in my mind, because he's already played in North America, he's a bit older, and he has those crazy college stats. His size is of concern to me [edit: no, looks like his size is fine. thought he was smaller], but I've not watched him play. I could also have him ranked higher than the others because of the "shiny new toy" syndrome.

And regarding D'Orio, I did see him play a few times before this season and wasn't too impressed. Even his stats show that this past AHL season may have been a fluke. But, unlike Lindberg, I have seen him play. Which... I liked what I saw from him this most recent season. Like I said, goalies are weird.

If I'm ranking goalies I'd go:

1. Lindberg
2. Blomqvist or Clang
3. Clang or Blomqvist
4. D'Orio [BIG EDIT: I messed up and had him second on the goalie list]
5. Nappier [not on an NHL contract]
6. Larmi [wasn't qualified and looked terrible last season ]

As I said before, I lean towards NHL readiness. I should start quantifying this somehow.

 

[Jesse]

Lindberg is above the other goalies (B&C), in my mind, because he's already played in North America, he's a bit older, and he has those crazy college stats. His size is of concern to me, but I've not watched him play. I could also have him ranked higher than the others because of the "shiny new toy" syndrome.

And regarding D'Orio, I did see him play a few times before this season and wasn't too impressed. Even his stats show that this past AHL season may have been a fluke. But, unlike Lindberg, I have seen him play. Which... I liked what I saw from him this most recent season. Like I said, goalies are weird.

If I'm ranking goalies I'd go:

1. Lindberg
2. D'Orio
3. Blomqvist or Clang
4. Clang or Blomqvist
5. Nappier [not on an NHL contract]
6. Larmi [wasn't qualified and looked terrible last season ]

As I said before, I lean towards NHL readiness. I should start quantifying this somehow.

Interesting post and debate.

After seeing what Clang did this year, I have to rank him in the top spot. He was under siege in a major way and floated his team in a fashion that is pretty remarkable. D'Orio, to me, is sort of like mashed potatoes with no butter or gravy.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I would go

1A. Clang
1B. Blomqvist
3. Lindberg
4. D’Orio

For goalies, but I’m weighing potiential heavier.

 

[Peat]

Lindberg is above the other goalies (B&C), in my mind, because he's already played in North America, he's a bit older, and he has those crazy college stats. His size is of concern to me, but I've not watched him play. I could also have him ranked higher than the others because of the "shiny new toy" syndrome.

And regarding D'Orio, I did see him play a few times before this season and wasn't too impressed. Even his stats show that this past AHL season may have been a fluke. But, unlike Lindberg, I have seen him play. Which... I liked what I saw from him this most recent season. Like I said, goalies are weird.

If I'm ranking goalies I'd go:

1. Lindberg
2. D'Orio
3. Blomqvist or Clang
4. Clang or Blomqvist
5. Nappier [not on an NHL contract]
6. Larmi [wasn't qualified and looked terrible last season ]

As I said before, I lean towards NHL readiness. I should start quantifying this somehow.

Make a spreadsheet and post it here

I am somewhat playing devil's advocate. I saw a couple of D'Orio games and was intrigued by what I saw, but given his past history, I'd like to see him double down before I got too high on him. I generally side with the closer to the NHL player too. But I do think such a wide gap between Lindberg and Clang/Blomqvist might be making too much of his NHL readiness. His record's very impressive but I feel like until we see him in the AHL taking a bigger workload, there's some questions, enough questions that I don't think he's in an extra tier of readiness. About the thing he's deffo got on them imo is we know he's fine with North American ice and culture. I'm not sure the NCAA should be considered a harder league than the Allsvenkan or Mestis either.

For me... I have Lindberg and Clang very close together. Clang being about a top 3 starter in the Allsvenskan at the age of 19 despite being on the worst team in the league, that impresses me a hell of a lot. The bit where he then saved his team from relegation despite them only scoring 11 goals in 5 games because he has a .952 save percentage is icing on the cake. I guess there's got to be some question whether that was one off wonder season or rapid development, but I feel like it's about the most impressive thing any of our prospects did last season.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Make a spreadsheet and post it here

I am somewhat playing devil's advocate. I saw a couple of D'Orio games and was intrigued by what I saw, but given his past history, I'd like to see him double down before I got too high on him. I generally side with the closer to the NHL player too. But I do think such a wide gap between Lindberg and Clang/Blomqvist might be making too much of his NHL readiness. His record's very impressive but I feel like until we see him in the AHL taking a bigger workload, there's some questions, enough questions that I don't think he's in an extra tier of readiness. About the thing he's deffo got on them imo is we know he's fine with North American ice and culture. I'm not sure the NCAA should be considered a harder league than the Allsvenkan or Mestis either.

For me... I have Lindberg and Clang very close together. Clang being about a top 3 starter in the Allsvenskan at the age of 19 despite being on the worst team in the league, that impresses me a hell of a lot. The bit where he then saved his team from relegation despite them only scoring 11 goals in 5 games because he has a .952 save percentage is icing on the cake. I guess there's got to be some question whether that was one off wonder season or rapid development, but I feel like it's about the most impressive thing any of our prospects did last season.

Already working on it.

Also, I mistakenly had D'Orio second on my list. Writing about him after writing about Lindberg must've screwed with my coffee-less brain. My list from yesterday and list from earlier in the year had D'Orio below B&C but above Larmi. That hasn't changed.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Lindberg is definitely getting the shiny new toy treatment. He is absolutely not a better prospect than Clang or Blomqvist.

That doesn't mean the Lindberg won't turn out to have a better career but at this stage he is not a better prospect.

I wish this site still did prospect ratings.......

 

[Andy99]

Lindberg is definitely getting the shiny new toy treatment. He is absolutely not a better prospect than Clang or Blomqvist.

That doesn't mean the Lindberg won't turn out to have a better career but at this stage he is not a better prospect.

I wish this site still did prospect ratings.......

agree…people here seem to want to rank who will be the better pro, or closest to NHL player ranking…a prospect ranking should be the best “prospects,” ie highest ceiling and best chance to be the best NHL player (e.g. top six forward, top 2-4 D etc) …I don’t get it…by that measure, I think Poulin is our top prospect but Clang and Blomqvist should be in the top five …top six should be Poulin, POJ, Clang, Legare, Blomqvist and Hallander in some order followed by Broz, Lindberg, Zohorna, Puustinen in some order…

 

[SEALBound]

I think we have a top 5 then a 5 through 20 of "take your pick".

Poulin
POJ
Legare
Lindberg
Broz

Then there's an argument for 5-10 maybe and then 10-20 it's just name recognition or stat watching.

 

[SEALBound]

Lindberg is definitely getting the shiny new toy treatment. He is absolutely not a better prospect than Clang or Blomqvist.

That doesn't mean the Lindberg won't turn out to have a better career but at this stage he is not a better prospect.

I wish this site still did prospect ratings.......

I will 100% admit this is what I did. He may or may not be, I have no idea. I just went based on the rather insane NCAA numbers.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I honestly don't see an argument for Blomqvist over Lindberg over where they were drafted. Lindberg has put up absolutely phenomenal stats at every level he has played at. This isn't just him destroying with UMass, it's him destroying at literally every level he has been at:

2014-2015: .917 save% in 25 games in the Finland U-16 league
2015-2016: .925 save% in 27 games in the Finland U-18 league
2016-2017: .932 save% in 36 games in the Finland U-18 league
2017-2018: .922 save% in 48 games in the Finland U-20 league
2018-2019: .934 save% in 17 games in the NCAA
2019-2020: .927 save% in 18 games in the NCAA
2020-2021: .949 save% in 15 games in the NCAA

The dude has put up phenomenal numbers in every league he has ever played in. I think it's way more likely that he has just been overlooked for years than him just not being anything special. I may listen to an argument for Clang over Lindberg based on Clang dominating a Men's league (Swedish 2nd league) while under 20, but I don't see why anyone feels the need to talk down Lindberg. You don't luck your way into those kind of stats.

 

[Lust for Life]

I think we have a top 5 then a 5 through 20 of "take your pick".

Poulin
POJ
Legare
Lindberg
Broz

Then there's an argument for 5-10 maybe and then 10-20 it's just name recognition or stat watching.

I'd argue that we have a top 2 and then a jump to the next 5-7 guys.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

I'm not talking down Lindberg other than saying he is not a better prospect than Clang or Blomqvist. I am allowed to do that right? This is HFBoards?

[/me looks around to make sure of where I am]

 

[Peat]

I honestly don't see an argument for Blomqvist over Lindberg over where they were drafted. Lindberg has put up absolutely phenomenal stats at every level he has played at. This isn't just him destroying with UMass, it's him destroying at literally every level he has been at:

2014-2015: .917 save% in 25 games in the Finland U-16 league
2015-2016: .925 save% in 27 games in the Finland U-18 league
2016-2017: .932 save% in 36 games in the Finland U-18 league
2017-2018: .922 save% in 48 games in the Finland U-20 league
2018-2019: .934 save% in 17 games in the NCAA
2019-2020: .927 save% in 18 games in the NCAA
2020-2021: .949 save% in 15 games in the NCAA

The dude has put up phenomenal numbers in every league he has ever played in. I think it's way more likely that he has just been overlooked for years than him just not being anything special. I may listen to an argument for Clang over Lindberg based on Clang dominating a Men's league (Swedish 2nd league) while under 20, but I don't see why anyone feels the need to talk down Lindberg. You don't luck your way into those kind of stats.

One argument is that every step of the way, Blomqvist has been ahead of him comparatively.

D-3 - Blomqvist is in Finland's U18 league rather than the U16, and has a .912 save% in 35 games.
D-2 - Blomqvist is splitting time between U18 and U20, with a .935 in U18 and .938 in U20. Incidentally, I think Finland's clubs have two teams at most age group levels, with the Akatemia being the lesser, and Lindberg was in the Akatemia, so he's still a step behind.
D-1 - Blomqvist is playing in the U20 league, where he has .931 in 38 games, and also makes his Liiga debut.
D+1 (so up to 17-18) - Blomqvist is mainly in the Mestis, where he has a .907 in 16 games, which is 5th among goalies playing 10 or more games (only a few played 20). He also won both his Liiga starts with a .914.

D+1 Blomqvist is a more experienced, higher performing goalie than D+1 Lindberg. Development is a tricky curve but the idea that Blomqvist has a higher ceiling doesn't seem outrageous.

I also think the fact that Lindberg was lagging behind the development curve of a top goalie prospect every step of the way poses a question as to whether he simply had a massive step forward around D+1/D+2, or whether the lighter schedule is making him look better than he is.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

You guys make compelling arguments but Calle Clang's name is Calle Clang so he's clearly the best of the lot.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Hallander is probably the prospect that pushes for an NHL position quickest next year. If he does it, it’ll be at W.

As far as play style goes, I’m most intrigued by Hallander. What’s not to love about a potential Hornqvist with a lethal shot and better skating?

 

[OnMyOwn]

I feel like this poll is open for way too long, haha

 

[Randy Butternubs]

agree…people here seem to want to rank who will be the better pro, or closest to NHL player ranking…a prospect ranking should be the best “prospects,” ie highest ceiling and best chance to be the best NHL player (e.g. top six forward, top 2-4 D etc) …I don’t get it…by that measure, I think Poulin is our top prospect but Clang and Blomqvist should be in the top five …top six should be Poulin, POJ, Clang, Legare, Blomqvist and Hallander in some order followed by Broz, Lindberg, Zohorna, Puustinen in some order…

Emp stated how we're going about defining "prospects" in these rankings threads (Calder eligible). How people determine where these prospects rank is a different story and is what the threads are for. Some people only consider their ceiling. Others consider their ceiling and floor. And then others consider how soon they're likely to make the jump to the NHL.

I'm not talking down Lindberg other than saying he is not a better prospect than Clang or Blomqvist. I am allowed to do that right? This is HFBoards?

[/me looks around to make sure of where I am]

Yep, see what I wrote above. I see those three goalies as having similar upside, but find Lindberg "closer" to the NHL. Which is why I have him ranked higher.

 

[Peat]

Emp stated how we're going about defining "prospects" in these rankings threads (Calder eligible). How people determine where these prospects rank is a different story and is what the threads are for. Some people only consider their ceiling. Others consider their ceiling and floor. And then others consider how soon they're likely to make the jump to the NHL.

I think my rating system is "how pissed would I be if this prospect was traded", state of the pipeline not considered (i.e. having ten million LWs and goalies doesn't come into it). Which means a bunch of everything, but I think mainly ceiling and floor. POJ is the one guy where I am fairly sure they've got an NHL floor and considerable ceiling and I'd be pissed to trade that.


Also, yeah, we've had more people vote in this poll than last year's, if Empo feels like closing early.