Prospect Info: 2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings #12

[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 twelfth poll I am voting for Drew Helleson.

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

2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings:

1. C - Leo Carlsson (2023 draftee)
2. D - Pavel Mintyukov (no change)
3. D - Olen Zellweger (no change)
4. G - Lukas Dostal (no change)
5. D - Tristan Luneau (+9)
6. D - Jackson LaCombe (+4)
7. D - Tyson Hinds (+13)
8. C - Nathan Gaucher (-1)
9. RW - Sasha Pastujov (no change)
10. LW - Nico Myatovic (2023 draftee)
11. LW - Connor Hvidston (2022 HM)

Our graduates and departures are:

Mason McTavish
Urho Vaakanainen
Henry Thrun
Simon Benoit
Axel Andersson
Sean Tschigerl
Hunter Drew
Thimo Nickl
Olle Eriksson Ek
Bryce Kindopp
Max Golod
Ethan Bowen​

Click to read more...

 

[Rasp]

Helleson for me. Even though his ceiling isnt high he will play NHL games this year and will hopefully lock down a role on the 3rd line or higher

 

[Deuce22]

Moore, again. I think there is some upside with him. The forwards remaining don't do much for me.

 

[GunnarStahl]

Warrens upside and physicality is a great combination. He gets my vote.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Moore, again. I think there is some upside with him. The forwards remaining don't do much for me.

I like Moore's potential too. I love his speed, size, and defense. That offense is slowly creeping up. He'll be a captain and top pairing D for Harvard.

Here is Verbeek's assessment on Moore in Dec 2022:

On defensive prospect and 2020 third-round pick Ian Moore​

Ian's in his second year at Harvard. I've seen him a little bit before playing with the [U.S U-18 team]. Six- foot-three and very, very mobile defender. He's another kid that you would like to see be a little more offensive because he does have really good hockey sense. At some point I would like to see him make a jump there from his offensive side. He's a good prospect.​

Being a top pairing D next season may force Moore to open up his offense now that he's had two years worth of improving defense at the NCAA level. His shots dropped from 78 in his freshman year to 52 shots, but earned 4 more points. Let's see how well he does being the top D for Harvard this coming season.

At college comparison, Moore looks to be more defensively inclined than Helleson. That's part of the factor why I have Moore ahead of Helleson. Helleson didn't look good defensively with San Diego.

 

[Boo Boo]

I think we were too early on hvidston

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I think we were too early on hvidston

I think Hvidston earned the praised for this past season. Hvidston's scoring rate (1.10 ppg) was slightly better than Gaucher (1.05 ppg) and better than Myatovic (0.88 ppg). Gaucher ranked 8th and Myatovic went 10th in this pool ranking. Gaucher is about a year older and Myatovic is only three months younger than Hvidston.

Hvidston raised his stock to be a potential top-6 winger because of his size, defense, and new found offense. He's an "elite support player" potential for this past season, who Myatovic was given that descriptor by Madden.

Connor also had a 7-game stint in the AHL. Here's the write-up on his seven games by DefendTheNest:

Spoiler: Defend the Nest write-up on Hvidston's AHL debut.

Connor Hvidston​

7 Games – 1 Goal, 0 Assists – 1 Point​

​

As the lone CHL prospect to join the Gull as a black ace after his Swift Current Broncos failed to make the postseason, Hvidston was a much needed breath of fresh air and as noted above – instantly helped to turn around the fortunes of the likes of Josh Lopina. He was eased into action at first but quickly gained rapport with his line-mates Lopina and Slavin on a line that became an easy go-to choice to shift momentum or keep things going in the offensive zone. The 2022 fifth round selection had a great post-draft season, finishing with 65 points in 59 games and third on the Broncos. It was this output that perhaps made 2021 fifth round pick Sean Tschigerl expendable as the Ducks opted not to sign him before the two year deadline nor did they bring him in as Black Ace to the Gulls when his Calgary Hitmen were bounced from the WHL postseason. But enough about that. Hvidston looked great in his first tease of the AHL as an 18 year old and even had me lamenting that he would likely be able to handle the minutes were he somehow able to play for the Gulls before legally allowed to by the CHL-NHL transfer agreement. His lanky frame smoothly flowed around the ice and allowed him to be in all the right places at all the right times – most memorably scoring his first professional goal when he chased down a dump in and pounced on a turn-over to fire it by the surprised Oscar Dansk of the Calgary Wranglers. Sadly we won’t see him again until the end of next season as a Black Ace once again – depending on how his Swift Current Broncos do next season.​

 

[Boo Boo]

I think Hvidston earned the praised for this past season. Hvidston's scoring rate (1.10 ppg) was slightly better than Gaucher (1.05 ppg) and better than Myatovic (0.88 ppg). Gaucher ranked 8th and Myatovic went 10th in this pool ranking. Gaucher is about a year older and Myatovic is only three months younger than Hvidston.

Hvidston raised his stock to be a potential top-6 winger because of his size, defense, and new found offense. He's an "elite support player" potential for this past season, who Myatovic was given that descriptor by Madden.

Connor also had a 7-game stint in the AHL. Here's the write-up on his seven games by DefendTheNest:

Spoiler: Defend the Nest write-up on Hvidston's AHL debut.

Connor Hvidston​

7 Games – 1 Goal, 0 Assists – 1 Point​

​

As the lone CHL prospect to join the Gull as a black ace after his Swift Current Broncos failed to make the postseason, Hvidston was a much needed breath of fresh air and as noted above – instantly helped to turn around the fortunes of the likes of Josh Lopina. He was eased into action at first but quickly gained rapport with his line-mates Lopina and Slavin on a line that became an easy go-to choice to shift momentum or keep things going in the offensive zone. The 2022 fifth round selection had a great post-draft season, finishing with 65 points in 59 games and third on the Broncos. It was this output that perhaps made 2021 fifth round pick Sean Tschigerl expendable as the Ducks opted not to sign him before the two year deadline nor did they bring him in as Black Ace to the Gulls when his Calgary Hitmen were bounced from the WHL postseason. But enough about that. Hvidston looked great in his first tease of the AHL as an 18 year old and even had me lamenting that he would likely be able to handle the minutes were he somehow able to play for the Gulls before legally allowed to by the CHL-NHL transfer agreement. His lanky frame smoothly flowed around the ice and allowed him to be in all the right places at all the right times – most memorably scoring his first professional goal when he chased down a dump in and pounced on a turn-over to fire it by the surprised Oscar Dansk of the Calgary Wranglers. Sadly we won’t see him again until the end of next season as a Black Ace once again – depending on how his Swift Current Broncos do next season.​

All three had lacklustre production. I can excuse myatovic for being buried on a powerhouse team and still managing to score 30 but would be shocked if any of the three become offensive players at the pro level.

 

[Hey234]

I'm surprised as to why so many think Moore should be ranked higher than Helleson. Helleson has high odds of being an NHL player regardless of what type of player he ends up being. Moore is years away and could possibly be an NHL player. Helleson has more proof simply due to time and, IMO, should be ranked higher.

 

[Kalv]

I'm surprised as to why so many think Moore should be ranked higher than Helleson. Helleson has high odds of being an NHL player regardless of what type of player he ends up being. Moore is years away and could possibly be an NHL player. Helleson has more proof simply due to time and, IMO, should be ranked higher.

I'm a fan of Moore but I agree with you that Helly probably should deserve a nod before. Just because he's more proven.

 

[Gliff]

Voted Perreault but I forgot Moore was still there. Moore.

 

[Kalv]

I am very all over the place about the next ones. But the more I think, it's between Helleson, BO, and Nesterenko for me.

On one hand, Nesterenko looked decent in the eye test, on the other hand, BO might be less flashy but might be a better/more useful overall player. I have BO similarly rated or slightly below Gaucher. But then there is also Helly who looked decent in the short stint and shows potential in being that useful defensive right D down the line. I'd like to see more from Tracey and Perreault before I pick them higher. And also, cases could be made for Regenda, but he's a bit too slow for my liking, and Moore, whom I'm high on but he's still unproven compared to other options in this poll. In this tier I will go with:

BO: decent overall game, played 17 minutes in his short stint at the end of the year, considerably more than Nesterenko.
Nesterenko: showed flashes but I think he has to work on a bit before a more long-term NHL role
Helly: looked good but needs to prove himself more next year

 

[Dryish]

Nesterenko here. Helleson's sample size is too small in the NHL, plus he didn't exactly impress in the AHL either. Moore is intriguing, but not enough there yet. Same for Perreault.

Next year we'll probably be placing both Pitre and Terrance ahead of all these guys.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I went with Helleson. Definitely feel as though there are others who have the upside to surpass him down the line, but he seems like a pretty safe bet to have an NHL career at this point. Probably only him, Nesterenko and BOG left that fit into that category.

 

[MMC]

Voted Perreault but I forgot Moore was still there. Moore.

You can change your vote before it closes

 

[McDonald19]

I'm surprised as to why so many think Moore should be ranked higher than Helleson. Helleson has high odds of being an NHL player regardless of what type of player he ends up being. Moore is years away and could possibly be an NHL player. Helleson has more proof simply due to time and, IMO, should be ranked higher.

Agreed. Helleson looked pretty good at the NHL level (in a small sample size) last season.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

All three had lacklustre production. I can excuse myatovic for being buried on a powerhouse team and still managing to score 30 but would be shocked if any of the three become offensive players at the pro level.

I'm not saying they will be offensive power house players at the pro level. I'm stating that if many are high on Gaucher as well as Myatovic and Hvidston is on a similar level, then it should be expected Hvidston should be clumped in with that group based upon this year's production.

All three are defensive, shutdown forwards. Gaucher's offense didn't have a significant jump between the seasons like Hvidston and Myatovic, but Gaucher's role is at center. There's more promise offensively with Hvid and Mya that they could slot into a top-6 winger spot to be that work horse complement to our more offensive players such as be first on the forecheck, grinding out puck battles along the board, and being defensively minded while not being a vacuum offensively.

If our high offensive wingers can't make the pro jump (Tracey, Perreault, and Pastujov), then at least we could have Hvid and Mya provide another option for our top-6. Which is why asst GM called Myatovic a potential "elite support player" for our top-6.

Both Hvidston and Myatovic are staying in the CHL for another season. I am intrigued to see if their offense continues to improve and by how much.

 

[ohcomeonref]

Nesterenko again.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Nesterenko here. Helleson's sample size is too small in the NHL, plus he didn't exactly impress in the AHL either. Moore is intriguing, but not enough there yet. Same for Perreault.

Next year we'll probably be placing both Pitre and Terrance ahead of all these guys.

Agree on Helleson not impressing in the AHL. He's not great on offense nor defense.

Helleson's defensive game did improve when we traded for MDZ. It is sad to see Andersson not be part of our system, but being made out of glass for the past two seasons and the incoming blue liners made him expendable.