Prospect Info: 2019 HFDevils Prospect Rankings #6

[OmNomNom]

Speers would be pretty far down the prospect list even in the darkest days. At no time in the Devils' history was someone who was a 4th liner/AHL extra one of their top prospects.

well i mean there was the era where merrill and gelinas were top prospects

 

[Triumph]

well i mean there was the era where merrill and gelinas were top prospects

Merrill had 20 points in 31 career AHL games and Gelinas had 65 points in 149 AHL games as Devils property, including 23 goals. Again, even in the worst days of Devils prospect-dom, which I would probably posit as 2002, 2007 or 2013, a 21 year old non-goon AHL 4th liner wouldn't've been thought of as anything that could help the big club.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Speers would be pretty far down the prospect list even in the darkest days. At no time in the Devils' history was someone who was a 4th liner/AHL extra one of their top prospects.

After seeing a few more years of development sure, in hindsight we can say that. He showed more promise a few years ago to develop into a sort of Joey Anderson type of prospect.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Fourteen votes for McLeod?

WTH is it you people see?

 

[OmNomNom]

Merrill had 20 points in 31 career AHL games and Gelinas had 65 points in 149 AHL games as Devils property, including 23 goals. Again, even in the worst days of Devils prospect-dom, which I would probably posit as 2002, 2007 or 2013, a 21 year old non-goon AHL 4th liner wouldn't've been thought of as anything that could help the big club.

context though, albany was a playoff team

bing doesn't have good support atm

 

[Billdo]

Fourteen votes for McLeod?

WTH is it you people see?

I still don't know how Hughes only got 88.6 of the vote.

 

[My3Sons]

I still don't know how Hughes only got 88.6 of the vote.

Have you seen him turn?

 

[Darkauron]

When Speers made the team that one year, he did look pretty darn good. But also was brought up too early, and or he just never put anything together. It is a shame because he had good promise.

 

[Billdo]

Have you seen him turn?

Not against men.

 

[longislanddevil]

Walsh. Add Vukojevic.

 

[Triumph]

context though, albany was a playoff team

bing doesn't have good support atm

Albany was a playoff team in part because they had two good defensemen like Gelinas and Merrill.

 

[Blackjack]

Fourteen votes for McLeod?

WTH is it you people see?

His draft position.

 

[Triumph]

I don't care about McLeod's draft position anymore - I voted for him because he had a decent first pro year and even though he showed very little up here, circumstances were difficult when he was here. I still think he has a fair amount of skill and potential, though I could also just as easily see him flaming out entirely in Binghamton next season.

 

[devilsblood]

I highly doubt McLeod completely flames out. He's a big kid who can skate fast, has some play making skills and is good defensively. IMO at worst he is a good 4th liner.

I considered him here, but went Bastian. And I'm not sure he is better overall then McLeod, just that he fits an important niche in the NHL.

 

[Blackjack]

I don't care about McLeod's draft position anymore - I voted for him because he had a decent first pro year and even though he showed very little up here, circumstances were difficult when he was here. I still think he has a fair amount of skill and potential, though I could also just as easily see him flaming out entirely in Binghamton next season.

Fair enough. I don't agree with the difficult circumstances argument though. Guys like Rooney, Agostino, and Carrick stepped up to the plate and outperformed expectations. McLeod did not.

 

[Triumph]

Fair enough. I don't agree with the difficult circumstances argument though. Guys like Rooney, Agostino, and Carrick stepped up to the plate and outperformed expectations. McLeod did not.

Rooney was 25, Agostino was 26, and Carrick was 24. All of them had been professionals for several years. This is McLeod's first pro season - he had just turned 21.

Put the draft out of your mind - McLeod put up 154 points in his final 121 junior games, was selected to Team Canada at the World Juniors in 2018, and had 6 goals and 25 assists in the minors in his first pro season (on a pretty poor team). None of those things are great, but none of them are half-bad either. If he was a 2nd round pick who did this, he'd be being looked at favorably here, but now everyone's down on him because he wasn't. His stint in the NHL isn't doing him any favors either. Indeed, he's not growing at the rate one would hope. There's still some time left, though.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I went Misyul, add Vukojevic.

 

[Ds88]

I went with Talvite. I haven't seen anything from McLeod in a while that tells me he can be more than a 4th liner. Regardless of his draft position I'll pick guys who currently have top 9 or top 4 potential over him. Add Clarke.

 

[Beastdog75]

Voted for Talvitie, add Moynihan

 

[HBK27]

Fourteen votes for McLeod?

WTH is it you people see?

This board was also largely writing off Wood and Coleman after their rough 1st seasons in NJ. McLeod is still only 21. Not giving up on him yet.