Prospect Info: 2017 Leafs Board Prospect Ranking #1 - Read OP!

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Thanks for doing these polls OP

Went with Liljegren, lower floor than guys like Kapanen and Dermott, but he's the only prospect in the pipeline that can be considered as a bluechipper based on his skill level.

 

[93LEAFS]

Went with Kapanen. Will go Liljegren next. Kapanen's floor and still fairly high-end ceiling gave him the edge here. Dermott is a clear 3rd for me.

Also, pretty crazy we still have a league average system after graduating 70% of our final list last year with all of our top 5 graduating.

 

[Morgs]

I'm not really sure how Timmy is winning this poll.

Although I agree Liljegren is amazing, and I truly believe he will have a huge *bounceback year, but Kapanen went PPG as a 20 year old in the AHL. Since 2005, this has only happened 16 times. The people who went around him by 0.05PPG are:

J.T. Miller
Claude Giroux
Kris Versteeg
Bobby Ryan
Artem Anisimov
Jiri Tlusty
Chris Tierney
Ryan Spooner

All NHL'ers, 8 still playing, mostly Top-6 guys. I think ranking him behind Timmy is premature & overrating the new shiny toy.

*His year was actually good based on based on other 17 year old seasons in the SHL, but he did stagnate to some degree.

 

[pylon17]

Voted Liljegren as he has the highest upside. He, Kapanen, and Dermott are the obvious top 1-2-3.

 

[pylon17]

Umm where is Greenway? I'd probably have him and Grundstrom 4-5. Rasanen 6. Nielsen 7.

 

[Morgs]

Umm where is Greenway? I'd probably have him and Grundstrom 4-5. Rasanen 6. Nielsen 7.

Lol what has Greenway done to be worthy of a Top-5 spot?

 

[bobermay]

Umm where is Greenway? I'd probably have him and Grundstrom 4-5. Rasanen 6. Nielsen 7.

We also have this kid named Korshkov in the system that is better than each of those guys

 

[Griffin76]

I'm going with ceilings. Liljegren #1D, Dermott #2D and Kapanen 3rd as a top line winger even though I think he will be a long term winger for Nylander on the second line. After that I have Grundstrom as the LW for Nylander or he may even be better suited with Matthews. After that most of the guys have to be considered long shots to make the team and maybe not even make the NHL.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I'm going with ceilings. Liljegren #1D, Dermott #2D and Kapanen 3rd as a top line winger even though I think he will be a long term winger for Nylander on the second line. After that I have Grundstrom as the LW for Nylander or he may even be better suited with Matthews. After that most of the guys have to be considered long shots to make the team and maybe not even make the NHL.

Well Gauthier is good enough for the NHL right now. Same with Rychel and Sparks.

You could throw a ton of other names in the ring if you are talking Grundstrom level.

 

[TLeafsFan]

Due to his NHL readiness and his prowess on the Marlies last season, I vote Kap as a tick above Lil, but I'd be fine with either as top ranked Leafs prospect.

 

[Griffin76]

Well Gauthier is good enough for the NHL right now. Same with Rychel and Sparks.

You could throw a ton of other names in the ring if you are talking Grundstrom level.

Gauthier is good enough for sure. Rychel I can see as a good 4th liner or maybe even a serviceable 3rd liner. Sparks I can see as maybe a fringe NHL backup for a couple of years. But I would put Grundstrom above them all. I guess that's why I used most in my original post. There's definitely gonna be some surprises though.

 

[TheDoldrums]

who would you least like to lose on that list ...

But that's a different question to me.

If I could only keep one prospect I would chose Liljegren, simply because you can't lose the chance that he becomes a top pairing RHD. But that's because of our team needs. It's different than purely ranking the best prospect, which is Kapanen. He's a NHL player, it just remains to be seen how good. I think he has 60 point upside which would put him as a top line guy. I think at worst he's a 30 point defensively responsible player who can skate like the wind, which still has a lot of value.

 

[LeafsNation149]

Liljegren
Dermott
Kapanen

 

[MJ65]

Please close it and move on to # 2 - this poll is over

 

[MJ65]

Wow some one believe that Woll is our top prospect

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Wow some one believe that Woll is our top prospect

More impressed 3 people thought Brooks was our top prospect when he's not even top 10...

 

[showtime8]

I voted for Kapanen.

I think his impact at the end of the season and into the playoffs was really strong. And that isn't a knock on Liljegren, but more of a boost for Kapanen.

In terms of pure potential, I would go with Liljegren, but I think what I've seen from Kapanen gives him a slight edge.

 

[BlueBaron]

Please close it and move on to # 2 - this poll is over

Actually the gap appears to be narrowing.

 

[Cor]

also, add Ian Scott.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Seems like a lot of shiny new toy syndrome. I like Timmy but I do not see how he is ahead of Kapanen. He is fighting Dermott for number 2 IMO.

Timmy can skate circles around Dermott.

I've heard scouts say his skating is at an "elite level" and is 'NHL ready". His shooting is also already at an NHL level.

The only question marks around Liljegren revolve around his mono recovery and defensive positioning. Of course just about every d man under 20 has issues with defensive positioning including comparable wunderkind Cale Makar so it really doesn't explain the fall in draft position. I personally think NHL GM's saw other teams passing on him and just assumed there must be something wrong with him and panicked. Much like what happened with Chychrun last year.

Considering he was ranked in the top 3 draft eligible players for 12 of the past 18 months I'm comfortable voting for him as the #1 Leafs prospect.

 

[ChrisCall]

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/audio/bourne-kapanen-ready-to-make-nhl-impact-1.796842

I enjoyed this interview with Justin Bourne.
He talks about both Kapanen and Dermott.
Says that Kap will be a really good NHLer,
and that the higher ups feel Dermott was the best 20 year old in the AHL last season.
Expects both to stick in the NHL this coming season.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Ceiling is important, but Kapanen is already an NHL player and his ceiling isn't THAT much lower that Liligren.

I think it's a bit silly to put Liligren ahead. Things can change quickly, but at the moment Liligren is just so much further away.

I mean, it's an NHL player with some high-end potential vs a 17 year old playing in Sweden.

 

[MJ65]

More impressed 3 people thought Brooks was our top prospect when he's not even top 10...

Ya I see that

 

[SeaOfBlue]

As some people know and cringe about, I do not count Kapanen as a prospect... So he will never garner a vote from me

 

[Mr Hockey]

As some people know and cringe about, I do not count Kapanen as a prospect... So he will never garner a vote from me

I would say he is on the edge of being a prospect/NHL player.