Prospect Info: 2023 Ducks Prospect Rankings #25

[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 twenty-fifth poll I am voting for Kyle Kukkonen.

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)
19. G - Calle Clang (-4)
20. LW - Brayden Tracey (-8)
21. C - Carey Terrance (2023 draftee)
22. G - Damian Clara (2023 draftee)
23. RW - Yegor Sidorov (2023 draftee)
24. RW - Coulson Pitre (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
Trevor Janicke
Bryce Kindopp
Max Golod
Ethan Bowen​

Click to read more...

 

[McDonald19]

Still Sam. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt as an early 2nd round pick. There is talent there, and hopefully he is one of those players whose game will translate better to the AHL than NCAA.

 

[AngelDuck]

I went with Kukkonen but I could see one of Dionicio or Port making a charge up this list in coming season - lot of raw upside there

 

[JabbaJabba]

A bit surprised that Gage didn't make the top 25 considering how well he played in the AHL last season. I expect him to make the list next year at least.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Gunna stick with dionicio…. I think there is something there

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Still Sam. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt as an early 2nd round pick. There is talent there, and hopefully he is one of those players whose game will translate better to the AHL than NCAA.

Colangelo looked good in dev camp. The problem is his previous three seasons in the NCAA haven't been great.

Freshman: 8 games, 0g + 3a = 3 pts, and - 3 rating​

Sophomore: 29 games, 12g + 15a = 27 pts, and +8 rating​

Junior: 35 games, 9g + 15a = 24 pts, and -4 rating​

​

Total: 72 games, 21g + 33a = 54 pts, and +1 rating​

Colangelo had bad luck injury in his freshman year, had a wonderful rebound sophomore, but took a step backwards last year. He's got a lot to prove next year with his new NCAA team if he's gonna try to secure an ELC.

Kukkonen's freshman year made him finish top-5 goal scorer for freshmen.

Freshman: 39 games, 18g + 9a = 27 points, and +1 rating​

Kukkonen's a goal scorer. He showed off that skill at dev camp as well. It's odd seeing Kukkonen being the better goal scorer than Colangelo and that Kukkonen has already matched Colangelo's season high in points as a freshman. In 3 college years, Colangelo has only 3 more goals than Kukkonen's one year in the NCAA.

Here's the write up on Kukkonen by The Hockey Writers:

Kyle Kukkonen - 2021 NHL Draft Prospect Profile - The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

Michigan Tech commit Kyle Kukkonen has drawn heads for being an outstanding young player and leader in the American hockey system.

thehockeywriters.com

Anaheim gambled on a high school prospect (no surprise since LaCombe and Moore are also HS drafted prospects) and it's looking very promising. Kukkonen could be that energetic, goal scoring jitterbug in the land of PV's giants.

 

[Rasp]

Colangelo is a bust imo. He could turn it around but he hasnt shown any indication that he has it in him to be an NHL player