Who have the best prospect list? Pittsburgh or Washington?

[EagleBelfour]

With the acquisition of Sidney Crosby, the top 5 of Pittsburgh is unbelievable (Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Whitney and Welch) but the one of Washington (Ovechkin, Semin, Fehr, Eminger and Morrisonn) is also impressive. I am not prospectwise and I would like to see who you consider to have thebest prospect list, who have the most balanced prospect list etc.

(Please do not compare who's the best between Ovechkin and Crosby in this thread!)

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[jmelm]

Pittsburgh wins this one because of sheer depth alone. I personally, and objectively as possible, believe that the Pens top 5 or 6 is better than the Caps top 5 or 6, but the Pens definitely have better prospect depth and more quality players. Some of the Pens best prospects are not even cited amongst the players you mentioned.

Of course, you can acuse me of being a homer, but I really do believe the Pens have the best prospect pool in the league.

 

[JayRice66]

Ive gotta go with pittsburgh. I know i'm a pens fan. But IMO there is more talent in the pens top 5 than the caps. But the top 5 of the caps can easily be considered second best.

 

[thomasincanada]

Ive gotta go with pittsburgh. I know i'm a pens fan. But IMO there is more talent in the pens top 5 than the caps. But the top 5 of the caps can easily be considered second best.

When Malkin is your #2 prospect I think you have to be considered the team with the best prospects.

I've never been a big fan of teams being hugely rewarded for suckiness, though.

Tom

 

[EroCaps]

Pittsburgh wins this one because of sheer depth alone. I personally, and objectively as possible, believe that the Pens top 5 or 6 is better than the Caps top 5 or 6, but the Pens definitely have better prospect depth and more quality players. Some of the Pens best prospects are not even cited amongst the players you mentioned.

Of course, you can acuse me of being a homer, but I really do believe the Pens have the best prospect pool in the league.

Pittsburgh definitely has a better top 5, but depth is where I disagree w/you.

The Caps had 20 first rounders in camp this year. They win the depth battle clearly, IMO.

Pittsburgh overall, though. Especially with Semin blossoming into a headcase.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

I would take Pittsburgh, because their top-5 is very solid.

 

[octopi]

I'll go with Pittsburgh as well. They have Crosby, Malkin and Fleury as their top prospects. Well, at least Washington has Ovechkin...and by next year, probably Kessel.

 

[nneate]

Right now, Pittsburgh. At the end of the season, most likely Washington if everything goes according to their plan.

 

[Jo]

I would take Pittsburgh also. Crosby and Malkin will be so dominant in the NEAR Future. But if washington gets Kessel they will be scary too.

 

[Jackets16]

i go pitt because i like the guys you listed at 4 and 5 more than the ones for washington

 

[kruezer]

I'd take Pittsburgh as well, Washington does have more depth, but Crosby/Malkin/Fleury/Whitney is just absurd and better than Ovechkin/Semin/Fehr/Eminger quite clearly in my view.

 

[TylerT]

I think Pitsburgh having 3 of the top 7 prospects in the HF top 50 pretty much settles this dipute. Not only that they also have other highly touted prospects such as whitney and welch....by far the best prospect pool in the NHL. Personally I wouldn't even consider Washington as a lock for the 2nd spot, IMO Chicago and montreal should both be moving up the charts after this draft, while washington reached for Pokuluk (sp?) with their first pick.

 

[halco]

I think Pitsburgh having 3 of the top 7 prospects in the HF top 50 pretty much settles this dipute. Not only that they also have other highly touted prospects such as whitney and welch....by far the best prospect pool in the NHL.

Agree - Pittsburgh's top prospects are better than Washington's.

 

[stanley]

According to HF definitions, the likes of Crosby or Ovechkin are not prospects. Weren't the organizational rankings based on players that hadn't graduated to the NHL? It's a silly criterion. The evaluation should be based on organizational depth with respect to players' ages, not playing level. Why shouldn't the Flyers, for example, count Pitkanen? He was drafted one position ahead of Whitney. Am I to believe that one doesn't qualify as a prospect and therefore his team isn't allowed to take credit for him because he's more advanced than a player who is being counted.

If you can't tell, this is a bigger beef I have with a HF "policy" in regard to the so-called meaningful organizational rankings, if one can call picking rules out of a hat a policy. Don't let me rain on the discussion, but be aware that a valid comparison this is not.

 

[kruezer]

According to HF definitions, the likes of Crosby or Ovechkin are not prospects. Weren't the organizational rankings based on players that hadn't graduated to the NHL? It's a silly criterion. The evaluation should be based on organizational depth with respect to players' ages, not playing level. Why shouldn't the Flyers, for example, count Pitkanen? He was drafted one position ahead of Whitney. Am I to believe that one doesn't qualify as a prospect and therefore his team isn't allowed to take credit for him because he's more advanced than a player who is being counted.

If you can't tell, this is a bigger beef I have with a HF "policy" in regard to the so-called meaningful organizational rankings, if one can call picking rules out of a hat a policy. Don't let me rain on the discussion, but be aware that a valid comparison this is not.

I concur, a U-22 (or whatever age is decided upon) look at all the players around the world would be very interesting IMO. Not that it would replace the prospect rankings necessarily, those could still be kept, they are useful when looking at a specific team, but overall a top fifty players under 22 (or some age) would make a lot more sense IMO, and it would drastically change organizational rankings.

 

[Claypool_*]

Does any team have 3 better prospects than Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury? Absolutly not.

 

[Clash*]

Pittsburgh definitely has a better top 5, but depth is where I disagree w/you.

The Caps had 20 first rounders in camp this year. They win the depth battle clearly, IMO.

Pittsburgh overall, though. Especially with Semin blossoming into a headcase.

1. If a prospect is a skater (forward, defenseman) and has played in 65 NHL games or more before the completion of the season of his 24th birthday; or, if a goaltender has played in 45 NHL games before the completion of the season of his 24th birthday, that player will be considered graduated to the NHL. Conversely, if a player completes the season of his 24th birthday without passing those milestones, then that player will no longer be considered a prospect by Hockey’s Future, regardless of the player’s status with his NHL club.

How many actually meet that criteria?

 

[Clash*]

According to HF definitions, the likes of Crosby or Ovechkin are not prospects.

Actually, they are still considered prospects, until the play 65 NHL games. Reference my above post.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

According to HF definitions, the likes of Crosby or Ovechkin are not prospects. Weren't the organizational rankings based on players that hadn't graduated to the NHL? It's a silly criterion. The evaluation should be based on organizational depth with respect to players' ages, not playing level. Why shouldn't the Flyers, for example, count Pitkanen? He was drafted one position ahead of Whitney. Am I to believe that one doesn't qualify as a prospect and therefore his team isn't allowed to take credit for him because he's more advanced than a player who is being counted.

If you can't tell, this is a bigger beef I have with a HF "policy" in regard to the so-called meaningful organizational rankings, if one can call picking rules out of a hat a policy. Don't let me rain on the discussion, but be aware that a valid comparison this is not.

That even makes the gap more glaring, at least at the top:

Malkin, Fleury, Whitney and Welch

vs.

Semin, Fehr, Eminger and Morrison

Nothing against any of those players, and both organizations seem to have much to look forward to, but who in their right minds would trade one for one the four Pittsburgh has above for those four of Washington.

 

[Bandwagoner]

Does any team have 3 better prospects than Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury? Absolutly not.

Has any other team been as bad as them the past few years???

 

[Claypool_*]

Has any other team been as bad as them the past few years???

lol trolling

 

[KStewart113]

If Semin listens to WSH and attends training camp/preseason then Washington, if he continue to hide in Russia. Pittsburgh.

 

[stanley]

Actually, they are still considered prospects, until the play 65 NHL games. Reference my above post.

Gosh, that's a rather arbitrary.

Providing a bulleted statement written as though it were copied verbatum from the Federal Register does not an objective statement make. The knowledge that someone actually sat down and came up with this criterion only cements my sentiment more: we are so married to the the second word in the website's title that we are unable to see the forest for the trees as it pertains to the evaluation of players. If we cannot accurately measure a player's contribution to his team's success, how can we accurately measure the player, or vice versa?

One can only wonder why the title of the prospect rankings are known as "organizational rankings," since they rank only arbitrarily chosen players and do not measure the actual organizational strength - which includes all the players and draft picks, along with the financial flexibility of an organization.

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At any rate, this thread wasn't started with the intent of quantifying the question, merely sought to solicit opinions. With that in mind, I apologize for discussing the above subject here, and carry on...

 

[Jacob]

Has any other team been as bad as them the past few years???

Yeah, Columbus.

 

[stanley]

That even makes the gap more glaring, at least at the top:

Malkin, Fleury, Whitney and Welch

vs.

Semin, Fehr, Eminger and Morrison

Nothing against any of those players, and both organizations seem to have much to look forward to, but who in their right minds would trade one for one the four Pittsburgh has above for those four of Washington.

My goal was not to evaluate any perceived difference between the young players of two teams, rather to suggest that the methods we use to rate them are utterly subjective in nature because we have no method to measure the organizations as respective wholes.