Your updated Prospect Rankings

[sarcastro]

Everyone was higher on Frk before the season started though. I definitely didn't expect him to be nearly as great, but that's beside the point.

I expected Pulkkinen to bust and Jarnkrok to do great and look how that has played out.. I hope for us that we all look dumb moving Ironhook so low, I'd love to be wrong.

I expected Frk to have a lousy year transitioning to the pros. There were too many prospects ahead of him plus all the waived guys, and he was going to get bumped down the ladder. He needs to do some serious Draper power skating work and probably wasn't going to be motivated to do so unless he had a year like this to humble him. If he can pick up half a step, with his skills and strength on the puck, he could be a beast. It's going to take him a while though, and he'll have to bust his ass.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

Jurco
Mrazek
Mantha
Ouellet
Jarnkrok
Sproul
Marchenko
Sheahan
Ferraro
Pulkkinen

Pretty easy top ten. Ferraro is pretty underrated around here - really fast, lead the Griffins in goals last year, and probably the best PKer in the AHL - he'll be just as loved as Helm around here once he gets his shot. Marchenko is a huge riser for me and wouldn't be surprised if he leaps into the top five. Jarnkrok is taking a lot longer to develop offensively than we expected but he's still a tremendous player for his age in all three zones - my take is needs to be a little more aggressive offensively. I wrote Pulkkinen off a while back but he's really impressed me, he's definitely got top six upside but not sure it'll be with the Wings because of all the other small forwards coming up. Janmark is just outside my top ten more due to the depth of the pool, but wouldn't surprise me if he was a big riser as well.

 

[newfy]

Jurco
Mrazek
Mantha
Ouellet
Jarnkrok
Sproul
Marchenko
Sheahan
Ferraro
Pulkkinen

Pretty easy top ten. Ferraro is pretty underrated around here - really fast, lead the Griffins in goals last year, and probably the best PKer in the AHL - he'll be just as loved as Helm around here once he gets his shot. Marchenko is a huge riser for me and wouldn't be surprised if he leaps into the top five. Jarnkrok is taking a lot longer to develop offensively than we expected but he's still a tremendous player for his age in all three zones - my take is needs to be a little more aggressive offensively. I wrote Pulkkinen off a while back but he's really impressed me, he's definitely got top six upside but not sure it'll be with the Wings because of all the other small forwards coming up. Janmark is just outside my top ten more due to the depth of the pool, but wouldn't surprise me if he was a big riser as well.

I think my top 10 is pretty close to yours. I would probably switch Sproul with Jarnkrok now though. No one is writing off Calle but with how everyone else is playing his production is concerning enough to bump him down to 5. And maybe move Ferraro down


Big risers for me are Pulkkinen (probably the biggest), Sheahan and Callahan. Sheahan looked so much better than his last call up when he was up this year. Ive given up on top 6 center but one of those 3rd line types that anchor a bottom 6 and help you win in the playoffs (he has always been good in the playoffs/clutch). Callahan has always been an underdog and I'm higher on him than most but hes the leading goal scorer on the farm, provides speed, PK and toughness. He doesnt get the scoring line players and offensive time of guys like Sheahan or Ferraro either. I would say Marchenko has risen but Ive always been fairly high on him

Guys dropping are Jarnkrok and Ferraro. I've been one of Ferraros biggest supporters and he is fast, physical and great on the PK but something is just off this season for him. Hes not scoring as much and I thought he would have taken another step forward. I think I have Callahan almost even with him at this point but thats more because of his rise more than Ferraro falling.

Manthas dominant play in junior and the u20 really should put him in first but I'm apprehensive til I see him against men

 

[RedWingzz]

By reading other people's lists, it seems that some people are suggesting rankings based on NHL readiness, while others are making their rankings based on long-term potential. There definitely is a huge difference between the two. When I make my prospect rankings I take both into consideration. I'm also kinda shocked that people are already starting to give up on Frk. Frk was seen as having top 10-15 potential a year before he was drafted. Of course, he dipped a bit, and his play this season can only reinforce the fact that he has dropped, but some people have him completely off the map. It was one year ago that Jurco was struggling in GR, and was even a healthy scratch. Fast forward a year, and he looks like our top prospect. My point is that we need to give Frk more time before completely writing him off.

Here's my current top 15:

1) Tomas Jurco
2) Anthony Mantha
3) Petr Mrazek
4) Calle Jarnkrok (I'm still very high on him, next year I expected big things for him in GR)
5) Xavier Ouellet
6) Ryan Sproul
7) Riley Sheahan
8) Alexey Marchenko
9) Teemu Pulkkinen
10) Martin Frk
11) Mattias Backman
12) Andreas Athanasiou
13) Mattias Janmark
14) Landon Ferraro
15) Zach Nastasiuk

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

^ Jurco was making gains in his game and getting positive reviews from his coach and teammates in terms of his work ethic and developmental direction. Been a while since we heard something positive on Frk. When I saw him in Milwaukee he could barely last 25 seconds on a shift and was out of shape half way through a hockey season which was alarming. He fought the puck all night, was behind the play and the first off for his line every time out. He was basically a water-skier in the defensive zone not moving his feet and hooking all over the place. It was about as bad as I have seen a Griffin play.

He isn't scoring, he didn't even really tear apart the ECHL like you would expect, seems he could have used the overage year in the QMJHL. His strong summer has turned into about as poor of a fall and winter imaginable.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

It's disappointing how poor Frk's pro career has begun but he still has maybe the best shot in the organization. He's definitely a huge project.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

It's disappointing how poor Frk's pro career has begun but he still has maybe the best shot in the organization. He's definitely a huge project.

It lags a decent amount behind both Pulkkinen and Sproul in my opinion. He seems to have accuracy issues too, we will see it is a weapon but not exactly what I thought it would be at the professional level.

In terms of wrist shots it is heavy, but it doesn't have the swiftest release he needs to work on that.

 

[Frk It]

^ Jurco was making gains in his game and getting positive reviews from his coach and teammates in terms of his work ethic and developmental direction. Been a while since we heard something positive on Frk.

This isn't entirely true.

“I think his confidence is growing day by day here and I see flashes of greatness, and it’s just going to take time to earn the coach’s trust and all the situations out there.â€

“From all indications, he worked really hard down there, put in extra work and had a great attitude,†Blashill said

From an Mlive article from 6 days ago.....

http://www.mlive.com/griffins/index.ssf/2014/01/detroit_prospect_martin_frk_st.html

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

This isn't entirely true.





From an Mlive article from 6 days ago.....

http://www.mlive.com/griffins/index.ssf/2014/01/detroit_prospect_martin_frk_st.html

Great this is the kind of stuff I have been looking for. Also like that he calls himself out in that tweet. He has been a different level of poor from Jurco though in my opinion. Jurco struggled for the opening half of the season but he flashed a lot more promise even during that stretch and I don't just mean on the score sheet but when you watched as well. I am by no means rooting against Frk, I just am getting pretty concerned.

Love that Jurco is helping talk him through it. The Czech-Slovak mafia as they like to call themselves is still running strong down there.

 

[Sergei DRW]

Marchenko should be way higher than Sproul or Ouellet. The guy has two years of playing in a pro-league with the CSKA powerhouse and actually has a good breakout "first pass". I am yet to see any of the other Wings D to do the same.

 

[Frk It]

Great this is the kind of stuff I have been looking for. Also like that he calls himself out in that tweet. He has been a different level of poor from Jurco though in my opinion. Jurco struggled for the opening half of the season but he flashed a lot more promise even during that stretch and I don't just mean on the score sheet but when you watched as well. I am by no means rooting against Frk, I just am getting pretty concerned.

Love that Jurco is helping talk him through it. The Czech-Slovak mafia as they like to call themselves is still running strong down there.

He needs a lot of work, and his stock deserves to have dropped A LOT.

But it's good to realize that now, to get it turned around. I'm not ready to give up just yet, he had a lot of talent. And a great frame to work with.

 

[Fowler524]

1. Jurco
2. Mrazek
3. Mantha
4. Sproul
5. Ouellet
6. Marchenko
7. Jarnkrok
8. Pulkkinen
9. Sheahan
10. Backman

Honorable Mention: Ferraro, Callahan, Janmark, Athanasiou, Almquist

 

[crashman]

I don't watch these guys enough to give an honest evaluation, but I know Jurco and Mantha are damn good, and Athanasiou looks like he'll be an NHL regular some day.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Great this is the kind of stuff I have been looking for. Also like that he calls himself out in that tweet. He has been a different level of poor from Jurco though in my opinion. Jurco struggled for the opening half of the season but he flashed a lot more promise even during that stretch and I don't just mean on the score sheet but when you watched as well. I am by no means rooting against Frk, I just am getting pretty concerned.

Love that Jurco is helping talk him through it. The Czech-Slovak mafia as they like to call themselves is still running strong down there.

Agree with this. The best thing that could happen for Frk is to have Jurco right there, though. He's got a lot of support and it should help him adjust. Sure seems like Frk has the right attitude to turn it around.

Somebody made a comment that the first half year for Griffins players is almost like bootcamp, in that they completely break you down in order to build you back up again. That's probably a bit strong, but it definitely seems to be the case for the guys who had it easiest in junior. They get a rude awakening and have to adapt bigtime. But it's a credit to the Griffins and the Wings organization in general that they can actually pull off the part about rebuilding their guys. Few teams can systematically develop like that.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Marchenko should be way higher than Sproul or Ouellet. The guy has two years of playing in a pro-league with the CSKA powerhouse and actually has a good breakout "first pass". I am yet to see any of the other Wings D to do the same.

Ouellet makes a good first pass, actually. and the fact that 2 years of KHL experience haven't made Marchenko demonstrably better than Ouellet suggests to me that we ought to chill a little on the hype. He's a good prospect, but he can probably only play spot duty on the 3rd pairing in the NHL right now. He needs more time, just like the other prospects.