Prospect Info: 2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings #19

[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 nineteenth poll I am voting for Calle Clang.

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)
12. D - Drew Helleson (-1)
13. D - Ian Moore (+5)
14. RW - Jacob Perreault (-9)
15. D - Noah Warren (-2)
16. LW - Nikita Nesterenko (2023 acquired)
17. LW - Pavol Regenda (+7)
18. C - Benoit-Olivier Groulx (+1)

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...

 

[Kalv]

Happy to see Groulx being picked. I think he'll spend a good amount in this league as a 4th liner. Not a sexy ceiling, but at least a realistic one.

I will have to give a thought of whom I'll be picking next now, as I was used to pick Groulx in several polls in a row

 

[goonsaredumb]

Oh boy here I go voting Clang for the 6th time in a row

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Oh boy here I go voting Clang for the 6th time in a row

I like clangs potential....

I get why people may go Tracey here.

I could also understand people thinking Colangelo having more upside than hes shown

 

[Gliff]

I like clangs potential....

I get why people may go Tracey here.

I could also understand people thinking Colangelo having more upside than hes shown

I mean, has he shown any upside?

The most excited I have been for him was after the rookie camp where he apparently was a standout, as he should be in his 4th rookie camp.

I expect nothing. If he pans out then that would be awesome.

 

[Arthuros]

Tracey finally gets me vote.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Clang for me

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

Damian Clara.

Hes an italian goalie. Easy choice.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I mean, has he shown any upside?

The most excited I have been for him was after the rookie camp where he apparently was a standout, as he should be in his 4th rookie camp.

I expect nothing. If he pans out then that would be awesome.

Colangelo had upside in his sophomore season.

• His freshman season was marred with a long term injury that limited Colangelo to only eight games. He scored 3 assists as his only points.

• Finally healthy for a whole season, Colangelo was nearly a point per game player with 27 points in 29 games.

• Everyone was expecting Colangelo to take the next step his junior season, but nothing panned out that way. He took a step backwards with 24 points in 35 games. I think that's why he transferred out from Northeastern to Western Michigan.

At dev camp, Colangelo was one of the players that stood out in the 3v3. Small sample, but many are raving about Minty's 3v3 play. If Colangelo does improve, then it'll be because he improved his skating. With Colangelo at 6'2 and 209 lbs, he already meets PV's height requirements. Get that bulldog mentality and Colangelo might get an ELC b/c phyiscal 6'1, 209 lbs Wiebe and 6'3, 207 lbs Caulfied got ELC's over offensive-minded 6'0 Tschigerl.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Unenthusiastic vote for Tracey.

 

[Kalv]

I think Tracey and Colangelo have not lived up to their potential, however big it might have been. This is between Clang and Terrance for me. Went with Clang, have been 1B in the SHL for 2 years and is still only 21. Past season his numbers decreased but he also had a bigger role and still seemed to outplay his colleague – judging only by numbers tho.

I think solid potential, could be a #2 goalie down the line.

 

[Duck Off]

Same as last vote. Went Clara but changing to whoever is tied with Tracey for most votes, in this case Clang

 

[91Fedorov]

Same as last vote. Went Clara but changing to whoever is tied with Tracey for most votes, in this case Clang

That's rough. The Tracey hatred is alive and well.

I think San Diego was a shit show last year and Perrault and Tracey shouldn't be written off yet.

 

[ADHB]

With Tracey it's more affirmation of what I've always thought rather than being swayed by his lack of performance.

Not sure what exactly he's supposed to be. He doesn't have a great shot, he's not overly fast, he's not big, he's not particularly physical, he's not known as a great 2-way player, etc. He's just sort of passable at everything. That's not a recipe for a successful NHL player.

Perreault on the other hand has a ton of faults, but he at least has one standout skill. That alone will give him a better chance at getting a shot at the next level.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

With Tracey it's more affirmation of what I've always thought rather than being swayed by his lack of performance.

Not sure what exactly he's supposed to be. He doesn't have a great shot, he's not overly fast, he's not big, he's not particularly physical, he's not known as a great 2-way player, etc. He's just sort of passable at everything. That's not a recipe for a successful NHL player.

Perreault on the other hand has a ton of faults, but he at least has one standout skill. That alone will give him a better chance at getting a shot at the next level.

I'd consider Tracey a glue guy with offensive IQ, who needs time to physically develop.

In his D+0 year, he was the third wheel to two overagers and had a scoring rate of 1.22 ppg. Moose Jaw not only lost those two overagers, but also traded away other talented players going into the D+1 season. Tracey not only proved he can score without the overagers, he improved his scoring rate to 1.36 ppg. It's been an erratic career since he was traded to defensive-minded Victoria, including missing the playoffs due to COVID.

With more talent coming to the Gulls this season, Tracey's production should pickup again as that glue guy with offensive IQ. It's obvious we didn't have talent last year and Tracey was put into different role. Here is Tracey's year end review from Defend the Nest:

He started the season well – collecting three points in his first two games and then stringing together a three game point streak a game later. But as the season wore on and San Diego faced loss after loss after loss, Tracey struggled along with the team to stay consistent.​

He would explode for a multi-point night and then go quiet for three games before popping in again with another two points here or there. Remarkably as the rest of the team fell too injury either all at once or like inter-changeable substitutions – Tracey almost made it the entire season before going down at the end of March, rejoining the team for their final games in April at Colorado.​

​

Like Perreault – who he has remained tied to since turning Pro – his game matured a lot this season as he took on a lot more defensive responsibilities and even took it upon himself to play the role of the pest on occasion and tried to get under the oppositions skin with mixed results. Like a reflection of the Gulls season – the sparks of brilliance and ability to take over a game that we have seen from him most of last year were few and very far between and I put a lot of that down to constant unfamiliar line-mates, why Sommer used him with Perreault only sparingly I will never understand.​

​

He also seemed gun-shy and less willing to go to the dirty areas like he used to – perhaps realising early on that opposing teams now knew his favourite spot by the right side of the net and this adjustment very likely hurt his numbers as well.​

San Diego	Perreault	& Tracey
Season	Player	Games	G	A	Pts	PPG		Plus/Minus	Team Scoring rannk
2020-21	Perreault	27​	3​	14​	17​	0.63​		-11​	11th
	Tracey	12​	0​	0​	0​	0.00​		-2​	T-32nd
2021-22	Perreault	55​	14​	23​	37​	0.67​		-6​	4th
	Tracey	55​	11​	20​	31​	0.56​		-1​	7th
2022-23	Perreault	48​	8​	11​	19​	0.40​		-16​	9th
	Tracey	62​	10​	18​	28​	0.45​		-17​	6th

As Defend the Nest noted, Tracey is far more productive when paired with Perreault as seen in 2021-22 season. They weren't paired together often last year, maybe coach Sommer wanted to spread the offense around since we were missing a lot of talent.

I hope our prospects do progress because that means the NHL club will benefit from it. Here is to hoping Tracey can find his groove again to avoid being a career AHL-journeyman.

 

[MMC]

That's rough. The Tracey hatred is alive and well.

I think San Diego was a shit show last year and Perrault and Tracey shouldn't be written off yet.

Wouldn't call it hate, I think there's real reason to believe there's a few players left on the board who have higher potential than him at this point. Like ADHB said, what's his tool that's going to play at the NHL level?

 

[Kalv]

That's rough. The Tracey hatred is alive and well.

I think San Diego was a shit show last year and Perrault and Tracey shouldn't be written off yet.

I'm not hating him but also not considering voting for him just yet. As others have pointed out, he hasn't really showed anything. I think that our staff banked on him to continue the steep trajectory of growth (he really improved in his D-1), whereas he just sort of fell back the next year without any steep progress after that.

Will be interesting how he does this upcoming season. I'm certainly hoping he finally produces at a PPG or near it, I'm sure others hope it as well. But how realistic is that? And if he's not scoring, what would make him an NHL player over others like Jones (speed and PK), Groulx (being a defensively responsible center who can chip in), or even Carrick (can fight)?

 

[AngelDuck]

I do think Colangelo is a better prospect than Tracey right now. And I think the upside of Terrance/Pitre/Sidorov is pretty appealing

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

Clang bang

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I'm not hating him but also not considering voting for him just yet. As others have pointed out, he hasn't really showed anything. I think that our staff banked on him to continue the steep trajectory of growth (he really improved in his D-1), whereas he just sort of fell back the next year without any steep progress after that.

Will be interesting how he does this upcoming season. I'm certainly hoping he finally produces at a PPG or near it, I'm sure others hope it as well. But how realistic is that? And if he's not scoring, what would make him an NHL player over others like Jones (speed and PK), Groulx (being a defensively responsible center who can chip in), or even Carrick (can fight)?

D-1? Tracey wasn't in the WHL in his D-1. I wouldn't call a 5-game WHL tryout his D-1. Moose Jaw thought he wasn't physically ready to make the WHL jump and sent him back down to the AMHL U18 AAA team.

Tracey
Season	Team	League	Games	G	A	Pts	PPG		Plus/Minus
D-1	U18 AAA	AMHL	30​	21​	31​	52​	1.73​		n/a
	Moose Jaw	WHL	5​	0​	2​	2​	0.40​		2​
D+0	Moose Jaw	WHL	66​	36​	45​	81​	1.23​		33​
D+1	Moose Jaw	WHL	28​	15​	23​	38​	1.36​		-11​
	Victoria	WHL	24​	7​	16​	23​	0.96​		-5​
D+2	San Diego	AHL	12​	0​	0​	0​	0.00​		-2​
	Victoria	WHL	22​	9​	12​	21​	0.95​		-9​
D+3	San Diego	AHL	55​	11​	20​	31​	0.56​		-1​
	Anaheim	NHL	1​	0​	0​	0​	0.00​		-1​
D+4	San Diego	AHL	62​	10​	18​	28​	0.45​		-17​

In Tracey's D+0 season, he was the third wheel and third best scorer on the team, behind overagers Langan and Almeida.

The following season, Tracey didn't have the overagers and the team traded away other top players, but improved his scoring rate with Moose Jaw. That was a significant accomplishment because he showed his D+0 season wasn't a fluke and that he can carry the team's scoring. Tracey was traded to defensive-focused Victoria and finished the season as Victoria's scoring rate leader.

For the D+2 season, Victoria sold off players just like Moose Jaw did the preview off-season. The team lost a lot of what little offense they possessed and Tracey did a lot of his scoring on the PP to make up for the lost offense with 6 PP goals and 6 PP assists. IIRC, Tracey was forced to play center for Victoria for some games.

Looking at his AHL stats, Tracey had a huge jump in production between his D+2 and D+3 season. Everyone was calling Tracey a bust after his 12-game AHL stint. Unfortunately, new mgmt constructed a terrible AHL roster and a one-off head coach for Tracey's D+4 season. Team finished last in the AHL with a 20 point buffer to the next worst team.

Only two players posted up close to 1 ppg rate or above it with San Diego in Grimaldi at 1.04 ppg and De Leo at 1.05 ppg, but De Leo was injured for most of the season. The next highest ppg rate was 0.67 ppg in O'Regan.

Tracey's a high-end, offensive, complementary top-6 winger. It's a very limiting window for Tracey to make the NHL. Still, I've always thought of Tracey as a long term project.

I can't wait for next year's Gulls team due to the influx of talent across the board, especially on defense.

========

Like Tracey, Colangelo has had a similar erratic three seasons. Injured and didn't produce much in season one in the NCAA. Had a huge spike in production at nearly a point per game rate in his second season in the NCAA. Last year, his production dropped from 0.93 ppg to 0.69 ppg. He's transferred to a different college for his senior year. I don't know if he is eligible for a fifth year since his freshman season was the year COVID shutdown some NCAA conferences or limited games.

Due to Colangelo's build of 6'3 and 209 lbs, if he can play the gritty game, then he's got a better future in the NHL than Tracey because Colangelo can play in all four lines.

 

[Duck Off]

That's rough. The Tracey hatred is alive and well.

I think San Diego was a shit show last year and Perrault and Tracey shouldn't be written off yet.

It's not hate to think higher of other prospects than Tracey.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Not ready to write Tracey off just yet. I do think some question marks have emerged, mainly around whether he has the physical traits to create any separation at the NHL level. But he's right around the age where a prospect can often add some man strength and start to show more snap to their game.

That said, we've just had such a boatload of early round picks made since Tracey was picked. A lot of them are tracking really well or just have that new pick shine with no wear on it yet. I don't find it unfathomable that Tracey has seen a bit of a slide in these rankings. Nor would it have been a reach had he gone in the last few spots. Just a ton of B-/B/B+ type guys in the system.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Not ready to write Tracey off just yet. I do think some question marks have emerged, mainly around whether he has the physical traits to create any separation at the NHL level. But he's right around the age where a prospect can often add some man strength and start to show more snap to their game.

That said, we've just had such a boatload of early round picks made since Tracey was picked. A lot of them are tracking really well or just have that new pick shine with no wear on it yet. I don't find it unfathomable that Tracey has seen a bit of a slide in these rankings. Nor would it have been a reach had he gone in the last few spots. Just a ton of B-/B/B+ type guys in the system.

Tracey has definitely raised some questions that need answers by now, it's not unreasonable to hold those questions against him until he answers them.

 

[Kalv]

D-1? Tracey wasn't in the WHL in his D-1. I wouldn't call a 5-game WHL tryout his D-1. Moose Jaw thought he wasn't physically ready to make the WHL jump and sent him back down to the AMHL U18 AAA team.

We understand different things with D-1. I meant in the season before his draft