Prospect Info: 2022 Ducks Prospect Rankings #9

[MMC]

It's time for our annual Ducks prospect rankings. Each poll will run for 48 hours except in the case of a clear landslide. I will go to the top 25 and include a final poll where you can pick 5 honorable mentions. Please tell me who you want me to add in the replies. In the ninth poll, I am voting for Sasha Pastujov.

As always the list will define prospects as hockeysfuture does: NHL Prospect Criteria - Hockey's Future.

2022 Ducks Prospect Rankings

1. C - Mason McTavish (+2)
2. D - Pavel Mintyukov (2022 draftee)
3. D - Olen Zellweger (+3)
4. G - Lukas Dostal (no change)
5. RW - Jacob Perreault (no change)
6. D - Urho Vaakanainen (first year with organization)
7. C - Nathan Gaucher (2022 draftee)
8. D - Henry Thrun (-1)

Our graduates and departures are:

Trevor Zegras
Jamie Drysdale
Alexander Volkov
Josh Mahura
Brendan Guhle
Jack Badini
Roman Durny​

Click to read more...

 

[bsu]

Ima change it up and go Pasta for upside actually. He can read the play and dictate tempo similar to young Terry. He needs to improve skating.

Probably going to go Benoit, LaCombe or Helleson next. After #5 almost anyone is a viable option. I'll probably go Benoit next because I think he's already a solid bottom pairing defensemen and I think he has more to give. He brings an element we need and is easily the best player we have at timing hits, another thing I like about him vs someone like Shattenkirk or Bieksa is he understands his role and limitations. He plays defense and plays physical at the right times. I think he'll improve his skating quite a bit now that he's comfortable with the NHL routine.

 

[tomd]

Seems to me that between about 7 and 15 there are many interchangeable parts. Very hard to separate them this year.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I would say Jackson LaCombe/Ian Moore or Noah Warren for me.

 

[Gliff]

I'm between Lacombe, Pasta, and Tracey. Voted Lacombe since I think Pasta will get more love. Tracey took a huge step this year compared to last year. I think he is the sleeper in the Ducks prospect pool.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Comb

 

[Arthuros]

I'm been waffling for the past couple of picks. Gonna go with Pasta-Job.

 

[JabbaJabba]

I am going with Luneau. I think he has a high potential and he's going to surprise a lot of people.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I am going with Luneau. I think he has a high potential and he's going to surprise a lot of people.

I like luneau too, he won’t get love right now but I think he’ll be a high riser for us

 

[Gliff]

I like luneau too, he won’t get love right now but I think he’ll be a high riser for us

If he can improve his skating then the upside is huge.

 

[bsu]

If he can improve his skating then the upside is huge.

His skating stride is actually effortless, the issue is no explosiveness but he is coming back from a pretty serious leg injury. I hope he can recover and get some more strength in his strides.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

His skating stride is actually effortless, the issue is no explosiveness but he is coming back from a pretty serious leg injury. I hope he can recover and get some more strength in his strides.

Pretty much this…. I imagine another year or 2 of offseason training will help build up the explosiveness. If he can get that back to form , I think he’ll be a pretty damn good dmen for us in the future. I think he’s a guy that will jump up our rankings really quickly. I think he’s almost as much of a steal as zellweger if he can come back from injury issues

“When Tristan Luneau was selected 1st overall in the 2020 QMJHL Entry Draft, he was expected to be one of their top defensemen. They got that and more, as the 6-foot-2 blueliner led all defensemen on the team in goals with ten and tied for sixth in points with 25. His production paired with a solid defensive season earned him the QMJHL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a spot on the QMJHL All-Rookie Team. If it weren’t for a lingering injury that required surgery last summer, his stock would be up there along with the best defensemen of his draft class.”

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I'm between Lacombe, Pasta, and Tracey. Voted Lacombe since I think Pasta will get more love. Tracey took a huge step this year compared to last year. I think he is the sleeper in the Ducks prospect pool.

I went with Tracey because he's already doing it at the AHL level. That's a huge hump cleared. But it's was a difficult decision between Tracey and LaCombe. But I can't complain that we're this deep and there's many different players one can choose here.

 

[DigiDuck]

Tracey, as he's further along in development and upside to be a solid middle 6 forward. Luneau is so intriguing though and I'm excited for his potential. Probably go with him next.

 

[AngelDuck]

Tracey winning this is pretty surprising to me. I’m a bit worried he’s just a slightly bigger Steel. Although he does seem to have more of a nose for the net

Edit: actually he’s not winning lol. Disregard

 

[Paul4587]

Going with Clang because I think he could be a no 1 goalie if all goes right. Only 19 last season and posted good numbers in the SHL and the limited viewings I’ve had of him he’s looked good.

In reality though there are like 5-10 players you could justify putting here.

 

[Paul4587]

Tracey winning this is pretty surprising to me. I’m a bit worried he’s just a slightly bigger Steel. Although he does seem to have more of a nose for the net

Edit: actually he’s not winning lol. Disregard

Completely agree with the Tracey take. For an offensive forward he hasn’t exactly lit it up offensively since being drafted. He’s got good hockey sense and hands but doesn’t seem to have the other tools to make it in the NHL.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Going with Clang because I think he could be a no 1 goalie if all goes right. Only 19 last season and posted good numbers in the SHL and the limited viewings I’ve had of him he’s looked good.

In reality though there are like 5-10 players you could justify putting here.

Clang was the other guy I was tempted to select here.

I think he’s still pretty underrated here…. Also with dostal here he’s going to be slept on a bit.

 

[Kalv]

Even tho I voted for LaCombe last poll, I went with Pasta now

Shows more results at the WJC at comparable ages

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Completely agree with the Tracey take. For an offensive forward he hasn’t exactly lit it up offensively since being drafted. He’s got good hockey sense and hands but doesn’t seem to have the other tools to make it in the NHL.

As for scoring, it depends on the talent around him and the how the team plays.

Tracey	WHL
Year	Team	Team Type	Games	G	A	Pts	Pts/game	.	PPG	PPA	PPP	PPP/Pts
2018-19	Moose Jaw	Offensive	66​	36​	45​	81​	1.23​		12​	15​	27​	0.333​
2019-20	Moose Jaw	Off/rebuild	28​	15​	23​	38​	1.36​		8​	6​	14​	0.368​
	Victoria	Defensive	24​	7​	16​	23​	0.96​		2​	5​	7​	0.304​
2020-21	Victoria	Def/rebuild	20​	8​	11​	19​	0.95​		6​	6​	12​	0.632​

2019-20 Moose Jaw had lost a lot of talent from the previous year due to graduation or trading away top players. Tracey was left with a bunch of youngings. It was all offense and no defense for the Warriors that allowed Tracey to improve upon his PPG rate from the previous season, which was a more talented Moose Jaw team. I was impressed that Tracey can score like that without the two overagers from 2018-19 that helped him win WHL ROY.

But Tracey got traded away to defensive-minded Victoria team that lacked offense. Despite the scoring rate going down, Tracey lead the team in scoring. It's a shame COVID shut down hockey b/c Victoria was playoff bound and Tracey was hitting his stride with his new team.

The following year, it felt like 2019-20 Moose Jaw all over again b/c Victoria traded away top players again. What made this season positive was that Tracey was able to be more explosive on the PP since he didn't have a lot of talent with him at ES to do more damage.

There really isn't any one thing elite about Tracey, but I do like how he's had to rise up to the challenge several times now since 2019-20. Everyone wrote Tracey off in 2020-21 because he scored 0 points in 12 AHL games. I keep reiterating Tracey's a late bloomer (physically). He went from 0 points to 31 points and finished 7th in scoring as a 20-year old in the AHL. Tracey did lead the team in scoring midway through the season, which also identifies how San Diego didn't have a lot of talent. It's that trait that could make him an NHL mainstay.

IMO, Tracey is like Rico-lite. Nothing really special about their talent, but somehow always one of the top scorers on the team. With forwards Lopina, McLaughlin, Regenda, and Nijhoff added to the Gulls roster, hopefully there's enough talent there to help Tracey and Perreault shine.