Top 10 Most Impressive Rookies (2000's) in 2016/17

[Brock]

An annual article on the blog, where I list the ten "true" rookies who have impressed me the most each year.

http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2017/03/sunday-top-10-most-impressive-2000-born.html

The top 10 is:

1. Akil Thomas
2. Ryan Merkley
3. Giovanni Vallati
4. Allan McShane
5. Jacob Ingham
6. Dennis Busby
7. Danil Antropov
8. Ty Dellandrea
9. Nathan Dunkley
10. Liam Foudy.

Several HM's mentioned on the blog.

Click to read more...

 

[GangGreen]

I would have thought all of these lists would start with either Merkley or McShane, but everyone's opinion is different. Would say no way to McShane at 4 though.

 

[TcNorth]

D Dennis Busby and C Ty Dellandrea really give Flint a couple rookies to build around. Flint has had some other great contributions for other rookies like C Hunter Holmes and '99 6'-6" rookie D Fedor Gordeev (who we recieved in the Will Bitten trade).

 

[OMG67]

Take a closer look at Kevin Bahl in Ottawa. 6'5" 225. Plays first pairing defense with Hoefenmeyer. Plays against all teams first line forwards. Big kid that plays the body well. Moves the puck efficiently and can skate well for a big boy. Good lateral movement too which is odd for the big kids at his age.

I think there is a decent chance he sneaks into the 1st round of next year's NHL draft.

 

[Brock]

Take a closer look at Kevin Bahl in Ottawa. 6'5" 225. Plays first pairing defense with Hoefenmeyer. Plays against all teams first line forwards. Big kid that plays the body well. Moves the puck efficiently and can skate well for a big boy. Good lateral movement too which is odd for the big kids at his age.

I think there is a decent chance he sneaks into the 1st round of next year's NHL draft.

Bahl has definitely impressed me this year and I considered including him in the HM's. But I had to draw the line somewhere.

Overall, Ottawa has built something really great for the future on the backend. Stratis and Robertson have also had their moments. Both need to get stronger, but they've got significant talent. I thought Robertson was terrific the first half of the year, but he's really struggled the second half (whether it's a physical wall or a loss of confidence, or a combination of the two).

 

[OMG67]

Bahl has definitely impressed me this year and I considered including him in the HM's. But I had to draw the line somewhere.

Overall, Ottawa has built something really great for the future on the backend. Stratis and Robertson have also had their moments. Both need to get stronger, but they've got significant talent. I thought Robertson was terrific the first half of the year, but he's really struggled the second half (whether it's a physical wall or a loss of confidence, or a combination of the two).

Stratis has been limited by injuries early on. Although he does have some upside. I liken his overall game to Sean Blanchard. HE seems to be an all around D-Man that will take a couple years to start to really notice.

Bahl isn't a top 10 guy based on his overall performance. My comments were more based on projection. LEt's see if his ceiling is as high as we think.

 

[GENERALRYEGUY*]

mcshane had a sick goal tonight, the kids amazing

 

[Jack Attack]

Seems like a fairly accurate list to me. As an Attack fan, while Dudas only has 21 points, he has been really impressive playing on the 4th line all season. He's a +15, which leads 2000 born players. He's very smart with and without the puck and always hard working. Depending on how much ice time he gets next year on a very deep Attack offense next year (top line of Hancock, Suzuki and Gadj are all back!), I wouldn't be surprised at all if he gets 50+ points.

 

[ScoresFromCentre]

Seems like a fairly accurate list to me. As an Attack fan, while Dudas only has 21 points, he has been really impressive playing on the 4th line all season. He's a +15, which leads 2000 born players. He's very smart with and without the puck and always hard working. Depending on how much ice time he gets next year on a very deep Attack offense next year (top line of Hancock, Suzuki and Gadj are all back!), I wouldn't be surprised at all if he gets 50+ points.

Pretty good testament to the Attack's depth if they've got a fourth liner at +15. Those guys don't typically get a ton of minutes. I've thought for a while that they were short a top-six guy, but that's probably unfair when you consider their frontline talent, depth, and defense/goaltending.

More to the point of this topic, Brock, I wanted to say that I really enjoy your content. Your analysis is one-of-a-kind, and the writing's darn good, too. Really appreciate all you do.

 

[AttackSound]

Now a days it's so hard to rate young talent in the league even with a top 10 list. Mostly I can say I've seen some pretty talented 16-17yo players this year around the league so I'd say it's hard to gage it into 1-10 rankings the other thing is that being this is development league the balance between some rookie who makes this top 10 list and who doesn't is more of a biased opinion then an actual gage of who is a top 10 1st year then an accurate list as each team is in different stage of development due to different circumstances(I.e injuries and misses his draft year or just the fact that the league has such a vast talent level that some kids have hard times cracking the rosters)

 

[Purple Phart]

While he hasn't secured a regular spot, the Knights' Jordan Kooy has made a good impression as a rookie goaltender, and will probably make the team full-time next season. In 11 games played, he's won 8, lost 2, and has a GAA of 2.45 and a Sav% of 0.927. Those are decent numbers for any tender, let alone a rookie. His 11 starts gives a pretty good snapshot of future potential. Goaltending might be the hardest position to step into, as a rookie, since every mistake is magnified.

 

[PuckLife]

Hey Brock, I agree with some of what you've got here, but respectfully suggest you head north more. North Bay's McMaster, Sudbury's Lalonde and Soo's Hayton are all top 10 IMO.

http://www.saultstar.com/2017/03/09/rookie-hayton-making-hounds-happy

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/01/20/lalonde-blossoming-in-second-half

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Hey Brock, I agree with some of what you've got here, but respectfully suggest you head north more. North Bay's McMaster, Sudbury's Lalonde and Soo's Hayton are all top 10 IMO.

http://www.saultstar.com/2017/03/09/rookie-hayton-making-hounds-happy

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/01/20/lalonde-blossoming-in-second-half

Have you seen them play, or are you mainly going by these teams local papers pumping their players? Just wondering as I don't find local papers (often biased toward their own teams) puff pieces to be the evidence required to get these guys on this type of list. Lalonde doesn't seem like he'd supplant anyone. Hayton there is an argument for, but he's doing what he's doing on a team more stacked than most.

 

[djscooter]

Hey Brock, I agree with some of what you've got here, but respectfully suggest you head north more. North Bay's McMaster, Sudbury's Lalonde and Soo's Hayton are all top 10 IMO.

http://www.saultstar.com/2017/03/09/rookie-hayton-making-hounds-happy

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2017/01/20/lalonde-blossoming-in-second-half

Lalonde is much closer to competing for the worst 2000 born player in the OHL this year then he is the top 10.

 

[PuckLife]

Have you seen them play, or are you mainly going by these teams local papers pumping their players? Just wondering as I don't find local papers (often biased toward their own teams) puff pieces to be the evidence required to get these guys on this type of list. Lalonde doesn't seem like he'd supplant anyone. Hayton there is an argument for, but he's doing what he's doing on a team more stacked than most.

I've seen Lalonde 4 -5 times and Hayton 3x.

Lalonde has come a long way this season, showing the right instincts and smooth skating. D is a tough position when you take pride in defense, which not all of the above players do.

Hayton has a great level of compete and really strong stick skills. Last game I saw he got 3 assists - 2 were beauties. He has a great shot - should probably shoot more.

 

[Brock]

More to the point of this topic, Brock, I wanted to say that I really enjoy your content. Your analysis is one-of-a-kind, and the writing's darn good, too. Really appreciate all you do.

Appreciate the kind words. Thanks.

 

[Brock]

While he hasn't secured a regular spot, the Knights' Jordan Kooy has made a good impression as a rookie goaltender, and will probably make the team full-time next season. In 11 games played, he's won 8, lost 2, and has a GAA of 2.45 and a Sav% of 0.927. Those are decent numbers for any tender, let alone a rookie. His 11 starts gives a pretty good snapshot of future potential. Goaltending might be the hardest position to step into, as a rookie, since every mistake is magnified.

Agree, and thought about including him as an HM, but decided against it due to the sample size.

I've actually seen him play twice this year and have been really impressed with his athleticism. Man, he moves well in the crease.

 

[Fischhaber]

Have you seen them play, or are you mainly going by these teams local papers pumping their players? Just wondering as I don't find local papers (often biased toward their own teams) puff pieces to be the evidence required to get these guys on this type of list. Lalonde doesn't seem like he'd supplant anyone. Hayton there is an argument for, but he's doing what he's doing on a team more stacked than most.

Hayton has been doing great things with the Greyhounds, especially defensively and as a much needed physical presence. They haven't had a rookie play this well since Jared McCann.

I truly expect him to emerge as a star in the coming seasons, as he has the whole package of skills. He certainly deserves a spot on this list in my opinion.

 

[Alberta tough]

What are your thoughts on Serron Noel?

 

[Fischhaber]

An annual article on the blog, where I list the ten "true" rookies who have impressed me the most each year.

http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2017/03/sunday-top-10-most-impressive-2000-born.html

The top 10 is:

1. Akil Thomas
2. Ryan Merkley
3. Giovanni Vallati
4. Allan McShane
5. Jacob Ingham
6. Dennis Busby
7. Danil Antropov
8. Ty Dellandrea
9. Nathan Dunkley
10. Liam Foudy.

Several HM's mentioned on the blog.

I'm curious Brock, what led you to omit Barrett Hayton from the list entirely when statistics would place him in the bottom half. As stated earlier, I find his overall game to be extremely impressive for a rookie, but you obviously have some major concerns. I'd love to hear some further details

 

[Brock]

What are your thoughts on Serron Noel?

I like him a lot as a prospect for the NHL Draft next year. Big winger with really raw tools. He's not someone who should crack a list like this (IMO), but he's a better NHL prospect than several of the guys listed. Big thing for him is adding strength this offseason to help him play that power game more effectively. In particular, being stronger on the puck. But the hands and skating ability, when combined with his size makes him a very intriguing prospect.

 

[Brock]

I'm curious Brock, what led you to omit Barrett Hayton from the list entirely when statistics would place him in the bottom half. As stated earlier, I find his overall game to be extremely impressive for a rookie, but you obviously have some major concerns. I'd love to hear some further details

I answered quite a few questions about this from Soo fans on twitter.

I don't have major concerns about him. That's not what this list is for. It's not a draft ranking. It's a list of the rookies who made a positive impression on me. Not about stats really either (helps to explain why guys like Foudy and Tucker make this list).

Quite frankly, when I've seen the Greyhounds play this year, Hayton just wasn't much of a factor. And as I said, this list isn't about stats, otherwise a guy like Brady Hinz would make the list too.

Now I will admit that I saw the Hounds a lot in the opening half of the season, but haven't watched them nearly as much in the last month, month and a half. And from what I've heard he's taken massive steps forward the last few months. So I definitely look forward to seeing that as I try to catch the Hounds a few times down the stretch and into the playoffs. But the key point being, it's what I've heard, not seen.

 

[Fischhaber]

I answered quite a few questions about this from Soo fans on twitter.

I don't have major concerns about him. That's not what this list is for. It's not a draft ranking. It's a list of the rookies who made a positive impression on me. Not about stats really either (helps to explain why guys like Foudy and Tucker make this list).

Quite frankly, when I've seen the Greyhounds play this year, Hayton just wasn't much of a factor. And as I said, this list isn't about stats, otherwise a guy like Brady Hinz would make the list too.

Now I will admit that I saw the Hounds a lot in the opening half of the season, but haven't watched them nearly as much in the last month, month and a half. And from what I've heard he's taken massive steps forward the last few months. So I definitely look forward to seeing that as I try to catch the Hounds a few times down the stretch and into the playoffs. But the key point being, it's what I've heard, not seen.

Thanks for the response. I think you'll be impressed when you see him again. It's the things outside of the box score that have been most impressive about Hayton. He's getting significant ice time lately because of it.

 

[Dhockey16]

I liked what I saw from McShane while he was in Erie. I think he'll be in the top 20 scorers next season. Getting Cirelli was worth it, but it hurt to see him go. He didn't look out of place at all playing with Debrincat or Taylor Raddysh.

 

[ptbopete]

Der Arguhintsev from the Petes gets an honourable mention which is good. He did outscore many in the top ten. As a 2nd round pick he is a pleasant surprise. He scored in his first playoff game last night and plays on the Petes top line.

He looks like a 14 year old out there but he has made many experienced OHL defensemen look bad this season.