Prospect Info: 2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings #2

[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 first poll, I am voting for Pavel Mintyukov.

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

2023 Prospect Rankings:

1. C - Leo Carlsson (2023 draftee)

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...

 

[Dryish]

Until he proves me wrong, I have Mintyukov under Zellweger. Minty's prospect profile has him potentially eke out Zell for the better player long term, and I do think he's showcased flashes of what he can really be, but Zell's accolades thus far speak for themselves.

 

[Static]

I think mintyukov is closer to Carlsson than he is to zellweger.

 

[TheGoodShepard1]

I imagine the top 3 are pretty cut and dry (maybe even the top 4, but I know some here in the community are hesitant when it comes to goaltenders).

 

[MMC]

Wow, I thought this would be closer

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I think mintyukov is closer to Carlsson than he is to zellweger.

Wasn't there some scout or talking head that said something similar recently? I can't keep track of all the click bait I read, listen to, or watch.

 

[branmuffin17]

I have high hopes for both Minty and Zell. Minty feels like the more balanced of the two, better all-around game. He has around 4" and 20 lbs on Zell, which should give him an edge at the NHL level.

In watching Zell, he might be the more electric player in the end, but from watching various clips, it seems Zell sometimes tries to do too much w/ the puck, holds on too long, etc. That might get him into trouble in the big leagues unless/until he adapts his game.

 

[Arthuros]

I really want to see how the two of them handle larger competition. I think most of the time when I hear comments on Zell's play, it's exactly what I would expect for a smaller defenceman: offensively dynamic, but struggles with the other side of the rink sometimes. I may have missed a lot, but I don't hear much about improvement on the defensive side of things beyond being able to skate his way out of trouble. That can only work for so long.

IMO, the ceilings for Minty and Zell are equally high and it's nuts...but I think Minty has a higher chance of reaching his potential so he gets the vote, while Zell's a close second.

 

[Static]

Wasn't there some scout or talking head that said something similar recently? I can't keep track of all the click bait I read, listen to, or watch.

I honestly don't know

 

[ohcomeonref]

I have Minty and Zel on a similar tier but Minty's size puts him at #2 for me.

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

Zell getting clowned by Eklund in overtime at the rookie tournament is etched into my brain - probably more than it should be, but I'm way too casual to watch every CHL game for all our prospects.

Minty has the upper hand in my opinion.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

The next big issue this team is going to face is what to do with Minty, Z2, and Luneau. There's no way the NHL roster has room for all 3 of these guys given their similarity in play. So, how well they can develop each of them and maybe more importantly how well they can decide who to keep and who to trade is going to have a big impact on the future blueline of this team. Because ultimately, one or two of those guys will be getting traded. And if you want value it needs to be sooner rather than later. But not so soon that you make a big mistake. No more Shea Theodore moves please.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Carlsson vs Minty is gonna be interesting to watch. Minty is gonna be good.

 

[Gliff]

These top 3 are a lot closer then these polls show, but it is a clear order.

 

[Goose of Reason]

Going with Minty. Guy's upside is tremendous on both sides of the puck imo. His defensive game is better than his rover usage in Saginaw leads people to believe.

Thanks for starting this up, @MMC !

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I have Mintyukov ahead of Carlsson on my personal rankings

 

[Sean Garrity]

If Zell had Minty's size I think this would be super close...but he doesn't.

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

The next big issue this team is going to face is what to do with Minty, Z2, and Luneau. There's no way the NHL roster has room for all 3 of these guys given their similarity in play. So, how well they can develop each of them and maybe more importantly how well they can decide who to keep and who to trade is going to have a big impact on the future blueline of this team. Because ultimately, one or two of those guys will be getting traded. And if you want value it needs to be sooner rather than later. But not so soon that you make a big mistake. No more Shea Theodore moves please.

Respectfully disagree. Luneau is a RHD which differentiates him from Minty and Zell. I don't see an issue with potentially having these three in our top for in a few years.

What's more, it would be unwise to trade one of them "sooner rather than later" because we really don't know what any of them will turn out to be. They could all hit, bust, or or any variation in between.

 

[Duck Off]

This poll is occurring in a time where Minty really shined at the rookie camp so I’m sure that’s making the vote more lopsided than it would have been a week ago. I voted Minty but really debated at taking Z here.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

Respectfully disagree. Luneau is a RHD which differentiates him from Minty and Zell. I don't see an issue with potentially having these three in our top for in a few years.

What's more, it would be unwise to trade one of them "sooner rather than later" because we really don't know what any of them will turn out to be. They could all hit, bust, or or any variation in between.

I absolutely agree I don't want to trade anybody too soon. And I would agree that Luneau is perhaps a bit of a different animal in size and RHD. I suppose it is more fair to say Minty and Zell are closer to being clones that may not require redundancy. But I guess my concern is exactly because players don't always develop the same, how many slots are we going to have available at the NHL level when the slower of the group (to develop) needs his shot?

All that said, they are still O first D men and how many of them do you really need if one hits it big? Especially give the apparent now emphasis on the team getting bigger (especially D). Just something I think management needs to be better prepared for than Bob was. I just don't want another Theodore dump to take a year of a Stoner contract again.

 

[Mr Rogers]

This poll is occurring in a time where Minty really shined at the rookie camp so I’m sure that’s making the vote more lopsided than it would have been a week ago. I voted Minty but really debated at taking Z here.

you're probably right but at the same time that only helped to solidify and justify his stature as #2 right now

 

[Boo Boo]

I absolutely agree I don't want to trade anybody too soon. And I would agree that Luneau is perhaps a bit of a different animal in size and RHD. I suppose it is more fair to say Minty and Zell are closer to being clones that may not require redundancy. But I guess my concern is exactly because players don't always develop the same, how many slots are we going to have available at the NHL level when the slower of the group (to develop) needs his shot?

All that said, they are still O first D men and how many of them do you really need if one hits it big? Especially give the apparent now emphasis on the team getting bigger (especially D). Just something I think management needs to be better prepared for than Bob was. I just don't want another Theodore dump to take a year of a Stoner contract again.

I think that Mintyukov and luneau both have skilled 2 way d with size type of upside and could bring a lot of synergy to the line up. They could potentially even make a good pairing one day.

 

[branmuffin17]

This poll is occurring in a time where Minty really shined at the rookie camp so I’m sure that’s making the vote more lopsided than it would have been a week ago. I voted Minty but really debated at taking Z here.

Probably true in some respects. That said, I feel Zell definitely will face more challenges due to his size, and I will again mention that I feel he currently tries to do too much and holds onto the puck too long sometimes (from the brief snippets I've seen here and there), so I still feel Minty has the upper hand here.

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

I absolutely agree I don't want to trade anybody too soon. And I would agree that Luneau is perhaps a bit of a different animal in size and RHD. I suppose it is more fair to say Minty and Zell are closer to being clones that may not require redundancy. But I guess my concern is exactly because players don't always develop the same, how many slots are we going to have available at the NHL level when the slower of the group (to develop) needs his shot?

All that said, they are still O first D men and how many of them do you really need if one hits it big? Especially give the apparent now emphasis on the team getting bigger (especially D). Just something I think management needs to be better prepared for than Bob was. I just don't want another Theodore dump to take a year of a Stoner contract again.

There's still time for one or both of Minty and Zell to develop their game on the other side of the puck. They could both turn out to be great offensive defensemen whilst still being responsible or even good in their on zone. If that happens, I'll take as many of those guys on my team as I can get.

To your point about the Theodore/Stoner debacle - I don't think that has any bearing in this situation. Murray is gone, there isn't an expansion draft coming anytime soon, and we're nowhere near having the cap issues that Murray put us in.

The best approach right now is to wait and see how this defensive crop turns out, then you make a decision on who to keep and who to move (if necessary).

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I went with Luneau. Luneau still has an extra year to find that extra gear in his first three strides for explosiveness.