Prospect Info: 2017 HF Devils Top 20 Prospect Rankings: #5

[Cheddabombs]

Like I've mentioned in previous threads, I can see arguments for Santini and JQ. That's it. I would put Rykov at 3, but see anywhere from 3 to 5 as acceptable.

Outside the top 5 is nuts. It makes no sense to me.

But... why?

 

[Edmonton East]

But... why?

Because he has been a consistently strong performer in tourneys and I believe that will carry over to men's league once he starts getting consistent ice time.

He was flat out dominant at times in the WJC this year. Easily the Devs best performer in the tourney. If you disagree, go back and read articles from December and January from virtually any source or watch the tape. He is a legitimate 2-way defenseman, with crisp passing and great vision.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Boqvist add Gignac

 

[Zippy316]

Like I've mentioned in previous threads, I can see arguments for Santini and JQ. That's it. I would put Rykov at 3, but see anywhere from 3 to 5 as acceptable.

Outside the top 5 is nuts. It makes no sense to me.

Rykov is tricky.

I can get the argument, but he also played very limited minutes on a stacked SKA team. I think anywhere from 3-8 is reasonable. He will likely take a hit in these rankings due to the Russian factor and unfamiliarity with seeing him outside of the WJC, but I don't foresee him falling too far.

Some of the remaining might not ever see the light of day in the NHL

Tangible success is always worth more than potential.

But Wood is both, proven success, the kid just scored goals at a rate better than the majority of our forwards in his first taste of pro hockey and has displayed a combination of attributes no other prospect we have possess. To quote Castron "The sky is the limit for Wood"

This is a prospect ranking, not a 'who is the best player right now' ranking.

I said it last year, but for these rankings, I personally like to predict what a player develops into and gage the usefulness of that role. Then I rank the prospects based on how useful I think that role would be on an NHL team.

So for Wood, I would say there's a decent chance he becomes a top-six forward, but more likely he becomes a bottom-six energy forward. I've yet to see any inkling of a cerebral approach to the game from him which limits his ceiling IMO. A guy like Blackwood who has the potential to be an all-star goalie but realistically projects as a leader in a tandem. I think I would value that more than an energy line forward.

Then again, I'm not very fond of what as a player.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Rykov is also further away from the NHL then some others and that factors in.

 

[Classic Devil]

Boqvist add Gignac

Also Boqvist add Gignac.

 

[Beastdog75]

Voted for Spears, add Gignac

 

[New Jack City]

spears

 

[Devils731]

I went with Anderson but debated Boqvist and Rykov.

Anderson has a big season for a player his age. He was 18 playing against a bunch of 20-22 year olds. Outscored another first round pick on his team by 21 points. It was a strong year but college players don't put up the eye popping numbers that junior players do.

 

[Unknown Caller]

Rykov would be top 4 if he played in major junior. I didn't go with him this round due to limited viewings, but this kid is grossly underrated by this fanbase. He's almost never mentioned along with the top prospects and he arguably has the highest ceiling after Nico.

 

[Triumph]

Rykov is really hard to rate because he plays a nothing role on the best team in the world outside the NHL. I'm excited for him too and he could turn into something quite good but it's harder to rate d men than forwards to begin with, and throw in the fact that he plays in a men's league and it's doubly hard. And then of course he might never come over, so who knows. I don't think it's 'obvious' he's top 5, but I would put him there - not sure I would put him above Boqvist, though, who I voted for.

 

[VoidCreature]

Really not enough love for Anderson in this poll.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Really not enough love for Anderson in this poll.

Because he isn't a top 5 prospect. Doesn't mean he isn't good.

 

[NjDevs4994]

Blackwood

 

[blood gin]

Toss up, Boqvist or Speers.

 

[billingtons ghost]

Don't understand how it couldn't be Miles Wood if he didn't 'graduate'. Despite the naysayers, he arguably had as good a season in the actual National Hockey League as any of our forwards not named Hall or Zajac and has speed, size, and an engine.

But, somehow - we'll pick somebody like Rykov - who may never leave Russia - or Boqvist - who may not be big enough to suit the North American game...

Or Speers - who spent his time injured, and projects to be another bottom-6 forward along with Wood but just without the energy or size.

 

[Triumph]

Don't understand how it couldn't be Miles Wood if he didn't 'graduate'. Despite the naysayers, he arguably had as good a season in the actual National Hockey League as any of our forwards not named Hall or Zajac and has speed, size, and an engine.

I have no idea how someone can watch Wood play hockey along with the rest of the Devils and come away with this conclusion. You are implying that Wood was NJ's third-best forward or could be considered so. Or is 'arguably' the third-best forward. Why not just go all the way and say he was the best? He was better than Palmieri or Henrique? He was as good as them? Okay.

Wood cannot stickhandle in the offensive zone. He can't do anything along the boards in either zone. He was okay in front of the net, I guess, but that's a hard thing to judge and either way he got plenty of opportunities there. He has no idea what to do in the defensive zone. Basically all he's good at hockey-wise is using his speed to beat people wide. Other stuff - fighting, what have you, great, he got the Flyers upset at him one game, that was a lot of fun.

Almost every player on the team was worse when they were playing with Wood last year. He has to improve a lot to show he's not going to be an anchor on this club for years to come. It's hard to improve a lot at the NHL level. It happens sometimes, but it's not easy. He cannot be considered a top prospect.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I can't see how you can say he is our 5th best prospect after watching him.

 

[Eric Sachs]

Speers here for me but then really gets tricky

Wood has a limited ceiling but is already NHL level
Boqvist has good potential, was pretty flashy at camp but wholly unproven
Blackwood has nice potential with some pro level success
Andersen has been playing well last few years but still not convinced he's an NHL RW vs. a passenger
Rykov has by all means gotten great reviews but barely seen him play.. this would be all potential

I'll probably vote them in that order. Holding off on Walsh for now.. don't want to get too overhyped form his good scrimmage, I'll probably go with him shortly after.

I'm voting on some combination of NHL ceiling and likelihood of reaching it. For me, that pushes Wood up the rankings as he's already at the NHL level albeit didn't have a great season. There's always a fair chance that every player on this list past the top few doesn't reach the NHL at all.

 

[nugg]

I went with the big Poppa. I think the kid will be the steal of the 2017 draft.

 

[britdevil]

I went with the big Poppa. I think the kid will be the steal of the 2017 draft.

HOLLA IF YA HEAR ME

 

[JimEIV]

Rykov is tricky.

I can get the argument, but he also played very limited minutes on a stacked SKA team. I think anywhere from 3-8 is reasonable. He will likely take a hit in these rankings due to the Russian factor and unfamiliarity with seeing him outside of the WJC, but I don't foresee him falling too far.



This is a prospect ranking, not a 'who is the best player right now' ranking.

I said it last year, but for these rankings, I personally like to predict what a player develops into and gage the usefulness of that role. Then I rank the prospects based on how useful I think that role would be on an NHL team.

So for Wood, I would say there's a decent chance he becomes a top-six forward, but more likely he becomes a bottom-six energy forward. I've yet to see any inkling of a cerebral approach to the game from him which limits his ceiling IMO. A guy like Blackwood who has the potential to be an all-star goalie but realistically projects as a leader in a tandem. I think I would value that more than an energy line forward.

Then again, I'm not very fond of what as a player.

Right...and becoming any sort of NHL player is greater than not.

High ceiling with high bust potential(I am skeptical of this concept to begin with)...those players don't go high in the draft and they shouldn't be high on a prospect list(when there are clear proven alternatives)

We(HF) had Merrill, Tedenby, Josefson, Urbom and Burlon ahead of Henrique in 2011...it was absurd then even without the benefit of hindsight.

 

[Comparison Ford]

Wood add gignac

 

[MartyOwns]

whats awesome is, i usually try to vote for the worst prospect of the bunch...so in the past that would be baddock or kuja. our prospects are so good that on this year's 5th poll, the worst prospect i could find was mueller. hurts from a trolling perspective, but man it makes me feel good about the future of this team.

anyway. add ashton bernard

 

[Zippy316]

Right...and becoming any sort of NHL player is greater than not.

High ceiling with high bust potential(I am skeptical of this concept to begin with)...those players don't go high in the draft and they shouldn't be high on a prospect list(when there are clear proven alternatives)

We(HF) had Merrill, Tedenby, Josefson, Urbom and Burlon ahead of Henrique in 2011...it was absurd then even without the benefit of hindsight.

There was definitely some skepticism that Henrique was benefiting from playing alongside Hall. It's about projecting the most likely option.

There seems to be a big gap between the people who like and don't like Wood which doesn't help matters.